Your Food Thread

[Fata Morgana]

Making spiced honey brushed chicken thighs with pierogis for dinner. And some sort of veggie, yet to be decided.

I fucking LOVE pierogis. I had them every day I was in Krakow.

 

[bluebell]

On this night, mine are frozen. Boo.
I made them all from scratch once, with the innards I had leftover from making potato skins. Had no fucking clue what I was doing.
Think they turned out alright though.

 

[SkAoUt]

RDS chain restaurant thread got me thinking about chain restaurants I wish were in my corner of the world.

I've heard of Saravana Bhavan and wish they'd get it together in Vancouver or maybe Kailash Parbat. (Chain) restaurants that don't serve homogenized derivatives of true regional Indian cuisine would be awesome!

 

[Aquagal]

I'd love to have a Jack In Thr Box here, their mystery meat (horse) tacos are the best!

 

[Que]

I'd love to have a Jack In the Box here, their mystery meat (horse) tacos are the best!

They are oddly tasty and bear no resemblance to the Mexican staple by that name. even the wilted lettuce in them tastes "right" for what it is. Kind of like vegetarian bacon if you think of it as a salty, crunchy snack and not as bacon.

I worked at a Burger King in my youth. For a short time our store was chosen to experiment with tacos. We took whatever burgers were in the steamer for more than the maximum 10 minutes (normally discarded) and ground the patties in a food processor. So many patties to a batch, and a seasoning packet was added. I think we just put that in taco shells like Taco Bell might use.

It didn't sell.

The genius of Le Jaque is that he deep-fries the whole thing making sure some added, tasty cholesterol adheres to the greazy tacos.

Did you ever have a "Dinner in a Box" from them back in the day? It was a rectangular box with an (overcooked) sirloin steak and I think wedge fries.

 

[thør]

I honor of the Easter weekend, lamb chops are going on the grill.

 

[Aquagal]

I honor of the Easter weekend, lamb chops are going on the grill.

Mmmmm

They are oddly tasty and bear no resemblance to the Mexican staple by that name. even the wilted lettuce in them tastes "right" for what it is. Kind of like vegetarian bacon if you think of it as a salty, crunchy snack and not as bacon.

I worked at a Burger King in my youth. For a short time our store was chosen to experiment with tacos. We took whatever burgers were in the steamer for more than the maximum 10 minutes (normally discarded) and ground the patties in a food processor. So many patties to a batch, and a seasoning packet was added. I think we just put that in taco shells like Taco Bell might use.

It didn't sell.

The genius of Le Jaque is that he deep-fries the whole thing making sure some added, tasty cholesterol adheres to the greazy tacos.

Did you ever have a "Dinner in a Box" from them back in the day? It was a rectangular box with an (overcooked) sirloin steak and I think wedge fries.

No, I only ever order the tacos. Monster. Like a half dozen because those suckers are so not even full and they were ok to eat later as leftovers, looking all sad and limp in their cold greasiness.

 

[Killswitch]

I'd love to have a Jack In Thr Box here, their mystery meat (horse) tacos are the best!

I could go for a big twin and curly fries.

Those tacos suck tho.

 

[thør]

Mmmmm

They are gone, now. 125°F in the center and they were on my plate.

 

[Que]

I looked up aioli tonight and realized it is basically a garlic-delivery system and I have been on a raw garlic kick lately.

I had nothing in mind to eat it with but wanted to experiment. Because I had no intention of slathering it on everything for the next few days, and since the roommate remaining eats everything but the egg yolks I decided to start small and eyeball about 1/2 of the smallest recipe I saw.

I took 2 cloves, minced them, salted that, then used the salt and the back of my knife to make a paste. You are supposed to have everything at room temperature and I keep the eggs in the fridge. I sort of solved that by nuking a glass of water to warm the glass, then dropped the egg yolk in the warmed glass and let the yolk come up to temperature a little. I suspect that threw off my results.

The glass was a nice shape for whisking with a fork so that is what I did. I could not decide whether to add the garlic now or later, so I put that off. I think I should have put it in then. I drizzled in canola, because I didn't want to waste the remaining olive oil if this failed. It was a little thin. It emulsified OK though. I added in the garlic. Tried it on these veggie crisp things. It was tasty, consistency a little thin.

I refrigerated it and the consistency was better.

My understanding is that lemon juice is a modern add, so I left that out for my initial experiments. I figure get the technique down, then work on leaning it this way or that.

 

[Sinny]

I looked up aioli tonight and realized it is basically a garlic-delivery system and I have been on a raw garlic kick lately.

I had nothing in mind to eat it with but wanted to experiment. Because I had no intention of slathering it on everything for the next few days, and since the roommate remaining eats everything but the egg yolks I decided to start small and eyeball about 1/2 of the smallest recipe I saw.

I took 2 cloves, minced them, salted that, then used the salt and the back of my knife to make a paste. You are supposed to have everything at room temperature and I keep the eggs in the fridge. I sort of solved that by nuking a glass of water to warm the glass, then dropped the egg yolk in the warmed glass and let the yolk come up to temperature a little. I suspect that threw off my results.

The glass was a nice shape for whisking with a fork so that is what I did. I could not decide whether to add the garlic now or later, so I put that off. I think I should have put it in then. I drizzled in canola, because I didn't want to waste the remaining olive oil if this failed. It was a little thin. It emulsified OK though. I added in the garlic. Tried it on these veggie crisp things. It was tasty, consistency a little thin.

