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IronGAF Cookoff (hosted by OnkelC)

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numble

Member
fireside said:
Making some tonkatsu tonight. Can't afford kurobuta like Zyzyxxz so my cheap loin gets Jaccard'd

and takes a soak in a brine.
What is the brine supposed to do to the taste? Or using the Jaccard? I'm pretty newbie to all this cooking stuff.
 

fireside

Member
numble said:
What is the brine supposed to do to the taste? Or using the Jaccard? I'm pretty newbie to all this cooking stuff.
A better explanation for both than what I could give:

Mechanical tenderizing with a Jaccard has become quite common. A Jaccard is a set of thin blades that poke through the meat and cut some of the internal fibers. The Jaccard does not typically leave any obvious marks on the meat and is often used in steak houses. By cutting many of the internal fibers that would typically contract with heat and squeeze out the juices, it can slightly reduce the amount of moisture lost during cooking. For instance, when cooking a chuck steak for 24 hours at 131°F (55°C) the Jaccarded steak lost 18.8% of its weight compared to 19.9% for the non-Jaccarded steak. In general, more liquid weight is lost the longer a piece of meat is cooked at a given temperature— however, this additional weight loss is balanced by the increased tenderness from collagen dissolving into gelatin.

Brining has become increasingly popular in modern cooking, especially when cooking pork and poultry. Typically the meat is placed in a 3 to 10% (30 to 100 grams per liter) salt solution for a couple of hours, then rinsed and cooked as usual. Brining has two effects: it dissolves some of the support structure of the muscle fibers so they cannot coagulate into dense aggregates and it allows the meat to absorb between 10–25% of its weight in water (which may include aromatics from herbs and spices) (Graiver et al., 2006; McGee, 2004). While the meat will still lose around 20% of its weight when cooked, the net effect will be a loss of only about 0–12% of its original weight.​

http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html
 

Dartastic

Member
So, I need a little help. I want to make phad se ew, and I bought fresh rice noodles from the asian market. The problem is they're all sticking together, and they're way too thick. They're pretty starchy as well. I want to separate them, but I'm not sure if I should boil them, or just throw them right in the wok? I also heard you can microwave them, but I want to keep them spongy and nom noms. HOW GAF HOW!
 

numble

Member
Dartastic said:
So, I need a little help. I want to make phad se ew, and I bought fresh rice noodles from the asian market. The problem is they're all sticking together, and they're way too thick. They're pretty starchy as well. I want to separate them, but I'm not sure if I should boil them, or just throw them right in the wok? I also heard you can microwave them, but I want to keep them spongy and nom noms. HOW GAF HOW!
Steaming may be best.
 
so as promised...I went full speed and tried out tonkatsu with the fam.

I picked the cutlets and they were a little bigger than I should have gotten, but thanks to the panko crumbs, it really made the katsu....

I cheated with the tonkatsu sauce...

here are pics of before...
FpxAV.jpg

uDBoT.jpg
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
Brianemone said:
Update on my restaurant takeover. Date has been set, 25th of April. Have started tinkering with recipes and putting together my mise en place list. Have 12 people booked in so far. Was going to limit it to 20 but I might have to move it up to 25. Will post up some pics when I get some finished components ready.

Also, nice lookin brains Zyzyxxz

Thanks, and good luck with your restaurant thing. Get someone to take pics while you work if you can!

fireside said:
Making some tonkatsu tonight. Can't afford kurobuta like Zyzyxxz so my cheap loin gets Jaccard'd

I've been meaning to look up a Jaccard after reading that sous vide guide a while back.
 

Big B

Member
ugh, tried some quinoas today with chicken and the taste is just...wrong. maybe it'll be better in a dessert dish?
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
Phew I just trimmed and portioned out 8.5 lbs of ribeye steak which I bought today that came in one large chunk.

Zoe said:
Does anybody think it's worth it to make pho at home?

its not really that hard.

You can buy pre sliced beef that is meant for shabu shabu at any Asian market.

