Let's talk about food!

[Keith_W]

I rarely order steaks in a restaurant because I can often do it better for cheaper at home. I only order steaks if (1) I have doubts about the chef's skill. Steak is pretty difficult to mess up, and if they don't cook it to your request there is no doubting that it is not medium rare if you have to send it back; (2) I see a charcoal grille, (3) they dry age their own beef, (4) it is a well known steakhouse. So of course I had to order a steak at Peter Luger's (you would be an idiot to order anything else), I ordered a steak when I was in Florence, and in some outback restaurants in Australia which are well-known cattle towns. Otherwise, if I go to a great restaurant, steak is the last thing I order since it does not showcase the chef's creativity. And I don't really want creativity with steak either, I want it simple - superb beef, perfectly cooked, with only salt and pepper (thyme and butter are permissible).

 

[pseudoid]

...And I don't really want creativity with steak either, I want it simple - superb beef, perfectly cooked, with only salt and pepper (thyme and butter are permissible).

Yeah, simple is the bestest but I am not coming over unless you have...

... that is not aged.

 

[Sal1950]

Yeah, simple is the bestest but I am not coming over unless you have...

... that is not aged.

You got to wait till that crap turns green for it to be good.

 

[GD Fan]

I rarely order steaks in a restaurant because I can often do it better for cheaper at home. I only order steaks if (1) I have doubts about the chef's skill. Steak is pretty difficult to mess up, and if they don't cook it to your request there is no doubting that it is not medium rare if you have to send it back; (2) I see a charcoal grille, (3) they dry age their own beef, (4) it is a well known steakhouse. So of course I had to order a steak at Peter Luger's (you would be an idiot to order anything else), I ordered a steak when I was in Florence, and in some outback restaurants in Australia which are well-known cattle towns. Otherwise, if I go to a great restaurant, steak is the last thing I order since it does not showcase the chef's creativity. And I don't really want creativity with steak either, I want it simple - superb beef, perfectly cooked, with only salt and pepper (thyme and butter are permissible).

How was the steak at Peter Luger?...

 

[Keith_W]

How was the steak at Peter Luger?...

The steak was great. Porterhouse (of course), some dry aged funkiness, and smokiness from the chargrill. I suspect it was single stage cooking, rather than two stage (e.g. pre-sear and post-sear, or sous-vide and post sear, or sear and oven) because of the appearance of the meat which shows an obvious temperature gradient. @Sal1950 steak posted above is what two stage cooking looks like. I don't think it is wrong, it's just different - whether you prefer the meat to be uniformly medium rare, or a gradient between blue in the center, medium rare in between, and some well done on the outside.

What wasn't so great - the service was brusque and impersonal (I was told it's a New York thing) and the price. I would say it's one of the best steaks I have eaten in my life. But then, there is a restaurant in Melbourne called Rockpool which is as good. They also dry age their own beef, but obviously they use Australian beef. They are also very expensive.

I can not equal either of these restaurants at home, even if I buy the best dry aged steak I can find. I have a charcoal grille, but it is not the same.

 

[Andysu]

the towering high of highest high end pizzas

crust base was nice the toppings could have been bit more

 

[Robbo99999]

the towering high of highest high end pizzas

View attachment 349680
crust base was nice the toppings could have been bit more

C'mon, you can't eat 10yr old pizza!

 

[pseudoid]

C'mon, you can't eat 10yr old pizza!

Quit exaggerating; it's only a 9yr old pizza!

 

[Andysu]

another highest of thee high high end game pizzas

 

[Andysu]

this pizza was beyond all the highest end game , actually not bad

 

[Andysu]

highest of any of anyone else end game pizza
even used the plastic thing that the pizza sits on and placed it over microphone showed highest end game change in frequency response sort of baffle around the mic

 

[Andysu]

pizza at top secret location few extra toppings added , actually not it was okay

 

[Andysu]

pizza cats my cats want highest end game pizza that ended in pizza disaster

 

[Andysu]

last night fish and chips beyond the galaxy highest end game , not had one since last year
mushy peas cod fish , chips and slice of lemon and bread franch stick roll butter , didn't add any extra salt as that may rise my blood pressure and besides there are fractions already in the cooking

apple juice was nice

 

[Robbo99999]

another highest of thee high high end game pizzas
View attachment 349686

I'm pretty hungry right now, so that does look good!

 

[Andysu]

cod fish and broccoli last night , didn't get picture , actually seems balanced meal

 

[Keith_W]

Spring Onion Pancake, or 葱油饼 (Congyoubing in pinyin, Chong Yau Peng in Cantonese, literally "scallion oil cake"). The traditional version has very few ingredients - flour, spring onion, salt, water, and oil. Mine has some 5 spice powder added to it for extra kick and fragrance. It is fragrant, savoury, crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside.

