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Home > 216
KitchenKatalog: Blog 216
Friday, February 19, 2016, 12:00 AM
I again made another batch of beef jerky. I decided that, in general, I will do a batch of No Idea and then something new. This way, I know I have something good on deck.
Sadly, this time, the No Idea wasn't as good. I struggled with extruding it and I think the apple cider overpowered. I think it is because I used a higher-quality one that packed a lot more flavor. Maybe it was unfiltered. It wasn't bad, but not the best either.
I let this go for about 5 hours. It came out pretty dry and brittle. I read somewhere that this may be due to more water <==> more brittle but I do not know if that is true.
I did move it it's own recipe page here. See that page for a note about the amount of vinegar.
The pepperoni jerky was based on Off the Cutting Board (LOCAL). I made a few changes besides halving it but rather than note the changes, below is what I actually did. I let this go for about 5 hours and 40 minutes but, unlike the No Idea, this was a better texture
Grind the fennel and mustard with the crushed red pepper. Grind as much as possible. Combine all ingredients including just enough water to help it hold together. Heat in the microwave for about 10 seconds to help dissolve the sugar.
Let the flavors meld for about 15 minutes then mix the beef and marinate for 1 hour to a day.
The end result certainly tasted like pepperoni. There was no doubt about it. But, the amount of liquid smoke was too much making it taste like the fake stuff my dad used to buy. Cut liquid smoke to 1/4-1/2 tsp next time
Also, the fennel as a bit over-powering. Not too bad and Meredith would still eat it. But, cut fennel to 1 tsp next time
Thursday, February 18, 2016, 08:45 PM
Meredith is still on a trip so I made a dinner she wouldn't care too much about. I made balsamic stir fry with about 3 medium heads of broccolini, a quarter head of cabbage, and a red pepper. I used about 7 ounces of rotisserie chicken.
I also roasted (400°F 30 minutes, flipped hald way) and planned to eat half. Well, as you could imagine, that was still too much food. I ended up saving even more.
So, it was a very good meal. Maybe not the most amazing thing, but certainly good. And tons of food at relatively low points!
Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 08:54 PM
Meredith is out of town and I had been wanting to make something with rutabagas for a while so I went with this idea. I had done patatas bravas with rutabagas before on 2013-11-05 so I did the same thing, again using my regular sauce (but made spicy). Pretty straight forward. I did the rutabagas for 45 min at 425. It was tossed with some salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and some smoked salt. Actually, the smoked salt kind-of opened on me and poured in but I was able to get most of it out.
I read somewhere about baking turkey cutlets and they suggested an oven at 425 and doing so on a wire rack (probably because they are fake frying). I was already using that temperature so I went with it. I topped them with smoked paprika and McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning like I did on 2016-01-06 (except this time in the oven). Even with just 15 minutes, they were a bit over cooked.
Still, this was a very light and tasty. Not too much work either.
Monday, February 15, 2016, 08:10 PM
We had planned sea scallops anyway, but after the lobster tail was frozen last night so we made that tonight.
We seared the scallops for about 2 minutes per side (with a bit of butter). We also grilled the butterflied lobster tails for about 10 minutes then topped it with green sauce and butter mix.
Not much to the meal, but it was quite fancy...especially for a Monday night. Also very easy though.
Sunday, February 14, 2016, 09:44 PM
The plan for this meal was to be surf and turf, but the lobster tails were, unknown to us, frozen. Thankfully, I had prepped cauliflower fritters for the next day and we decided to make them for tonight (though we ate them after)
Anyway, we had sous-vide beef tenderloin (same cut as filet mignon). We had some at the Santa Fe Foodie Classic. I knew I had done it before so I figured we'd dit it again.
I was a bit nervous since Meredith really doesn't like steak and this cut was very expensive (especially since it was from Whole Foods).
I used the same method as the first time (2015-03-27). I used my STC-1000 based temperature controller with the crock-pot. The controller is more a thermostat so it's either one or off (and there was no cooling method).
I followed the Serious Eats (LOCAL) guidance and did it with 131°F aiming to be around medium-rare and medium. Actually, I had to use celsius so I did 55°C (<==> exactly 131°F). I set it with a 0.3°C (the minimum) with the heat on the high setting. Again, there was no cooling so I watched the temps and it seemed to go between 54.7°C (130.46°F) to 55.5°C (131.9°F).
