Cooking Thread

[Evil Cheese]

I recently purchased a cookbook called Ruhlman's Twenty and I've been learning a lot from it so far. I hate to call it a cookbook as it's more about teaching techniques and using recipes to reinforce those techniques than a straight book of recipes. Anyway, I've been learning about brines and I brined some pork chops on Sunday with a sage and garlic brine with a bit of lemon and pepper. I fried them up tonight with a bit of lemon, caper, and butter sauce and they came out awesome. The crust was nice and crunchy without being soggy and the pork has sooo much flavor. They're the best pork chops I've ever made. I boiled some brussel sprouts and shocked them in ice water then finished them off with a quick sear in a pan; they came out nicely too.

[at0m]

I've started seeing Caff's cooking posts reblogged in my feed from unrelated friends before I see them on his blog or here. The singularity has come.

[CaffeinePowered]

http://caffeinatedcrafting.tumblr.com/po...heat-bread

[rumbot]

@ChorizoPowered

[Eightball]

Made chicken tikka masala yesterday, have enough for another two days worth. I imagine it looks like hot vomit to the uninitiated, but hopefully someone understands why I'm ecstatic about being able to make it at home. Also, fuck making garam masala from scratch, I'm buying some pre-mixed...

Question for you guys: Who uses fresh garlic? Do you chop it, use a press? I was in the latter category until I said fuck it and decided that this is as good with 1/100th the cleanup. Only exceptions of course being when I need full cloves.

[rumbot]

Who uses fresh garlic? Do you chop it, use a press?

Garlic presses are an abomination. Level up your knife skills.

Knife skills 101: How to crush garlic | THE INTERNET CHEF

jarred garlic

oh god what horror.

[KarthXLR]

[quote author=Eightball link=topic=2153.msg278381#msg278381 date=1399838213]
Who uses fresh garlic? Do you chop it, use a press?

Garlic presses are an abomination. Level up your knife skills.

Knife skills 101: How to crush garlic | THE INTERNET CHEF

jarred garlic

oh god what horror.
[/quote]

I'm with rummy. A good chef's knife is all you need for removing garlic skin. Jarred garlic isn't terrible for seasoning frozen green beans or something of the sort, but fresh garlic is ALWAYS better in taste and aroma. Plus, learning how to mince garlic is a great skill for any cook.

Now if only there was a way to get that garlic smell off your fingers...

[at0m]

Rub your fingers on the side of your stainless steel sink while you wash them immediately after dealing with your garlic, it deactivates the odor.

Source: the ladyfriend is a chef.

Also, we're making homemade bolognese tonight, yum.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Luca Shoal]

If you have two stainless steel bowls, you can peel garlic easily with them.

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less than Ten Seconds

[Eightball]

I have been peeling and mincing the low-tech way for a year or two, but have always sucked at it and couldn't get a consistent mince. That, and my garlic would always sprout before I could use it.

request: more pics of stuff from Hek's sous vide thingy.

[KarthXLR]

I have been peeling and mincing the low-tech way for a year or two, but have always sucked at it and couldn't get a consistent mince.

Mince isn't meant to be that precise, you can have a few uneven pieces.

That, and my garlic would always sprout before I could use it.

You keep it in a dry dark place, correct? Even if they do sprout, garlic bulbs are really cheap and far tastier than the jar alternative.

[HeK]

I have been peeling and mincing the low-tech way for a year or two, but have always sucked at it and couldn't get a consistent mince. That, and my garlic would always sprout before I could use it.

request: more pics of stuff from Hek's sous vide thingy.

[rumbot]

but have always sucked at it and couldn't get a consistent mince.

In addition to Karth's points (which are good), do you have a quality, heavy chef's knife?

By heavy I mean 8 inches or greater (the heft helps) and by quality I mean at least Henkels or Wustoff...viz,. something that uses hearty steel?

