Topic: Tales from the Wandering Cook

[echoes]

its been a minute since I got to post and I havent done anything really crazy as of late. Well, I did make Paella and that came out awesome but that wasn't crazy. So here soon I will throw out a Beef Bolognese recipe as well as homemade pasta and then will get to the Paella. made two different batches of my Chicken and Dumplings because the first batch was so damn good a second got requested but I will tell you about that later.

Gotta deal with a nose bleed, talk food soon.

Cheers,

E.

[RedRose]

We had paella 🥘 last night! My husband made it.

[echoes]

Henlo peeps,

So, Fall and Spring are my crazy times. There is work, and then there is farm work throughout the year but Fall and Spring is when it is overdrive. Basically Fall is the pregame for winter and Spring is the recovery and setting up for summer. Summer and Winter are just maintenance; fixing what gets broke and not starting any new projects. In the last two months I have tried to build Rome, and , for the most part, I am pretty damn satisfied with all that I have gotten done. There are a few more things to do, the gutters above our garage for example, but the big things are done.

So why tell you all this? Well, I have been cooking but I have not been posting and I am going to try and fixt hat soon. Recipes are owed from previous posts and I need to add on things like beef Stroganoff, Pizza Dough and a few other things here and there. One of the projects I completed was the homemade brick pizza in my back yard. Saturday, yesterday, that thing was fired for 5 hours and we cranked out a dozen different pizzas to order as people from work came out and socialized. We were doing 12 inch pies but the oven can handle 16. So, I will talk about cooking in it and prepping for that as a post in the future.

Also, I have been mixing and baking along with cooking. Have a few new drinks, somethings here and there.

Anywho.

I will get to posting again soon and hope to see people come back to read.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

HACKS!

Ok, so I don't have full on meals for you right now, those are going to be up later this week, but I am going to share a couple of things I do that other people may or may not do as well. these are ways to step up a meal, something simple or complex, and I am starting with simple. How simple?

Hot Dogs.

One of the most revered and notorious of American Cuisines; this little column of compressed turkey, pork, tofu or beef has a lineage that traces itself back to central Europe. Taken from the Frankfurter) ala Frankfurt, and even the Weenier ( from Vienna ) I will just say that this little staple of summer cookouts and Cincinnati chili has a bit of a backstory. Check out Wikipedia for more regarding that, I am being lazy and not doing all the legwork tonight.

Now, some people boil them. In fact, a very well known bigbox membership warehouse does exactly that and they still sell their dog, and accompanying 20oz pepsi product for a buck fifty. Other places grill their dogs; getting that char on the outside that some people find delectable and that I think tastes like burnt ass. However you like your dog, the next time you broil, bake, grill or otherwise prepare your somewhat penis looking dinner, try this:

Add either Beef Bullion, or beef broth, to water and boil them for 5-10 minutes before you place them in an oven or on a grill. If you are just boiling them, thn do the same and when the dogs expand that is when you get them to a bun and garnish the fuck out of them. If you are a purist and like you dog nude, that is fine as well, no judging.

Trust me on this, especially if you are throwing this doggies down on a grille. The beef broth/boullion mix will make these dogs supid juicy and will enhance their natural flavors.

HACK II:

French dips are a a simple sandwich involving sliced beeg, usually swiss cheese, onions and a Jus ( or dipping sauce.) Usually the Jus is also beef flavors so it is liek Xibit heard you liked a beef sammich and gave you some beef drippings to go with your beef. This, however, is not the hack. The hack is to get some French Onion Dip and have it handy. get the beef going and toast the bread you are using ( hoagie roll, baguette, something that toasts up nicely. ) Once you get the bread toasted and the meat going you take a spatula/knife/ your finger and you layer the bottom of the bread with French Onion dip. Meat op top, then cheese and then the sauteed onions to melt the cheese on the meat and settle everything atop the French Onion Dip.

if you are a sammich person, and I am , this will take it up a level without having to get real creative. It still works great with the Jus dipping sauce but now makes the sammich rock steady on its own.

Ok, missions accomplished. I have posted something and not been a total waste today. Ok, I worked but I have been a busy echoes this last month and even more so the month before that. I built a pizza oven and BTW it is awesome. I built a new axe and archery target for the farm. I instaled several hard points in the barn for various nefarious ( Ok, I like that alliteration: Various Nefarious) activities. Ive been seeding grass and home repairing none stop getting ready for the winter. This is going to be a lazy week but I am still going to post. Keep on the look out and I will see you around.


Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

So,

While there is a backlog of various foods I should write about I'm going to get all sorts of out of order and write about this past weekend. I guess, technically, I am not out of order being that I can write about what I want , and when, but I had a list of entrees that I have had just the most amazing run of luck on and I am skipping all that to talk about an another American staple:

Pizza.

So there has always been a myth that Pizza was a Chinese creation stolen by Marco Polo and then co-opted by the Italians but almost every culture that has made bread has also thrown cheese and toppings on top of that same bread in early editions of the Pizza. The Italians named it and the Americans have loved it even before there was an America. ( What can I say, American love runs hard.) Ok, jokes aside, this is a dish that when you say Pizza everyone has the same general idea: Round dough topped with sauce, cheese and fixings. After that everyone can pick a fight on what pizza is the best and what should never be a topping on a pizza. I won't get into all that, lets get to the weekend

One of my projects this year was to finish the brick Pizza oven in my back yard. As I recently told a friend, I can do basic masonry like build a structure or a wall. Right angles and level surfaces I can do up to a degree { I would not make a high wall or do the foundation to a house but a waist high or retaining wall, sure. What I have never done before is an an arch or round piece and that is what a Pizza oven it. I built the support structure out of cinderblock a year ago and then year I poured a 3 inch thick concrete slab on top of the cinderblock stand. I want to say the slab is 40 inches by 38 inches; it was a big pour done by hand. Atop that I made a base of fire bricks that you would find inside a kiln and made a floor that was 27 inches wide and 27 inches deep. Bricks then make up the oven and the highest point of the arch is 13 1/2  inches off the firebrick floor. There is a metal chimney and it looks like an over so, +1.

After some experimentation I learned that you start the fire directly over where you plan to cook to heat the bricks up. You start and fire and you feed it until the inside of the over turns black and then keep feeding it until the bricks then turn white. push the ashes, embers, and remains of the fuel away from where you plan to cook and then you are ready. You have two options here. 1 ) got without a pizza tray and cook right on the bricks. 2) use a pizza tray and then remember to set the tray atop the embers to finish off the bottom of the pizza. We went with plan B.

I spent Saturday firing the oven for 5 - 6 hours and had friends over to hang out as an end of the fall type party. During this time two things happened: 1 ) The two front bricks and the top of the arch in the front of the over slid down 2 inches of so but remained wedged in the arch so that it did not lose all of its structural integrity. 2) We cooked a dozen pizzas or so in the course of several hours. Everyone who came over got their own personal 12 inch pizza even though the oven could accommodate a much larger pie. Cook time was around 12 minutes per pizza and there was a bit of labor in rotating the pizza to get an even cook. Over all, everything worked and I could not have been happier.

before we get to a recipe I will say this regarding this style of oven and its consumption of fuel. This thing ATE through the wood I had prepared. I designed the structure that supports the oven to be a place where I could store its fuel, IE: wood. The wood that is under there it cut down so that the "meat" is exposed and it has been drying out for a year so It is amazing firewood that fits into the over perfectly. The problem with havin such a big "mouth" on the oven is that it allows heat to escape ( which is different that dome ovens with a smaller mouth but I am not that good that I cam make one of those.) So, if you build your own over make sure you always have enough fuel. Took me about an hour to get to temp and then I was feeding the oven all day to keep it there.

