cooking

[Pmt133]

I've done Naan in a cast skillet and cooked inverted over a stove burner. Works pretty damn well. Done tiki masala a lot. Usually lamb.

 

[ScottinAZ]

Mmmmmm dinner

 

[redneck joe]

No red food coloring eh?

 

[ScottinAZ]

No red food coloring eh?

nope. Doesnt add anything to the dish except some aesthetics... since its for my own consumption, and I didnt have any on hand, I omitted the stuff....

 

[redneck joe]

When I do char siu for company I soak for a day with the gochuchang, but same otherwise.


Fun story with the chicken. About 17 years ago my then new wife had not experienced much outside mid south Tennessee, including only travelling out of state only a few times and never flown so her life and food experiences were limited. Then I show up with a history of world travel, multi cultural food exposure and a love to cook. We were pretty much not compatible on paper, other than we liked to drink and laugh, which is why I started dating her. Then for the office one time I made my sausage gravy and biscuits. The 30 or so folks loved it which seemed to surprise everyone since I was a 'yankee' from Missouri.

Took her to visit the folks for the first time and they suggested Indian food and when I told her she gave me the the wrinkle nose with added lip curl and told me she didn't like it. Got her to admit she had never had it. So we went out with the folks.

As she had been doing since we started dating she put her menu down and told me to order for her since she didn't know what food were at the places I had been taking her. I always tried to introduce her to the cuisine with something that looked familiar, and for that particular cuisine maybe a bit on the bland side. So tandoori chicken it was. I got some sort of stewed goat.

They brought some pappadum and a few chutney and she was surprised she liked it. Her chicken was good and she loved the spiced basmati rice. I even got her to take a bit of my goat once I convinced her I was similar to a chuck roast. She liked it.


Fast forward and now I do 99% of the cooking but when it is Indian night, I step back and she is Charles in Charge (other than using my home made ghee).

To cap it off, she is in charge of several call centers, two of which are in India. So going from 17 years ago to now her travelling there for work, her life experiences has changed dramatically. We laugh about it all the time. I've still been to more countries than her, but India is a feather I would like to put in my cap.

 

[tphoyt]

Oh man Biscuits and Gravey!
I know what I making for lunch tomorrow.
And I’m still thinking about that pineapple upside down cake. It’s in my near future I can feel it.

 

[redneck joe]

Oh man Biscuits and Gravey!
I know what I making for lunch tomorrow.
And I’m still thinking about that pineapple upside down cake. It’s in my near future I can feel it.

A few month ago I save a cool, seven muffin round cast iron from the flea market, haven't used yet. I knew it would make a full cake recipie so I had a couple other vessels on standby. Worked out great. Next time I'll make a smaller batch just for the rounds. The recipie is easily divided into thirds due to three eggs and three quarter cup of liquid. The Alexa tells me what a third of a quarter is.

 

[redneck joe]

I've recently learned about 'velveting meat' look it up, Chinese technique for tenderizer meat. Amazing. I've not used it on a whole cut but everything lately with my stir fry meats. Chicken, pork loin and beef flank and sirloin.


This was pork and all veggies from the garden.

 

[ScottinAZ]

Dinner was deeeelicious. Had the pulled pork served with its own jus (I got a fat separator for that) and a cucumber salad. Total cook time was around 7.5 hrs for the pair of them. Love this Traeger, set it and forget it so you can do other things like sew new bow seat covers…..threw in a before/after for the seats. They ain’t perfect, but are a damn sight better than what I had

 

[redneck joe]

You didn't separate ALL the fat did you

 

[ScottinAZ]

You didn't separate ALL the fat did you

nooooo. there is still a ton of intramuscular fat in the pork. I just take a good bit of the rendered fat from the drippings and decide how much goes back on.....

 

[redneck joe]

Whew, had me worried there for a minute...

 

[redneck joe]

my last name is mckeehan and i make copy cat mcdonalds stuff and we call is joe MAC (whatever). Here is my sausage MACmuffin, and yes I buy wrappers because one MUST let it rest for a minute and steam so as to soften the toasted english muffin and most importantly to get....foil cheese.

 

[redneck joe]

A few posts ago I mentioned velveting meat. Wife normally love what I cook but wasn't convinced that what I was doing was making a difference so last night was joe nugget night and I decided to make half regular and half velveted. She ate her portion and loved it then had some of mine ( I made extra because I knew) and she wants me to do that everytime going forward.

Lots of stuff on the internet about it that can get complicated but I so far choose the most basic method of 2 tsp per lb of meat. Soak for 15 or so min and do your thing. I've only tried on stir fry and now nuggets but it is clai ed to work on whole peices as well and given my nuggets are about 2 to 3 times bigger than normal I think it would work.

Of course on any slice meat cutting across the grain is important.

 

[Pmt133]

I do that for thighs when I make general tso's... You literally can not over cook the meat. It'll burn what ever breading or the outside before it dries out. The only draw back on dark meat is the texture is not what you would expect. Not unpleasant but odd the first time I had it.

 

[aspeck]

I looked velveting up and am going to try it soon. Thanks for the tip, Joe.

 

[redneck joe]

I do that for thighs when I make general tso's... You literally can not over cook the meat. It'll burn what ever breading or the outside before it dries out. The only draw back on dark meat is the texture is not what you would expect. Not unpleasant but odd the first time I had it.

I don't think I would do on thighs, I love them for the fact you can overcook them but still be ok.

 

[redneck joe]

Our fav thigh only dish is so simple. Medium to medium low flame without any oil/butter until 165, high heat for 30 seconds to fishing the crip then flip for color only, pulling off heat. The skin has rendered everything out and is so crispy.

 

[redneck joe]

Here is the recipie that got me started. Side note, cauliflower, wide cut leeks, asparagus, etc all work here as well depending on what is in the fridge. Not used anything other than flank but suppose a sirloin or other could work but I like the heavy grain of flank.

Beef and Broccoli

Get Beef and Broccoli Recipe from Food Network

www.foodnetwork.com

 

[Pmt133]

I don't think I would do on thighs, I love them for the fact you can overcook them but still be ok.

For the general Tsos it's about finding a happy balance. It does need it. Am overnight was reccomended to me originally and that was too much. About half an hour is as far as I go now.

And I second the thighs the way you mentioned. Cast iron slow cook to temp with nothing other then a pinch of salt and pepper. then sear with heat. I take all the rendered fat make a pan sauce and do a rice and vegetable stir fry as a side when I do that. I think I know what I'm making later.