Duvel

Sorry … you refuse to buy a mortar & pestle because you find no other use for it, but buy a dedicated Sichuan peppercorn grinder from an overpriced online store !? 🤔

This is a proper Cook-Off, so you have the proper blessing to deviate from whatever people perceive as proper patés and terrines 😜

Wow ... that looks smooooth 🤗

Pizza & Movie night - our Sunday tradition, this time with my parents. Salami & mushroom (2x), sausage & olive and Gorgonzola & spinach. Forgot to take individual pictures, so here is a “intermediate” snapshot … Movie was some odd story about furry creatures in donut shapes called “Extinct”. We need to return to the classics …

Preparing the room right now 🤗

We recently has some Spargel related discussions, triggered by @weinoo … Today I am happy to report that the Spargel season here at the Badische Bergstraße is in full swing and - as my parents are (still) here for the weekend and the little one out for a sleepover - we had a proper German Spargel dinner ! These booths are set up strategically at major intersections along the Bergstasse to sell the produce of the local growers. This particular booth is just next to our place. Spargel shares a season with strawberries and usually the growers offer both, plus related products. 2 kg of Spargel, harvested this morning. Trimmed by my mom, all trimmings went into making the master stock, together with sugar, salt and butter. The yield … Thrown into the hot master stock, brought to a boil and left to soak for about 10 min … Served family style al fresco with a lovely Mosel Riesling, plenty of Hollandaise, new fingerling potatoes … … and of course Iberico ham, lightly smoked Speck, Parma ham, cooked sweet ham from the Odenwald, Bavarian baked shoulder ham and smoked duck breast. Dessert from the same booth … Some Moscatel wine for the ladies and Yamazaki 12 for my dad and me. We enjoyed a relaxed evening 🤗

This is a good example how the Google algorithm is effective to combine certain associated word fields, but fails to “grasp” the real content of articles. Anyway, back to the original topic. My (very limited) experience with making high protein breads was always employing eggs and some sort of fresh cheese variety. I know that especially the latter is tricky to come by in Japan (at least for a decent price). Adding whey powder to sweetened items (e.g. cupcakes) dries them out a bit, so you need to up the fat content (you see frequently coconut fat added, which might be for that purpose, of for the short chain fatty acids). This in return usually retards yeast activity, so be mindful of that. Another option would be not to aim for leavened bread, but flatbread (for wraps etc.). That would be more forgiving and I think that flour, whey, yoghurt and baking powder should give you a nice base to start experimenting.

Nice ! How do you make the sauce - is it "just" peanutty, or are there other flavors involved ?

Unfortunately, my usual shrimp head fat leftovers ran out this morning, when I squeezed the last shrimp brains over my Special K …

Whey is fairly inexpensive. Adding steroids (with an high black market price) will significantly increase the value and asking price. I am certain there is a market for “spiked” whey, but I would be certain that if you purchase a run-of-the-mill whey powder at market price, it would not be adulterated with steroids. Other stuff perhaps, but again here whey isolate is a huge market and buying from a reputable source should avoid any nasty surprise.

Selected leftovers from the fridge (such as cooked rigatoni, half a head of cauliflower, meat of some smoked spare ribs), upgraded with fresh onions, ginger, cilantro and given the pad thai treatment (sugar, fish sauce, tamarind). Peanuts, roasted onions and more cilantro. No complaints 🤗

Køttbullar with mushroom cream sauce & lingonberry jam, enjoyed al fresco (🥳) with mashed potatoes and buttery peas …

Well … the Ooni wasn‘t an investment. It was earned by flying around Asia far too often. And she supported me by finding out that the cover of our gas grill is big enough to cover the Ooni, too …

She knows … it’s the admitting part that “occasionally“ creates an issue. But - as in all good marriages - the key is compromise 🤗

I’ve done that, in HK, with Manuka chips. Worked nicely. But - just to iterate - now I’ve got a dedicated smoker 🥳 (need to show my wife it was a good investment)

She doesn’t need proof 😜

I used to have one - and loved it. Then I moved to Hong Kong … and the humidity rendered any new batch of charcoal unusable after days. Switched to gas by necessity and stayed for simplicity …

I am with you when it comes to open barbecue as the center of a fun evening, and I think maybe I used the wrong term (barbecue instead of smoking) upthread. When discussing smoking (as in my new smoker) the entire process is as sexy or as communal as cooking sous vide. I put the protein in the machine, set the variables and let it run. And - just like sous vide - it'll probably take longer that I would last sitting next to it drinking beer with friends (and when it comes to alcohol, I am battle hardened by Chinese joint venture negotiations) 😜

I think for pit barbecue you are also striving for a constant & controlled cooking environment, but you certainly have to work for it. The smoker I use - as I said: entry level - has automatic temperature control, timer, a reload feature for wood chips and feels pretty much like a SV setup.

I was not aware that beef ribs are a thing to barbecue/smoke (prior to watching Chef's Table: BBQ). This is actually something I would like to try on the upcoming weekend, as my dad is coming around and I know this would be exactly what he likes 🤗

Interesting, thanks for that. Yes, Aaron Franklin is aiming usually for 275 F+, hence the 50 F difference is significantly prolonging cooking times ... At the end the smoking process of cooking protein is the same as SV (or any low temperature cooking technique, at least from my viewpoint): maintain a longterm stable temperature environment, and wait until your internal temperature reaches its target. I think there is no magic involved (and yet you could envision Modernist Barbecue, with the first 500 pages dedicated to defining the term ...). The other variables, e.g. bark formation, "smokiness", mouthfeel, authenticity (?)... at the end determine where you settle for your conditions.

I think all kinds of seafood should do well with cold smoking before grilling/frying ... Project #2 (though maybe not with Percebes 😋)

I did 3.5h, but truly think longer would have been better ... Will try 275 F (or 135 oC) next time, with about 2.5h as per ypur experience. Thanks ! They give a range, starting at 225 F. As a fan of SV, the lower end of the range looked more appealing to me (bias, I know), and reading through the book again he clearly references the higher end (275F to 300F) as his preferred range, just as @TicTac does. So, next project is on ☺️ And yes - I used a rub made from brown sugar, salt, celery salt, paprika, pepper, granulated garlic and granulated onion, with just a touch of chipotle and cinnamon, sprinkled more or less evenly on a thin slather of mustard.

Thanks - I also suspect the temperature. I can choose anywhere between ~40 oC and 135 oC. I was tending towards 107 oC (225 F) as suggested by Franklins BBQ book, but had to shorten the time a bit and did 115 oC. Next time more patience 🤗

I decided to venture into the topic of smoking and bought myself an entry level electric smoker. I was certain to sneak the purchase by the missus, but it’s difficult to hide a black monolith on the terrace that expels smoke at a visible rate for hours. She knows me so well: she deducted that 1) it’s probably another toy for cooking, 2) it probably didn’t cost much per se but 3) probably will lead to significant investments into more equipment and time in the foreseeable future. My wife 🥰 Anyway, first try with beech wood (German standard) and pork ribs. Flavor was good, both “dry” and sauced. Needs a bit more tenderness and maybe a more complex and expensive setup 😜