What's for dinner

[Joe (SoCal)]

Way to go Norman
EXCELLENT !!!!!
I'm gonna try that recipe, still not happy with the electric stove

[Norman Bernstein]

Way to go Norman
EXCELLENT !!!!!
I'm gonna try that recipe, still not happy with the electric stove

*shrugs* Ya gotta work with what ya got, Joe. Compared to my sister's brand new gas cooktop, I'll take the electric, any time... it's got a much wider dynamic range; you can get it hotter, and you can lower the heat to the 'ultra-low' setting, which is VERY hard to do, with at least some gas ranges.

My only complaint: it's very hard to clean. A couple of times a week, I have to break out the special cleaner and work at it.

[Joe (SoCal)]

But but but but Norman how do you deglaze on electric ?



For me cooking is more art than science I have no need for dynamic range and ultra low heat. If I want ultra low I move the sauté pan off the gas or lift it off the the flame and "sauté" the ingredients. It's all about controlling your pan not the heat ( it's all in the wrists ) For me I let the sauce tell me what it needs not the register on the dial. Also you just get into a gas flow you "Know" the hot spots there to cool it move the pan, tilt the pan, adjust the heat, add some cooler stock or tomatoes, adjust . It's like playing a violin you make music

[Norman Bernstein]

For me cooking is more art than science I have no need for dynamic range and ultra low heat. If I want ultra low I move the sauté pan off the gas or lift it off the the flame and "sauté" the ingredients. It's all about controlling your pan not the heat ( it's all in the wrists ) For me I let the sauce tell me what it needs not the register on the dial. Also you just get into a gas flow you "Know" the hot spots there to cool it move the pan, tilt the pan, adjust the heat, add some cooler stock or tomatoes, adjust . It's like playing a violin you make music

That's all because you're an artist, Joe... I'm merely an engineer

[Joe (SoCal)]

That's all because you're an artist, Joe... I'm merely an engineer

My buddy up in Amesbury has a top of the line Gaggenau electric cooktop . You seriously need to go to MIT to figure this thing out. It has ONE dial but its a magnet ( kinda cool ) and you move the magnet like a shifter to direction of the burner you want and then slide it back to center and turn the magnet to micro adjust. I was slapping that thing all around like I was playing X-Box. Also there is a hidden exhaust fan that you have to find the button for that ( at my house the exhaust fan is opening the door ) But his exhaust fan goes from the flush back wooooooosh up like a wall and wirrrrrr.

I still managed to make a nice meal for a dinner party we had

[Norman Bernstein]

Ahhh, Chicken Picatta! One of my favorites, and one of my cooking specialties

I see, though, that you're as unconventional as me, in terms of your interpretation of the recipe. I've eaten Veal Picatta in Rome, so I guess I've had the 'real thing'.... but mine and yours are different. You obviously have the lemon and capers... but the addition of some tomato is unconventional.

Mine deviates, as well. The 'traditional' recipe calls for the chicken or veal to be pounded.... instead, I use a very sharp chef's knife and 'triple butterfly' the chicken breasts, which leave them thin enough to cook quickly, and avoids having to pound them. Since I can't use flour to dredge the cutlets (gluten-free, remember) I use a gluten free flour substitute (from Bob's Red Mill), without any egg... it results in barely any coating, but the pieces brown nicely. Finally, my sauce starts with diced Vidalia onions, chicken stock, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and capers.

SWMBO considers it my best item.

[Paul Pless]

i do a pan fried perch or walleye picatta inspired dish - the bomb!

[Norman Bernstein]

i do a pan fried perch or walleye picatta inspired dish - the bomb!

Pretty much anything with lemon and capers is gonna taste good

[Joe (SoCal)]

Pretty much anything with lemon and capers is gonna taste good

Add Butter, Garlic and tomatoes and a little white wine and it tastes better

[The Bigfella]

Midnight snack (didn't have lunch), restaurant out front. Stopped to chat to the security guards, lighting up their fire.



Mine was the minced pork omelette and half the deep-fried beef. Went halves in the beer.



