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Enfys posted:The only time I've touched our deep fat fryer in nearly a decade was to pull it out of the dark, dusty corner it lived in when the kitchen was being redone. I considered getting rid of it then, but instead found a new dark and not yet dusty corner to stuff it in because maybe someday... Look, sometimes you need nachos with fresh made chips
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May 26, 2022 17:34
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I figured I'd ask here before any other thread, cuz I trust y'all. Where should I eat in NYC? I know that's the most nebulous question possible, but I'm a cheffy chef and I'm looking for inspiring places. My partner and I will be staying in Brooklyn Heights for 4 days at the end of June and pretty much want to just eat everything we can. Looking for creative and seasonally-driven places, absolute hole-in-the-walls, street food stalls, literally anything but super fine-dining theatre. Just throw all your recommendations at me.
Merkin Muffley fucked around with this message at 05:14 on May 28, 2022 |
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May 28, 2022 04:39
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So I somehow screwed up the queso sauce for my nachos and I just got unemulsified cheese in water... I ended up just having to fish it out and put it on the nachos and it was still fine (it was the same as if I had just melted the cheese on them I guess) but I'm not sure what I did wrong.
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May 29, 2022 02:02
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how did you make it?
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May 29, 2022 02:04
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veni veni veni posted:how did you make it?
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May 29, 2022 02:06
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mystes posted:Heating water + sodium citrate and adding the cheese About the only time that doesn't seem to work is if the cheese is a processed cheese, in which case it can be easy to really overshoot on the citrate.
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May 29, 2022 02:25
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It just occurred to me that I’ve never learned the proper way to make queso. I’ve always just made it like a cheese gravy similar to what you’d do for mac and cheese. Still tastes good that way though.
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May 29, 2022 02:33
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I don't think there's anything wrong with doing it like mornay sauce but I just wanted to try the sodium citrate method Maybe I'll try it again with another cheese or something
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May 29, 2022 03:21
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mystes posted:I don't think there's anything wrong with doing it like mornay sauce but I just wanted to try the sodium citrate method Have you used the sodium citrate before? How much water were you using?
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May 29, 2022 04:04
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Have you used the sodium citrate before? How much water were you using?
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May 29, 2022 12:47
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mystes posted:No and maybe too much? The recipe I was looking at said 1 cup of water per pound of cheese but it seemed like too much water
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May 29, 2022 12:55
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SubG posted:What kind of cheese? Somewhere around ~1 fl oz of water per 2 oz of cheese and like 1/4 tsp of sodium citrate is about right for generic cheddar, for example. Edit: gently caress I should have read the comments fully because I checked the recipe page again and multiple people said they had to add more sodium citrate mystes fucked around with this message at 13:01 on May 29, 2022 |
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May 29, 2022 12:58
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I feel like an alchemist every time I use sodium citrate
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May 29, 2022 13:04
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mystes posted:It was cheddar but that's twice as much sodium citrate per oz of cheese as the recipe I was looking at so maybe that's the problem It really doesn't have to be that exact so I usually make like 4 oz cheese, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 tsp citrate or 2 oz cheese 1/8 cup (1 fl oz), 1/4 tsp citrate, or something like that just because those ratios are easy to remember.
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May 29, 2022 13:08
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Enfys posted:I feel like an alchemist every time I use sodium citrate Full Mozza Alchemist
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May 29, 2022 20:17
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You mentioned queso but didn’t talk about velveeta and rotel? Idgi those are the only 2 ingredients.
