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GrAviTy84
Nov 25, 2004

Scott Bakula posted:

I think you've just given me nightmarish heartburn posting this suggestion.

Inspired by: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep-n3TTOO6Q#t=4m40s

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Jose
Jul 24, 2007

Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer
Do you change anything from that? It looks incredible but I can feel the pain already.

Nothing that can't be solved easily enough though

Jose fucked around with this message at 08:46 on May 3, 2012

A jargogle
Feb 22, 2011
What is a simple way meal based around duck breasts?

BDawg
May 19, 2004

In Full Stereo Symphony
I know how to cook steak and I think I do it pretty well. In a pan or on the grill, I flip only once.

I was told recently that the best way to cook a steak is to flip it every 15 seconds. That idea goes in the face of what I've read and experienced.

Does anyone have an opinion on the matter?

If this is a repost, I apologize. I checked quite a few results from the search before posting.

scuz
Aug 29, 2003

You can't be angry ALL the time!




Fun Shoe

BDawg posted:

I know how to cook steak and I think I do it pretty well. In a pan or on the grill, I flip only once.

I was told recently that the best way to cook a steak is to flip it every 15 seconds. That idea goes in the face of what I've read and experienced.

Does anyone have an opinion on the matter?

If this is a repost, I apologize. I checked quite a few results from the search before posting.
Yup, this is totally wrong and you've been doing it right. In my experience, flipping food multiple times is a bad way to go about things.

Charmmi
Dec 8, 2008

:trophystare:
According to McGee, frequent flipping will actually result in a more evenly cooked steak that will also be done faster than a steak that is flipped once or twice. You will get a thinner "well done" layer and a better crust. In conclusion, flip your meat.

BDawg
May 19, 2004

In Full Stereo Symphony

scuz posted:

Yup, this is totally wrong and you've been doing it right. In my experience, flipping food multiple times is a bad way to go about things.

Can someone who knows more about the science of food expound more? He claims it has something to do with the Maillard reaction. Seems to me if you're flipping that often in a grill, you're losing ambient heat and having less of a baking effect.

BDawg fucked around with this message at 14:35 on May 3, 2012

mich
Feb 28, 2003
I may be racist but I'm the good kind of racist! You better put down those chopsticks, you HITLER!
Another delicious use of green onions: make green onion oil. Just heat up a neutral oil until hot, turn off the heat and stir in as much chopped green onion as your quantity of oil will hold. Something like 1/4 cup oil and 1 cup onions.

It's very tasty as a garnish on grilled meats, especially Vietnamese style grilled meats. It's also great on grilled corn instead of butter, just drizzle it on liberally and season with salt and pepper.

NinjaDebugger
Apr 22, 2008


BDawg posted:

Can someone who knows more about the science of food expound more? He claims it has something to do with the Maillard reaction. Seems to me if you're flipping that often in a grill, you're losing ambient heat and having less of a baking effect.

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/02/the-burger-lab-how-many-times-should-you-flip-a-burger-while-cooking.html

It's explained pretty well here, basically you're cooking both sides more or less simultaneously, so you get about the same crustiness with a smaller overcooked layer in less time.

scuz
Aug 29, 2003

You can't be angry ALL the time!




Fun Shoe
well huh! \_

I bow to superior science. I thought they had always made the outer layer tougher, but I guess that's me being a weirdo.

captkirk
Feb 5, 2010
Last night I bought a 3 lbs whole chicken and a dutch oven. Tonight I plan on combining these two. I figured I would coat the outside with salt, pepper, and olive oil, throw chopped up onions and potatoes around it in the dutch and then cook it. Anything else I should be doing with it? Also, since I've never roasted an entire chicken before, what's a good way to tell they are done (assuming I don't have a meat thermometer)?

Flash Gordon Ramsay
Sep 28, 2004

Grimey Drawer
Are you planning on cooking it with the lid on? Because if you do you won't get crispy skin.

ps Get a meat thermometer. A corded digital thermometer should run you about $20, and will keep you from ruining the chicken and/or getting sick. The old standby way of checking for doneness is cutting it at the thigh joint and seeing if the juice runs clear (rather than pink), but I think it's a little unreliable and I personally don't like cutting into my chickens until they are done and well rested.

