What Are You Chef-ing Tonight, Dr?

Foghorn

JohnInCarolina said:

Foghorn said:

And on New Years Day we kept it simple for the 2 of us. We each picked up a premade salad at the store and I cooked a steak for us to share.  A friend of ours gave us some premium cuts from one of his cows. He’s got about 30 now. He gives premium cuts to friends and family and donates the rest to a senior center. He puts them on a feed lot for 4+ months before they are harvested so the beef is quite good - especially for the price.  

Very nice!

The wife and I have started to do the steak and salad meal fairly frequently when it’s just the two of us.  Hard to beat for ratio of quality to effort. 

Happy New Year to you and yours, Dan.  

Thanks.

Same to you and yours.

Not to be underestimated in this equation is the "paradox of cooking steak for SWMBO" when one cooks for multiple people, which goes as follows:

She likes her steak "rare plus" - which is a very narrow window - 126-128 degrees after carryover cooking.

I know this and EVERY time I cook steak, I go into it with getting her steak right as my highest priority.

Despite this, I overcook her steak on the vast majority of occasions - and get everybody else's steak just right on the vast majority of occasions.

In my mind I have come up with 2 hypotheses.  Either: 
- she is just more picky than everyone else
or
- I subconsciously care more about getting the food perfect for guests than I care about getting the food perfect for her.

Regardless, when there is only 1 steak to cook I can really target her preferred temp and I am more likely to cook something to her satisfaction.  

For the record, the steak pictured above was a little overcooked for her liking but she's OK with that when it is cut up on a salad.  She's pickier when it is served as a whole steak.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking things...

Foghorn

caliking said:

Foghorn said:

   

Here’s the charcuterie board I mentioned a few posts ago. 

Your earlier description did not do it justice. Looks fabulous!

Thanks.  SWMBO did all the work.  The best thing on there is the pretzels that are dipped in caramel, then chocolate, then different kinds of sprinkles.  She makes them every holiday season and I consume them like I'm a crack addict... while she says nonsensical stuff like "You know, if you only ate 1 per day they would last longer"... 

Legume

Well, I don't see any pretzels on there, which seems to back up your point about how much you like them.  I love the idea of a dessert board like that for grazing.  Everyone knows grazing = fewer calories because you're moving around more.  It's science.

Botch

Five days ago I'd heard of "Congee" but didn't know what it was.  Today I made some.  
It's basically a rice porridge, using many more times water or broth than rice (I'd seen ratios from 4:1 to 10:1), cooking it until the rice breaks apart (30 minutes to 1:15) and then top it with whatever you want.  I understand it's sometimes served unadorned, often when you're feeling under the weather.  You can also speed up the cooking time by breaking up the rice (one guy whisked his vigorously at about 25 minutes, one lady soaked the rice and then froze it overnight, Hot Thai Kitchen gal poured it into her blender, some just cook it for longer).  
One guy said to stir it once after it comes to a boil, reduce to simmer and never stir it again, so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot; one guy said to rinse the rice first so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot; one lady said to stir constantly so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.  I tried a combination of all three and boy did the rice stick to the bottom of the pot; I'm suspecting I just need to use a lower simmer.  
 

 
I stirred in salt, black pepper, fried garlic and shrimp (note to Self: pull the tails off the shrimp first, they're very slippery once in the porridge).  Topped with a soft-boiled egg, fried shallots, kimchee, homemade chili crisp, and soy sauce.  Delicious, and I'll be using this method often from now on, especially during the winter.  I've already got an idea for an Italian version, cooking down the rice in tomato juice and topping with basil, parmesan, and sausage.  It's surprising how much the rice "bulks up" once it breaks down; 1 cup of dried rice is supposed to feed 4-6!  
Also learned something about rice.  I normally use a short-grain (Cal-Rose brand) as it's just sticky enough to eat with chopsticks.  When I was trying to figure how to cook Mexican rice in a rice cooker, I had purchased a bag of long-grain (can't remember if it was Basmati or Jasmine), and used it here.  I always thought rice was rice, but wow the long-grain smells so much better while it cooks than the short-grain!  TFL.  

caliking

Looks great to me, @Botch. I do congee in the InstantPot every now and then. So simple, but somehow very delicious.

caliking

 Chef-ed some cinnamon rolls yesterday, using the King Arthur recipe link above. 

Baked them a little hotter at 375F, and made lemon vanilla cream cheese icing. 

shtgunal3

@caliking Ho-Lee-Fuk! I could embarrass myself with a pan of those.

FarmingPhD

Parm crusted pork chops and mashed taters. Gravy was stellar.

