Cookin again

Dannyalcatraz · Dec 5, 2017

Recently thawed out a berg of gumbo for dinner, served with rice. Had some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for dessert.

Wanted to repeat that meal the next day, but Dad killed the last of it.

Trying to eat the freezer down before Christmas. I have a stash of hot sausage and seafood, so making another gumbo is going to happen. Probably suffer through some ribeyes & red beans as well.

Because, besides cooking the Christmas dinner- just starting the planning stages- we've decided that we're doing mostly edibles for Christmas gifting. I'm making hot sausage, "Make Ya Own Damn Sausage" hot sausage seasoning mix, bread pudding and -by request- trail mix. Not everyone will get everything, but all will get something nice in a basket. Or insulated shopping bag. Or in a box in the mail. Some gift bundles will be supplemented by liquor and/or cheese.

And the thing is, the first batches of hot sausage AND seasoning mix will be going out next Wednesday. Whatever pace I set, I'm going to need some storage space as the stuff is put together. Making the sausage seasoning mix is easy, but time consuming. And Mom has so far doubled the recipient list...and she's probably not done.

I also need to make space for the stuff I want to pre-cook for the holidays. Mission #1 will be another oyster dressing...King Kong sized. Some for eating, some for storing.

Dannyalcatraz · Jan 31, 2018

Experimented making a beef soup tonight.

Flatiron steak
Beef stock
Beef bullion
Baby bok choy
Celery
Garlic
Leeks
Shallots
Green onions
Yellow onions
1 sweet onion
Diced Yukon Gold potatoes
Parsley
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne
Paprika
Citric acid
Splash of red wine

Also toasted some Italian bread topped with olive oil and grated Swiss cheese in the oven.

Overall, it was pretty good, but there is room for improvement.

1) The soup REALLY could have used more potatoes. They were an underutilized flavor and texture star.
2) The sweet onion will get ditched next time.
3) The creole in me wondered where the bay leaf was.
4) I probably could have gotten a better sear on the flatiron, which, BTW, worked surprisingly well as a beef cut for soup. After I seared it, I removed it, cubed it, and didn’t return it to the soup until much later.
5) The bread should have gotten either butter instead of olive oil, or more of the cheese, and needed to toast a bit longer.
6) I really wanted to put in some white or portobello mushrooms...but didn’t have any

Dannyalcatraz · Feb 2, 2018

Dad weighed in on the soup experiment (above) tonight. ”MOAR MEAT!”

He’s right. Definitely needed that. And I think next time I’ll be cooking the broth down a bit more before putting the solids back in.

I think I’ll also put the Bok Choy in last, with the seared, cubed meat. That way, it will be cooked juuust enough to be warm/hot. IOW, not quite as limp and wilted as it came out this time; a little bit more al dente. Hmmm...maybe I’ll even give it a quick browning of its own in the pot or in the oven.

Dannyalcatraz · Feb 12, 2018

I’ve been thinking about learning how to braise things, and tried this recipe...ish.

https://www.foodlion.com/recipes/butter-braised-ribeye/#

I only had 2 ribeyes- the other 2 having been repurposed for a meal a few days ago- so I boosted the pot with mushrooms. I also added extra celery, and carrots, a few cloves of garlic and some green onion, a sprinkle of thyme and parsley, and a generous glug of a table red. I served it over white rice with a side of butter-wilted spinach seasoned with black pepper.

Came out tasty, but I think I overcooked the ribeyes in the searing step, because they came out a tad overcooked after an hour in the oven. Still damn tasty, though.

The recipe is also a little shy on details of how to actually serve the meat. As written, you get whole braised steaks in the pot, which you remove to reduce the liquid. Well, that’s GREAT if everyone wants a whole pound of steak- including me as recently as Christmas- but as noted, we’re all trying to cut back.

So next time- yes, everyone enjoyed it, so there will be an encore- I’m going to monitor my searing step more closely and remove the meat sooner. While the veggies, etc. sauté in the butter & drippings, I’ll slice the meat into strips before returning them to the pot. I’ve used that technique before, with good results in other cooking methods.)

Other changes: feedback from my sous-chef (Mom) indicates more garlic would be welcome. I’d also use portobello mushrooms- all I had on hand were buttons.

Mallus · Feb 12, 2018

Dannyalcatraz said:
Experimented making a beef soup tonight.

Flatiron steak...

How did you season the steak before searing/browning it? Ever since I used an Emeril recipe for lamb stew I've taken his advise and mixed up a simple spice rub for whatever meat is going in the pot. Usually onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, something for heat, and maybe something else that works with the rest of the dish.

