IronGAF Cookoff (hosted by OnkelC)

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*WARNING - Massive wall of food porn below

Went to Kirala in Berkeley with good friends and family.
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big wall of grey pictures! :lol

At first it was kind of hard to tell what kind of food it was but I assume you went to an Japanese izakaya type restaurant.
 
Yeah was somewhat dim in the restaurant but I can see the pictures ok on my comp - was hoping it'd be ok for most people. :X We went here. It's a Japanese restaurant in Berkeley.
 
The pics are fine, thank you for sharing!

I'm off to Belgium in a few minutes and will return on saturday with -i hope- a lot of pics from belgian cuisine and patisserie:lol

A few pics form our last trip:
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Keep sharing, people!
 
OnkelC said:
I'm off to Belgium in a few minutes and will return on saturday with -i hope- a lot of pics from belgian cuisine and patisserie:lol
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I am likely going to Belgium for a conference early next year. I look forward to your gourmet reconnaissance.
 
I was in Belgium a week or two ago:

Lots of mussels to eat, and they are actually pretty good. I wish the stores didn't have pushers outside pressuring you to eat at their resturant. Just let me look at your menu for 30 seconds and let me decide!

Chocolate is also very good where I went. Can't remember the name, but it's apparently famous.
 
Leunam said:
Could you post the recipe for this? I think this might be something I'd like to try to make.
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Stupidly easy!

Simply get on the interwebs and find a butter chicken simmer sauce recipe (they're easy to find and easy to make), and then just simmer everything together. Usually I cook the chicken for a minute maybe, then add my vegetables and cook them very lightly, then get my simmer sauce in and simmer them (occasionally stirring to prevent sticking) for as long as you need to get the chicken and veggies cooked.

I find the more of the actual 'cooking' that is done while the simmer sauce is in the pan the more flavour you'll get, rather than cooking everything completely and dumping them in a sauce.

If you cant be bothered to make a simmer sauce you should be able to buy a great quality (and tasting) pre-made sauce from any decent indian supermarket or spice store.

EDIT: Tonight's menu; curry and lental vegetable soup.

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- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 onion
- 1 parsnip
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 sticks of celery
- 2 medium sized carrots
- 1 desert spoon (or two if you want more spice, which you do :P) of red curry
- 1 cup of red lentils
- 2 cups of vegetable stock
- 4 cups of water

Chop up all the veggies and with a table spoon of olive oil lightly cook them all in the pot. Add your red curry paste (however much you like) and stir that through, cooking for a minute or two. Then simply add your red lentils, your vegetable stock, and your water and stir it all through. Put it on a low-medium temperature, whatever you normally cook soup on, and let it all cook through, occasionally stirring to prevent it from sticking (as you would).

When all the vegetables and lentils are cooked mostly to a mush, or however long you want to cook them (I gave mine about an hour) get out your blender and blend the sucker. At this point it will be pretty thick, so if you dont like thick soups you can add a cup or more of boiling water to thin it out. Personally, I think it tastes better thick.

Its absolutely delicious and stupidly easy to make. Perfect for winter.
 
I seek advice from glorious Nippon-GAF: I don't really do much Japanese cooking/eating outside of sushi and sashimi but I want to broaden my rising sun filled horizons. There's a Mitsuwa Marketplace down in San Diego that I go to sometimes and I wanted to get some stuff to go with these Udon noodles that I got. I heard you're supposed to eat them with dashi and a fishcake, so I got both of those things. The dashi was cool I guess, it basically just tastes like seawater. The fishcake was... interesting. Like a spongy old chicken nugget. I heated it up, was I supposed to do that? I threw in some green onion and couple tofu cubes. It was 'aight I guess. I tried looking for some sort of standard recipe but it seems like the point is that you can just put whatever you want in the seawater. Is there some sort of classic combo I should put together?

I also like to pick something up something completely random that I have no idea what it is and check it out. One time I got crab chips (though I could guess what those were from the cartoon crab on the front). This time I got a bag of these sort of dried crunchy rice crispy ball things. It was fun eating them and trying to figure out what it was that it reminded me of. Turns out it was Crackerjack. They were really good.
 
