• Welcome to BellGab.com Archive.
 

Cooking With Chefist!

Started by chefist, July 01, 2015, 01:49:35 PM

pate

Quote from: trostol on July 01, 2016, 07:47:21 PM
hey all..looking for a good simple prep we'll call it for a couple London Broils to be grilled on Sunday

Let's call it "flank steak" and fajitas!

Marinade?

pate

I had a late crop of about 30 or so Beefsteak and ?neighbor? tomatoes last weekend, mostly beefsteaks.  I had to do something with them as two or three were starting to rot.  I decided to make basic tomato sauce, like the stuff you get in tin cans at the grocery store.

The first picture below shows the de-skinning process (I could have left them on, since I ground them up, but I do what I want).  You take a really sharp knife and cut an "X" in the bottom of a tomato, maybe 1/8" deep and put it in water at about poaching temperature (just below boiling, say 210 degrees) for about 30 seconds or until you see the skin start to slough off.  Then you take it out of the water and dunk it into an ice-water bath to stop the cooking process.  At this point you could throw the tomatoes into a jar with a light salt brine and can them.

I diced about half an onion, one small bell pepper, a celery heart (with the leaves) and a few cloves of garlic.  Picked a bunch of oregano and thyme from the herb patch, grated a few turns of black pepper, one Turkish bay leaf, about one tablespoon of dried parsley (I didn't have enough fresh parsley available without killing the herb patch stock) and about 1 tablespoon of Kosher salt.  Threw all that on two or three tablespoons of hot olive oil and sautéed until just getting translucent, then dumped the skinned whole tomatoes on top of the mess.

Turned it down to the lowest possible temp setting on the old Magic Chef gas range, and let it gently steam for about a half a day until the tomatoes had melted/reduced.  I stirred it every couple hours, and never once did it even approach a simmer...

Got the old hand mixer/trolling motor out and pureed the crap out of it then let it simmer/steam another hour or so while I got the canning stuff heating up.  Not shown is me weighing the whole batch to find that it was about 2.5kg which told me that I could add 2g of Sodium Benzoate (sp) that a neighbor gave me (he has a friend that works in a food chemical warehouse or something, and he knows I am on a canning/pickling kick right now) to approach the 0.1% max by weight FDA allowed amount of preservative.

I managed to get almost 3 quarts of the finished tomato sauce, it is a bit more runny than store bought stuff (at least hot) and perhaps will thicken a bit when cooled.  Tasted awesome, somewhere between a V8 and spaghetti sauce (I went a bit heavy on the garlic and oregano).  I am not a big Bloody Mary fan, but I think if I throw a couple of my beef-stock ice cubes into some and let it melt together it'd make an awesome adult Vodka drink (with addition of some cayenne and more salt and pepper probably).

No idea what I will do with it, I might have to see if there is anything I can make with the Hungarian Paprika somebody smuggled back home and gave me.  Have sharp, half-sharp &c...  Must think on this.

albrecht

Quote from: pate on November 13, 2016, 06:59:36 PM

No idea what I will do with it, I might have to see if there is anything I can make with the Hungarian Paprika somebody smuggled back home and gave me.  Have sharp, half-sharp &c...  Must think on this.
Awesome, first for getting tomatoes. I still couldn't this year. Critters and bugs again. Lots of peppers of various types (even still coming out here in TX) but I tended to eat them or pickle them a ghetto-way (put them in jars of brine from store bought peppers that I already had ate.) Next year I got to build a proper fencing scheme and raised bed for tomatoes.

I look forward to Hungarian Paprika experiment. I've had awesome goulash there. And how your stuff tastes after you make spaghetti or some Bloodys with your mix later when you use. I'll be honest and afraid to can stuff myself. Afraid of botulism or some crap and never got some grandma to teach me. (Plus on my stove, even though gas, I cannot control it that much. I need to adjust the valves on a burner level or input to system I think. Everything, even on lowest setting will simmer or even boil.)

pate

Weird year all around, not just for tomatoes...

http://www.almanac.com/weather

K_Dubb

Not so much cooking as a question of assembly -- the best leftover sandwich I've tasted.  Between two slices of toasted light rye, from the bottom up:

grainy mustard
thin layer of compressed stuffing, for the herbiness
turkey
havarti (the kind with caraway is a plus)
cranberry sauce (mine is just fresh cranberries and sugar, blended, spiced with cloves and a little cinnamon)

I've tried to incorporate a few sweet potato slices towards the top, but with the stuffing it turns the whole filling into mush.  I wish there was some product to add that herby flavor without the bulk.  I have one of these, but not enough sage:



Maybe a few fresh leaves, or would that be too strong?

K_Dubb

Cranberry Sauce:

2 bags of cranberries
1 cup of sugar, to taste
1 tablespoon of ground cloves

chop and/or blend until mildly chunky, refrigerate for a day

Like most berries (blueberries are the exception), cranberries gain nothing from cooking, and lose a great deal.

Dr. MD MD

Quote from: K_Dubb on November 30, 2016, 07:19:21 PM
Cranberry Sauce:

2 bags of cranberries
1 cup of sugar, to taste
1 tablespoon of ground cloves

chop and/or blend until mildly chunky, refrigerate for a day

Like most berries (blueberries are the exception), cranberries gain nothing from cooking, and lose a great deal.

