The Sense of Taste

Yesterday's extravaganza featured fresh, homemade Bolognese Ragu (I did use canned tomatoes, but I made the arribata - better than passata cuz spicy XP - from certified italian san marzanos) over Tagliatelle Al' Assassina


I was out of onions, so instead I substituted finely diced green and red bell pepper (1/2 each) in the soffrito (mire poix). I started cooking at ~10:30, the whole thing went on auto pilot at about 12:00, and I finished the Bolognese around 6:30.
For the water level in the Bolognese, as well as the dilution when preparing the Tagliatelle, I used a rich tomato stock I had leftover from making a huge batch of Passatta earlier in the summer, at a 1 to 1 ratio of sauce to stock (I was running out of big enough mixing pots).
Additionally:
The meat came to ~1.5lbs 73% lean, 23% fat ground beef
1 lb italian sausage
.8lb small-diced uncooked bacon.
Also, when I mixed in the mince, I also threw in the leftover Mire poix from the chuck roast braise from a week earlier.
So not only was this recipe stand-alone fresh and awesome, but it included the resources left over from previous instances of stand-alone fresh and awesome into a giant smorgasborg of fresh and awesome.
Noodles al'Assassina is a particular way of cooking the sauce into the noodles that gives it a slight char, which produces slightly bitter notes alongside the robust and rich tomato and beef sauce flavor of the bolognese. Individuals with a slightly less refined palette might not appreciate the char, as more than one person reported, so char accordingly. The slight spicyness of the Arribata, the sweet sourness of the tomato, all blending together for a full taste experience.
And the thing about bolognese; it's one of those sauces that gets better the longer you cook it.
And the only ingredients are olive oil, salt, pepper, tomatoes, and tomato sauce.
The simplest ingredients, when time and care are provided, can produce one of the most iconic sauces that serve as the base for countless more iconic dishes.
And that's the base concept behind what I'm working on/toward over in MiM.

 

Today's cook is a recipe near and dear; one of the first 'advanced' recipes I ever attempted, braised short rib chuck roast. Its been about 6 months since I made this, and Im eager to see how my progress has developed.
As a base recipe, Im using Not Another Cooking Show - a favorite youtuber - and his recipe, but with personal embellishment.

Note: Im in no hurry, and will be editing this post liberally

Wew lorde (the artist not the deity) today was a DAY. Lets recap.

I started with the dry brine I mentioned. It worked well, and the meat was rosy, almost candy red, how I like it. I then cut it into strip steaks, for ease of searing. After dredging in flour, I put a good brown on them, before starti g on the mire poix.
I like that term, mire poix. Its much fancier than saying 'onions, celery, carrot, and garlic.'
But anyway, I cooked the mire poix in the burnt fondt of the seared meat.
Cuz flavor.
And then, I cooked them on med heat till they were right. Ive done this recipe a lot, so 'right' is when I say it is. But, when fondt develops, that means the time is right.
Diverging from the recipe, I opted for a 1/2 mix of siracha cili oil and olive oil.
It was a good idea.
Then, I slow-simmered my veg until it was time to get drunk, and by that I mean submerged in about 60% of a bottle of merlot. Other reds and whites can work, but thats my go to.
So after the booz burned off the booz (Fs in the chat) I added a whole quart of beef stock, and the submerged the sfeaks.
Then, once it came to a boil, into the oven at 350 for 2 hours 3.5 hours.
Why longer? Ill tell you when I make bolognese.
Anyway, 3.5 hours later they came out. Wait, no, they came out after 3 hours, the lid came off, and then went back in for another 30 min. Texture.

So, the meat was done, but Im a percectionist,... so
Remove the meat and set aside, strain the sauce and veg mix (italians call this Espaniol sauce, or brown sauce) and set in separate carafes.
Then, put the steained brown sauce in the freezer. Yes, the freezer.
It takes about 40 minutes, but it makes skimmkng the fat of SOOOO much easier. So plan ahead, so u can be lazy.

