What'cha Cookin' Tonight II

[onejayhawk]

Ale Poached Fish

2 pounds/1 kilo skinless fish, thick cut
1 can/bottle ale or beer
1 small onion
1 head garlic
black pepper, cracked
1/4 pound/ 100 g butter
sea salt
brown sugar

In a covered pan or poaching dish, generously crack peppercorns
Skin and mash garlic, thinly slice onion
Spread in poaching pan as evenly as possible
Divide butter evenly among the fish pieces and arrange on the sliced onions
Season the fish with salt and cover one side with brown sugar, pressing firmly
Place fish on butter pieces and press down
Carefully pour ale/beer into the pan and add water until the fish is half immersed
Cover pan and place in 400°F/200°C oven for five minutes
Remove cover and return to oven until fish is fully cooked

If you do this properly, the butter will glue the fish to the baking dish. Until you add the liquid, nothing should move much. Inch thick pieces of cross-cut halibut work well. Consistent fish thickness is important. I am told this can be done streamside, in a cast iron skillet, on a wood fire. If so, be prepared to add liquid during the uncovered portion of the cooking.

J

 

[civvver]

I looked up some beef bouginion recipes and if you take some shortcuts and use a slow cooker it doesn't look hard. The full on julia child version is nuts, but the shortcut versions look pretty easy. Crisp some bacon, brown beef in the fat, throw all that and the vegetables in the slow cooker, make a wine reduction in the pan, pour over beef mixture, add some herbs and cook. Easy peasy. Probably not 100% authentic.

 

[onejayhawk]

Here is something for a dinner party





This is a very generic choc chip recipe. Any sheet cookie should work.

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) shortening, butter, or margarine at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups chocolate chips
1/4-1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries (optional)
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Sift together dry ingredients (if butter is unsalted, add 1/4 tsp salt).
Cream fat and sugars.
Add egg and beat thoroughly (about 2 minutes).
Gradually mix in dry ingredients.
Mix in chunky ingredients.
Press mixture into skillet as evenly as possible.
Bake at 350° about 40 minutes.

One approach is to slice the still warm cookie in wedges, place a pint of good quality ice cream in the middle, and bring it to the table still in the skillet.

 

[onejayhawk]

Here is an attractive vegan dish for the groaning sideboard. It's called Christmas salad because of the red and green color but it's suitable anytime. If you like quinoa it would be excellent in this use.

Christmas Salad
3-4 cups cooked bulgur wheat or couscous
½ cup onion greens, cut into thin rounds
½ bunch flat-leaf parsley or cilantro washed and roughly chopped
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
½ cup toasted almonds, pine nuts, or sunflower seeds
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp apple juice
S&P to taste

J

 

[Azem.Ocram]

I’m trying to make a “lasagna” I can enjoy that my mostly vegan, gluten-free sister can enjoy.

She occassionally eats parmegianno regiano and pecorino romano in moderation but prefers vegan products.

I was thinking about using almond milk, vegan margerine, sweet rice flour, and corn starch for the bechamel, use a combination of vegan parmesan (for the middle) and parmeggiano reggiano (for the top), use thinly sliced butternut squash for the lasagna noodle substitute, make a tomato sauce by hand (including san marzano tomatoes, grated carrots, and parmesan rind), and use a combo of eggplant, riced cauliflower, riced broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, beets, and black (beluga) or brown lentils. Would that be good?

 

[onejayhawk]

Vegan is easier than gluten-free. Pasta is central to everything.

What you are describing is a layered dish, which makes some sense, but why strain things to call it lasagna? For flavor, perhaps some walnuts.

I would suggest Mexican or SW American cooking for inspiration. Corn is gluten-free and legumes are a staple.

J

 

[yung.carl.jung]

I’m trying to make a “lasagna” I can enjoy that my mostly vegan, gluten-free sister can enjoy.

She occassionally eats parmegianno regiano and pecorino romano in moderation but prefers vegan products.

I was thinking about using almond milk, vegan margerine, sweet rice flour, and corn starch for the bechamel, use a combination of vegan parmesan (for the middle) and parmeggiano reggiano (for the top), use thinly sliced butternut squash for the lasagna noodle substitute, make a tomato sauce by hand (including san marzano tomatoes, grated carrots, and parmesan rind), and use a combo of eggplant, riced cauliflower, riced broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, beets, and black (beluga) or brown lentils. Would that be good?

I've done this before. my favorite kind of vegetable lasagna is with roasted mushrooms and eggplant for the umami punch and hokkaido squash for some sweetness. you can make gluten-free lasagna out of chickpea flour or gram flour (they're almost the same) and it tastes absolutely stunning. it's not very hard to make. in some ways better, in some not. Is she a celiac, or just gluten free for no good reason? I like your recipe very much so far, best of luck!

