Let's talk about food!

[Keith_W]

Breaking my self-imposed rule of not posting pictures of food that I did not cook myself. Here are two Sichuanese fish dishes:

Fish fillets with pickled vegetables. Here, the vegetables used are Chinese mustard greens. They are packed in salt and allowed to ferment. It ends up tasting a bit like Sauerkraut, but with a slightly funky kick. It is a VERY assertive ingredient and must be used sparingly. Here it is paired with two types of Sichuan peppercorns (red and green), ginger, and spring onions. When done well, as it was in this restaurant, it is slightly sour, savoury, fragrant with citrus notes, and slightly earthy. I try to fish out as many peppercorns as I can - you need them for the fragrance, but if you eat too many you will get a "sichuan peppercorn high". It feels like being intoxicated except that there is no alcohol. Not to mention, if you bite into one you get a strong burst of flavour with the mouth-numbing properties. It's not entirely unpleasant, but it will be if you eat too many.

Fish fillets with dried chilli. This is similar to the above dish, except there are no pickled vegetables. Instead, they use a LOT of toasted dried chillis which gives it that ominous red colour. The flavours here are spicy, smoky, earthy, with a particular dried chilli fragrance and the mouth-numbing feel of sichuan peppercorns. It's the classic mala flavouring that is the signature of Sichuanese cuisine. You will notice the slotted spoon - use it to scoop out as many chillis and sichuan peppercorns as you can, and dump it into another bowl.

This restaurant didn't do the spiciest fish I have ever eaten. That honour goes to Sichuan itself, where I was served a dish where you could see nothing but the dried chillis floating on top. It was unreasonably spicy, and there were so many sichuan peppercorns in it that the experience was rather overwhelming. I have fairly strong spice tolerance, but eating in Sichuan had me sweating and crying within a few bites. It was paired with the local wine, but "wine" is a polite term to describe their fortified vodka-like baijiu (literal translation: "white alcoholic drink"). By the end of dinner I was almost seeing double and I cold barely walk back to the hotel. My Chinese dining companion said that it was the best in Chengdu.

This restaurant obviously cut down the spice to suit Australian tastebuds, but even then I suspect it may be a bit too assertive for many Aussies.

 

[Soundproof]

Experimenting with various pasta brands and veggies these days, taking advantage of the great Italian tradition of using what's available or in season if you like. Have been through a run of soffritto based sauces which I will revisit in the autumn. Nowadays it is all about various salads/cabbage, small tomatoes and mushrooms.

Have taken a liking to pastabrands like La Molisana, Felicetti and Dalla Costa and their bronze production sortiments. Makes a difference.

 

[Winemaker]

Experimenting with various pasta brands and veggies these days, taking advantage of the great Italian tradition of using what's available or in season if you like. Have been through a run of soffritto based sauces which I will revisit in the autumn. Nowadays it is all about various salads/cabbage, small tomatoes and mushrooms.

Have taken a liking to pastabrands like La Molisana, Felicetti and Dalla Costa and their bronze production sortiments. Makes a difference.

La Molisana Ok, also Rummo, Garofalo, De Cecco and Voiello; these are excellent pasta brands, but they're still mainstream commercial stuff. Then you have the more niche ones, many of which are absolutely top-tier. Honestly, every region in Italy has its own artisan producers. You can find green pasta (kneaded with pesto), black (with squid ink), red (with sun-dried tomatoes or beetroot), truffle-infused, olive-infused, pistachio-infused... the list goes on.

 

[Soundproof]

La Molisana Ok, also Rummo, Garofalo, De Cecco and Voiello; these are excellent pasta brands, but they're still mainstream commercial stuff. Then you have the more niche ones, many of which are absolutely top-tier. Honestly, every region in Italy has its own artisan producers. You can find green pasta (kneaded with pesto), black (with squid ink), red (with sun-dried tomatoes or beetroot), truffle-infused, olive-infused, pistachio-infused... the list goes on.

Lots to choose from, but a bit limited in this market. Liked De Cecco, less enhusiastic about the Rummo variations I have tested (that might however very well be just me and not a question of quality). The availabilty of proper artisan is limited, can get La Campofilone, but that is just about it. Can get flavoured variants from e.g La Fabrica Della Pasta if I come across receipes, but I'll stick to plain for now.

Would have to order e.g. Monograno directly from Felicetti, but have been unable to conclude whether it is "a hype" or actually a level above.

For Cannellini and Borlotti beans the option is Cerqueto.

 

[Keith_W]

Would have to order e.g. Monograno directly from Felicetti, but have been unable to conclude whether it is "a hype" or actually a level above.