I used to hate cranberry sauce when I was a kid because all I knew was the stuff in a can. Once I tried making it fresh like that I was hooked...but cloves? And that much?  ???

albrecht

Quote from: K_Dubb on November 30, 2016, 07:19:21 PM
Cranberry Sauce:

2 bags of cranberries
1 cup of sugar, to taste
1 tablespoon of ground cloves

chop and/or blend until mildly chunky, refrigerate for a day

Like most berries (blueberries are the exception), cranberries gain nothing from cooking, and lose a great deal.
Speaking of berries: I don't know if they go over to your region but in Eastern Washington/Idaho every dish suddenly becomes huckleberry-infused or based in summer and you can pick them yourself (watch out for bears!) Good stuff. I'm not sure sure if it is the taste or the growing season differences etc but I wish I could find Red Currants here (obviously I doubt they would grow in TX but maybe somewhere up north?) I had a bush when I was in Europe and you could pick them and eat or buy huge bundles at the market. A very pleasing tart yet slightly sweet taste.

Dr. MD MD

Quote from: albrecht on November 30, 2016, 07:40:38 PM
Speaking of berries: I don't know if they go over to your region but in Eastern Washington/Idaho every dish suddenly becomes huckleberry-infused or based in summer and you can pick them yourself (watch out for bears!) Good stuff. I'm not sure sure if it is the taste or the growing season differences etc but I wish I could find Red Currants here (obviously I doubt they would grow in TX but maybe somewhere up north?) I had a bush when I was in Europe and you could pick them and eat or buy huge bundles at the market. A very pleasing tart yet slightly sweet taste.

They're the best! I have some jam made in Europe somewhere that has the perfect blend of tangy and sweet. Delicious! Another little known jam like this is gooseberry.  :P

chefist

Quote from: K_Dubb on November 30, 2016, 07:19:21 PM
Cranberry Sauce:

2 bags of cranberries
1 cup of sugar, to taste
1 tablespoon of ground cloves

chop and/or blend until mildly chunky, refrigerate for a day

Like most berries (blueberries are the exception), cranberries gain nothing from cooking, and lose a great deal.

Awesome.

Also consider orange rind and juice, cinnamon and nutmeg...

K_Dubb

Quote from: Dr. MD MD on November 30, 2016, 07:39:13 PM
I used to hate cranberry sauce when I was a kid because all I knew was the stuff in a can. Once I tried making it fresh like that I was hooked...but cloves? And that much?  ???

Try it with a little bit; to me it tastes like fresh Christmas.  My sister-in-law makes pears poached in red wine with cloves as a sauce for prime rib -- kinda the same idea.  But your memories will be different.

Dr. MD MD

Quote from: K_Dubb on November 30, 2016, 07:55:35 PM
Try it with a little bit; to me it tastes like fresh Christmas.  My sister-in-law makes pears poached in red wine with cloves as a sauce for prime rib -- kinda the same idea.  But your memories will be different.

Really? Why can't I get the same memories as you? Why are you trying to bogart them all?!  >:(

K_Dubb

Quote from: albrecht on November 30, 2016, 07:40:38 PM
Speaking of berries: I don't know if they go over to your region but in Eastern Washington/Idaho every dish suddenly becomes huckleberry-infused or based in summer and you can pick them yourself (watch out for bears!) Good stuff. I'm not sure sure if it is the taste or the growing season differences etc but I wish I could find Red Currants here (obviously I doubt they would grow in TX but maybe somewhere up north?) I had a bush when I was in Europe and you could pick them and eat or buy huge bundles at the market. A very pleasing tart yet slightly sweet taste.

We have a few here, but not like across the mountains.  Red currants grow here pretty well; blackcurrants, though, are my favorite.

Lowbush cranberries, which are basically lingonberries, grow profusely on the Kenai peninsula where both my sisters live.  They have special scoops to harvest them, but neither will get off her fat ass to pick them, and I've never been up there in season.  The only jam I've had came from a little native lady -- it was heavenly.  Just like the stuff from Sweden, but more intense.

K_Dubb

Quote from: Chefist on November 30, 2016, 07:48:17 PM
Awesome.

Also consider orange rind and juice, cinnamon and nutmeg...

Mom puts orange in hers, too, which is delicious.  Thanks, I will try the cinnamon and nutmeg.

albrecht

Quote from: Dr. MD MD on November 30, 2016, 07:45:07 PM
They're the best! I have some jam made in Europe somewhere that has the perfect blend of tangy and sweet. Delicious! Another little known jam like this is gooseberry.  :P
Here is a bit on currants and explanation of why lose of popularity here in the States
https://beekman1802.com/recipes/red-currant-jelly/

"In France, the clarity of a homemaker’s currant jelly was long considered an indicator of her wifely skills. In fact the french are so enamored with this tart berry that a small town in Northeast France has been producing what might be the world’s most expensive jam since 1344.  La confiture de Groseilles de Bar le Duc  is a jam made in the village of Bar le Duc from red currants that have been de-seeded by hand using a goose feather quill. Yes, you read that right. Workers remove a dozen or more tiny seeds from each individual red currant berry using the sharpened tip of a goose feather. Why? So that the skin and flesh of the currant remains undamaged and pretty when suspended in jam. But pretty doesn’t come cheap. (Don’t we all know?) A mere three ounces of this specialty jam retails for more than $40 in the U.S."

pate

It is cold as a witch's shit or something like that around hear, and today I decided it was time to dust off my experimental home-made cocoa mix I had last worked on before the Haiti earthquake that mobilized my reserve unit several years ago.  I was a cable-guy at the time and the winters were cold as usual around here so I had bought four Stanley thermoses to keep my lunch hot while it sat in the cable van waiting for me.

