Now that I have a nice camera, I have no shortage of photos. I take pictures of every bowl of cereal I make, and I weird people out at restaurants. Having a large camera, people often ask if I’m in a food related industry. I just look at them oddly and say, “no, I’m in the commercial construction material distribution business” and offer them no further explanation.
First dish – homemade burgers
I do own a meat grinder, but it’s vintage and the blades aren’t sharp, so I opted to try a food processor method I read about on Serious Eats’ A Hamburger Today website. I cut short rib, sirloin tips, and chuck into 1-2” cubes and put them in the freezer for 20 minutes. This gets the fat cold and firm so the blade can deal with it.
Then I pulsed the meat a few times.
I formed a fairly loose burger and seasoned with salt and pepper. I seared it in a smoking hot cast iron skillet, then turned down the heat and continued to cook for a few minutes, adding cheese on top along the way.
The resulting medium-rare burger was fantastic. The griddled exterior was crispy and flavorful, and the burger was fatty, tender, and deliciously greasy. I’m fairly sure I won’t be buying ground beef for burgers anymore. The cost was roughly the same, the flavor was unquestionably better, I can control the fat content, and as I’m comfortable eating even Publix beef medium rare, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be comfortable eating a freshly ground burger that way.
Next meal up – panini. I started by making a coleslaw, with some homemade chile oil as the base. I’ve had this batch a few months, and just a spoonful can be added to any number of dishes for improved heat and color.
The sauce was: 2 Tbsp of chile oil, 1T soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1t fish sauce, 1t Shaoxing rice wine.
For the panini filler – meats from Patak. Boston butt, salamis, and ham.
Stacked on ciabatta. Ciabatta is perfect for a panini.
See?
Next meal – 20 minute mac
Start by boiling your noodles per instructions. Meanwhile shred some cheese. Sauté chopped onions, garlic, and one small can of green chiles in a small amount of olive oil. Add 1-2T of flour, whisk rapidly. Slow pour in 1 cup milk, a bit at a time, whisking to create the roux. Add 1 cup cream after the milk, again, slow. Once all the liquid is incorporated, add the cheese. If it’s too runny, add more cheese. Too thick, add more cream.
Stir in noodles, place in oven safe serving dish, top with more cheese, broil.
Next dish – Ad Hoc Roasted Chicken
Let the chicken air dry in the refrigerator for up to 1 day, then rest on the counter for 1-2 hours before cooking. Truss. Set chicken on top of diced root vegetables. Rub butter or oil all over the skin. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook per recipe (linked it above)
Yum. Skin was the crispiest I’ve ever made. Slightly over cooked, but still acceptable.
Save the chicken fat/juices in the skillet with the leftover veggies. For a snack, reduce that liquid to create a pan gravy and pour over the vegetables.
Next – Muss and Turner’s small plates.
Squid, in a green olive based “salsa”. Sauce was rocking. Portion was huge.
Szechuan beef. Small portion, high quality, tender beef. Very nice.
Now I’m hungry.