Go and try it. I ordered a few packets some years ago. Those single grain artisanal pastas are a bit weird, that Monograno "Kamut" that I tried had a distinct grainy texture that I found unpleasant, and it tasted and smelt like nuts. It's best served with a very simple sauce so that you can taste the pasta. I served mine with butter and sage.

 

[Keith_W]

Anyway it's winter here in Australia so I made a hearty Beef Bourguignon.

I don't own a Dutch Oven so I made it in my stock pot. 4 hours at a low simmer and the beef was fall-apart soft. I hate mushy vegetables, so I picked out all the meat from the finished Bourguignon, strained out all the limp veggies, and added more.

The recipe called for chuck steak and brisket. I went with chuck, short rib, and oxtail. Short rib and oxtail proved to be real winners. The chuck - not so much. It's interesting that each cut still has a distinct texture after cooking for so long. The oxtail oozed gelatin, and the short rib had a beautiful meaty texture. But the chuck had a more dense texture that was frankly a bit dry.

 

[meracus]

Some of the latest attempts … grilled scallops with a beurre blanc and “ 24/192 roast chicken “

 

[Soundproof]

Anyway it's winter here in Australia so I made a hearty Beef Bourguignon.

View attachment 540401

View attachment 540402

I don't own a Dutch Oven so I made it in my stock pot. 4 hours at a low simmer and the beef was fall-apart soft. I hate mushy vegetables, so I picked out all the meat from the finished Bourguignon, strained out all the limp veggies, and added more.

The recipe called for chuck steak and brisket. I went with chuck, short rib, and oxtail. Short rib and oxtail proved to be real winners. The chuck - not so much. It's interesting that each cut still has a distinct texture after cooking for so long. The oxtail oozed gelatin, and the short rib had a beautiful meaty texture. But the chuck had a more dense texture that was frankly a bit dry.

My kind of food. Oxtail is the most tasty and rich cut no doubt. The opposite end is a favourite too, the ox tongue. Slightly salted, 90C for a couple of hours with whole black peppercorns and a few bay leafs. Seems like no one eats the tounge of lambs, but that is a true delicacy as well. Bought 4 lambs for salting and drying, had to be firm to get the tongues, almost impossible to get here about without buying whole lambs.

Replacing the soggy vegs with fresh is great, when using veg stock or making large portions of veg stock, one can run the soggy vegs in a blender and use it as as soup/stew base or thickener. Rich and tasty.

The only issue with stockpots would be the many with thin bottoms and thin sides + sharp transition zone. Not a problem with stews which contain lots of liquids in my opinion. Love kitchen gear, but great chefs do magic with "nothing" in terms of gear. My last purchase was a De Buyer Master mandolin. Better spend the money on knives. Poor customer support, won't buy anything from them again.

Monograno is on my list, definately

Must say, Australia in general, and Melbourne in particular was fantastic for dining out. Incredibly friendly and social. Been a while, Jan Gehl's footprints wasn't visible yet.

 

[Soundproof]

Some of the latest attempts … grilled scallops with a beurre blanc and “ 24/192 roast chicken “

Ahh, scallops! Looks perfect!

Had a little saturday kitchen table lunch ritual with my best friend back in the day. Danish rye bread, a bed of chanterelle mushrooms and scallops on top, half decent chablis in the glasses.

 

[Keith_W]

Some of the latest attempts … grilled scallops with a beurre blanc and “ 24/192 roast chicken “

What is "24/192 roast chicken"?

I have been trying (and failing) to replicate the best roast chicken I have ever had in my life - a little restaurant in Paris (Le Coq & Fils - but when I went there it was called Le Coq Rico). Apparently they poach the chicken in chicken stock first, and then grill it over a rotisserie. I tried that - I bought the best free-range chicken I could find, then I brined the chicken and poached it in stock. I let it dry in the fridge for 24 hours, and roasted it the next day. 3 days to make a roast chicken, it better be good. But it was nowhere close. I can't get the skin uniformly crispy (maybe it's my rotisserie?) and the interior of the chicken is nowhere as moist. And obviously, I can't get those Bresse chickens in Australia.

Here it is out of the oven. I pulled it out when the temperature probe reached 62C.

... and here it is served with pan juices. You can see that the skin isn't crispy, it's soggy.

I think it's a temperature problem, and I simply need to experiment more. The chicken is already cooked by the poaching process, so I only need to get the chicken to a serving temperature. The question is how much heat I can blast it with to get the skin to crisp up without heating the meat too much. And whether I should be finishing the chicken straight from the fridge or letting it come up to room temperature first.