I am a cheap bastige, then and now so I didn't want to pay whatever they charge for the Swiss Miss type stuff and figured I could use my genius chefly skills to come up with a cheaper bulk home-made mix like the one a neighbor made when I was a kid that was awesome.

I seem to recall my giving one of my co-workers a sample of the first (and only until now) experimental mix and his input was that it needed more sugar.  SO here's what I gleaned from my notes from six or seven years ago:

1 Cup (or 1 3.4oz package) Pudding Mix (not the instant, the cooked stuff, this apparently was the secret weapon...)
1/3 + 1/4 Cups Cocoa Powder
5 Cups + 1 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoons Dry Milk
1.555555 Cups Confectioner's Sugar
0.888888 Cups Non-Dairy Creamer
1 C Chocolate Milk Mix
1/8 teaspoon Salt

The proportions are weird there because I apparently made a 3x batch of the above so I have weird numbers like 15 & 2/3 Cups of some stuff, & that's what it all reduced to after dividing by three.  I now recall that it was around Christmas time and being a cheap bastige I made a bunch to give as gifts to the family (my nieces loved it as I recall.)

So today I mixed up some as I apparently still had the stuff to make it around.  I altered the recipe from volume into weights because I now have a nice little kitchen scale.  I used the Nutrition Information on the packages of ingredients to come up with the weights in grams as follows:

96g Pudding Mix (cook & serve)
46.66666g Cocoa Powder
350.75g Dry Milk
186.66666g Confectioner's Sugar*
85.33333g Non-Dairy Creamer
112g Chocolate Milk Mix
0.6g Salt

2 Tablespoons mix per Cup (8oz) Hot Water, let it sit a minute to cool down and "activate" the Pudding mix.

I just had a cup, and I think I agree with my former co-worker it could use a bit more sugar.  *I actually accidentally dumped 200g of Confectioner's Sugar into the Ziploc bag I was mixing it in and instead of scooping it out left it that way, still not enough extra, further experimentation required.  I think I did add more sugar to the original batch but neglected to note how much.  In any case it does seem to have the "Mouthfeel" I was looking for, one of my main gripes about the expensive stuff is that it is often too "watery" tasting.  This one is close, although I am considering adding a bit of cornstarch to it to thicken it a bit more.  I sifted it twice to make sure the big chunks of powder were broken up, which seemed to be an issue with the stuff that has been sitting in my cabinets for five plus years.  I rounded most of those proportions because my digital scale works in 2g increments, so 85.3333g became 86g etc, probably not significant enough to matter when you mix it with water.

All in all, not horrible and probably way cheaper than the Swiss Miss type stuff.  It filled a gallon Ziploc bag about halfway, should make 4 Gallons of Hot Chocolate if you use 2T per Cup of Water...

I think on my future experiments I will be using weights, and will increase the sugar to 300 grams.  Not sure how much cornstarch I will add, maybe as much as 1 tsp per 8oz of H2O whatever that works out to in grams.

Fuck it is cold, I think I might make another cup.  Another reason I want to get this locked down is that I don't want to drink coffee this close to sleepy-time...

All right ladies (and laddies), Carry On.

chefist

Quote from: pate on January 05, 2017, 08:29:28 PM
It is cold as a witch's shit or something like that around hear, and today I decided it was time to dust off my experimental home-made cocoa mix I had last worked on before the Haiti earthquake that mobilized my reserve unit several years ago.  I was a cable-guy at the time and the winters were cold as usual around here so I had bought four Stanley thermoses to keep my lunch hot while it sat in the cable van waiting for me.

1 Cup (or 1 3.4oz package) Pudding Mix (not the instant, the cooked stuff, this apparently was the secret weapon...)
1/3 + 1/4 Cups Cocoa Powder
5 Cups + 1 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoons Dry Milk
1.555555 Cups Confectioner's Sugar
0.888888 Cups Non-Dairy Creamer
1 C Chocolate Milk Mix
1/8 teaspoon Salt

The proportions are weird there because I apparently made a 3x batch of the above so I have weird numbers like 15 & 2/3 Cups of some stuff, & that's what it all reduced to after dividing by three.  I now recall that it was around Christmas time and being a cheap bastige I made a bunch to give as gifts to the family (my nieces loved it as I recall.)

So today I mixed up some as I apparently still had the stuff to make it around.  I altered the recipe from volume into weights because I now have a nice little kitchen scale.  I used the Nutrition Information on the packages of ingredients to come up with the weights in grams as follows:

96g Pudding Mix (cook & serve)
46.66666g Cocoa Powder
350.75g Dry Milk
186.66666g Confectioner's Sugar*
85.33333g Non-Dairy Creamer
112g Chocolate Milk Mix
0.6g Salt


I like where you are going with this...I make something similar...let met give you a couple of suggestions if I may...

1. Always use malted milk powder in place of regular milk powder
2. Once the entire mixture is ready, and hot...stir in 60% dark chocolate chips...about 1 tablespoon per cup...
3. Don't forget vanilla extract
4.Live life dangerously and add a drop or two of almond extract to the batch...

