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IronGAF Cookoff (hosted by OnkelC) Vol. 2
- Thread starter OnkelC
- Start date
Thank you. I made a sous vide chicken breast with fresh herbs and crushed garlic as aromatics but forgot to slice and add it.
I don't have any place near me that sells it. The closest I can get is slab bacon at my local butcher.
Most Americans' only experience with pork belly is via bacon, sadly.
I've only seen raw pork belly stocked once or twice in American groceries. Makes it difficult to get if you're not near an Asian mart.
That's changing though, thanks to the proliferation of (traditional) Asian cuisine in the American consciousness.
I've only seen raw pork belly stocked once or twice in American groceries. Makes it difficult to get if you're not near an Asian mart.
That's changing though, thanks to the proliferation of (traditional) Asian cuisine in the American consciousness.
Cosmic Bus
pristine morning snow
Whole Foods carries pork belly on the regular, that's probably one of the easiest places to get it for many people.
I'd also almost guarantee a local butcher shop has it or has access to it if you just ask.
I'd also almost guarantee a local butcher shop has it or has access to it if you just ask.
The closest Whole Foods is 38 miles away. Also while I am sure I could request pork belly at my butcher, the fact that the closest place to me that sells it is so far it makes it understandable to me that someone wouldn't recognize it by seeing it.
DietRob
i've been begging for over 5 years.
I can't plate very well but I was impressed enough with my plating and especially the taste of these bone in ribeyes I grilled earlier along with some grilled veggies so I had to take a pic. The ribeye's were a bit thinner than I'm used to so they came out more medium well which kinda stinks but it was still delicious with browned butter seasoned with my homemade rub and blue cheese topping.
Etrian Oddity
Member
In the mood to make some gyoza this week. I really need to get a robocoup so I can speed up shit at home.
Canned stewed tomatoes (or make your own), jalapenos, onions, cilantro, and chipotle peppers. Start with that, haha.
In the mood to make some gyoza this week. I really need to get a robocoup so I can speed up shit at home.
Canned stewed tomatoes (or make your own), jalapenos, onions, cilantro, and chipotle peppers. Start with that, haha.
Robot coup is only useful if you plan on catering a gyoza party. It's heavy as fuck and the worst thing to lug across a kitchen because if you drop it you can hear the dollars crashing out of it (a regular one can costs $800).
Personally for home use I have had very good experience with this one https://www.cuisinart.com/products/food_processors/dlc-10s.html
It's very affordable for the strength. No it doesn't have 2 HP like a robotcoupe but when I ran a small bar kitchen it was all I had and honestly other than the fact I couldn't fit as much food into it as a robot, it was almost just as capable. I would buy one for home but I have a tiny 3 cup processor to handle most of my processing jobs as I don't usually use a processor in general at home.
Okay, I learned how to use a "minion ring" to get low & long lasting constant temperatures in my kettle grill, got myself a thermometer and mesquite wood chunks - now I need a good recipe for a pulled pork dry rub and some recommendations regarding good BBQ sauces to drown the pig in (preferably not a special/local US brand, but something I can get in central europe. neither the swiss, nor the german border are far from me, so if any of you guys have a favorite brand: please share).
Use wood chunks not chips, get a water pan as well.
I like the snake method it just makes for a small area to smoke, I've been considering using a pizza pan to act as a heat diffuser.
My goto rub is Meathead's Memphis rub of the tried and true salt/pepper/garlic powder rub.
Also mesquite is really overpowering, use it sparingly, apple is always a good choice so is oak.
I like the snake method it just makes for a small area to smoke, I've been considering using a pizza pan to act as a heat diffuser.
My goto rub is Meathead's Memphis rub of the tried and true salt/pepper/garlic powder rub.
Also mesquite is really overpowering, use it sparingly, apple is always a good choice so is oak.
demosthenes
Member
I need to start posting more photos!
I've started using more beans lately. Anyone have any particular recipes that they really enjoy?
Found a recipe for a delicious chicken chili (featuring beans of course) that I've made a couple times now in the past month. Was mouth watering
I've started using more beans lately. Anyone have any particular recipes that they really enjoy?
