eG Foodblog Tag Team IV: Marlene, Dave, snowangel - Cold Turkey, Three Ways

[Chris Amirault]

Tryin' to wrap my mind around the idea that chow mein goes better than egg rolls with caesar salad dressing, peas, and chicken sandwiches.

[Marlene]

I've returned from the school. slightly deaf, but otherwise in one piece. No Manhattan yet, as I need to take the lad to get his hair cut. In the meantime, I've pulled out the mandoline and am contemplating it. Oh, and the steak au poivre requires the flaming of cognac, so you can look forward to possible reports of either missing fingers or burning house.

The things we do for you guys!

[Marlene]

Ok, this mandoline thing is complicated. Maybe I should just hand cut the fries.

Who's used one of these before? I have the OXO one. I'm gathering by reading this, that first, I take the whole potato and slice it. Then I take the slices and slice them into french fries, yes? Can I do more than one slice at a time?

[mizducky]

Ok, this mandoline thing is complicated.  Maybe I should just hand cut the fries. 

Who's used one of these before?  I have the OXO one.  I'm gathering by reading this, that first, I take the whole potato and slice it.  Then I take the slices and slice them into french fries, yes?  Can I do more than one slice at a time?

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My mandoline is not an OXO, but it is another inexpensive plastic model. It does allow you to use the slicer blade and the julienne blades simultaneously, so that you can just slide a whole potato across and cut a whack of french fries with each pass. Does yours have some way to get both the regular slicer blade and the julienne bladelettes deployed simultaneously? If so, you're all set.

[Marlene]

Now that makes more sense. Yes, I'm pretty sure I can do that with this model.

[JAZ]

Now that makes more sense.  Yes, I'm pretty sure I can do that with this model.

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You've probably figured it out by now, but you put the straight blade in, and then dial the wheel to choose the large or small julienne size. Then you can slice the whole potato and end up with julienne.

[Marlene]

Thanks Janet! And you all have the number for emergency in case you haven't heard back from me in a few hours?

[snowangel]

Tryin' to wrap my mind around the idea that chow mein goes better than egg rolls with caesar salad dressing, peas, and chicken sandwiches.

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I, too, tried to wrap my mind around this, until I looked at the lunch ladies who had fed about 200 more people than they expected and just gave up.

The kids got a big kick out of me taking pictures of the meal. Peter asked them "well, doesn't your mom take pictures of food for eGullet? They really should, you know. It makes them better."

[snowangel]

My, Marlene, you are brave. Given how my week has gone, there's no way I'd be attempting a mandoline and flaming cognac. You'd be reading about it in the paper.

Today has been a better day. I've had cravings, but have just flat gotten busy. Buying a new toy really helped. (BTW, why don't they include real memory cards in new cameras? Well, I should say it is a real card, but it doesn't hold squat, so really the price of the camera is like the entree, without taxes, wine, or a salad or dessert.)

[Rachel Perlow]

You picture of peas shows you are playing with the microzoom feature. Jason LOVES that you can focus as close as 1 cm from object. Use it in good (even better now!) health.

[Smithy]

(BTW, why don't they include real memory cards in new cameras?  Well, I should say it is a real card, but it doesn't hold squat, so really the price of the camera is like the entree, without taxes, wine, or a salad or dessert.)

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We learned the same thing. It was a week or two later that we realized the vendor had kept the original card, too. Was that supposed to happen? (But what would we do with a 3-picture memory card?) Anyway, enjoy the new camera! And I still think a time-capsule with the carcass of the old camera and other memorabilia of this time, buried at The Cabin with all due pomp and circumstance after the ground thaws, is the way to go. If you're worried about electronics and soil pollution, remove the circuit board first. The kids should enjoy that bit of surgery.

[Lori in PA]

C'mon flamin' cognac!

[Marlene]

Ok, the potatoes are sliced and partially fried for the first round. The cracked pepper is on the steaks and they are resting. The boys are out getting haircuts and we seem to be having a surprise mini snowstorm here at the moment.

I did not cut my fingers off, (cheer up, I could still burn the house down ) but I'll have more to say about the OXO shortly.

[snowangel]

Dinner preps are underway here so I can take Peter to a school function. When he gets home, Paul will take Diana to her school function. Thankfully, Heidi's school function was right after school. Three kids in three different schools keeps me hopping.

Stay tuned for butter braised beef. And pictures, now that I have a new camera.

[maggiethecat]

Stay tuned for butter braised beef.  And pictures, now that I have a new camera.

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Very cool, on both counts!

Mad ups to you and Marlene for preparing and photographing such fab Friday-night feasts! It's that Friday night quick enough to whip up between tricks perennial chez nous, spaghettini ala Putanesca. I noticed that we even have a Putanesca Kit in the fridge: a Tupperware containing a can of anchovies and a grip of olives. Quick, brainless, tasty.