A pleasure to meet a fellow hot chocolate drinker...

pate

Quote from: Chefist on January 05, 2017, 08:36:48 PM
I like where you are going with this...I make something similar...let met give you a couple of suggestions if I may...

1. Always use malted milk powder in place of regular milk powder
2. Once the entire mixture is ready, and hot...stir in 60% dark chocolate chips...about 1 tablespoon per cup...
3. Don't forget vanilla extract
4.Live life dangerously and add a drop or two of almond extract to the batch...

A pleasure to meet a fellow hot chocolate drinker...

I like this malted milk powder thing, I will have to see if I can find some, that would add an interesting flavor.

I don't know about adding the chocolate chips, vanilla & almond extract to the mix as it is dry stuff and the intent is to make a shelf-stable powder.  I suppose I could add it in to the powder and let the alcohol evaporate out before sealing it?

As I recall I found six or seven recipes and chucked them into a spread-sheet and did some Hoaglandesque data manipulation to arrive at this first approximation...  I take it you have a recipe of your own?  I would be interested to compare it.

I was also wondering if the Milk powder+Non-dairy creamer ratios were quite correct with my initial recipe, it takes 1/3 Cup Dry Milk poweder per 7oz H2O to yield an 8oz cup of "milk" and I think the H2o:Creamer ratio is 1:2 to get a liquid creamer (don't think I was thinking along those lines when I made the "original" recipe)...

So at a nominal 4gal yield I should have 21 1/3 Cups of Dry Milk powder or 2 gallons(!) of Non-Dairy Creamer which seems a far cry from my roughly 5 cups Milk Powder + 1 Cup Non-Dairy Creamer.  Maybe my "guess" at the yield of this batch was off?  I really didn't do the math there and just WAGuess'd that it would yield 4 gallons.

Oh, as to the Vanilla extract I have some Vanilla cook & serve that I was thinking of incorporating into the recipe once I tightened it up a bit...  (the store was having a ridiculous post-holiday 4 for $1 or somesuch sale on Cook & Serve pudding mixes last week, so I got a bunch for "experimentation")

I might have to go into micro-batch mode for that, though.  So I can "scale up" the final recipe and use up the ridiculous amount of pudding boxes I have now.  Or I could just eat a bunch of pudding I guess...

Help me, Obi-Chefwan!

chefist

Quote from: pate on January 05, 2017, 09:29:28 PM
I like this malted milk powder thing, I will have to see if I can find some, that would add an interesting flavor.

I don't know about adding the chocolate chips, vanilla & almond extract to the mix as it is dry stuff and the intent is to make a shelf-stable powder.  I suppose I could add it in to the powder and let the alcohol evaporate out before sealing it?

As I recall I found six or seven recipes and chucked them into a spread-sheet and did some Hoaglandesque data manipulation to arrive at this first approximation...  I take it you have a recipe of your own?  I would be interested to compare it.

I was also wondering if the Milk powder+Non-dairy creamer ratios were quite correct with my initial recipe, it takes 1/3 Cup Dry Milk poweder per 7oz H2O to yield an 8oz cup of "milk" and I think the H2o:Creamer ratio is 1:2 to get a liquid creamer (don't think I was thinking along those lines when I made the "original" recipe)...

So at a nominal 4gal yield I should have 21 1/3 Cups of Dry Milk powder or 2 gallons(!) of Non-Dairy Creamer which seems a far cry from my roughly 5 cups Milk Powder + 1 Cup Non-Dairy Creamer.  Maybe my "guess" at the yield of this batch was off?  I really didn't do the math there and just WAGuess'd that it would yield 4 gallons.

Oh, as to the Vanilla extract I have some Vanilla cook & serve that I was thinking of incorporating into the recipe once I tightened it up a bit...  (the store was having a ridiculous post-holiday 4 for $1 or somesuch sale on Cook & Serve pudding mixes last week, so I got a bunch for "experimentation")

I might have to go into micro-batch mode for that, though.  So I can "scale up" the final recipe and use up the ridiculous amount of pudding boxes I have now.  Or I could just eat a bunch of pudding I guess...

Help me, Obi-Chefwan!

That would have to be added after it was all hot and ready to drink! So maybe at home...

K_Dubb

Quote from: pate on January 05, 2017, 09:29:28 PM

Oh, as to the Vanilla extract I have some Vanilla cook & serve that I was thinking of incorporating into the recipe once I tightened it up a bit...  (the store was having a ridiculous post-holiday 4 for $1 or somesuch sale on Cook & Serve pudding mixes last week, so I got a bunch for "experimentation")

Vanilla comes in powder, too.


pate

Quote from: K_Dubb on January 05, 2017, 09:46:22 PM
Vanilla comes in powder, too.



I will have to keep an eye out for both malted milk powder and vanilla powder now.

I worked on the recipe again today, was focused on getting a proper dry milk foundation to build from.  Looking at the original recipe and the slightly modified version I made the other day after running some numbers I found that I hadn't put enough dry milk/dairy creamer into the blend.

So I made up a small test batch about an hour ago that basically just upped the amount of Non-Dairy creamer discovered this after I compared the percentages of today's "test cup" to my first attempt of the other day.  I also use more mix and less water, so maybe it is becoming less economical, but it sure tastes a lot better.

After drinking the "test cup" recipe I came up with today I decided that maybe I could "fix" the batch I made the other day, so to that recipe above I added 550g more Non-Dairy creamer and what was left of the bag of pudding mix from my "test cup" recipe (about 90g or most of the bag less the half tablespoon I used to make the "test cup").  It's pretty damn good.

