Cooking a Good Everything Else
07-26-2018
, 09:30 PM
Here’s a better one.
07-27-2018
, 03:49 PM
07-27-2018
, 06:04 PM
07-27-2018
, 07:44 PM
Quest for the perfect French omelette: Day 3
- A few white specks, need to beat the eggs more thoroughly.
- I've found a good rule of thumb for butter is 1/4 inch piece (from a standard US stick, I dont know how butter is sold in other places) per egg, so 3/4 inch for 3 eggs is what I've been doing. But always err on the side of more. Also, an elite move is rubbing a little butter on right after it hits the plate, this gives it a nice glossy look and a little extra richness.
- Most difficult part is still the finishing of the roll-up. I can roll it up all the way in the same direction, but I can't quite do the Pepin technique of rolling about 2/3 of the way and then folding in the other edge to get a nice bottom seam, which creates a nicer oval shape when turned over. Will study the Pepin vid more tonight.
- Heat level doesn't really matter much except that the lower the heat the easier it is for noobs just because the margin of error in terms of cooking time is wider.
- In the 2nd vid of my previous post, chef Des Jardins says she never salts the eggs before cooking because it "breaks down" the eggs. I have no idea what that means, and it sounds like an old chef's tale, like the one about how searing meat seals in juices. I've always salted eggs before cooking no matter how I'm cooking them and they're perfectly fine.
- I kinda like a flat omelette. Some of the fluffier omelettes I've seen on youtube are not that appealing to me.
- Very slighty overcooked again, it spent too much time in the pan as I was trying to do the roll-up.
Looked/tasted the same as yesterday:
- A few white specks, need to beat the eggs more thoroughly.
- I've found a good rule of thumb for butter is 1/4 inch piece (from a standard US stick, I dont know how butter is sold in other places) per egg, so 3/4 inch for 3 eggs is what I've been doing. But always err on the side of more. Also, an elite move is rubbing a little butter on right after it hits the plate, this gives it a nice glossy look and a little extra richness.
- Most difficult part is still the finishing of the roll-up. I can roll it up all the way in the same direction, but I can't quite do the Pepin technique of rolling about 2/3 of the way and then folding in the other edge to get a nice bottom seam, which creates a nicer oval shape when turned over. Will study the Pepin vid more tonight.
- Heat level doesn't really matter much except that the lower the heat the easier it is for noobs just because the margin of error in terms of cooking time is wider.
- In the 2nd vid of my previous post, chef Des Jardins says she never salts the eggs before cooking because it "breaks down" the eggs. I have no idea what that means, and it sounds like an old chef's tale, like the one about how searing meat seals in juices. I've always salted eggs before cooking no matter how I'm cooking them and they're perfectly fine.
- I kinda like a flat omelette. Some of the fluffier omelettes I've seen on youtube are not that appealing to me.
- Very slighty overcooked again, it spent too much time in the pan as I was trying to do the roll-up.
Looked/tasted the same as yesterday:
07-28-2018
, 11:45 AM
Making some smoked meatloaf right now.
07-28-2018
, 01:35 PM
Probably the GOAT meatloaf I’ve ever made:
07-28-2018
, 01:51 PM
07-28-2018
, 05:06 PM
07-28-2018
, 05:28 PM
Quote:
all I did is follow this recipe, its super easy if you have a smoker:
I take all the curing ingredients and throw them in my food processor to make a paste.
Then vacuum pack each chunk of pork belly with some cure:
After its sealed, I massage the belly until the cure has covered all sides. Then I put them in the fridge with a couple of 10 lb weights on top, rotate and massage daily for 7+ days.
I never wash the cure off before I smoke them either
really easy, just takes time
Also, I ask the butcher for a whole side of pork belly which Whole foods always has in back, they cut the smaller portions from this chunk
next up, I make Lardons from the finished bacon:
they're great on top of anything, shirred eggs here:
I also take the bacon and slice it thinly, cook it in water until the fat renders and the bacon crisps, then toss with honey and keep them handy so I can make fast tacos with slow scrambled eggs with goat cheese, arugula and honey bacon:
all I did is follow this recipe, its super easy if you have a smoker:
Quote:
Home-cured maple bacon
Source: Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn's Charcuterie
Recipe type: cured meat, charcuterie Cuisine: American
Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 2 hours Total time: 2 hours 10 mins
Serves: 10
Home-cured bacon takes a week! Planning accordingly. Freezes super well for months. This recipe can be halved or doubled
Ingredients
5-pound pork belly slab, skin on (or two 2.5-pound slabs if you can't find a big enough piece), the thicker and meatier the better, in my opinion
Ľ cup kosher salt
2 teaspoons pink curing salt #1
Ľ cup brown sugar
Ľ cup maple syrup
2 cloves garlic, smashed
Directions
Mix everything (except for the pork belly, haha) together in a thick gallon-sized (or bigger) ziplock freezer bag. With the maple syrup, it should resemble brown a sticky paste.