Fat is gone, heat everything on low, make some quick mashed potatoes, and then watch as everyone's faces explode from flavor. Being honest, I tend to use instant mashed potatoes, and did so in this case.
Again, WIP. Its been a long day, and not only do I have to spell correct the shit, but theres pictures and proprietary technique to interject. Dont worry, Ill finish. ALL this tomorrow, after the grilled cheese sandwiches.

And then, I can detail how monumental the concept of mise en placé is to cooking/metaphysics. Cheers!

Some in progress images:
'steaks', cut up, dredged, seared, and peppered, and the mire poix after combining with the sear fondt.

And then the mire poix fully prepped and ready for the wine.
Speaking of fondt, if one is a bit of a sperg like I am and have to hover over the pot, I advise spooning the sauce and liquid up the sides of the pot and allow it to dry, effectively increasing the amount of fondt that is contained in the braising liquid.

Now then. When it came to the mire poix I used a 1lb yellow onion, 2 carrots (one huge, one pretty small), and 2 long celery stalks. I opted for peanut oil; I'm out of avocado oil, but otherwise would have used that.
For salt: with the exception of the dry brine of the roast, I opted for Rosemary salt as presented by another foodie tuber here:

Though, I forgot to get fresh sage, so I went with fresh thyme (and IMO, why wouldnt you? Sage is bland).
I only had about a 1/4 tube of tomato paste, so I included a can of diced tomatoes. Thats all I can think of wrt the braising liquid that I haven't already stated.

When finished, I strained out the carrots, onions, celery and tomato, and then returned the espagnole (brown) sauce to the leftover roast. I personally like the COCT (oh dear, I hope that doesnt get memed) so I put some on MY portion, but others in the house prefer it without.
Uhhhhhhhh,... I did do chives on the mashed potatoes as well, so the thumbnail of the short rib video looks more or less the finished product of the first night.

Now for the sammiches. Gruyere is A. expensive, and B. often unavailable in East Texas, so I went with an italian blend including mozzarella, pecorino, parmesean,... some others I forget. Also, since I had half a head of Romaine lettuce, I used that (also because good LUCK finding watercress in East Texas) after cutting out the spines of the leaves and then coarsely chopping it. In place of the blackberry preserves, I instead went with a jalapeno bacon jelly that was being promo'd in a local curio-type store, and for the mayo to brown the bread I used Garlic/Avocado aoli on my mates' sammich, and on mine I went with the good ol' Ghost pepper aoli.
Oh, and the pickled onions. I only had a tiny bit of red wine vinegar, but I have several other types and opted for a blend, pictured here:


I THINK that's everything. Now all that's left to do is explain how this 3-day process was both designed to make/serve delicious food for those I care about, but also a literal metaphysical spell/ritual which is analogous of what I'll be doing over the next 30 years. ^_^

 

So for tonight's smash burger (smash burgers are a given on monday nights):
Bun
Mayo
Ketchup
Lettuce
Smoked Ham
Onions/Bell peppers
American Cheese
Doritos Dust
1/4lb Smashburger Patty
Onions/Bell Peppers
Bun

The mayo and ketchup add a hint of creaminess and tangy sweet. The Smoked Ham gives a slight savory element. The dual layer of grilled onions and bell peppers give a variety of flavors and moisture, to mingle with the melted American cheese and the dorito's dust. The patty gives the juice to the whole thing.
I've experimented previously with a mix of onions and bell peppers, and have had some great success. Idk if bell peppers will carmelize with peppers in the same way that onions will, but I CAN say that burger fat mixed with frying bell peppers tastes good.

 

The ciabatta buns are necessary in/for their constitution. They have plenty of nooks and crannies - not unlike english muffins - while having the stiffness in texture to withstand all the sauces and smears.
The romaine was a spur choice: $0.10+ to try romaine vs iceberg. Rather, to try romaine this time; Cut at 1" strips.
In between was a healthy dose of dorito dust... heres that btw.