Found a recipe for a delicious chicken chili (featuring beans of course) that I've made a couple times now in the past month. Was mouth watering
More or less, yes, but it also warms the cream which I don't like personally.
I've tried making crème brûlée with an iron, a blow torch and the broiler, and the blow torch is what gives the best result, IMO.
If you use a propane torch, make sure it's properly burning the gas (blue flame) before melting the sugar, though, otherwise it may bring some bad taste to the cream.
DavionStriker
Member
First post in thread! Just started simmering this pot of spaghetti. It is a combination of my Italian grandmothers and my Creole grandfathers recipe.
In theory what le-seb says is true. I did not have the best results. This was my first attempt using a broiler:
Granted I didn't dry the top before putting it under the broiler, I used granulated instead of superfine sugar and it may have been too far away from the flame.
Nonetheless I am glad I made it because the creme part was fantastic and it really is a dessert that is tastier than the effort and ingredients put in would imply. If you want to try it under the broiler first go ahead but I definitely recommend a torch.
I also personally was a fan of flambeing it with some white rum. The alcohol brought out the vanilla flavor wonderfully and added a nice flavor of it's own but I know others aren't as big of fans. It also doesn't really caramelize the top much at all.
Brown (cane) sugar will give better result.
Something specifically creole in there?
It looks amazing!First post in thread! Just started simmering this pot of spaghetti. It is a combination of my Italian grandmothers and my Creole grandfathers recipe.
Something specifically creole in there?
Ah, yes. Warming the cream would not be the most desirable effect. I really want to try my hand at making some, but I'm not looking to spend a lot of money on a torch if it's the only thing I'll use it for.
It still looks pretty good, and I'm sure it was delicious regardless of the method! I think my girlfriend and I are huge fans of the nice caramelized crust, so we'd be aiming to replicate that as well as possible.
DavionStriker
Member
Thanks dude. It was a great run. It calls for bell pepper (Creole) and rotel peppers (not Creole, just spicy). A favorite dinner since I was a little kid.
Welcome to the thread and thanks for sharing!First post in thread! Just started simmering this pot of spaghetti. It is a combination of my Italian grandmothers and my Creole grandfathers recipe.
MakeshiftChef
Member
Here's one of the rubs I like to use when smoking pork:
2 T Mustard
3 T Paprika
3T Garlic
3 T Onion
3 T Chili
3 T Kosher salt
2 T Black Pepper
2 t cinnamon
1 T thyme ground
3 T cumin
optional 3 T sugar
And here's a bastardized North Carolina style vinegar sauce recipe I like to use on the pork:
NC Vinegar Sauce
o 2 cups cider vinegar
o 3/4 cup ketchup
o 1/2 cup brown sugar
o 1 tablespoon sea salt
o 1 tablespoon ground white pepper
o 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
o 1/2 teaspoon coarsely-ground black pepper
For a more traditional style you can use this one from Aaron Franklin:
Classic Barbecue Sauce
Makes about 3 cups
1 3/4 cups ketchup
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/4 tablespoons plus 11/2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons plus 11/2 teaspoons
Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
D
Deleted member 59090
Unconfirmed Member
How do you adhere your rub? I use yellow mustard but I don't use a mop sauce.
Am I the only one who uses molasses in my BBQ sauce?
Etrian Oddity
Member
Been playing with gyozas this week. The filling was dryer than I'd have liked, I'll sweat the veggies beforehand next time and maybe go with less meat.
To go with the gyozas, I used some leftover chicken broth and thigh meat to make a nice little bowl of shio ramen.
To go with the gyozas, I used some leftover chicken broth and thigh meat to make a nice little bowl of shio ramen.
Nice job on the eggs. Those were the bane of my existance a few months ago. I had to peel so many eggs to be marinated for ramen... though its looking like I'll have to get back into it soon.
For the gyoza, yes do sweat the vegetables but your meat may be too lean, try getting a higher fat content of ground meat for the gyoza.