Asked them what time they close? 3am

[Paul Pless]

My buddy up in Amesbury has a top of the line Gaggenau electric cooktop . You seriously need to go to MIT to figure this thing out. It has ONE dial but its a magnet ( kinda cool ) and you move the magnet like a shifter to direction of the burner you want and then slide it back to center and turn the magnet to micro adjust. I was slapping that thing all around like I was playing X-Box. Also there is a hidden exhaust fan that you have to find the button for that ( at my house the exhaust fan is opening the door ) But his exhaust fan goes from the flush back wooooooosh up like a wall and wirrrrrr.

sometimes simpler really is better. . .

here's my dream stove, only replace the griddle with a grill. . .



i do admit that i like the new tuscany line, but they cost more than my first three cars combined!

[Ras Baba]

Gumbo! Made a stock with some shrimp shells and a snapper head. Then a coffee black roux with the vegetable troika of chopped onions, celery and bell pepper. Seasoned with red pepper, white pepper, black pepper and thyme. Stir the roux into the stock, add some chopped plum tomatos, okra, simmer low. Add some red snapper chunks, key west pink shrimp, pint of oysters, and some lump crab meat. Served aside some fluffy white rice, a simple red leaf lettuce salad. Bread pudding with a hard lemon sauce to follow. We live very simply here in the country!

[Paul Pless]

shrimp and corn chowder tonight

a variation, built upon and inspired by the chowder described below

It was a bowl of simmering chowder by the sea side that provided in its basic form "sustenance of body and mind – a marker of hearth and home, community, family and culture". It is a food which evolved along the coastal shoreline of New England as a "congerie" of simple things, very basic and cooked simply. It is a simple dish of salt and pepper, potatoes and onion, pork and fish, cream and hard crackers, and not a sophisticated dish of the elite. Its simplicity made it attractive and it became a regional dish of the New Englanders, and their favorite recipe was "chowder master"."Symbolically, functionally, mnemonically or dynamically" chowder has become a powerful means for New Englanders to define themselves as a community, a rich community with a deep past and value that distinguishes their region from all others. The dish has been made there for a long time and is imbibed into the community culture.As Etta M. Madden and Martha L. Finch observe that chowder provides "visceral memories that provided feelings of familiarity, comfort and continuity"

[Joe (SoCal)]

sometimes simpler really is better. . .

here's my dream stove, only replace the griddle with a grill. . .



i do admit that i like the new tuscany line, but they cost more than my first three cars combined!

DAMN THAT IS DROOL WORTHY

Have you ever used an AGA ? I Have they are supposed to be amazing I didn't find it so

[Paul Pless]

I've never cooked on an AGA, nor ever even seen one in a home. They are cast iron ovens and stoves right?

[Joe (SoCal)]

I've never cooked on an AGA, nor ever even seen one in a home. They are cast iron ovens and stoves right?

Yea and they are always ON

[Captain Intrepid]

One of my fondest dreams is to one day own an oven with steam injection. Ain't nothing better for baking bread with a beautiful crackling crust.

[The Bigfella]

Dinner in Hongsa, at the Jumbo Guesthouse. Cooked by Tui and Monica, can't recall what it's called... nice. Good company too, a couple of folks from the German Red Cross. Interesting discussion... even about Zika. They were good company, so I shared my Bordeaux. There were some nice Baron de Rothschild's in the bottle shop, but I felt they were a bit over the budget limit, so... kept it to about $17 a bottle.



The night before that, I was in Chiang Mai and wandered down to the local BBQ. Seafood first



Followed that up with a variety of meats (and vegies and noodles). Bit of a pig out really



Back to last night, in Luang Prabang. Ate at Joy's. Auke, who I'm travelling with is well known there and I even scored a nice (fully clothed) shoulder massage. This steamed fish with lemongrass was sublime.



The waiter did cock it up slightly, but we went with it. I got the sticky rice instead of the white... but it went well, so...

Tonight was pork medallions in Phonsavan.

[BETTY-B]

One of my fondest dreams is to one day own an oven with steam injection. Ain't nothing better for baking bread with a beautiful crackling crust.

I get great crust in the Wolf just by dumping a quarter cup of water in as the bread goes in.


Anyone doing sous vide? There are crappy home models for a couple hundred bucks, but I decided to make one modeled off the couple thousand dollar professional units. Two meals so far. Cod and steak. Both are the best of each I have ever had. Who knew cod could be so nice? And the steak was just incredible. 1/8" sear and totally medium rare and tender for the rest.

The cooker is made up of a cooler, small fish tank motor, 1500w immersion water heater, a simple digital temperature controller and a stainless Starbucks travel cup cut down as a grill to protect the element inside.