The San Diego mitsuwa is so huge compared to the one in San Gabriel so you are lucky.

Deciphering labels in the store may be hard though if you arent familiar with Japanese cuisine. If you are gonna make dashi I have to ask, are you use dashi-no-moto (the powdered form) or attempting to make it from scratch (aka dried tuna shavings + kombu (dried kelp)?

I would recommend adding a tablespoon of miso to get yourself a miso dashi which is more edible for noodle soups.
 
Zyzyxxz said:
The San Diego mitsuwa is so huge compared to the one in San Gabriel so you are lucky.

Deciphering labels in the store may be hard though if you arent familiar with Japanese cuisine. If you are gonna make dashi I have to ask, are you use dashi-no-moto (the powdered form) or attempting to make it from scratch (aka dried tuna shavings + kombu (dried kelp)?

I would recommend adding a tablespoon of miso to get yourself a miso dashi which is more edible for noodle soups.
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I got some dash-no-moto but it's not really powdered, it's like a tea bag that you brew. Thanks for the miso tip!
 
Okay cake-GAF, need some advice. I'm going to try to make the bf a Japanese strawberry cake for tomorrow night, but since I'm not a baker and I'm pressed for time, I'm doing it with all store-bought parts.

Now the catch is I have to drive two hours through the Texas heat to bring it to him, and I'm worried about how well the Cool Whip (yes yes, slap on the wrist) will hold up in the car ride. Would the cake still be okay if I put it in the freezer for a few hours before I leave?
 
Are you taking the cake to his house, Zoe? If there's going to be a kitchen there, why not do the assembly once you arrive; driving two hours with a whipped cream cake is asking for trouble.

Make the cake at home, bring the berries and whipping cream (for God's sake, don't use Cool Whip. Real whipped cream takes all of three minutes to make and it's virtually impossible to screw up), perhaps in a little cooler or bag with some ice, and put it all together with him. It'll be a fun thing to do together and you'll both enjoy the cake moreso for it.
 
Recipe request!

I'm planning on doing some slow cooked BBQ ribs in the oven. I wanna do them reeealllly slow on a low heat so that the meat falls off the bone.

Any suggestions appreciated. :)
 
Borgnine said:
I seek advice from glorious Nippon-GAF: I don't really do much Japanese cooking/eating outside of sushi and sashimi but I want to broaden my rising sun filled horizons. There's a Mitsuwa Marketplace down in San Diego that I go to sometimes and I wanted to get some stuff to go with these Udon noodles that I got. I heard you're supposed to eat them with dashi and a fishcake, so I got both of those things. The dashi was cool I guess, it basically just tastes like seawater. The fishcake was... interesting. Like a spongy old chicken nugget. I heated it up, was I supposed to do that? I threw in some green onion and couple tofu cubes. It was 'aight I guess. I tried looking for some sort of standard recipe but it seems like the point is that you can just put whatever you want in the seawater. Is there some sort of classic combo I should put together?

I also like to pick something up something completely random that I have no idea what it is and check it out. One time I got crab chips (though I could guess what those were from the cartoon crab on the front). This time I got a bag of these sort of dried crunchy rice crispy ball things. It was fun eating them and trying to figure out what it was that it reminded me of. Turns out it was Crackerjack. They were really good.
Click to expand...

Hmm, dashi shouldn't taste like seawater. I suppose it might if you're new to it.

The ingredients you're using though are for ramen, not udon. You don't really use dashi with udon, you use tsuyu.

Probably the most common way to eat udon is kitsune udon: Hot broth, a few shredded green onions with some inari (a sweet fried tofu pocket).

Another really common way to eat it is curry udon. I'm sure you can find a recipe online for that somewhere.

I'm not a big udon fan, but one udon resturant I really like in Tokyo is Tsurutontan. look around the page (i know it's not in English) at the pictures, and maybe you can get some hints or ideas about what they're doing there with it

http://www.tsurutontan.co.jp/bis/menu/index.html

As for random foods. Japanese snacks tend to be really different and cool. Just experiement around the snack section.