I couldn't find the vacuum sealer bags so I just used heavy-duty freezer bags and I submersed them in the water to get rid of all of the air. I was also able to weigh them down with the meat at the bottom of the bag so they staid in the water (see the set up).
I prepped it with some salt and pepper (before I read in the Serious Eats article that you shouldn't do that). I started it around 5:30 and let it go for about 2.5 hours.
They really came out extremely tender and flavorful. It was great since it is so easy to overcook this cut of meat, yet this was cooked through perfectly!
The asparagus was just cooked at 425 for 5-8 minutes or so (while searing the steak) with pepper and smoked salt.
I prepped the cauliflower fritters before for tomorrow but decided to make it tonight. Actually, we really didn't need it but we ate some (and took the rest for lunch)
The caprese came from this Whole Foods recipe (local copy). Actually, we just used it for inspiration. We roasted the potatoes, used mozzarella, and then topped it with sage and balsamic. It was actually pretty...ok. The mozzarella, or at least this mozzarella, had very little flavor. I would try something like this again but with better cheese.
Sweet Potato Winter Caprese Salad (from Whole Foods)
Local Copy (U:guest, P: name of my dog, all lower case)
Sunday, February 14, 2016, 08:00 PM
I made beef jerky again. I was a bit more time constrained. I made the marinades, let them sit to meld flavors for a little bit and then I marinated the meat for about an hour (out of the fridge).
I think I may have come to a stable recipe. It is basically like the one from last time but less juniper and I replaced the water with extra apple cider vinegar.
It started around 4:30 and I took it out around 8:40 after drying it at 145°F.
Combine all but the beef and heat just enough to dissolve the sugar. Let flavors meld for 10+ minutes and marinate with the beef for an hour to a day.
(2016-02-19: Final version of this recipe is now here)
I wanted to try to make something New Mexican so I went with red chile. The plan was to do it with close to normal amounts of liquid and blend it but the vitamix needed more liquid to grab everything. I think I ended up with about 1/2 a cup which made for a very wet jerky. I had to let it dry for about an hour more than the other one. I also did this one with the sticks instead of strips but I think from now on, I will just use the strips. I got some of the ingredients from red chile sauce recipes.
Flavor wise, it has a little kick and was overall ok. It could probably use some work on the flavors and more heat.
Toast the whole chili pods about half way, then cut off the stem and let the seeds stay in the pot. Finish roasting and add the water and turn off the heat (the water will likely boil right away). Let steep for ~5 min.
Remove the peppers but reserve the water. Combine all other ingredients but the beef in the blender. Add the minimal amount of water possible to the blender to get it going, starting with the pepper water (with the seeds removed). I needed about a 1/2 cup total. Use as little as possible.
Friday, February 12, 2016, 07:00 PM
We made the same stir-fry as 2016-01-18. We followed the recipe pretty closely except again taking out the vegetables before doing the shrimp.
It was still pretty good though not as much as the first time but it was still pretty healthy and easy. We again used cauliflower rice.
Tuesday, February 09, 2016, 08:00 PM
I made beet pickled eggs using my Dad's recipe from last time. I followed the recipe pretty closely with the only real change being that I split the extra stuff as top and bottom and I used only 8 eggs. I used my regular method for "boiled" eggs. One egg actually broke but then I remembered that I made hard boiled eggs before and took an extra from there.
After about a week (made on 2016-01-31) they got a great color and some good flavor. I wonder if I can reuse the brine for another batch even if it won't have all of the onions. Or, maybe I will add another can and half an onion with the same brine. (to be continued)
After I finished all of the original eggs, I added more hard boiled eggs to the "brine". I had also already eaten probably half of the beets and some of the onions.
Still, after a week, the new batch looked pretty good. It was a bit less intensely colored and slightly less flavorful, but I would do this again. Maybe try to leave more of the beats until after the second batch. Or, maybe add another can (even though that would throw off the amounts1)
Picture of a second-batch egg:
I guess I could halve the recipe and just keep growing it. Maybe.... ↩