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May 30, 2022 01:33
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Ohh boy, I’m like… actually a bit intimidated to cook this beef tenderloin I got yesterday! The thing is, I’ve been cooking tenderloin every other night for myself for the last couple of months (usually with mushrooms and some veg) and it’s both agreed with me quite well physically as well as being very delicious - and I’ve steadily gotten better at my technique of cooking them (I pan-sear with oil then baste with butter and aromatics before putting the pan in the oven to finish with indirect heat). Anyway, I get my filets at my grocery store, where they’re always Choice grade organic grass-fed, and come with two filets packaged together, about 7-8 ounces each and around an inch thick and an couple inches in diameter maybe. They package bigger cuts from the head of the tenderloin individually, but I usually skip those. Anyway, yesterday morning they had something DIFFERENT for the first time maybe that I’ve ever seen - they had PRIME tenderloin butchered in the store (apparently not organic/grass-fed) and priced the same per/pound as the Choice. But the prime filets they had cut up were HUGE - way more thickly cut, weighing slightly over a pound each - 2 pounds total. And they looked quite good! So I went for it, especially since the only Prime tenderloin I’ve ever seen at any of the grocery stores I go to are these little individually packaged and vacuum-sealed filets that they cut, package, and deep-freeze at some central Kroger facility in Cincinnati before sending them out. Plus they cost ~$22 for a single 7-ounce filet, which is beyond insane on a per/pound basis, even for Prime. So now I have these freaking enormous Prime tenderloin filets, a pound apiece, and I’m frankly a little scared because they’re both literally twice as big as the next biggest tenderloin filet I’ve ever cooked - which includes being at least a solid half-inch thicker. Hopefully I’ll be able to pan-sear and cook them effectively still, I’m thinking I’ll definitely have to add at least a minute or two to the oven time at the end… oof. Steak in question:  I think I’ll definitely have to trim these up a bit before I cook them, too - in addition to the silverskin still being on the sides (though you can’t see that here) these have like, WAY more external fat than any tenderloin I’ve encountered. Not much marbling but then, it is tenderloin. I’m quite curious to see if it really tastes any different from the grass-fed choice I’ve been eating the last couple months. kaworu fucked around with this message at 00:48 on Jun 1, 2022 |
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Jun 1, 2022 00:46
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My probe thermometer is my best friend whenever I'm cooking anything more complicated than chicken thighs (and sometimes I'll use it even then, since I don't trust my oven all that much).
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Jun 1, 2022 03:10
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That’s actually not a bad idea, a probe thermometer. I know we don’t have any sort of fancy instant-read digital meat thermometer, but I have to think there’s an old-school style analog one somewhere in our kitchen, not that I’ve ever used it. But with something this big/thick and ambitious, it might be time to give it a shot? I’ve just been going by touch/feel and have a pretty good idea how to sear and cook a standard-sized tenderloin medallion to a nice medium-rare, not quite edge-edge but close. Something like this is… a bit different though, I mean each of those is practically like a 1-pound tenderloin roast! Which does remind me that I have some puff pastry in my freezer that I’ve been meaning to use to experiment on trying to do a Beef Wellington - I just realized that one of those giant tenderloin steaks might be pretty perfect for a trial size Wellington for two? It seems a bit ambitious but it can’t be THAT tough. Besides, I take these things pretty seriously and feel like I’d probably make a decent attempt at it. Gotta starts somewhere, I suppose. At the same time maybe that’s a bit TOO ambitious and I should just try to cook them properly as steaks 
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Jun 1, 2022 10:44
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kaworu posted:That’s actually not a bad idea, a probe thermometer. I know we don’t have any sort of fancy instant-read digital meat thermometer, but I have to think there’s an old-school style analog one somewhere in our kitchen, not that I’ve ever used it. But with something this big/thick and ambitious, it might be time to give it a shot? Get one of the cheapo instant reads - they're <$20 on Amazon, and Walmart or Target almost certainly carries them as well. The more expensive Thermapen style ones are better, but for the home cook it's massive overkill. It's seriously one of the most useful kitchen tools most people don't own.