As for my own (kinda limited) forays into cooking, for the Superbowl I made chili. A variation on the East Coast Liberal-style chili my mom used to make. Even purchased the ingredients from Whole Foods!.

I'm not sure if a Texan would laugh, cry, or try to murder me with withering scorn, but it turned out pretty good. For the record, I don't think I've ever had anything resembling authentic chili.

I used: a mix of ground lamb & pork -- seasoned for about an hour with garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and dried Hatch red chili powder prior to cooking -- a mix of diced fresh peppers (poblano, jalepeno, habernero, red), diced sweet onion & garlic, white beans, and crushed tomato. Oh, and a dollop of honey to cut the heat.

From the upstairs of our house it smelled like chili. In the kitchen it smelled like Greek food, so I served it with sliced black olives & feta on top! It was flavorful, not too hot. Definitely a keeper.

Dannyalcatraz · Feb 13, 2018

How did you season the steak before searing/browning it?

Since it was an experiment, I kept it simple- just salt & pepper.

I used: a mix of ground lamb & pork -- seasoned for about an hour with garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and dried Hatch red chili powder prior to cooking -- a mix of diced fresh peppers (poblano, jalepeno, habernero, red), diced sweet onion & garlic, white beans, and crushed tomato. Oh, and a dollop of honey to cut the heat.

From the upstairs of our house it smelled like chili. In the kitchen it smelled like Greek food, so I served it with sliced black olives & feta on top! It was flavorful, not too hot. Definitely a keeper.

That sounds really good!

(Since I’m no Texan, I won’t bust you on the beans.

)

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 6, 2018

Lunch today was at a local Tex-Mex place- a nice burrito with ground beef, jalapeños, onions, raisins and pecans, drizzled with a mild tomato sauce. It’s a dish I have had there several times over the years.

But I swear that it was different today, despite what the (new) owners say: I’d testify in court the raisins & pecans used to be cooked inside the burrito*, instead of just being an uncooked topping.

So I’m thinking I might combine a couple of concepts floating in my head. I’ve been wanting to make a stuffed pepper recipe of my own. Mom used to make ham and/or shrimp stuffed bell peppers YEARS ago, but since she & Dad discovered that bell peppers don’t agree with them, she stopped making them. I want to go more European, with a nicely seasoned ground beef foundation. Maybe using our family recipe for hot sausage, even. And instead of bell peppers, I’d use one of the other giant mild peppers available in Texas, like Anaheim, Poblano or Banana peppers.

And maybe, part of that recipe could be a raisin & pecan agrodolce.

Perhaps a sour cream based sauce...or Avacado?

* Kind of like an agrodolce- a reduction of sweet and sour elements, like fruits or nuts with vinegar, lemon juice, etc.

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 15, 2018

Did a corned beef for Mom & Dad a few days ago. (I hate corned beef.)

I looked at and used the provided seasoning packet. I added more thyme, cracked black pepper, and a trio of bay leaf in the roasting pan. I also used a Kirin beer instead of water.

Result: the least awful corned beef I’ve ever had!

OK, the full tale: I didn’t rinse the thing as well as I should have, so it’s quite salty. I dumped the cooking liquids and replaced them with filtered water in the same amount. Seems to be leaching some of the saltiness away. I suspect, though, that it will continue to be a bit of a salt bomb. However, it should pair nicely with the greens and red beans I thawed, which I cook low-sodium. Together, the veggies and corned beef should balance out.

It might also work on a sandwich. Yoinkimg an idea from the venerable BLT, a few slices with tomato slices and spinach and some mayo on toasted sourdough might work. Perhaps a mild cheese on it, too. Cream cheese?

All that said, cooking it in the beer was a stroke of genius. My Mom is a corned beef fiend, and declared it was some of the tenderest, moistest corned beef she ever had. I have to agree on that. The texture was killer. I later browsed the Internet looking to see what others had done, and many favored the darker beers like Guiness for their corned beef braises, but I’m thinking their flavor might be too...stout. OTOH, a dark beer’s intense flavor might offset the saltiness better than the pale Kirin.

Regardless of the beer type, though, if I can get the saltiness down enough the next time- and yes, there will be a next time as long as my parents live- I might even be able to say I found a corned beef recipe I liked.

I, the non-corned beef eater in the family was the first to try the stuff after an overnight soak. I warmed 2 slices, and placed it on toasted sourdough with mayo, sliced tomatoes and spinach, with generous smears of Laughing Cow spreadable Swiss (similar to cream cheese in texture & flavor). IOW, a variant on a BLT.

The result. Paraphrasing a Southern idiom...”Shut my mouth...and re-open it!”

