What did you cook today?

[ex1580]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Don't forget to make a little something for later too.

Here's some mango salsa for tonight.

[ronnie_suburban]

Circumstances forced us to go out to a restaurant for Thanksgiving this year. Hoping that'll be the last time that happens (for a while/ever). But because Thanksgiving is all about the food and the leftovers , I was still intent on making a few things for a day-after Thanksgiving-esque meal. One of the first steps was making some homemade pork & sage sausage that I use in my dressing . . .


Sausage Mise En Place
Rubbed sage, black pepper, salt, granulated sugar, coarse-ground pork, maple syrup, microplaned garlic, ice water and gochugaru. I really took the easy way out this time and bought pre-ground pork from the Chinese grocery. Normally, I grind it myself but needing such a small quantity -- and knowing that their default grind is just about perfect for sausage -- I decided to buy just what I needed instead of a big honking piece of shoulder. I'd never done it this way before but it turned out fine.

There was a bunch of other prep that I managed incrementally between Wednesday and Friday. Didn't bother getting pics of the veg prep for the dressing or the roasting of parted out turkey necks and wings that I used to make the stock (instantpot), etc.

Had some extra time on Friday, so I decided to make a (modified) batch of Claire Saffitz's Sour Cream & Chive Pull-Apart dinner rolls . . .


Roll Cutting & taz575 Damascus Pizza Cutter
Didn't have any sour cream, so I subbed in some full-fat Greek yogurt. I love chives but I omitted them, so the rolls would be more versatile after the initial meal. I don't think I've ever used this pizza cutter on pizza but it's great on dough (okay, serious overkill).


Dinner Rolls
Glistening is a good attribute for dinner rolls. Brushed these with egg wash, then sprinkled them with coarse black pepper and flaky salt right before baking. Brushed them with unsalted butter as they came out of the oven.

Let's not forget the main course . . .


Oven-Roasted Turkey
2-day salt/sugar/herb brine. This bird was from Ferndale Market in Minnesota by way of my butcher. Decided to go with the oven instead of the smoker for the actual cook. Spatchcocking helped the white meat and the dark meat finish at roughly the same time. When the breast read 153F I was prepared to take it out of the oven and continue cooking the leg quarters but they read ~185F at that point, so it all came out at the same time.


Plated Up
With smashed potatoes, pork & sage sausage dressing, green bean casserole (of course) and some roasted brussels sprouts. Normally, I prefer dark meat but the white meat was so moist, that's what I ended up having.

At the end, there were some pies . . .


Pumpkin Pie & Pecan Pie
I am not a fan of pumpkin pie but it's my wife's favorite and this is her late mother's recipe. Was happy to bake it, make the wife happy and gain some experience with something I'd never baked before.

So, we kind of got our Thanksgiving after all.

p.s. The food at the restaurant on Thursday was not so great but the staff was incredible. I totally admire these Pros for giving up their holidays and busting ass for their customers. It was actually a very pleasant experience. I've never had so much time to actually talk to my family at Thanksgiving. It was really nice.

[ex1580]

Another meal from the road. Grandma went out and caught a BIG salmon at the grocery store with her credit card. I was left to cook it and find something to go with it.
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I let the salmon come up to room temp before cooking it and rubbed a nice balsamic vinaigrette I made with rosemary into it. Oddly, they are not fish people so I try to use big flavors. I then dug around (and checked expiration dates) and ended up sautéing some carrots which I layered onto the bottom of a baking pan and topped with steamed broccoli and finished in the already hot oven.

I suppose that would have been fine with some Thanksgiving leftovers as additional sides but I was left to my own devices in the kitchen so things got a little out of control. I boiled some spinach and parsley (fibrous bits removed) until it was starting to come apart then blended it until smooth. Then I heated up some butter in a pan and made a citrous (lemon) butter sauce which I returned to the pan and whisked the greens into until it was an emulsified green sauce.

The orange thing in the middle is my travel bag of spices, for a few days anyway.
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It's not much to look at but the plates were all clean and the compliments were rolling in all night. If only I could attach tastes and smells.

[TheLegalRazor]

Sam, I see a very nice Doberman gyuto in that photo. Is the steel 80CRV2 or Magnacut?

[ex1580]

Sam, I see a very nice Doberman gyuto in that photo. Is the steel 80CRV2 or Magnacut?

80CRV2

I am interested in Magnacut but like my knives more pointy than he makes them right now.

[taz575]

Did a mostly Keto Shepards Pie for Thanksgiving!

Mashed Rutabag with cheese and butter for the top, then some frozen peas/carrots/corn and then meat mixture. Used ground beef, some A-1 sauce, Tomato paste, and Gravy master and some water for the liquid and simmered a while for it to thicken up. The veggies aren't 100% Keto (they have natural sugar), but it's close!

