Cookin again

[prabe]

And THAT is one difference between a home cook an a Michelin star restaurant. Their standards for what they’re willing to cook with are less bound by cost. If a spirit is merely expensive (as opposed to rare and/or no Linder made), they’ll at least consider using it.

“Excuse me. Why is your steak au poivre so expensive?”

“Because we use a $1000 a bottle scotch to make the pan sauce. And before you ask- yes, totally worth it.”

Well, I also really really like drinking the Bruichladdich, and the New Riff bourbon, and the Compass Box Hedonism--to name three things in my cabinet I wouldn't deglaze a pan with (except of course as they end up in the Infinity Bottle). I mostly buy booze to drink, y'know?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Speaking of beef & booze, the absolute best steak sandwich I EVER had was at a place in Austin.

Two of their “secrets” were:

1) they used thin-cut ribeye for the meat. Boneless (of course) and whole, not sliced into bite-sized chunks. So when you bit into the sandwich, you had to really BITE into a PIECE OF MEAT! Very caveman . And then you could see that medium-rare meat peeking out of the sandwich.

2) said meat was also marinated overnight in red wine.

I cannot convey with my words how much better their steak sandwiches were compared to everyone else’s. They became the standard I aim for at home.

Alas, the owner sold the business. And the buyer didn’t buy the recipes. The business did not long survive the change.

 

[Zardnaar]

Just realized I haven't had steak for a while. Hate cooking it.

It's getting very pricey here and never really loved it that much to begin with.

I like it with peppercorn sauce and that was a month or two ago.

Going out tonight no idea what for. Post Covid we started dining out Tuesday to avoid the crowds and it's become the new default.

Irish pub or Turkish would be nice. Heading into winter more likely to eat Indian and rice based dishes. Apparently our favorite Indian place is opening a restaurant in our suburb 2 minutes drive yay.

 

[overgeeked]

Had fairly basic chicken burgers tonight. Homemade buns, store bought chicken patties, cheese, and condiments. But…I cut up a few onions and made caramelized onions. And damn did those onions add a lot to the burgers.

You don’t have to cook fancy food with fancy ingredients to eat well and have great tasting food. Sometimes it’s simple little things that make all the difference.

Caramelized onions.

One onion per person.
1/2 to 1 tbsp oil or butter per onion.

Add fat to pan over medium heat. Cut off the bottom and top of the onion, then peel. Cut in half then slice into strips. Add to pan and cook. Stir occasionally. Takes about 40 minutes to get them nice and caramelized, sometimes closer to 60 minutes.

They reheat well and can be added to anything you’d eat with onions.

 

[Zardnaar]

Had fairly basic chicken burgers tonight. Homemade buns, store bought chicken patties, cheese, and condiments. But…I cut up a few onions and made caramelized onions. And damn did those onions add a lot to the burgers.

You don’t have to cook fancy food with fancy ingredients to eat well and have great tasting food. Sometimes it’s simple little things that make all the difference.

Caramelized onions.

One onion per person.
1/2 to 1 tbsp oil or butter per onion.

Add fat to pan over medium heat. Cut off the bottom and top of the onion, then peel. Cut in half then slice into strips. Add to pan and cook. Stir occasionally. Takes about 40 minutes to get them nice and caramelized, sometimes closer to 60 minutes.

They reheat well and can be added to anything you’d eat with onions.

Pretty close to what we had except I coated the chicken and didn't caramelize the onions.

Caramelized onions in a brioche bun beef burger is pretty good.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You don’t have to cook fancy food with fancy ingredients to eat well and have great tasting food. Sometimes it’s simple little things that make all the difference.

That is TRUE.

 

[Jahydin]

You don’t have to cook fancy food with fancy ingredients to eat well and have great tasting food. Sometimes it’s simple little things that make all the difference.

Agree 100%.

Just knowing how to properly salt food and check "doneness" goes a long way.

 

[overgeeked]

Using up leftover caramelized onions tonight.

Chorizo tacos with cheese, caramelized onions, red cabbage, and store-bought corn tortillas along with some tamarind Jarritos. The trick with corn tortillas is to heat them up. Medium-low heat for 20-30 seconds a side and they get just as floppy as flour tortillas.

 

[Zardnaar]

Using up leftover caramelized onions tonight.

Chorizo tacos with cheese, caramelized onions, red cabbage, and store-bought corn tortillas along with some tamarind Jarritos. The trick with corn tortillas is to heat them up. Medium-low heat for 20-30 seconds a side and they get just as floppy as flour tortillas.

Jealous I'm doing a chicken cashewsalad or some sort of wrap.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm reading Michael Ruhlman's Ratio (two different people have given it to me as a gift, so I'm taking the hint) and it's making me want to cook ciabatta, churros and pound cake. Fascinating science-of-cooking cookbook. Very much looking forward to his upcoming sequel on cocktails, since I've been rewriting every cocktail recipe to be in ratios already since the start of the pandemic.