Last night I made a Ciabatta Pizza with day old Ciabtta and topped it with sweet onion and raw jalapeno from my garden. Since the "crust" was precooked it didn't take long under the broiler so the veggies were still mostly raw but I didn't mind.
It was very tasty and had a nice crunch to the crust that reminded me of a good thin crust pizza. The bread was best fresh the day before with whipped butter and vegetable soup but this was a great way to use leftovers.
Also I had a quick question on food safety. I am thawing some ground beef. I am trying to combine the two methods of just sticking it in the fridge and thawing it in cold water and changing the water every half hour to make sure it's cool enough. Is there some reason that it's a bad idea to put it in a pot of cold water and then put that in the fridge so you get the speed of the thermal conductivity of water and the stable low temperature of the refrigerated environment?
It was very tasty and had a nice crunch to the crust that reminded me of a good thin crust pizza. The bread was best fresh the day before with whipped butter and vegetable soup but this was a great way to use leftovers.
Also I had a quick question on food safety. I am thawing some ground beef. I am trying to combine the two methods of just sticking it in the fridge and thawing it in cold water and changing the water every half hour to make sure it's cool enough. Is there some reason that it's a bad idea to put it in a pot of cold water and then put that in the fridge so you get the speed of the thermal conductivity of water and the stable low temperature of the refrigerated environment?
can't see any reason it would get above 40F, let us know how it goes
Well this test was highly unscientific, but after ~3 hours the pound of ground beef was still solid frozen in the center but defrosted on the edge. I don't have a control to compare it to but it might have been slightly faster. The water was uncomfortably cold to the touch for what it's worth. I think why the changing water every half hour method works so much better would be:
1. By refreshing the water you are agitating the water immediately surrounding the beef instead of allowing super cooled water around the beef getting warmer the farther away you travel from the center.
2. In the original method the water is closer to the 40*F+ danger zone than it gets in the refrigerator.
If I had a highly accurate thermometer I might want to test the temperature of my water as it comes out of the tap, just after settling in the pot and then after a half hour at varying distances from the frozen beef. It's entirely possible that the water near the surface is well above 40*F but close to the beef where it matters is still in a safe range.
I was hoping for a best of both worlds scenario and I possibly ended up with a compromise between the two methods at best and no benefits and added work, plus a pot to clean at worst.
Do sou vide machines go to 40F?
EDIT: getting pretty crazy on the science here, but what if you knew the heat capacity of whatever you were defrosting, and could calculate the volume and temp of water necessary to reach an equilibrium between the two at exactly 40f. The finicky part is using enough water such that the outside of the ground beef doesn't go above 40f as the heat is transfered. Not even sure that's possible
EDIT 2: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/specific-heat-capacity-food-d_295.html this is more fun than whatever work I'm supposed to be getting done
Apparently the phase change makes it more of a moving target. http://www.researchgate.net/publica..._Capacity_of_Chilled_and_Frozen_Meat_Products
That's awesome.
I can't speak for all sous vide circulators but my Anova Precision One goes down to 41*F which essentially just engages the circulator. It also beeps if the temperature goes over that. I put it in the pot of water and it read 60*F. Now I am concerned that it's thermometer might be miscalibrated. I'm boiling the water now to test it, so if nothing else I might have fixed an issue I didn't know I had.
Cosmic Bus
pristine morning snow
Have you considered taking the frozen meat out of the freezer sooner, so, y'know... it thaws like normal.
here's thermal conductivity of hamburger across various temps. in case you run with that...
http://www.researchgate.net/publica...rmal_Properties_of_Ground_Beef_During_Cooking
Have you considered taking the frozen meat out of the freezer sooner, so, y'know... it thaws like normal.
I have a pregnant wife. I'm lucky if she can let me know what sounds decent that morning, and if I have all sorts of meat defrosted at all times there will be a lot of waste.
Morning sickness is my daily challenge as the cook here.
As for my Anova: It is calibrated correctly. I simply forgot that it takes a while for the readout to display the proper temperature. This thing is built for accuracy, not speed.
Etrian Oddity
Member
Peeling those eggs without using running water is damned near impossible.