Sembe (rice crackers) are also quite good. They're very different from the puffed rice cakes youre probably more familiar with. Lots of different variations among sembe.

If you're into noodles, a common summer dish is somen. They're thin, and you eat them cold on a bed of ice with seasonings like this:

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Onkel,

I've been in Germany for a week. This place is awesome beautiful! In any case, I just got my driver's license and thinking about visiting a major city for a weekend via car. Seems I get a four day weekend once a month. Any recomendations for the southern part?
 
I went to PF Changs and had their Crispy honey shrimp with walnuts. It was gooooooooooood. I didn't take pictures though. It was probably the best version of the dish I've ever had. It had chopped up honeydew in it and everything.

Also went to a place called Morimoto. Very classy stuff but too much effort on the presentation rather than the actual appetite pleasing.
 
demosthenes said:
MmmmmMMmmMMmmm dinner tonight. Also: watermelon.

I am really not going to like moving out to my apartment now that I'm using the grill so much :(
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Awww, I know what will make you feel better: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002M1PQZE/?tag=neogaf0e-20

:D , I do plan to buy it eventually, I'd rather buy it than replace my Xbox360 with a new one.

Also new steak-centric blog post: Steak and egg rice bowl

http://lestomac.tumblr.com/post/940880237/testing-a-new-steak-method

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OnkelC said:
The pics are fine, thank you for sharing!

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Keep sharing, people!
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OMG! You went to my former hometown!
Reitz op de Markt! Cafe de Lantern op het Onze Lieve Vrouwe Plein (did you try the onion soup?).
I'm so jealous and homesick now.
 
so i finished the dry-aging process. pics form start to finish:

here's what i started with: new york strip loin, ~12lb
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vaccuum sealing in the special dry-age bags
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tossed it in the fridge on a wire rack to age for at least 21 days (along with another loin i was aging for only 10 days)
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after 22 days. weight loss was ~ 15%
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removed from bag. dry-age bags appeared to work perfectly - no mold, no strong smell, just a dry hard outer layer
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first cut revealed a great dark red/purple color
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trimmed away the outer layer. i was somewhat aggressive in my trimming because it's the first go. the flavors weren't overpowering, so next time i'll leave a bit more of the crust on as i've read that it tends to mellow during the sear.
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cut into 10 thick steaks
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saved 4 and froze the other 6.
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seared in cast iron. this came out really nice. had the distinct rich flavor and buttery texture or a dry-aged steak.
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overall, i enjoyed the entire process and was very happy the results. i think i'm hooked. i'll pick up another loin shortly and try aging for 28 days or longer. i'll probably try ribeye as well.
 
nice! Where did you get the sealer though and for how much?

I have a food saver but I've read it uses different types of bags that allow moisture out.
 
Zyzyxxz said:
nice! Where did you get the sealer though and for how much?

I have a food saver but I've read it uses different types of bags that allow moisture out.
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i bought the sealer and the bags here: http://www.drybagsteak.com/shop-drybag-steak-in-house.php

there is a way to use their drybags with a foodsaver, though, here's someone who has done it: http://www.drybagsteak.com/forum/17...6-can-i-use-these-bags-on-a-different-machine

i didn't have a sealer so i just bought the one on their site.
 
Awesome dry-aging pics! Makes me hungry.

Back from Belgium, was a nice trip, we visited Maison Antoine (was right around the corner from the Hotel) and a few other places, the trunk was stacked with pralines whe we returned, pics to follow tomorrow or so.
 
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An early run of Panini Pizza this time, but another good one. :D

Cheese: Port Salut

This cheese is very similar to the last one, only stickier in a way that puts it closer to Brie.

To further up the experimentation, I added some Caesar Dressing into the mix---it worked out solidly. I'm likely eating some ribs later today so I figured I might as well try instead of having some BBQ sauces back to back. :lol

I totally forgot to ground some black peppercorn on this one in the end though. :(
 
yeah, it was nice. Best thing was that it was only a five minute walk from the hotel. Didn't come to visit the ice cream parlour though, which I regret now.
 