My kind of food. Oxtail is the most tasty and rich cut no doubt. The opposite end is a favourite too, the ox tongue. Slightly salted, 90C for a couple of hours with whole black peppercorns and a few bay leafs. Seems like no one eats the tounge of lambs, but that is a true delicacy as well. Bought 4 lambs for salting and drying, had to be firm to get the tongues, almost impossible to get here about without buying whole lambs.

Speaking of ox tongue, I didn't know that in Russia, it's considered a luxury food. My Russian friend was telling me about it, and how hard it is to find. I told her to go to an Asian butcher. Now she has virtually unlimited and cheap ox tongue. She made me an Olivier salad with ox tongue, and she told me that in Russia it would be an unbelievable luxury to do that. A bit like putting caviar on your breakfast eggs every morning.

one can run the soggy vegs in a blender and use it as as soup/stew base or thickener. Rich and tasty.

Hey, that's a very good idea!! I didn't think of that, i'll save my veggie scraps from now on! I normally throw mine in the garden as fertilizer.

The only issue with stockpots would be the many with thin bottoms and thin sides + sharp transition zone. Not a problem with stews which contain lots of liquids in my opinion.

Yeah, I don't understand why I would need a Dutch oven. Maybe it's essential to make things like sourdough bread, but I don't see how my stock pot is inferior for making stews. I get very good results with no burning at the bottom. I just don't see what the advantage is.

My last purchase was a De Buyer Master mandolin.

Funny you say that. I have a de Buyer mandolin as well. What a waste of money. The gap between the slit and the blade is too wide, so you can't get paper-thin slices. And the knives are now dull. For anyone who wants a mandolin, go buy a Benriner and save yourself a lot of money. It's cheap plastic, and it's so inexpensive that you just throw it away and buy a new one.

 

[JeffS7444]

if you bite into one you get a strong burst of flavour with the mouth-numbing properties. It's not entirely unpleasant, but it will be if you eat too many.

The first time I encountered the taste of Sichuan peppercorn, I scarcely recognized the flavor as food but have since come to enjoy the peculiar numbing "zing" they add to certain dishes. They're also used in some Indian dishes.

 

[Soundproof]

What is "24/192 roast chicken"?

I have been trying (and failing) to replicate the best roast chicken I have ever had in my life - a little restaurant in Paris (Le Coq & Fils - but when I went there it was called Le Coq Rico). Apparently they poach the chicken in chicken stock first, and then grill it over a rotisserie. I tried that - I bought the best free-range chicken I could find, then I brined the chicken and poached it in stock. I let it dry in the fridge for 24 hours, and roasted it the next day. 3 days to make a roast chicken, it better be good. But it was nowhere close. I can't get the skin uniformly crispy (maybe it's my rotisserie?) and the interior of the chicken is nowhere as moist. And obviously, I can't get those Bresse chickens in Australia.

View attachment 540441

Here it is out of the oven. I pulled it out when the temperature probe reached 62C.

View attachment 540442

... and here it is served with pan juices. You can see that the skin isn't crispy, it's soggy.

I think it's a temperature problem, and I simply need to experiment more. The chicken is already cooked by the poaching process, so I only need to get the chicken to a serving temperature. The question is how much heat I can blast it with to get the skin to crisp up without heating the meat too much. And whether I should be finishing the chicken straight from the fridge or letting it come up to room temperature first.



Speaking of ox tongue, I didn't know that in Russia, it's considered a luxury food. My Russian friend was telling me about it, and how hard it is to find. I told her to go to an Asian butcher. Now she has virtually unlimited and cheap ox tongue. She made me an Olivier salad with ox tongue, and she told me that in Russia it would be an unbelievable luxury to do that. A bit like putting caviar on your breakfast eggs every morning.



Hey, that's a very good idea!! I didn't think of that, i'll save my veggie scraps from now on! I normally throw mine in the garden as fertilizer.



Yeah, I don't understand why I would need a Dutch oven. Maybe it's essential to make things like sourdough bread, but I don't see how my stock pot is inferior for making stews. I get very good results with no burning at the bottom. I just don't see what the advantage is.



Funny you say that. I have a de Buyer mandolin as well. What a waste of money. The gap between the slit and the blade is too wide, so you can't get paper-thin slices. And the knives are now dull. For anyone who wants a mandolin, go buy a Benriner and save yourself a lot of money. It's cheap plastic, and it's so inexpensive that you just throw it away and buy a new one.