Recipe (makes 4)
For the dough:
- 300g all purpose flour
- 80g boiling water
- 80g cold water
- 1 tbsp oil

For the filling:
- 5 large stalks of spring onion, roughly minced
- 50g flour
- 50mL oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp 5 spice powder

Method
- Start the day before. Add the salt to the flour and stir, then add the boiling water in gradually in a stand mixer. When all the boiling water has been incorporated, add the cold water gradually until it is all incorporated. Continue kneading for 5 minutes until a smooth ball is formed.
- Remove the dough ball from the stand mixer, cover in oil, and wrap in cling wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
- To make the filling, add all the ingredients to a bowl except the oil. Heat the oil up until smoking, then pour it into the ingredients and mix with a spoon. This cooks the flour and the spring onion and brings out the fragrance of the 5 spice powder. (EDIT) the traditional version is even simpler, it calls for sprinkling the spring onion onto the dough. I prefer making an oil filling.
- Divide the dough ball into 8 balls and roll each one as flat as possible. Spread the filling very thinly and evenly.
- Roll it up in one direction until you get a long, thin cigar. Then take one end and turn the entire thing into a spiral. Flatten the spiral with your palm, and roll it out thin.
- Coat it with oil, and it is ready for frying. Fry with a little bit of oil over very low heat until the top appears cooked, then flip it over and brown the other side.

If you wish, it can be served with a dipping sauce. Make this by mixing soy sauce : black vinegar : water 1:1:1/2 teaspoons. Some people add chilli to the dipping sauce. I am not a fan, I think the spring onion pancake should be enjoyed on its own.

 

[Keith_W]

Many years ago, I went to Le Coq Rico in Paris (since renamed to Le Coq & Fils). It was THE best roast chicken that I ever had! I wanted to replicate that recipe ever since. A few weeks ago, Alex on Youtube posted a video on roast chicken in Le Coq & Fils, and included a brief description of the method. You can watch that video here. Take aways from that video:

- Use Bresse chicken (no Bresse chicken in Australia, so I used a free range chicken instead)
- Poach the chicken in chicken stock at 60C for 20 min. Since I don't have a PID controller (only a sous-vide immersion circulator that I did not want to immerse in oily stock!) I poached mine until it reached an internal temperature of 60C. I had to keep turning on and off the gas to maintain 60C, and it took me an hour.
- Roast on a rotisserie until the skin is caramelized. I do have a charcoal rotisserie, but I did not use it today. Instead, I finished it in an oven.

Other departures from that recipe:

- I injection brined my chicken with more chicken stock mixed with milk - 20% the weight of the chicken, with enough salt to make a 3% brine (i.e. 9g of stock for 300mL of brine, my chicken weighed 1.5kg). The purpose of the milk is to provide Phosphates which tenderize the meat.
- After the poaching step, I glazed the chicken with diluted maltose. This is a Chinese roast chicken method. I did not have time for the next step of the Chinese method, which is to air dry in the fridge for 24 hours.

After I finished cooking, I deboned the chicken and threw the carcass back into the stock. I pressure cooked it for an hour and now I have an extra rich chicken stock which will go into the freezer.

The sauce that you see was made from reduced chicken stock. After the poaching step, I added some veggies (carrots, celery, onion, bouquet garni) to enrich it further. It was then reduced and thickened with a roux and butter.

Result: this is VERY VERY close to Le Coq & Fils despite my departure from their recipe. I did not get the same crusty skin as they do (I blame skipping the air drying step, and no rotisserie). But the inside was like a poached chicken - super moist and juicy, meat was seasoned perfectly, and cooked all the way through. The chicken was served with roast potatoes and roasted vegetables.

 

[pablolie]

I am good at shelling lobster

Consumed as part of my GF's fave dish, lobster tagliatelle...

PS: Used the shell leftovers to make to make lobster broth, and the tagliatelle were cooked in it. Just need a tiny bit of butter and tarragon on top.

 

[Ziltoe]

That's actually is a side dish I do offer when inviting people for a barbecue. Donna know why this always is completely eaten before the steaks poping up...
One might say, your steaks are not that good, take too much time, tasting bad [despite of taking care getting the best and local quality]-

Nee, people really like it.

here we go with the onions and garlic : cooked in olive oil, butter, red wine and cognac [the latter is important]

The cabbage with low fat bacon and a lot stuff like pepper, salt, cumin, and a lot more, feel free...

And then, when merged, it looks like:

good appetite, give it a try