 

[onejayhawk]

Thanksgiving is over (or soon will be). Here are a few of recipes to use up leftover turkey and dressing.

Stuffed Pasta

2 doz jumbo pasta shells
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup cubed turkey meat
1 cup cooked stuffing
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp no salt chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta to just firmer than al dente.
Combine remaining ingredients and stir
Stuff shells and bake at 375° until heated through, about 12-15 minutes
Serve with gravy

Eggs Arnold

Stack dressing, turkey, a fried (or poached) egg, then cover with hollandaise sauce

Faux Hollandaise Sauce

1 cup plain white yogurt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard

Christmas Turkey

3 cups stuffing
2 cups cubed turkey
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 medium sweet red pepper, finely chopped
6 large or 8 medium eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup mayonnaise or sour cream

Mix onions and pepper
Divide stuffing, meat, and onion-pepper mixture
Beat last three ingredients together
Layer stuffing, meat, onion-pepper mixture, egg mixture, repeat
Bake at 350° for an hour

Most of these work with any prepared meat, even tinned meats like Spam. If using a salty meat add a little acid to bring out a balancing sweetness. All these recipes assume that sufficient salt is already in the leftover food but feel free to grind pepper. Christmas Turkey is so-called because of the green onions-red bell pepper. It's quite attractive. For the faux hollandaise sauce, you can add mayo if you must have fat, but only if you must.

J

 

[onejayhawk]

From a French chef, used with permission.

The Shocking Turkey thread!
Oh yes my timing is waaaaay off but heck, you never listen to me anyway.
Here is MY version of cooking a turkey and its... shocking!
Try to keep an open mind as most of these tips will be the opposite of what you've ever heard about Turkey so grab a seat first and if you like good food you might even try this one day

My main issues with Turkey are a rather bland taste and a dry meat. And of course my number one problem is the habit of Americans to OVERCOOK it of course

First the choice of bird: the difference in taste between industrial, battery turkey and free range is huge, I mean really huge. In a blind tasting I'd get 10 out of 10 for sure. But OK the price difference can be also huge so I understand everyone does not have 50 or a 100 bucks to invest in a turkey but hey its that once a year occasion remember and if you were cooking fillet steaks for 12 people it'd cost you a 100 bucks too. At least try not to buy a frozen animal, please

So what you need is the KellyBronze variety, the Rolls Royce of the Turkey. Its actually an English variety sorry Yanks. Free-ranging at least, if not organic. The meat from this variety is much fatter than other turkeys and the bones have a sweet, slightly wild taste which makes the meat taste so much better.
Also you should not buy a big bird, the bigger the more bland it tastes, rather 2 small birds than one biggie. An average KellyBronze is 5kg and thats my recommended weight for turkey.

Here are my cooking tips:
- Let the bird out at room temperature a minimum 2 hours before cooking, no compromise.
- Do not stuff the turkey yes you've heard right, stuffing increases the cooking time and results in dryer meat. Stuffing will also absorb most of the juices out of your turkey meat, drying it even more
- Good stuffing can be perfectly cooked outside of the turkey and added to the cooking juices right at the end. If you need tips on how to do that, let me know. An onion or herbs can be used instead of stuffing.
- Do not use an oven with a fan or with hot air (dont know how you call it in US), again that dries out. Preheat at 180C for 30min.
- Salt and pepper your turkey (no brining) and it lay breast down in an oven tray! Thats the real secret to success: the juices and fats are mostly in the bottom of the bird so laying it down breast down means all those juices will sip through your big white breasts and create extra juiciness.
- You can have some vegetables at the bottom of the tray as it will help to make your own delicious gravy.
- The KellyBronze only needs 20mins per kilo! of cooking time. Other turkey usually require 30 min. max. so this shorter cooking time is also a factor in the quality of the meat as the less you cook it the better. So 5 kg= only 1h40 min cooking time
- Halfway through throw a glass of water with vermouth in the baking tray. No basting further needed
- 30 minutes before the end, turn the turkey around so that you get your get that great skin crispiness, since the skin will have absorbed the fat which was at the bottom, you will get a very nice crispy skin from this method! And with this no need to cover with stupid (drying) tin foil...
- Use a thermometer to get the cooking perfectly right, prick it in the thickest part of the meat (the breast) and wait til you hit 68C and... it's cooked!
- Take it out and let it rest in a warm place uncovered! for 30 minutes! That part is essential
- Right before serving throw the juices on top of it and...SERVE!

