ronnie_suburban wrote:

annak wrote:did this one! not the grilled one. https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/201 ... ecipe.html

I made them, too. Typical J. Kenji López-Alt recipe - good but not great and definitely flawed. Still, I really enjoyed the process, which I feel helped prepare me for taking on some recipes that will be more worthy of my time and ingredients down the road . . .
=R=

I made scallion pancakes recently too with a vietnamese chicken liver pate and separately a five spice pork mince ala Chengdu guo kui. To be fair to Kenji, a lot of scallion pancake recipes omit salt in the dough. Cook's Illustrated has no salt in the dough, but does sprinkle some in the middle and uses a flour/oil paste to help keep the layers distinct. Also Kenji's double roll-out has no value in my tests. Finally, I think Kenji's hydration level is a bit low (60%) but CI's is a bit high (80%). I usually go for around 66% and add salt in the dough, because it's freaking bread and it needs salt.

boudreaulicious wrote:

cilantro wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:
Needed to find an all-butter recipe

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-xpm-2013-08-21-sc-food-0809-hoosier-mama-book-20130821-story.html

Used this one: https://www.inspiredtaste.net/22662/flaky-pie-crust-recipe/
—super simple and worked great!

That is just Kenji's pie dough:
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/07/easy-pie-dough-recipe.html

Cook's Illustrated recently updated it slightly to use a bit more water (good) and some fussy steps with the last nub of butter that aren't really needed.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Coiled up

I'm a fan of scallion pancakes, my current take is a mash-up of Kenji, a random Chinese woman on YouTube and experience. I'm also a fan of bagels, homemade or otherwise. In the Serious Eats Jo G recipe they reference Bernard Clayton, I have his books and made the referenced bagel recipe a dozen times or more. Not for a few years, but its a winner as is his Complete Book of Breads

Speaking of coils, I made layered flatbread ---> Link tonight that utilized yogurt, butter and a rolling/coil technique. Turned out well, perfect as accompaniment to chicken off the Weber kettle.





Flatbread/chicken count me a Fan!

botd wrote:I made scallion pancakes recently too with a vietnamese chicken liver pate and separately a five spice pork mince ala Chengdu guo kui. To be fair to Kenji, a lot of scallion pancake recipes omit salt in the dough. Cook's Illustrated has no salt in the dough, but does sprinkle some in the middle and uses a flour/oil paste to help keep the layers distinct. Also Kenji's double roll-out has no value in my tests. Finally, I think Kenji's hydration level is a bit low (60%) but CI's is a bit high (80%). I usually go for around 66% and add salt in the dough, because it's freaking bread and it needs salt.

Yeah, I'm no fan of CI, either but I've had so many issues with Kenji's recipes, I just don't consider him a credible source anymore. And a big yes to this: "it's freaking bread and it needs salt!" I should not have abandoned my instincts. What you made sounds delicious, though. Especially the five spice pork mince. Would love a recipe if you care to share it.

G Wiv wrote:I'm a fan of scallion pancakes, my current take is a mash-up of Kenji, a random Chinese woman on YouTube and exeriance. I'm also a fan of bagels, homemade or otherwise. In the Serious Eats Jo G recipe they reference Bernard Clayton, I have his books and made the referenced bagel recipe a dozen times or more. Not for a few years, but its a winner as is his Complete Book of Breads

Speaking of coils, I made layered flatbread ---> Link tonight that utilized yogurt, butter and a rolling/coil technique. Turned out well, perfect as accompaniment to chicken off the Weber kettle.

Your bird and flatbread both look awesome! Care to share some flatbread links/recipes?

It was a Sunday of much cooking over here but a very enjoyable one. I think the weather helped because the Weber kettle portion of the day was especially pleasant. In the end, dinner really was just meat and potatoes . . .


Smash & Fry Fingerling Potatoes
I love this method, which I break out about once a year. Lightly simmer the potatoes in salted water until they're tender. Let them cool and smash them gently with the bottom of a pan. Then fry them in garlic-infused peanut oil (as pictured here) until crispy. They get really crispy and stay that way even after they cool off.


Smash & Fry Fingerling Potatoes w/Garlic Chives
Notice the fine linen!


Hanger Steaks
Lightly oiled, seasoned and ready to go.


Direct Cooking
First, a few moments quickly turning them over a direct fire to sear and mark them. Fwiw, I started the larger steak about 2 minutes before the smaller one.


