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zend

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Everything posted by zend

  1. zend

    Dinner 2025

    Had about half a skirt steak left (300gram-ish), SV-ed 3hrs at 53C, that I had to repurpose. So it went in with garlic, oyster mushrooms, oyster sauce, soy sauce, bit of chili and allulose (plus a bit of cornstarch slurry). Adding the beef at the very end kept it moist and medium-rare (tender). Accompaniaments were a cilantro-mint yoghurt sauce and red cabbage salad.
  2. zend

    Dinner 2025

    I learned that in Turkey. Any offal gets a generous amount of cumin powder, whether you grill it or fry it in butter. Try it and let me know what you think 🙂
  3. zend

    Dinner 2025

    It's about the pickling process. You take whole heads of cabbage, cross-split the cores slightly (3cm deep, not the whole way through) and dunk them into 3-4% saline water, together with dried dill stems and horseradish. Some people add sour cherry tree leaves. This usually happens in large wooden barrells (think 50-100L each) and you let them cabbages rest submerged and the barrels air-tight covered for several weeks. They can last for a year or more. Every 2-3 of days until fermentation is over, you need to unscrew the lid and use a hose to blow air into the mixture from the bottom, to prevent mold from happenning. (I know this might sound like a prank, but feel free to fact-check :)))) ). In brief: Varza murata has a deeper, purer cabbage flavour and it is slightly saltier than sauerkraut. Sauerkraut, on the other end, is more sour and - as far as I know - is put to pickle already sliced. German Kraut also has caraway seeds and some other stuff which makes it aniseed-ish tasting. They are both great for health. Not saying one is better than the other, but they are very different in taste.
  4. zend

    Dinner 2025

    Beef liver in a cast-iron pan (plenty of cumin powder on it), Romanian "varza murata" salad (it's a sort of sauerkraut but I find it to be very different in taste from the German one) and some spicy Bengal relish (no real need for it, but why not, it's yummy 🙂 )
  5. zend

    Dinner 2025

    Well, I started using the pressure cooker for lamb curries, since those can take forever if you don't use expensive cuts (and I don't). Then I've applied it to all other curries. Why? I find that the curry base / gravy cooked under pressure has a thicker consistency and all flavors blend together really well. There will be no chunks left. I know I could use a blender, but that would be one more thing to wash at the end. Also, a pressure cooker is set and forget. 25 minutes on the stove and you will have predictably good results, without having to watch the pan. Cheers! 🙂
  6. zend

    Dinner 2025

    I am probably the crappiest photographer on this forum, but I have cooked and I am sharing. Pressure-cooked curry base (onions-garlic-tomato purree, ground: corriander seed+jeera seed+chilies+couple of fenugreek seeds, kasoori methi leaves+soy sauce, 25 minutes under pressure), chicken breast and frozen green beans added covered (not pressurized) for 15 minutes, squeeze of lemon, ginger matchsticks at the end. Works perfect when you feel like you want Indian food, but Indian is not in your town.
  7. zend

    Dinner 2025

    Seafood mix on cast iron, with carrots, onions, couple of tomato slices, garlic, EVOO and butter. Plus oregano and a dash of soy sauce, lemon juice. This type of cooking is called "na sach" in Bulgaria (it means "on the sizzle"). Ready from scratch in ~15 min, with seafood added from frozen. A quick way to serve great seafood, other than fried or grilled. Sorry for the plating - not my strong suit - I just wanted to contribute.
  8. zend

    Lunch 2024

    Keto moussaka. Minced lamb, beef, onions, cinnamon, cumin, sliced eggplant, purreed tomatoes. Used mozzarella and "cașcaval" (Balkan yellow cheese) instead of the Bechamel.
  9. zend

    Dinner 2024

    Taco de lengua (keto-friendly, due to dietary restrictions). Pressure-cooked beef tongue (75 min on high), cream, guac, pico de gallo and shredded yellow cheese. Shell was made with almond flour and whey protein powder, plus perfected xanthan gum, fried in avocado oil.
  10. zend