Doritos Dust Recipe *
1 cup Cheddar Cheese https://amzn.to/3zWyhr5
1/4 cup White Cheddar https://amzn.to/3zXbSd2 1/4 cup Buttermilk Powder https://amzn.to/3pj1N5g
2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast https://amzn.to/3dspXro
1 tsp MSG
2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
2 tbsp Romano Cheese https://amzn.to/3C3TOAB
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tbsp Onion Powder

Substitutions are encouraged, and a really good substitute for cheese powder is 'popcorn seasoning' shakers; fancy mac n cheese powders also work, but throw in a ranch mix in that event

Addendum: In the aftermath, the audience was complaining about a phenomenon that I playfully refer to as 'warm butthole'.

 

What I'm looking for by repeatedly testing smash burger recipes is to test ingredient nuance. The 5 types of flavor are a given, and I pay tribute to both Spicyness (not a flavor) and texture/mouth-feel.
But in my experience, when/how one mixes flavors determines (largely) whether the flavors can be said to go well together. As a simply example, if one mixes two sauces the flavors can combat one another, or cancel eachother out. However, if one puts one sauce on one bun, and another sauce on the other bun, they can mingle in ways that together will conflict, but with the other intermingling flavors, can be a delightful flavor experience.
Everyone has a difference to their cooking style; I like bold and robust flavors that combat one another in the person's mouth. Literally, I like for an unhomogenized flavor spectrum that each emerges and asserts it's self as one chews and experiences the full spectrum of flavor. It is a very combatitive cooking style. But that's just how I do it.

Tonight's result. In the moment, I also opted for a smear of sweet jalapenjo jelly on the bottom bun, and I coated the ghost pepper aoli in nacho dorito dust.
It was reportedly spicier than I had intended, but thats cuz my mates are sissies for spice, whereas Im a spice lord for whom no spice is too great. I also added avocado slices to mine

 

Sous Vide is an excellent cooking method, I highly recommend it. The main weaknesses (manageable) is that it doesn't provide for a good sear/crust, requiring a reverse sear or in-advance sear or sear-like procedure. Blow torches are recommended, as well as things like pouring boiling water over uncooked skin to allow it to crisp up throughout the cooking process.
But for low and slow, its hard to beat. For meats, a smoke integration is also recommended; I recommend the perforated maze-trays for cost efficiency. I mean pellet smokers are fine, egg/walnut-shaped smokers are good, and offset smokers are ideal (for flavor), but a maze-tray with pulverized hardwood on a barbecue is easy peasy and very cheap.
If you opt for an Anova - one of the industry leaders for sous vide - please note they are NOT kidding about "max water level". What killed mine was that the screw-bracket to attach to the side of the water resevoir failed, and I tried a wire/rubber-band rig to keep using it, and it got exposed to water too high on the wand. Ultimately my bad, no fault to the manufacturer.
But for tonight, I am continuing a trend I've been exploring for a few weeks now, the art of the Smash-Burger.
Specifically, I have been working with Breakfast Smash Burgers (involving a sausage patty and a fried egg) and Oklahoma-style Smash Burgers (involving beef, specifically a 27/73% blend of fat to meat).
Tonight is breakfast smash burgers.
One of my favorite things about either form of smash burger is the cost efficiency. Let me break it down.
Ciabatta buns (not a must, but not exceedingly costly): $2 ($3 for the package, but only 2/3 required per meal)
American Cheese (a must): $.70 ($2, but only 1/3 required per meal)
Ghost Pepper Aoli (not a must, but necessary): ~$.30 (the jar is $7, but it only takes a smear per sandwich)
Smoked Ham lunchmeat (not a must, but a really good idea): ~$.50 ($2.20 per package, when purchased in bulk through Tyson Distribution, which I have an account with, and only 2 slices per sandwich).
Sausage Patty (its not a smash breakfast sandwich without): ~$1.90 ($16 for a 9-pack of 1 lb rolls, also purchased through Tyson Distribution)
Shredded Potato Hashbrowns (primary source of texture, don't skip this one): ~ $.60 ($2 per bag, but again, portions).
1/2 Yellow Onion, ribbon-cut (absolutely necessary): ~$.50 ($1 for one whole)
Nacho Dorito Dust (highly optional): ~$.15 (after about $5 to make the mix)
1/2 Orange Bell Pepper, ribbon cut (fine addition to the onions): ~$.65
and 4-8 eggs, depending on how thicc I want the sandwiches to be. So, between $.6 and $1.2, depending.
Final tally for everything: $7.90-8.50 for all sandwiches.
Which equates to, about $2 per sandwich.
Not the MOST optimum home economics breakdown, but quite actionable and sustainable.
And for the record, the last time I made these sandwiches, I filled myself TWICE off mine. Meaning, I ate half for dinner and was full, and then ate the other half the following morning for breakfast, and was full until the evening.
I know you know Rose, and I hope the audience appreciates, the less processed and the more fresh the food one makes, the better it is for flavor AND nutrition.
1/2 Head Romaine Lettuce (Eh, your call): ~$.80 (of $1.80).