Beef bones for the beef broth will be much harder to do since even in Asian markets finding beef bones can be hard but if they have them you will be in luck. It just requires a long simmering over two days and is not very difficult, just a bit of intensive prep and then letting it lazily simmer along for a long period of time.
 

Kadey

Mrs. Harvey
Zoe said:
Does anybody think it's worth it to make pho at home?

For one or two people no, for a group of people, yes. It's very time consuming whether you make it for yourself or a dozen people so most of the time it's best to make it for the latter.
 

Zoe

Member
Zyzyxxz said:
its not really that hard.

I'm not really asking about the difficulty but whether the cost (time) is worth the reward (better taste).

Doesn't really sound like it with 2 days of prep considering that you can go to a restaurant and have it served in under 10 minutes for less than $8.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
Zoe said:
I'm not really asking about the difficulty but whether the cost (time) is worth the reward (better taste).

Doesn't really sound like it with 2 days of prep considering that you can go to a restaurant and have it served in under 10 minutes for less than $8.

yeah to be honest I don't see the point for making it at home unless you are willing to make such a large quantity that the cost of each bowl you serve yourself saves you a significant amount of money. But then you run into the problem is storing the broth which can take alot of space unless you reduce it to a very concentrated amount which will take alot of simmering time.

But damn $8? Inflation sucks. Here in SoCal most places still have it for a little under $7 but I remember when I was in High school $5 had you an extra large bowl.
 

Axion22

Member
Made tonkatsu!

wsu3b8.jpg


lol, looking at the egg, it looks just awful, but it's so tasty I have to post it as I'm eating.

I used chicken stock instead of dashi - apparently that stuff is hard to find at my regular grocery stores.

edit: omg, the third tonkatsu on this page! :lol this is now the tonkatsu thread!!
 

numble

Member
I tried making this pineapple rice concoction today, after the "Best country for food" thread got me craving this dish. It's basically sticky/glutinous/sweet (different places call the rice different names) steamed inside a hollowed out pineapple with pineapple juice and other bits of pineapple.

8wHUq.jpg


I kind of followed this recipe.

There is less stuff at the top because I basically took the whole layer off. I'd say it was somewhat of a disappointment--the bottom was good but the top continued to stay pretty hard despite ~2.5 hours of steaming. I had a weird steaming setup so that probably had something to do with it (it's hard to steam a tall pineapple), and maybe I should've soaked the rice for a couple of more hours.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
numble said:
I tried making this pineapple rice concoction today, after the "Best country for food" thread got me craving this dish. It's basically sticky/glutinous/sweet (different places call the rice different names) steamed inside a hollowed out pineapple with pineapple juice and other bits of pineapple.

8wHUq.jpg


I kind of followed this recipe.

There is less stuff at the top because I basically took the whole layer off. I'd say it was somewhat of a disappointment--the bottom was good but the top continued to stay pretty hard despite ~2.5 hours of steaming. I had a weird steaming setup so that probably had something to do with it (it's hard to steam a tall pineapple), and maybe I should've soaked the rice for a couple of more hours.

Did you steam it in a tall pot? Usually a stock pot would have been sufficient.

Another thing you could have done was lay it down and cut off a part of the vertical side instead of the top.
 

Jacobi

Banned
Litflynt912 said:
so as promised...I went full speed and tried out tonkatsu with the fam.

I picked the cutlets and they were a little bigger than I should have gotten, but thanks to the panko crumbs, it really made the katsu....

I cheated with the tonkatsu sauce...

here are pics of before...
Looks like a shnitzel ;)
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Big B said:
ugh, tried some quinoas today with chicken and the taste is just...wrong. maybe it'll be better in a dessert dish?

Did you rinse the quinoa with plenty of fresh water? The quinoa naturally contains saponins which are a soapy tasting compound to keep insects and birds away.

I would recommend running the quinoa until the water runs clear.
 

