Your Food Thread

[LadyFunkenstein]

I'm looking to take my oxtail to the next level. I don't have a pressure cooker, that's the key it seems, that and using melted brown sugar.

I have been cooking oxtail for 20+ years. You don't need a pressure cooker. They are best cooked low and slow. And why are you putting sugar in it????

 

[rosco rathbone]

Yesterday a friend with a health condition came over to watch movies who said, "Hey Funk, remember when you gave me that broth a year ago and said I should drink it every day? Well it turns out you were right! I read about it in the papers so I am going to start buying it."

No shit I was right. Glad you will now listen since the NYT and NYP told you so.

Apparently this is a hot trend these days, and now you can buy bone broth to go for $4.50 for a 8 oz cup. FOH! A two week supply costs me 5 bucks!

Anyway, here are the relevant articles:

http://nypost.com/2015/01/03/nycs-latest-health-trend-is-a-steaming-cup-of-bone-broth/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/dining/bone-broth-evolves-from-prehistoric-food-to-paleo-drink.html

What are you into right now? I want to know what's going to be hip in 2016.

 

[rosco rathbone]

I have been cooking oxtail for 20+ years. You don't need a pressure cooker. They are best cooked low and slow. And why are you putting sugar in it????

I"m trying to get that somewhat sweetish carmelised thing you get from browning sauce or sometimes they just melt the sugar in the pot before adding the oxtail. When I make it, I braise it long and low in a big enameld cast iron dutch oven on the stove top and it comes out decent, but I'm trying for that neighborhood Jamaican restaurant thing.

 

[LadyFunkenstein]

What are you into right now? I want to know what's going to be hip in 2016.

I never thought about it but I am damn good at picking food trends, even though that isn't my intention. I started eating quinoa in 2006! I wonder how I can make money off this. I have to think about what I am into now, eggplant for sure. I found a grocer which sells 6 different varieties of eggplant, as grown in different countries Did you know the Indian ones are really tiny? Here is a picture of one next to my foot for scale. (I didn't just take this pic, it is a snapshot I took on Dec 23.)

 

[LadyFunkenstein]

I"m trying to get that somewhat sweetish carmelised thing you get from browning sauce or sometimes they just melt the sugar in the pot before adding the oxtail. When I make it, I braise it long and low in a big enameld cast iron dutch oven on the stove top and it comes out decent, but I'm trying for that neighborhood Jamaican restaurant thing.

Yeah adding sugar is very Jamaican. I prefer to quickly brown each piece (I mean really brown, very dark) over high heat before braising, which is what a browning sauce attempts to duplicate in the first place. You have to do it in batches so the pan isn't crowded, otherwise you will steam the meat. After you have done them all, deglaze the pan and that is your browning sauce.

 

[rosco rathbone]

I never thought about it but I am damn good at picking food trends, even though that isn't my intention. I started eating quinoa in 2006! I wonder how I can make money off this. I have to think about what I am into now, eggplant for sure. I found a grocer which sells 6 different varieties of eggplant, as grown in different countries Did you know the Indian ones are really tiny? Here is a picture of one next to my foot for scale. (I didn't just take this pic, it is a snapshot I took on Dec 23.)

You're probably on to something, because I've been thinking eggplant as well lately although I'm usually a decade ahead, not a year. Here's a tip for about 2020: bitter melon.

 

[rosco rathbone]

Yeah adding sugar is very Jamaican. I prefer to quickly brown each piece (I mean really brown, very dark) over high heat before braising, which is what a browning sauce attempts to duplicate in the first place. You have to do it in batches so the pan isn't crowded, otherwise you will steam the meat. After you have done them all, deglaze the pan and that is your browning sauce.

What do you deglaze with, water or wine.

 

[LadyFunkenstein]

You're probably on to something, because I've been thinking eggplant as well lately although I'm usually a decade ahead, not a year. Here's a tip for about 2020: bitter melon.

I am into bitter melon already. Here I mention getting a friend to drink bitter melon tea:

Last week I bought a diabetic friend three boxes of balsam pear tea (aka bitter melon tea or bitter gourd tea) and four days later he saw it brought his sugar levels down to almost normal. True story. $2.50 per box. He isn't giving up western medication just yet, will keep drinking it until he sees his doctor in a few weeks.

I originally bought him a bag of the actual fruit but he never got arond to preparing them.

ETA: you are right though, I bet they will explode in popularity around 2020. They literally will cure you of diabetes; Type 2 is on the rise and will explode by 2020. Bitter melon is a much better choice than meds.

 

[LadyFunkenstein]

What do you deglaze with, water or wine.

Whatever I have on hand. Me being a boozehound, usually red wine.

 

[rosco rathbone]

I am into bitter melon already. Here I mention getting a friend to drink bitter melon tea:



I originally bought him a bag of the actual fruit but he never got arond to preparing them.