Flash Gordon Ramsay fucked around with this message at 15:30 on May 3, 2012

Grand Fromage
Jan 30, 2006

L-l-look at you bar-bartender, a-a pa-pathetic creature of meat and bone, un-underestimating my l-l-liver's ability to metab-meTABolize t-toxins. How can you p-poison a perfect, immortal alcohOLIC?


High heat, short time, no lid because crispy skin is awesome. 450 degrees and for a three pound chicken, maybe an hour at most. Check at 45 minutes. The leg will move easily when it's done, and the juices are clear when you stick a knife into the thigh joint.

You don't need any olive oil. Pat the skin dry first then rub on spices.

Flash Gordon Ramsay
Sep 28, 2004

Grimey Drawer
I have taken to using only salt on the outside, and a good amount of it. Then I make a spice blend to rub under the skin. Spice on the outside tend to burn.

Also, if you have time, take the chicken out of the packaging and put it on a tray uncovered in your fridge for a day before cooking. This will take a lot of the water out of the skin, and get you a crispier skin. Alternatively, salt it heavily an hour or two before cooking, then dry it off before it goes in the oven.

I also really like thin slices of lemon under the skin.

gently caress I love roasted chicken.

FishBulb
Mar 29, 2003

Marge, I'd like to be alone with the sandwich for a moment.

Are you going to eat it?

...yes...
Under the skin really is the way to go with seasoning a chicken. It took me years to try it because I thought it was 'hard' but its really not very difficult once you get the hang of it. I haven't tried putting lemon slices under the skin but I usually put lemon and onion in the cavity.

ChetReckless
Sep 16, 2009

That is precisely the thing to do, Avatar.
I have a great big cast iron pan I use for chickens. I leave the skin dry and throw a decent amount of salt on. I'll usually chop a lemon in half, stick half in the cavity, and throw the other half in the pan, along with some veggies and a few garlic cloves to roast. After I take the chicken out to rest, I'll remove the veggies, squish out the roasted lemon and garlic, and make gravy out of that. I'm sure the half lemon in the cavity contributes to steaming the chicken a bit, but I can't seem to get enough lemony goodness with a roast chicken. I used to make a compound butter from herbs and lemon zest and put it under the skin, but I've decided that when it comes to roasting a chicken, simpler is better (and conveniently, easier).

captkirk
Feb 5, 2010
When you say under the skin, do you mean inside the cavity of the chicken? Any spices you would recommend? This could give me a chance to check out one of the nearby halal grocery stores or the Mexican grocery a few miles away.

pnumoman
Sep 26, 2008

I never get the last word, and it makes me very sad.

ChetReckless posted:

I used to make a compound butter from herbs and lemon zest and put it under the skin, but I've decided that when it comes to roasting a chicken, simpler is better (and conveniently, easier).

Yeah, me too. The compound butter sounds like a good idea until you try it, and realize that you could get the same flavor with just spices under the skin and the butter simply adds extra greasiness that you don't really need.

deetron69
Jan 18, 2005
What's the trick to cooking chow mein noodles? I basically boil about a pound or so at a time, then throw the whole thing into a non-stick pan with some vegetable oil. It never browns right, the parts that cook get stuck to the bottom of the pan and break off. Ultimately I'm left with a crappy, sticky mess.

pnumoman
Sep 26, 2008

I never get the last word, and it makes me very sad.

captkirk posted:

When you say under the skin, do you mean inside the cavity of the chicken? Any spices you would recommend? This could give me a chance to check out one of the nearby halal grocery stores or the Mexican grocery a few miles away.

Under the skin. As in, between the meat and the skin, and not in the cavity. Use your fingers to slowly separate the skin from the flesh without tearing the skin, then rub your spice mix right in between.

