Today I made fried rice (to clean out the leftovers!) and sous vide lemon cheesecake. Everything turned out great!
Last weekend, I bought an entire pork loin, butchered it into 16 or so nice thick chops, seasoned with salt and pepper and vacuum sealed with a clove of garlic per chop. Frozen, drop them in the sous vide for 90 minutes or so at 160F, then pan sear and make a pan sauce using some sweet vermouth, lemon juice, and butter. So far, we've cooked 4 of them and they were choice!
I've been a total sous vide fan for years now. It allows you to eat different cuts of meat you normally wouldn't. Stuff I wouldn't eat because I never cooked it correctly are easy now. Perfectly medium rare lamb and pork loin are things I would never have made at home.
Recently I came across a game changer. I have a family recipe that my grandparents called Blueberry Brandy. Not really brandy. Blueberries soaked in grain alcohol, sugar and a little anisette for over a month. It has been hard to duplicate because you don't know if you have it right for over a month.
I just found there is a whole sous vide alcohol making culture out there. RESULTS IN AN HOUR! Just don't use vodka as many suggest, needs to be grain alcohol. Now just waiting fo Blueberry season for perfectly fresh blueberries.
Made a homemade Chipotle burrito. Truth be told, the only items that were from scratch was the barbacoa (slow cooking since 9 this morning, and technically it was pulled chuck roast) and the Spanish rice. Still though, I seasoned the canned pinto beans and added the onion, lime, and lemon to the canned corn. What really made it a Chipotle burrito is that this bad boy was wrapped in a genuine American Chipotle tortilla. I ordered one online the other day and saw the option for an extra layer of tortilla. Just peeled it off, wrapped it up for later, and smugly said to myself "now this is how you hack Chipotle, Freddy."
No way. I had some salsa verde from the neighborhood taqueria left over, but I didn't put it on the whole thing. I go old school and do it bite by bite to ensure perfect salsa coverage.
Like @A_Ron_Hubbard we've been trying to reduce our meat consumption. Was excited to see that Impossible Burger now sells their burger "meat" at the grocery store. Have had it at a few restaurants but never been able to cook with it at home. So I griddled up some burgers for Memorial Day, they turned out to be damn tasty. I think it's definitely better than Beyond Meat (although I did make some pretty good ricotta meatballs with Beyond the other week).
Last night, we made Bourbon glazed Dragon Eggs. This was my first attempt, and it was phenomenal.
Essentially it's a stuffed jalepeno (cream cheese and sharp cheddar), wrapped in a butterflied chicken breast, wrapped in bacon. BBQ rub inside and out on the chicken, and grilled over indirect heat until internal temperature of 165F is reached. Glazing the tops with a homemade BBQ bourbon sauce several times while cooking. Served over coranarice.com with fried squash and cheesy brussel sprouts. Not pictured, homemade yeast rolls. This picture is some of the leftovers, next day for lunch. 10/10. Would definitely cook again.
My favorite quarantine chef youtuber is J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. If you're into the science of cooking, or at least interested in the why of something, whether it's technique, ingredients, tools, etc., and someone with a soothing voice and adorable dogs, check him out. Here he demonstrates cuts of beef on his dog, which I rewound and watched three times because it was so hilarious. I haven't tried this technique for cooking a steak because I want to try his reverse-sear technique whenever I purchase a good ribeye. Sometimes I just watch these late at night when I'm de-stressing from the day's events.
Here, he refused to name a famous chef, but everyone knew he was referencing Gordon Ramsay, which led to a whole discussion in the comments with him about toxicity, abuse of power, and the damaging effects that have (eerily topical). I worked with many chefs in the past, and Kenji seems like a genuinely decent person, plus he signs off with, "See you later, guys, gals, and non-binary pals."
My favorite quarantine chef youtuber is J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. If you're into the science of cooking, or at least interested in the why of something, whether it's technique, ingredients, tools, etc., and someone with a soothing voice and adorable dogs, check him out. Here he demonstrates cuts of beef on his dog, which I rewound and watched three times because it was so hilarious. I haven't tried this technique for cooking a steak because I want to try his reverse-sear technique whenever I purchase a good ribeye. Sometimes I just watch these late at night when I'm de-stressing from the day's events.
Here, he refused to name a famous chef, but everyone knew he was referencing Gordon Ramsay, which led to a whole discussion about toxicity and abuse of power. I worked with many chefs in the past, and Kenji seems like a genuinely decently person, plus he signs off with, "See you later, guys, gals, and non-binary pals."
i've been watching a ton of his videos since lockdown (i actually watched his BBQ Chicken video today). loved his insight on using a molcajete over a food processor (his guac and pesto vids).
i had never heard of him, and had no idea he was so established. super legit food writer and blogger. i background watch Food Network and i was pleasantly surprised to see him on a random episode of Guy's Grocery Games the other day. he chose to donate his winning rather than keeping it which was pretty rad. his restaurant is here in the Bay Area (San Mateo) and I def plan on checking it out when when it's socially safe and open for dine-in.
