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IronGAF Cookoff (hosted by OnkelC) Vol. 2

Finally have my own big, bad Crock

15781285_10207487504371822_1457299506705908919_n.jpg


Made some good chili but I had an issue, so I have a question.

If you were making a crock of chili, do you brown and cook the meat before hand?
The recipe was not specific and I was on auto-pilot so I just threw it all in at the start.

It cooked fine and tastes fine but it looked like dog food. The turkey broke up into the smallest turkey molecules possible and it's weirdly blended into everything. I imagine the flavor would have been better of I spiced and cooked ahead of time.

Apparently that crock pot connects to the wifi and I can change settings by phone. I have no reason to ever do that but damn I want to.

I cook it before but I haven't used a crock pot.
 
kinda having a hard time finding a chili pic on google images that couldn't be described as "dog food"

i mean, it is ground meat and stuffs swimming in sauce. Not many ways it *can* look. Is kinda like complaining about head cheese looking like... head cheese.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Chili with avocado on it.

No one puts avocado on dog food.
 
kinda having a hard time finding a chili pic on google images that couldn't be described as "dog food"

i mean, it is ground meat and stuffs swimming in sauce. Not many ways it *can* look. Is kinda like complaining about head cheese looking like... head cheese.

I wouldn't describe the chili I eat as looking like dogfood *shrugs*

How about, It looks like it was blended in a food processor after making it?

It's more of a slurry than a chili lol
 
First, you used turkey meat and that changes the texture from ground beef. It doesn't hold together and crumble as chunky as beef.

Always brown your meat first with seasoning before adding the tomatoes and beans. I leave the meat in one big chunk. I just dump it in from the package and let it cook for a while before i start flipping it over. Keep it in big sections as you flip. Once both sides cook, then use a wooden spatula or spoon to start breaking it up. It'll keep the crumbles bigger and held together to better resemble ground beef. Then toss it in the crock pot with the beans and tomatoes and let it simmer away. The longer it cooks, the thicker it gets. If there's left overs, I leave it on warm overnight and it's a nice thick stew in the morning.

I do a lot of double batches of food. We host game nights for friends once a week and I always prepare food for everyone. Two of the guys that come over are Hindu and can't eat beef or pork. When I do tacos or chili or other beef centered dishes, I separate the base and split it between the beef version and the other half for the chicken or turkey version.
 
Could be a dumb question, but if you buy canned beans, you don't have to do too much in the way of preparing them right? They're already prepared?
 

S.Dedalus

Member
Could be a dumb question, but if you buy canned beans, you don't have to do too much in the way of preparing them right? They're already prepared?

They should be already prepared. I usually drain/rinse them to get the slime off, but they don't need to be soaked or cooked. Just heated though if you want them hot.
 
Could be a dumb question, but if you buy canned beans, you don't have to do too much in the way of preparing them right? They're already prepared?

They do need a bit of cooking prior to serving, if serving alone. They're still a bit tough out of the can. If you're serving them alone, then leave the juice/liquid in the pot as you heat them. If you're serving it in a dish like chili, it's best to drain the liquid before adding it to the other ingredients.

If you want to reduce some of the salt, you can rinse them off before cooking or buy low sodium ones.
 

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
that looks extremely delicious!
could you link to the recipe, please?

My office lunchbreak project 2017:
Make a herbal garden in the office! :)
7C049F92-7EC4-41AD-995C-F8BFB3981F86.jpg


I'll try to grow Basil, Parsley, Peppermint, Coriander/Cilantro, Thyme and Oregano.

Project started last thursday, and lookie here:

CC313BAF-4B0B-4E19-A78B-67CB467F7D73.jpg

9BFB66BC-2A57-460B-849B-0A9091CDB1A7.jpg


Coriander and Basil have already sprouted!
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
that looks extremely delicious!
could you link to the recipe, please?

My office lunchbreak project 2017:
Make a herbal garden in the office! :)
7C049F92-7EC4-41AD-995C-F8BFB3981F86.jpg


I'll try to grow Basil, Parsley, Peppermint, Coriander/Cilantro, Thyme and Oregano.

Project started last thursday, and lookie here:

CC313BAF-4B0B-4E19-A78B-67CB467F7D73.jpg

9BFB66BC-2A57-460B-849B-0A9091CDB1A7.jpg


Coriander and Basil have already sprouted!