    Dinner 2024

    Beef tongue with leeks and olives stew. A bit of an adaptation here of a traditional Turkish meze (leeks in olive oil). Thing is, back in the day, olive oil was not to be found in Romania, so people added olives to impart the taste, but using what oil was available - sunflower oil reigns supreme here. I've used EVOO and olives, since it is a childhood comfort food. Leeks add to the sweetness of the dish, with a balance of sourness from peeled lemon slices. Beef tongue is pressure-cooked for ~70 min on high. Other ingreds: diced onion, Turkish bay leaves, tomato paste and pepper corns.
  11. zend

    Dinner 2023

    Korean-inspired keto(ish) bowl - base is pan-fried riced cauliflower plus skirt steak, avocado, quick-pickled cucumbers, kimchi, red peppers and home-made "bibimbap" sauce (it's not the actual deal, just something I've wrapped up using miso, red pepper flakes, rice vinegar, erythritol and sesame oil)
  12. zend

    Dinner 2023

    LiuZhou, I sense a very negative vibe from your side to whatever I may post. A couple of points for your attention: 1. I've lived in BeiJing for more than 3 years, and I speak passable Chinese - with the local BJ accent. While your China experience may be considerably longer, it does not mean that all around you are newbies and ignorant. 2. I've had yangrouchuanr in BeiJing, ChengDu, Urumqi (yes, I've been there, too), and in many other places, since this is one of my favourite foods. I know precisely how they're cooked, but: 3. I live in an apartment - if I fire up a charcoal grill here, I'll have the fire squad kicking down my frontdoor in no time. The oven created the least amount of smoke, so oven it was. 4. I tried to replicate the taste - and it worked out quite ok. I mentioned this was an ATTEMPT, not a guide, not an I-know-it-all. Uyghurs don't marinate lamb in onions, either. Turks do. Since Turks and Uyghurs share quite a lot of culture/language/etc, I tried to combine the approaches. 5. Uyghurs DO have ovens.
  13. zend

    Dinner 2023

    My attempt at Uyghur Lamb Skewers (Yang Rou Chuanr). Oven baked, pre-marinated 4hrs in an onion blend.
  14. zend

    Dinner 2019

    Hi Liam, How did you cook the eggplants? I am trying to get new recipes for this amazing vegetable, and yours looks really fine. Thanks
  15. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 6)

    The side looks very nice. How did you cook that? Thanks
  16. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 6)

    Andrea, where do you live that it takes a 3-hour drive to the butcher's? It is really nice that you raise your meat.
  17. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 6)

    XinJiang yangrou chuanr - style lamb (the ubiquitous grilled lamb skewers you see all around China) with naan bread and kimchi (not shown). Since I live in an apartment, the lamb was grilled on the gas stove, without the nice chuanr, but the taste was nonetheless awesome. I used cumin, Sichuan peppercorns, hot pepper flakes and fennel for the meat.
  18. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 6)

    Cherry-smoked chicken with thyme. Placed whole in the COBB for about 4 hours.
  19. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 5)

    Tom Kha Gai with nam phrik pao. I don't like the sweet, white version, so I went yum goong on it, with chili paste and fish sauce & lime juice aplenty. Will make again
  20. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 5)

    how do you make the coconut chutney? looks good
  21. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 3)

    Yam Tuna using raw fish (or should I call it Poke with Thai salad dressing? )
  22. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 2)

    Fish & spinach tagine. I tried to replicate the super-recipe at Saveur du Poisson (a.k.a. Popeye) in Tangier, Morocco; used angler fish and home-made chermoula and harissa, as well as preserved lemons. Dish did not come out 100% like the original, but very close. If you like fish and want to try something other than fry or grill, this is a must-make.
  23. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 2)

    MaPo dofu and guotie (pot stickers) - not pictured here.
  24. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 1)

    Achari murgh (mustard oil / pickled chicken curry). Shine comes from yoghurt stirred in the gravy early on. I didn't have any coriander leaves
  25. zend

    Dinner 2017 (Part 1)

    Hi Norm, Amazing that Japan has its version of stuffed cabbage rolls. What type of cabbage did you use? Nappa / white - was it fresh or pickled? If fresh, did you boil it before-hand? The Turkish/Middle Eastern/East European versions of stuffed rolls all have rice inside, and most of them use tomato puree in the braise. Any link to the recipe (or at least the name it goes by in Japan) will be appreciated.
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