So, backstory done. Lets get on to a recipe that can work in a brick oven or in a conventional one:

Pizza Dough Done easy
6+ cups of Flour ( I used AP but you can experiment with others )
4 Tablespoons Sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons Instant Yeast ( Fast Rising )
1 Teaspoon Salt
4+ Tablespoons of Olive oil
2 Cups water ( warmed between 120 and 130 f)

I did this with a stand mixer

2 cups of flour into the stand mixer and then add yeast, sugar and salt. Start that mixing on a 1 or 2 setting, just get it nicely incorporated
2 cups of water into a measuring cup add the oil directly to water and mix.
Add liquid to mixing flour/sugar/yeast/salt combo and scrape the walls as it mixes.
Add remaining 4 cups of flour 1 at a time to mixer. Resist your to crank mixer on high ( this will make a mess if you crank it up.)
Once all flour is in you can bring mixer up to a 3 or medium setting but not blast it here.
Let mix until ball is made. Ball should be tacky. Add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if all the four will not incorporate.

In a separate bowl toss in a layer of flour. Move dough ball into separate bowl, add another layer of flour ( Total flour added should be less than a quarter of a cup but could be more as needed.) Kneed dough ball until uniform in texture. ( Usually about 5 minutes ) Cover bowl with plastic wrap and then set in a warm room for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes bring bowl out, dough should have doubled in size. Line sheet tray with parchment paper and lightly dust with flour. Separate into 6 evenly weighed doughballs ( 8 ounce each I found ) atop said sheet tray and then cover again for 15 minutes. Dough will continue to rise.

With a pizza tray ( pan) You have 1 of 2 options here.
1 Lightly coat with olive oil, 2 make a 50/50 mix of flour and corn meal and dust the pan with the mixture. These methods are to keep the dough from sticking to a pan.

And dough ball and slowly stretch, spread, until uniform thickness is attained. It may not be a perfect circle but I dont know how to do the entire tossing the pizza dough while spinning it thing so, sorry bout that. Get even thickness and then coat the edge of the dough with a layer of olive oil. From here you can guess the rest. Sauce, cheese, toppings and more cheese or add it on in any order you seem fit.

get that into the oven and cook. Times will vary based on the oven being used. If you are using a conventional you will have to experiment with temps between 350-400 degrees f. Just keep an eye on your edges so you do not burn the F out of them.

Ok, gotta run,

Cheers.

E.

[echoes]

Going to try and crush this in the remaining few minutes of my lunch at work. I've owed a lot of posts and I have been a little lax of late. Much going on and all that jazz.

Beef  Bolognese

This is a sauce that appears complex because it is built up in layers, but what appears to be complex is actually quite easy if you take your time. So, no random echoes being random, right to the ingredients:

4-8  slices of Bacon or, if you want to be a bit more authentic, 8-12 slices of Pancetta
1 Large Onion ( yellow or white )
2 cloves of garlic
2 Carrots Pealed
2 Celery stalks.
2-4 Diced Roma tomatoes or 1 can of diced tomatoes
2+ Oz Olive Oil ( Extra Virgin is fine, regular also fine.)
1 lb Hamburger meat ( minced beef)
1/2 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of beef stock
1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 2 if fresh
1 tablespoon Parsley
Salt / pepper to taste
6 Ounces of Tomato sauce ( 3-4 if you use puree.

Start by slicing the bacon down to strips and frying. Peel and dice the Onion and add to the bacon as it cooks. Peel and mince the garlic and continue to reduce. this will take 8 -12 minutes.

Remove the bacon/onion/garlic mixture and then add the ground beef atop the remaining bacon drippings. Cook until crumbling ( 5-8 minutes) and then drain.

Keep using the same pan and add 2 oz olive oil before added peeled and diced carrots, celery and parsley cook for 10 minutes before adding the onions and garlic back to the mix.  This is called a Soffritto. Cook together for 5 minutes before adding 1hite wine and beef stock.

Add in the ground beef, tomatoes, Oregano, Parsley along with salt &pepper to taste and the tomato sauce. Mix well before reducing heat and covering. You will let this cook for an hour, stirring occasionally. This is the simmer where the sauce flavor really develops. You can let it cook longer if you wish but that is up to you.

A Note about Pasta:

Everyone has a favorite Pasta whether you know it or not. What you may not know is that pasta has a reason to be different shapes and styles and it is all about how it holds the sauce. With this kind of sauce you want a wide and flat noodle like Tagliatelle or Pappardelle but Fettucine can be used in a pinch. Every pasta has a preferred dish, a preferred sauce. May have to do a post on that later. Also, I will eventually have to do a how to make Pasta as I have been getting better as of late.

Ok, Coming up soon, Paella.

Cheers,
E.

[echoes]

So,

Being that the internet is a multi-national platform that spans the globe, and Elliquiy is a website doing just the same, it means we have peebos from all over who  come here to read, write and generally try and have a good time. I'm playing Mr. Obvious here because there has been more than one instance when I watch a conversation go something like this:

"Well, you know that is how it is here."

"Uhm, no, I don't, what do you mean?"

"It's how 'x' is done, you know."

"Friend, I live in 'y'."

"Oh yeah. my bad."

I bring this up because where I live we have more than four seasons and our mother nature has been diagnosed with a bad case of dissociative identity disorder. We have Winter ( November - February,) Spring Monsoon Season (March and April,) Spring (May-June,) Summer (July-August,) Fall monsoon season (September,) Fall (October.)  And there is som over lap here and there, but, for example, the beginning of October was pretty damned cold and then the end of October and into November it warmed up. Like 70 (21 for the rest of the world.) degrees for 2 weeks after running in the mid to low 50's (10c.)

Why is all of this relevant? Well, last week it went from 70 to 30 (21/-1) in one night and has stayed there ever since. Because of this I have been in comfort food mode and my waist hates me. Well, that's not true, the waist is from beer drinking and playing Back 4 Blood and Left 4 Dead on a nightly basis.

Side Note, yesterday was Left 4 Dead's (both 1 and 2) birthday. A game released in 2008 is still fuckawesome to play with friends. There is a bit of a story behind that but it will show up somewhere else; beck to the food.

So, there has been grilled cheese sammiches with Campbell's Chicken and Star Soup. ( Hack for doing a different Grilled cheese. A lot of people say Mayo on the outside of the bread to get it super crisp. That works but if you want to change the profile up do not fry the bread in butter. Do it in bacon grease. Fry the outside of the bread and then flip it over and toast the other side before adding cheese) and I am about to start beef stew that will cook all day after I post here. Also making homemade bread, Boulles, to carve out and use as sup bowls.

There has been a lot of other comfort foods but last night I did a spin on Italian comfort by making Sausage and Gnocchi in a tomato sauce. And I realized that sometimes I am going to use words that some people may know, others may not and still others may not and are to lazy to use the internet to look them up. So, education time as I reward those with lazy behavior and fulfill the reason I got a degree to teach that I am never going to use:

Gnocchi - Little Italian dumplings made from wheat, egg, salt and potatoes ( What is not love about that.) Can be as hard as a rock so cook before eating. These are not like the dumplings that I make with my chicken soups. These are rounded ovoid shaped lumps of Italian goodness.

Soffrtto - (Sofrito) is basically what is going add to aroma and flavor of a dish. This is a mixture of veggies that have been diced down to just above a mince and then sautéed ( cooked) in oil. In this case mine is an Italian ( imagine that) more than a Spanish mix but the Soffritto is used through Mediterranean cooking. In this case it is Onion, Carrots, Celery and eventually garlic.