Gonna try another batch of gyoza filling, sweating the veg mix (altered the ingredients a bit) as I type.
Looks delicious!
I went with another try tonight... tonight's broth was a little bit better. Not as salty as last time's:
Peeling those eggs without using running water is damned near impossible.
Gonna try another batch of gyoza filling, sweating the veg mix (altered the ingredients a bit) as I type.
Looks delicious!
I went with another try tonight... tonight's broth was a little bit better. Not as salty as last time's:
Yeah I would always work with a tub of super ice cold water.
The key to easy peeling eggs is that the boiling period has to be at a rough rolling boil and as soon as the eggs are pulled out of the water they must go in a super cold ice bath (at least 50% volume of ice). Peel immediately, do not allow them to sit and go back to room temperature and then you can peel them much easier. The problem with using super fresh eggs is the shell tends to stick to the egg whites resulting in scarred eggs when attempting to peel. If you are using generic supermarket eggs it may not be a problem.
Looks delicious!
I went with another try tonight... tonight's broth was a little bit better. Not as salty as last time's:
As do yours, especially those perfectly cooked looking eggs. And those gyoza make me remember those wrappers I bought like a year ago and still haven't used. I should get to it.
Etrian Oddity
Member
You don't peel them under the sink? I use a light trickle to help coax the shell off without ripping the whites.
While it's definitely not faster than more traditional methods I have done it successfully.
EDIT: Zyzyxxz' method is right, and adding baking soda to the water before hand helps as well.
That's right baking soda raises (or was it lowers?) the pH level to help ease with peeling. If you're eggs are aged it doesn't need it though but we are talking aged by 1-2 weeks.
Depends at home I peel under running water. If this was a restaurant I'd be doing 120-150 eggs a day so I had a system for peeling all that shit.
cartoon_soldier
Member
Made Chicken Biryani, first time ever making Biryani here. I usually don't do these big things.
For first attempt it was pretty decent, Dad loved it though. Don't have all step pictures, but here's a few.
Onions browning (need to use less oil next time):
The chicken cooking:
Biryani:
Lessons for next time:
1. Need even more rice
2. Use less of the fresh spice mix that was made
3. Use less oil for onions, make them more in advance so they can dry out completely
For first attempt it was pretty decent, Dad loved it though. Don't have all step pictures, but here's a few.
Onions browning (need to use less oil next time):
The chicken cooking:
Biryani:
Lessons for next time:
1. Need even more rice
2. Use less of the fresh spice mix that was made
3. Use less oil for onions, make them more in advance so they can dry out completely
BriareosGAF
Member
Standard mezza this weekend, but harvested some borage to garnish the salad.
Interestingly when pinked they're rather pinkish and then over an hour or so will turn color into that purple.
(Feta separated because my mother-in-law is a heathen who doesn't like it.)
Interestingly when pinked they're rather pinkish and then over an hour or so will turn color into that purple.
(Feta separated because my mother-in-law is a heathen who doesn't like it.)
I did all of my cooking outside yesterday. It was in the 90's out and we only have one tiny window AC unit.
For lunch I grilled up some Kielbasa for my son and I. I used insanely high heat. Am I the only one who prefers sausage this way?
It was crispy on the outside with a nice char and grilled flavor and still rich and juicy on the inside.
Next I used my dutch oven outside for the first time since I got it.
It worked really well. I made BBQ Pulled chicken thighs.
Finished Product:
I also made cornbread with my 10.5" skillet but I put the dutch oven lid on it upside-down without thinking and put a giant crater in the center where the handle is. Oops. It still tasted good, just not photogenic.
For lunch I grilled up some Kielbasa for my son and I. I used insanely high heat. Am I the only one who prefers sausage this way?
It was crispy on the outside with a nice char and grilled flavor and still rich and juicy on the inside.
Next I used my dutch oven outside for the first time since I got it.
It worked really well. I made BBQ Pulled chicken thighs.
Finished Product:
I also made cornbread with my 10.5" skillet but I put the dutch oven lid on it upside-down without thinking and put a giant crater in the center where the handle is. Oops. It still tasted good, just not photogenic.