What did I cook this weekend.....

[Hello]

At the big Asian store at South Hills Mall...Grand Asia Market. By the way, if you've never been there and you're adventurous, the "box meal" at their in-store food service set-up is a couple big scoops of rice and pick three from the steam table. And it's not stuff modified for American tastes!

Oh yeah, I've been there a lot of times before. I've never eaten there though but they do make bubble tea, which I get each time I go.

 

[mattmmille]

The gravlax is ready! Rinsed well, dried off, sliced thin and served on a toasted bagel with cream cheese...I swear I thought I had a jar of capers in the fridge. Oh well. Didn't miss 'em! As it warmed a bit, the subtle dill flavor just started to come out.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

The gravlax is ready! Rinsed well, dried off, sliced thin and served on a toasted bagel with cream cheese...I swear I thought I had a jar of capers in the fridge. Oh well. Didn't miss 'em! As it warmed a bit, the subtle dill flavor just started to come out.

Some day Ill make grav with the traditional beet sauce, etc... but its so hard to not put on a chewy bagel with capers and cream cheese. Now that I think of it, gravlax sushi couldnt be half bad...

 

[beergolf]

Duck breast with cherry sauce, Carolina rice, green beans. The recipe shows a line of sliced breast with the sauce artfully applied; I just dumped on a lot, lol.

I love duck. mmmmmmm. That looks good.I usually do duck for Thanksgiving instead od turkey.

 

[passedpawn]

lol. My mother is gearing up for tax season..

Tell your mom her placemats and plates are lovely.

 

[lhommedieu]

In my quest to fine tune my culinary chops I read a lot of articles regarding the science behind ingredients and preparation. This article I found fairly interesting and will lead me to my own testing this weekend. Has anyone read this yet?
http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/01/how-to-mince-chop-garlic-microplane-vs-garlic-press.html

Have you read On Food and Cooking?

 

[Melana]

Have you read On Food and Cooking?

Not yet....

 

[Eubanks]

Mattmmille, that gravlax looks pretty cool. I have never heard of it, can you explain it a little more for me. I have quite a bit of wild caught salmon thats frozen. This might be an option for some.

 

[beergolf]

It is F'ing cold here.

Need something to spice it up

Some extra spicy shrimp etouffee sounds good.

The trinity...

 

[beergolf]

Almost ready to add the shrimp

 

[beergolf]

Yum ready to eat....

 

[mattmmille]

Mattmmille, that gravlax looks pretty cool. I have never heard of it, can you explain it a little more for me. I have quite a bit of wild caught salmon thats frozen. This might be an option for some.

Gravlax is a Swedish/Norwegian preparation of salmon that is similar to lox. Instead of cold smoking, gravlax is technically raw, but cured with a mixture of salt, sugar, cracked black pepper (or white) and spices or herbs, traditionally fresh dillweed.

The process takes about 48 hours and the result is rinsed, dried, sliced thin and traditionally served with a mustard-dill sauce in Sweden. I have personally always used it on bagels with cream cheese, like I would use lox. It's just easier for me to produce than cold smoking.

Bobby Flay's recipe is pretty good, so I don't have to write it out here, myself! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/gravlax-recipe.html

I use more stuff than Flay...I don't rub it on, I cover the filets with the mixture (adding chopped dill to the mix), then adding bigger pieces of dill to the filets and sandwiching them together. I used the same amount of the salt/sugar cure for a partial side of salmon that Bobby Flay uses on 3 to 4 pounds of salmon. You could use less than I do...adjust for your tastes. And you could use brown sugar instead of white. Bobby Flay says to use foil, I prefer plastice wrap. He says light weight...I used a brick. He uses white peper and quite a bit...I used about a teaspoon of black peppercorns and then cracked them in a mortor & pestle. I imagine his result was a bit more delicate than mine and perhaps not as thoroughly cured.

Wrapped tight in plastic wrap and placed in a dish, weighted with a brick. Flip after 24 hours (you'll see lots of liquid seeped out...you can toss it). Another 24 hours and then rinse well and you're good to go.

As I mentioned, I did the same with a large rainbow trout last Summer, but didn't have dill, so I made up a spice mix to add to the sugar/salt cure and it was terrific.

One other suggestion: A Gravlax Benedict with a dill hollandaise for Sunday brunch is outstanding! Thaw out a couple of those salmon sides and do this! Scale up the recipe for the cure mixture, if you need to, just maintain the ratios. Cheers!