That is where I am going with all this, so, enjoy:

Sausage and Gnocchi

1 package of Italian Sausage ( i used Primo which runs about 16 oz)
1 Package of Gnocchi ( can make your own if you wish
2 Carrots ( peeled and chopped)
1 Large Yellow or White Onion ( Chopped )
2 Celery stalks ( chopped down and trimmed but keep the leaves)
2-3 Cloves of Garlic
1 can Diced tomatoes ( you can use 4 Roma tomatoes diced here if you want)
3 oz. Olive Oil
4 oz Sour Cream
1 small can of Tomato Paste
4 oz heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons Oregano
2 Tablespoons Parsley
Lemon Juice
Salt and pepper to taste.


Instructions are fairly straight forward

get oil in a large Pan on medium high. I used a Tramontina Braizer which is about 4 quarts and that is not a product drop, its so you can go look them up and see what one look like.

Add in your Sausage and start to cook. You are going to rotate these to get a little bit of a sear on all sides but you are not fulling cooking them through. These things are super fat sausages so there is actually three steps to cooking them. Get a bit of a sear on all sides and then pull them out and set them aside on a plate or something.

Add the Soffritto ( HACK: if you do not have the knife skills or the time to cut up your veggies then you can usually find a bag of pre-diced starters in the freezer section of a local supermarket. These starters are usually celery, onion and diced peppers and they work in a pinch. It wont hurt to have a few of these in the freezer because they come in so handy and onion cost about $1.68 American. This and frozen spinach are time and money savers)

While the soffritto starts to cook take your sausages and, with a sharp ass knife, you will make a lateral cut along the spine of the sausage. Your are going "butterfly" them so that you expose all the inside of the sausage, you are NOT cutting them in half to make two mini sausages. Once cut, back into the pan with the soffritto so that the insides can cook. Do this with all the sausages.

After about 2 minutes you pull the sausages out and you add the garlic in. on a clean cutting board (as the last one would have been exposed to raw pork) you just slice the sausages down to pieces about a quarter inch thick, ( think 4-6 mm) and then toss them back into the mix.

From here it goes both quick and slow. Add the diced tomatoes and give it a stir. Add in tomato paste and repeat with stirring. Then in with the sour cream and heavy whipping cream before turn the heat down to a medium low. Stir up and then add the Gnocchi. get it just above a simmer and add in the Oregano and parsely. Stir one last time before putting the lid on the braizer.

Cook for 5 minutes, open, stir and check the tenderness of the Gnocchi. Once they become soft you are done. Splash a bit of lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste.

You can go start to finish in about 30 minutes and this will give you 4 dinner portions with left overs for the next day. To serve I would suggest shredded Parm or Asiago cheese over top but a good mozzarella will work as well.

Red wine would go with this if you need a glass of vino.

More Soon

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

Hey all, So, its the time of year that, here in the States, is a time of increased cooking. Starting in Novembers and then plowing on through the New Year your have three of the most food heavy holidays you could have. Thanksgiving and Christmas followed by New years; as a side note, last year for New years I cooked over nine pounds of meat for the celebration and it got wiped out, So yeah, its eating time. There is a lot of cooking going on as well as everything else in the world and I will be getting some recipes up here soon. I still owe a Paella recipe and I can add a few other things but what I'm going to post today will seem kind of simple but it has merit. See, one of the side dishes I was supposed to make for Thanksgiving here was Corn Pudding. Simple Enough, Eggs, corn, creamed corn, flour, sugar butter... its pretty straight forward and usually a big hit. Funny story though, I wasn't able to find any creamed corn in the week leading up to the Holiday. So, I made my own creamed corn and now I will let you all know that, well, it worked.

Creamed Corn

2 Tablespoons of Butter
2-3 Tablespoons of Flour
3 14 oz Cans of Corn ( yellow ) ( 45oz )
1/4cup sugar
2 cups half and half ( or 1 of milk and 1 of heavy cream)
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional ( Cayenne pepper a/o Nutmeg)

Melt the butter on medium and then add in flour, salt and pepper and make a roux.
Slowly add in the Half and half and raise temp to medium high
Open canned corn, drain and add to the mix. Bring to a boil and then down to a simmer to cook.
NOTE : STIR OFTEN OR YOU WILL BURN THIS STUFF
As it cooks the mix should thicken. If you need it to thicken more make a slurry of water and additional flour or courn starch and add a little at a time.

Cook time should be 15-20 minutes. Finish with additional salt and pepper ( garlic is also optional.) If you want to add either cayenne or nutmeg now is your chance.

Now, let cool and use in other dishes. one of of which I will tell you about next time.


AN Aside: hey, so there is a companion thread : here. Tell me about your regional holidays from here in the States and abroad. Tell me about some of the traditions and meals that are associated with the holiday and who knows, I may try to cook one and report back to everyone. Make this a bit more interactive. ( That and I like trying new things.)

The experiment this week is going to be a bit Bougie. I am cooking for my partner's hunt club ( horse peebos be crazy) and I am doing a soup bar. Doing a beef stew, A vegetarian lentil soup and a loaded baked potato soup that starts with 2 pounds of bacon. That isn't the bougie part, the bougie elements are the deviled eggs with candied bacon, the mini Cordon Blue bites with parma ham and Fried Risotto with Caviar in the center and creme friache as a dip. will report on my success of failure.

Cheers.

E.

[echoes]

Hey everyone,

So, for those of you who have been reading this; first, thank you. Much apprecitate. ( Apprecitate is how horses say appreciate. More on that later.) speaking of horses, remember my partner's crazy horse friends who chase foxes and drink like pirates. I got to cook for them again and, again, made something that was the star of the show. It was a rainy, windy chilly day and I had decided to do a soup bar for everyone. The menu was the right fit and we had a beef and veggie stew along with a vegetarian lentil soup. I diced up all sorts of cheese and had a variety of breads for everyone. There were deviled eggs and charcutier meats. So, the meal fit the day but what stood out is I made Risotto the night before with Prosciutto and Parmesan. I put this on sheet trays and cooled it overnight and then rolled this mix into balls, lightly floured them and coated them with an egg wash before rolling them in breadcrumbs. They fried up in about 2 minutes into a beautiful golden brown piece of awesome.

So, here we go:

Deep friend Risotto with Prosciutto and Parmesan.

First the Risotto:

2Tablespoons of Butter
2 Table spoons of Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic
1 1/2 cup of Arborio Rice
5 cups Chicken Broth/stock
1/2 Cup White Wine
1/2 ( about 1-11/2 inch rind) Parmesan Cheese rind
3 slices of Prosciutto
Salt and pepper to Taste

The key here is to not rush, medium heat and longer time will make a better product:

Place chicken stock in a pot and warm up, do not bring to boil but it needs to simmer. this is important.
.
Butter and Oil into a pan, melt and add garlic and Cheese rind. Shred parm cheese with a grater and set aside. Roast garlic for 2 minutes or until aromatic. before it starts to brown add in rice and mix well.
Add white wine, stir and reduce, this can take between 2-5 minutes. While this is reducing shred Prosciutto.
Add prosciutto and stir well then add 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of warm chicken stock. ( The reason you warmed the chicken stock is so that the drop in temp from cold stock would not slow the cooking process.
For the next 15-20 minutes you will continue to add chicken stock as needed. This takes some patience. Stir regularly, add stock, stir and wait. keep at medium temperature. Do not try and rush by raising the heat.
You will use up all the stock and by the end your rice will have doubled in size and will have released a lot of starch which will almost look like a sauce. Mix in the shredded parm cheese and cook for another minute before pulling off the heat. The risotto will almost be creamy and tender to the touch.

