Cooking up a storm

[Aetherous]

Just now, joeblast said:

was that really what it was!?  seems like an awful lot, I thought it was just a sauce you made and poured on it and just didnt mention what it was    in that case, it looks like you didnt flip it?  if its going to be in a pan, you might as well make use of that stuff and add in a bit of worcestershire and maybe a bit of garlic salt, get the flips in! 

 

Yup just cooked in a pan on the skin side...there's a fancy term for this version in French called saumon à l'unilatérale. If you say it in English it doesn't sound as sophisticated.

It was taking too long so I threw it in the oven for a minute at the end...but really the albumin was mostly from when it was pan frying.

Apparently people brine the salmon filet first in order to prevent the albumin from leaking out so much.

I like my salmon with just some lemon juice on top.

[joeblast]

4 minutes ago, Aetherous said:

 

Yup just cooked in a pan on the skin side...there's a fancy term for this version in French called saumon à l'unilatérale. If you say it in English it doesn't sound as sophisticated.

It was taking too long so I threw it in the oven for a minute at the end...but really the albumin was mostly from when it was pan frying.

Apparently people brine the salmon filet first in order to prevent the albumin from leaking out so much.

I like my salmon with just some lemon juice on top.

I like it almost raw anyway....well, actually, the best is totally raw, I am a sucker for the local sushi specials.  when I cook it....usually just some fresh ground sea salt on it if anything at all.  and the skin rocks

[Aetherous]

I love salmon sashimi...if fresh caught, it's so energizing.

[Marblehead]

11 hours ago, Aetherous said:

I love salmon sashimi...if fresh caught, it's so energizing.

Brown bears love it too.

 

[Aetherous]

On 7/10/2018 at 6:28 PM, Aetherous said:

*rice bread recipe video*

 

Looks like it turned out not so bad...got to try it.

 

Forgot to get back...I did try this recipe, and it worked (got air pockets like normal bread). The bread was quite damp to the touch, though. I suspect that if the person refined their method, it could be an okay bread to use for those who are gluten free.

The best part about it was the edges which touched the buttered pan...the salted butter and the maillard reaction (browning) of the rice on the edge created something crispy, chewy, and super tasty.

[Aetherous]

 

I love simplicity and elegance in recipes. I just made this for lunch, and it was really fun. I simply eyeballed the ingredients and didn't measure anything, and it turned out great.

Cooked al dente (so that they aren't loose and soggy but still have good form and are slightly chewy), white pasta has a low glycemic load and low insulin index score...it's considered fairly healthy as far as carbs go!

 

I've asked my chef friend about whether this recipe is possible with fresh noodles, as opposed to dry. I'm interested in fresh pasta, because it contains a lot more eggs and yolks...it's more nutritious. If that's possible, maybe this cacio e pepe could be a dish on its own, without the need of any kind of additional protein.

[Aetherous]

On 11/2/2018 at 2:46 PM, Aetherous said:

cacio e pepe

 

So I've refined this a little bit, and today used the recipe to make carbonara, which was really enjoyable.

 

Refinements on cacio e pepe:

- using much less water to cook the pasta than normal. This increases the starchiness of the water, which is the key to making the sauce do what it's supposed to...bind together, and also stick to the noodles.

- using the finest grater to make the cheese into a powder for making the sauce, rather than slicing very thin pieces like I did previously. It's much easier to work with this way, and you can prepare the cheese sauce better by creating it to your liking in a separate bowl, which then gets added right into the frying pasta. Careful not to add a lot at once, or make it too much of a paste, and end up with cheese clumps that aren't separating into the pasta water.

- I used a bigger pan, rather than a separate pot, to cook the pasta at first...then I took out excess pasta water and added it back in as necessary (to cook the noodles appropriately). Just as a style preference, I always enjoy cooking with one pot or pan, rather than multiple.

 

Check out this video...

 

 

The guy makes a sauce solely with pasta water right away...I haven't yet gotten to that skill level, but I aim for being able to do that. I think if you make the pasta water + pepper sauce first, then add the separate cheese + pasta water sauce to it, it would come out perfect.