A pink martini or three -- rosy because we steeped some vodka with blood oranges, a pretty drink indeed! I didn't go out for a pop or two with buddies from work because i was terrified that the ambience and the heavenly aroma of cigarette smoke would make me crack and light up. Maybe in a couple of weeks I'll do a test run; a Friday night without cigarettes still seems mighty lame and sad.

More origami flowers. More internet retail. Day ten with nary a cigarette, but trust me, not because I don't lust for one.

[snowangel]

If someone would tell me how to resize my pictures on Picasa, I would be able to post them...

[fifi]

Heh . . . The memory card thing. I had a Sony Mavica that used the little CDs before I got the Nikon D70. I was somewhat paranoid about the memory card thing, running out and not having a place to download it. I gave up traveling with the laptop when I retired. I mean, I could pick up the little CDs just about anywhere for really cheap. Soooo . . . I bought a 2 Gigabyte chip. Don't want to run out, you know. Well, I have now downloaded 4 CDs worth of high res shots and the camera shows 730 or so left!!!! I should have bought 2 smaller ones.

About Chufi's beef . . . I did a little over a pound, didn't have guests, so I snacked on it for a few days. I stored the butter gravy separately. At the end of the beef, I still had some left over. I cooked some of those wide egg noodles and tossed them with the left over gravy. That is a side to die for. I did have guests when I served that and they were blown away. I may make the beef just to get that gravy for more noodles. After all, I have been known to smoke a pork butt just to have some for Barbeque Posole.

[Marlene]

Tonight's dinner may have been one of the best I have ever made. All of it was new to me. Steak au Poivre, Pommes Frites. And on we go to the great experiment.

First I had to haul out the mandoline (more on that sucker later) and julienne the potatoes:

Mandoline cut fries:

Then they needed to be soaked in cold water for 15 minutes:

In the meantime, I did my best to crack peppercorns. This sucks let me tell you. I used my mortar and pestle, ziplock bag and rolling pin and I still had trouble cracking them. I need a spice grinder.

Coated the steaks with the pepper and let them rest:

In the meantime, it was cocktails for us, and KFC for Ryan:

I swear I had other pics of this, but they didn't seem to be on the camera. This is some sort of chicken wrap and with that he had fries and a large pepsi.

Bck to the pommes frites which needed to be fried briefly and then held:

Time to commence cooking. The mise and the pan:

Searing the steaks:

Setting the cognac on fire. I swear it was on fire, you just can't see it in the picture. It certainly wasn't a spectacular blaze or anything.

adding the cream and mustard for the sauce:

In the meantime, it was time to get the pommes frites in for the second frying. As I was busy with the sauce, the frying fell to Don . R2D2 ready to go:

Pommes Frites

Steak au povire:

[Pan]

That meal looks good, Marlene! Maggie, I'm impressed! Good going, all you quitters! Dave, you around tonight? [Edit: Speak of the devil, I see Dave is reading this thread. Not that you're a real devil, Dave. ]

Edited February 11, 2006 by Pan (log)

[Marlene]

More on the OXO mandoline. First of all, it was a bitch to slide the potatoes down the grate. It took way more arm power than it should have to start with and the pusher just didn't seem to be able to handle the smaller part of the potato when it got close. I wasted this much:

It just wouldn't go through no matter what. After I removed the blades for cleaning I tested them for sharpness, and it seems to me that the slicing blade is pretty much dull as dishwater. I want to trade this thing in for something better.

[fifi]

Boy. Am I impressed. I would never attempt steak au poivre at home. But, it is my favorite steak to order at a steak house. I can't remember which one, but one of the locals around here mixes green peppercorns with the black. Divine! You are giving me courage to try it. Well, maybe when I get a real stove.

And, R2D2 is right in tune with my activity this evening. I am watching "2001: A Space Odyssey" on Turner Classic Movies. That is some fryer.

[Dave the Cook]

A buttload of thanks to my fellow bloggers, and Maggie too, for holding the fort during my absence. You guys are the best. A combination of poor networking and a really efficient virus (possibly accompanied by a newly developed allergy to mildew) laid me low. Following a record-time run to Atlanta, I'm back in the land of DSL and the simple and predictable effects of pine pollen.

Some background: one of the things I do for a living is trade show support. That means building the exhibition stand for my company, hanging around during the show for meet-and-greet, then tearing things down and packing them up for shipment to the next show (which is next week). After Sunday's lapse, I was doing pretty well with smoking, between the illness and the work. In fact, the worst thing I could confess would be eating at chain restaurants: Carrabba's and Chili's. There was a little Cuban cafe in between -- roast pork, yellow rice and black beans, and the night I ended up at Chili's I had plans for a Vietnamese place that came with a recommendation, but I was too late (family places close early, don't they?)