If you do not get super hungry and eat this now line a sheet tray with parchement paper and spread the risotto out in a fairly even layer and then let cool over night.

Part II: Deep Fried Risotto

Flour ( as needed )
Six eggs , scrambled
1/2 container- 3/4 of bread crumbs ( I used Italian nor panko style crumbs)

Take cooled Risotto and shape into golf ball sized portions. You can make smaller, or larger, but that will affect fry time. Leave on sheet tray and you roll all of the risotto up.
Lightly flour the risotto balls on the tray and the spread extra flour on the try before you take each golf ball portion and cover with flour. Just roll them over the flour, you don't need a heavy coating.
In a fresh bowl scramble six eggs, In another bowl pour in breadcrumbs. I used deeper bowls for this to keep a mess to a minimum.

Ok, now, I am not ambidextrous, so this will kinda suck, but you use your left hand to move the risotto from the tray to the egg wash and gently roll. then pull the risotto up, shake off the excess egg and drop it, still with the left hand, into the bread crumbs. Use the right hand to scoop breadcrumbs up and over the ball before rolling it around to cover completely. this is not a thick coat, just a complete one.

Why do this? because if you don't both your hands will be coated in egg and breadcrumbs and you will be tempted to deep fry your fingers.

DO NOT DO THIS!

Set the breaded risotto to the side and repeat with remaining orders. I got 16 or 20, I forget which, out of this recipe.

Part III: to fry

Oil at 350. Use a handled strainer to set risotto into the oil. They will be golden brown in just a few minutes, watch them and then pull from oil. Set atop paper towel to drain excess oil. 

I made an sauce to go with them but they were awesome as is. the Parm and Prosciutto were perfect and the creaminess of the risotto was a lovely play against the crush of the breading.

Hope you enjoy,

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

It'll get you drunk.

I may have said those words before, on more than one occasion. But, should you know me, or if you are going to know one thing about me; I am a speaker of truth. Yes, if I do say, "it'll get you drunk," I am not lying. How you get drunk, what type of drunk you are, and the inevitable tax you must pay for getting drunk; that's all on you my friends.

This said, here is a quick and easy Spiked Apple Cider that is great on crisp fall mornings:


E's Spiked Apple Cider

1/2 Gallon (1.9L) of Apple Cider
4 12 oz bottles of hard draft cider of choice (I used Angry Orchard)
4-6 Apples ( of Choice)
4 Cinnamon sticks
a couple dashes of Nutmeg
12-16(+) Ounces of Bourbon

Whipped cream

To Make:

Put large pot on stove, fire it up to medium heat and add in all the liquid parts of the recipe. I know you are thinking to yourself, "E, Beer in the US comes in 6 packs, why did you only use four beers?" 

The Answer to that is not a mystery; I drank the other two while I was cooking.

Another thing you might be wondering is the little "+" sign beside the bourbon numbers. You can ratchet the amount fo bourbon up if you want, just make it taste good.

Ok, all liquids in, drop in the cinnamon and dash the nutmeg. give it a stir and then what you are going to do with the apples, and what apples you use, is dealers choice. Yes, they are going into the liquid, but how they go in is up to you. I did thick slices so they could simmer slowly. You can dice them up, you can slice you can make them as thin or thick as you want. You can ladle them into the cups with your drink or leave them be. Also, what type of apple you use, that is up to you and what you want from the apple. Crisp, sweet, tart; its up to your choice so live it up.

So, back to cooking. You do not want this to boil but you want to get hot before reducing the temp down to a simmer. If you are not worried about the apples adding to the flavor you can serve this right away or you can let it slow build for a bit to enhance the flavor. your call.

When you are ready, get this into a cup and spray a layer of whipped cream on top. If you need to garnish you can add an orange wheel, apple slice and maybe even dust a little more nutmeg or cinnamon on the whipped cream ( dont be extra on the nutmeg.)

This will, indeed, get you drunk.

[echoes]

Comfort Food

Doesn't that just sound nice, and doesn't it invoke memories of something that you really enjoy? Whether it is a grilled cheese sammich with chicken noodle soup, and I am talking the Campbell's Industrial condensed, no water added, shelf life of Uranium basic ass red and white labeled soup here; or it is something else from your childhood the truth remains the same. Comfort food has its name for a reason.

So, while I am not Russian, or of any Eastern European nation in ancestry, I do love me warm noodles and meat in a savory sauce so when I tell you that Beef Stroganoff is comfort food I am not lying.

Traditionally, Beef Stroganoff is Russian dish consisting of beef in a sauce that is flavors with mustard and sour cream. Note, the dish, in its truest form exists without pasta, rice, or any other carb. A Stroganoff, or Stroganov, is the meat and the sauce, not the medium it rests on. Also, many versions include mushrooms and there are variants that use potatoes and so on. Finally, a traditional dish uses cubed pieces of beef where as version can use ground chuck (hamburger/minced beef) or strips of beef. What I am about to get you is one of my takes on this dish.

Flank Steak
Butter
Olive oil
Onion
Garlic
Mushroom
Beef Stock
Cream
Sour Cream
Flour
Salt, pepper, Parsley
Egg Noodles ( medium or wide)

Use a large pan, I use my trusty Brazier I've talked about before, and get some butter melting on low. Trim excess fat or silver off of flank steak. Murderate ( stab repeatedly with a fork) one side and then flip the piece and do it again. Work out some daily frustration here before you cube the meat down into 1/4 in, 5 mm, cubes. Place the cubes into a ziploc bag (or into a mixing bowl) before you cover with flour. You are looking at dusting the meat here, don't over do it, but if you do, you will be fine. 

Once meat is in the bag turn heat up on the butter to medium high and then Shake/Mix/ coat the meat with the flour. Once coated the meat goes into the pan. Start a second pot with a cup or so of beef broth on medium and get it warm.

Dice up your onion, mince garlic and slice mushrooms here OR... and I say this without shame, Cheat the fuck out of prep and use 1/2 a bag of pre-chopped frozen onions, a full bag of sliced frozen mushrooms and 2 generous teaspoons of garlic.  Do not add these yet.

You are browning the beef, not cooking it all the way through. set a mixing bowl aside and place a colander or a strainer basket over the bowl. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to the colander int he bowl. let drain and whatever is draining goes back in the brazier. While the meat drains throw in another tab or two of butter and give a generous pass or two with oil. Then, in goes the onions. Cook for about 2 minutes and add mushrooms. cook for another 4 and add garlic and then go 2 more minutes on medium high. In-between adding and stirring veggies, start a pot with water and salt for the pasta. get it up to boil so hit it with high heat,

Same slotted spoon as before, strain all the onion/mushroom/garlic mix out of the brazier ( or your pan of choice ) and into the basket with the meat. let drain for just a minute and then pour all liquid back into the pan. Add flour and make a roux. its going to be a couple of tablespoon but I would stop short of a 1/4 cup. Stir and let thicken before adding beef broth a little at a time. You want the consistency to look just shy of thin past and it should have a grey/brownish color. That doesn't sound appetizing but it is a ruse. Start adding your cream and stir while still on medium heat. you want the cream and the roux to combine and smooth out. Here you start adding pepper and salt to get the base taste you want. Add the sour cream in and work the mix to the consistency you want.