Hecuba
Jul 20, 2005

What we do is invent our images. And we build them.
There was a Japanese restaurant in my college town that had the most amazing osumashi soup -- a clear broth with scallions, fish cake, noodles and MUSHROOMS. I woke up this morning thinking about it, and specifically the glorious, glorious mushrooms they used -- earthy, sweet, slightly chewy, meaty, incredibly umami, tender, amazing mushrooms. Could anyone hazard a guess as to what they were? They were sliced into the soup so I'm not sure of their original shape/appearance, but I suspect they were reconstituted (because of the chewiness), and definitely had a deliciously sweet note to their flavor -- unlike any mushroom I've had before or since. I have several pretty well-stocked Asian grocers around, so if anyone can tell me what they were I'm sure I can find them somewhere. Fungi-lovers everywhere, halp! You'll have my eternal gratitude.

Edit: looks like they might have been himematsutake, but I'm not sure -- any other suggestions are welcome. I'm heading out to the market this weekend and aiming to come home with an armload of mushroomy deliciousness!

Hecuba fucked around with this message at 17:27 on May 3, 2012

Mach420
Jun 22, 2002
Bandit at 6 'o clock - Pull my finger

Oz Fox posted:

What's the trick to cooking chow mein noodles? I basically boil about a pound or so at a time, then throw the whole thing into a non-stick pan with some vegetable oil. It never browns right, the parts that cook get stuck to the bottom of the pan and break off. Ultimately I'm left with a crappy, sticky mess.

That's actually lo mein, not chow mein. My restaurant uses a three step process. A big block of raw noodles is defrosted, then steamed until softish. It's then fried only with oil on a griddle until browned, then when an order comes, the chef grabs a handful, boils it for about 30 seconds, then in it goes into the wok with veggies and whatnot.

I'd suggest doing that. Steam them on a steamer tray for half an hour to 45 minutes, until they've gotten somewhat cooked and moister, but are still kind of hard. Take them out and rinse in cold water to cool them down. Let drain 10 minutes. For a pound of noodles, add a tablespoon or two of oil to a griddle or big saute pan on medium, add noodles, flip and loosen the noodles with tongs or chopsticks every minute or so until nicely browned. Let cool a bit. Then throw the noodles and veggies into boiling water for about 45s to a minute, strain out, drain for a couple seconds, and throw into the wok for the final heating. Add a bit of cornstarch slurry for the sauce, flavorings, and you're done.

Mach420 fucked around with this message at 17:46 on May 3, 2012

Flash Gordon Ramsay
Sep 28, 2004

Grimey Drawer

FishBulb posted:

I haven't tried putting lemon slices under the skin but I usually put lemon and onion in the cavity.

I did it for the first time a couple of months ago and it is fantastic. For obvious reasons, you get a lot more lemon flavor than you do just chucking them in the cavity (which I'm convinced makes it smell better while cooking but doesn't do much for flavor). The skin comes out looking a little funny, but drat does it taste good.

Very Strange Things
May 21, 2008

Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:

I did it for the first time a couple of months ago and it is fantastic. For obvious reasons, you get a lot more lemon flavor than you do just chucking them in the cavity (which I'm convinced makes it smell better while cooking but doesn't do much for flavor). The skin comes out looking a little funny, but drat does it taste good.

Lemongrass, oddly enough, has a nice lemony flavor too. I think it adds a little complexity to chicken to which I've applied actual citrus.

THE MACHO MAN
Nov 15, 2007

...Carey...

draw me like one of your French Canadian girls
Got a bag of lentils back at my place and I would like to make a soup or stew with them for the next few days. Looked at some stuff online, but any recommendations?

Also, gravity, the pork shoulder recipe you gave me a couple weeks back was awesome.

Explosions!
Sep 30, 2008
What are some good versatile herbs that I can add to just about anything? My spice cabinet right now is beyond pathetic (onion powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, salt/pepper, garlic salt, chives or something and Lawry's) so considering that I can get plants from my school's agriculture department super cheaply I figured I would put some herbs in one of my container on my balcony.

GrAviTy84
Nov 25, 2004

Explosions! posted:

What are some good versatile herbs that I can add to just about anything? My spice cabinet right now is beyond pathetic (onion powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, salt/pepper, garlic salt, chives or something and Lawry's) so considering that I can get plants from my school's agriculture department super cheaply I figured I would put some herbs in one of my container on my balcony.