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Jun 1, 2022 15:16
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I always feel a mild anxiety when I eat at someone's house and I see no evidence of a thermometer anywhere If they put chicken down in front of me, that anxiety spikes
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Jun 1, 2022 15:26
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For big steaks like that I would always do low temp in the oven, followed by a pan sear ("reverse sear"): https://www.seriouseats.com/reverse-seared-steak-recipe It doesn't take that long, it's pretty forgiving and yields amazing results. I find the crust is better developed and any fatty bits (especially on rib eyes) get very tender/lightly rendered and taste delicous. If you do pan and oven or pan only, the fat often stays a bit tough and isn't that pleasant to eat. If you still have time, pre-salt the meat as well and leave it uncovered in the fridge, also helps with the crust. You can do it without a thermometer, but it's easier with. Shooting Blanks posted:Get one of the cheapo instant reads - they're <$20 on Amazon, and Walmart or Target almost certainly carries them as well. The more expensive Thermapen style ones are better, but for the home cook it's massive overkill. It's seriously one of the most useful kitchen tools most people don't own. Seconding the instant read thermometer. I made do with a cheapo one for years, especially for doing steak or roasts they're fine. If you're spending 50$ on meat, you should spend 10-20$ on a thermometer and not have to worry about overcooking. They also have a ton of extra uses, whether thats water for tea/coffee, baking cakes, custards, deep frying - takes the guesswork out of a lot of cooking tasks. I even use mine to check if microwaved food is heated through.
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Jun 1, 2022 15:46
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In terms of instant digital thermometers is something like this adequate or should I splurge up towards the $20-$30 range to be safe? This seems fine to me: https://www.amazon.com/DOQAUS-Therm...099WSQJ75&psc=1 And yeah I always salt my steaks 12-24 hours before cooking them, though I’ve found that longer than 36 hours is a bit overkill so I generally go for that range. You really do get a MUCH nicer crust, which is sort of a domino effect that leads to a much better and tastier steak overall. And I am quite aware of reverse-sear (and sous-vide though I lack the equipment for that) I suppose it’s just tough because I’m very comfortable with my method/style of pan-searing, and one has a tendency not to want to change around your style when it’s going well. Like… I get so much flavor from basting aggressively with butter - and the rosemary, thyme, garlic, scallions, mushrooms, and bacon bits which I also cook in the pan with the steak. Reverse searing would be interesting and fun to try - and i definitely will try it - but I think I’d also lose something from not having the steak cooking all the way in all that good stuff. Oh, and I trimmed them up and salted them this morning. There was actually a TON of trimming I had to do on those! The full amount of silverskin was on there, but since King Soopers butchers apparently NEVER remove it themselves I’ve gotten pretty adept at trimming that stuff out with a sharp boning knife. What surprised me was how much white fat was there, and it was like… tallow, I guess you call it? Not the softer tender fat like between the muscles in a ribeye. This was the waxy sorta-hard stuff, which while not as gross as the silverskin, is plenty gross to me and not something I want on my filet mignon. Anyway my cats, who have developed a taste for tenderloin as well, were frankly THRILLED with how much trimming I had to do, so at least someone was happy 
kaworu fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Jun 1, 2022 |
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Jun 1, 2022 16:19
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Brawnfire posted:I always feel a mild anxiety when I eat at someone's house and I see no evidence of a thermometer anywhere Oh come on, it is possible to have enough skill to just cook things
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Jun 1, 2022 17:06
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Certainly, it is. Just not common as I'd like. I also ascribe heavily to the "better safe than sorry" school of food safety, since that was the focus of my last job and now I can't relax my sphincter
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Jun 1, 2022 18:02
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I've known someone who worked for the USDA as a microbiologist, and she'd pull out a temp probe and check people's food when it arrived at the table when eating at a restaurant if you didn't stop her. She'd also tell people at other tables their food is raw when she saw them eating anything pink. Like a steak at a steakhouse. What I'm saying is, you're not alone in being unable to relax your sphincter. It's a proud tradition in the field, I guess.
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Jun 1, 2022 18:08
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kaworu posted:In terms of instant digital thermometers is something like this adequate or should I splurge up towards the $20-$30 range to be safe? This seems fine to me: The cheap ones are all the same technology. The difference is when you compare a Thermapen (thermocouple) to the cheap ones (thermistor) - the Thermapen is slightly more accurate, reads much faster, and changes much faster as well. For 95% of home cooks, it's utterly unnecessary. The only downside I see to that one is it doesn't list the recommended temps for everything - so you need to know them. The one I keep on my fridge has the recommended temps for pork/poultry/beef/etc. printed right on the thermometer. Sextro posted:I've known someone who worked for the USDA as a microbiologist, and she'd pull out a temp probe and check people's food when it arrived at the table when eating at a restaurant if you didn't stop her. She'd also tell people at other tables their food is raw when she saw them eating anything pink. Like a steak at a steakhouse. I have an aunt who went to school for microbiology of some flavor and has worked for the CDC forever. She is similarly skittish about food safety.
