Share a recipe or food thought - General Discussion.

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276 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2675912 17-Mar-2021 07:07

Random food thought... today I discovered that soaking minced meat in a solution of baking soda for 15 minutes, helps the Maillard reaction and keeps the juices locked into the meat. Mind. Blown.

Zeb A.
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Asrafrate

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Ultimate Geek

#2675913 17-Mar-2021 07:10

freitasm:

It's not really a recipe, but lunch was so good today...

- 300g steak
- Pat dry
- Oil on both side, salt and cracked pepper

Good god @freitasm that is a fine looking steak.

Zeb A.
Twitter: @asgard

Asrafrate

276 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2675916 17-Mar-2021 07:12

Speaking of steak and cooking it, has anyone been able to find a decent quality cast iron pan that doesn't require a weight lifter to lift? I have a Lodge 10" pan and boy is it HEAVY. I wish we could get the Griswolds or Wagners that are so common in the USA here in NZ. Such good quality, and not so damn THICC and heavy.

Zeb A.
Twitter: @asgard

networkn

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#2675944 17-Mar-2021 08:36

I have been using dry brining for a while now when I cook my steaks. Pat steaks dry both sides, put on a wire tray, salt generously, then leave it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

I must admit, that using this method helps produce a great crust.

Asrafrate

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Ultimate Geek

#2675946 17-Mar-2021 08:41

networkn:

I have been using dry brining for a while now when I cook my steaks. Pat steaks dry both sides, put on a wire tray, salt generously, then leave it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

I must admit, that using this method helps produce a great crust.

Agree this is great, but if you don't have the time to do it, you can also try the reverse sear method.

Zeb A.
Twitter: @asgard

Handsomedan

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#2675969 17-Mar-2021 09:30

I fried eggs yesterday for lunch.

Put them on freshly toasted bread.

Amazing. A little salt and pepper to taste.

Fried Egg, Hummus & Dukkah Toast by thetastyother | Quick & Easy Recipe | The Feedfeed

I'm feeling adventurous today...might go exotic:

Croque Madame

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Handsome Dan does not currently have a side hustle as the mascot for Yale

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networkn

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#2682937 30-Mar-2021 10:03

Made my first pulled pork. Was disgruntled to find that my Pork shoulder wasn't 2.5kg but rather 1 x 1KG and 1 x 1.5KG. Was a bit trickier. Having said that, it was about as simple as BBQ'ing meat could be. Rub generously with whatever you like, I used a pork specific dry rub, and cook at 275 for around 3-4 hours to get smoke flavour, then wrap and transfer to oven (protip: I have a pellet grill so it's expensive to run relatively to electricity and once wrapped, heat is heat), until internal temp is about 205-210F. Rest for a couple of hours at least.

The small bit ended up a tiny bit dry, but still totally delicious, fixed with a small amount BBQ sauce. The big bit was fantastic. I highly recommend it.

Beef Cheeks are my next challenge.

Lizard1977

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#2682961 30-Mar-2021 10:27

Asrafrate:

Random food thought... today I discovered that soaking minced meat in a solution of baking soda for 15 minutes, helps the Maillard reaction and keeps the juices locked into the meat. Mind. Blown.

Snap - it wasn't this post on Lifehacker by any chance?

I gave it a try on the weekend, but it was hard to tell what difference it made as I use it on mince that I was turning into hamburger patties, and there was a lot of other stuff going on for the first time - I added blitzed sunflower and pumpkin seeds, spinach, and some ground almonds (just for the hell of it), and a little salt. Made for a really nice savoury flavour, gave it a slightly firm texture, and dark coloured crust. Pretty tasty, but again hard to tell (from an experimental perspective) whether the baking soda made a difference or not. Kids loved them, including my fussy eater who asked for a second patty and gobbled it up.

networkn

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#2682964 30-Mar-2021 10:29

I also learned a new trick to convert unsalted Cashews into Salted ones.

Douse the nuts in water, let drain in a sieve for 15 minutes, rub a teaspoon of salt into them, then chuck them in a hot oven for a few minutes to dry out (watch like a hawk, they burn really quickly).

freitasm

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#2686281 4-Apr-2021 11:47

Ok, today was feijoada at home. In Brazil you can usually find this dish every Wednesday and Saturday at restaurants (because of time it takes to make it) and there are some places that only serve feijoada, all the time. Usually a weekend dish, and like most stews it always tastes better next day. I can't find all the ingredients in New Zealand (charque, Portuguese paio sausage, smoked pork ribs) but do what I can with some pork replacements and it tastes pretty close.