So doing the math, 4 really fancy breakfast sandwiches comes out to:
~$2 per sandwich. Not the ideal home economical breakdown, but VERY sustainable and viable.
Not to mention, its all fresh ingredients excepting the shredded potatoes (I could, but I dont feel like it right now). I know you know Rose, but for the audience, the more fresh and raw one's ingredients, the better the flavor AND nutrition. The last time I made this sandwich, it filled me twice: I ate half for dinner (to fullness) and then ate the other half for breakfast (also to fullness).

Previous iterations of sammich

 

I cooked a brisket point over the last 2 days. It was entirely an experiment; it was not a complete success, but it was an overall success, and I learned alot from the experience. Beyond the satisfaction of making delicious food, the real satisfaction is from learning new things, that when things go awry, one isnt totally screwed.
Cuz that happened too.
Ive taken to sous vide for many of my more ambitious recipes, I very much like the precise control that is afforded, and doing all my prep work well in advance so that I ca set the food and forget really works with my schedule of responsibilities. Lately however, I was informed that one can use a sous vide setup to cook confit style. All you do is add enough of any type of fat/oil to the bag and then run as usual. Instead of the food being vaccum sealed to the bag, and cooking directly, the food will cook in the fat, but without using ex essive amouns of oil such as a more conventional confit setup. A week ago I made some crispy chicken and garlic confit, with rosemary and thyme. That one onky cooked for about 6 hours, but on a tip frm youtubers I saved the garlic and confit oil.
Fast forward, while digging throug my freezer I found a Brisket point that was starting to freezer burn, and I decided to try making a garlic brisket confit. As I said, it worked. Its nothing like southern barbeque, but the garlic flavor is clear but mild. It definitely needs seasoning or sauce, but the texture is there even without a pronounced bark.
The problem was, about 4 hours into the 18+ hour cook, my sous vide circulator died. Specifically, the heating element went out.
Shit.
Now, I KNOW that I need to keep it at around 175deg to get my desired texture, and I also know that the brisket CANT get below 140, or bacteria will start to work on thr brisket. Now, I DONT know how bacteria is supposed to have survived the 175deg unified teperature, but I guess I dont need to.
Anyway, I was able to monkey-rig my tamale pot on the largest stove burner at JUST the right temperaure setting to keep it going through the evening, throughout the night, and into the morning, waking every couple hours to check the temperature.
And like I said, it worked. My household was greeted with garlic brisket and eggs in the morning, and theres still plenty leftover for sandwiches and Egg Fried Rice for the next day or two.
Seat of your pants cooking is my absolute favorite.
1st pic, a happy brisket boat with butter, going into the broiler to crisp up the fat cap
2nd pic, just out
3rd pic, cut and plated for serving

 

A couple of years ago I discovered turnips and they are now one of my very favorite vegetables. Much to Phil's chagrin... Here's one of my favorite recipes:

several turnips cut into chunks (bite size pieces)
Put them in a frying pan and cover with water half-way up the turnips.
Add a couple tablespoons or so of butter, a teaspoon of salt and a good wallop of honey.
Boil gently until the water has gone and your left with a nice glaze on the turnips.