Looking forward to your updates.

I plan to get an Ikea hydroponic kit for my office as soon as I'm done moving some junk I have around.


This past summer I tried to grow basil, mint and parsley, but they came out looking rather unhealthy (coarse surface, dull colours) and ended up trashing them.
 
Bread bump!

My first attempt at using whole wheat flour in what was meant as a basic white dinner roll recipe.


Irish Stew with a whole lamb shoulder?
You could make bread in it. Lilith has a great recipe for bread made in a cocotte.
QCSdarRl.jpg

That's just gorgeous. Will have to try that in our pot. Cheers to Lilith for the recipe!


Did some traditional baguettes to go along with two roasted suckling pig shoulders that mom's cooking.




that looks beyond wonderful. Mind giving the link?

wish i could get that kinda spring with my oven :(


did you get someone else to lick it to make sure that it aint psychological?

Now share your baguette recipe, please! Would love to make some of those.



I don't do a lot of savory but stepped it up this year for my friends. Normally I do puerto rican pork shoulder but bae picked up some top loin so I made do.

(Forgive the large aluminum pan, ended up roasting my veg on the side instead of crowding the pan )

Before:

IMG_6776.JPG



After:



Brined it the day before with orange juice, apple cider vinegar, water, salt, and sugar.

Made some pockets and stuffed them with garlic cloves, and my marinade of sofrito, sazon, apple cider vinegar, orange zest, sage, rosemary, brown sugar, paprika, S+P, and some cayenne.

Roasted it for under 2 hours. Did some red pearl onions, mushrooms, and smash fried plaintains on the side.

Moist beyond belief and was the perfect balance of acidic, sweet, salty, and spicy. Really happy with how it came out. :)

And, can't believe you didn't get more drooling over this! Looks so goooood. Will have to try something similar.
 
that looks extremely delicious!
could you link to the recipe, please?

My office lunchbreak project 2017:
Make a herbal garden in the office! :)
7C049F92-7EC4-41AD-995C-F8BFB3981F86.jpg


I'll try to grow Basil, Parsley, Peppermint, Coriander/Cilantro, Thyme and Oregano.

Project started last thursday, and lookie here:

CC313BAF-4B0B-4E19-A78B-67CB467F7D73.jpg

9BFB66BC-2A57-460B-849B-0A9091CDB1A7.jpg


Coriander and Basil have already sprouted!

Sour Orange Pie

Crust:
5 Ounces Animal Crackers
3 TBS Sugar
4 TBS Unsalted melted butter
Pinch Salt

Filling

1 (14oz) can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
6 TBS frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed)
4 Large Egg Yolks
2 TSP Grated Lemon Zest
6 TBS Lemon Juice (About 2 lemons)
1 TSP Grated Orange Zest
Pinch Salt

*NOTE*

If you can get sour oranges, omit the OJ Concentrate and Lemon Juice and use 3/4 CUP of Sour Orange Juice

Whipped Cream

3/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
2 TBS Sugar
1/2 TSP Orange Zest

1. For the Crust; Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325F. Process crackers, sugar, and salt in food processor until finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add melted butter and pulse until combined, about 8 pulses. transfer crumbs to 9-inch pie plate

2. Using bottom of dry measuring cup, press crumbs firmly into bottom and up sides of pie plate. Bake crust until fragrant and beginning to brown about 12-14 minutes. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

3. For the Filling; Whisk all ingedients in bowl until fully combined, pour into cooled pie crust.

4. Bake pie until center jiggles slightly when shaken, 15-17 minutes (Mine took nearly 21 minutes). Let cool completely. Refigerate until fully chilled, at least 3 hours, or cover with greased plastic wrap and refigerate for up to 24 hours.

5. For the Whipped Cream; Whisk cream, sugar, and orange zest in medium until stiff peaks form about 2-4 minutes. Slice chilled pie and serve with whipped cream.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Swiss bacon? Never heard of it.

On the subject of soups, this past NYE I made the Best Fish Soup Ever™. I'm not even joking.

