1st Annual Little Steven Memorial Cook Thread

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Foghorn said:

Yep.  You definitely have your mise en place.

Mise-en-place is the religion of all good line cooks. Do not f*ck with a line cook’s ‘meez’ — meaning his setup, his carefully arranged supplies of sea salt, rough-cracked pepper, softened butter, cooking oil, wine, backups, and so on. 

As a cook, your station, and its condition, its state of readiness, is an extension of your nervous system… 

The universe is in order when your station is set up the way you like it: you know where to find everything with your eyes closed, everything you need during the course of the shift is at the ready at arm’s reach, your defenses are deployed. 

If you let your mise-en-place run down, get dirty and disorganized, you’ll quickly find yourself spinning in place and calling for backup. I worked with a chef who used to step behind the line to a dirty cook’s station in the middle of a rush to explain why the offending cook was falling behind. He’d press his palm down on the cutting board, which was littered with peppercorns, spattered sauce, bits of parsley, bread crumbs and the usual flotsam and jetsam that accumulates quickly on a station if not constantly wiped away with a moist side towel. “You see this?” he’d inquire, raising his palm so that the cook could see the bits of dirt and scraps sticking to his chef’s palm. “That’s what the inside of your head looks like now.”  -Anthony Bourdain in  “Kitchen Confidential”

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Pulled out the Darth Maul Party cup for the evening round of cooks. Pretty sure this was put into service at the Salado eggfest LS attended (and curried up my egg). @caliking is this they way you remember it? 

Mattman3969

LS taught me to bake on the egg.   I give you baked Parmesan chicken with Spaghetti Squash and Garlic Shrimp 

gmac

I’m gonna have to carry this one over for another day. Huge storm came through here. Lost 2 hrs to rain and the family went ahead and ate so I will be doing my cook tomorrow. :(

JohnInCarolina

Methinks some adult beverages are being consumed in LS’s honor.  Cheers!

gmac

JohnInCarolina said:

Methinks some adult beverages are being consumed in LS’s honor.  Cheers!

I know I’m having a few....

The Cen-Tex Smoker

gmac said:

I’m gonna have to carry this one over for another day. Huge storm came through here. Lost 2 hrs to rain and the family went ahead and ate so I will be doing my cook tomorrow. :(

I am too. Tomorrow is his bday so no harm no foul! TFJ took a nap in lieu of naan prep today (a perfectly acceptable alternative). We are doing wagyu carne asada tacos tonight and the roganjosh tomorrow. 

marysvilleksegghead

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Eggcelsior said:

1st ground rule has gotta be: "Recipe must contain La Bomba".

Im out! Have to find some. 

marysvilleksegghead

Lady I know in IA got a case from these guys, she thinks they'll ship less to USA.
https://www.auroraimporting.com/products/#!/product/42514 
HTH

caliking

I am laughing so fvcking hard right now. Great posts. Almost tired of hitting the like button for all of the awesome cooks posted. This is fantastic. 

@gmac that conversation you posted is pretty rerepresentative of LS. Always willing to help another egghead out. Never tooting  his own horn, even though he could cook rings around most of us. And he knew it. But wanted you to be a great cook too. 

That’s classy. 

bgebrent

My last salvo for the amazing brother I knew as Little Steven.

caliking

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Foghorn said:

Yep.  You definitely have your mise en place.

Mise-en-place is the religion of all good line cooks. Do not f*ck with a line cook’s ‘meez’ — meaning his setup, his carefully arranged supplies of sea salt, rough-cracked pepper, softened butter, cooking oil, wine, backups, and so on. 

Funny that you mention this. We had friends over for lunch today and had a great time. Caliqueen knows not to mess with anything in the kitchen when I’m cooking, but these folks didn’t. I step back inside after a couple of fingers of bourbon, and find that everything’s jacked up because the wife was trying to clean. Nearly lost my sh!t. 

gmac

caliking said:

I am laughing so fvcking hard right now. Great posts. Almost tired of hitting the like button for all of the awesome cooks posted. This is fantastic. 

@gmac that conversation you posted is pretty rerepresentative of LS. Always willing to help another egghead out. Never tooting  his own horn, even though he could cook rings around most of us. And he knew it. But wanted you to be a great cook too. 

That’s classy. 

He was a class act all around. I have IMs with his phone and cell if I ever needed any help at all. He was what made this forum the best. 

dmchicago

Never met the man but did think of him while working this cook. 

Buttermilk brined thighs and legs with house made bbq sauce. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

We went with the “cinco de mayo” cook tonight. 

Wagyu flank
dizzy pig fajita-ish
@Village Idiot Matt’s El Rancho “black gold”
old school Tex-mex guacamole salad 
homemade corn tortillas
homemade tomatillo habenero salsa 

This was our “bail out” cook but somehow I don’t feel like we laid down on this one. Roganjosh tomorrow. 

SciAggie

@The_Cen-Tex_Smoker Those tacos are over the top.  Homemade tortillas, wagyu beef, and homemade _________. 
Beautiful.

caliking

The Cen-Tex Smoker 

...

This was our “bail out” cook but somehow I don’t feel like we laid down on this one.

What a slacker...

lousubcap

In search of some insight-I seem to recall (through a fog) that LS enjoyed a Canadian whisky(ey?); Forty Creek ?? or Crown Royal??.
Please give me the proper direction-with May 7th his B'day I want to get it right (more than one selection is fine) and toss some back in his honour.   

Apologize for the last -minute request bit I am old and slow.  

caliking

After about 6 hrs in the sun (yeah, I caved) and about 1.5 days in the fridge, we got some chicken satay on the egg. 



