Duvel

YMMV … but in a world where people order espresso martinis, appletinis and the like, I am pretty sure my preferred version could qualify. For me, „my“ Martini is a straight hard & savory cocktail. I want the brine, and I want the alcohol and I want the herbal/spicy background that the gin provides. And I want the viscosity of a frozen gin in combination with the brine. Vermouth does distract from all of that.

My „perfect“ dry (& dirty) Martini consists of Bombay Sapphire 47%, a few dashes of Espinaler Olives pickling liquid and a stick to fend off anyone that wants to add vermouth …

I leave this to popular vote 😝

Keep in mind, this is what the largest discounter in Germany has in its portfolio and “adapts” to a specific occasion (in this case Super Bowl). It doesn’t strife for authenticity, but rather what the customers will actually buy.

Yes, but probably the meat content is less than that (probably 850g+), rest will be marinade.

Here as well. The XXL refers to the bag size, definitely. I know that might not be the case in the US, but here one kilogram of frozen prepared food is considered a lot. It is usually frozen and sold in smaller portions.

Sure, why not. Think bak kwa (but with different flavor profile) …

That is fairly common, I have no issues with that …

Bump - and just as a friendly reminder: Superbowl is coming … Even Aldi Germany has jumped on the bandwagon and - befitting this topic - is offering American Chicken Wings (in two flavors, authenticity check pending) 😉 Should I take a one for the team ? And just because you might be interested what Germanys largest discounter offers for Superbowl, here the complete portfolio:

Cold front outside - comfort food inside … Italian meatballs, with tomato sauce & linguine. Little one was very happy (and me too ☺️).

I am completely incapable of wrapping my head around such a concept. I liked the idea somehow - before I tried to make it. Besides the laborious deboning process I have to say that the resulting wing “nuggets” were to dry, especially compared to their conventional counterparts. That might be due to my lack of deboning skills. But I figured that probably the texture and juiciness of the idealized deboned chicken wing that resides in my head could be far easier achieved by taking a (deboned; commercially available) chicken thigh, chopped into chunks, marinated and fried. At the end this is the beauty of the Cook-Off: feeling inspired (or gently pushed by peer pressure) to try something that usually would not make the cut, and find out whether you like it or not. And exchange with others about the results and come to their conclusion as well 🤗 Amen !

Looks great - and a nice choice of wine, too ! Please consider submitting this also into our wings Cook-Off to preserve the method for others to get inspired …

So this is my first attempt on „Buffalo wings“ (in parentheses because I‘m not sure if I follow the protocol) in it’s deboned form* First step: precook the wings as per MCAH: SV for 12h at 62 oC. Try to remove the bone while still warm. Yeah, well. The bones didn’t really „slip out“ … Those who have followed my rabbit massacre in Cook-Off #86 know that successfully separating flesh from bones is not my core skill. In this case I managed 4 flats and 3 drums and decided to return back to an ever so exciting telcon instead. It’s just not my cup of tea. Deboned wings (left, with their complete cousins, right hand side) were dried in the fridge. Meanwhile I winged the hot sauce. Frank‘s is nearly impossible to find here, so I used Tabasco family reserve (which I like a lot), augmented by Tabasco Chipotle (that I like even more), a dash of Worcestershire sauce and some garlic powder plus a healthy** dose of butter. Pretty good mixture, I have to say … Lastly, predried wings were fried, tossed in the sauce and served with celery/carrot sticks and a mixture of creme fraiche & Roquefort. Yeah … Some tater tots on the side (thanks, @btbyrd) Yummy ! I enjoyed a Bourbon while preparing and after as a digestive aid … Never ever will I try to debone a chicken wing again. Just not worth it ! *at least that was the intention … ** from my point of view. My cardiologist disagrees.

There was a „wicked sharp“ precision slicer once in history with a french name, but I can‘t remember the name. Something like „Marie Antoinette“ or related to that …

Little one had a friend over for playdate and asked for the pizza at 16.30h instead for pizza & movie night. Smart kid even asked ahead because by now he knows that the oven has to heat up the pizza steel … Salami (the most popular for all the guest kids we have) Salami & mushrooms (my little ones choice) Artichoke & ham (because that’s what I found in the fridge and to annoy @weinoo 😝) Mushroom & Mett (aka sausage, again what we had) Margherita (for me, it was enjoyed later with a G&T) All shots taken in the kitchen, because the living room was a warzone …

SV fillet of pork (61 oC, 2h, seared) with champ and a sauce made from the bag juices, tomato paste, wine and cream.

Nice, @Shelby ! Duck wings ✅ Now … who volunteers for the ostrich ?

I primarily use commercially ground pork. In the past, when I started preparing my first loaves, I ran the mince through my grinder to get a finer texture. I stopped doing that as the resulting Leberkäse from minced meat will always have a slightly coarser texture that the commercial one (in Germany it would be sold as „Grober Leberkäse“), as you just can’t reach the results of the machine used for commercially turning the meat into a uniform mass (Kutter). As long as you get a good emulsion of fat and proteins by beating the mixture properly, the mouthfeel of the Leberkäse will be great …

Our @Shelby: mistress of all things game, perfectionist in fried food and now also juggling SE Asian languages like a pro 🥳

That looks very yummy - please feel free to post your method & this great outcome directly in the Cook-Off as well 🤗

There are basically three factors you might look into: 1) Temperature (as you suggested): if you come above 10 oC the emulsion you create by viciously beating the meat mixture is prone to break. 2) Not beating enough or having too coarse minced meat. You need to get to that uniformly pink sticky mess state. The meat mixture needs to behave like a dough. 3) No phosphates. You need to use baking powder with phosphates added, because these retain the water in the mixture when it cooks … Hope this helps - PM me if we want to look into your next trial 🙂

Oooh - I forgot about those … excellent taste as always, @shain 🤗

It’s sparkling water. It makes the resulting loaf a bit fluffier (for a lack of a better work for less dense). Can you describe what issues you have with the texture ? Maybe we can troubleshoot it …

… or you make it yourself as (visually) outlined here, with the exact (written) recipe here ☺️

From my point of view there is in principle nothing wrong with that. But if they are individually covered with an ice film to keep them separated, that will melt and dilute your marinade significantly. So maybe you‘ll need to amp up the amounts …