CrankyJay

Banned
Yesterday was my first ever Delmonico steak. I wish I took a picture of the raw steak because it was gorgeous, but I ended up using a marinade, here is the recipe:

http://www.hilltopsteakhouse.com/recipes/list/22/

I only had 1 steak so I cut down the ingredients, but I really recommend NOT using the 2 tablespoons of salt they call for. With the soy sauce and steak seasoning there will be plenty.

I only did 3-4 hours of marinading so it would not completely kill off the flavor of the steak.

Here's the steak in the marinade:
4489567570_438be877c8.jpg


Steak on the grill after the first flip...with perfect grill marks if I must say:
4489568282_f96e046f11.jpg


Grilled asparagus in olive oil and garlic salt:
4488924843_90cf507c8b.jpg


Plated steak...was absolutely delicious.
4489568892_21fa832b2d.jpg


I let the streak rest for a good 5-10 minutes. It came out medium rare, which I prefer. Was a pretty thick steak. Had it with a bottle of Barbera dry red wine, sauteed onions and mushrooms...and for after dinner, a cigar. Nice dinner.

p.s. I offered to buy my wife a steak and she only wanted a hotdog. :lol
 

Zoe

Member
Zyzyxxz said:
But damn $8? Inflation sucks. Here in SoCal most places still have it for a little under $7 but I remember when I was in High school $5 had you an extra large bowl.

I was counting tax and tip ^^ A large bowl tends to be $6.95 around here.
 

numble

Member
Sleeper901 said:
hey guys,

how do you cook onions in order to make them all tender and soft, like they are in a stew for example?
YouTube "how to caramelize onions" or variations on that query--watch a couple of videos to get the general idea. It's how I learned.
 
Sleeper901 said:
hey guys,

how do you cook onions in order to make them all tender and soft, like they are in a stew for example?

Heat a skillet to medium heat. Slice your onion. Add a few tablespoons of oil or butter to the pan. Add the onions. It should sizzle but not smoke like crazy. Give it a stir every couple minutes. Cook for approximately 10 minutes. The longer they go, the browner, and sweeter they get. Add a little salt and pepper at the end.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
So I made a homemade pizza last night..

Dough, sauce and all made fresh.. well, except I used tomato paste because I'm not that hardcore.

I really liked it, buttery crisp crust. I think I overdid the cayenne when I was making my sauce though. While everyone liked it some people thought it was a bit too spicy. I don't think there is such a thing, but I guess most people don't throw cayenne in a pizza sauce to begin with.
 

otake

Doesn't know that "You" is used in both the singular and plural
Tonight, girlfriend is cooking. Yellow rice with chick pees, plantain leaves, pork chops and Coto Rioja Wine. Her first time making this kind of rice. I hope the pictures turn out ok.
 

jarosh

Member
haven't posted in a long time...

dinner tonight was a "kohlgratin". hard to translate. there's potatoes at the bottom, then a layer of vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, romanesco broccoli), a cream & egg sauce with parsley and dill and of course a lot of swiss cheese to top it off (emmentaler, appenzeller).



050410-1.jpg


050410-2.jpg


050410-3.jpg
 

rykomatsu

Member
Litflynt912 said:
I cheated with the tonkatsu sauce...

For the sauce, I'd recommend grinding roasted sesame seeds with a mortar and pestle, then mixing it with the sauce. (Personal favorite when I actually feel like using sauce)

On the flipside, I also recommend seasoning the meat with salt first, then making the tonkatsu and serve with no sauce at all. Really quite good :)

Making some tonight lol.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, my Easter spoils:
2krmmg.jpg

Cadbury Mini-Egg Chip Cookies. Mmm, mini-egg. Chopping them was a chore, but worth it.

2w4ha2r.jpg

Oven shot of the chocolate banana danish, which I sprinkled with almonds and confectioners sugar. MmMmMMMm.

zjj69k.jpg

One of a dozen mixed-berry tarts. A few exploded in the oven (I guess gelatin plus sugar plus 375 degrees equals boom) but they were tasty. Pastry formed by hand.