Ox tongue was for christmas lunches when I was a kid. Just straight on homemade multigrain dark bread with butter. Delicate yet rich on flavours (no freeze - the fat granulates). Danish rye bread is great for ox tongue (and layed herring). I tend to use 40% oats + raisins (rich on grapesugars) and hazelnuts or melon/sunseeds when baking, which makes it a tad sweet for ox tongue. Thus I get an edge to it by using a thin layer of Dijon mustard in the middle. Haven't had russian rye bread in many years, but I can easily imagine vodka being a good option. I use aged aquavit and a beer with the preferred danish rye. I haven't experimentet much with various flavours, possibly star anise or carnation (?) could be interesting if keeping it restrained.

I have mixed and to a large extent negative culinary experiences with aussie sheep (Paul Bocusse in Sydney must have had a different supplier back in the day), but if you can get lamb tongues from high quality lambs, it really is a delicacy. Figured that one out myself, the butcheries will toss it or grind it for lamb sausages, never tasted it anywhere but in my shack up the mountains.

Was to purchase a 5.5 l oval dutch oven from Staub (room for a 1.8 kg chicken), but wanting a mandolin, a campaign price made me get one. The bugger retails (RRP) for abt 500 euros, arrived with 2 damaged knife modules, and they refused to replace the knivemodules claiming I did the damage. And as you mentioned - the gaps! Huge gap in the rear of the pusherframe - you'll have to make veggie stock every time you make soffritto. The waste is plenty, with hardly anything for the soffritto. It really is crap, and the blades are worse than on the cheapest bread knife you can get wal-mart style shopping. Would have expected something like a food grade version of single razor blades for that price. Guess we have exchanged condolances

The company was bought by Groupe SEB abt 18 months ago - who also own a.o Sabatier which I belive sells Rousselon Sabatier, Lion Sabatier and Pluton Sabatier, which are the Sabatier iterations I won't go near (a.o. "masked" asian production" and some with welded pairers). Better get the real Sabatier/Thies knives from Sabatier-K or craftsmen/shops like Goyon Chazeu. SEB have started marketing their knives at the de Buyer site, and i do believe they are "optimizing the production" i.e. moving whatever they can eastwards. Doubt one will get the quality provided by the de Buyer family.

As for dutch ovens, I can see a point indeed, retains more and even heat, put it into the oven for crisping, and the lid tends to keep more moist inside thus juicier meat and more concentrated juices at the bottom. For stews? Saves some dishwashing if the stock pot can't be used for the initial fry. We will be fine with a half decent stock pot for that

 

[Keith_W]

I bought too many carrots for that Beef Bourguignon so I used it up with this carrot cake:

You can tell it's home made. It looks it.

You can also see my mistake. I didn't have any icing sugar, so I used caster sugar. The icing has a grainy texture, you can even see it in the photos.

I am no baker. I should go watch some videos and find out how those guys turn out beautiful, professional looking cakes. This one tasted great, exactly what a carrot cake should taste like ... but it's ugly.

 

[Soundproof]

I bought too many carrots for that Beef Bourguignon so I used it up with this carrot cake:

View attachment 540977

View attachment 540978

You can tell it's home made. It looks it.

You can also see my mistake. I didn't have any icing sugar, so I used caster sugar. The icing has a grainy texture, you can even see it in the photos.

I am no baker. I should go watch some videos and find out how those guys turn out beautiful, professional looking cakes. This one tasted great, exactly what a carrot cake should taste like ... but it's ugly.

Ugly?

It's rustic to perfection.

 

[Audionaut]

strained out all the limp veggies, and added more.

Hi Keith, as you know, I'm a fan of good bœuf bourguignon myself, but it would never occur to me to remove the vegetables that have been cooking in it the whole time. I might purée them with a blender and then add them back in, but I would never remove them completely.

I think it's a temperature problem, and I simply need to experiment more.

That’s a problem I’ve never encountered.
Chicken—and poultry in general—always turns out very crispy.

Depending on its size, I place the bird in the oven at 120 degree Celsius for one to three hours after brushing it with an oil-spice mixture.
Then I brush it again with the oil-spice mixture and, depending on the type of the bird, turn the oven to 180–200 degrees Celsius on the convection setting.

It always comes out crispy, and thanks to the long pre-cooking time at a lower temperature, it’s also melt-in-your-mouth tender.

 

[Keith_W]

Hi Keith, as you know, I'm a fan of good bœuf bourguignon myself, but it would never occur to me to remove the vegetables that have been cooking in it the whole time. I might purée them with a blender and then add them back in, but I would never remove them completely.

That is another good idea!