I decided to try something different, for once. I made Thai Chicken Red Curry. My secret ingrdient; egg plant.

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Result:

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I thought it was good.
 
So you have entered the world of Bavarian Gasthaus cuisine! Thumbs up. What other dishes have you tried out so far and how is life in Bavaria?
 
No pictures, but I made an absolutely AWESOME pork roast the other night:

Recipe below (made exclusively by me):
Ingredients:
1 pork butt (we used a 6lb pork butt)
1 cup flavorful apple juice
1 cup ham stock (oh god, this is delicious)
Mushrooms (we used 1lb)
1 medium onion, cut into pieces that please you
A bit of fresh dill (we chopped ours, but you can keep it whole so you can pick it out easier)
1 Tsp. salt per 2lb of pork (in our case, 1 Tbsp.)
1 Tsp. pepper per 2lb of pork (in our case, 1 Tbsp.)
1/2 Tsp. garlic powder per 2lb of pork (in our cast 1.5 Tsp.)
1/2 stick of butter

Cooking Directions:
Mix the salt, pepper, and garlic, and place them into a shaker.
Cover all sides of the pork in the seasoning, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees, and heat a large cast-iron skillet to medium heat on the stove.
After the pork has rested for 20 minutes, melt the butter in the cast-iron skillet and begin to sauté the mushrooms and onions. Do not cook them all the way through, just enough to soften them and give them a bit of color. Remove the mushrooms and onions from the skillet and reserve in a bowl.
Place the pork in the skillet fat-side down and let it begin to brown. After browning for a few minutes, flip the pork so that it is fat-side up. After browning for a few minutes, add the mushrooms and onions back to the skillet, as well as the dill, stock and apple juice.
Remove the skillet from the heat and cover it tightly with heavy-duty foil. Place it in the oven, and cook it until it reaches an internal temperature of at LEAST 160 degrees. At around 180 degrees the pork will be incredibly tender and very easy to slice. I cooked it for 3 hours.
Remove the pork, mushrooms, and onions from the skillet, and strain all of the juice in the skillet into a small cooking pot. Reduce the juice and whisk in a small amount (a tablespoon or so) of flour. Let it continue to reduce until it is a thickness that pleases you for gravy.

Servings: We have had 3 pork dinners so far, and will have another tonight before finally finishing off the pork entirely.
 
Ecrofirt said:
That sounds an awful lot like wet-aging: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_aging#Wet_aged_beef
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wet aging does not result in moisture loss or weight loss, because the packaging does not allow moisture to escape - hence the name "wet" aging.

yes, dry-aging is typically done in a controlled room without any covering, but these special bags bond to the meat and form a membrane that lets the moisture out. they allow you to dry-age without the strict temperature/humidity restrictions. i was a bit skeptical at first that you would get the same distinct dry-age flavor due to potential differences in fungal growth with a membrane vs. in an open environment, but it appeared to work perfectly and tasted almost identical.
 
scissorfight said:
wet aging does not result in moisture loss or weight loss, because the packaging does not allow moisture to escape - hence the name "wet" aging.

yes, dry-aging is typically done in a controlled room without any covering, but these special bags bond to the meat and form a membrane that lets the moisture out. they allow you to dry-age without the strict temperature/humidity restrictions. i was a bit skeptical at first that you would get the same distinct dry-age flavor due to potential differences in fungal growth with a membrane vs. in an open environment, but it appeared to work perfectly and tasted almost identical.
Click to expand...
Nice!

Thanks for the extra info.
 
scissorfight said:
wet aging does not result in moisture loss or weight loss, because the packaging does not allow moisture to escape - hence the name "wet" aging.

yes, dry-aging is typically done in a controlled room without any covering, but these special bags bond to the meat and form a membrane that lets the moisture out. they allow you to dry-age without the strict temperature/humidity restrictions. i was a bit skeptical at first that you would get the same distinct dry-age flavor due to potential differences in fungal growth with a membrane vs. in an open environment, but it appeared to work perfectly and tasted almost identical.
Click to expand...

I will definitely try it with my FoodSaver. Now I just need the dryage bags.
 
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