Plated shot:


Served it with brown jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. The coriander really popped and the cashew peanut sauce was REALLY good. Caliprince is into the whole meat on a stick deal, so he ate his pretty much as shown.

I popped the meat off the other skewers and let them swim in the sauce (marinade cooked on the top grid in the 1st pic). And it got even better. Sort of like a Southeast Asian chicken satay masala or whatever. Can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!

Great recipe, LS. Thanks for sharing it.

20stone

Killed it, @CT.  I am now back in on corn tortillas, so I should probably just head over. 

Zippylip

Happy birthday buddy

I don’t have a cook to offer but I will share the origin of the raccoon.  We (me Steven Jeff & Rodney) were fishing for a few days.  Towards the end there may have been 10 or so beers floating around in the melted ice at the bottom of the mega cooler & as I watched Steven (whose pace hadn’t slowed one bit) fish around the cooler for a coveted Molson or whatever he was looking for he reminded me of a raccoon with its head buried in a trash can & little feet dangling outside so I said just that, it stuck. 

And for what it’s worth the suitcase chicken was actually pork.  I miss you bud, every day.

NPHuskerFL

Great thread! Happy Birthday Steven It has been a busy last few days. Enjoying company of family. My favorite mother in-law flew in from Denver to celebrate our Son's college graduation.  Hanging with my Wife. MFMIL & Mom. MFMIL taught me family tortilla and enchilada recipes, techniques but, even more important we were able to just enjoy the moment.Yes, we made this for Cinco de Mayo but, anybody that knows our family knows we eat like this year-round. 
Smoked a brisket (RW, Pecan & Black Cherry) rubbed with AlbuKirky Red Chile BBQ Rub.  The brisket was just decent imho...Sam's Club won't get my brisket business again (Costco better consistency in Prime cuts).But, I digress.
Next, tortilla school was in session.  I made the masa.  Then as I listened & watched and participated we made about four dozen tortillas...well less the few that were sacrificed to taste test

The Cen-Tex Smoker

caliking said:

After about 6 hrs in the sun (yeah, I caved) and about 1.5 days in the fridge, we got some chicken satay on the egg. 



Plated shot:


Served it with brown jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. The coriander really popped and the cashew peanut sauce was REALLY good. Caliprince is into the whole meat on a stick deal, so he ate his pretty much as shown.

I popped the meat off the other skewers and let them swim in the sauce (marinade cooked on the top grid in the 1st pic). And it got even better. Sort of like a Southeast Asian chicken satay masala or whatever. Can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!

Great recipe, LS. Thanks for sharing it.

Wow. That looks incredible. You made it all pretty and stuff. 

lkapigian

lkapigian said:

Cheers @Little Steven 

 

Because of many if this ^^^^ this is the last shot of the cook...Thanks@"Little Steven" for bringing us together this day

caliking

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Wow. That looks incredible. You made it all pretty and stuff. 

It was a special cook, so I figured I should do it right  

I've (re)discovered coriander in non- Indian cooking, and liking it . I should have grilled at higher temp to get some more char on them though .

lousubcap

Based on thread title this does not qualify but I am toasting LS with several Molson's Canadians for the remainder of this day.  Rest in peace!

gdenby

No picture post, but I did some Rogan Gosh. Tried to sub the red coloring from alkanet w. purplish from anchiote. But also added saffron to make the sauce a bit more special. The taste was fine, but the blend of yellow orange and purple brown really didn't work. The unappetizing image was not Little Steven worthy.

Nevertheless, hats off to LS, you raised the bar.

caliking

@gdenby I applaud the rogan josh cook and the sentiment behind it. The saffron was a nice touch .

But I'm confused about this business about the food coloring. Rogan josh shouldn't need any added coloring, and I don't recall ever seeing any recipes that call for any either.

Maybe try without any added coloring next time?

gdenby

caliking said:

@gdenby I applaud the rogan josh cook and the sentiment behind it. The saffron was a nice touch .

But I'm confused about this business about the food coloring. Rogan josh shouldn't need any added coloring, and I don't recall ever seeing any recipes that call for any either.

Maybe try without any added coloring next time?

The "red" in Rogan is partly from Kashmiri pepper powder, which is much like paprika. The finer bright red, which also shows in tandoori chicken, is from the roots of flower commonly called bugloss, less often alkanet. It produces a brilliant red color, and is also good for dying wool. Recipes I know about mention that the final step is to saute the alkanet in ghee, and pour that on top of the mix, producing a pool of brilliant red.

I think the problem is that the redness I tried to introduce with water soluble anchiote was a bad color mix w. the saffron. The fat in the sauce took the saffron, and turned a very pleasant yellow, but the meat mix was, umm, about the color of peat moss.

gmac

I know that I’m a bit late and that these aren’t really LS recipes but I went with beef for the Mrs. This was supposed to be our Sunday night meal but as I said, hard rain just didn’t allow it so I’m posting today in honour of Little Steven’s Birthday.

Started with some some bacon wrapped shrimp.  

Glazed with 2:1 maple syrup and siracha. Finished picture. Passed them around for the boys and the Mrs and they disappeared. 



Followed up with some strip loins and portabello’s. Coated the mushrooms with the rendered bacon grease, salt and pepper on both and went direct at 400. 



And here we are plated and ready to eat. Just store bought bread sticks but it is Monday after all. 



I’m glad that we did this thread and I’m happy to show my respect for a good guy who helped me and a lot of others to be better cooks.