Add the meat and veggie mixture back in and turn the heat up just long enough to make it bubble before turning the mixture down. Add in parsley and then lower temp to simmer. Cover and let cook for about 10 minutes. Occasionally remove lid and stir, keep the heat low so there is no burning.

pasta goes in the water and cooks for 6-7 minutes. you will drain the pasta using the same strainer/colander as before before adding it to the Stroganoff. Here you mix everything together, stir and taste. Add salt, pepper or parsley as needed. if you think it is to thick add either cream, sour cream or any remaining beef broth, a little at a time, to get the consistency you want. if you feel it is too thin, let cook longer and the starch from the pasta will help thicken the sauce.

Serve with parm cheese or nothing at all but let me tell you, toasty cheesy garlic bread goes hand in hand with this dish.

Thats all for now

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

And tonight is New Years eve and for some of you on E it is already the New Year. For everyone out there who reads this: have a safe and happy New Years eve full of food, alcohol or whatever debauchery you so desire. ( This totally includes just eating popcorn and watching Netflix all night if that is what floats your boat.) My partner and I joined two other couple in a BnB a state away from home and we are going to quietly ring in the New Year away from the world and "quietly" together. For those who know of some of my other pursuits than food, well, you know that quiet is relative; but I digress.

Lets start with dinner last night. I decided I wanted to go all in and be both Bougie and Extra, and I am going to tell you the up's and downs on this, so here was the menu:

Spring mix salad with :
Feta, Walnuts, Sun Dried Tomatoes and a homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette
Stuffed Mushroom Caps:
Brie mixed with Mushroom pieces, Cayenne, cream, Beef Stock and then smoothed in Havarti
Deep Fried Risotto:
with Prosciutto and Parmesan
Beef Wellington:
With a Red Wine Ruby Port sauce
Scalloped Potatoes with Cheese
Chocolate Lava Cakes:
With Cream Anglaise

Now, do you feel slightly dirty after reading that? Can you feel the weight gain just thinking about that list? I hope so because I did when I came up with the meal. I will admit to two things here: 1) I did not make the Lava Cakes or the Potatoes tonight, they were store bought. 2) I did not make bread and we got a bag of The Cheesecake Factory rolls that I adore. Everything else, yep, that was me.

So, lets talk about the world conspiring against you shall we? I have done a Wellington before. The last time I did was Christmas about 4 or 5 years ago, and while it was not perfect, it was ok. So this time, yeah, I wanted to be perfect. Doing a Wellington, if you take your time, is not so much hard as it is exacting. For those who have watched "hell's Kitchen" you know that Gordon Ramsey loves to chew on people's asses for screwing this up. The reason it is so difficult for them is that they are working in a Kitchen environment which does not give you time to breathe. I was able to start my Wellington on Thursday and then finish it on Friday when we had dinner. So far, no problem right? Here is where fate decided to kick me in the balls. I have stated before I am not a baker, I like to cook, so I had absolutely no intention of making my own Puff Pastry. I've watched enough British Baking to go "F that."

There is absolutely no Puff Pastry to be found in 120 Miles of road, None in my home town, none on the way here. We stopped at 5 different places, different chains, and everyone was out. Did everyone else decided to do Wellingtons? As Ramsey would say, 'Aww fuck me." But, I wasn't giving up. I bought Philo dough and soldiered on. The result was not the same but I still pulled off and amazing cook on it. The Duxelles, the Prosciutto and the actual tenderloin were cooked to perfection. So, while it didn't come of perfectly it did not fail.

Other than this hiccup I was pretty happy with the meal because I pulled off the courses, while getting to eat myself with my friends, and everything came out perfectly times. We started with the salad and then went to appetizers. The mushrooms and the Risotto were on point and I have left over Risotto for tonight's shenanigans. The Wellington was perfectly medium Rare and I did have to cook two pieces up to medium (Saute pan) for my partner and one other friend. The potatoes did not explode in the microwave or the oven and the lava cakes were rich AF but the Cream Anglaise was even better. (My girlfriend would sit in a chair with a bowl of Anglaise and a straw if I let her.)

All this said, here is what I am sharing from the meal:

Red Wine and Port Sauce for Beef
Now, I am someone who likes their savory and Sweet separate ( heh, Alliteration) but I know a lot of people like to mix the two. This a sauce that really compliments beef, and not just a Wellington, and it pretty easy to pull off.

Part 1
2 Cups Red Wine ( I used Apothic Inferno for this batch)
1 Cup Ruby Port
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 Cup beef Stock or Broth
1/4 Cup Shallots or Chives
1/4 Mushrooms ( sliced)

Part 2
2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon of Corn Starch
2 Tablespoons of Butter

Simply add all of part 1 into a pot and get it up to a boil. let it boil and reduce for about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally and keep an eye on it, do not let it boil over so use a good sized pot for this. it ought to reduce down to about a third of its original volume as it cooks.

What I do here , once it has reduced, it strain it through mess to remove the pieces of mushroom/chives/shallots and get a smooth liquid.

After it reduces and you strain out the pieces get it back on low heat. Make a slurry with the water and corn starch, Drop in the butter and melt the pieces then slowly add the corn starch slurry, a little at a time, until you get the consistency you are looking for.

This goes with beef in general whether you are doing flank or filets. It is rich, savory and sweet all at the same time. it looks impressive but it is simple to make. You make it in advance but if you reheat this I would do so in a double boiler ( a pan with sauce atop another pan with water that is over a heat source) I would not reheat using direct heat because you can burn this.

Next post will be the Cream Anglaise and that stuff will make any sweets aficionado happy. 

Happy new years everyone.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

its been a hot minute and as you can see I did not cook at all Last month. Ok, that is a lie; my partner of 11 years ( After 11 years are we still girlfriend and boyfriend or have we moved on to being a couple? FM IDK?)
would starve to death, or disown me, if I were to stop cooking. Did I have some crazy cool new recipes; Yes, yes I did.  Did I write any of them down; No, because I am a tool.

Actually, Jan was a really busy ass month for me and, as I said in another thread, it was mostly good with partly Meh along the way. Tonight I am being lazy and using a Costco Meatloaf and spuds but I am making homemade Cheddar bay Biscuits to go with. So, like I said in that other thread I just mentioned, I am going to try to have a better presence on site this month, which, compared to lasyt month, ought to be a piece of cake.

or in this case, bread:

Hot Ham and Cheese pull Apart bread

This is a simple appetizer/ side dish that makes everything in the world seem good.

1 Loaf of Soft Italian or other bread ( you can use a French loaf if you want
12-16 Ounces of Gruyere Cheese ( Shredded )
12 Ounces of thinly slices ham ( Or 12 pieces of Prosciutto)
6 Ounces of Butter
Olive Oil
Salt and garlic to taste

(Options )

So, get the loaf and slice the ends off so you can nibble on them while you do the prep
You are going to make it so that there are 12 Total pieces of bread by slicing almost all the way through the loaf. DO NOT cut all the way through, leave the pieces attached.
Next, slice the butter so that you have 12 .5ounce pieces and place them between the slices of bread.
Repeat this with the ham of the prosciutto
Drizzle Olive oil over the top of the bread and spread with a brush.
Dust with Salt and then garlic
Finally, take the shredded Cheese and stuff the slices of bread atop the ham and butter with the excess laying on top of the load

OPTIONS:

You can add dices onions, tomatoes, mushrooms here but they need to be a fine dice and you can layer them on tope or you can try to stuff them in between the slices of bread

Oven, 350 for 7-10 minute until everything is a melty goodness
then turn on Broil for 4-6 minutes to get that browned cheese on top that makes everything in the world seem like it will be oK.

Be bougie, you just made pull apart cheesy bread. Get that Basic wine lovers Cupcake Chardonnay or Eco Domani Pinot Grigio and go at it ( I actually like Eco Domani. )

Ok, I need to go make biscuits, the American Kind not the British kind and then, New season of British bake Off Professionals just dropped on netflix.


Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

So I created tonight and like A dumbass I wasn't planning of keeping notes or anything because, well, I'm lazy. Was making dinner for the s/o because she was working the overnight ( 7-7) at her job. When she is not teaching Psych she is a nurse on the unit so good on her, bad on her eating habits. If there are any nurses on site, and I bet there are, I am sure many of you can confirm that eating is an art when you work at a hospital. First, you forget about real food while you pound coffee and devour whatever sugary snack is near by till the point you are not hungry. Then, secondly, when you are hungry someone utters the dreaded "q" or "s" word ( One means not loud and the other means not fast) which is like asking Karma to, "Hold my beer."

Anyway, I thawed out some pork chops ( boneless and about 4 or 5 ounces each) that I had cut and was planning to do cast iron seared rosemary and garlic chops along with pasta for her. I got a pasta tree for drying noodles and a new food processor for valentines and I put them to use. Got a nice looking pasta all hanging ( which I under cooked unintentionally by about a minute) and once it was done it tasted nice and fresh. The cops I did in the skillet with a combination of bacon rendering and butter and then finished them off in the oven. All was good but the real star was the sauce.

A while back she had picked up these refrigerated tubes of various seasoning and I had one that was a paste of sun- dried tomatoes. Now, I do not like tomatoes as a general rule; I am not a marinara fan. Oddly enough, I can eat my weight in salsa but don't expect me to explain my insanity to you here. Just know that I have been tested and I am the good kind of crazy. Sun-dried tomatoes, however, add a unique flavor and I wanted to use that to compliment the Pork chops. What I ended up with was everything I wanted and more because I took the sauce up a notch with Marscapone cheese.

For those who are not familiar with Marscapone, this is an Italian cream cheese of sorts. It has a slightly different flavor than American cream cheese and it lends itself to other flavors really well. I have used it before to make a roasted red bell pepper sauce and I had a feeling that it would go really well with the sun-dried tomato paste and I was right. So, here are the ingredients for the sauce:

Butter
Flour
Heavy cream
Vegetable Broth
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Paprika
Sun Dried Tomato Paste
Marscapone Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Lemon juice
Frozen spinach
Pasta water ( this is actually about a quarter cup of the water used to cook the pasta.)

About pasta water and Italian sauces. Recipes will sometimes call for you to add the water to various sauces and there are reasons for this: 1) it helps the sauce stick to whatever pasta you are using and 2) because the water now has some of the starch in it from the cooking of pasta it will naturally thicken a sauce. Alfredo Sauce is a classic example of the use of pasta water to thicken a sauce.

So, what I did was melt the butter and make a thin Roux using flour. I added in the salt, pepper, garlic, paprika and sun-sun dried tomato paste and let it cook a bit. The moment you add cream, Marscapone and Parmesan the roux will get really thick. You use the vegetable broth to cut it to a desire consistency. Do this on low- medium heat and add more stock as the sauce thickens. I splashed some lemon juice in to bring the other flavors out and this is when you need to start tasting and testing the sauce to get the flavor profile you want. Get the consistency just a little under the thickness you want and then toss in the frozen spinach. let that cook for a minute or two, the spinach will cook fast and absorb the flavor easily. Finally add a little of the pasta water.

Now, I drained the pasta and then tossed it into the sauce and got a nice coating before I pulled the cops out of the oven. I didn't talk about cooking the chops because, as good as they came out, the sauce was the star. I plated the pasta into bowls and then thin sliced the meat at about a 45 degree angle and 1/8th of an inch thick.

This sauce when great with the pork but for the vegetarians I got a version for you. This would go great with grilled squash and Zucchini. I would suggest quartering the veggies and maybe add in a green bell pepper and some onions. Got your veggies in melted butter and lightly season with Lowry's or another seasoning salt ( celery or garlic salt would work.) Pan sear or grill to get a little char and then layer them atop the pasta in place of the meats.

Start to finish, without making the pasta, and you could have this done in 30 minutes. If you don't make your own pasta I wouldn't use a noodle smaller than Linguini and would suggest Fettuccine. You could also try Penne.

Sorry I didn't record anything, I was just working on the fly and decided this one was worth sharing.

Cheers,

E.

P.S. : for all those in health care, for all of you who do the 12 hr shifts and have been doing so during these last few years. Thank you for all you have done, all you have put up with, and the willingness to stay at the bedside. This also includes the administrators, the aides, techs and everyone else who make hospitals run.

P.S.S. I have joked with my girlfriend that I am going to start a series of food trucks called the OR ( Operating Restaurant) and the ER ( Emergency Restaurant.) That would start service at 10Pm (22:00) and go until 3:00 ( 03:00) just for you all to have fresh cooked meals. That way you could have quality hot food at a better price and freshness than doordash. ( for those outside of the US, Doordash, if you don't have this service, picks up food from wherever you order and delivers it to you. There and plusses and minuses to the service but sometimes it is the only way to get non-hospital food on shift.)

[echoes]

So,

I work in one of those places that has multiple departments and recently, like in the last month, I changed out of a department that I had worked in for the last 8.5 years. I did this willingly, laterally, because I needed to get out. I didn't realize how much I hated coming to work until I left my former department and now, despite the new job being hundreds of times more physical and labor intensive, I have pretty much had a smile on my face every day. There are a few more things at play, but that is the overall gist of my work life and that is part of the reason I have not been posting as much about food. I mean, I still cook but I have been a bit more tired and haven't typed about it. If this wasn't enough we are coming into Spring which is a busy ass time for me because, if you have read stuff here and elsewhere, I have a small farm. We have horses and chickens and 12ish acres to maintain.  This said, I am going to try and get better about getting out one food, or drink, item each week.

In another post, about two or three back, I told you about New Years and a sauce I made to go with a Beef Wellington. I did another read wine sauce tonight for a pork tenderloin and it is a little different but I am going to share it:

2 Cups of Red Wine. I did a Sweet Roja Wine
1 Large can of Mandarin oranges ( get the ones in juice and not syrup)
3 tablespoons of butter
pinch salt
Splash of lemon juice ( about a tablespoon)
2 Tablespoons of sugar

( Possible corn starch/ slurry mix to thicken )

Pork really works well with fruit flavors and sweetness and I have done things like use applesauce before to make a glaze/ drizzle/ sauce etc. I wanted to do Mandarin oranges because I do a similar marinade with siracha for beef ( may have to get that up here at some point. Anywho, this is a simple recipe:

get the wine into a pot/ pan and get heat to medium high. Add in the mandarin oranges, juice and all. Add lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of butter.
get this to a boil and then be patient. You want this to cook for anywhere from 20-30 minutes or until the liquid has reduced down to about a third of the original size.
Taste, add sugar and a pinch of salt, possibly more lemon juice to get the sweetness you want.
if the liquid is to think make a small slurry ( 4 tablespoons of water to 2 tablespoons corn starch) and add slowly while stirring and get the consistency you want. making a slurry will almost guarantee that you have no lumps, but if you have some lumps, dont worry., do not worry.
Now, if you have an immersion blender, cool, destroy the oranges in the pot. Or just use a whisk to mash them up. Just break these down the best ypou can.

Then, strain this mixture through a mesh strainer and into a bowl. Check for taste, you want the note of the oranges to be more prevalent than just pure sweetness. What is did next is optional. You can either rest the pork tenderloin atop the glaze you you can drizzle this atop the tenderloin. I also added feta cheese to go along with this. Given the seasoning of the tenderloin the combination worked great.