Indirect Cooking
Next, move them over to the indirect side and cover the grill. I think I left them on the indirect side for about 6 minutes. At that point, the Thermapen said 113F and it was time to pull them.


Ready To Rest
They needed about 10 minutes before slicing, which gave me time for one more item . . .


Asparagus
Trimmed, lightly oiled and seasoned . . . then placed on the indirect side with the tips away from the heat. Cover the grill and wait.


Grilled Asparagus
8 minutes (covered, indirect) was the magic number on this batch.


Hanger Steak
Really delicious and extraordinarily tender.


My Plate
Sorry for the sloppiness. This was also my breakfast plate and my lunch plate. We're cooking so many meals at home that I'm trying to avoid running the dishwasher more than once a day. So, unless there's something really gnarly on it, I tend to use the same plate all day.

=R=

In the chicken on the Weber picture, is that the neck just to the right of the chicken? That chicken looks mighty fine also.

After a brave Costco run, SueF returned with lamb loin chops.
There was pesto in the freezer, an acorn squash on the counter slowly turning orange...
Mixed the pesto with an equivalent volume of panko, tossed slices of squash with EVOO, smoked paprika and thyme, grilled (over gas), then the chops were briefly broiled in the toaster oven to brown the crust. While I was prepping, SueF made corn muffins (they came out of the toaster oven just before the chops went in). For service, the squash was drizzled with balsamic, and a little puddle of the same put under the chops.

Puckjam wrote:In the chicken on the Weber picture, is that the neck just to the right of the chicken? That chicken looks mighty fine also.

Backbone.

I cut the backbone out to facilitate spatchcocking, halved and tossed it in with the chicken to brine. Aside from the wing tip, and Pope's Nose, it may have been the best bite on the chicken, and the chicken was damn tasty. The other half is on the opposite side of the chicken.

ronnie_suburban wrote:Your bird and flatbread both look awesome! Care to share some flatbread links/recipes?

Crispy fingerlings look fantastic, and I'd cut a bitch for that hanger steak!

I am, as noted, on a flatbread kick, soon to move back to scallion pancake, and a slight shift from banana muffins. I may take a detour to English Muffin lane.

Of the flatbread recipes/techniques I've tried lately the one I made last night was my favorite, though a bit more labor intense as there was multiple stages of buttering involved. Smitten Kitchen Layered Yogurt Flatbread

I liked them as they were, I always make a recipe as written the first time out (unless there is an obvious egregious error). Yogurt lent a slight tart flavor that went well with the juicy mildly spicy hot smoke/roasted chicken and layers lent a crispy lightness. Next time out I may add zaatar when coiling/rolling and or caramelized onions.

ronnie_suburban wrote:My Plate
Sorry for the sloppiness. This was also my breakfast plate and my lunch plate. We're cooking so many meals at home that I'm trying to avoid running the dishwasher more than once a day. So, unless there's something really gnarly on it, I tend to use the same plate all day.

=R=

I will not show this statement to my Dad. He would do exactly what you do, if he could get away with it.

I don't understand why you are reusing dishes. That food clinging to it is a bacteria farm.

I run the dishwasher as many times as necessary. It is not an area I feel any need to cut corners. I would cook a lot less, if I had to do dishes by hand every time.

Regards,
Cathy2

Rene G wrote: (Could some non-subscriber let me know if this recipe is accessible? I think it may be part of NYT's no-paywall quarantine recipes.)

I am a non-subscriber and was able to access the link.

ronnie_suburban wrote:So, unless there's something really gnarly on it, I tend to use the same plate all day.

Ronnie, I love you almost as much as Gary Busey loves cocaine but . . .

Hand wash the dish between cycles!

I'm running low on the little pellets one pops into the dishwasher and have taken to the occasional hand wash myself. Its not like I haven't been to the store since I noticed we were low just that, even with a list, I forget to buy.

Cathy2 wrote:I don't understand why you are reusing dishes. That food clinging to it is a bacteria farm.

G Wiv wrote:Hand wash the dish between cycles!

Ok, never fear. Julie tells me that she has, in fact, been hand-washing them between machine runs and that she only skipped mine yesterday because the scallion pancake snack was only about 90 minutes before dinner. Apparently, she's a lot more sensible than I am.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Ok, never fear. Julie tells me that she has, in fact, been hand-washing them between machine runs and that she only skipped mine yesterday because the scallion pancake snack was only about 90 minutes before dinner. Apparently, she's a lot more sensible than I am.

=R=

Yay Julie!

