What are you cooking?

[alms]

Prepping some flying squid salad. Think I’ve got the cooking time wrong though… it’s a little chewy. There’s just too much interference in naming, so squid, flying squid and calamari are used interchangeably when they’re actually pretty different things.

Oh well, hopefully it’s just the texture that is off…

Scratch that, it came out great. First, the meat needed to rest and cool down, second, one day in the fridge really change the taste entirely. I used the same celery seasoning for octopus though, and it will likely turn out even better with a combo specific to flying squid.

[Insignus]

A lot of the stuff in this thread are things I wish I was good enough to cook, or had the palate to really enjoy (I’m from the American South - food is generally simpler.)

One of the things I will throw out there is something simple my mother introduced me to a while ago, and that I’m eating right now:

**Hunter’s Stew

**You’ll need a pot, some ground beef, an onion, and a can of Campbell’s Vegetable Soup (1 can for 1-2 person, 2+ for more), and a stove. Adjust onions/beef ratio as needed.

Turn the stove on to medium.

Chop up the ground beef and slice up the onions. Place in pot. Add small quantities of water if you prefer creamier stews/soup. Add a small amount of water as needed to make the stew creamier, omit water from this stage if you prefer thicker stews.

Place pot on Stove.

Cook until meat browns and onions are transparent.

Open soup cans, pour soup into pot, fill cans with water, and then pour water into pot.

Cook for about five minutes, or until soup boils.

Take off stove, turn off stove. Wait to cool.

Serve.

Skills needed: Low. As long as you can tell the meat is done, you should be fine.

[Loops]

I only cooked 1 thing which was a Quesadilla.
Never burnt my arms so much in my entire life.

[alms]

Since I’ve been trying to rack up experience with the grill, I’ve been cooking boneless chicken breasts for a while.

That had the weird effect of steering me to an almost stereotypical body builder routine (and diet; eating mostly chicken breast and vegetables), cooking meat in batches and freezing it; the convenience of pulling the chicken out of the freezer and sticking it in the microwave cannot be understated, just saves a ton of time.

The key element to get good results was however acquiring an instant thermometer: by only cooking it up to under 70 degrees, you get delicious chicken that is tender and juicy even out of the freezer. Scrumptious!

I’m liking it so much that, when I feel confident that I can get consistent results with the grill (one confounder there, is my trying different types of charcoal), I may switch to cooking batches in the oven: should be faster, cheaper and less work than the grill.

[sam_grin]

For today I’m going to bake my fav chocolate brownie

[Matt_W]

I’m liking it so much that, when I feel confident that I can get consistent results with the grill (one confounder there, is my trying different types of charcoal), I may switch to cooking batches in the oven: should be faster, cheaper and less work than the grill.

You can also easily skillet fry them. Heat 1T of butter and 1T of olive oil. Salt and pepper the breasts then dip them in flour to lightly coat them. When the oil and butter are hot, cook the breasts tenderloin-side down for 4 minutes, then flip and cook for 3-5 minutes on the other side until the breasts feel firm. (I cut a slot with a knife to check for doneness.)

[alms]

Thanks for the tip! I was experimenting with the skillet, using some sliced chicken breast I had in the freezer. Turned out determining the real temperature was much more tricky, because, I figured, the surface of the skillet reaches a much higher temperature than the air above it, unlike on the grill, where the temperature gradient is less steep.

What makes it tricky is that, especially if you’re going with a higher heat for the sear at the beginning, and on a thinner slice, the thermometer can read high because of the high temperature of the skillet, but if you wait too long, the upper side can cool down.

Half breasts, there should be less of a problem because of the thickness.

If you don’t have a thermometer yet, by all means, consider getting one: I used it for the first time on fish yesterday and it’s night and day. The fish used wasn’t very sensitive to overcooking, as I promptly found out after losing track of time tending to the forum, but it turned out you can leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes, possibly more, without it looking overcooked.

However, there may be differences in texture and color. Serious Eats has a great Food Lab post about it, not sure if I linked that above, while talking about chicken and Sous Vide. Should be easy to look it up.

Point is, unless you have a keen eye and perfect heat control, you may be overcooking for safety.

Not having to cut is also an advantage of using the thermometer, especially if you’re cooking for someone else; when doing something like steaks, you can judge easily whether it’s the doneness they want; when cooking other things, you have control over the texture.

Another advantage of the thermometer is for things like whole chicken: the thighs and and the breast should be cooked at different temperatures, higher for the thighs, to get perfect results. Having a thermometer ensures that you get the thighs perfectly done without drying out the breast.

That much is true regardless of the technique used for cooking it.

There are good thermometers that are more or less inexpensive, if curious. No need to splurge on a Javelin or ThermaPen. OTOH, if you don’t mind the expense, the ThermaPen has a fervent following.

