Our Picks

@Anna N Your Brutti ma Buoni looks quite different then the version I'm familiar with, which I guess is a good thing  Anyway, yours seems great, I'll need to make those. My to-do list is always growing faster than I can cook from it.
 
 
Glazed strawberries with pepper. Cream of almonds and bitter almonds. Ricotta with vanilla and honey. Crispy crumble with aniseed. Mint.

kitchen shears , hands down
 
if you are having trouble , you've for crappy shears
 
this one is The One :
 

 
my unit :
 

 
its razor sharp and not expensive.  It has very good leverage .  I wash it by holding one handle while its open and use a kitchen brush and soap
 
then pat and air dry open in a safe place.
 
you have the respect its sharpness , but once you do there is nothing like it
 
this is not the IKEA one to get for cutting chicken :
 

 
hover its great for all around kitchen cutting.
 
I think the above is < 4 USD.   I have these all over the house  I can reach for one of these when ever I want !
 

 
when you are using the HeavyDuty one , top picks , on a chicken back , or anything else
 
Make Sure you know where all of your finger tips are.
 
 
 

Leek and Mushroom Tart

 
1/3 C Cooked leeks
1/3 C Cooked Chanterelles –cooked in butter/evoo/garlic/white wine/salt/pepper
1/3 C Imported Fontanella –grated
1/3 C Black Italian Kale- sliced thin
1t Italian seasoning
1t white pepper
Dash of salt
8 eggs –beaten
¼ Heavy Crème

 

 
Mix all together pour in a buttered glass pie pan, cook 325 convection for 25 mins, shut oven and continue to bake 8 mins. Cool and slice.  Add Franks Hot sauce

 

Considering all the "fun stuff" you use in making coffee ice cream, have you ever experimented with something as simplistic as Medaglia d'Oro instant coffee as a flavor booster?
 
Or a coffee liqueur?
 
With all due respect, you understand, all these steps necessary in preparing what must be delicious coffee ice cream (my fave) wold send me rushing to the nearest ice cream shoppe for a pint of their's! Or Il Lab...

Chocolate babka.

Here's the spread: homemade Japchae, bulgogi, salted daichon with raw oysters (I never make this except for special occasions but it's traditional), red leaf lettuce and perilla leaves. It doesn't look like much but that is the culmination of three hours of work.
 
     
 
You eat ssam by tearing a piece of lettuce, then adding a perilla leaf. Next you slather some dangjang or chochujang (traditional korean pastes) and layer with rice and your choice of meat. Lastly you put the whole thing in your mouth like a taco.
 

I was in my local supermarket earlier, looking for a type of pickled vegetable I wanted. They didn't have it, but I spotted this which made me titter.
 

 
Definitely winner of the "Useless Information" Oscar 2018. I'm in China! Everything is eaten with rice! Even rice is eaten with rice!
 
Then I noticed this.
 

 
Got to be better than tasteless vegetables.
 
Neither of them take your fancy? Try this.
 


I checked out the ingredients list on the back of each pack. They are identical. Yet the one for Tasty Vegetable  is a smidgeon less expensive. It takes less ink to write  "Tasty vegetable", I suppose.

No, I didn't buy any of them.

 
Platter for two.  Lobster with Ginger, Garlic and Black Bean sauce. 
I still had four lobster tails in the freezer from New Years.   

I made the pork schnitzel from Samin Nosrat's Salt Fat Acid Heat, which she fries in clarified butter.   The crispy crust on the pork was delightful. I now want to fry all the things in clarified butter.

I served the pork with the Apple Mustard and Charred Cabbage Apple Slaw from Deep Run Roots. The Apple Mustard is a kicked up apple butter and I highly recommend it. The charred cabbage slaw has an interesting mix of flavors and textures but I'm not sure I'd make it again - certainly not for a crowd as it's a bit of a nuisance to char all that cabbage and it doesn't look all that attractive.

I buy Broadbent ham from Kentucky fairly regularly, chiefly because I'm just buying for two (often for one, as the daughter gets really weird on eating) and they sell packages of pre-sliced ham, which is convenient for me. Yes, it should be refrigerated.
 
Be advised: It will be VERY salty. It should either be cooked in water, or soaked for a little while before frying. I'm of the soak first, then fry school. I think @Shelby has had success cooking hers in the Instant Pot.
 
 

This mornings breakfast will be some coffee and a piece of cheese!
 
My blog will be different than most, as I won't log everything I eat during the day, that'll bore you to pieces. Rather, I'll report on culinary goldmine that I live in and report of food I've eaten in the past week or so. I also enjoy making cocktails.
 
This is a picture of a flat white I had at Sambalatte a few days ago. Please ignore the questionable foam art. Is it soft serve ice cream? Is it a pile of poop? I don't know what she was going for?
 

 
And here's some almond croissants I had Jean-Philippe Patisserie at the Bellagio. Imho, they are the best almond croissants in the world.
 
  
 
 
 

 Well you’ll get the “reality” version as I don’t have time to tidy up right now. 
 