1zh1aqf.jpg

Key lime pie. Hand-made everything, I even squeezed the shit out of the limes myself. Perfect amount of tartness, too. Slightly underripe limes, NB.

xmirlh.jpg

Chocolate-dipped strawberries, and homemade brownies. Mm, delicious finger-foods.

dsej6.jpg

Strawberry not-Shortcake. The shortcake, as it turns out, is a teabiscuit. And it was unservable, and took a chunk out of my flan. For its violent tendencies, it was banished, and a double-layered angel food cake substituted in its place, with a crapload of whipped cream.

Speaking of the flan, my crowning glory for the weekend:
117y1qt.jpg

The Honey-Mango Flan, with double-roasted pistachios for garnish. Holy pete, was this ever good, and not too sweet either. Thanks GAF for the idea to top with pistachios.
 

Zoe

Member
BladeWorker said:
Ladies and gentlemen, my Easter spoils:
http://i41.tinypic.com/2krmmg.jpg[/IMG]
Cadbury Mini-Egg Chip Cookies. Mmm, mini-egg. Chopping them was a chore, but worth it.

OMG, why have I not thought of this before
 

Dartastic

Member
Veggie phad se ew. I wound up microwaving the rice noodles, and it turned out really well. I used garlic, mushrooms, bok choi, carrots, and a blend of mushroom dark soy sauce, regular soy, and sugar. It could have used a bit more sugar and a bit more spice, but all in all it turned out quite nice. =p

IMG_0002.jpg
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Just made some lasagna.. everything but the noodles from scratch. I've gotten the tomato based sauce thing down at this point. I like mine better than Ragu, etc.. and I control the salt content and it is extremely low which makes my doctor happy.

The cheese.. maybe not so much :lol

I'll let you know how it comes out of the oven.
 

Alucrid

Banned
GAF. I got tired of eating shitty school food, so I went out and bought a rice cooker so now I can eat shitty food made by myself. Anyone have any recipes for a novice? Something without meat is preferable since the cooking conditions I'm in aren't...well, for convenience's sake, let's not go with meat. Thanks. :D

Also, I'm thinking about making crepes one day. Would that need an electric beater or is some elbow grease enough?
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
Alucrid said:
GAF. I got tired of eating shitty school food, so I went out and bought a rice cooker so now I can eat shitty food made by myself. Anyone have any recipes for a novice? Something without meat is preferable since the cooking conditions I'm in aren't...well, for convenience's sake, let's not go with meat. Thanks. :D

Also, I'm thinking about making crepes one day. Would that need an electric beater or is some elbow grease enough?

you can use a rice cooker to make pasta/noodles.

Just dump in the pasta and water then once the noodles get soft, pour out the water and keep the noodles in there and put the pasta sauce in to get warmed up. Buy some of those frozen meatballs and dump them in the same time you put sauce in and voila!
 

Alucrid

Banned
Zyzyxxz said:
you can use a rice cooker to make pasta/noodles.

Just dump in the pasta and water then once the noodles get soft, pour out the water and keep the noodles in there and put the pasta sauce in to get warmed up. Buy some of those frozen meatballs and dump them in the same time you put sauce in and voila!

Good idea, I'll try that. Unsure about the meatballs though, I've been spoiled by homecooked ones. :lol

Brianemone said:
Elbow grease is fine. The pan is key.

I was going to use a frying pan one of my roommate brought.

Also, making home fries or just fried potatoes.

Cut up some raw potatoes, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on there, maybe some onions, salt, pepper, then just wait until nice, brown and crispy?
 
I've been itching to make a healthy, homemade snack to eat at work, and I'm thinking hummus would be a good choice.

Any IronGAFers know of some good hummus recipes?
 

rykomatsu

Member
Alucrid said:
GAF. I got tired of eating shitty school food, so I went out and bought a rice cooker so now I can eat shitty food made by myself. Anyone have any recipes for a novice? Something without meat is preferable since the cooking conditions I'm in aren't...well, for convenience's sake, let's not go with meat. Thanks. :D

How about something like Uova in Cocotte? Very simple recipe and easy to make and it's something that you can modify to your tastes very easily.