The GP wrote:

Rene G wrote: (Could some non-subscriber let me know if this recipe is accessible? I think it may be part of NYT's no-paywall quarantine recipes.)

I am a non-subscriber and was able to access the link.

Excellent! Thanks for letting me know. A few years ago NYT put most of their recipes behind a paywall. Recently they put together a timely selection of recipes that are freely accessible – Self-Quarantine Recipes: What to cook when you're stuck at home. Worth looking at, especially for those who have avoided NYT recipes since they started charging for them.

Not food-related, but NYT has made much of their phenomenal coverage of the pandemic available to non-subscribers – The Coronavirus Outbreak. I believe you need to create a free account.

Speaking of Scallion Pancakes, here is Kevin Pang's father's (Jeffrey Pang) YouTube channel detailing recipes as a memory/remembrance.; for his son.

(Green Onion Pancake video)

Here is the delightful article in NYT that Kevin wrote about this, where I remember this from.

Edited to fix url

Hi,

Last week, I impulsively bought two-pounds of Shanxi fresh noodle aka Chinese Fettucine.

Glancing through recipe suggestions in an Epicurious email, I found something to try out: Better Than Take Out Stir-Fried Udon. While I did not have Udon noodles, I could substitute with Shanxi noodles.

The only adjustment made was boiling the Shanxi noodles for three minutes to make sure they were cooked through. Otherwise I followed the instructions in the recipe, except for adding chili pepper.


These were mighty fine noodles. Certainly a dish we will return to in the future. It is a meal on its own or a nice additional to a Chinese meal with multiple dishes.

I still have 18 ounces of noodles left, which may be a stir fried noodle redux or Jajangmyeon. I just love noodles.

Regards,
Cathy2

G Wiv wrote:I'm a fan of scallion pancakes, my current take is a mash-up of Kenji, a random Chinese woman on YouTube and experience.

Random Chinese woman
Good Youtube channel in general. Also, I like the squish at the end, brings out the layers.

G Wiv wrote:

G Wiv wrote:I'm a fan of scallion pancakes, my current take is a mash-up of Kenji, a random Chinese woman on YouTube and experience.

Random Chinese woman
Good Youtube channel in general. Also, I like the squish at the end, brings out the layers.

Yeah, cool stuff. As I was watching the Chive Pockets video, I was thinking "yes, this looks righteous."

Thanks,

=R=

The "Stuff I Didn't Know We Had and/or Forgot About" Dinner . . .


Sauteed Portobello Mushrooms w/Garlic, Red Wine and Glace Reduction
Ok, these I knew we had but I think they would have been better if I'd cooked them a day or two earlier. Still meaty and tasty, not slimy at all but just missing a little something.


Grilling Sausages
I found these vacuum-sealed (home-packed, separately) in the very back of the fridge. They'd lost their labels (if they ever had any) but longer ones seemed to be straight-up kielbasa and the shorter ones some sort of cheddar- jalapeño number. I cooked them almost all the way on the indirect side, covered, then finished them briefly on the direct side, uncovered. They were totally fine. Can't say I'd buy them again or avoid them in the future because I have no idea what they exactly were or where they came from.


Grilled Sausages
Again, totally fine.


Salad
Some of these greens had really seen better days but I was determined to use them up. I threw in a few home-made, oven-dried marinated mini tomatoes, which helped, as well as a huge handful of the never-ending garlic chives! Eventually, I drenched it all in some decent, store-bought blue cheese dressing.

Really hoping for more inspiration and cooking energy tomorrow. I've planned grocery deliveries for Thursday and Friday, so it could be more of an adventure until then.

=R=

G Wiv wrote:I'm running low on the little pellets one pops into the dishwasher and have taken to the occasional hand wash myself. Its not like I haven't been to the store since I noticed we were low just that, even with a list, I forget to buy.

I've been saying for a bit that dishwasher tabs could be the next toilet paper.

I find that the tabs started leaving an excessive soap residue all over the machine so I'm switching to dishwasher powdered detergent so I can control the amount that goes into a load once the tabs run out.

gastro gnome wrote:I find that the tabs started leaving an excessive soap residue all over the machine so I'm switching to dishwasher powdered detergent so I can control the amount that goes into a load once the tabs run out.

I buy liquid dishwasher detergent for the same reason plus rinse agent in a separate reservoir. I think that combo replicates the tab. Plus you control the amount of soap. A friend had cloudy drinking glasses, then learned from a repairman it was from too much dishwashing detergent.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Last night, I finished my last container of Cascade dishwasher detergent from Costco. I carefully washed out the container, then weighed it dry this morning: 157 grams.

