Where my fellow cooks at???

[count2infinity]

So I was on the golf course this morning thinking about what to make for dinner. Remembered we had dough in the freezer from the last time I made pizza, shrimp and adouille sausage, so I stopped and got some manchego cheese and made this tonight: grilled flatbread with cajun shrimp, andouille, manchego cheese, and topped it with a homemade spicy garlic aioli. Holy freaking crap was this good...

Spoiler:

[tifosi77]

The weekend's adventures.

Saturday: Butter Poached Cod Basquaise, Tempranillo-Sherry Vinegar Reduction, Ramps


Sunday: Salmon Mi-Cuit, Citrus Crème Fraîche, Charred Rapini, Puree of Ramp Greens, Pickled Ramp Ends

[columbia]

A boston butt just went in the oven with a salt, pepper, coffee, paprika, sage, taragon and thyme rub.
We shall see....sometime this evening.

[columbia]

Ok. that was ridiculously good.

[tifosi77]

Certainly sounds good.

Been a grilleriffic weekend so far.... duck tacos for dinner yesterday, skirt steak for lunch today, porterhouses for dinner tonight. Pictures to follow once shenanigans have subsided.

[columbia]

Just to clarify on the "rub": I actually folded in some olive oil to make a paste. Then worked in pretty well and let it sit for a few hours, before going in the oven.
I have no idea if there is anything to it, but it seemed like that would help pull in the flavors more....either way, I will try that again.

[tifosi77]

So I did more cooking in the past three days than I have done in any three-day period in probably two years. Lots of fun.

Spoiler:

Had friends over Sunday for a day of relaxation, swimming and gnoshing.

Duck Taco, Cherry-Ancho Sauce, Pickles

Duck skins were removed and cut into 1/4" chunks then put in a small saucepan where the fat was rendered under low temp then the wick turned up and the little bits of skin were fried in their own fat. Drained on paper towels then run through with a couple passes of a knife and mixed with some thyme leaf and smoked sea salt to make a garnish powder. Duck breast was cooked ghetto sous video at 135°F/57°C for 90 minutes packaged with the strained rendered duck fat from the skin fry. Accoutrements included char-grilled sweet corn and pineapple, red onion and serrano chile pickles, cilantro and scallions, all topped with a cherry-ancho chile sauce that was waaaaay too sweet than I intended.

Then on Monday, I had picked up some red meat; Mrs Tif said she wanted steak at some point this weekend, and I aimed to deliver.

Pineapple Marinated Skirt Steak, Ramp Sauce, Citrus Crème Fraîche, Mango Salsa, Pickled Red Onions

Decided to make use of some leftovers, so out came the citrus crème fraîche and ramp sauce from last week's salmon. Packaged the skirt with the trimmings of pineapple from Sunday's meal; piña has an enzyme that reacts with protein in a way similar to the way acid 'cooks' in a ceviche, so it makes a wonderful marinade base for tougher cuts of meat like skirt or brisket or even pork shoulder. Then just added some mango salsa and red onion pickles from Sunday's feastings to make a quick and tasty plated lunch.

For my own lunch, I decided to consume the skirt in taco form.

Pineapple Marinated Skirt Steak Taco, Ramp Sauce, Citrus Crème Fraîche, Mango Salsa, Pickled Red Onions, Kimchi

Same accompaniments, plus store-bought kimchi.

For Monday night's dinner, I had picked up two porterhouses.

Moo Critter Tagliata with Seven-Flavor Chimichurri

These were prepared about as simply as can be imagined; lots of salt, hot grill, flip every 20-25 seconds, remove when the temp says 120°F/49°C (about 8-10 minutes total cooking), rest for five minutes, slice, plate, eat. The chimichurri was made of rosemary, thyme, mint, parsley, garlic, scallion greens, lemongrass, mixed with red wine and sherry vinegars and Arbequina extra virgin olive oil from the Central Coast.

[BadHands71]

Copper River Salmon is in at the local grocery store. I love that stuff, it's expensive but it beats the crap out of any other salmon. Grilled with some cedar planks, lemon juice, salt and pepper... mmmmm. I love the simplicity of cooking with good ingredients. You don't need to do much to make stuff taste good.

[PensFanInDC]

I cook all the time. I have no idea why I don't frequently this thread.

My next mission is to perfect tea brewing. Starting with quality leaves. Any tea drinkers here?

[FreeCandy44]

Im a giant fan of tea. Favorite part of summer is Sun Tea.

[mac5155]

My coworker is big into tea. I don't care for it.

[FreeCandy44]

Drink of choice...

[eddysnake]

So I did more cooking in the past three days than I have done in any three-day period in probably two years. Lots of fun.

Spoiler:

Had friends over Sunday for a day of relaxation, swimming and gnoshing.

Duck Taco, Cherry-Ancho Sauce, Pickles

Duck skins were removed and cut into 1/4" chunks then put in a small saucepan where the fat was rendered under low temp then the wick turned up and the little bits of skin were fried in their own fat. Drained on paper towels then run through with a couple passes of a knife and mixed with some thyme leaf and smoked sea salt to make a garnish powder. Duck breast was cooked ghetto sous video at 135°F/57°C for 90 minutes packaged with the strained rendered duck fat from the skin fry. Accoutrements included char-grilled sweet corn and pineapple, red onion and serrano chile pickles, cilantro and scallions, all topped with a cherry-ancho chile sauce that was waaaaay too sweet than I intended.

Then on Monday, I had picked up some red meat; Mrs Tif said she wanted steak at some point this weekend, and I aimed to deliver.