The water to mix proportions are different now.  I was shooting for about 1/2 cup of mix + 6oz water(3/4cup) to yield about 8oz of finished cocoa.  My "test cup" mix weight was 54g to which I added 6oz h20 which works out to something between 1/3 & 1/2 cup of mix per 6oz water.

Here's my new modified recipe:

------------------------------------

200g Confectioner's sugar (I think if you weigh it regular sugar will be the same just a different volume)
46g Cocoa Powder
112g Chocolate Milk Mix
350g Powdered Milk
192g or 2 3.4oz pkgs Cook and Serve Chocolate Pudding mix (I may try 1 chocolate and 1 vanilla next time)
636g Non-Dairy Creamer
0.6g Salt (1/8tsp)

about 1/2 cup dry mix per 6oz H2O

--------------------------------------

Apparently the main constituent of Non-Dairy Creamer is "Corn Syrup Solids" which might be why the modified recipe tastes a lot sweeter, so bonus.

After I drink all the current batch I am going to make another one with the following percentages:

21.97% Dry Milk
45.86% Non-Dairy Creamer
11.46% Pudding Mix
14.65% Sugar
1.59%   Cocoa Powder
4.46%   Chocolate Milk Mix
0.01%   Salt

If I can acquire some Malted Milk Powder, I may use that to bring down the alarming proportion of Non-Dairy Creamer.  This is basically a 1/2 cup of reconstituted dry milk and a 1/2 cup of reconstituted Non-Dairy Creamer with other crap to make it taste like cocoa.  It is a 2.666:7 by volume ratio of Dry Milk to Water vs a 1:2 by volume ratio of Non-Dairy Creamer to Water per package directions which is why that ND Creamer percentage is so crazy high.  Heck I might replace the ND Creamer altogether if it works like I think it might, have to find some first...

I happen to use heavy whipping cream in my coffee now so the ND Creamer is just gathering dust and this seems to be a great way to get rid of it.  I used to make my own flavored CoffeeMate liquid out of the powder because I am a cheap bastard.  1 cup powder + 2 cups boiling water + flavorings.  I added sugar and vanilla extract, and if I was still doing it I'd just dump some of that Torani flavored syrup in with it and throw it in the fridge.  I am a Hazelnut syrup and Heavy Cream guy now...

Hmm, Hazelnut syrup in this cocoa mix would probably be damn good too.  I'll have to try that on the next cup I make.


pate

If KFC's fraudulent secret 11 herbs and spices is the bar set for fried chicken I believe anyone can meet or exceed that standard of mediocrity.

MSG, Salt and Pepper sounds like something you would expect from an institutional kitchen.  Blech.

Today I shall share a recipe for Poultry Seasoning that is similar to but not exactly my own "secret recipe" which I modified to include 11 actual herbs and spices, should be just fine as a starting point, although the salt levels may require adjustment for individual tastes and/or dietary requirements (has a LOT of salt):

----------

Poultry Seasoning

4 Tblsp     Salt
3 Tblsp     Parsley
1 Tblsp     Thyme
1 Tblsp     Paparika
1 Tblsp     Sage
2 tsp        Black Pepper
1 1/2 tsp  White Pepper
1 tsp        Marjoram
3/4 tsp     Nutmeg
1/2 tsp     Rosemary
1/4 tsp     Cayenne Pepper

Put all in a coffee grinder/blender and blend until it is a powder.
Should yield approximately 3/4 Cups of seasoning, keeps for decades if you don't need it immediately (will gradually lose flavor over time as with all spices/herbs).

edit: all of the herbs and spices should be dry, I understood this to be self-evident but on further reflection thought I might make a note.  IF someone were to attempt this with fresh herbs & spices I'd recommend hand chopping the leafy green stuff or you'll end up with a paste in your coffee grinder/blender...  I have two coffee grinders btw, one for coffee and another to grind up whole spices or make mixes like this one in.
----------







That can be used for just about any chicken application that you care to, especially if you are lazy like me and sometimes just want to take a piece of chicken and throw some pre-mixed seasoning on it for grilling, baking, sauté, frying, broiling, boiling etc.

Here is an interesting marinade for chicken that is a variation of my go-to fried chicken marinade (a bit unorthodox I thought when I first found it, but after trying and thinking it over it makes sense):

----------

Buttermilk Chicken Marinade

2 Cups                Buttermilk
1 small-medium  Onion thinly sliced or shaved
3 Tblsp               Poultry Seasoning

Mix ingredients, put chicken (whole skin-on with bones, deboned or skinless and deboned doesn't matter) in a container, pour marinade over chicken to just cover the chicken, cover.  Place in refrigerator for at least 8 hours.  When ready to cook, remove chicken from marinade and depending on your recipe pat completely dry with towels or leave a little marinade on the chicken.  Discard marinade, it is useless after working the magic on the chicken, although a little bit left on the chicken will help any breading to stick to the chicken.

----------







This marinade incorporates two basic marinade secrets that I have learned over the years.

1.  A milk marinade mysteriously keeps meat moist and delicately lightens flavors, it also lends a slight sweetness to meats (especially true if you like chicken/beef liver, but find the liver flavor a bit over powering)
2.  Acids in a marinade tenderize meats.