 

For carbonara, people can make it all sorts of different ways...but I went with the idea that it's simply an addition onto the cacio e pepe recipe, so I added some chopped up bacon-ish type of deli meat and let it cook for a while with the cacio e pepe, then when it looked all ready, turned off the stove and cracked an egg into it then stirred it around. The egg made the cheese pepper sauce much more creamy. It's important to not cook the egg with the heat on, which would make it clumpy and obviously eggy (think - like the eggs in pad thai) rather than like a sauce, but to allow the residual heat from the pasta and pan to heat up the egg...and then have the egg vanish entirely into the sauce. I also threw in some spinach leaves, just to be a little more healthy. It was good.

Despite not being an Italian food fan in the least, I really enjoy the sophistication of the sauce here - how the cheese pepper sauce requires pasta water to work right, how the pepper cuts through the rich cheese for a more balanced energetic profile to the flavors, and how an egg added in the right way can thicken up the sauce even more and make it into more of a filling dish.

Be careful with bacon and similar meats, which already contain a lot of salt. You will want to figure out the right amount to salt your pasta water. Some say to make it taste like sea water, but that can ruin the dish (I experienced that the other week), especially in carbonara where the bacon is added.

I haven't tried any of this with fresh pasta yet. My chef friend said "fresh pasta is the best", but he didn't seem to understand the importance of the pasta water in these recipes, or know whether fresh pasta ends up with a less starchy pasta water or not.

 

...

In the next week or so I'll probably go into depth on how I make my yearly "apple chestnut pork stuffing" for Thanksgiving. It's one of the greatest dishes on earth.

[Aetherous]

Scott's "apple pork chestnut sage" Stuffing

I saw this recipe 3 years ago, and have made it for each Thanksgiving since then. It's become tradition.

 

I'm posting it here ahead of Thanksgiving, in case anyone wants to give it a shot. Sometimes chestnuts can be challenging to find locally.

 

I couldn't relocate the recipe online last year, so decided to just wing it from memory, and it turned out perfect...perhaps even better. So this version is slightly modified, and ingredient portions depends on the intuition and kitchen experience of the person making it.

 

Some people insist that it's only called "stuffing" when it's cooked inside the bird, but where I come from, "dressing" is gravy, and "stuffing" doesn't have to be cooked in the bird. So, this is stuffing.

Here are the ingredients and preparations before cooking:

• Celery, chopped into smallish pieces
• Onion, peeled and then diced...I tend to use more celery than onion
• Chestnuts, roasted that day and peeled, then torn open in medium size chunks...I use a lot of this compared to what recipes will recommend, but not an overwhelming amount
  • In my experience, sometimes stores have some rotten chestnuts. Sometimes half of what I got would be bad. Keep your receipts, take pictures of the bad ones, and plan on the possibility of running back to the store on the day that you roast these in case you need more...I think most grocery stores would agree to give you more for free if a lot of them were bad.
  • If the chestnut chunks are too small, the other flavors will overpower their sweetness, so keep them good sized in order to get that flavor
• Sourdough bread freshly baked that day from a bakery, torn apart so the pieces are medium sized...spread them out in a pan in the oven, and cook them until they're crispy like toast, but not burnt
• Granny smith (green) apples, diced up into smallish pieces...these will cook along with the pork, because the original recipe had a kind of "apple pork", which I was never able to find in stores, so I've tried to mimic it.
• Fresh sage leaves, get a bunch, take half of them and chop them up, and leave the other half. Sage isn't a very strong spice/herb, so don't skimp too much.
• Turkey broth, low sodium kind
• Plain ground pork, cook it up in a pan first so that it's just safe to eat, along with a little bit of turkey broth and the apple chunks...perhaps throw in the apple chunks first so they soften up and are more able to meld with the pork
• Salted butter...use this to coat the pan (something like a 9x9 pan), as well as place generously sized chunks on top of the dish

Okay so, cooking it:

• Preheat the oven to 350 or 375, or something. Doesn't have to be exact because you'll be watching it.
• Have your salted butter out, so that it's room temp (easily spreadable, not melted at all).
• Cook pork and half of the apple pieces, and add a little bit of broth, in a pan until the pork is cooked and safe to eat.
• Put all of the prepared celery, onion, chestnuts, toasted bread chunks, cooked apple pork, other half of apple pieces, chopped sage into a mixing bowl. Mix them up fully.
  • Use your intuition...for real. If something seems like there's not enough of it, add more. Imagine what each ingredient will contribute, and imagine what the final flavors should be like, and adjust based on what you feel is best...it'll turn out better this way. You'll know when it feels off, and when it feels right.
• Have the 9x9 (or whatever) pan coated thickly with salted butter so that nothing sticks, and so it'll taste amazing. Be a little bit generous here.
• Put the mixed ingredients into the pan.
• Add turkey broth so it almost reaches the top. Be sure to pour it over every bread chunk on top. Toasted bread chunks should still be sticking out over the broth on top...if not, you've added a bit too much broth. But get it close to the top, so that the stuffing doesn't turn out to be dry. It's possible to add more during cooking if need be (if it seems like it's really drying out).
• Put generously sized chunks of salted butter on top in various places. Those will melt down and add a ton of amazing flavor. I think I used an entire stick of butter for the one pan last year, and it was the right decision.
• Cook it up...when not following an exact recipe, I just let it go for 10 minutes without looking, then check every few to a couple minutes after that.
  • You want it to be golden brown and crisp on top, but not yet burnt. Then it's done.
  • I can't remember if I used aluminum foil over it for a period of time, and then removed it at the end to brown the top.
• Put the fresh sage on top, in any way that you like...chopping it up, tearing it into small pieces, just putting whole fresh pieces on there...do it before serving so that they still appear green and fresh. If you put it on there 5-10 minutes before, it'll cook the green color out of the sage and won't be as enjoyable. Serve warm-hot.

 

Everything in this tastes good, especially together, so it's very unlikely to go wrong.

Edited the cooking instructions to include the part about cooking the pork first.

Edited November 22, 2018 by Aetherous

[Aetherous]

On 6/27/2018 at 5:04 PM, Aetherous said:

Another recipe that's awesome is Finnish Korvapuusti (translated as "slap in the ear" due to its shape) https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/finnish-cinnamon-rolls-korvapuusti

It's a cinnamon roll, but for the variety I made this past winter, I basically modified the recipe in the link to include as much ground cardamom in the filling (with the cinnamon) as in the dough. It's absolutely essential to get the green cardamom pods, open them up and discard the outer shell, then grind the cardamom that very day.

 

My "ear" shapes need some work, but this dessert was awesome.

 

I made these again this holiday season. The secret to getting it look right is to press the center on the smallest part. Kind of turn it up on its side so the smallest edge is facing upward, then press down into that with your finger.

 

Here's what I mean when I say "the smaller edge".

 

 

Just put the bigger edge down on the table and the smaller edge facing the ceiling, then press down on the center of the smaller edge.

 

 

 Then it makes this correct shape:

 

 

Pearl sugar is a must for them. Also, don't be afraid to cut them slightly bigger.

Here's my correct, but not yet mastered version:

 

 

It looks kind of wavy because I pinched it while rolling it. Also, not enough filling.

 

On 6/27/2018 at 5:04 PM, Aetherous said:

This was inspiring to watch, after having failed at making omeletes that way. Talk about "cultivation":
 

 

 

Just this morning I successfully made this, although not masterfully. I used a plastic fork to stir it around in the pan, which worked well. Here's the key: instead of thinking of the eggs as undercooked on the inside, you should think of them as becoming "custardy".

There are varying levels of being cooked that we can think about:

Raw

Not cooked enough, so that it's still runny

Custardy, so that it's cooked, not runny at all, but still isn't fully set

Well cooked so that it's set (how most of us eat scrambled eggs/omelettes)

Over cooked so that it becomes brown.

 

So, it won't be runny at all. But it won't be solid...it's creamy. I was really impressed with how good it was.

[Aetherous]

In the midst of cooking up storms, I've come to realize the importance of having a good knife, as well as maintaining it.

 

Here's a guide to different types of steel for all knives in general (not just kitchen knives). After looking through that and some other sources, to me it seems like S35VN is a very good steel for kitchen knives. They can tend to be expensive...here is a cheaper one and here is a more expensive one. This is just based off of the steel type used...I'm sure various people have various opinions on their favorite kitchen knives.