The results are usually phenomenal, most people than say that they actually never had turkey before they had mine and I even cooked this dish for an American friend of mine who is a restaurant owner and one of NYC most famous chef and he was gobsmacked, since then he has used my recipe for his restaurant and even got an article in the NYTimes for the quality of his turkey

I have also done this bird on BBQ/grill but thats for another episode

 

[civvver]

We made a toffee/bark with saltine crackers and it was surprisingly easy and really good. You can look it up as saltine cracker toffee.

1 sleeve of saltine crackers (about 30)
1 cup butter
1 cup of brown sugar
2 cups of chocolate chips
any topping you want- nuts, sprinkles, candies

Preheat oven to 400f
Put the saltines side by side in a single layer on rimmed baking sheet. I lined mine with foil and sprayed with cooking spray
Bring the butter and brown sugar to boil in a sauce pan. Do not over stir, once or twice total is fine. Boil for 3 minutes
Pour the mixture over the crackers and spread it evenly using a spatular
Put in the oven to bake for 6 mins
Remove and sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly on top
Let those melt in on their own, about 5 minutes, then spread the chocolate evenly with a spatula
Top with your toppings. I use green and red sprinkles.
Let it cool completely. I suggest putting the whole tray in the freezer.
When it's nice and hard, break into desired pieces.


Also tried a garlic chicken crock pot recipe that's a riff on chicken with 100 cloves of garlic. It's called chicken with 20 cloves of garlic lol.

6 chicken thighs or chicken legs, or any combination (or 3 whole legs!) with skin on. You can do more or less depending on the size of your slow cooker.
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
Thyme leaves or sprigs
Olive oil
1 Lemon thinly sliced
20 cloves of garlic, peeled but whole

Arrange the chicken on a baking tray or pan skin side up. Brush with olive oil (just a little, you might not even need it cus the skin is so fatty) then season generously with salt and pepper.
Broil for 5-10 minutes until the skin is browned a little but not crispy.
Put in the crock pot. Pour the rendered fat in the pan on top.
Add garlic and thyme and top with lemon slices
Cook on low for 4-5 hours
Serve with the cooked garlic using the lemon slices as garnish and some of the cooking liquid drizzled over

Really good, tender chicken. The skin of course isn't as crispy as dry roasting but you trade something for ease. Was not too lemony or garlicky. I was surprised at how rich it was too, all that delicious chicken fat!

 

[yung.carl.jung]

@Jay

I've found many people in the anglosphere and in Europe are utterly scared by the idea of pink and/or juicy poultry. they cook it to death becuase muh salmonella (which is a legit concern if you buy American frozen turkey, that stuff is probably garbaggio quality, had a sad life and was force fed antibiotics). Dry chicken or turkey is just a hopeless, sad meal and that can only really be covered up by sauce, hence the massive gravy. Me personally I would much rather eat duck, goose, chicken or literally any other pultry imagineable, but if I had to do turkey, your method sounds great!

remember kids pink chicken is a-okay and steak that isn't cardboard won't kill you

165 fahrenheit for poultry, all you need to know.

 

[onejayhawk]

I've found many people in the anglosphere and in Europe are utterly scared by the idea of pink and/or juicy poultry. they cook it to death becuase muh salmonella (which is a legit concern if you buy American frozen turkey, that stuff is probably garbaggio quality, had a sad life and was force fed antibiotics). Dry chicken or turkey is just a hopeless, sad meal and that can only really be covered up by sauce, hence the massive gravy. Me personally I would much rather eat duck, goose, chicken or literally any other pultry imagineable, but if I had to do turkey, your method sounds great!

remember kids pink chicken is a-okay and steak that isn't cardboard won't kill you

165 fahrenheit for poultry, all you need to know.

Not my method. He really is a chef and he really is from France. We used to do fantasy baseball at a virtual bar, not unlike this one.

Here the fear is trichinosis in pork, last seen around WW II. My own mother would do medium rare steak for my father but cook hers about two minutes longer. Pork and chicken had no such slack. Done was not done enough.

I understand the aversion to turkey. It's incredibly bland yet defies before-cooking prep, such as a marinade. Brining is successful only in comparison. The best thing to do with turkey is to cut it up. Turkey breast is a low-fat and substitutes in almost any pork recipe. Turkey drumsticks and thighs have actual flavor and do well in a smoker. The rest will make gallons of excellent stock.

J

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Turkey drumsticks and thighs have actual flavor and do well in a smoker.