Add the pork belly (or pork bellies) in the bag and, using your hands, rub the curing mixture all over the surface. You don't have to worry too much about getting it in every nook and cranny because over time, liquid will seep out of the pork and into the curing mixture, making it into a watery brine that will have better contact with the meat.
Zip up the bag, wash your hands, let the bacon cure in a fridge for a week (7 days). Check on the bag at least once a day, flipping it over to redistribute the curing brine.
On the 7th day, pull the pork out of the bag. Discard the bag and the liquid inside. Wash your bacon and pat it dry.
Smoke in a smoker (we like cherry wood or apple wood chips. We found hickory to be a bit harsh, but personal preference!) or bake in an oven at 200 degrees F until it reaches an internal temp of 180 degrees. That takes about an hour or two, depending on the thickness of the belly, but it's totally okay to leave it in the smoker for a little longer. I've forgotten about it before.
Take the belly out of the oven and when it's cool enough to handle, take a long fillet knife and slice off the pork skin (save for another purpose).
You can either slice up the bacon and fry it up and eat. Or you can wrap it as-is in plastic wrap, put it in a freezer bag, and store it in the freezer for . . . a while. I've stored bacon for as long as three months without any discernible difference in taste.
Source: Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn's Charcuterie
Recipe type: cured meat, charcuterie Cuisine: American
Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 2 hours Total time: 2 hours 10 mins
Serves: 10
Home-cured bacon takes a week! Planning accordingly. Freezes super well for months. This recipe can be halved or doubled
Ingredients
5-pound pork belly slab, skin on (or two 2.5-pound slabs if you can't find a big enough piece), the thicker and meatier the better, in my opinion
Ľ cup kosher salt
2 teaspoons pink curing salt #1
Ľ cup brown sugar
Ľ cup maple syrup
2 cloves garlic, smashed
Directions
Mix everything (except for the pork belly, haha) together in a thick gallon-sized (or bigger) ziplock freezer bag. With the maple syrup, it should resemble brown a sticky paste.
Add the pork belly (or pork bellies) in the bag and, using your hands, rub the curing mixture all over the surface. You don't have to worry too much about getting it in every nook and cranny because over time, liquid will seep out of the pork and into the curing mixture, making it into a watery brine that will have better contact with the meat.
Zip up the bag, wash your hands, let the bacon cure in a fridge for a week (7 days). Check on the bag at least once a day, flipping it over to redistribute the curing brine.
On the 7th day, pull the pork out of the bag. Discard the bag and the liquid inside. Wash your bacon and pat it dry.
Smoke in a smoker (we like cherry wood or apple wood chips. We found hickory to be a bit harsh, but personal preference!) or bake in an oven at 200 degrees F until it reaches an internal temp of 180 degrees. That takes about an hour or two, depending on the thickness of the belly, but it's totally okay to leave it in the smoker for a little longer. I've forgotten about it before.
Take the belly out of the oven and when it's cool enough to handle, take a long fillet knife and slice off the pork skin (save for another purpose).
You can either slice up the bacon and fry it up and eat. Or you can wrap it as-is in plastic wrap, put it in a freezer bag, and store it in the freezer for . . . a while. I've stored bacon for as long as three months without any discernible difference in taste.
Then vacuum pack each chunk of pork belly with some cure:
After its sealed, I massage the belly until the cure has covered all sides. Then I put them in the fridge with a couple of 10 lb weights on top, rotate and massage daily for 7+ days.
I never wash the cure off before I smoke them either
really easy, just takes time
Also, I ask the butcher for a whole side of pork belly which Whole foods always has in back, they cut the smaller portions from this chunk
next up, I make Lardons from the finished bacon:
they're great on top of anything, shirred eggs here:
I also take the bacon and slice it thinly, cook it in water until the fat renders and the bacon crisps, then toss with honey and keep them handy so I can make fast tacos with slow scrambled eggs with goat cheese, arugula and honey bacon:
07-28-2018
, 05:38 PM
07-28-2018
, 05:39 PM