Most liked posts in thread: Soooooo Whatcha Eating?

I made Shakshuka for Mother's Day Brunch. I've been wanting to try it for awhile. I found several good looking recipes, and ended up using the NY Times recipe.

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014721-shakshuka-with-feta

No photos, but it was really good, and pretty easy to make. I highly recommend it.

CD

 

Oh.....My.....God!

As I have mentioned before, I got an immersion circulator for christmas -- the thing you use for sous vide.

I also found a really nice looking small chuck roast on sale at Kroger a couple of days ago. It was less than five bucks.

Soooooo, I bought the chuckie, seasoned it with kosher salt and black pepper, vacuum sealed and stuck it a 149-degree water bath for 16 hours. Yes, 16 hours.

Then, I set up the Weber Kettle for indirect cooking, tossed some oak on the coals for smoke, and smoked it at about 300 degrees for about an hour.

Wow! It was one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. It was a two pound roast, and I had to make myself stop eating it before I ended up with two pounds of beef in my belly.

The time on the Weber gave it a crust, and a subtle smokey flavor. I was planning to do two hours, but pulled it when the bark looked right. I think it was the right choice.

CD

 

Which immersion circulator are you using, I've been looking at them.

 

I was too busy eating to take pictures. But, here is a shot of some leftover meat. It will be gone by tomorrow afternoon. I have to go buy some bread worthy of that meat for a roast beef sammich.



16 hours, and still pink inside. The long, slow rendering of the fat makes a cheap cut of meat like "butta." The time on the Weber just added a nice "bark" to the roast, and some subtle smoke flavor. The cooking was already done in the bath.

I have an Anova Immersion Circulator. They run about 180 bucks. Worth every penny, IMO.

I love to cook, and love to try new cooking techniques. I was hesitant to buy an immersion circulator, so I told my family I wanted one, and got one for christmas -- no risk. One of the best gifts I've ever gotten.

Take the leap. Check out ChefSteps videos on YouTube. Then, just play with your food. PM me if you buy one and have any questions.

CD

 

I have an Anova as well! Love it! My dad just bought one last week on sale through their website. He's loving it, too.

 

I did a small brisket flat this weekend. I did 20 hours of sous vide, and two hours of oak smoke on the Weber kettle at 250 degrees.

First time I've ever cooked a good BBQ brisket, which is THE official staple of Texas BBQ. I've ruined a lot of brisket over the years, but doing it with the sous vide/smoker combination cook nailed it.

Since this was another "experiment," I didn't take pictures. But, I will do this again, and I'll try to stop eating long enough to take a few pictures.

CD

 

Nice little write-up of one of my clients in the local business paper.

http://www.themetropreneur.com/columbus/variety-is-the-spice-of-life-at-north-market-spices/

You've seen the results of some of my edible experimentation on these pages.

 

I love herbs and spices. I grow basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary and thyme in my garden. My pantry is full of other herbs and spices.

CD

 

I didn't cook from scratch tonight. Instead, I cooked up some Zummo's boudin for supper. I do like me some good boudin.

CD

 

Had to Google this one, how highly spiced? :smile5:

 

Cajun spice... that is REAL cajun spice, is all about flavor, and is not mouth-burning spice. It creeps up on you. Halfway through my boudin, my neck was sweating and I turned down the thermostat, but my mouth was fine.

When I lived in Port Arthur, ready-to-eat boudin was in every convenience store, just like hot dogs are everywhere else. Up here, it is a lot harder to find, but Kroger and Wallyworld have Zummo's. http://zummo.com/boudain/

CD

 

Zummo's web site says it is available at WalMart Supercenters in Ohio. Look near the smoked sausages.

BTW, if you find some, my preferred method of cooking is indirect on the grill. Last night, I used the oven at 350 degrees.

Some people eat the skin, others don't. If you grill or bake it, the skin is pretty easy to eat. If you steam it, the skin is tough, so you cut an end, and squeeze it out like toothpaste, or cut the skin off altogether.

CD

 

Might have to give this a try, but squeezing it out like toothpaste might be a turn-off.

Don

 

I did a YouTube search on eating boudin, and found a real gem. It tells the history, you get to hear real cajun accents, see a boucherie, see people cooking and eating boudin -- and as a bonus, a Duck Dynasty smack-down at the very end.

Like so many awesome foods, boudin was working-class food. It was a way to take the less desirable cuts of pork, and turn it into good tasting, filling food.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acy22OziLCI"]MUNCHIES Presents: A Short Film on Cajun Boudin - YouTube[/ame]

I've never made boudin from scratch, but will someday. I do cure and smoke my own Tasso, because you can't buy it here. I've done a few crawfish boils, but getting live crawfish in Dallas is really expensive.

CD

 

The ex-wife flew in tonight from the left coast to visit my kids and grand babies. I was elected to drive since I have the Suburban, and since she was paying for dinner I figured, what the heck. Why not, especially since we were going for sushi.

The near "boat" was full of sushi about 10 minutes before they brought out the second one and I thought to take a picture. Turns out the restaurant is in the same mini mall as my Indi Mechanics shop. Small world.

 

Wow, Sushi in a boat, cost by the boat or by the type you fill the boat?

Not much on Sushi, but a few rolls I like when my son's are buying.



Hey CD... Tasso? You can tell I was raised on the West Coast 50/60s and became an adult in the Midwest and now live in the Denver area....

 

Tasso is strips of pork butt (upper shoulder) that is cured, then smoked. It is kind of like ham, but is not eaten as-is, because it is pretty salty and smokey. It is pretty intense in flavor. In cajun cooking, you use tasso to season dishes. You dice it up, and add it to your slow cooked dishes kind of like a seasoning. I always use it when I make gumbo, for sure, and sometimes use it in red beans and rice.

Tasso is a sacrificial meat. It gives up it's flavors over a long cook to what you are cooking. When you eat a good bowl of gumbo with tasso in it, you don't taste the little bits of it in the gumbo, but the gumbo wouldn't taste the same without it.

It is impossible to buy outside of deep cajun country, so I make my own, vacuum seal it and freeze it, so I can pull it out of the freezer whenI feel like it.

CD