The corned beef was still too salty to eat straight, IMHO, but in the context of the sandwich, it came across as slightly saltier than bacon. Since the other ingredients except the mayo were relatively low in salt, the whole array of flavors married up pretty well.

Even though I will never order corned beef at a deli, I can honestly say that I would eat MY beer-braised corn beef again, at least as included on a version of that sandwich.

And with St. Patrick’s Day coming up, Mom has requested another corned beef. This time, I’m going to use Shiner Bock as my beer for the braising.

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 16, 2018

Because it is a Friday in Lent, I must abstain from meat. So for lunch, I made a grilled cheese sandwich, a simple but tasty comfort food I have made many a time. But today, I gave it a twist.

I’ve tried a variety of cheeses before, and sometimes I even use 2 or 3 different ones. Today, I used American cheese...to accent the akkawi that was the main cheese. As you may or may not know, akkawi is an Israeli cheese, similar to but slightly more strongly flavored than mozzarella.

Let’s just say that it worked ou just fine. But that wasn’t the twist.

I was introduced to akkawi in a nice local Lebanese restaurant that has since closed its 2nd and location nearest me. They served it as an appetizer in the form of little cheese pizzas @6” last time I was in that restaurant, our waiter suggested we try dipping the tiny slices of cheesy Heaven in honey. Cloud 9 City!. The salty and sweet combo was a hit with the entire table.

Remembering that, I decided to pu a little pool of honey on my plate into which I could dip my sandwich. A couple undipped bites in- had to taste the base flavor, of course- I went for the honey. Paradise flashback!

Dipping turned to dragging as I made my sandwich disappear like a magic trick. I’m not saying I’ll do this every time in the future- after all, I won’t always be using akkawi (though it should work with other cheeses)- but it is definitely something I’ll do again. And as I write this, I can see this working with other dipping options, sweet or savory.

For instance, I could see using the mix of honey and Chinese hot oil* should be a powerful combo. Or going in a different direction, using a good fig or date preserve should be good. On the savory side, there’s a tried & true dipping sauce I make: a 50/50 mix of yellow mustard and A1 steak sauce, mixed with black pepper and Tabasco to taste.

I did NOT need to know.

* in my case, I’m thinking of a particular hot oil a restaurant nearby makes, infused with pan-seared ginger & garlic in addition to the usual pepper flakes, (I need to learn to make my own,,,how difficult can it be?)

Dannyalcatraz · Mar 20, 2018

I did my second corned beef, but with some changes.

1) not only did I rinse the meat to leach it of excess salt, I soaked it in water beforehand (as opposed to afterwards, like I did the first time) in Tupperware in my fridge. The soak was @36 hours- extended from the intended 24 (like the first one) by necessity because the kitchen’s plumbing was backed up until midmorning on Monday. (Neither taster mentioned saltiness, so it would seem the soak did its job.)

2) Instead of the bottle of Kirin and some water, I went with 2 bottles of Shiner Bock and a bit less water as my braising liquid. I also added a 4th bay leaf to the liquid.

3). I still used the seasoning packet, but I added more of the pepper (switching from cracked to ground) and thyme overall. I also made sure significant amounts of thy,e and pepper were in the braising liquid.

Everything was cooked at 350degF for 50 min/lb.

My taste-testers were Mom and our friend, the former caterer visiting from OK.

RESULTS:

No surprise, the CB was moist and super tender. There was better flavor penetration into the body of the meat.

I was surprised to see the fat cap shrink to about 75% coverage of the meat, unlike last time. Perhaps I used too hot an oven this time and got rescued by the amount of braising liquid- will have to check.

The seasoning on the fat cap had crusted up beautifully. And I do mean “crust”- it was resistant to being cut neatly, so I had to resort to cutting thicker slabs of meat this time. Again, this may be the result of too high a heat. But nothing tasted burned, apparently.

But the verdict from the taste testers was 100% positive. My Mom (the true CB nut here) had had a huge amount of CB at a Luby’s Cafeteria on St Patrick’s day. That’s her go-to locale here for that dish on that day, not just because of the meat, but also their sides. But according to her, theirs is among the better commercially available CBS in our area. SHE said she may never go back for their St. Patrick’s day offerings because mine outclassed it in every way.

Our caterer friend also raved about the flavor and moist, tender texture. So it was a clear win. Come to find out this morning, as I was helping her load her bags into her car’s trunk for her return to OK, it was a bigger win than I knew.

Because, like me, she is a lifetime non-Corned beef eater. Her one exception was classic Reuben sandwiches. But her verdict (like Mom’s) was delivered on the meat naked & alone.

So apparently, braising your corned beef is key to converting haters to enjoyers, because by my count, it’s 2 for 2.