Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

You might want to see if you can find a full size. Vermouth is one of the best things to use in spaghetti sauce and any kind of pasta sauce with tomato in it. It Mellows the acid in the tomatoes and gives it a wonderful flavor. I've been using dry vermouth for years and I love it.

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm trying not to buy alcohol that I might use once a year or less.  I have a cupboard full of various kinds, most of which was accumulated when I drank the stuff.  Now I only drink white wine so most of it just sits there.  I do use marsala and spiced rum and the occasional something else like black currant liquor.  Here is my collection of seldom used liquors:

Edited January 17 by ElsieD
Fixed a typo (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

5 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Here is my collection of seldom used liquors:

I can pretty much match that. The only ones I use anymore are vermouth, Chinese rice wine, dry sherry and wine for cooking.

[TdeV]

Can I steam open fresh clams, then refrigerate overnight, then "cook" the (rest of the) recipe tomorrow?

[TdeV]

The Guardian has a nice Valentine's Day recipe for spiced duck.

Can I use previously sous-vided duck legs (unspiced) and marinate with these spices?

I thought I might mix the spice and marinate the cooked duck for a day, dry it, then put under a hot broiler for a couple minutes.

Feasible?

 

 

Edited February 12 by TdeV
Clarity (log)

[pastrygirl]

37 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Can I use previously sous-vided duck legs (unspiced) and marinate with these spices?

 

Are they confit-ed?   Maybe you could add the spices then re-sv at a lower temp to infuse the flavor?

 

 

[TdeV]

2 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

Are they confit-ed?   Maybe you could add the spices then re-sv at a lower temp to infuse the flavor?

 

No, having never confit-ed anything, I've no idea how to. 

 

The duck legs were sous-vided at 160ºF for 28 hours, then iced and frozen (Dec 2024). There is a lot of duck fat and some fluid in the bag (there was no fluid or seasoning added to the original bag).

 

The Guardian recipe calls for "Mix the salt, five-spice and orange zest in a small bowl. Put the duck legs on a plate, scatter the spice mix over both sides, then cover and chill overnight, or for at least six hours."

 

Does spicing in the fridge help cooked meat? If I re-cook them sous vide, what temperature and for how long?

 

@Dave the Cook and @rotuts maybe could help.

 

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

I dont know if ModernistCuisine-like studies have been done 

 

determining flavor retention in meat , starting w raw , or starting w cooked .

 

generally there is flavor left on the meat , no matter how hard you try to wipe it off .,

 

unless you wash it off .  but why do that with something cooked ?

 

generally speaking , you remove a spice mixture or marinate before cooking

 

to avoid burning the mixtures.  Why not add those flavors as a sauce ?

 

and reheat the duck in that sauce , and spoon it over the duck on your place.

 

generally speaking a confit you remove some of the fat w the jus so that the duck browns

 

in a hot pan , vs simmers/steams if the duck is still wet.

 

Id brown the duck in the usual way , then add those flavors as a sauce.

Edited February 12 by rotuts (log)

[pastrygirl]

21 minutes ago, TdeV said:

No, having never confit-ed anything, I've no idea how to. 

 

The duck legs were sous-vided at 160ºF for 28 hours, then iced and frozen (Dec 2024). There is a lot of duck fat and some fluid in the bag

 

Actually, sounds like you do/did.  Confit is cooked slowly in fat until the fat permeates the meat and is a common treatment for duck legs.

[TdeV]

Thank you very much, @pastrygirl.

[Dave the Cook]

13 minutes ago, rotuts said:

Id brown the duck in the ususal way , then add those flavors as a sauce.

 

I agree.

 

To hew as closely as possible to the flavors outlined in the recipe (which sounds very tasty, btw), I'd defat the bag juice (what you call "fluid) and measure out 3 - 4 tablespoons. Mix this with OJ, zest, some 5-spice (start with a little; you can always add more, but you can't take it out) and a pinch of salt. Heat to a simmer in a small saucepan, and adjust the spice and salt to suit. If you want to use this as a glaze, add maybe 1 tsp. sugar and dissolve.  Brush this on the duck and run it under the broiler.

[TdeV]

The duck turned out delicious, see here.

 

@rotuts, what is Chef's Prime Pork Roast?

 

 

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

Im not sure what you are referring  to .

[TdeV]

33 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@TdeV

Im not sure what you are referring  to .

 

I have a cut from my university meat store which is labelled "Pork Chef's Prime Roast" and I've no idea what it means. It's 2 lbs and has no bones, no visible fat.

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

Got it .  will you be able to add a few pics ?   3 - 4 aspects ?

 

looking forward to it .

 

Way Back When , David Letterman had a segment  ( I viewed it the next day or so , who can stay up that late  ? )

 

" Know your Cuts of Meat "  I did pretty well , but got no meat ,  and that Meat was Prime from Lobel's

 

https://www.lobels.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorAs7DmANemW9ZsWnBJ2UgD0XohB_wjN2a2v26APWsYHi5fL2ED

 

' Know your cuts of Pork "

[TdeV]

@rotuts, I've just bunged it into the Anova in sous vide mode with a dry rub. Here's the original recipe from Anova. @gfweb says one can use the lower tempreature for 2 days. For non-pull apart pork, he uses 150ºF for 2 days. Which I have done a few times, quite successfully.

 

The recipe is for pork shoulder and that's not what I think this cut is. However, it's now covered in dry rub so it might be difficult to determine. The roast is 2 lbs, 7" x 5" (top photo shows long view) x 2.25" high (bottom photo).

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by TdeV (log)

[DesertTinker]

@TdeV I found the picture and information below on Reddit. Does this look like yours did?

 

Edited 1 hour ago by DesertTinker
Added link (log)