So the buttermilk achieves both goals, as buttermilk is slightly acidic and has milk solids in it {which I think achieve the slight addition of sweetness (lactose) and flavor lightening (lactic acids? dunno)}.  Plus if you are like me you always have some buttermilk laying around that you need to get rid of.  Here's the vehicle for that.  It is really important to slice the onion as thin as you can to extract all the delicious onion flavor.

I think this is some Indian (dot not feather) culinary secret that I misappropriated for a fried chicken recipe, it works great as a marinade for baked, sautéed etc. 

One note on it though:  when I used it to fry the chicken I very nearly over cooked my chicken.  I normally don't use a thermometer to check for done-ness on fried chicken, I "poke" the chicken with my finger to see if it is still soft and mushy (an indication that the meat is still raw) then once it firms up I pierce the skin with a skewer and insure that the juice is clear.  This marinade made the chicken "squishy" well past the point of doneness.  I actually stuck a thermometer into the chicken after what seemed like an inordinate fry time on the breasts and discovered that they were at a 200 degree internal temp (WAAAY past done).  SO if you are like me and don't like sticking a thermometer in the meat to check doneness maybe you should with this marinade.  (I have convinced myself that poking holes in cooking meat encourages the interior juices to leak out in the cooking process, although my instructor chefs staged a demonstration to "prove" this was not so, I remained unconvinced)

M'kay.  Onto the making this whole mess into Fried Chicken (Pan or Deep-Fried)

----------

Fried Chicken

-

Dredging Flour (first coat on chicken)

1 Cup    Flour
4 Tblsp  Poultry Seasoning

mix together thoroughly.  Place in flat bottom container large enough to dust chicken in.  Set aside container (you are building a breading station here)

-

Egg Wash

1 Extra-large Egg
1 Tblsp Milk

whip together until frothy.  Pour into flat bottom container large enough to coat chicken pieces in.  Set aside container

-

Breading

2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Bread Crumbs*  (If desired, I personally just use flour. This is for folks who like a thicker breading)

If using Bread Crumbs mix together thoroughly.  Place in flat bottom container large enough to finish breading chicken in.  Set aside container.

-

Frying

You can either use a high sided cast-iron skillet with 1-2 inches oil (I prefer Peanut Oil, or a mix of Lard and Peanut oil) for Pan Fried or an actual deep-fryer.  I usually deep fry at about 350 degrees and pan-fry just below the smoke point of whatever oil I am using (judge temp by eye somehow.)

Make sure your chicken pieces are well dried out;  pat dry with paper towels to remove excess marinade or chicken juice if you didn't marinade, this is important as it helps the first layer of flour to stick to the chicken which will keep the breading from falling off so badly when frying.

Set up your breading station in this order:  raw chicken, dredging flour, egg wash, breading and fryer (right>left or reverse if you are an accursed south-paw).

If you don't want to make a mess of your hands:  use one hand for holding "wet" chicken (picking up the raw piece, and messing around in the egg wash) and the other for handling the "dry" chicken (taking the chicken out of the dredging flour and the breading).

-

Start with the largest pieces first and work your way down to the small ones if you are using a whole chicken cut into pieces.  Breast, Thigh, Drumstick, then Wing. 

Take a piece of chicken and fully coat it with the dredging flour, get into those nooks and crannies if you are going skin-on (the only way to do it dammit). 

Then take the dredged chicken and quickly coat it with the egg wash, it should be slimy and messy, but not dripping when you quickly toss it into the breading.

Very quickly put the chicken into the breading container; get the breading stuck to the chicken by throwing some on top of the egg-washed chicken.  Try to handle the breaded chicken piece as little as possible while still fully coating it.  With a quickness on this step.

Carefully place the breaded chicken in the hot cast-iron or gently drop into the deep fryer, unless you like grease burns (I don't).  Repeat this process with each piece of chicken largest to smallest in order as the pieces you have already dropped into the oil are frying (this way they all tend to end up fully cooked at the same time).

Repeat process with the raw chicken --> breading container adding to chicken already frying.

-

If you are pan frying, flip the pieces of chicken over as the breading begins to carmelize on the bottom of the skillet and check for doneness with a thermometer (or use the poke and skewer to check juice clarity method I prefer) as the second side begins to carmelize on the bottom of the skillet.

If you are deep-frying, the chicken will begin to float a bit as it nears doneness, pick them up from the oil with a pair of tongs and use a thermometer (or poke and skewer) to check for doneness.

Drain on a rack with a pan in a low-temp oven, or on paper towels lightly covered on the counter-top until the whole batch is through. 

I hope it is obvious that if you are frying a lot of chicken, you'll want to double, triple etc the amounts of breading, egg-wash and dredging flour.  I think the amounts above should be enough for one or two big pieces (Breasts, thighs) and maybe three or four small pieces (Drums and wings).

----------








This method of frying chicken combined with the buttermilk marinade and my custom poultry seasoning (not featured here) made one of the best, juicy, tender and crispy coated pieces of fried chicken I have ever eaten, even if I overcooked it a bit due to the awesome tenderizing powers of that buttermilk marinade.  With some mashed potatoes, white country gravy and a quickly heated can of green beans it was awesome.  Combined with my new and improved biscuit recipe, and my cole-slaw (also buttermilk based!), fresh corn-on-the-cob &etc it would put the mediocre KFC offerings to shame.