[rumbot]

request: more pics of stuff from Hek's sous vide thingy.

related: http://boingboing.net/2014/05/12/nomiku-...n-cir.html

[KarthXLR]

[quote author=Eightball link=topic=2153.msg278424#msg278424 date=1399952590]
but have always sucked at it and couldn't get a consistent mince.

In addition to Karth's points (which are good), do you have a quality, heavy chef's knife?

By heavy I mean 8 inches or greater (the heft helps) and by quality I mean at least Henkels or Wustoff...viz,. something that uses hearty steel?
[/quote]
Even just a common stainless steel knife from Walmart or Target is fine, just use whatever you're most comfortable with.

[HeK]

[quote author=Eightball link=topic=2153.msg278424#msg278424 date=1399952590]
request: more pics of stuff from Hek's sous vide thingy.

related: http://boingboing.net/2014/05/12/nomiku-...n-cir.html
[/quote]

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/12/sous-...anova.html

Three way shoot out. The Sansaire and the Anova beat out the Nomiku in most categories, tieing in the others. They also cost $100 less.

[Serain]

[quote author=rumbot link=topic=2153.msg278442#msg278442 date=1400024703]
[quote author=Eightball link=topic=2153.msg278424#msg278424 date=1399952590]
request: more pics of stuff from Hek's sous vide thingy.

related: http://boingboing.net/2014/05/12/nomiku-...n-cir.html
[/quote]

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/12/sous-...anova.html

Three way shoot out. The Sansaire and the Anova beat out the Nomiku in most categories, tieing in the others. They also cost $100 less.
[/quote]

I've seen the The Anova in action and I second that that thing is nuts. I'm seriously considering buying one for myself, considering that meat is really really hard to cook to the correct texture.

I didn't know this thread existed before and am excited that it exists. A thing I made last night:

Dumpling filling: ground pork, chives, shrimp, egg, ginger cut very fine, salt and pepper to taste
Peels: Just flour and water. Throw it in a kitchenaid, unroll and cut into small pieces.


Wrap them up, mom will do a much better job than I


Fry em up and eat with black vinegar, soy sauce, lao gan ma spicy stuff, sesame oil and your choice of toppings. Pictured: green onions.

[rumbot]

Three way shoot out. The Sansaire and the Anova beat out the Nomiku in most categories, tieing in the others. They also cost $100 less.

The comments in that link I posted reviewing the Nomiku echo the same points.


jesus, serain. DO WANT.

[Eightball]

[quote author=Eightball link=topic=2153.msg278424#msg278424 date=1399952590]
but have always sucked at it and couldn't get a consistent mince.

In addition to Karth's points (which are good), do you have a quality, heavy chef's knife?

By heavy I mean 8 inches or greater (the heft helps) and by quality I mean at least Henkels or Wustoff...viz,. something that uses hearty steel?
[/quote]

Yeah, got one of these.

HeK: Whoops, I was thinking you were talking about a complete enclosed sous vide oven, rather than a circulator. That does look pretty awesome...
Serain: Did you make the dumpling skins from scratch too? If so, shit's rediculous. Nice.

Guess while I'm asking culinary questions, my cast iron skillet has also been a source of frustration for a while. I've never been quite sure that it's properly seasoned. I've done the canola+oven bake, tried frying up a huge batch of bacon in it, etc and I do these fairly often. But I'm never satisfied that the pan has the slick, black texture that I'm told it's supposed to (it's got black, at least...). Making something like a frittata in it would be impossible due to stickage.

How do you guys clean something like that? I've just been using salt/oil/paper towels to scrub it, but I also fear I'm getting fibers of paper towel embedded into the surface.

[HeK]

Cast iron zealots will tell you never to wash a cast iron pan, only scoop out and wipe down with paper towels, under the idea that heating up the pan the next time will kill any nasties left over.

I personally wash mine, scrubbing only with a fine steel wool. I dry thoroughly immediately. I don't have any pitting, yet.
I also seasoned in a bbq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQKkzUmOcdk#t=535

(8min, 55 seconds)