Someone recommended Evercrisp by Modernist Cuisine. I can't find the post, but thank you fellow eGulleter! That was the tip of the year. Made the best, shatteringly crisp schnitzel I've ever made.
 

 
Guaranteed to keep fried food crispy for 3 hours and 47 mins. So, if it's only crisp for 3 hours and 45 mins, do I get my money back?
 
My schnitzel recipe is basic and straight-forward, except for the Evercrisp, which added another dimension of deliciousness. It's cheap pork loin, that's been pounded thin, then dusted with spiced flour, dunked in egg wash, and coated in panko and Evercrisp. If you want the detailed recipe, you can find it here.
 
My only tip is to make sure the oil is 350F, but I have a feeling I'm telling everyone what they already know. Too cold oil will make the schnitzel soggy. Too hot oil will make the schnitzel burn. I use a candy thermometer attached to my dutch oven, it works like a charm. And I fry with Wesson oil.
 
I served it with Cauliflower-Broccoli Rice.
 

My favorite application at the moment is a simple pistachio gianduja consisting of high quality pistachio paste, chocolate, and confectioners sugar. Slab it, cut it, dip it in dark chocolate, and decorate with a bit of pistachio flour on one corner. Looks elegant, tastes amazing.
The only down side is the cost of high quality pistachio paste. From what I can tell, the majority of the products available are a combination of almond and pistachio, not pure pistachio. To me, the difference in flavor is worth the price.

For years when I worked in an office at SEA-TAC airport we would go up to a small café in the terminal, "Waji's." I think it was owned and run by the same company that owns the Uwajimaya groceries in Portland and Seattle.  They had the most delicious chicken katsu that was served with rice, salad and two potstickers.  It wasn't until our Cook-Off that I realized that would be a dish that would be an Asian twist on the European schnitzel.  I remember their chicken katsu was thin, but in the range of about 1/2", so I thought I'd pound it down to about 1/4" thickness.  Dredged in flour, then egg, then panko and fried in canola oil.  In this recipe you cut the "schnitzel" into strips to dip into the katsu sauce.
 
The katsu sauce was a blend of Worcestershire, ketchup, soy sauce, and I added mirin, sugar and oyster sauce.  I think it was too heavy on the Worcestershire, so next time I'll bring that down and probably boost the oyster sauce.
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp. soy sauce
white pepper
1 tbsp. Mirin
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. oyster sauce
 
Then for the salad I did sliced cucumbers and carrots that I shredded with one of the gadgets I've acquired over the years at Asian markets.  The salad under the chicken katsu acted liked a rack to keep the fried katsu off the bottom of the plate and from getting soggy.  I dressed the lettuce with some orange juice, rice vinegar and sprinkled in a few sesamed seeds and green onions.  Mighty delicious this one.

 
"Mexi-Schnitzel"
 
This dish is no doubt blasphemy in serious schnitzel circles, but we've been making it for years and really enjoy it. Pork as the protein, with a breading of panko with cumin, powdered chile,  and Mexican oregano. Lime squeezed over instead of lemon, and served with pico de gallo and black beans.

My husband and I are considering getting a BGE and took a class today at Dizzy Pig Seasonings. It was a four hour course covering chili & comfort foods. They used a few large eggs and on XL egg.
The menu:
chili with brisket cubes, tomatoes, and beans mac & cheese smoked brisket (cooked in  a drum smoker using the extra brisket from the chili) stuffed baked potatoes pineapple upside down cakes  
The bacon for the stuffed baked potatoes was cooked on upside down grill grates. Unsurprisingly, each recipe included at least one Dizzy Pig seasoning blend.
 

Stuffed peppers.  Ate better than they look.

We finally found weather nice enough to make cooking outside pleasant, and set up the camp stove for the event.  Way back in Alabama, an excellent grocery store meat clerk convinced us that - despite our small shopping list and still-full refrigerator - we needed to check out some of the local products.  We had come away with 2 types of sausage, both made within 50 miles of our location, and a bottle of "Southern Seasoning" that she assured us carried the flavor of true Alabama-style barbecue.  



 







 



I can't say we've been excited about the seasoning blend, but the sausage has been good.  The DeRamus sausage is long gone.  Now we opened the Conecuh to make hash out on the camp stove. There isn't anything elegant about this meal, but it's good camping comfort food.



 







 







 



By the light of the lantern we sipped our beer, enjoyed the clear skies, and gave the pan contents an occasional turn:



 







 



Those of you who followed along last year may remember that DH never thought the potatoes crisp enough; the eGullet consensus here seemed to be that the pan was too crowded to get proper crisping.  We've had a running disagreement since then about how many potatoes and onions to cook for two people: he wants the pan filled to capacity, to maximize leftovers; I want enough space to be able to spread and turn the contents.  I won this time.



 







 



He complained that there wasn't enough, but the texture was just right.



