Duvel

Most likely they were off to begin with. Yes, trotter do have a certain smell, but soaking (in salted water) and blanching has always given me a product to work with. Try maybe a proven recipe with oroper seasoning next time, maybe with a fresh batch. I’d highly recommend Fergus Hendersons trotter gear (a somewhat 1:1 copy of the recipe can be found at Serious Eats). Good luck !

Breakfast of lazy champions, Sunday “hangover”* edition … Couple of extras … Spicy 🌶️ ___ * of course I wasn’t hung over. But my former self, that occasionally was, would have enjoyed this tremendously, too …

Pica pica (the Catalan version of tapas) … Everything from the fridge/freezer/cans, so just some deep frying and heating up to do: Jamon, chorizo, longaniza with cheese (bread not pictured), croquetes (jamon, chicken, salted cod), salmon pâtè, olives, meatballs in tomato sauce, shrimps with garlic & parsley, berberechos (cockles), goat cheese, fried chorizo. Enjoyed with the classic Blackbeards Ghost and a glass of red … No complaints 🤗

This is what I do as well - usually for 30 min. I got this from a ChefSteps tutorial and somehow it got stuck (mainly because it’s easy and gives good results) …

I agree. Plenty of fat, plenty of connective tissue - same success factors as for a good braise. Temperature renders connective tissue into gelatin, and tightens muscle fibers. The equilibrium between both determines your final product. Tenderness can be achieved at any temperature depending on time - and the question of covering the braise ultimately affects the liquid part more than the solids …

Yeah … How do you explain the surprisingly successful pressure cooker stews ?!

It does not. Beside the marginal effect of evaporation, the pot and its content is in equilibrium with the oven environment. No build up. It will not magically heat up above the boiling point of water. The volume above the liquid may have a different temperature, as the saturation of steam will depend on how much you let escape. But that’s not your point. The chart given by Kenji is worthless without the external temperature. It’s all about the rate of evaporation.

I’d like to know what “overheat” means … Keeping the lid on or using foil, a cartouche etc. simply controls the rate of evaporation. Of course the rate of evaporation affects thermal equilibrium in your braise, but the thermal mass of your cooking vessel the temperature of your oven controls the heat transfer and thus the temperature above the water. As long as there is water in your braise, the temperature under the liquid level remains at 100oC. And without pressure it cannot exceed that, “tight” lid or not … I usually caramelize veggies, reduce wine, etc. and keep liquids below what is recommended, but evaporation at the minimum. Temp at 110-120 oC, 3-4h …

With DW (quite successfully) doing low carb at the moment, little one and me opted to forego pizza & movie night for some hot dogs (and a movie) … We got this Feuerwurst from the supermarket, a rather spicy beef sausage native to the state of Hessia, bordering to our community in the north. Of course there are no suitable sized brioche buns available, so we had to make our own (including the egg wash, masterfully applied by LO) … Nice result ! Filled with the works and a self made, mustard forward sauce … One happy camper 🥳 And DW didn’t starve either with a cauliflower bake and some bacon/cheese add-ons … plus a Duvel for yours truly … All enjoyed while watching Venom. Can you tell little one had a great afternoon !? 🤗

We certainly do here (albeit we are much closer to Italy, to be fair) …

You mean like deep-frying, open flame grilling, broiling, serving stuff raw, ..?

Are you making a pitch for Modernist Pasta ?!

I do like the Prima Taste laksa a lot - for a convenience product it’s really really tasty. When living in HK I had their Singapore curry paste (pretty much the one from the instant noddles) as a staple in my pantry - for me the best available commercial SE asian curry paste available (and in HK everything is available 😉) …

The epi shape is very forgiving. I made it from a plethora of doughs, e.g. this one from left-over pizza dough. Due to the shape the sharp „ears“ brown faster than the bulky parts, which - at least in my experience - makes epis a bit unevenly crunchy.

Normally I find my weekly (and slightly diet-y) food to boring to share. But this was pretty good: rabbit hind legs, sous vide for 4h @ 62oC with a healthy amount of hoisin sauce & mirin in the bag. Scored and air fried for 8 min @ 240 oC. Very, very tasty. Quick smacked cucumber salad with sesame dressing on the side. No complaints 🤗.