 

[AkBrew907]

Two giant rib eyes butterflied to look like hearts lol

 

[Melana]

Two giant rib eyes butterflied to look like hearts lol

AWESOME. beef is so yummy!

 

[Melana]

I have not cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot yet. No pics when i started it at 5am (was slow with the coffee) however i'll take some later on. I'm making a second run at smashed salt and vinegar potatoes also - i even bought powdered vinegar (not very pungent though) to add to them. Anyone have any pointers on the S&V Potatoes specifically how does one make them super vinegary?

 

[Staestc]

Not yet....

Have you read On Food and Cooking?

It sounds like a great book! I've just ordered it.

 

[Eubanks]

Thanks for the info matt, i'll have to give it a shot in a few days. Couple questions:

Do you store in fridge during cure?

How do you store after cure and how long will it keep?

Thanks again

 

[Staestc]

RDWHAHB, and make it a coffee stout, and while you're at it throw 4 righteous filet mignon's on the grill! Lol
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424473918.232178.jpg

 

[Staestc]

Let's let them marinate for a bit.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424474299.319514.jpg

 

[Staestc]

Salad fixin's. The garlic and shallot go in the vinaigrette. The tomatoes, pecan, pancetta, and dried cherries all go in the salad.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424477653.002252.jpg

 

[mattmmille]

Thanks for the info matt, i'll have to give it a shot in a few days. Couple questions:

Do you store in fridge during cure?

How do you store after cure and how long will it keep?

Thanks again

Yes, refrigerate during the cure and after. In a ziploc, it will probably last 2 or 3 weeks. I vacuum seal mine and, if I didn't eat it all in less than a week, it would probably last a couple of months.

 

[lhommedieu]

Salad fixin's. The garlic and shallot go in the vinaigrette. The tomatoes, pecan, pancetta, and dried cherries all go in the salad.
View attachment 258066

That's one of my favorite salads. Often I'll add a very good blue cheese.

 

[Staestc]

I did take a picture after I plated everything last night. Very nice dinner just put me to sleep though

 

[Temptd2]

Just made a monster batch of tomatilla salsa. Man, I am going to get that food processor this weekend. The Magic Bullet isn't cutting it. We used to have a decent machine, but (my wife tells me) I broke it a while back.

Going back through this thread for some recipes and just wondered if you ever got that Cuisinart food processor, Andrew??

 

[Staestc]

It's going to be cold and probably icy here for the next couple of days, so I am making soup!

If you watched Seinfeld your probably saw the episodes about the Soup Nazi. Today I'm cooking a clone recipe of the Mulligatawny soup from the actual soup restaurant that the Seinfeld episodes were based on. This is one of my favorite soups. It has no meat in it (other than chicken broth) but you would swear it does!

It starts with frozen corn, pistachios, and cashews.
Then onions, celery, and carrots.
Eggplant, potatoes, roasted red peppers, and parsley go in.
The remainder is spices, herbs, chicken stock, and 16 cups of water!! The secret to this soup is the all day simmer in an excess of water and a huge reduction till it's about the consistency of chili! I can only squeeze in 12 cups of water so I add 4 more after it has reduced enough. In 5-6 hours we will be eating awesome soup!

 

[passedpawn]

Going back through this thread for some recipes and just wondered if you ever got that Cuisinart food processor, Andrew??

I bought a KitchenAid food processor. I made cole slaw a few days ago with it (to go with a bunch of pulled pork I smoked). It works great. I use it pretty often.

 

[Temptd2]

:rockin:

 

[brewbama]

Ribs for the race today!

 

[passedpawn]

What race are you watching?

Ribs for the race today!

 

[ChefRex]

It's going to be cold and probably icy here for the next couple of days, so I am making soup!

If you watched Seinfeld your probably saw the episodes about the Soup Nazi. Today I'm cooking a clone recipe of the Mulligatawny soup from the actual soup restaurant that the Seinfeld episodes were based on. This is one of my favorite soups. It has no meat in it (other than chicken broth) but you would swear it does!

It starts with frozen corn, pistachios, and cashews.
Then onions, celery, and carrots.
Eggplant, potatoes, roasted red peppers, and parsley go in.
The remainder is spices, herbs, chicken stock, and 16 cups of water!! The secret to this soup is the all day simmer in an excess of water and a huge reduction till it's about the consistency of chili! I can only squeeze in 12 cups of water so I add 4 more after it has reduced enough. In 5-6 hours we will be eating awesome soup!

You have a link to a recipe? Sounds delicious.