 



 

Char siu (Xa xiu in vietnamese) is a standard filling for bahn mi at my favorite BM joint, which happens to be a bakery suppling rolls to most of the Viet restaurants around the area (as well as to white-tablecloth places). Here is the BM menu from Dong Phuong, where you can buy 10 sandwiches and get one free: http://www.dpbanhmi....ry/Banh_Mi.html
I usually go for the #1 Dac Biet (house special), which is overflowing with housemade rolled ham, pate, and other porky goodness.
I have tried, many times, with NO success, to make a BM roll as light & airy as what I can purchase at many Viet bakeries in SE Louisiana. I think that the feathery light rolls have some dough conditioners and require a steam-injected oven to get the "right" texture. I can attest that rice flour does nothing for the texture.
When making 'em at home, I usually fill with ga nuong (grilled boneless chix thighs), and I use Andrea Nguyen's recipe (lime juice, fish sauce, a little sugar, black pepper, and oil). Or, I buy red-cooked boneless pork from the asian supermarket & use it (pictured below).

If ever you are in Whitby you are in luck for several fish and chip places, also local kippers:
Whitby is a wonderful place to visit just on its merits, on the sea and locally caught fish.
 
http://www.magpiecafe.co.uk
 
The Magpie Cafe is where I would head for.
 

This declaration right here made my husband a very happy man last night.  This is one of his favorite things to eat.  It would have never crossed my mind that chicken fried venison steak would be considered a schnitzel.  But, it is pounded and breaded and fried so it fits right in  .
 
Venison loin (backstrap)
 



Soaked in a mixture of one beaten egg and buttermilk for about 30 mins or so
 

I throw flour, Lawry's salt, garlic and a lot of black pepper in a large ziplock and use that to coat the steaks and make gravy.

 
I got a little excited over the gravy and took too many pictures.
 
Chicken skin from a breast I used the night before for dinner

All crisped up--I like my gravy to have some of this in there...

Flour added


Then a lot of milk

Stir stir stir

More salt, pepper and garlic

The best dang cream gravy

 
Mashed taters

 
Dredge the steaks in the flour mixture and fry 'em up
 


Ronnie's plate-he likes gravy on his steak
 

I prefer it on the taters and then I dip a piece of steak in once in a while
 

One thing I love about our Cook-Offs is how much I learn from everyone, and, by chance I happen to come along a new technique that I'd never considered before.  I wasn't able to find any lamb or veal for my first schnitzel so I settled on pork.  Starting with pork loin rib chops that I cut off the bone and flattened to about 1/4" thickness. 


 
I was planning on doing a comparison between using panko or fresh breadcrumbs.  I've never used fresh breadcrumbs when making a fried cutlet, but I always use fresh breadcrumbs when making the annual pear brown betty.  Nothing beats those fresh buttered bread crumbs on top of a pear betty and baked to golden brown.  But I usually only use basic supermarket white bread with the crusts cut off then pulse them into crumbs in the food processor.
 
I'm not much of a bread baker, but the day before I made a decent no-knead artisanal loaf baked in a hot Dutch oven.  I do those fairly well.  So I cut off the crusts and pulsed them into coarse crumbs.  Because of my tepid baking skills the bread was fairly dense, not light and all fluffy like supermarket white bread.  But that worked to my advantage in the end.

 
Seasoned the pork cutlets with salt and pepper, then a good dredge in flour, a dip in egg and a patted down blanket of the fresh bread crumbs.  Then into canola oil at 350 heated in the old standard electric skillet.

 
I fried the schnitzel for about 3 minutes per side, and gently shaking the skillet to push some of the oil over the top.  I turned it about 4 times.  Then using a slotted spatula lifted out of the oil to drain a bit and immediately on the dish with a sprig of flat parsley and an ode to continental dining-a slice of lemon dipped in paprika.  (An unintended benefit was the paprika lemon juice that I squeezed over the schnitzel).
 
Then a very simple cucumber salad out of one of my German cookbooks, (although it was too tangy on the vinegar and too sweet on the sugar for my tastes).  Cucumbers, red onion, apple cider vinegar, sugar, fresh dill and chives, salt, pepper and a few flakes of red pepper.

 
I think the greatest benefit of this Cook-Off for me so far was the revelation of using fresh bread crumbs, and the coarse crumbs from that humble loaf of bread I baked.  The schnitzel was incredibly crispy and the large crumb created more ridges which I think held it off the plate more than a flatter type schnitzel.  (Much like a proper English muffin has all sorts of little caverns in the inside to hold butter and jam).  I've been frying schnitzels for years and never came upon this technique, but now It's my standard for all sorts of similar fried foods.  Now maybe this week I'll find that veal or lamb.....

 

Schnitzel light reading (links). I ran it through Google translate and can confirm it does a good job with the translation. Click on the word "translating..." to load translation.
 
Wiener Schitzel.
Making Schnitzel the proper way.
 
There's even a Schnitzel price index in Austria: Where in Austria is Schnitzel most expensive?
 
Personally, I prefer "(faschierte) Butterschnitzel".
 
 

 
Dinner tonight - Bangers and Mash.

Dessert 

Warm cinnamon rolls.