I refrigerated it and the consistency was better.

My understanding is that lemon juice is a modern add, so I left that out for my initial experiments. I figure get the technique down, then work on leaning it this way or that.

A few things to try next time. Try bringing the egg to room temp by submerging it whole in warm water, then cracking and separating. By submerging the yolk, you introduced moisture to the mixture, which is the kiss of death for an oil emulsion. Second, always use dijon. Mustard is an insurance policy for a successful emulsion. You can also add it to just about any vinaigrette to get it to thicken. Third, you need a solid whisk to whip air into the emulsion, otherwise it won't fully incorporate. A fork won't do the trick.

 

[Que]

A few things to try next time. Try bringing the egg to room temp by submerging it whole in warm water, then cracking and separating. By submerging the yolk, you introduced moisture to the mixture, which is the kiss of death for an oil emulsion. Second, always use dijon. Mustard is an insurance policy for a successful emulsion. You can also add it to just about any vinaigrette to get it to thicken. Third, you need a solid whisk to whip air into the emulsion, otherwise it won't fully incorporate. A fork won't do the trick.

Thanks, I shall. It thickend a lot overnight and I had it for breakfast on veggies.

The small amount I had was not really whiskable, I thought. I just warmed the glass with the water, dumped the water, then warmed the yolk in the glass, but I think I will just leave a couple of eggs out on the counter, that should be fine, right?

I am thinking two cloves per yolk was a lot. Had quite a bite. I liked it, but i can't see serving that to anyone that doesn't love garlic.

My oldest daughter went through her daddy phase when she was young with cooking because I cook. She has been returning to that because she is seeing a Frenchman and he cooks. She just brought me back a little jar of dijon from actual Paris and you know the French would not have sold it to an American tourist unless it was top shelf..... She will be thrilled that I have something better to do with it than spread it on a cracker. So thanks.

 

[yossi]

Aioli is even easier to whip up if you use a blender or food processor.

 

[Que]

Aioli is even easier to whip up if you use a blender or food processor.

Hmmm. the bunkhouse blender is crap, it doesn't even move things around very well, I may need to get mine out of storage... I am looking at my Kitchenaid mixer with the whisk attachment but I think it would have to be a huge batch to get the whisk to bite in that big bowl? I have only used it once so far with the dough hook and I notice the whisk is not making contact, I need to adjust the bowl which is probably why the last owner let it go.

I don't usually youtube things but I probably should watch someone do this.

Since we are talking raw egg yolk how long does this last in the fridge?

 

[yossi]

I'd say a week at most and yeah, I wouldn't bother with the kitchenaid mixer unless you're making a substantial batch.

The newer ones have a mechanism where you can raise and lower the bowl, but I can't afford one at the moment. I recently long-term borrowed my mom's from the 70s or 80s since she rarely uses it now-a-days.

 

[thør]

I'd say a week at most and yeah, I wouldn't bother with the kitchen aide mixer unless you're making a substantial batch.

The newer ones have a mechanism where you can raise and lower the bowl, but I can't afford one at the moment. I recently long-term borrowed my mom's from the 70s or 80s since she rarely uses it now-a-days.

I believe that mixer (the new one you talked about) has a slightly larger bowl than the one where the mixing head pivots. It's also heavier. We got a new pivoting head one about 6 years ago. The old one (1979 vintage) gave up the ghost and having it repaired would have cost more than new. So, we replaced the white with a cobalt blue.

 

[yossi]

I believe that mixer (the new one you talked about) has a slightly larger bowl than the one where the mixing head pivots. It's also heavier. We got a new pivoting head one about 6 years ago. The old one (1979 vintage) gave up the ghost and having it repaired would have cost more than new. So, we replaced the white with a cobalt blue.

I should put away a little every week until I can just buy one outright. I can't imagine them being heavier - it's already like picking up a toddler.

I saw a post recently where someone had found an original made by Hobart and restored it. It was beautiful to see.

 

[Misshotndeep]

I need a mixer. Which one are you guys talking about?

 

[juttjaw]

I watched an episode of "No Reservations" with Anthony Bourdain in Provence, France. He was at a meal with a local family. The lady there made the aioli with just a mortar and pestle. She slowly ground the garlic and salt 1st then added yolks slowly and drizzled small amounts of olive oil until the pestle stood up straight in the emulsion. Anthony kept saying "I get it.. its not a mayonnaise.." It looked absolutely heavenly.. Its funny, cause I have been thinking about it since I saw the episode on Thursday night.

 

[juttjaw]

I should put away a little every week until I can just buy one outright. I can't imagine them being heavier - it's already like picking up a toddler.

I saw a post recently where someone had found an original made by Hobart and restored it. It was beautiful to see.

Anything made by Hobart is sex personified by a kitchen machine. Fucking things are just works of industrial art.

 

[Misshotndeep]

Anything made by Hobart is sex personified by a kitchen machine. Fucking things are just works of industrial art.

That's expensive! Holy cow!!!!

 

[juttjaw]

 

[juttjaw]

 

[juttjaw]

Look at that fucking thing.. That's what I want! Its only $549 on Amazon...

 

[Misshotndeep]

That's pretty. I really don't know much about kitchen brands as I have been doing it all by hand all my life. I was just thinking of the time it would save if I didn't have to.