Got up at 7am to make it for late lunch, but usually make it for dinner as it can be time consuming.

I start with some refogado (sofrito) - onion, garlic, bay leaves. Add some diced pork and stir a bit just to get lightly sealed. Add to black beans with water and some Oxo. In my case I used the pressure cooker for about 40 minutes - or you can just cook for about three hours on a normal large pan. Meanwhile put some sausages and bacon in water for about 15 minutes to release most of the fat. Dice it and then add to the beans when the pressure cooker is open. Let it simmer for another three hours.

The meat is simply melting in your mouth. All those flavours together...

Serve on freshly cooked white rice with some couve cut thinly and just with garlic, olive oil (collard greens when I can find it, couldn't this time - and no kale is not a replacement).

I usually do it in colder weather because... Well, it's heavy and you do end up eating a lot. A famous Brazilian writer once said a feijoada is only complete if there's an ambulance in standby outside - that's how much you will ended up eating.

Also made some farofa, which usually goes well with feijoada, churrasco and other dishes.

Now waiting for in-laws to arrive so we can tuck in.

Handle9

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#2686354 4-Apr-2021 18:00

networkn:

Made my first pulled pork. Was disgruntled to find that my Pork shoulder wasn't 2.5kg but rather 1 x 1KG and 1 x 1.5KG. Was a bit trickier. Having said that, it was about as simple as BBQ'ing meat could be. Rub generously with whatever you like, I used a pork specific dry rub, and cook at 275 for around 3-4 hours to get smoke flavour, then wrap and transfer to oven (protip: I have a pellet grill so it's expensive to run relatively to electricity and once wrapped, heat is heat), until internal temp is about 205-210F. Rest for a couple of hours at least.

The small bit ended up a tiny bit dry, but still totally delicious, fixed with a small amount BBQ sauce. The big bit was fantastic. I highly recommend it.

Beef Cheeks are my next challenge.

Pork and lamb shoulders are the most forgiving bbq meat by far. They are both full of fat and need a lot of breaking down but are great.

Beef cheeks are similar actually. On a pellet smoker they'd be pretty good. Noel Hassapladakis method is great and super easy. Personally I prefer doing beef cheeks to brisket. Because they are a lot smaller you can do 2 or 3 for just the family and the timing is more reliable than brisket.

Give yourself a fair bit of time though, they have piece of membrane through the middle of them that needs to broken down. Once they do it's like jelly and brilliant.

Handle9

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#2686355 4-Apr-2021 18:06

Mrs H did her hotcross buns as she does every Easter. They really are excellent and far better than anything we can get here in the UAE. She uses a recipe from Loaf which she's modified a bit. Mixer speeds relate to Kitchenaid speeds.

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#2686374 4-Apr-2021 18:50

Handle9:

Beef cheeks are similar actually. On a pellet smoker they'd be pretty good. Noel Hassapladakis method is great and super easy. Personally I prefer doing beef cheeks to brisket. Because they are a lot smaller you can do 2 or 3 for just the family and the timing is more reliable than brisket.

Give yourself a fair bit of time though, they have piece of membrane through the middle of them that needs to broken down. Once they do it's like jelly and brilliant.

Noel Hassapladakis is a God when it comes to BBQ. I use his methods quite a bit. Beef cheeks are one of those things I've wanted to for a long time, but I am never somewhere that sells them when I have time to do them, and most of the frozen stuff I've found come in 4KG boxes ! :)

Pulled Lamb is one of my favourite things in the world. I usually make chunky tzatziki, baba ganoush and hummus at the same time, and make pita.. Delicious!

I have found I need to add smoke with my pellet smoker, though it's easily done with a $12 smoker tube. Works well.

The BBQ community in NZ is one of the least pretentious, helpful, genuinely nice communities around. With the exception of the odd snob who can't get over Pellet Smokers and will mock anyone who has one. I console myself with the fact I haven't spent my weekend poking hot coals and measuring temps, and still get 95% the same results.

Handle9

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#2686376 4-Apr-2021 18:53

You can partially defrost the box, break them up and refreeze beef cheeks successfully.

Time to order another slab. I'm hungry now.

Handle9

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#2686380 4-Apr-2021 18:57

@networkn I am definitely judging you for using a pellet smoker. Enviously but judging all the same 🤣🤣

Did you end up buying a GA? I have found that the best BBQ I've ever had. I use it 2-3 times a week. I do salmon, lamb shanks, beef cheeks, lamb shoulder etc etc. It's perfect for a midweek cook for the family.

It's so cheap to run and convenient.

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