Foodies BS Thread.

So, I'm at the grocery store this morning, and while doin' my weekly shopping I come across a nice twofer sale they have going on. Now, while I prefer home-made stocks for cooking, I'll be the first to admit I use store-bought as well. I simply don't go through enough volume of carcasses to make enough stock/broth to use! So, I usually keep a couple handy. I'll use it for pan sauces and such and save homegrown stock for soups, usually.

Anyhow, the Publix by me has a nice BOGO this week, so I picked up some. Along with the usual assortment, I found these on the shelf now, too.


Now, my daughter is an asian nutjob that goes giddy-bonkers over anything chinese/japanese/korean/etc. So, for shits and grins, I grabbed one of the ' chinese hot and sour' ones to play with.

I also found a couple of demo recipes on the Campbells web site. I spent a little time in the kitchen this afternoon futzing around, and here's what I ended up with!

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons oil. Light oil...saffron, sesame, peanut in a pinch will work I think, just need a fairly high smoke point
1 lbish shrimp
red pepper to taste
~2 cups broccoli florets
medium red pepper, sliced into strips
1.5 cups of the previously mentioned stock
cornstarch

rice as you like it

I went with two cups of white rice, made with 4 cups of chicken broth and a tablespoon of butter. I *never* make rice with water any more, it's way too bland that way...



Slice up the pepper, cut down the broccoli...



Now, one of the many ways I'm insane...I love broccoli stalks as a snack. Cut them thin across the grain of the stalk and they're sweet, tender and delicious.



Anyhow, back to the cooking! I got some oil nice and hot....medium high heat. I cheated a bit on the shrimp too, dicing them up a bit so they're easier to eat on a spoon.



Saute them for about 4 minutes, turning constantly and just brown up the outside if you're using cooked, like I am. Get them out of the pan.



Heat a bit more oil, no more than a tablespoon, and heat it up. Dump the broccoli and peppers in there, saute them about 5 minutes as well, get them soft and nummy.



Dump in about 1.5 cups of the flavored broth. Also add in some heat...I used about a 1/4 tsp of the red pepper, because reasons. I brought this to a boil.

Then I took about another quarter to a third cup of the broth and made a 2 tablespoon cornstarch slurry.

Added that in, stir, cook at medium a couple-three minutes to cook the tastes together....



Bam, done. Plate up!



Ended up with:



Just enough red pepper to make the eyelids and upper lip sweat a tad. I'll add just a wee bit more stock next time, as I like saucey dishes. But, for 10 minutes prep and 20 minutes cook time on the rice (also, less than 10 minutes cooking for the rest)....I gotta admit, I was skeptical, but that flavored stock wasn't too salty and actually worked pretty darn well.

EDITED to add: Handy tip. Buy big cartons of stock. Use what you want, then pour the rest of the carton into ice cube trays and freeze.



I usually keep a ziplock of frozen beef and chicken cubes on hand at all times, it's great to store this way as it is good for months and you just grab a handful when needed. Just want a half-cup for a quick pan-sauce? A handful and 30 seconds in the microwave, bang. Deglaze and reduce. Otherwise, if you open the carton, you have maybe a week to use it up before it goes bad.

 

Got another one. Super difficult hunt. Birds were much smarter.
Had to tie fishing line to my decoy to give it movement.

 

Good lookin' stir fry Xaks!

I like the broccoli stems too! Even better when you peel them.

 

So I made homemade caviar out of paddlefish roe today. Pretty nuts. I guess paddlefish roe is legit caviar material that goes for big bucks, but you can't sell it. Anyway, I have a quart jar full of it, because that's how I roll, lol.

 

Thank you, sir!

I dunno if it actually qualifies as a stir fry per se, but the broth reduction and cornstarch slurry made a nice, clingy sauce base with a bit of kick thanks to the crushed pepper flakes. Really went well with the rice.

 

Just out of curiousity, having never even tried caviar...

...

why can't you sell it? is it one of those "like weed" laws that make no logical or scientific sense?

 

It's a gamefish. You can't sell game, at least in MO. Have to go get it yourself.

 

But...but...but...

..

.

IT ISN'T GAMEFISH. Its like saying you can't sell milk because cows aren't kosher , or some other bullshit I can't think of at the moment. You aren't selling game fish, you're looking at a separate by-product.

Shit like this is why I hate people and localized governments

 

I dunno man. All I know is that it goes for about 40 bucks an ounce and I have about 2 pounds of it in my fridge right now - lol.

 

So, I'm doing a bunch of reading last night about Sous Vide cooking and how it has made professional level kitchens hell easier and more efficient, plus a lot less wasteful.

Since I am insane and a great example of why you shouldn't give some people free time and an internet connection, I of course jumped immediately to "What the hell, I gotta try this!"

But, I'm also a kinda cheap bastard, and my wife will pinch a penny 'till it screams. There's absolutely zero possibility of spending $200-1000 on a pro-level recirculating unit.

Thus:

Assemble the hardware for the initial experiment:




Heat three gallons of water, dump into cooler, insert remote probe thermometer, and sit around playing Civ 5 for a couple hours and monitor the temperature falloff at intervals:




Since the baseline test worked well, and since more mass of water to fill the cooler will cool even slower, let's crank this puppy up and see what happens!

Grab a nice sized pork tenderloin:


Pat it dry, season it well with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and italian spice mix:



Heat 5 gallons of water to around 158 degrees, dunk into the beer cooler...now slap the pork into a gallon ziploc freezer bag and dunk it into said water. Replace thermometer and cover the probe line with a towel so the cat doesn't eat it.

The cat, in less than two minutes, investigates a warm something new in the house and promptly falls asleep on it.



*fast forward three hours*

'Borrow' a gallon of the cooking water...it's already hot, and we're almost done...and use it to cook taters for homemade mashed.



I evacuated the roast (kinda wierd looking) from the bath...



...and I had a NASA-hot pan ready and waiting for a sear to brown it up, where I found problem #1: The body of the roast had set in cooking in near weightlessness, so it was pretty *round*. There wasn't much on some sides TO sear, as it wouldn't contact the pan!



So, my next try, I'll try searing first maybe. We'll see how well the crust holds out through the sealed bag cooking.



Said and done, it does LOOK kinda neat, ready to carve:



So, plated, here we ended up with, a beer cooler cooked dinner!



The wife and yout couldn't tell the difference between this and the crock pot version, which is a compliment I think. It was very juicy, but a little....not tough, but slightly almost ...rubbery? Even in the crock it'll stay hotter longer and break down the meat more. This, at the lowest cooked temp for a short time, was very firm. Needed a knife to cut.

Still darn tasty, and not bad for an out of left field dinner experiment. Not sure if this is something I'd do much of at home seeing I don't cook for a lot of people , but I can really see how this would make a restaurant kitchen easier.

 

Way to try something new Xaks!

Salad for lunch today.

 

My uncle did something like this... but with corn on the cob... took a large cooler and added boiling water then the corn and let it sit with the lid closed of course for a few hours... I wasn't at this party but heard it was the best corn they have ever had!!!

 

So Sat night I finally tried cooking the pork chops with apples and onions... here are some pics....







I used a little to much apple juice when deglazing... but it tasted good... I should have let the pork chops simmer longer cause they were a little tuff... but I was rushing to cook it for my lunch on sunday and go to bed lol...

Here is a little thing I saw, thought I would share.

 

Now thats a salad!!

 

Thanks! Crab cakes on the menu for dinner!