BTW I think the guides, recipes and instructions, out there, which rely on time to reach doneness, if made by pros, are likely to be based on the temperature inside the food. Depending on what you’re cooking, you may get good or even excellent results just by following the directions.

However, there is a degree of variability, which the thermometer contributes to reduce, if not eliminate, depending on the situation.

Yours,
a thermometer convert
(and hopefully you weren’t already aware of all that)

[alms]

Incredibly pleased how my oven-roasted, thinly-sliced pork loin turned out. See, the thermometer working its magic, I went for pink pork. Just look at those pictures and tell me if they don’t make you hungry.

The difference is just amazing, juicy and tender, and this isn’t even tenderloin, but a larger, cheaper cut, that usually is tougher when fully cooked. The somewhat firm texture is still there, but you don’t even need a knife.

If not in America, do keep in mind though that trichinellosis has not been eradicated everywhere else, it’s a big YMMV situation. For instance, the local situation seems to be clean, with cases confined to game. OTOH there are indications that things are not as great across the whole Europe, so it may be worth keeping an eye on which country the meat you’re going to use is from, if imported.

For extra safety, I looked up the pasteurization table of pork meat. The short and long of it, is 1 minute at 60 dC is enough, so sous-vide is only necessary if you want it rare.

Next, find a sauce to make it even better.

[Insignus]

Incredibly pleased how my oven-roasted, thinly-sliced pork loin turned out. See, the thermometer working its magic, I went for pink pork. Just look at those pictures and tell me if they don’t make you hungry.

The difference is just amazing, juicy and tender, and this isn’t even tenderloin, but a larger, cheaper cut, that usually is tougher when fully cooked. The somewhat firm texture is still there, but you don’t even need a knife.

If not in America, do keep in mind though that trichinellosis has not been eradicated everywhere else, it’s a big YMMV situation. For instance, the local situation seems to be clean, with cases confined to game. OTOH there are indications that things are not as great across the whole Europe, so it may be worth keeping an eye on which country the meat you’re going to use is from, if imported.

For extra safety, I looked up the pasteurization table of pork meat. The short and long of it, is 1 minute at 60 dC is enough, so sous-vide is only necessary if you want it rare.

Next, find a sauce to make it even better.

Very well done, however you may have skipped some steps to make it a true pork dish.

Firstly, you need to apply some method of imparting a more durable, rich, aromatic flavor. Perhaps through the application of fumes from say, burning wood or charcoal. Preferably in an environment that contains the heat and flavor, but allows it room to evenly apply itself over the cuts of meat. Perhaps some sort of large metal enclosure that allows access to the meat. One may also pull it apart afterwards and apply liberal quantities of sauce. Just really apply that sauce.

Secondly, one must apply a Non-Heretical Sauce before, during, or after preparation. One should also consider judicious application of spirits during preparation.

The only other tolerable sauce that is in Communion with Pork, and thus Non Heretical, is Szechuan Teriyaki:

I’m not saying that what you’re doing is heretical, merely implying that as a Southerner, there are really only Four True Venues for preparing and serving Pork: Bacon, Barbeque, Honey/Smoke Deli Slice, and Bonesaw. /s

[alms]

Don’t have the gear to smoke meat, though I did something a while ago that sort of approximated it, in the electric oven. From what I’ve read around, it’s feasible to smoke in a grill, but it’s a lot of work, and smoking itself takes a lot of time in the first place, even in a proper smoker.

For the sauce, I was looking at this suggestion for Tonnato (in fact, if I make this again, I’ll definitely try the low heat oven + skillet technique described in there); the weather, around these parts, has cooled down significantly, still warm enough that cold meat can be appreciated. Never made mayo myself, but I’m intrigued by this two-minute, immersion blender technique.

I do have a few doubts, though; my experience blending anchovies hasn’t been stellar, and I’d rather pasteurize the eggs too.

[Gus_Smedstad]

I’ll just chime in that there’s a pork dish I make regularly - cheddar studded pork - which my wife used to dislike, but now loves because I switched from stir-frying the pork to sous vide. It’s a lot more tender, and of course perfectly safe due to the cook time. I generally go with 10 hours at 140 degrees, which is a low temperature for pork normally, but not a problem with sous vide. Not rare, of course, but still pretty tender. As a bonus, it’s far less effort that stir-frying was.

[LexW]

I’ll just chime in that there’s a pork dish I make regularly - cheddar studded pork - which my wife used to dislike, but now loves because I switched from stir-frying the pork to sous vide. It’s a lot more tender, and of course perfectly safe due to the cook time. I generally go with 10 hours at 140 degrees, which is a low temperature for pork normally, but not a problem with sous vide. Not rare, of course, but still pretty tender. As a bonus, it’s far less effort that stir-frying was.