 

Those with more experience in the kitchen probably need multiple different types of knives for specialized purposes, but for a home cook, the "chef knife" design seems to cover all bases well enough.

 

When you have a knife, you need a cutting board. The harder the surface you cut food on, the quicker the knife becomes dull. Here's someone's opinions on different types of wood for cutting boards.

 

I've learned that honing steels (and similar things) are only good for straightening an edge, but they don't sharpen knives. Here's a video of the infamous Gordon Ramsay using a honing steel, and mistakenly thinking he's "sharpening" his knife:

 

 

I prefer the way Gordon does it in this video, as opposed to other versions of how people do it, because he's not moving the blade against it but has it turned in the opposite direction (which I think is better for the edge...he's doing it similar to stropping).

 

Honing steels are slightly confusing and misunderstood, because in the knife sharpening world, to "hone" means to sharpen. This could cause people to assume that honing steels sharpen their knives. In the knife sharpening world, doing as in the video would be called "steeling", which is to take bent parts of the edge out and straighten them back up...whereas actual "sharpening" (grinding away metal so as to create a sharper edge) is done on whetstones.

The way you can tell if you need to use one of these honing steels is to put your knife blade up toward a light source, and look down at the blade. Move it around a bit. If you see an imperfection in the edge where the light kind of reflects back, it's showing a place where the blade got slightly bent off center. Maybe you were chopping up a piece of chicken and it hit a bone, then that hard piece of bone bent the steel edge very slightly. That is the only reason for using a honing steel. You can tell it worked by looking at the knife again and not seeing that imperfection.

That doesn't mean your knife got resharpened, though.

"Stropping" is rubbing the knife against a piece of leather in a particular way. This is the way to bring sharpness back from a very slight dulling of the edge, and is what should be done each time prior to using the knife (as well as the final phase of sharpening with whetstones).

So it seems to me, that unlike what Gordon says, we should look at our knives to determine if there are any visible imperfections in the edge. If so, hone it (or steel it) so that those aren't visible and the bent edges are restraightened. If there's nothing visible indicating a bent edge, or after we've re-straightened it, then we should strop the knife to get the sharpness back...then go on to using it. Basically, proper knife care (despite what most people think) would involve stropping before each use.

When knives are actually dull, they need to be sharpened. This requires whetstones, but I haven't figured out the best ones to get for that yet. YouTube has tons of videos of guys who have a keen interest in knife sharpening, and they can steer us in the right direction. There are all sorts of videos of testing blade sharpness by cutting pieces of paper, forearm hair, sponges, etc. But for now, I wanted to just differentiate in the little understood difference between: honing steels (to remove bent parts of the edge), stropping leather (to maintain the razor sharp edge), and whetstones (to actually resharpen a knife).

[rideforever]

One thing the Brits do better than anyone
 

 

[Aetherous]

1 hour ago, rideforever said:

One thing the Brits do better than anyone

 

Gordon learned attitude in the kitchen from one of the best (this guy is more intimidating than overtly offensive...kind of an interesting life story he tells here).

 

 

I also found this clip (the first half of it, before it gets messed up) hilarious...

 

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Aetherous

[Aetherous]

On 12/23/2018 at 11:04 AM, Aetherous said:

making omeletes

 

So I was moderately successful at that, but found out that I prefer making "English scrambled eggs" instead of the classic French omelette. It doesn't require any of the skill of trying to make some perfectly shaped thing, but still contains all of the custardy goodness. I learned from this video:

 

 

I make mine slightly less runny than he does, but still definitely not solidified. I prefer using quite a bit of curly parsley, or chives, chopped finely into it. Regular flat parsley makes eggs taste fishy, IME, but curly parsley is great. On a slice of toast like in the video...it's become my go-to breakfast.

It seems to me like Happy Egg Co yolks look the best, in terms of being more yellow. Vital Farms is another trustworthy brand, but doesn't have that deep of a yellow.

 

...

 

And in other news, this guy has a superiorly impressive hummus recipe. I really have to try making this.

 

 

I also like how this guy puts ground sumac and cumin, and a piece of mint on top:
 

 

I've found that Lucini is quite a good olive oil. This is a great video showing their farms, and production:

 

 

Edited March 27, 2019 by Aetherous