I am into that kind of thing. Do you use the same amount of lard as you would butter? Or do you need to use less lard and more water to compensate for the water content of butter?

I use lard when I make flour tortillas. Much better results than other fats.

For those squeamish about animal fats in baked goods, good quality lard doesn't taste like pig. It doesn't have any flavor at all, really.

Id use the same amount of lard and adjust your water on the fly. Water in pastry is really a moving target anyway.

Might be off topic, but I dined a cup of simple green tea - and to my shame, I have to admit that there was a drop of honey inside

what the **** is this

He was intending to post in the Im vegan and i am a douche about it thread i guess

I think its a pretty decent spam bot, if you check its comments

Ok, OOT chefs, I need some help.

Apparently I'm responsible for making dinner on Saturday for a group of 4-5 families, in particular some type of chicken pesto sandwich. My general thought was that I'd sous vide a bunch of chicken breasts the day before and keep them in the fridge, then on Saturday cook them in some type of loaf of bread on either stovetop or in the oven for a few minutes to warm them up and melt the cheese. I guess I'd place a weight on top while doing so.

So basically I have no idea what I'm doing in terms of specifics. Some questions:
1. Assuming it's safe to sous vide then refrigerate the chicken, is it safe to just throw the chicken into the fridge in the same bags I used in the water?

2. Should I be marinating the chicken either before or after the water bath?

3. Any advice on what type of bread to use?

4. Any general thoughts/advice on this?

Thanks in advance.

If you're going to smash your bread into a super dense piece of dough, why not just make quesadillas with ****ty tortillas. Or if you are into dense bread Focaccia, cheese, pesto is a fairly common restaurant combo. Maybe throw some greens on there too.

Well, "quesadillas with ****ty tortillas" would be a pretty tough sell to the wife. I mentioned the weight because I was going back and forth between panini-type sandwiches on sourdough bread and (non-pressed) sandwiches on some type of loaf.

spider,

Your line of questions cause me much confusion because they make absolutely no sense at all.

Wives make sammiches ldo.

Now go watch a game or tinker on your car for a bit.

This is going swimmingly

Your plan is fine, but chicken will be cold in the middle if you just try to bring it up to temp for a few minutes. It can work but takes some practice if you are not used to cooking for 4-5 families. I would suggest SV chicken, coarsely chopped, mixed with boatloads of pesto for a chicken salad. Sourdough is great. Definitely grill the bread or warm it up in the oven. No need for melted cheese on a chicken salad, but you could melt it directly on the bread in the oven. Assemble to order.

Things to watch out for, don't skimp on seasoning, keep tasting the salad as you mix it all in. It will need a lot of salt. If it lacks interesting flavors, add little bits of mustard, red wine or balsamic vinegar, or dried berries. Some chopped nuts are cool for texture and extra calories.

Assuming these bags are vacuum sealed, yes, you definitely DON'T want to open them and transfer them to another bag. Once they're cooked in the bag, just cool them rapidly in an ice bath, and store them in the fridge until you need them.

It is pretty hard to screw up chicken, pesto, and cheese. Although sylar's chicken salad with mustard, pesto, and berries doesn't sound all that great to me. Grilled chicken with melted provolone and pesto with some greens is simple and easy.

I suggest making a pesto-mayo if possible, because it is mega elite.

aioli, basil pesto, rucola and tomato marinated with lemon oil and lemon
goes perfectly with chicken(or ham), It's my favorite sandwich combo and I eat it weekly

For bread I'd go with Focaccia, and to warm up the chicken you can just put it back in the water bath ~30 minutes before you put the sandwiches in stovetop/oven.

And +1 on Larry's suggestion for pesto mayo.

I would just skip SV and brine chicken breasts and cook them all on the grill.

Completely agree

Not technically cooking, but just had a serrano ham, melon and avocado salad for lunch. Took 5 mins to throw together and was super delish...

On that same note, I 'prepared' an Oyster platter for my wife and I, tonight. First time shucking, and it went relatively well; had 2 Oysters (out of 10) that had some shell particles in it, but an overall success.

Accompanied it with horseradish, lemon juice, tobasco and cocktail sauce.

(ftr, not a big seafood guy, but I'm starting (and trying) to turn that around)

Oysters is jumping in at the deep end a bit.

Yea, maybe... We had it at a restaurant about a month ago and really enjoyed it. Was at the grocery store and just decided, on a whim to grab some and go for it.

Both happy with the end result. Will try to post pics later. As of now, enjoying a night without the kids.

Cheers