Where my fellow cooks at???

[tifosi77]

When we were in Spain, we took a cooking class that included a paella. Since we were in Barcelona, it was made in the local style, with a mix of chicken (excellent) seafood. I was on rice duty while everyone else was assembling the rest of the meal. I asked the chef instructor about doing a more Valencian style (where the rice is cooked a bit harder so it forms a sticky crust on the bottom layer), he looked at me sideways. He was like, "This is called 'Cook & Taste Barcelona', not 'Cook & Taste Some Other Place'".

[count2infinity]

Well, sure... if you want to strictly stick to tradition, then fine. But isn't cooking constantly changing? Strong foundations in the old combined with flashes of the new, or at the very least a new twist on an old favorite. I would think that you, out of anyone here, would be okay with straying a bit away from tradition and trying new things or twists.

[dodint]

So your ability to push people around in the kitchen has no cultural borders? Check.

[tifosi77]

I'm all for trying new things. If there's one unifying theme about my participation in this thread, it's that I want people to try new stuff, be it techniques or methods or ingredients or entire dishes. My comment is solely stemming from the fact that I do not think pineapple with Spanish chorizo would make a very good combination. The amount of pimentón you use would also be a factor; I have a heavy hand with it. I'm also wary of using pineapple with land critter proteins because it has an enzyme that breaks down their structure and can make the texture gross. (I learned that the hard way last summer, when I left two skirt steaks in a pineapple-based marinade too long and they ended up looking like Toxic Waste Guy from 'RoboCop'.)

While I'm not shy about trying new things, I also think tradition has its place.

And I say this as someone who actually likes the flavor of 'Hawaiian pizza'..... but also one who will not ever order it.

[Shyster]

And I say this as someone who actually likes the flavor of 'Hawaiian pizza'..... but also one who will not ever order it.

Dude. Pineapple anchovy. You'll love it.

[columbia]

Haluski in the Wall Street Journal

http://www.wsj.com/articles/haluski-recipe-1424960933" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[dodint]

Nice.

Love the related article: "Is There Anything Better Than a Plate of Buttery Egg Noodles?"

[shmenguin]

Pan searing a steak with thyme...anyone (tif) done it?

I'm pretty sure you put the leaves in the hot oil in the pan and then quickly wipe them over the meat to transfer the flavor.

[tifosi77]

Pan searing a steak with thyme...anyone (tif) done it?

I'm pretty sure you put the leaves in the hot oil in the pan and then quickly wipe them over the meat to transfer the flavor.

Okay, the way to do this is to baste. Cook the steak to about 85% of your preferred doneness via whatever method you prefer. Then put it in a hot pan on the stove top with a lot of butter (like 3 Tbs) and whatever fresh herbs you like (I, too, prefer thyme for this application) and a smashed clove of garlic. As soon as the butter melts, begin spooning it over the steak; you'll want to do it in a more or less constant stream butter-steak-butter-steak-butter-steak, etc for about 2 minutes or so. Flip the steak, repeat. That should get you to your perfectly med-rare steaky goodness.

If you have a Netflix account, seek out the PBS series 'Mind Of A Chef'. Go to Se 1, Ep 12, "Fresh"..... the last 7-8 minutes is David Chang and Tien Ho (once one of his most trusted chefs, they've since parted ways) cooking various cuts of steak. Tien does a fantastic job of demonstrating the basting technique on a dry aged porterhouse.

[tifosi77]

And just to show c2i how not like a stick-in-the-mud I am, here's last night's dinner:

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya



I looked up a recipe to make a shopping list, found a John Besh goodie. He said, "All you need is good chicken and good sausage." So I took that and ran with it; in addition to the requisite Andouille, the market I was at had merguez (spicy African lamb sausage) and linguiça (Portuguese smoked pork sausage). So that went into the jambalaya, too. Along with that super smokey Allan Benton's bacon I got last week. There is no possible way this could have been bad. And it will probably be better today, with the leftovers having sat together overnight.

[ville5]

And just to show c2i how not like a stick-in-the-mud I am, here's last night's dinner:

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya



I looked up a recipe to make a shopping list, found a John Besh goodie. He said, "All you need is good chicken and good sausage." So I took that and ran with it; in addition to the requisite Andouille, the market I was at had merguez (spicy African lamb sausage) and linguiça (Portuguese smoked pork sausage). So that went into the jambalaya, too. Along with that super smokey Allan Benton's bacon I got last week. There is no possible way this could have been bad. And it will probably be better today, with the leftovers having sat together overnight.