Depending on its size, I place the bird in the oven at 120 degree Celsius for one to three hours after brushing it with an oil-spice mixture.
Then I brush it again with the oil-spice mixture and, depending on the type of the bird, turn the oven to 180–200 degrees Celsius on the convection setting.

It always comes out crispy, and thanks to the long pre-cooking time at a lower temperature, it’s also melt-in-your-mouth tender.

Yeah, there are two ways to make chicken tender. One way is to avoid overcooking it, which is what I have been doing. The other way is to overcook the heck out of it to render all the collagen. I find that it works for dark meat, but breast meat turns out very dry. This is why I aim for a target temp of 63deg and I keep it there for at least an hour to make sure all the nasties are dead. To be honest my roast chicken process is very complicated, it's not just "take chicken out, rub with salt, and roast".

 

[Audionaut]

To be honest my roast chicken process is very complicated, it's not just "take chicken out, rub with salt, and roast".

That's my impression, too, but I wanted to be polite.
Korolev: "Anyone can build (cook) something complicated; simplicity is what guides our actions."

 

[Soundproof]

That is another good idea!



Yeah, there are two ways to make chicken tender. One way is to avoid overcooking it, which is what I have been doing. The other way is to overcook the heck out of it to render all the collagen. I find that it works for dark meat, but breast meat turns out very dry. This is why I aim for a target temp of 63deg and I keep it there for at least an hour to make sure all the nasties are dead. To be honest my roast chicken process is very complicated, it's not just "take chicken out, rub with salt, and roast".

Sometimes, complexity is what's needed in my opinion. For instance, to get a pork rib the way I want it (100% traditional in taste and presentation apart from 4 bay leaves), I start 2 days before with seasoning, and it takes 7 hours in the oven with a couple of interventions and 8 different temperatures + resting and gravy. Could do it a lot simpler and quicker and get a fairly decent result 70% of the time, but the long path ensures a great result every time. It is with no exemption crispy and properly popped. I get it 100% right every time.

Another advantage: Sometimes the quality of the meat is not up to standards, and using "fast track" will definately ruin the meal for me and my guests. The complicated and long route rescues the rib. But the fat/juices needs to be kept far away from the gravy and table. I mix it with oats for the birds.

On a sidenote: I no longer own a mandolin. After fighting for almost 3 months, I used my outdoor voice, and finally got a refund which is transferred from my kitchen budget to my audio budget, both modest I have quarantined the webshop for 5 years and de Buyer forever.

 

[Timcognito]

Yeah, there are two ways to make chicken tender. One way is to avoid overcooking it, which is what I have been doing. The other way is to overcook the heck out of it to render all the collagen. I find that it works for dark meat, but breast meat turns out very dry. This is why I aim for a target temp of 63deg and I keep it there for at least an hour to make sure all the nasties are dead. To be honest my roast chicken process is very complicated, it's not just "take chicken out, rub with salt, and roast".

On the barbecue, I go hot and fast with indirect heat, I butterfly the chicken with inside down and foil over the breasts. After exposed areas turn deep brown and thigh close to temp pull the foil ~10 minutes. Total cook time 40-45 minutes, outside crispy inside juicy.

 

[dlaloum]

My kind of food. Oxtail is the most tasty and rich cut no doubt. The opposite end is a favourite too, the ox tongue. Slightly salted, 90C for a couple of hours with whole black peppercorns and a few bay leafs. Seems like no one eats the tounge of lambs, but that is a true delicacy as well. Bought 4 lambs for salting and drying, had to be firm to get the tongues, almost impossible to get here about without buying whole lambs.

Replacing the soggy vegs with fresh is great, when using veg stock or making large portions of veg stock, one can run the soggy vegs in a blender and use it as as soup/stew base or thickener. Rich and tasty.

The only issue with stockpots would be the many with thin bottoms and thin sides + sharp transition zone. Not a problem with stews which contain lots of liquids in my opinion. Love kitchen gear, but great chefs do magic with "nothing" in terms of gear. My last purchase was a De Buyer Master mandolin. Better spend the money on knives. Poor customer support, won't buy anything from them again.

Monograno is on my list, definately

Must say, Australia in general, and Melbourne in particular was fantastic for dining out. Incredibly friendly and social. Been a while, Jan Gehl's footprints wasn't visible yet.

Tongue is a fabulous meat - sadly not readily available!

The other excellent stewing meat, is beef cheek.... my go to choices depending on local availability at the time are Oxtail, Beef Cheek and Osso Bucco (preferred to Gravy Beef, which is the same as Osso Bucco but without the bone and marrow)