[Norman Bernstein]

Last night: chicken breasts, stuffed with spinach, onions, garlic, ricotta, and parmesan:

[Paul Pless]

Cooking chili as we speak, beanless for Honeybunny this go round.

Starting by roasting a dozen fresh jalapeño peppers - I like the relatively mild heat and flavor that these peppers give versus the pure heat that hotter peppers provide. I'll add some dried Scotch bonnet bits from our garden for heat later. After these peppers are roasted, I'll dice them fine along with a large sweet onion, a handful of diced celery, and a clove of garlic. I'll saute these in olive oil. Then add 80/20 ground chuck. When that's browned, I'll add a bit of salt, smoked paprika and chili powders and a cup or so of water and allow this to simmer covered for a bit. After that's cooked down and thickened, I'll adjust the heat (spice) then remove it from the stove and let it rest till this afternoon. For dinner I'll serve this with cheese quesadilla, sour cream, avocado, maybe a small simple green salad, and margaritas.

[Norman Bernstein]

Cooking chili as we speak, beanless for Honeybunny this go round.

Cooking, at 9 in the morning? Sheeesh!

[Paul Pless]

resting time is an important component in the best chili

[Norman Bernstein]

Hmmmm... chili isn't a bad idea, for this weekend.... we're expecting record cold by Sunday. Only 9 degrees F this AM, and we'll probably be below 0 on the weekend, with wind chills as low as -20 or worse.

[Joe (SoCal)]

Betty Sous-vide is all the culinary rage for the last few years. I'm not a fan it's more science than art. It reminds me of those frozen Banquet Boiling Bag chip beef on toast.





I mean I get it and I have had some very fine Sous-vide steak, ( The one great thing is for a foodie like me you order med rare, its mid rare all the way through ) but no caramelization no pan juice, no reduction, no FLAME !!! It might be perfect for some fish When you fry a piece of fish, the flesh is most succulent and tender within a very narrow temperature range. Because the cooking temperature of the pan is at least 400 °F hotter than the ideal core temperature of the fish, the edges will inevitably be far more cooked than the center when pan-fried. Sous-vide is absolutely wonderful for vegetables. But I'm old school French Escoffier brigade style, and vacuum bags in boiling water isn't cooking to me. I understand the ABSOLUTE PERFECT TEMP control you can achieve with this method but I'm might be more suited to the engineer cook than this old bald grizzled foodie

[Norman Bernstein]

Betty Sous-vide is all the culinary rage for the last few years.

I'm going to guess you're referring to cooking in vacuum sealed bags in boiling (or, at least, temperature-controlled) water. I've seen this a few times, on cooking shows, but since I don't have the equipment, nor the room for the equipment, I never gave it a second thought.

I'm relatively new, to cooking... only really been doing it for the last 3-4 years. I cannot claim to be a 'good' cook; I'm just trying to develop a inventory of some things which I can apparently cook well... and it's a limited inventory; the stuff I have done repeatedly, and can do well, follows:

Risotto... gorgonzola and mushroom is my favorite, although if I don't happen to have the requisite ingredients, my 'ordinary' risotto (with parmesan and peas) is pretty good

Soups: I do a vegetable soup which gets rave reviews... a loaded potato soup... and occasionally, a tomato soup. I don't do soups with thin broths, preferring to make thick soups... my immersion blender is the key tool.

Chicken picatta, and chicken marsala... probably not done in the traditional manner, but the family thinks they're pretty good.

Bolognaise: probably my best item, gets rave reviews

Generic Chinese stir fry.. the flavor comes out tasting 'genuine' (i.e., like restaurant Chinese), but I have only one sauce recipe, using rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and chili paste with garlic

Braised short ribs: I'm not completely satisfied with this one... they're good, but not nearly as good as some I've had in restaurants. I was actually taught this one by a professional chef (courtesy of an anniversary gift of a cooking lesson, by my younger daughter), but I can't seem to fully replicate it.

I'm trying to expand my repetiore.... the stuffed chicken breasts pictured above was a first timer experiment. The stuffing was delicious, but the chicken was not evenly cooked... the one my wife ate was overdone, and mine (a larger breast) was underdone, even though most recipes call for 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Going to have to work on this one. I'm on the lookout for more recipes, so suggestions are welcome

[BETTY-B]

Betty Sous-vide is all the culinary rage for the last few years. I'm not a fan it's more science than art. It reminds me of those frozen Banquet Boiling Bag chip beef on toast.





