Over the last few days I’ve been enjoying the merry situation that ensues when a laptop, DSL modem, and camera all decide to stop working within days of each other. It’s a freaking laugh riot, and I’m interpreting it as a sign from God that this blog is an abomination. Therefore, I’ll be changing the blog to johnmccainisTOTALLYastraighttalkingmaverick.com in the hopes of avoiding the brimstone, burning, and the lake of fire, and the eternal torment…
Category: Beef
One of the advantages of cooking meat sous-vide is the ability to get a bunch of other things done without risking overcooking- especially since I like my meat on the rare side. So I took a NY strip steak of Piemonte beef, seasoned it very simply with salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic, sealed it, dropped it in the bath at 54˚ C and forgot about it until it was time to serve dinner. While it…
We were supposed to go out for dinner tonight, then come home for her favorite dessert (see Valentine’s day.) But she has a cold, and Milo is getting it, so I scrambled to finish the preparations for Saturday’s big party (and tonight’s intended dessert, which is in the fridge for baking tomorrow) so I could run out and get something. Since she loves her a burger, I got some buffalo burgers at a specialty place…
There are still some parsnips and burdock left in the garden, and I’m trying to dig them up before they expend all their stored deliciousness sending up too many new leaves. Having protected and watched all these plants all winter, it’s amazing to see them switch from survival mode to explosive spring growth and flowering so quickly. Kind of like a hyper-accelerated parenthood, but where you eat the kids when they reach puberty. Next year…
Well, not really, but Korean-inspired at least. To begin, I ground some local grass-fed beef stew meat with garlic, herbs, salt, and (after separating some for Milo) togarashi. I let it sit while I cut sweet potato fries and chopped pak choi, and while the fries were going cooked the meat and then sautéed the greens in the burger pan with a little lemon and soy sauce. Topped with homemade kimchi, these were damn fine…
I had the boy all day today, so I wisely thought ahead and pulled some beef shanks out of the freezer to thaw. By late afternoon I was beat, but at least had the beginnings of dinner under way. I peeled and sliced some burdock I dug up a couple of days ago- nice big fat roots- and threw them into the rice cooker with yesterday’s chicken broth and the local 10-grain blend augmented with…
I hardly ever used to cook steak; lamb and duck are more interesting (and also best cooked rare.) There are not so many cuts of beef that I love. But now that we have a water bath, steak is much more interesting. First off, any flavoring agents really get pushed into the meat by the vacuum-sealing. Second, it’s always perfectly done all the way through with no possibility of overcooking. And last, less tender cuts…
The fridge was getting silly with crowded containers of leftovers, so I took those that were not certifiable biohazards and tried to convert them into something good. To start, some of the local 10-grain mix went in the rice cooker- it’s a beautiful thing, since some dissolve while others remain toothsome- they cover the full spectrum of doneness and have a really rich flavor. Then, the baked sweet potatoes from last night, the pheasant broth…
In my quest for squid, I did find a huge, local London broil. Painting went a little late, so it only got sous vide-ed for an hour (at 54˚ C, with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence) but it still ended up more tender than it otherwise would have been. While it was having its therapeutic soak, I steamed sunchokes and puréed them with yogurt and feta, caramelized cubes of rutabaga with guanciale and onion,…
Feeling mostly normal, finally, I had both strength and desire to make a real meal for the first time in a long time. Beautiful short ribs from the freezer provided the focus for all the other lovely things in the fridge. The ribs, browned and then braised with our frozen mirepoix plus balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, water and herbs, were just tender by the time the other things were ready. I steamed and then puréed…