Chefist, I understand that the audience of "Martinez Tonight" might be just fine with your salt, pepper and MSG Kentucky Fried Chicken off-the-cuff recipe.  But as a potential co-host of an aborted cooking podcast with you I felt the need to at least address the needs of your more cultured listeners.  And as a self-styled southern gentleman raised on a southern belle's delicious home-cooked meals as well.

Think of this post not as a stern rebuke from a red-necked "flyover" country rube with no concept of what an "inbox" is, but more as an added bit of flavor from a mystical realm of delicious foods lovingly prepared without monsterously excessive chemical additives that a chef-chemist might propose.

I feel either hobbit- or hobo-esque now.  I bid you good day, and hope this does not result in a duel, but if so I prefer the long-blade over gunpowder.

I said good-day, sir!



\\\\\ediot: After writing all this, I have the distinct feeling of deja vu as if I have perhaps already written this out several pages back.  This feeling hit as I was typing the "...nooks and crannies..." bit for the breading process.  If true I apologize for double-posting and hope that my explication of the process has improved (I was very likely drunk when writing the previous version if that actually happened.)

pate

Quote from: pate on May 13, 2016, 12:31:29 AM
So many irons in the fire, sew many shirts to starch...


Where to start?

I have a few 'spearmints to bark at tonight:

1:  Banannna(sp) bread
2:  Sauerkraut/chocroute(sp) substitutes in modern organic market conditions.

=====

All thinks bean Equal(tm), I am not sure how divulge the information in the Maple Seed (Johnny-type, 1 EA)...

break,break,break...  methinks Canadian Sweet has been tapped out.

Um.

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage same family?  Perhaps misnomer.  Question:  Can a form of pickled cabbage be made from early leaves of cash0crop?

Answer:  Could feed the masses rotten cabbage fambly.  We rally in small batches.  that is all.

________

Carry on 2wit BaNANanna bread receipts, as per "High Quality Shortening" (may or may not be dietary for sePacifics.)

I have said too much

I am again tackling this Leviathan today, wow.  I was pretty messed up for that baking adventure!  I didn't take any notes at all on my "perversion" of the old family recipe, and MV's (praise him) move of the forum to the new server apparently lost the pics associated with the experiment (I will append to this post the pics again).

SO banannas were on sale at the grocery store a few weeks ago at $0.29/lb, VERY green and they are just now at a ripe enough point for eating, and making stuff.  Vaguely recalling this experiment from last year I intended to replicate my drunken masterpiece, but was unable to locate any notes, much less Mee-Maw's recipe!  I did remember that I had "shared" something of the experience here.

Now I am faced with the herculean task of decoding my own cryptic notes here, a year later and much more sober.  I did find Mee-Maw's recipe day before yesterday, apparently I secretly taped the index card in my good old "Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book!"  In desperation, I had opened that old binder-tome up to find some sort of Bananna Bread recipe from which to begin, and lo: there it was.  This is becoming something like a culinary treasure hunt for the Lost Dutchman's Mine, complete with incomplete information, cryptic clues and etc.  With the promise of a golden delight at the end if successful.

I recall one or three items from that adventure from last year:

1.  I used some proportion of Lard/Corn oil to make a "High Quality Shortening" as called for in Mee-Maw's recipe.
2.  I creamed the hell out of the shortening + sugar, in part to mix the Lard & Corn Oil together and in part because I was drunk and fascinated by the mixer action*
3.  I believe I used Bread flour AND a little bit of vital wheat gluten in place of the non-specific "Flour" indicated by Mee-Maw's recipe.

One mysterious part is what size eggs I used?  Probably Grade A Large, but I sometimes will buy cheap eggs that are Medium, or Extra-Large, this could be a factor as the amount of egg volume differs by Egg size, and that could have some effect on the finished product.

Another mystery is whether I greased the loaf pan used, or greased AND lightly floured it.  I suspect I greased and floured it.

I am also fairly certain that I weighed the flour, instead of using volumetric scaling.  I also believe that I had to cook the bread a bit longer than the called for 55mins.

*(I think this extended creaming of the fat & sugar is what got my result, as I recall I whipped the hell out of it when adding the eggs too, i.e. I whipped A LOT of air into the liquid part before adding the dry stuff, I am sure the lard had a bit to do with the goldenness as well)

Here is the "secret" family Recipe, as written:

----------

Grandma's Bananna Bread

350F Oven 55min

1 C     High Quality shortening
1 1/2 C Sugar
2          Eggs
2 C       Flour
1 tsp     Baking soda
1/2 tsp  Salt
3 large   Ripe Banannas
2 C        Pecans

Cream shortening & sugar.
Add eggs on at a time, mix well.
Stir together flour, salt & baking soda.
Mix into batter, mix well
Add nuts and banannas, mix well.
Pour into pan and bake.

----------

I think walnuts could probably be safely substituted for pecans if you don't have pecans or want a cheaper alternative, but I wouldn't omit the nuts.

Since I am on a weight scaling kick with my baking, today's attempt will be:

206g HQ Shortening (94g Corn Oil + 112g Lard, which is my assumption of the 1:1.2 ratio of a 205g/C number I decoded from that fateful night a year ago)
240g Bread Flour + 12g Vital Wheat Gluten (I suspect that using Bread Flour + Wheat Gluten increased the protein content over AP flour*)

I will make notes on the weights of everything else this time, and share the "final" recipe as well as pics of the result of today's experiment.

*(more protein in the batter should result in more gluten-chain formation during the mixing phase, which helps to keep the air bubbles trapped in the bread matrix which = lighter and fluffier finished product.)