The original recipe calls for four-spot megrim, but I substituted it with the spine and the head of some hake I had in the freezer. Never let your fishmonger to throw those away. For those interested in making some, here are the ingredients as per the original recipe:

  • 24 small prawns with their heads
  • 24 clams
  • Fish bones/heads
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 1 leek
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 100 grams of bread (no white/packaged bread, use a crusty loaf, stale bread is ok)
  • 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce (european tablespoons, meaning the actual content per volume of an actual tablespoon)
  • 1 cup of brandy (meaning an actual cup of brandy, so around 120-160 ml)
  • Extra virgin olive oil (virgin olive oil works fine)
  • Plenty of fresh parsley

The video at the link shows the recipe (in Spanish), but for those having trouble following it, these are the steps:

  • Saute the fish bones and the prawn's heads in a large pot with some olive oil. Mince the onion, leek and carrot. Add it to the mix along some parsley and continue sauteing.
  • Once sauteed, add two litres of water and let it simmer/soft boil for 20 minutes. The original recipe calls for adjusting the salt at this point. I disagree. Save that for the later stages.
  • Filter the liquid using a cheesecloth and keep it elsewhere. Don't use a strainer; this delicate soup calls for some fine filtering.
  • Laminate the garlic, dice the bread and sautee both ingredients in the same old pot with a small amount of olive oil.

WARNING ****FOLLOW THIS STEP WITH THE UTMOST CARE OR YOU MAY BURN YOUR LASHES/HOUSE DOWN****

  • Add the brandy to the sauteed garlic and bread and flambé that shit. Do this somewhere open, with your face far away from the pot and making sure that you are at a good distance from your kitchen hood/cabinets since the flameout will be spectacular. Using a wooden skewer with one of its tips lit instead of a lighter is also a good idea. My girlfriend's father lit the pot for us, being the only smoker in the house and also the only person with a working lighter, and he accidentally epilated his entire forearm. It could have been much worse.

Don't fuck around. I mean it. That thing threw an actual fireball at him. We had to leave the pot on the floor for a minute until the alcohol burned off.

  • Add the tomato sauce to the flambed mix, continue sauteing for a little bit and then add the fish stock.
  • Let it simmer/soft boil for 15 minutes. Then bring the immersion mixer and make sure the bread and the garlic incorporate to the soup.
  • Take clean pan, add a bit of olive oil, then the peeled prawns. Lightly sautee them.
  • Add the clams and a generous amount of fresh, minced parsley. Put a lid on it and let it cook until the clams open.
  • Serve the soup, then add some of your prawns and clams to each plate.

And that's it. A simple fish soup worthy of a fine dining restaurant, on the cheap and with little to no effort. It was so good that even my soup-hating girlfriend told me she'd be open to make a new batch.

You can also freeze the soup and it will taste as good as freshly made once reheated. Just make sure to cook the toppings (clams and prawns) when you are ready to serve it instead of freezing them along the liquid since freezing may alter their texture.
 

zbarron

Member
I love flambeing. Not just because I'm a not so secret pyro, but because I've gotten some good results with it.

Tiroler Speck, Austrian Bacon. Hell why did I write swiss? lol
I chose one in the middle. Nice piece of belly. lightly smoked and then air dried.
I want to get into charcuterie so bad. Umai makes a good simple kit I was considering getting but currently I'm sans vacuum sealer.

Anyone here able to give advice on whetstones? I'm thinking of going with this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FZZUL30/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1XWYRHG1YJ7VE&coliid=I326T6I28X0WUG

Price is definitely an issue. I also like that this comes with angle guides. Does this seem decent? Does anyone have a better suggestion (preferably from Amazon) that is cheap? I also don't own a honing rod currently. Could I just use the 6000 grit side to hone it? Thanks.
 

Cosmic Bus

pristine morning snow
Can anyone recommend a traditional/classic Chinese cookbook, primarily one with a good reference of sauces? I find myself just looking up those types of things online whenever I want to make Chinese and it'd be nice to have all in one place.
 
Made some good chili but I had an issue, so I have a question.

If you were making a crock of chili, do you brown and cook the meat before hand?
The recipe was not specific and I was on auto-pilot so I just threw it all in at the start.

In honor of your post, I made some chili too.

Actually, I defrosted a big package of ground beef for hamburgers, but weather kept everyone from coming over. I also mixed in pork chorizo.