So that is it for now, more to come in the future. I made a pizza oven last year and it survived the winter. I need to do a little work on it and then add some cosmetic rocks around it's cinderblock base. I may be making a tandor style oven this year in which case I will be writing about more kebabs and skewers of meats and veggies.

Cheers,

E.

[persephone325]

*posts to get notifications*

[echoes]

Hey all, and Hey persephone, long time yo.

So, Have been doing some cookings here and there but as of Sunday I am off on a little four day holiday and going to one of my favorite cities. I will be heading to NOLA, Nawlins, the Big Easy or New Orleans depending on where you are from. So Laissez les bons temps roulere, let the good times roll; on a side note, this is the first time I have been back since Katrina hit in 05. I am not a Mardi Gras person, Nawlins is not all about beads, boobs and binge drinking when I head down there. I usually go for the food and the atmosphere. Despite this being a blog about food ( and I will get to the food part in a bit ) here is a quick story about my times down in the Crescent City.

I actually was in town with my dad and several of his friends for a Football road game against the LSU Tigers in near by Baton Rouge. If there are any Tigers fans here, Geaux Tigers, much respect. For the rest fo the world outside of the states. The Football ( American style) in the SEC (Southeastern Conference) is particularly competitive. And the top SEC teams tend to always be in contention for a National Title. LSU tends to be a top tier program where as the one I follow, back then, wasn't. So, when we beat LSU in Death Valley ( the name of their stadium) there was hell to pay. Then two years later we were back again and they made us pay for it ( this is the late 90's/early 2000's.) Because I am a survivor, and I am not a fanatic for sports, I packed mostly neutral colored clothing so that I could blend into a crowd when the drunks fans started to get belligerent. The mention of clothing is important here because we stayed in New Orleans before heading to baton Rouge for the game.

It was an a Amazing Friday and I had my first drink at 8:30 am with Absolute Mandarin and OJ as part of breakfast. I hung out in the Quarter ( French Quarter/ heart of New Orleans) all day long. bar hopping, meeting up with my dad and his friends, sight seeing and so on. They turned in around eleven but I was still looking to keep going and, being that this was the time before the interwebs, used an archaic device known as a phone book, and an accompanying directory to track down a club to go dancing at. I wasn't drunk, hadn't gotten drunk all day, and I am a club kid so these would be my people. After doing some research, and checking with the concierge where we were staying, I was absolutely tickled to find a Goth Club not three blocks away.

I got there just before midnight and when I made it past coat check I will sum up the reaction of the already assembled Goths to my arrival by paraphrasing Bill Hicks when he said, "They looked at me like Boy George just showed up at a KKK rally. Remember when I mentioned dressing to blend in to a crowd, that would be a crowd of frat boys and alumni at a football game and not a Goth club. The only that I was wearing that black were combat boots. I was in khaki colored cargo pants, a grey t-shirt and a dark grey pullover/hoodie and I was in the middle of the floor throwing down to Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy and so on. I had a blast and knew every song they played, singing along and dancing for a good hour before heading to the bar to grab a drink. The conversation there when like this:

"Evening, could I get -X- to drink please."

"Sure thing hun, hold on."

Bartender gets me drink of choice, I pay and transaction is done when the young woman behind the bar goes:

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Go for it." ( Said between a drink the lighting of a cigarette ( yes I used to smoke just like everyone else back then.)

"Are you sure you are in the right place, hun?"

"You tell me," and there was a big smile as I said something that I still feel pretty good about. "In a room full of so called alternative people, Who stands out?"

She smiled and bought my next round and we talked. She was a student at Tulane and the bartender gig was just part of life while in school. I explained that I used to DJ and I am an old school goth ( I was prolly 5-10 years older than most of the crowd then and only a few were dancing. Instead the majority were playing that " I am so dead inside my soul dances without me" and " Anne Rice was so cool until she sold out" schtick that some goths tend to love.

I staid out until about 2:30 before heading home after a lovely night dancing, chatting and having a ball. The next day, my football team got their asses handed to them in revenge fashion but the trip to the club made the entire trip worth it.


Now On to food.

Most people say they can cook the "perfect" something or other. I won't claim this is perfect but I will tell you how I get a quality steak using cast iron almost look look like clockwork.

First, preperation:

Nothing fancy, use a fork and get the meat you want to work with and then do your best serial killer/ anger management on it. Stab the fuck out of one side, flip and repeat.

You want the steak to be close to room temp but slightly chilled will work as well.

Second, seasoning:
Salt, pepper, Garlic, Onion Powder, Paprika and crushed rosemary.

Dust one side with each in and I go in the order above. Flip the meat and repeat. How much you add will depend on how you like your seasoning done but I tend to favor the garlic and rosemary when I do the seasoning.
 
Let sit for a few minutes and while it does just that do 2 things. turn on an oven to 350f ( 176-177c.) and get your skillet on medium high heat.

Three, the skillet:

I have several cast Iron skillets that are seasoned ( more on that in another post) and great for doing 1 - 3 steaks without crowding the pan. When doing, lets say fillets, I do three in a pan. The fillets I use are from Costco so, if you are familiar with them, you know the cuts of meat are thick. Once the pan is on I add 1 -2 Tablespoons of butter and the same in bacon drippings. Let the skillet heat up and get the butter/drippings melted.

Four, Cooking part one:
In goes the steak. listen to the nice sizzle and start to really get hungry. This is a good time to do other prep, sides and such. You will leave the steak on the first side until you get a nice crust/sear and the meat starts to cook up the sides. before it reaches half way up the side, flip the steak to start the other side. Notice I am not saying an exact time. The reason for that is burners/cooktops and so on tend to cook at different speeds and what may work for one will not work for others. What you are doing hear is trapping everything inside. The oven you turned on will finish the steaks off.

Five, Cooking Part two:

Sear done take the skillet off the burn and slide it into the oven. Here times do come into play but it will then vary based on the thickness of the steak. With those Costco Fillets I usually go a minimum of 5 minutes before I flip them and do another 5 and you are at a near guaranteed rare - medium rare. You can go up to 8/10 minutes a side and you will be on the higher side of medium rare.  Steak thickness is the biggest factor here. Thinner steaks will finish faster.

What you end up with a seared steak that is balanced and seasoned and ready to rest before serving. its not burnt because there is not enough time to do so with indirect heat.

Cheers,

E.

[persephone325]

Hey!

New Orleans, huh? I've always wanted to go! My dad says that a lot of their food is spicy, though. I'm not a big fan of spicy foods, so that made me a bit disheartened.

But reading about you cooking steak is making me hungry for it! lol I guess I'll have to settle for my ribs from when we went out for dinner tonight. lol I definitely want to try this. It sounds really good!

[echoes]

Not a food post, but observations and thoughts along with a bit of Anthropology:

I'm in NoLa for a couple of days and so far it has been a combination of Nostalgia and adventure as I see the city for the first time in Twenty years. Last time I was here was before Hurricane Katrina had its way with the city and since then it has survived a few more storms, Covid and who knows what else. So, to see that the Quarter is the still the Quarter, that the Business district seems to be booming and that the people here are as diverse and eclectic as ever has really warmed my heart. My partner has never been here and so we decided that New Orleans would be a nice little escape. Now, ready for some humor, I hope you are because here it goes. My partner is a Navy brat born in Hawaii and she hates seafood. Not just some, but ALL seafood; and we are in New Orleans. I have already had Gulf Caught shrimp and fresh Crawdads and she has stuck with chicken and rice. I am going to get her to try gator ( cause it eats like chicken, no lie) but even that is an arm twister, So yeah, that is going on.