Thursday, the show ran from 10:30 to 2:00. Tear-down went well -- I cajoled a sales guy into helping for a while. But I was exhausted by 4:00, when the hired help (local union labor) took a mandatory break. I could have kept working, but my feet were killing me, and I needed some time to clear my sinuses (all the material movement raises lots of dust). I went outside. The Tampa Convention Center has a tiered series of patios overlooking the bay, and the view is gorgeous. During the week, I'd come out on breaks to breathe in the salt air and rest my feet. Unlike earlier in the week, it was pretty much empty. Attendees and vendors had cleared out, on their way to the next call, to Ybor City, or to the Clearwater beaches. But there was one guy left, with his butt slung in a vinyl-strapped chair and his feet pressed against the railing, a notebook computer open on his lap.

We knew each other. In fact, he's on retainer as a consultant to my company, and I like him -- or I did. We reviewed the last few days, trading observations and notes, during the course of which, he offered me a cigarette. I hesitated. But whether it was the stress of the week, the feeling that a smoke would help me relax, or just my weariness at resisting, I accepted. I figured it was a one-time thing. I'd go back in and finish my work, I'd go back to my room and crash in anticipation of the drive home (did I mention I'd given up alcohol on Tuesday?), and that would be it.

Instead, after a few minutes, he slapped the computer shut and stood up. He reached into his pocket and tossed a slightly crumpled, almost empty pack of Marlboro Lights on the table between us. "You look like you need these more than me," he said, and walked away. And that, my friends, is how an otherwise rational person changes -- in a single motion -- from a non-smoker into an unrecovered addict, worrying about where he's going to get his next fix.

[snowangel]

Sorry to be late with dinner. It has been a juggle of getting kids to and fro from Valentine's school activities, and I've not only got a new camera, but decided to try some new editing software (picasa), and it has not been as seemless as it would seem. I'll blame it on nicotine deprivation.

But, I started the butter braise last night. It didn't go long enough to eat last night, so I stuck it on the deck, and stuck in the oven (lid askew, Chufi!) late this afternoon.

As I figured Paul would be approaching, I peeled and whacked up some russet potatoes to make a mash.

I had, yesterday, roasted some garlic for the mashers.

I think of all of the green veg, outside of salad, green beans are my favorite. During the summer, I haunt the farmer's market for the youngest and most tender. This time of year, they look knobby and rusty, so I head to Costco and get

What I generally do is put a mess of butter in a skillet and add the beans. Frozen. They look prettty odd as that bubbling butter coats the still frozen beans.

But, the beans thaw, and everything comes around.

I love that this new camera catches the bubbles! I'm so thrilled!

It's clear that my bit shot needs a bit of work, but remember, I've had this camera less than 12 hours, so I think I'm doing pretty good.

Dinner was wonderful. Tender, and melting. I needed a shot of heat (I've been on a spicy kick what with the not smoking thing), and when I needed a kick, it was cold, sharp horseradish that totally set off this dish.

The kitchen is clean, and Paul is off to fetch the teen from her first formal dance. How did my kids get so old?

[snowangel]

It is now time for a somber note. Before I stash this baby in to the Action Packer for Rachel's suggested ceremonial burial at the cabin, a moment of silence. This camera took photos for two and three quarters blogs. It documented my kids growing, developing. It photod many a wonderful cabin moment, many a family moment, many a meal, many a plate of larb. The life of the Fahnings.

Toast the G1. It was a good and worthy friend to me.

The A620 has a tough order to fill, which it will in a very nice way. My sadness left the minute I held this new beauty in my hands.

[snowangel]

Marlene, you are a smoking virgin, I know. You've had that bullet for I don't know now long and it is sitting gathering dust, but all of that will change on Sunday.

But, you've got a butt. You need to brine it and you should do that tomorrow.

You need to use Dave' basic forula:

2.5 ounces (70 grams) salt (1/4 cup table; 6 tablespoons Morton's kosher; 1/2 cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt) per quart of water.

As noted a bit more than 1/2 way down in in ECI course on Brining.

Now, you are lucky. This is an easy time of year to brine for us in the northlands. Find a container that will hold the butt and the appropriate amount of brine.

What I do at this time of year is boil some water (not a lot), add the salt and dissolve, and then add a bit more water and set it outside to chill, and then add the meat. If you are concerned about how much water you will need, find the container, add the meat, add the right amount of water, remove the meat and measure the water.

Once the salt is dissolved (if you have Diamond Crystal you won't even ened to heat water for the dissolving), stick it outside until it is cool, then add the meat. I brine my meat, at this time of year in the rear garage (we have a tanden 4-car garage) where the temp is between 35 and 40 degrees).

Let it set.

When you start the chimney, get the meat out, set it on a cookie sheet (half sheet pan) and stick it outside to dry and chill).

Meantime, I will assume you've made a batch of =Mark's South Carolina Mustard BBQ Sauce and have squisy white buns and cole slaw on hand.

I'm certainly hoping that the Weber Bullet crowd will stay tuned on Sunday!