Pfft. Your dish needs crawdads

[tifosi77]

Not a fan of putting crawfish in jambalaya with sausage; they have a very mild flavor that tends to get masked. If I do mudbugs, they'll be alone or only with chicken.

[dodint]

Tangentially related; my wife came up to visit last weekend to WI. I took her around to the local butchers (with an s) and showed her the great selection of meats they have here. We basically traded an immense amount of seafood selection from coastal NC for quality butchers. In NC we didn't have a single actual butcher, just supermarket meat sections. The Mennonite butcher here is similar to Bardine's in Crabtree, so good.

[shmenguin]

Pan searing a steak with thyme...anyone (tif) done it?

I'm pretty sure you put the leaves in the hot oil in the pan and then quickly wipe them over the meat to transfer the flavor.

Okay, the way to do this is to baste. Cook the steak to about 85% of your preferred doneness via whatever method you prefer. Then put it in a hot pan on the stove top with a lot of butter (like 3 Tbs) and whatever fresh herbs you like (I, too, prefer thyme for this application) and a smashed clove of garlic. As soon as the butter melts, begin spooning it over the steak; you'll want to do it in a more or less constant stream butter-steak-butter-steak-butter-steak, etc for about 2 minutes or so. Flip the steak, repeat. That should get you to your perfectly med-rare steaky goodness.

If you have a Netflix account, seek out the PBS series 'Mind Of A Chef'. Go to Se 1, Ep 12, "Fresh"..... the last 7-8 minutes is David Chang and Tien Ho (once one of his most trusted chefs, they've since parted ways) cooking various cuts of steak. Tien does a fantastic job of demonstrating the basting technique on a dry aged porterhouse.

So...freeze, sear, bake (partly), sear + baste?

The basting needs to be 2 minutes so should I not have the pan screaming hot for that part?

[tifosi77]

Yes.

Alternatively, if you want to try one of those improvised sous vide methods I've talked about you can just sear the steak, put it in a bag with butter and thyme, then cook it in the water bath for 40 minutes or whatever, then re-sear (minus basting step). That would accomplish the same thing. (And that's pretty much how I do it now)

[shmenguin]

Ok now I definitely need a sous vide thingy

[mac5155]

Homemade chicken noodle soup. So easy, so delicious.

[Dickie Dunn]

Haluski in the Wall Street Journal

http://www.wsj.com/articles/haluski-recipe-1424960933" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Never had noodle haluski before and never plan to. My grandmother has always made what I assume to be the Czech/Slovak version of haluski, which uses potato dumplings and is vastly superior to the poverty Polish pasta haluski.

[dodint]

Weird. My grandma made the same thing, but without the condescension.

[Dickie Dunn]

Weird. My grandma made the same thing, but without the condescension.

You're missing out. The condescension is the best part.

My grandmother is Czech and my grandfather was Polish. Every meal in their house was Polish except for the haluski.

[ville5]

Haluski in the Wall Street Journal

http://www.wsj.com/articles/haluski-recipe-1424960933" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Never had noodle haluski before and never plan to. My grandmother has always made what I assume to be the Czech/Slovak version of haluski, which uses potato dumplings and is vastly superior to the poverty Polish pasta haluski.

You're out of your mind. Nothing beats bowties, cabbage, butter and olive oil.

[shmenguin]

Yes.

Alternatively, if you want to try one of those improvised sous vide methods I've talked about you can just sear the steak, put it in a bag with butter and thyme, then cook it in the water bath for 40 minutes or whatever, then re-sear (minus basting step). That would accomplish the same thing. (And that's pretty much how I do it now)

Basting went well, but my beautiful flank steak had a thin piece of gristle in its center running the entire length of the meat. Super disappointing. Ruined the texture.

[ville5]

Anyone try any of Brunch @ Bobby's recipes? There's a couple I'm eyeing up.

[mac5155]

Doing 2 flat irons tonight with some garlic parmesean potatos. Can't wait.

[dodint]

I'm finally making my Eggs Benedict tonight. Really excited. Wanted to do it yesterday but didn't have the lemon juice.