Pineapple Marinated Skirt Steak, Ramp Sauce, Citrus Crème Fraîche, Mango Salsa, Pickled Red Onions

Decided to make use of some leftovers, so out came the citrus crème fraîche and ramp sauce from last week's salmon. Packaged the skirt with the trimmings of pineapple from Sunday's meal; piña has an enzyme that reacts with protein in a way similar to the way acid 'cooks' in a ceviche, so it makes a wonderful marinade base for tougher cuts of meat like skirt or brisket or even pork shoulder. Then just added some mango salsa and red onion pickles from Sunday's feastings to make a quick and tasty plated lunch.

For my own lunch, I decided to consume the skirt in taco form.

Pineapple Marinated Skirt Steak Taco, Ramp Sauce, Citrus Crème Fraîche, Mango Salsa, Pickled Red Onions, Kimchi

Same accompaniments, plus store-bought kimchi.

For Monday night's dinner, I had picked up two porterhouses.

Moo Critter Tagliata with Seven-Flavor Chimichurri

These were prepared about as simply as can be imagined; lots of salt, hot grill, flip every 20-25 seconds, remove when the temp says 120°F/49°C (about 8-10 minutes total cooking), rest for five minutes, slice, plate, eat. The chimichurri was made of rosemary, thyme, mint, parsley, garlic, scallion greens, lemongrass, mixed with red wine and sherry vinegars and Arbequina extra virgin olive oil from the Central Coast.

those tacos look amazing. my folks just got back from a wine trip to France and went to Domaine des Hauts de Loire (Michelin 2 star) for dinner, I'll have to post some pictures, looks to be right up your alley in what you make

[PensFanInDC]

My mother in law (who lives with us) is allergic to onions. I have only cooked with onions once in the past 18 months. It's hell....

[blackjack68]

Cook with extra onions just one more time...problem solved.

[PensFanInDC]

Yeah...her leaving would be the problem. She's our live in nanny...

She gets terrible migraines if she even smells an onion. Cooking one in the house would cause her to be bed ridden for 3+ days. The one time I cooked the onion is when she was out of town for 10 days. I made pierogies.....awwww yeah

[PensFanInDC]

House smells like bacon. Love it.

[Froggy]

[count2infinity]

tif is definitely 5 levels ahead of anyone in this thread. incredible looking stuff.

[tifosi77]

My mother in law (who lives with us) is allergic to onions. I have only cooked with onions once in the past 18 months. It's hell....

I just wouldn't have the in-laws over for dinner. Seriously.... I couldn't do it. That's like saying "Don't cook with heat." Ceviche would get old really fast.

I guess you'll just have to trust me.

Flavor is the first, second and third consideration. Making it pretty and figuring out how to put it on the plate comes at the very end of the process of making a dish. I will, however, change a component out after an initial run with an idea because I couldn't figure out a good way of getting it on a plate. That could be as drastic as switching from a carrot puree to a ginger sauce, to changing from purple to green cabbage.

But that visual aspect is a fairly recent development for me. In the past, unless I was directly copying a plate that I had personally seen in the flesh or on TV my plating was pretty..... well, there's no other word for it; terrible. My Picasa food picture album is littered with crap from just two or three years ago. Things like a salmon filet that was portioned after it had been cooked and was hot.......... it looks like it was pulled apart, rather than cut. Some dishes look like I spilled the contents of a pot with food for a different meal onto the plate. Shoot, just look at my posting history in this thread to see the improvement.

A good friend of mine is a graphic designer and a massive foodist. And I've been asking him for tips on the visual look of dishes, what works and what doesn't when talking about how the eye sees things. So I've actually made more improvements in the last six months in that regard than in the thirteen years prior to that. (Which is when I started taking cooking seriously)

[PensFanInDC]

My mother in law (who lives with us) is allergic to onions. I have only cooked with onions once in the past 18 months. It's hell....

I just wouldn't have the in-laws over for dinner. Seriously.... I couldn't do it. That's like saying "Don't cook with heat." Ceviche would get old really fast.

Im guessing you missed the part where she is our live in nanny . Saves us day care costs every month. Totally worth it to not cook with onions.

I get by using onion powder (dehydrated onions does not affect her). It's not my optimal choice but it works for the flavor when needed. At least she isn't allergic to garlic. At that point Ill pay the $3,500 a month in day care.

I've been experimenting with eggs a lot recently. Baking eggs to be exact. Yesterday I tried baked eggacado. Slice an avocado in half, remove the pit, insert egg, bake at 350 until egg is desired doneness (for me that's over medium). Very tasty and high in protein and good fats.

I've also been making my breakfast the night before (I am NOT a morning person). 12 spot muffin tray, insert muffin cups, chop 2/3 cup spinach and 2/3 cup baby kale, add to cups, sprinkle on some sharp cheddar, drop in an egg (or in my case pour in some egg whites), bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool to room temp before storing in fridge. Reheat for 2 minutes. Viola, high protein breakfast with lots of essential vitamins and minerals (plus tons of potassium!).

[columbia]

The eggcado is an interesting idea.

[blackjack68]

$3,500 a month in day care?!?!?!?!?!

Yikes.

[shafnutz05]

$3,500 a month in day care?!?!?!?!?!

Yikes.

Outside of the most outrageous places that cater to rich people, you can easily find day care places that are far cheaper than 3500. In the philly burbs, you can find nice ones for more like 1200-1500

[eddysnake]

$3,500 a month in day care?!?!?!?!?!

Yikes.

Outside of the most outrageous places that cater to rich people, you can easily find day care places that are far cheaper than 3500. In the philly burbs, you can find nice ones for more like 1200-1500

bring em to my house, my wife watches the little buggers and its certainly not for 1200 a month (maybe we're doing something wrong)