@Chinaski, I've always wanted a molcajete for making guacamole. Did you see his video for miso-glazed salmon? I had been admiring his picnic table when he said, "Oh, some of you have been asking me about the picnic table. It's redwood, and when I made it...." I was like, "Excuse me, did you just say that you made that?" Dude has a architecture degree from M.I.T. and comes from a line of famous geneticists and chemists. But I mostly love his laid-back attitude (again, not a quality chefs are known for) and general decency (gently chiding people for not social distancing; hyphenating his surname when he married; acknowledging non-binary folks; feeding frontline workers and food-insecure families during the pandemic).
Please update if/when you go to his restaurant. I'm probably going to make those sauerkraut quesadillas that (I think) he put on the menu from youtube demand.
@pavlovsbell- oh yeah, that table is awesome! and i agree with him on the versatility on one of those benches. he's the friggin jack of all trades! i like his late night videos when he seems kinda buzzed. like that funyun tortilla espanola. he even admitted it wasn't very good haha.
will def keep you posted if and when i check out his restaurant. and yes, he did put those sauerkraut quesadillas on his menu.
I'm making my grandmother's rice pilaf recipe this weekend, but adding my own spin to it with different seasonings and additional ingredients. I'm using long grain brown rice, mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, chicken, broccoli, artichoke hearts, and my standard herbes de provence/onion powder/salt/pepper seasoning. Last weekend I did swedish meatballs. I've been craving some homemade quiche again, so that might happen this weekend as well.
Not inventive at all, but I've been really digging getting back into smoothies for breakfast. Trying to do a little better job of getting more vitamins and what not. My favorite way of doing a serves 2 smoothie lately is 1/2 and apple, a banana, an eyeballed ~cup of unsalted cashews, cup to cup and a half of water, handful of spinach. Blend that first then add some flaxseeds, a serving of vanilla protein powder, and frozen berries (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc.), and maybe a squeezed half lime if a little something extra feels right. Refreshing and kind of power packed start to the day. I'm really into it.
Also, we made an old school casserole last night for the first time in a long time last night, but it was heavy on components and less so with soup so it wasn't very sloppy and it turned out awesome. Beyond Beef Grounds, assorted veggies (basically everything in the fridge that was headed towards turning), a couple of days old rice, touch of sriracha, splash of soy sauce, salt and chipotle seasoning and the two cans of cream of mushroom. The opposite of innovative, but it tasted really good.
Best food for the money? Doesn't have to be for any specific reason. Just your overall personal value choice. For me, its sardines. 95 cents for a can of goodness that ranges anywhere from solid ultilitarian nutrition all the way to a gourmet snack. Quick snack during the day. Perfect accompaniment to vermouth and brandy cocktails by night.
Best food for the money? Doesn't have to be for any specific reason. Just your overall personal value choice. For me, its sardines. 95 cents for a can of goodness that ranges anywhere from solid ultilitarian nutrition all the way to a gourmet snack. Quick snack during the day. Perfect accompaniment to vermouth and brandy cocktails by night.
It would take a zombie apocalypse to get me to eat sardines.
I’m going with the classic. Toast with tons of butter. Could eat it all day and night.
Comments
Recently I came across a game changer. I have a family recipe that my grandparents called Blueberry Brandy. Not really brandy. Blueberries soaked in grain alcohol, sugar and a little anisette for over a month. It has been hard to duplicate because you don't know if you have it right for over a month.
I just found there is a whole sous vide alcohol making culture out there. RESULTS IN AN HOUR! Just don't use vodka as many suggest, needs to be grain alcohol. Now just waiting fo Blueberry season for perfectly fresh blueberries.
Any other home bakers out there? It's a great hobby if you can get your hands on enough flour and happen to have a starter.
Essentially it's a stuffed jalepeno (cream cheese and sharp cheddar), wrapped in a butterflied chicken breast, wrapped in bacon. BBQ rub inside and out on the chicken, and grilled over indirect heat until internal temperature of 165F is reached. Glazing the tops with a homemade BBQ bourbon sauce several times while cooking. Served over coranarice.com with fried squash and cheesy brussel sprouts. Not pictured, homemade yeast rolls. This picture is some of the leftovers, next day for lunch. 10/10. Would definitely cook again.
Also, we made an old school casserole last night for the first time in a long time last night, but it was heavy on components and less so with soup so it wasn't very sloppy and it turned out awesome. Beyond Beef Grounds, assorted veggies (basically everything in the fridge that was headed towards turning), a couple of days old rice, touch of sriracha, splash of soy sauce, salt and chipotle seasoning and the two cans of cream of mushroom. The opposite of innovative, but it tasted really good.
Chinaski said: Oh wow, that looks sooooo good.