Canugghead

@Botch Glad you discovered congee, so versatile like a canvas so to speak. It's also a great way to use up leftover rice. We cook it in thermal pot aka fireless cooker, just bring the water to a boil with the rice (cooked or raw), simmer about five minutes and let it sit in the pot for few hours. No touch, no fuel, no stuck bottom.

Ragingirishman2

ColbyLang said:

MasterC said:

Happy Birthday 

Thx. Really a non event lately. Everyone has plans or doesn’t want to go out or whatever. Sitters are hard to book for NYE. We did supreme low key last night. Steaks and sides. Cookie cake. Sparklers and smoke bombs with the kiddos. Everyone asleep pre 10pm lol

Happy Birthday!

lousubcap

Tonight's cook and cannot compare with the above but a break from the caveman finish.  Too lazy to mess with reverse sear and caveman so- SBGE and cast iron rolling around 450*F-

SRF black Zabuton 1 lb (got lucky on the sort) steak going in-

In the cast iron with beef tallow-

On the board-

As always the $$$ shot-

Da-n- a great rich beef finish-

Thanks for lookin'

Ragingirishman2

Did a chopped cheese sandwich. It was ok, not sure it’s something I’ll do again. 

Foghorn

Legume said:

Well, I don't see any pretzels on there, which seems to back up your point about how much you like them.  I love the idea of a dessert board like that for grazing.  Everyone knows grazing = fewer calories because you're moving around more.  It's science.

There are 3 pretzels on that plate.  They are covered with chocolate and sprinkles and aren't "pretzel-shaped".  They are straight.  Two are in the bottom right corner.

caliking

Beautiful, @lousubcap ... Just beautiful. 

MasterC

Did the pork tenderloins and kruat on NYD



But the real treat the day after, sliced pork and cheese sandwich.


Oh yah that's good 

caliking

Took a shot at ravioli yesterday. 

Walnuts, lemon zest, goat cheese, mozz, for the filling. 

Made more pasta scraps than, ravioli

Tomato cream sauce, with pecorino, parm, garlic, tarragon. 

This needs some work… the sauce was delicious, but the ravioli just passed muster. Good eats,  nonetheless!

shtgunal3

^^^ I’d hit it ^^^

TechsasJim

Inside skirt steak to char then finely slice to add to wife’s ramen dish.     

shtgunal3

@TechsasJim no pics but we had I side skirt for tacos tonight

lousubcap

@caliking - always a winner.  Nailed the finish photo!

Bellavista52

@MasterC - good Pennsylvania Dutch tradition right there!  Same for my wife and me.  We had sauerkraut and country pork ribs - so good! No pics, though

TechsasJim

Couple tomahawks and a couple filets.   Salted and hanging out for tonight’s 29th wedding anniversary for the wife, kids and me.    

GrateEggspectations

TechsasJim said:

Couple tomahawks and a couple filets.   Salted and hanging out for tonight’s 29th wedding anniversary for the wife, kids and me.    

The steaks looks great, but my “like” was for the 29 years - and celebrated with the kids to boot. Congratulations. Love is a verb - You don’t get there without trust, communication, compromise, understanding, forgiveness and patience. Humility can also help. 🙂

Cheers. 

Campbell2N

Deviled pork chops and homemade applesauce. 

DoubleEgger

Campbell2N

DoubleEgger said:

Picture perfect! Details?

Wooderson

lousubcap said:

Tonight's cook and cannot compare with the above but a break from the caveman finish.  Too lazy to mess with reverse sear and caveman so- SBGE and cast iron rolling around 450*F-

SRF black Zabuton 1 lb (got lucky on the sort) steak going in-

In the cast iron with beef tallow-

On the board-

As always the $$$ shot-

Da-n- a great rich beef finish-

Thanks for lookin'

Simply. Gorgeous. 

TechsasJim

GrateEggspectations said:

TechsasJim said:

Couple tomahawks and a couple filets.   Salted and hanging out for tonight’s 29th wedding anniversary for the wife, kids and me.    

The steaks looks great, but my “like” was for the 29 years - and celebrated with the kids to boot. Congratulations. Love is a verb - You don’t get there without trust, communication, compromise, understanding, forgiveness and patience. Humility can also help. 🙂

Cheers. 

Thank you so much for the kind words.   

Like most probably think, it’s gone by in a flash.   Wouldn’t change a thing.  

Canugghead

Lamb curry for tomorrow. 

Ragingirishman2

TechsasJim said:

Couple tomahawks and a couple filets.   Salted and hanging out for tonight’s 29th wedding anniversary for the wife, kids and me.    

Congratulations on your anniversary!