Duvel

Yes, I think that would up the viscosity. I’ll add more pork skin next time. Flavor was pretty great, though …

Little one was sick for some days. Tonight, he requested Ramen for dinner, which for me is a sign he is on the mend. In a spur of the moment I decided to go the Tsukemen way, trying to emulate Rokurinshas Tsukemen … Making a broth out of katsuobushi, pork belly, kombu, sake, several alliums, ginger, smoked fish (trout), dried squid, soy … Filtered & pureed with some boiled alliums, smoked fish and konbu. Served with dried fish powder, toasted nori, kombu strips, an 5 min egg … Plus some candied pork belly, more dried fish powder, and yuzu peel. I don’t want to toot my own horn, but this was very good. Soup needs to be more viscous, and needed a bit more yuzu peel and a slight shift towards the porky flavors. Nevertheless, it was so satisfying. And little one enjoyed it. Mission accomplished 🤗

I am passing by this sign every day on my way back from work … They are not wrong.

A pajeon-esk solution to leftover spring onion, carrot and cabagge. Plus half a can of mackerel, some frozen squid and SV sirloin. Not half bad … And - as a cooks treat, doubling as dessert - toasted mixed rye with flash fried rabbit liver* Definitely no complaints 🤗 —- * from the rabbit I got for tomorrow’s stewed rabbit with mushrooms & meatballs …

He masterminded Methode Rotuts … he’s well beyond the need of doctors 🤗

@FeChef: how did your experiment go ?!

When I was living in Japan, there was a little* yakitori stall down the block. They had an omakase plate, five skewers of chefs choice. While two skewers varied, it always contained hatsu (chicken heart, seasoned with salt & pepper), reba (liver, seasoned with tare, what we would call yakitori sauce) and kawa (skin, seasoned only with salt, but later sprinkled with shichimi togarashi). That and a cold whiskey highball = heaven 🥳

Nice ! Chicken heart is one of my all time yakitori favourites 🤗

No, not photoshopped. Just very evenly roasted … I thought the same but the child must have patience to get them so evenly caramel brown perfect. The big “child”, yes 🤗. Little one (and his mother, for that matter) make the scorched, semi-soft ones and are equally happy with it.

I usually prefer the Löwensenf brand, and their sharp variety. But I am trying to get little one into mustard, so currently I am buying the milder and slightly less acidic Thomy medium sharp …

Thomy medium sharp mustard …

Lovely weather continues, and little one asked for another round of BBQ: Salads of the day: classic Nudelsalat and tomato/cucumber/grilled Halloumi … Grillfackeln and SV sirloin (2h @ 54oC) … Bratwürstchen 🥳 And I made a freshly baked bread (75% wheat, 20% rye and 5% cornmeal) … And a little DIY dessert … No complaints 🤗

A pleasant evening at 28 oC always calls for BBQ … Sides: tomato/mozzarella/basil, potato salad and guacamole (because I had an avocado on the brink of overripeness). Usual condiments … Some grilled breads (for the guac), Grillfackeln (thin marinated pork belly strips wrapped around a stick) and pork collar steaks … Second round: Bratwurst, one more pork collar steak and a grilled cheese. Happy faces 🤗

Amen 🤗

It’s a viscous, quite sweet citrus-based liquor with some bitter notes. I had it last week on a birthday party, and initially was underwhelmed. Too sweet, citrus felt too artificial. But then our hostess said that you need to put a lot of crushed ice and a some slices of lemon and let it mingle for some minutes. Voila - with sufficient dilution the artificial notes were gone, the dilution and the temperature took also care of the sweetness and brought out the bitter notes. Very refreshing, very good !

Little one had a sleepover, and DW and me used the opportunity to finish some long overdue stuff at work. Coming finally home I wasn’t in any mood to cook, so I stopped at the cheesemonger to get the whole dinner setup … “Clockwise” (more or less): Crisps (almost gone), Bresso, mackerel in olive oil, camembert horseradish cream, Etorki, aged Gruyère, Chevre d’Argental (that was so “ripe” it could be weaponized), Le Rustique, Tomme de Montagne, some garlic-lemon marinated shrimps and my mom’s strawberry marmalade (that my wife enjoys on camembert). Bread not pictured … Eaten in front of the TV, while watching the 2021 version of Dune. Enjoyed with a recent discovery on ice … No complaints* 🥳 —- *except that I really need to get a small sofa table …

Congratulations ! I have one question though: were they flavorless in their original state, or after your desalination ? To be honest I have never encountered brined olives lacking salt (as the brine doubles as the conserving agent and needs to come in 2-3% salinity to do the job) …

I was not making a point for the reverse sear method, I was trying to utilize Kenji‘s way of describing the things going on on the surface of a piece of meat at low-ish (120 oC) temperatures to get my point across. Maybe it’s simply a lack of English skills on my side, so I thought I borrow from a popular author. In any case: I‘ve tried with the little patience I have left at the end of the working day to help you to get where you want. Of course, you can freely choose your course of action, and I am sure you will post your results here to advance the discussion, that seemingly can’t be concluded without your experiment. Good luck !

Now you are getting me confused: are you asking your initial question for a piece of meat that is already seared and browned, so it has undergone Maillard reaction already ?

I am really trying to get you there: please read this explanation on the reverse sear technique to understand how your desired conditions will affect the surface chemistry of your roast/chicken breast/tofu cube … https://www.seriouseats.com/reverse-seared-steak-recipe TL;DR: Moral of the story: Moisture is the biggest enemy of a good sear, so any process that can reduce the amount of surface moisture on a steak is going to improve how well it browns and crisps—and, by extension, minimize the amount of time it spends in the pan, thus minimizing the amount of overcooked meat underneath. It's a strange irony that to get the moistest possible results, you should start with the driest possible steak.

You know what: try it. Liquid and dry rub. Make pictures. Afterwards, you‘ll owe me a pizza. Well browned.

I answered it, maybe in too indirect way: You‘ll unlikely get a decent Maillard reaction on the surface of your roast/chicken breast/tofu cube at 120 oC and 4h when you employ a wet marinade containing free amino acids and sugar. You‘ll get a bit of yellowing. Your only chance is to eliminate the accompanying surface water by employing a dry rub. As you unlikely will be using powdered AAs your best chance is to generate these in situ by increasing the surface pH using alkaline salts. Go and try it out.

Which I understand, given the irrelevance to the current subject and the predictable outcome. But are you actually interested in getting a decent Maillard reaction going at ~20 oC below the actual onset, or do you just want to get approval for your idea(s) with the liquid aminos ?

Lazy streak continues: salmon burger with sauce remoulade, salad, pickles and tomatoes on a (commercial) brioche bun, accompanied by some nachos (too lazy to make even oven fries) … Yet, no complaints 🤗

You are not really interested in actual feedback, are you ?