I weighed a brand new container, then subtracted the container weight:
3709-157=3552 grams

After I added dishwasher detergent to the dishwasher, I weighed the container again:
3552-3521=31 grams

I then weighed the difference and divided by 31 grams:
3552/31=114.5 loads

Typically do a load a day and sometimes twice, I hope this bottle will take care of us for the duration.

Regards,
Cathy2
(who really dislikes hand washing)

Update:
Today container weigh 1244 grams - 157 = 1,087 gram detergent

If I use about 31 grams per wash, then I have 35 wash cycles left.

I have been using the dishwasher at least twice a day, sometimes three times, I have about two weeks left.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 - March 19, 2020 wrote:Hi,

Last night, I finished my last container of Cascade dishwasher detergent from Costco. I carefully washed out the container, then weighed it dry this morning: 157 grams.

I weighed a brand new container, then subtracted the container weight:
3709-157=3552 grams

After I added dishwasher detergent to the dishwasher, I weighed the container again:
3552-3521=31 grams

I then weighed the difference and divided by 31 grams:
3552/31=114.5 loads

Typically do a load a day and sometimes twice, I hope this bottle will take care of us for the duration.

Regards,
Cathy2
(who really dislikes hand washing)

Update:
Today container weigh 1244 grams - 157 = 1,087 gram detergent

March 19 - May 4: 46 days

114 loads - 35 remaining: 79 or average of 1.7 loads per day.

If I use about 31 grams per wash, then I have 35 wash cycles left.

I have been using the dishwasher at least twice a day, sometimes three times, I have about three weeks left.

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:Today container weigh 1244 grams - 157 = 1,087 gram detergent
If I use about 31 grams per wash, then I have 35 wash cycles left.

Until I did the math, I thought I might be running out sooner just from lifting the container.

I hope never to be concerned about my dishwashing detergent use ever again. These are strange times (and I hate hand washing).

Regards,
Cathy2

Cathy2 wrote:Until I did the math, I thought I might be running out sooner just from lifting the container.

Just an observation that post was so very C2

Armed with mask, Purell, wipes, gloves, disinfected credit cards, pearl grip derringer in a garter-belt holster, full body bio suit and . . . Ellen went on a garden quest. Along the way she found dishwasher pellets, not our usual brand, cascade or kirkland, but they would suffice.

Note to Mike, Ellen has also noticed residue from pellets though when we religiously use a rinse aid such as Jet Dry its negligible.

I was told there'd be no math

G Wiv wrote:Random Chinese woman

Re scallion pancakes, here is another Random Chinese Woman making scallion pancakes. Mama has mad skills and a few tricks I've never seen.

Eggs Benedict for Sunday breakfast. English muffin topped with smoked salmon, topped with poached egg, topped with hollandaise sauce, topped with fresh cut chives.

Sauce was a touch runnier than it should have been. I didn't whip it long enough.

City of Highland Park has cancelled all 4th of July activities. Even when we stop sheltering at home, there is no place to go.

Fortunately, my life revolves around zoom meetings, lectures and social gatherings. If you are wearing stained nightgown, you can post a picture of yourself from a better day. Instead of revealing to the world you are sitting in the basement, you can have a faux backdrop of a vintage kitchen, the Chicago skyline or a moonscape. Your life circumstances can change into a Potemkin Village of faux aspirations.

Tonight, via zoom, I join a newly minted cookbook club at the Highland Park Library. This evenings cookbook du jour is Sheet Pan Suppers by Molly Gilbert.

I skimmed through the book looking for a recipe using available ingredients. I finally settled on Shakshuka, because I had eggs plus two containers of sauce: leftover pizza sauce and Indian simmering sauce. Anything to free up space in the fridge is always welcome. I made an estimated half-recipe to avoid more leftovers.

AFter preheating the oven to 350, you put in a pan with chopped peppers, shallot, garlic and spices mixed with olive oil. After 10-15 minutes when the pan was exploding with great scents, it is removed. The spiced vegetables and tomato sauce are mixed together, then spread out and divets made to harbor an egg. This bakes for 20 minutes to set the whites and still have loose yolks.



This was welcome change for breakfast. The warm crescents helped skin the cat (aka grab all the juices). It was a very satisfying beginning for yet another day sheltering at home.

Regards,
Cathy2