3lb ground beef
3lb chorizo
1 onion
1 spoonful of minced garlic (i buy jarred cause I'm lazy)
2 bell peppers
4 cans of diced tomatoes (2 reg, 2 petite)
1 can of ortega diced jalepanos
2 cans of kidney
1 can of great northern
1 giant can of tomato juice

I used my giant 10qt stock pot. I ladled out quite a bit of the drippings from the meat before adding the cans. It was a little too much liquid for the recipe.

 
That looks really good and looks like what I think of for chili.

My tastes fine, but I also put in the beans early with the meat and it all kind of blended together.

I have some good pointers for next time.

I think I'm going to make some Vegetable Korma this weekend.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
Can anyone recommend a traditional/classic Chinese cookbook, primarily one with a good reference of sauces? I find myself just looking up those types of things online whenever I want to make Chinese and it'd be nice to have all in one place.

If you're looking for something general:
I can't vouch for it personally, but I can vouch for:
It specializes in Sichuan/Central Chinese cooking, which is the food I grew up with and also my favorite cuisine in the world.
 

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
It's snowing like crazy and I wanted something hearty but small..I used two eggs, a small piece of sucuk sausage, 1/4 of a big onion and a table spoon full of pul biber (crushed red pepper).

vIuuFa3h.jpg
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Tiroler Speck, Austrian Bacon. Hell why did I write swiss? sorry for the brain-fart.

speckauswahl01.jpg

I chose one in the middle. Nice piece of belly. lightly smoked and then air dried.

It looks a lot like spiced/cured pancetta/panceta, which is fairly common over here. Love me some of it with a couple of (proper) fried eggs.

Also, I have a shameful secret to share: only now I've started using a potato peeler. I've always hated peeling potatoes and carrots with a paring knife, but a few days ago I was trolling Ikea for cheap ramekins when I saw this peeler going for €3, so I bought it.


My previous experiences with peelers were horrible (I had only used my mother's terrible, terrible straight one, which was more trouble than it was worth), so it was kind of an impulse purchase. I was totally ready to give it away to some friend, but that thing is fantastic on top of dirty cheap. I swear I will never clean a potato with a knife ever again.
 

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
oh, a picture of my potato soup with the austrian bacon and some good old german wiener.

39F1m3rh.jpg



Edit: Today I made an root parsley soup. I hope lilith will like it. I also made a parsley oil for the soup. I'll upload pictures later.
 
Butcher counter had ribeye's at half price.

Picked up a few. I'll grill one this weekend but I wanted to do something else with the first one.

15965930_10207566701311696_6306384780706680300_n.jpg


Cut it about a quarter inch think, marinaded it in Teriyaki then seared each piece about 10 seconds a side in a pan at full temp. Amazing!
 

Liljagare

Member
Making roast beef on elk/moose, the big one.. :) In what parts do ya call this a elk?? It's a moose.

bildspel2.jpg


3 of them to be precise, different cuts, sirloin, roast file and the rump file, all going to 58 C core, Queens roast.

Letting them cool in soy/garlic/worchester sauce/chipotle sauce.

This time I am taking pictures, will post tomorrow! Been loking forward to tonight all week.. :p long weekend ftw.
 
We make a version with garlic that is I suppose closer to chimichurri verde. Use it most frequently in soups like butternut squash, but also similar to Sesuadra in some parsnip soups. If you toast some bread with gruyere you're pretty much all set for a kickass meal.
 
Does anyone want to help me on a design for some cabinets? I don't have much space to work with, and I don't like traditional cabinets very much. There's a guy here in town that does custom cabinets, but I'm not fond of his outline he drew up for me.
 

zbarron

Member
I ordered a Richmond Artifex AEB-L Gyuto 210mm - Second (link dead) knife. I figure it was worth a shot at that price. There's a slight bend to the knife which is why they are half off. It should arrive Tuesday. I'll post impressions.
I stumbled upon this channel. Straight food porn IMO. It makes me so hungry :(

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVVAnxQ2YMC_qlc7QfPA2YQ/videos
I started watching the pork chop one since that's what I'm making for dinner. I was about to write it off for not using salt and then he added that awesome looking salt. Yeah this is food porn. The basalmic was a good idea I might try.
Have you seen that channel with early colonial 18th century cooking? That stuff looks amazing, and the techniques of cooking over an open flame. There's a few recipes that I really want to try if I ever had a fire pit to do it over.
Do you have a link? That sounds awesome.
 

zbarron

Member
The knife just came. It was earlier than expected but I'm not complaining. The bend is very minor and doesn't effect cutting performance. I'm wondering if it'll make it harder to sharpen. So far I've only cut paper (smooth if slicing, able to push cut if done somewhat quickly but not slowly) and some old potatoes I had on hand (cut beautifully and much better than my other knives) I'll post pictures and full impressions when i've actually put it through it's paces.

