The food thread

Well, it was my first time using a parrilla, but I guess I managed to cook myself and my wife a nice dinner.

Garlic bread, shitake with brie and fraldinha steak. Rare, as meat should be cooked - imo.
 

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OK... wife made my father's day a little bit early... Steak Diane... the flames when we flamed the bas-armagnac were like a foot and a half high... and we only used the requisite three tablespoons....

The other is pork chop, I think she used some Oloroso sherry.

Dang it... we must sound like drunks when we cook... 😉 🍷🍷
 

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How about this: Beef Tenderloin Lomo al Trapo from the NYTimes. You need a beef tenderloin, a lot of salt, red wine and a dish towel:
  1. Step 1
    One hour before cooking, remove the tenderloin from the refrigerator and place it on a cutting board or platter so that the meat comes to room temperature.
  2. Step 2
    Prepare a charcoal fire with the charcoal briquets or lump hardwood charcoal, using a chimney if you have one. You want all of the charcoal to burn until you have glowing red coals, about 25 minutes.
  3. Step 3
    Meanwhile, pour the red wine into a medium bowl and soak a clean white cotton dish towel (about 18 by 12 inches) in the wine. (You will discard the towel after cooking.) Gently wring the towel out so that it is still soaked but not dripping wet. Lay the dish towel on a sheet pan with a long side facing you.
  4. Step 4
    Slather the tenderloin with the mustard and sprinkle evenly with the herbs and pepper.
  5. Step 5
    Spread 1½ cups salt over the wine-soaked towel, making sure that a few inches of salt will extend beyond the tenderloin so that the meat can be completely encased in salt when rolled in the towel. Place the tenderloin on the salt and press the remaining salt on top of the tenderloin. Lift the bottom long edge of the dish towel up and over the tenderloin, rolling the tenderloin up in the salt-covered towel. As you roll, pat the salt onto the meat as needed to completely encase it, folding the sides of the towel in as you would when making a burrito.
  6. Step 6
    Secure the wrapped tenderloin by tying it with butcher’s twine or kitchen string, repeating knots every 1 to 1½ inches. You can do this with a series of butcher’s knots. If you don’t know the butcher’s knot, simple knots are fine. Any way you choose is fine.
  7. Step 7
    Spread the red-hot coals in the grill to form a bed big enough to cradle the meat. Place the wrapped tenderloin directly on the coals. After 10 minutes, flip it and cook for 7 minutes. Insert an instant-read thermometer through the burnt towel into the meat to check the internal temperature. If the thermometer reads 110 degrees, remove the meat from the coals. If not, continue to cook to 110 degrees, flipping one more time if necessary. Set the charred package on a platter or cutting board and let it rest until the carryover heat raises the internal temperature to 120 degrees for rare, about 10 minutes.
  8. Step 8
    Using a mallet or the back of a chef’s knife, strike the charred remains of the dish towel so that the salt crust cracks. Remove the burnt towel and chunks of salt and then transfer the tenderloin to a clean cutting board. Brush away any charred bits and salt and cut the tenderloin into 1-inch-thick slices, or slightly thicker if you prefer. Serve as is, or with chimichurri, horseradish cream or Colombian ají sauce.
  9. INGREDIENTS
    • One whole (2-pound) center-cut beef tenderloin
    • 5pounds charcoal briquets or lump hardwood charcoal
    • 1cup red wine (any kind)
    • 3tablespoons Dijon mustard
    • ¼cup dried herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary or any combination of them)
    • 1teaspoon ground black pepper
    • 2½ cups kosher salt (preferably Diamond Crystal)
 
Love that "face"

Seared ahi like that is a delicacy... try rubbing it with sesame oil and let it sit for a few minutes, then sear it in a very hot pan. The dipping sauce with ponzu, wasabi, ginger and a little bit of siracha... delicious.

Cool chop sticks...

Hey @jackinnj As Cal says... no pictures!!!! Beef in crusted salt is a traditional way of cooking it. Try it with spanish mackerel... slip a few slices of lemon in it before you roll it in the salt. It takes less time... and BTW, you can make this in the oven or normal BBQ grill. No need for that fancy New York Yuppie style. Again, lemon ponzu dipping sauce with shredded daikon.... oiiishi des.