[ex1580]

Only pancakes? This week I used a Lodge carbon steel skillet and was having so much fun flipping pancakes with the pan that I forgot to make crepes. I did make fresh applesauce though so it was fine.
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This is a great skillet. I usually cook pancakes on cast iron so I was enjoying being able to move it on and off of the heat to manage the temperature.
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As served. I call this one The Titanic (because it's about to sink in that much chunky applesauce).

[trancher]

As served. I call this one The Titanic (because it's about to sink in that much chunky applesauce).

Look at all the little blue people! They must be going down in cold waters....

A glass of ice water next to this would have been perfecto, haha!

[billk1002]

Sunday night football oysters...with Old Bay steamed shrimp, little red potatoes & onions...

So we are down in FL, Denise surprises me with oysters for dinner, awesome!!
One problem, my oyster knife is in MD.
I managed to open 18 oysters with a 50 cent cheese knife and did not stab my self!

Oysters with garlic, breadcrumbs, butter, cheese, in a 450 degree oven to cook in the deep shell in their own juice, oh yes.

[ronnie_suburban]

Charsiu. It's a very easy get for me at the local Chinese grocery store, which is directly on my way to work but even so, I've made it from scratch on several occasions. I've never used the same method twice, though, because I'm helplessly drawn to "new/better/easier" ways to cook it. The first time I made charsiu, I had fun with it but it was a deep and largely unnecessary rabbit hole. Since then, I've had varying levels of success with a few other recipes/methods. So, when Mandy recently posted an update to her recipe/method at her Souped Up Recipes youtube channel, I was immediately hooked because it struck me as nicely balanced between detailed and manageable. And, having had some success in the past with several of her other recipes, I thought I'd give her streamlined, more sensible method on charsiu a go . . .


Mise En Place & Kanehide Bessaku Semi Stainless Honesuki, 150mm/lefty
Soy sauce, honey, tapioca starch (later slurried), homemade 5-spice powder, red yeast rice powder, fermented tofu, pork shoulder, microplaned garlic, salt, granulated sugar and Chinese cooking wine. I have to say that once it was all mixed together, it looked and smelled right on target.

Hacked away at a portion of shoulder until the bone was cleaned and cleared, and I was left with 2 relatively long logs of trimmed, boneless meat. Everything but the wine and starch go into a pot, get thoroughly mixed together and get heated until it all starts bubbling and reduces a bit. From there, add the tapioca starch slurry and reduce it a bit more -- about 2 minutes -- until it's thick and sticky. Sprinkle the pork with some of the cooking wine and wipe it down. Once the marinade cools off a bit, slather the pork in the marinade and let it chill overnight, zhuzhing it a few times along the way . . .


Marinating Pork Shoulder
This ended up marinating for about 24 hours.

After that, I wiped off the excess marinade and roasted it at 400F for about an hour, turning and basting it with the marinade a couple of times. At the very end, a quick brushing with honey and back into the oven (now convecting) for a couple of minutes . . .


Charsiu Pork
On the platter. Crispy, juicy and flavorful. After this, I let it cool briefly, then sliced and served it . . .


Plated Up
With some jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. I think this is a really nice prep. Not too difficult, doesn't require too many ingredients and seems to check all the boxes on flavor, texture, appearance, etc. As you can see, it's pretty fatty because only so much fat can render during an hour of cooking. Even though I trimmed it pretty well, I'd do that even more aggressively in the future. I guess what I'm saying is that this could be the first charsiu recipe I actually end up repeating.

Happy Monday!

[billk1002]

Ronnie, that pork looks spectacular, I went to the YouTube channel and saved that recipe in my Asian folder, I am definitely going to give this a try, thank you for sharing!!

[billk1002]

Staying with the pork theme, Sunday night ribs
Ribs, zucchini, mushrooms, mashed potatoes, football...

St. Louis spare ribs with brown sugar, Salt Lick BBQ rub and a little Cajun.
In the oven on 225 for 1.5 hours, then double wrapped in foil 350 degrees for 1 hour, uncovered, sauced back in on 450 for 20 minutes, they were pretty dam good I did not overcooked them.
Happy Monday knife peeps.

Nigara 205mm VG10

[ex1580]

Tonight I made fettuccine noodles in a thick mushroom sauce with dandelion greens.
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The family rated it 5 stars, would recommend. The kids like the dandelion greens more than I expected.
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I need to spend more time with this knife! Just incredible.