YUM!

I need more turnip recipes. Must eat more turnips...

 

Rose , I think a cooking progam , or at least an additive thats safe list...your great at this.


A list even..a good progam subject (radio) you are very knowledgable.

Just a thought.
thanks

 

I tried an eggplant recipe tonight. It is good! Thought I'd share it - it's from epicurious:
INGREDIENTS

• 6 tablespoons shiro miso* (white fermented soybean paste)
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water
• 3 3/4 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus additional for brushing pan
• 6 Asian eggplants(about 8 inches), halved lengthwise
• 2 scallions, finely chopped

PREPARATION
Preheat broiler.

Whisk together shiro miso, vinegar, water, sugar, and ginger until sugar is dissolved.

Brush a large shallow baking pan with oil and arrange eggplant, cut sides up, in pan. Brush tops with 2 tablespoons oil (total). Broil eggplant 4 to 6 inches from heat until it begins to turn pale golden and soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Brush generously with miso mixture and broil 2 minutes more. Brush eggplant with miso again and rotate pan 180 degrees (do not turn eggplant over), then continue to broil until eggplant is tender and glaze is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve sprinkled with scallions.

 

I must look into importing those..
I think I'll start a site ,

The Popcorn.company

I'll buy that later .

I have a server , I give space on it to worthwhile causes , for free.
This seems like a worthwhile cause..lol.
To me anyway.

Incidently , if you have an idea , it's not crazy , well a little bit crazy..
Ask me, I might point you at someone who will help..
Or at least give you some great advice.

 

Burgudy Mushrooms

WINE! It's basically magic. In a glass. Or, on a plate!

We 'mericans have this holiday we call Thanksgiving. It's basically evolved into a celebration of glutoney. Unfortunately, or fortunately for my figure, my Mom and Sister are fully vegetarian. So a holiday normally consumed with the preparation of huge turkeys or honey ham, for us is all about the "side" dishes most would use to accompany these items. The way those two women cook vegetables leaves nothing to be desired! Seriously! And my absolute favorite dish is Burgundy Mushrooms! OMG! I'm excited to share this one! My husband really really dislikes mushrooms but this recipe is the only mushroom dish he will gorge himself on.

Take this recipe that is meant for 4 people and halve or quarter your ingredients as needed.

Ingredients:

2lbs White Button Mushrooms ( sometimes I use the brown ones too, so long as they're button shaped )

1/2 litre Burgundy Wine ( The cheap kind! If you want some to drink along the way you should have plenty because I have never seen it sold in less than a liter, and these take a LOOOONG time to cook so have fun!)

2 Cloves of Garlic

4 vegetable bullion cubes (or, 2 chicken 2 beef, if you prefer)

1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 teaspoon dill

1 stick Butter

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

2 cups boiling water

Salt to taste

Preparation:

1) smash your garlic and mince a little, it's only in there for the flavor so don't worry about chopping it well

2) Keep those mushrooms whole! don't cut them, just wash them.

3) In Crockpot add 2 cups water, burgundy wine, butter, mushrooms, worcestershire sauce, dill, pepper, garlic and bullion cubes.

4) Let simmer for 6 hours! (this is the part where you partake of the leftover wine!). You might want to stir halfway through, that's fine, I always do.

5) After 6 hours, salt to taste. The mushrooms will be dark purple. Let cool for 5 mins because those mushrooms are pretty much the temperature of the sun!

6) Serve with crusty bread or just by themselves. But the bread is recommended for sopping up the deliciousness.

 

Yes sorry , new to this lol.
Well it is up to you...
The vinegar , well you need to smell it when your doing it, say a tablespoon at least.. But it depends on how much your making , as I said try and see what ya taste buds say to you, lol.
As far as thickness , I would say at least an inch..
But again , nothing hard and fast..
We also do a curry version with Bombay potatoes. Which is nice , for a change.

Hope that is helpful.