I mean I get it and I have had some very fine Sous-vide steak, ( The one great thing is for a foodie like me you order med rare, its mid rare all the way through ) but no caramelization no pan juice, no reduction, no FLAME !!! It might be perfect for some fish When you fry a piece of fish, the flesh is most succulent and tender within a very narrow temperature range. Because the cooking temperature of the pan is at least 400 °F hotter than the ideal core temperature of the fish, the edges will inevitably be far more cooked than the center when pan-fried. Sous-vide is absolutely wonderful for vegetables. But I'm old school French Escoffier brigade style, and vacuum bags in boiling water isn't cooking to me. I understand the ABSOLUTE PERFECT TEMP control you can achieve with this method but I'm might be more suited to the engineer cook than this old bald grizzled foodie

Are you suggesting these fine steaks you have had were not seared off on the grill or in a pan? Yuck. Same with fish. I only seared one side, but the texture of the cod is the best, by far I have ever had. It's just another tool. Of many. I certainly didn't use it when I did veal Oscar the other night. Nor is it used when I use science to put together a traditional Bearnaise. I do those things the way Escoffier would have done it!

That corned beef you have served up there looks nasty. After brining, I usually do it three ways(the guest list seems to be growing every year). I steam one, boil one and slow cook another in the oven. Only been doing the oven for the last couple years. Surprisingly, it's taking top honors already.

The only way:



I am going to try fried chicken here soon. From what I have read, it too is pretty spectacular.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...en-recipe.html

[Captain Intrepid]

That fried chicken is phenomenal, made it last summer. I really ought to do it again.

[BETTY-B]

That fried chicken is phenomenal, made it last summer. I really ought to do it again.

I think I will try it using the sous vide method!

[Paul Pless]

okay, the sous vide fried chicken does sound interesting. . .

[Joe (SoCal)]

Are you suggesting these fine steaks you have had were not seared off on the grill or in a pan? Yuck. Same with fish. I only seared one side, but the texture of the cod is the best, by far I have ever had. It's just another tool. Of many. I certainly didn't use it when I did veal Oscar the other night. Nor is it used when I use science to put together a traditional Bearnaise. I do those things the way Escoffier would have done it!

That corned beef you have served up there looks nasty. After brining, I usually do it three ways(the guest list seems to be growing every year). I steam one, boil one and slow cook another in the oven. Only been doing the oven for the last couple years. Surprisingly, it's taking top honors already.


I am going to try fried chicken here soon. From what I have read, it too is pretty spectacular.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...en-recipe.html

Na most Sous-vide beef is usually seared after it comes out of the "bath". If you just unzip the bag and plop the Souse-Vide beef on a plate it looks like some gray meat. One thing that will make most people turned off is the look of a nice tenderloin after it's pulled from the bag and before its charred. Like I said it's been the "IN" thing for a few years now.

I'm not sure what corn beef you are talking about ? I did one a year or two ago with Guinness in the crockpot, I remember it tasted great. But yours looks nice as well.

But the whole Irish corned beef thing is taking a pretty poor tough cut of meat and making it palatable. The Irish and Jews used brisket because was cheap and they could make it tender with time and effort and seasoning.

[Chip-skiff]

The Irish and Jews used brisket because was cheap and they could make it tender with time and effort and seasoning.

It's not cheap these days.

Cooking catfish tonight. Report at 10.

[Captain Intrepid]

I get great crust in the Wolf just by dumping a quarter cup of water in as the bread goes in.


Anyone doing sous vide?

Dumping in water works, but having been a baker, I miss the real thing.

I've done a little pseudo sous vide with ziplocks, a programmable kettle, and a pot, even that has drastically improved my steaks. In fact, I think I'm going to do that for supper tonight!

[BETTY-B]

Dumping in water works, but having been a baker, I miss the real thing.

Ha! Well, the real thing is certainly an option...if cash is no barrier!

I've done a little pseudo sous vide with ziplocks, a programmable kettle, and a pot, even that has drastically improved my steaks. In fact, I think I'm going to do that for supper tonight!

Nice!

[BETTY-B]

The fried chicken was off the hook! Sous Vide took all the pain away!





Did some deep fried mushrooms with it. And mashed potatoes and gravy.