[ex1580]

Breakfast time! This morning I made avocado toast with Fior Fiore Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Hilton Head Olive Oils & Balsamics. I am not an olive oil aficionado but I do appreciate a little flavor and this one is good. We usually use it on popcorn with a little salt but lacking something better to garnish my toast with I thought I would give it a try. No complaints!
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That is a little red bell pepper to go with the avocado and lemon (and a pinch of salt). Limes work well too. Mark needs to sell this knife! It's a Ogata SG2 135mm petty. It's a bit taller than my Anryu AS 120mm petty but as far as which one I like it's a toss up, it's that good.
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I usually have some sun dried tomatoes which are stored in olive oil to garnish but seem to be out at the moment. As I was eating this I was thinking that I need to get back into growing microgreens.

[ex1580]

Guess what day it is? Pancake day! And I got a new toy... er, I mean important kitchen tool.
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Standard recipe, standard toppings. The result was really good!
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This pan does not have enough seasoning in it to be making these pancakes yet (which really like to stick) but I made it work and the seasoning will be built up soon enough. One good way to do that is by making nachos one ingredient at a time including sliced mushrooms which seem to help the seasoning stick. Also, you get nachos out of the deal. It's a win/win!

I remember looking at this pan a few years ago in a store and it was flatter so I didn't buy it. They seem to have changed the spec since then, or maybe I just got lucky. Whatever the case, this one is great.

[ronnie_suburban]

Since I had some success with it last month, I wanted to make another pantry-forward chili but with chicken this time. I couldn't find any chicken ground coarsely enough at any of my local grocery stores, so I ground it myself . . .


Grinding
Boneless/skinless thighs and a 3/8" cutting plate.


Mise En Place, Suisin Inox Sandvik19c27 Honyaki Gyuto, 210mm & Kanehide Bessaku Semi Stainless Honesuki, 150mm/lefty
Evoo, black pepper, chopped garlic, poblano peppers, tomato puree, ground chicken, salt, homemade chili blend (salt, black pepper, cumin, granulated garlic & onion, ancho chile powder, cayenne pepper, Mexican oregano, dried thyme), jalapenos, red & white onions, Ro-Tel tomatoes, canned beans (pinto & black), freshly ground cumin. Normally, I'd opt for dried beans but I didn't think there was time for that in this case. As long as I was using canned, I took the liberty of using a couple different varieties.

Used the honesuki to piece out the thighs before they hit the grinder. Yeah, the label on the package says boneless but that doesn't always reflect reality, so I figured it was best to use this stout, workhorse blade for the job. For the rest, I hadn't used the Suisin in a while. This one's custom-ground for left-handers and is almost certainly my most laser-y knife. It's also gotta be my lightest 210mm . . .


Suisin Inox Sandvik19c27 Honyaki Gyuto, 210mm
111g.


Plated Up
With some very nice cornbread made by a friend.

Later on, a 5-pound batch of meatballs for another friend's party . . .


Meatball Mise En Place
Panko bread crumbs, eggs, dried/powdered shiitake mushroom, granulated garlic, ground pork & beef, 16-mesh black pepper, freeze-dried chives, dehydrated/milk-soaked onion and salt.


Parcooked Party Meatballs
Where they go from here is anybody's guess but I presume they'll go into a crock pot with some type of sauce. They were pretty good on their own, so I'm confident they'll be just fine, however they end up.

[billk1002]

My day of cooking Saturday, breakfast and dinner, just relaxing and doing what I like to do most

Tojiro W2

Skillet thigh with Asian beans, garlic mushrooms & mashed potatoes.

[ronnie_suburban]

I wasn't going to bother making a batch of homemade charsiu the other day without eventually working some of it into a big platter of fried rice . . .


Mise En Place & Suisin Inox Sandvik19c27 Honyaki Gyuto, 210mm
Eggs, garlic chives, peas, scallion bottoms, msg, shiitake & cremini mushrooms, white pepper, homemade charsiu, carrot, scallion tops, shoyu, avocado oil, leftover steamed rice and chopped garlic.


Charsiu & Mushroom Fried Rice
This one worked really well because I stumbled into a flavor combination that I didn't plan. As usual, I was just trying to use some stuff up. But as it turns out, the funkiness of the fresh shiitakes married especially well with the faint funkiness of the fermented red bean curd in the charsiu marinade/glaze. Better to be lucky than good.

Happy Monday!

[trancher]

Man, Ronnie, that's looks great. I could chow down on that! No chopsticks though, please... I'd starve.

And up thread, 111g for a 210 knife is really light. My Shibata 210 weighs in a full 15 grams heavier. Is your Suisin's handle made from a low density wood? That wood do it.

[ronnie_suburban]

Man, Ronnie, that's looks great. I could chow down on that! No chopsticks though, please... I'd starve.

And up thread, 111g for a 210 knife is really light. My Shibata 210 weighs in a full 15 grams heavier. Is your Suisin's handle made from a low density wood? That wood do it.

Thanks! The handle is Japanese yew wood, so relatively low density. Pretty sure it's my only knife with a yew wood handle. It almost feels like it's not even there.