Oregano, thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, basil, tarragon, cilantro, sage.

THE MACHO MAN posted:

Got a bag of lentils back at my place and I would like to make a soup or stew with them for the next few days. Looked at some stuff online, but any recommendations?

Also, gravity, the pork shoulder recipe you gave me a couple weeks back was awesome.

Awesome, glad it worked out. Did you end up using lard or water?

As far as lentils go, I like sambhar, daal, and you can't go wrong with the old standby recipe for many a foodculture, legume + cured meat stew/soup.

Proust Malone
Apr 4, 2008

I tried a cooks illustrated recipe for crispy skin roast chicken where the bird was dried then left in the fridge with salt pepper and baking powder. Cooked in a hot oven on a v rack over foil with a dry pan underneath.

End result was smoke detectors going off, browned but not crispy skin, and undercooked thighs. And an hour spent scrubbing out my precious all clad roasting pan.

As my three year old would say, "dat make me saaaad."

GrAviTy84
Nov 25, 2004

Ron Jeremy posted:

I tried a cooks illustrated recipe for crispy skin roast chicken where the bird was dried then left in the fridge with salt pepper and baking powder. Cooked in a hot oven on a v rack over foil with a dry pan underneath.

End result was smoke detectors going off, browned but not crispy skin, and undercooked thighs. And an hour spent scrubbing out my precious all clad roasting pan.

As my three year old would say, "dat make me saaaad."

Truestory: the best way to get crispy skin is to stick a beer can up the chicken's butt and prop it up in the oven.

Flash Gordon Ramsay
Sep 28, 2004

Grimey Drawer

GrAviTy84 posted:

Truestory: the best way to get crispy skin is to stick a beer can up the chicken's butt and prop it up in the oven.

Yeaaaah. Gonna have to disagree with you there. The beer just adds steam, which is the enemy of crispy.

Seriously, fridge dry it for a day. The skin should look kind of hosed up when you pull it out, it gets a little translucent looking or something. Roast it at 400.

I've found when making chicken wings in the oven that the smoke point of chicken fat seems to be between 400 and 425. So I can safely roast at 400 without making the house smoky.

GrAviTy84
Nov 25, 2004

oh empty beer can, I mean. Just to keep the chicken upright.

Edit: Even the Modernist Cuisine guys agree.

Flash Gordon Ramsay
Sep 28, 2004

Grimey Drawer
Well that's different.

moms pubis
Jul 9, 2011

by T. Mascis
What's the best brand of jarred/canned pickled herring that I can just buy in a supermarket?

Fluffs McCloud
Dec 25, 2005
On an IHOP crusade
Hopefully someone here has some useful experience with indian food. How in the world do you keep kebabs that involve ground chicken from falling apart? I've tried on numerous occasions now to make chicken reshmi using ground chicken, and I cannot for the life of me keep the meat from pretty much dissolving off the skewer into my grill. It's incredibly aggravating knowing I am pretty much wasting ground chicken every time I try. I've changed the amount of fat, egg, & bread crumb, as well as the heat, repeatedly to know avail, the minute they go near coals they pretty much dissolve.

SubG
Aug 19, 2004

It's a hard world for little things.

GrAviTy84 posted:

oh empty beer can, I mean. Just to keep the chicken upright.

Edit: Even the Modernist Cuisine guys agree.
A beer can works, but I'd actually perforate the beer can so it doesn't become a moisture trap even when it starts out empty. You can also buy these poultry butt plug things that accomplish the same thing and work better for larger birds.

NinjaDebugger posted:

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/02/the-burger-lab-how-many-times-should-you-flip-a-burger-while-cooking.html

It's explained pretty well here, basically you're cooking both sides more or less simultaneously, so you get about the same crustiness with a smaller overcooked layer in less time.
One thing they don't cover there that I'd be willing to wager is significant is the size of your cooking surface and the stability of the heat source. I bet if you're frequently flipping on the same spot on a skillet you're minimising the heat of the cooking surface under the meat---throw cool meat on a hot surface and you're cooling down the surface as you're heating the food. If you're then flipping to put the cold side of the food on the same spot, then you're amplifying the effect. Whether this is relevant will presumably be dependent on the stability of the heat source and the temperature of the meat.