J

*drools obsessively*

it*s only a matter of time til I build one from scrap

 

[onejayhawk]

Treat turkey like lean pork. If rosemary is available in quantity use some for smoke.

J

 

[civvver]

@Jay

I've found many people in the anglosphere and in Europe are utterly scared by the idea of pink and/or juicy poultry. they cook it to death becuase muh salmonella (which is a legit concern if you buy American frozen turkey, that stuff is probably garbaggio quality, had a sad life and was force fed antibiotics). Dry chicken or turkey is just a hopeless, sad meal and that can only really be covered up by sauce, hence the massive gravy. Me personally I would much rather eat duck, goose, chicken or literally any other pultry imagineable, but if I had to do turkey, your method sounds great!

remember kids pink chicken is a-okay and steak that isn't cardboard won't kill you

165 fahrenheit for poultry, all you need to know.

I don't think I've ever cooked chicken to 165 and had it be pink though, at least not the white meat. I don't wish to cook chicken til done due to safety but because under cooked chicken tastes rubbery and gross. Under cooked pork I'm more ok with. Not sure why beef is so good rare and chicken so terrible but it is. Usually I brine my chicken breasts cus it's hard to get them done just right without it.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

I don't think I've ever cooked chicken to 165 and had it be pink though, at least not the white meat. I don't wish to cook chicken til done due to safety but because under cooked chicken tastes rubbery and gross. Under cooked pork I'm more ok with. Not sure why beef is so good rare and chicken so terrible but it is. Usually I brine my chicken breasts cus it's hard to get them done just right without it.

so I trust you wont be trying chicken sashimi anytime soon?



(queue Gordon "its fookn raw" Ramsay)

 

[onejayhawk]

I don't think I've ever cooked chicken to 165 and had it be pink though, at least not the white meat. I don't wish to cook chicken til done due to safety but because under cooked chicken tastes rubbery and gross. Under cooked pork I'm more ok with. Not sure why beef is so good rare and chicken so terrible but it is. Usually I brine my chicken breasts cus it's hard to get them done just right without it.

You never will because 165° is well done for any meat. Pork and beef only need 145° to be considered safe.

The big issue with poultry is that it goes very dry due to the low fat content.

J

 

[yung.carl.jung]

The USDA says that as long as all parts of the chicken have reached a minimum internal temperature of 165°, it is safe to eat. Color does not indicate doneness. The USDA further explains that even fully cooked poultry can sometimes show apinkish tinge in the meat and juices

so a chicken at 165 can still be pink. also moisture really depends on your method of cooking. if you sous vide a breast and then torch it you'll have a pretty moist piece of meat. I do agree though that the fattiest part of the birds are always the juiciest, most flavorful!

this has led me to do some research:

“The majority of chickens sold in stores today are between six to eight weeks old,” says Blonder. Young chickens have hollow bones that are thinner and more porous than their older brethren. When cooked, “the purple marrow—so colored due to the presence of myoglobin, a protein responsible for storing oxygen—leaks into the meat.” This reaction, in effect, stains the bone; the color of the meat adjacent to it will not fade regardless of the temperature to which it's cooked.

 

[Azem.Ocram]

I made a tomato sauce, ruined it with sour wine, overcompensated with too much baking soda, tried to recompensate with balsamic vinegar, ended up going to the store while it simmered to get more tomato (and pasta & meat instead of the lentils I was going to use), added some lemon juice after I added the tomato to react with the excess baking soda (and add a bright flavor). It ended up becoming a dark brown-purple meat sauce that tastes really good.

 

[Sofista]

I’m trying to make a “lasagna” I can enjoy that my mostly vegan, gluten-free sister can enjoy.

Late late late, but perhaps you could take inspiration by spinach cannelloni (I'm sure Google will provide readymade vegan options). Similar in idea to classic lasagna, but in itself already vegetarian.

@Jay

I've found many people in the anglosphere and in Europe are utterly scared by the idea of pink and/or juicy poultry. they cook it to death becuase muh salmonella (which is a legit concern if you buy American frozen turkey, that stuff is probably garbaggio quality, had a sad life and was force fed antibiotics). Dry chicken or turkey is just a hopeless, sad meal and that can only really be covered up by sauce, hence the massive gravy. Me personally I would much rather eat duck, goose, chicken or literally any other pultry imagineable, but if I had to do turkey, your method sounds great!

remember kids pink chicken is a-okay and steak that isn't cardboard won't kill you

165 fahrenheit for poultry, all you need to know.

Inhaling deeply, as a paranoid European used to ditching important of percentages of my own cooked poultry, I'm going to ask: yes, but for how long? Or you mean I should measure it with the meat thermometer?