Now, to the observation

I know this, and those who cook a lot prolly know this, but to those who have only ever had premade: "cajun/creole/New Orleans" style food it isn't about the heat. The heat is a by product of the cultures that have lived in Louisiana but that is not what makes these ethnic foods taste the way they do. The heat comes from a combination of French, Spanish and West African styles that were then further experimented on by the Acadians and Creole descendants that would eventually become known as colloquially known as Cajun. Now, real quick, Acadian refers to those who left a province in the North Eastern part of Canada ( Arcadia ) and Creole refers to the French/Spanish/ West African/ Native American people of Louisiana before its purchase by America. Now the terms get intermixed all the time but I still think of them as two or more separate groups.

Enough anthropology, back to food.

The Trinity

This is the rough dice of green bell peppers, Onions and celery that is not unlike the French mirepox which is Onion, Celery, Green onion and carrots. After this base comes the building of flavor usually based on aromatics like: Parsley, thyme, scallions, cayenne pepper, bat leaf and back/white pepper. The addition of other red/yellow bell peppers brings base heat and some sweet but the goal here is to develop a flavor before you feel the heat. Despite the craze of hot sauces that surfaced in the 1990's this punch in the face heat is not what the food here is about. In fact, other seasonings that make appearance in order to develop that "cajun" taste profile are anything but hot: Basil, cloves, mint, Majoram, oregano, sage sugar cane and so on give the appearance of anything but heat. That is where the: Garlic, white pepper, chili powder and Cayenne come in to play. The art here is the balance, the flavors that entice you to come back for another bite even as the heat settles in to warn you off. The perfectly balanced bit has the heat fading just in time for your mouth to water for another taste. I haven't travelled outside of the US so I can't say this doesn't happen anywhere else, in fact, I am sure it does in the cuisines of various people around the world. Or at least i hope it does, but I don't think that any one style of cuisine here in the states has this art down like a science like the food here in New Orleans. You can replicate it elsewhere, but here is the home and if you call it "Cajun" or "Creole" then you had better bring game.

Now, other than this, there is one other thing that New Orleans is known for and I am not talking about a holiday where you show your chest to get free beads.

COFFEE

This may shock you; I don't drink coffee . Never developed a taste for it, never enjoyed it and, Hell, I quit caffeine for ten years because I have sleep issues. Anywho, I don't drink coffee but if you are in New Orleans and you are a coffee drinking, this is a Mecca for you. More than Seattle, this is the first stop of fresh ( ie: Still hot from roasting coffee beans) from South America. You can have the best eatery int he world, the finest cuisine and the best cooks and if you have shit coffee you will close. Here the coffee of an establishment can make you a contender or shutter your doors. So, if you come down to the Delta make sure you take time to have a cup or two.

One last thing and then imma fuck off for a bit.

If you come to NoLa do realize their blue laws ( alcohol laws) are a bit different than everywhere else in the States. You can open carry alcohol in the Quarter and in other parts of the city without worry. In some places you get an automatic P.I. (Public Intoxication) for just having a beer in your hand. here you gotta be drunk to get that P.I., but once you do, well, world of shit for you. Why am I tell you about this, well, its simple. THE DRINKS HERE COST MORE THAN THE DO AT DISNEY! Alcohol in the bars tend to be ridiculously marked up. You will get drunk at the cost of the thrid mortgage on your house. I'm all for supporting local and there are so many places to try, but if all you are going to do is walk the quarter then bring your insulated glass and a flask and save yourself a bit of money that would be better spent on food and tipping.

Example of what I mean. there is a place where you can get a "Scorpion" shot for $25 bucks. Yes, $25 bucks for a shot and a t-shirt to goo along with it. What is this concoction? Is it made with ambrosia or at least some insultingly high priced alcohol? nope. Tequila of your choice, a scorpion dipped in fuel, set on fire and tossed into your shot. You drink the drink, swallow the bug and you just spent $25 that you may immediately puke back up.

This is the place of $25 frozen daiquiris and 4 dollar bottles of Diet coke. This is a tourist destination and you will pay for it. ( I will give a shout out to the Creole House for a very reasonably priced wine list with bottles averaging around $40 but everywhere else so far has been crazy. Look, hit Costco, get the premade Margarita bottle for less than $12 bucks and sippie cup that like a boss.

Im back home on Thursday and will try and cook something inspired by the trip. Either that, or Im doing burgers cause I am lame.

Cheers,

E.

[echoes]

So,
Back from the Big Easy and there is both good and bad associated with that. I went from 60-70 (18's in C.) degrees a day into 30 (0,-1c) somethings and that kinda sucked. I got back to work, ,meh, not that bad but physical, and I am back on my small farm. Spring, theoretically is around the corner and in this part of the world we are about to have a fifth season known as "wet." Wet seasons make yard work a right pain in the ass because you can't get a lot of stuff done but you have to find a way to do it anyways. Also, we have 2 horses foaling soon so I will update those who are interested on that later.

Now, on to food.

Got back and was missing some of the flavor of the holiday so I did a chicken and Andouille sausage pasta with peppers and onions. Got a nice subtle heat after a lot of flavor in a tomato cream sauce and so that was on point.  Made homemade ( re: non mix) cornbread and then made a dessert. Now, I've said before I am not a baker, I suck at it really, but I can make a few desserts and that is what I am going to type out today.

Easy Creme Brulee:

4 Egg Yolks
1/3 Cup of Sugar
* - Vanilla
6 tablespoons caster/turbinado sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream.

6 medium sized Ramekins.

Start your oven at 325 degrees (163c)

Start cream in a pot or saucepan that has a lip for pouring. this will be important later. Start on medium heat and bring to a soft boil. resist the urge to go high heat so you do not scald the cream on the bottom of the pan. Slow and steady is better here. 

While this is starting also start a second pot with water and get it up to just under boiling, Or, if you have a steam kettle, fill it and set it on its way.

In a bowl, or a 4 cup measuring cup. Separate 4 yolks from the rest of the eggs and stir in 1/3 cup of regular sugar.

Notice I did an * for the vanilla, here is why:
Imitation or vanilla extract - 1 1/2 teaspoon into the egg/sugar mix
Vanilla Bean paste - 1 Teaspoon into the Egg/sugar mix
Vanilla bean, spilt and scrapped ( 2- 3 inches) - Into the heating cream split bean and all. ( remove split bean before adding cream to eggs)

So, eggs/sugar/ vanilla all mixed and cream just about to bubbling. Start to add cream to eggs( remember when I said to get a pain or pot that is good at pouring, this is why. You will spill this shit everywhere if you are not careful.) SLOWLY!!!!!!. Do not pour everything in all at once , you will make scrambled sugar eggs. Add slowly and mix continuously.

get 6 ramekins or small bowls and set them in a high-walled oven safe pan. That water you heated up earlier, pour that into the pan so that it comes about halfway up the outsides of the Ramekins. Then divvy up your Brulee mix into the 6 containers. Why are you doing this? It makes for consistent and even cooking in the Brulee while also providing moisture in the oven so that the top doesn't dry out and become a filmy mess.

Once done go into the oven for 25-35 minutes ( depending on how your oven cooks.) Pull just before the top of the mix starts to turn brown. let sit if you want for up to 20 minutes or refrigerate and serve cold in an hour.

Last step. place 1 tablespoon of caster or turbinado sugar on top of the finished Brulee and if you have a blowtorch you carnalize the sugar on top by heating it with the torch. if you do not have a torch turn your oven to broil and slide the ramekin's atop a sheet tray under the broiler. Be careful because it is easy to burn the Brulee, and yourself, doing it this way.

Cheers,

E.