The article comments on warming the meat in an oven before searing it. Of course you can do the same thing with a puddle machine. But they don't talk about what temperature the patties they prepare `conventionally' start out at, which has to be relevant; my presumption is that the effect from multiple flipping they observe is more pronounced the colder the meat is. So if you're taking the ground beef out of the fridge and throwing it directly on the grill you're going to see more stratification of doneness than if you let the meat warm up (just by sitting out on the counter a bit) before cooking. This is certainly true of e.g. steaks, and I can think of no reason why burgers would be any different.

In short, I suspect that flippiness is probably one of those things like Ducassing that has theoretical merits but probably just adds additional complexity (and therefore great opportunities to gently caress things up) for most home cooks.

Darval
Nov 20, 2007

Shiny.

moms pubis posted:

What's the best brand of jarred/canned pickled herring that I can just buy in a supermarket?

Gonna need a little more info here, where in the world are you / what supermarkets do you have available?

But going from the stuff I buy in Denmark, you'll most often find the whole marinated fillets the best, not the small pieces.

Paging Dane, Hat and Sjurygg to the general questions thread please

moms pubis
Jul 9, 2011

by T. Mascis

Darval posted:

Gonna need a little more info here, where in the world are you / what supermarkets do you have available?

But going from the stuff I buy in Denmark, you'll most often find the whole marinated fillets the best, not the small pieces.

Paging Dane, Hat and Sjurygg to the general questions thread please

Sorry, I'm in the midwestern United States. Apart from the standard American supermarkets like Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market and its ilk, we have a couple of health food stores and an Asian supermarket.

Mr. Wiggles
Dec 1, 2003

We are all drinking from the highball glass of ideology.
Neptune.

Really, look for stuff that's imported from the North Countries. Just buy a bunch and experiement - it's not like you can have too much pickled fish around.

That may be the best you can do in the Midwest.

Of course, if you can find it, there's a lot of what you'd call "boutique" canneries operating on the west and east coasts making really good stuff, all perfectly worth trying, but there's no way of telling if it's available in Des Moines.

Mr. Wiggles fucked around with this message at 02:53 on May 4, 2012

GrAviTy84
Nov 25, 2004

PestiferousTrollop posted:

Hopefully someone here has some useful experience with indian food. How in the world do you keep kebabs that involve ground chicken from falling apart? I've tried on numerous occasions now to make chicken reshmi using ground chicken, and I cannot for the life of me keep the meat from pretty much dissolving off the skewer into my grill. It's incredibly aggravating knowing I am pretty much wasting ground chicken every time I try. I've changed the amount of fat, egg, & bread crumb, as well as the heat, repeatedly to know avail, the minute they go near coals they pretty much dissolve.

egg? bread crumb? These things do not belong in kebab. Ground chicken also does not belong in kebab. Start with Chicken chunks. If you want to make ground lamb kebabs you need to beat/knead the hell out of the ground lamb. This causes the meat fibers to intertwine and tangle causing the ground meat to act as less of a crumble and more of a cohesive unit. Again, no egg, no breadcrumb. Just spices like garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander seed, fenugreek, etc.

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CuddleChunks
Sep 18, 2004

scuz posted:

This is all relevant to my next question.

Got my oven replaced today (:woop: ) and I wanna bake a Weight Watchers-friendly cake. I've seen the old box-of-cake-mix-and-diet-soda trick, but there's GOTTA be a better WAY!

BOOYA! http://www.food.com/recipe/weight-watchers-pumpkin-spice-muffins-316155

This thing is tasty as hell and baffling. Mix up the pumpkin into the spice mix, pour into muffin cups and cook. Then try not to eat all of them at once, fatty.

How can a cake mix work without oil and eggs and other things? It's madness! :psyduck:

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