If it comes back in stock (edit: seems gone for good) and someone here is looking for a nice beginners knife at a great price I say go for it.
Any bakers in here have any tips for how to prove dough when you live in a cold area and don't have a warm airing cupboard?

I always proof at room temperature. Dough can proof in the fridge if you want. The colder it is (to a point) the longer it takes, but the better results. Just try it first and go by feel and size instead of time if you really live in such cold.
 

Symphonia

Banned
I always proof at room temperature. Dough can proof in the fridge if you want. The colder it is (to a point) the longer it takes, but the better results. Just try it first and go by feel and size instead of time if you really live in such cold.
But even my rooms aren't that warm. I've read online about putting the oven on for five minutes at the lowest temp, turning it off, and then proving in there. I've tried proving in the fridge, but I think I fucked up because I did both proving periods in there, as opposed to the one.
 

zbarron

Member
But even my rooms aren't that warm. I've read online about putting the oven on for five minutes at the lowest temp, turning it off, and then proving in there. I've tried proving in the fridge, but I think I fucked up because I did both proving periods in there, as opposed to the one.
I've personally done it overnight in the fridge to great results. As long as your room is warmer than a fridge it'll proof faster than that. If it's not you might want to check your yeast.
 

Yes Boss!

Member
Made a few things. All in my rice cooker.

Beef Bulgogi:

image_29.jpeg


Shrimp and garlic chive pancake:

image_20.jpeg


Fish Cake soup in anchovy stock:

image_28.jpeg


Katsu curry with Korean veggies:

image_27.jpeg


Water radish kimch:

image_21.jpeg


Spicy Korean pork:

image_22.jpeg


Accorn jelly salad:

image_26.jpeg


Spicy marinated chicken:

image_30.jpeg


Black Bean sauce with veggies and pork and rice:

image_31.jpeg
 
But even my rooms aren't that warm. I've read online about putting the oven on for five minutes at the lowest temp, turning it off, and then proving in there. I've tried proving in the fridge, but I think I fucked up because I did both proving periods in there, as opposed to the one.
I've recently started doing a lot more bread over the past few months. You can definitely prove in the fridge; I did a sourdough last week that I ended up leaving in the fridge for two days, I didn't think it'd work out, but it is fine (not amazing, but good).

If you can put it on the top of the fridge, you can get some extra warmth that way. Or you can put it near your heater or vents etc. What temperature are your rooms normally? For the final prove, just leave it at room temperature and occasionally poke it (read up on the poke test).

Also maybe clarify whether you're talking about bulk fermentation, or proving.
 

Symphonia

Banned
I've recently started doing a lot more bread over the past few months. You can definitely prove in the fridge; I did a sourdough last week that I ended up leaving in the fridge for two days, I didn't think it'd work out, but it is fine (not amazing, but good).

If you can put it on the top of the fridge, you can get some extra warmth that way. Or you can put it near your heater or vents etc. What temperature are your rooms normally? For the final prove, just leave it at room temperature and occasionally poke it (read up on the poke test). Also maybe clarify whether you're talking about bulk fermentation, or proving.
My rooms are usually 10-15C.

I'm talking about proving.

I'm going to try this recipe.

https://www.hobbshousebakery.co.uk/blogs/recipes/140062535-overnight-bread
 

ColdPizza

Banned
Made a few things. All in my rice cooker.

Beef Bulgogi:

image_29.jpeg


Shrimp and garlic chive pancake:

image_20.jpeg


Fish Cake soup in anchovy stock:

image_28.jpeg


Katsu curry with Korean veggies:

image_27.jpeg


Water radish kimch:

image_21.jpeg


Spicy Korean pork:

image_22.jpeg


Accorn jelly salad:

image_26.jpeg


Spicy marinated chicken:

image_30.jpeg


Black Bean sauce with veggies and pork and rice:

image_31.jpeg

Dang. I would eat all of that. Fantastic.
 
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