All you need are:
Tomato sauce
Fresh eggs
Olive oil
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Ramekin big enough for 1 or 2 eggs

-Brush the bottom of the ramekin with olive oil
-Add tomato sauce about 1/3~1/2 way full
-Add 1 or 2 eggs and sprinkle with some grated Parmigiano Reggiano
-Toss into 350~400F oven for about 10~15min or until the cheese has melted, browned and the eggs whites have set, but the yolk is still runny
-Take out, lightly top with salt and/or pepper and enjoy with some bread or whatever.
*Can always sprinkle with bits of bacon or pancetta or anything else for that matter.

If you want to go a step farther, you could make the tomato sauce from scratch as well...extremely simple dish that I enjoy, doesn't require meat, and I've found can impress women quite easily too :p

Or...do you have to be able to cook it in a rice cooker?

In which case, freshly cooked rice, eggs, soy sauce, and some msg (if you like).
crack an egg or 2, mix well with soy sauce, pour it over rice. Pretty popular Japanese "dish" so to speak.
 

Cosmic Bus

pristine morning snow
BertramCooper said:
I've been itching to make a healthy, homemade snack to eat at work, and I'm thinking hummus would be a good choice.

Any IronGAFers know of some good hummus recipes?

I made this a few months ago and it was quite good:

Roasted Vegetable Hummus

3 cans organic garbanzo beans
1 bell pepper
1 eggplant
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp tahini
1 lemon
olive oil
salt

Slice the eggplant and bell pepper thinly and roast them in the oven (at 350 degrees) on a baking sheet until they are soft. Put the three cans of garbanzo beans in the cuisinart (without the water from the can) with the pepper, eggplant, garlic, tahini, 1 tbsp of olive oil, a dash of salt, and the juice of half the lemon. If your cuisinart is too small for all the deliciousness then do it in batches. If the hummus is really thick and not blending keep adding olive oil until it is smooth and creamy. Depending on your tastes you may want to add more salt or lemon juice.
 
Cosmic Bus said:
I made this a few months ago and it was quite good:

Roasted Vegetable Hummus

3 cans organic garbanzo beans
1 bell pepper
1 eggplant
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp tahini
1 lemon
olive oil
salt

Slice the eggplant and bell pepper thinly and roast them in the oven (at 350 degrees) on a baking sheet until they are soft. Put the three cans of garbanzo beans in the cuisinart (without the water from the can) with the pepper, eggplant, garlic, tahini, 1 tbsp of olive oil, a dash of salt, and the juice of half the lemon. If your cuisinart is too small for all the deliciousness then do it in batches. If the hummus is really thick and not blending keep adding olive oil until it is smooth and creamy. Depending on your tastes you may want to add more salt or lemon juice.
Mmm, sounds yummy.

Thanks!
 

Axion22

Member
My advancement continues, I did two new recipes at once:

Garlic-Lemon Double Stuffed Chicken & Suzy's Mashed Red Potatoes

I'd never cooked a potato before and they took a lot longer to cook than the 10 minutes the recipe said.

Pre oven chicken:
124hmc8.jpg

Feel free to mangle it like I did. Needless to say I need more practice butterflying.

Post oven chicken:
2645ahd.jpg


Plated:
20h63hh.jpg


I didn't get any in process pics of the potatoes, but everyone can imagine what it's like, right?

Everything came out great.

Obligatory apologies for iphone camera shots.
 

Alucrid

Banned
rykomatsu said:

Thanks, that sounds good. The first one with a fresh baguette sounds great. I believe I've heard of the second one before as well, I'll try that one as well. Thanks for the suggestions. Just double checking, just 2 raw eggs mixed in with the soy sauce over the cooked rice, right? I have access to stove top/oven, but it's a communal one. I really wish I had my own private kitchen right now. :\
 
Some candied bacon
P1050058.jpg


Candied bacon with Basil Sorbet. Sorbet was melting a little because it just came out of the churn.
P1050061_thumb.jpg


This is getting combined with some other stuff for the dessert BLT on the tasting menu.
 
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