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Jun 1, 2022 18:14
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Shooting Blanks posted:The one I keep on my fridge has the recommended temps for pork/poultry/beef/etc. printed right on the thermometer. This sounds really nice. I'm forever having to look up temperatures since I don't cook meat every day so don't have it all memorized. Too bad I already have 2 meat thermometers because my dumb rear end added it into my cart twice way back when and the model I have works well enough that I cant justify another one.
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Jun 1, 2022 18:23
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Sextro posted:I've known someone who worked for the USDA as a microbiologist, and she'd pull out a temp probe and check people's food when it arrived at the table when eating at a restaurant if you didn't stop her. She'd also tell people at other tables their food is raw when she saw them eating anything pink. Like a steak at a steakhouse. You better be tipping 20% if you're measuring the temp of your food as it comes to the table holy poo poo... Glad this person isn't working in regulation.
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Jun 1, 2022 18:31
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The thermopop is $35 and has been one of my go-to gifts for people. It upped my Dad’s steak game considerably.
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Jun 1, 2022 18:55
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Brawnfire posted:"better safe than sorry" school of food safety Yeah, I guess I’m in the privileged position of never having had any serious food poisoning, so I am in the “eat it, you’ll be fine” school of food safety
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Jun 1, 2022 19:34
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I've only had food poisoning once, and it was truly awful. BUT food safety is so good now for the most part that I made no changes to my behavior and generally don't think about it too hard.
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Jun 1, 2022 19:45
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Scientastic posted:Yeah, I guess I’m in the privileged position of never having had any serious food poisoning, so I am in the “eat it, you’ll be fine” school of food safety This last weekend I ate an apple from a bag of prewashed apples and turns out it probably wasn't. 30 minutes after eating it my stomach felt like it had a hot poker in it and then 30 minutes after that I was puking like it was a competition.
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Jun 1, 2022 19:47
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The only serious food poisoning I ever had I caught from a salad at a grocery store, and that lead to 3 days of "I think I might die this time" every time I went to the restroom, every few dozen minutes. So now I'm paranoid about cold foods more than anything, which tbh is probably a more sane paranoia. E: I will say, this bout of food poisoning cleared up the tinnitus I'd been suffering from for ~10 years at that point. Yeah I don't know either.
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Jun 1, 2022 19:51
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One of my jobs was at a salad restaurant and it's constant, diligent work to keep that poo poo fresh and palatable. Work they weren't doin' very well.
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Jun 1, 2022 19:57
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Brawnfire posted:One of my jobs was at a salad restaurant and it's constant, diligent work to keep that poo poo fresh and palatable. Precut greens are one of the worst offenders for food contamination, usually e. coli.
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Jun 1, 2022 20:02
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https://buythermopro.com/product/thermopro-tp-16-digital-meat-thermometer/ this is the probe thermometer I have, btw, and I recommend it highly; it's cheap and accurate
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Jun 1, 2022 20:03
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The food poisoning I got from a pizza place was a monkey paw situation because I thought “I’m trying to lose some weight, I’ll order a salad and a slice instead of 2 slices.” I did look rather trim after the 48 hours of body cleansing and limited eating that followed.
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Jun 1, 2022 20:04
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So for greens we usually wash 3x in cold water, is there a less wasteful way to do it, like with a touch of vinegar or something? Being less cautious isn't an option with a toddler and a pregnant wife.
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Jun 1, 2022 21:09
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BrianBoitano posted:So for greens we usually wash 3x in cold water, is there a less wasteful way to do it, like with a touch of vinegar or something? Besides your time, what are you wasting, the cold water? No energy is being used to heat it, it's certainly not that much water compared to what you use when you shower or use the toilet, etc. Or am I being a city rear end in a top hat and you live off the grid with a finite water supply that you have to manage? Are you trying to neutralize possible pesticides? If you're thinking big picture, great and thank you for being environmentally considerate but think about how many people eat rice and rinse their rice with water first.
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Jun 1, 2022 21:17
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