If I had a bigger kitchen I would be so all-over sous-vide technology. There’s little I love more than something that’s been cooked for double-digit hours. How are you finding it generally?

[Gus_Smedstad]

I’ve got an Anova Cooker, which is a relatively inexpensive entry to sous vide, and a clear plastic tub as a bath. Initially I just used a big pot, but once I started looking at long (10+ hour) cook times, I felt I really wanted something with a lid to keep down loss from evaporation, and specifically a lid with a cutout for the cooker.

It’s generally pretty easy stuff. I have found that long cook times are necessary. I originally did steaks at 6 hours, and my wife found them “rubbery.” Her complaints went away when I upped that to 24. The main irritants are getting the air out of the ziplock bags at the start through displacement, and the tendency for the circulating water to push the bags against the cooker. I bought a cheap folding steamer basket, and now I usually put that in the bath with the cooking bags to keep them settled.

Not worrying about timing is great. As long as I’ve put a roast in early enough (i.e. the night before), it’s ready whenever my wife is ready for dinner. The Anova cooker has wifi control, but I never use it. I dial in a temperature (generally 131 for beef, 140 for pork) and let it go.

The bath doesn’t take a lot of counter space while it’s in use, about 12" x 14" or so, and it goes on top of the refrigerator when I’m not using it.

A lot of sites talk about searing meats, roasts, etc. to get a crust with sous vide, either before or after cooking. I tried that for a while and found it messy and unrewarding. At least going with a stove-top method. Maybe broiling for 10-15 minutes would work better, but I’m afraid it would end up ruining things like steaks through overcooking.

Sous vide does not turn chuck roast into rib roast, but it does make it better. Really lean cuts (i.e. top round) don’t fare so well.

It still feels very specialized. I only cook a few things this way: steak, beef roast, and the aforementioned cubes of pork. I just don’t cook straight meat that often, and that’s what sous vide seems to work best for.

[alms]

Mission tonnato + mayo complete! The mayo came out less thick than I’d like, and maybe there’s a touch mustard too much; I used less oil, about half, than the recipe called for, and the pasteurization round turned out to be too long, 5 minutes for this size of egg (known as large, locally) is too long, and while it was still liquid, it had begun to change color to white, despite what thought was an almost perfect water temperature control.

Seriously, after seeing it out of the shell, I thought it was a non starter; after pressing the Turbo button (which is a tad overkill I think), the seconds stretched, and then this unfashionable mix turned into mayo, seemed like magic.

Very satisfied with the taste of tonnato! so yummy. When I was done adjusting the salt, it tasted so incredibly good, that I suddenly felt like dancing and singing! Not bad, not bad.

Not sure why yet, I ended using about half the oil the recipe called for.

[alms]

Delicious oven roasted pumpkin is done, going to dry seeds!

[alms]

Ate what was, without doubts, the best roasted chicken I’ve ever had in my life. Grill-roasted, and I even made a couple mistakes, so I have confidence that it can be improved …and this thought blew my mind: isn’t it kind of crazy that 90%+ (let’s play it safe) professionally made roasted chickens don’t even come close?

[alms]

You know what I can literally stuff my face with?

Lentils. Yes, you heard me. No soaking needed, just wash them, boil them in salted water with bay leaves and garlic.

When done, add tomato puree, pepper, some olive oil if you want.

DELISH

[alms]

So my main course was grilled swordfish marinated in lemon and rosemary, grilled keta salmon, and a tuna steak marinated in, I honestly don’t remember what, except that it had mustard and some other stuff in it; it wasn’t even grilled, just seared and cooked in a skillet. Something I made in a hurry because a tuna steak fell from the sky and I didn’t want it to go in the trash can, having absolutely no experience with the recipe and very little with tuna specifically.

Of course tuna was the most successful.

I picked Keta Salmon because I seemed to recall it’s not farmed (and was right about that); I do not see the point of eating farmed salmon, TBH.

But, it seems Keta is not a fitting choice for the grill, absolutely. Fish that goes on the grill, for obvious reasons, must not flake or break. That Keta Salmon did. I managed to bring home some sort of result, but it wasn’t pretty.

It’s irrational, but I resent the marinated tuna steak because it wasn’t something I put particular thought into making and yet was more appreciated than anything else I made, nor I felt that the final results was exempt from flaws.

Also calamari ceviche didn’t work out. FML.

[Koobazaur]

no photos, but roasting some veggies with tilapia and sesame ginger dressing, plus a mix of farro/barley/brown rice. Pretty simple, but easy enough and hits the spot

[alms]

shroom porn

Grilled Mixed Mushrooms With Sesame Dressing Recipe