Daughter was gonna make Beef Wellington on Sunday but suddenly has to go to work... so right now our Dad's dinner is up in the air. Dinner's at 6PM, so I'll probably cook. Wife is making Pulpo de Feria tomorrow on Saturday... that goes with potatoes... so I might make something with salad. Maybe just plain salted chicken thighs on the BBQ grill, with fettucinni tossed in garlic, oilive oil and good parmesan... a simple salad, some bread and a good bottle of red wine...

If you PM me, I'll send you my address. Bring a bottle of wine and you're invited.

Hmm... looking at the pictures of our meals... there's always wine laying around, huh? 😀😀😀😀🍷
 
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How about this:
That is an age old recipe borne from the days before refrigeration that has been replaced with no need to consider anymore. It's a waste of salt and more importantly a waste of wine. We are talking beef.
If you wish to do salt encrusting, I suggest fowl, cornish hens works well as does fish, and forget the towel, use egg and starch to bind and/or simple top it with the mix.
Beef deserves better.
Sounds a bit cranky I know but...
 
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I was shown the headlight assembly for a LR disco 3. This was before LED headlamps were ready for the big time and had HID main beams. As HID is slow to react they had a blind the obscures part of the beam for dipped. Then the headlamp was also steerable. So multiple motors, Canbus control and Land Rover electrics. This was never going to end well! The only thing that scared me more was seeing that TI has started selling DLP chips for headlight applications!

Back onto food. I have finally found some suitable lemons for making lemon pickle. Its a week into festering so can't yet tell if it's working or not. If it does I intend to get cocky and try fermenting some other things. Wife has tried a red cabbage and beetroot 'kimchi' from the supermarket and really likes it, so I have an excuse to experiment. My concern is that, being a supermarket product it's probably quite lightly fermented and home made is likely to be somewhat tangier. As soon as I find a suitable container I will get started and as ever share my failures for Cal's amusement.
 
DIY frankfurter (aka hot-dog) sauce,
It looks like tomato base, with onions and what else? Is there a hint of mustard in there?
"dirty-water" dog.
Had to look that up. West coast Canada hot dogs are avaialble primarily from street vendors and they are few and far between.
A new headlamp for an F150 is like $1,600.
So is a side mirror for the Edge. Mind you, there are a bunch of things in that mirror module. The motor to rotate it, the heater to defrost it and the dimmer when someone behind has the highbeams on. There's also the LED strip for signalling and whatever else I'm forgetting. Geez, sounds like that mirror is a bargain.
 
I will get started and as ever share my failures for Cal's amusement.
There are no failures Bill, only lessons. Hopefully minor ones.
This is my wife's way of fermenting. Plastic wrap and a dish on top. If it worked in Vietnam, it'll work here dammit!
She has not poisoned me yet. I did however introduce her to the sugar and starter method to make things go in the right direction sooner. She understood the reasoning, watched it happen in a side by side comparison and proceeded to give me smooches.
 

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Advice of wife based on advice of her mother as she thought our window sill wasn't sunny enough. I was not convinced as lactobacillus likes warmth but isn't an extremophile. We shall see what the yellow glorp looks like in a couple more weeks. worst case I am down 3 lemons and 30 mins of chopping. In the meantime red wine and dark chocolate are also fermented foods 🙂

Also when I get some more Jars* I will make some chutney again. Been over a decade, but used to like courgette and apple chutney. Aside, after 12 years of marriage still gets confusing that chutney and pickle mean something completely different to me than to the wife. we have to qualify with 'english' or 'indian' before the word. But she this year discovered she likes pickled gerkins so I have and excuse to get the pickling vinegar in and do some onions.

*things I do for love. I used to have a fine collection of jars just in case I made a batch of something or other. Wife has slowly reduced me down to just enough for jam making and taken the rest to put her spices in or recycled the nice large ones (also giving up Mayo has stopped a source of right sized jars). I will have to do the unthinkable and buy empty jars.