Here's a picture of my recent discovery of Mee-Maw's recipe (I thought that it was hilarious that I taped it over the Home & Garden version in the book, what a great place to hide a secret recipe! haha)


And some pics of last year's drunken Bananna Bread recipe (since it was lost in a board transfer at some point):

ediot:  Note to self,  need to learn how to make the inserted image a thumbnail or smaller. 







pate

Bananna Bread trial #2 is in the oven.

Here's the modified Nanner-Bread Recipe I used today:

------------

Pate's Bananna-Nut Bread

350F,  55min* oven (edit: 1 hour 3mins, call it 65min)

112g Lard
94g   Corn Oil
300g  Sugar
98g    Eggs (2 Large Grade A)
274g  Bread Flour
12g    Vital Wheat Gluten
4g      Baking Soda
2g      Salt
382g   Banannas (3 large banannas)
194g   Pecans, roughly broken up/chopped



Mix Lard and Corn Oil together until thouroughly incorporated and creamy.  Add Sugar, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, mix well scraping down sides after each egg.
Sift together Bread Flour, Wheat Gluten, Baking Soda and Salt 2 times then add to liquids, mix well until light an fluffy.
Add banannas and mix until batter is well mixed (about consistency of sour cream)
Fold in pecans.
Lightly grease & flour 2 loaf pans.
Split batter between pans, use a spatula to gently level batter and place in oven for 55min*.
Allow bread to cool in pan 10 minutes before turning out onto rack to finish cooling.

*(haven't finished baking yet, so the oven time might be wrong.  Will test with wooden skewer/toothpick for doneness)

----------

I neglected to take any pictures of the process, so instead here are the Jalepeno Bananna chips and Jalepeno-Cocoa Bananna chips I made with the rest of the banannas.  And the lemon marmalade I made with some lemons sent up from Baton Rouge, apparently the Meyer Lemons had a bumper crop this year, I need to make some bread to try that out.

Go Pats!

ediot:  Edited to add corrected/observed baking time


Ciardelo

I was told there would be an Indian (feather not dot) Fry Bread recipe here.


pate

Indian Fry Bread and Indian Tacos

^Ten seconds to google that shiet.  Sum pipple R 'tards.

I like that lady's site.  I think, that's the one or a copy cat, if she's the one that showed an awesome scratch Ranch dressing recipe, then yeah she's pretty cool.

Quote from: Douche The Monkey on February 05, 2017, 03:04:53 PM
You had me at nanna!

Should almost be done, going down to check it now..

chefist

Indian (Navajo) Fry Bread

1. All Purpose Flour: 2C
2. Baking Powder: 1T
3. Salt: 1t
4. Hot Tap Water: 0.75C

Mix dry ingredients well with a whisk. Combine water into dry with hands or a silicone spatula. Lightly kneed (5-6 times). Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 30 min.

Using only dusting flour, roll dough into a cylinder 2" in diameter. Cut in 2" segments and roll each into a ball. Cover dough balls and let rest for 10 minutes.

Heat oil (1/2 lard, 1/2 canola) in a frying pan to 350 deg. F.

With a rolling pin an dusting flour, roll each ball into a disc approximately 1/8' thick. Gently place into hot oil and fry until golden brown on each side. (approx. 2 min per side).

Carefully remove from oil and drain right side up on a wire rack. Season with salt immediately while hot on the rack.

Topping:

1. Parmesan Cheese
2. Chili, lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, cheese, avocados, lime/lemon
3. Cinnamon Sugar and carmel sauce
4. Nutella and chocolate sauce
5. Almost anything

GravitySucks

#MAPA

I have been making these banana pancakes for about a year. I don't use the baking powder. And I just use one egg and one banana per batch. Two ingredients. Very quick and simple. I make the pancakes small so they are easy to flip.

Excellent for a gluten free meal.

http://eugeniekitchen.com/banana-pancakes/

pate

Quote from: GravitySucks on February 05, 2017, 03:52:30 PM
#MAPA

I have been making these banana pancakes for about a year. I don't use the baking powder. And I just use one egg and one banana per batch. Two ingredients. Very quick and simple. I make the pancakes small so they are easy to flip.

Excellent for a gluten free meal.

http://eugeniekitchen.com/banana-pancakes/

Do you have to be gluten-free or just like those because they are easy as hell?  I might try those, next time banannas are ridiculously cheap.

They're almost crepes.  I have read of a thing called "bread-fruit" in books, and always assumed it was a banana/plantain type thing.  Your banana pancakes idea seems to be a vehicle to make gluten-free crepes if the banana/plantain/breadfruit is a suitable replacement for flour.  One would simply add some milk to your other two ingredients to get it to the watery consistency needed to make crepes.  That's all crepes is:  a paste of egg/flour thinned down with milk so it spreads thin in the skillet.  When browned it looks very much like your banana pancakes.

----------

Here's the two loaves of banana-nut bread from today, I think next time I will go back to one single loaf pan to get the really big single loaf.  Although, these are of the size I am used to seeing other banana breads being, sort of "flat and sad" but these are just short and fluffy.  Gonna let them cool completely then slice and plastic wrap them for snacks.





(I just tried my lemon marmalade<--used that recipe{clickable}, damn it is good.  I put on my biscuits in lieu of mustard...)

Powered by SMFPacks Menu Editor Mod