What are you cooking with right now?

Cale · Post by **Cale** » Mon Feb 06, 2012 7:04 pm

I tried the Cheddar & Ruination Soup recipe from the Stone book last night. I have to say it doesn't seem like they tested this recipe at all. WAY too much roux, and probably way too much cheddar as well. I didn't even use all the roux and this was thicker than any mac & cheese sauce I've ever made. Had to add a lot of extra liquid at the end in order to make it palatable. I realize it's likely supposed to be a thick and creamy soup but this was obscene.

Rich as fuck - but tasted great. Hard to go wrong with three heads of roasted garlic. I also used Red Racer in lieu of Ruination. But I will definitely be making major tweaks to the recipe next time I make it.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:26 pm

icemachine wrote:I find liver is best when it has been soaked in milk for at least an hour before cooking

I've heard buttermilk - the acidity breaks it down a little and mellows the taste.

Also I'm SURE calves' liver needs to be slightly under-done to taste the best. It's experimentation.
__

Last night got a Flank steak to sear, and a Flatiron to marinate for later.

The Flank I seared only 2-3 minutes per (hot cast iron, butter), drained some fat, added 1/3 cup Inniskillin pinot noir to deglaze & briefly simmer & then covered & removed from heat 10 minutes to internally 'self-cook.'

BEAUTIFUL juicy flavorful steak. The skill is a good hot sear and short cooking time - but I had no idea the 'rest time' made such a difference!!

The red wine part I improvised, next time will try some diced shallots, Cabernet and mustard to 'build' the sauce more. The gravy can be reduced after the steak rests - remove and cover steak, reduce the sauce by itself then pour it over steak.

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:59 pm

Belgian wrote:
BEAUTIFUL juicy flavorful steak. The skill is a good hot sear and short cooking time - but I had no idea the 'rest time' made such a difference!!

In my experience most people under estimate resting time. For roasts, some people rest for as long as the roast takes to cook...I'd say 10 mins for a steak is pretty spot on, but sometimes we're just in a rush to eat it!

I learned this a few thanksgivings ago when my turkey was done two hours before anyone showed up...so I just let it rest for that long. It was the best bird I ever cooked.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:09 pm

Right. Instead of being sort of lukewarm and very red inside, the beef was more 'nearly-done'. And the juices settle in the meat.

Just to be clear, I was using cast - the cast iron pans hold more heat when taken off the stove - if I were using steel or aluminum I'd have to use low stove heat.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:00 am

Last night did a similar cooking technique (sear, simmer and stand) with the marinated Flatiron - it's a more tender cut, but I almost enjoy the slight grain of the Flank steak a little bit more. Both are excellent from Sanigan's.

Enoyed the Flatiron with thyme mushrooms, chard greens & a 2006 Trois Pistoles (a beer that is great in stews.)

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:37 am

Hey guys. Last few nights rolled up some fresh flour tortillas, it's unbelievably easy to make burritos at home. Was using the pre-boiled chicken I had prepared lots of - suggest pull the chilled meat into strings, add it to the pan after you simmer some browned onions with fresh greens & garlic, stock & chilis and cumin etc. Rolled with lots of rice and some green chili sauce.

I want to do this again with seared flank steak that I will probably finish with Trois Pistoles (to simmer & stand after browning it.) Also have some fresh Lamb Merguez sausage that might be great the same way (or finished in dry red wine.)

The port-like character of Trois Pistoles is surprisingly aromatic in cooking. I'm sure you guys have had success doing Mexican?

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:00 pm

Currently marinating some venison to be cooked tomorrow.

Threw together a marinade/brine as follows...

Sweated off two cloves of garlic in lemon-infused EVOO.

Added 1 tsp coriander seed, 1/2 tsp caraway seed, 3/4 tsp dried rosemary, all crushed, as well as 1 tbsp paprika, toasting the spices to bring out their aromatics.

Then I added a whole bottle of Bacchus Oud Bruin and 1 1/2 tbsp of Bombay Sapphire.

I also added 8 Tbsp of raspberry jam, poured in some balsamic from the bottle (sorry, I didn't measure!), a 1/2 tbsp of buckwheat honey, a 1/2 tbsp of kosher salt, and let it come to the boil. Then I added 20 twists of the pepper mill.

I'm going to stew the venison along with some carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, and pearl onions. The marinade will be used as the stewing liquid, along with some beef stock and possibly some more beer.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:05 am

^ Sounds tasty already! I like the idea of toasting spices.

I'm addicted right now to the really great, lean juicy sausage made by Select Fine Foods (Fiesta Farms). All I do is brown & flip them on cast iron, then tip in a little beer to simmer & stand covered a few minutes (my new go-to: Kozlik's German mustard, which is slightly sharp and hot with an accent of apple cider.)

Works GREAT with strong red wines (adds strong tinge of color and nice flavor.)

Earlier today made some Gnocchi with fried scallions & then eggs overtop, damn good also.

sprague11 · Post by **sprague11** » Fri May 18, 2012 7:43 pm

Threw some Hacker Pschorr Munich Gold in with my steamed mussels tonight. Worked pretty well, though next time I'm thinking of using a lager with a bit more bite to it.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 8:52 pm

Did mussels with Festivale tonight, great pairing!

toweringpine · Post by **toweringpine** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 9:02 pm

We were going to make saganaki tonight but realized that we are all out of both brandy and ouzo. I guess I could have tried using rum or some other spirit out of the cupboard but nothing in there seemed appropriate and there is no way to buy any tonight or tomorrow so I came up with plan B... A customer at work gave me a bottle of homemade wine that was full of sediment and just didn't look worthy of drinking so I decided to make it into brandy. I have succeed in getting it to the point where it is potent enough to light on fire. After my wife is finished putting our daughter to bed I will dial 9-1- on the phone and heat up the cast iron flaming cheese pan...

Torontoblue · Post by **Torontoblue** » Mon Aug 06, 2012 4:04 pm

Weston's Scrumpy Cider. The whole bottle save for the cook taking a small mouthful.

Did a 27 hour marinade of pork tenderloin, all silver skin & fat removed. In a pan blended the cider, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar & raisins, let cool down, then bagged the tenderloin and poured over the liquid.

Over a high heat on the BBQ, sealed & seared the tenderloin, got to 115F in the centre, removed from BBQ, sealed in a tin foil wrapping for 10 minutes to finish the cooking.

With the marinading liquid, reduced over a low heat to concentrate the liquid.

The pork came out super tender, juicy and bags of flavour with the nice sear/caramelisation on the outer. Paired wonderfully with the Fonseca & Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Tawny's, as well as with the Unibrou Blonde de Chambly.

saints_gambit · Post by **saints_gambit** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:45 am

Kronenbourg.

Don't worry. It gets awesome.

http://saintjohnswort.ca/beer-and-food- ... mmekueche/

saints_gambit · Post by **saints_gambit** » Tue Aug 14, 2012 10:33 pm

Great Lakes 25th Anniversary Belgian Saison.

I went a different way with it.

http://saintjohnswort.ca/beer-and-food- ... h-miranda/

JeffPorter · Post by **JeffPorter** » Wed Aug 15, 2012 9:27 am

Jordon - is the Belgian saison at the brewery yet?