We should start a trend consultancy.

I make it into a raw trinidad style salsa with red onion, carrot, culantro, garlic, salt, scotch bonnets and lime juice. I eat it by the spoonful, but you can put it with eggs or whatever.

Whatever I have on hand. Me being a boozehound, usually red wine.

Thinking maybe I'll start it off like that then put the dutch oven in the oven the same way I do with beans. I might have been cooking it too much of a boil.

 

[Yawdie]

You don't really need the sugar,that's more a trini thing,I think. Season the oxtail over night. I chop up onions, scallions, garlic and green pepper in the food processor. Not too fine then season the oxtail with it.
Get some grace browning and use that also. Brown them in your pot with some olive or coconut oil.After browning add water and more onions, thyme, garlic ,tomatoes, hot pepper and bring to boil.Turn down the fire and slow cook, you can add some brown sugar if you want that sweetish taste or add ketchup.

 

[LadyFunkenstein]

We should start a trend consultancy.

I make it into a raw trinidad style salsa with red onion, carrot, culantro, garlic, salt, scotch bonnets and lime juice. I eat it by the spoonful, but you can put it with eggs or whatever.

Damn, sounds really good.

Thinking maybe I'll start it off like that then put the dutch oven in the oven the same way I do with beans. I might have been cooking it too much of a boil.

I brown in a pan then do the actually cooking in a crock pot. A dutch oven would cook them quite nicely.

 

[evesdream]

Sold on the bone soup...there's no reason why it wouldn't work with a fish base instead of pork or beef, right?

 

[Super-Surprise]

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[DiskoTroop]

I have a part time job as a fish monger for a major food purveyor which allows me access to all sorts of stuff. The food waste in our society is absurd and infuriates me but the upside is that I end up an upscale freegan that never knows what kind of stuff I can divert from the waste stream and do my own at home version of Chopped.

 

[tactful]

Yesterday, dough, overly garlic sauce, mozz, oregano, evoo, simple, easy, red wine and dine.

 

[bluebell]

That churro picture is giving me some serious food lust.

 

[Lorilei]

I had the most delicious spinach quesadilla last weekend. I'm now on a mission to recreate it.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Cream is usually reserved for holiday custard. I gave in and used cream for the Mac & Cheese.

*Eats broccoli, to make up for the calories and fat.*

 

[bluebell]

Cream is usually reserved for holiday custard. I gave in and used cream for the Mac & Cheese.

*Eats broccoli, to make up for the calories and fat.*

Good girl. *smooch*

 

[Que]

Cream is usually reserved for holiday custard. I gave in and used cream for the Mac & Cheese.

*Eats broccoli, to make up for the calories and fat.*

You know what is great on broccoli? A creamy-based cheese sauce. Kidding. I actually like it best steamed or even better, stir-fried.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

bluebell, I would have done better, to smear the cream on my body, as a moisturizer. But, cream really does a lovely job, of keeping a cheese sauce from breaking.

 

[bluebell]

bluebell, I would have done better, to smear the cream on my body, as a moisturizer. But, cream really does a lovely job, of keeping a cheese sauce from breaking.

It does. A rare treat.
I usually use whole milk if I'm going for scratch-made mac, but I don't keep the body-smearers around on the regular. That's a special purchase most of the time.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

I am hopelessly conventional.

I have never contemplated putting a slice of toast between two slices of fresh bread.

Toast Butty

Blurb that accompanies the picture of a Toast Butty-

"The toast sandwich served as a side dish at celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal's restaurant The Fat Duck."

"According to American public radio station KCRW, Blumenthal's recipe for the toast sandwich involves bone marrow salad, egg yolk mustard, gastrique, mayonnaise, and tomato ketchup."
-Sarah Rogozen (31 December 2013)
*gsgs comment- That is more akin to a club sandwich, than a Toast Butty.*


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toast_sandwich

On youtube-

The Fat Duck - Heston Blumenthal - Mad Hatter's Tea Party (C. 1850)
(Featuring the toast sandwich)

Assembling the Sandwich

6 Fresh white bread slices

3 Well-toasted white bread slices

Reserved egg mayonnaise

1 Whole black truffle, finely sliced
(Fuck that! I want alba!)

Reserved gastrique

Reserved egg yolk mustard

2 Peeled and cored cucumbers, finely sliced lengthways

Reserved tomato ketchup

Reserved bone marrow salad
(Green bean, mushroom, walnut pate, please!)


Remove the crusts from the bread and the toast. Use a small heavy tray or large metal spatula to flatten the toast pieces into super-thin slices.

Spread the egg mayonnaise evenly on 3 of the slices of bread. Top with finely sliced truffle and carefully squeeze the gastrique in a zigzag on top of the truffle.

Thinly spread the egg yolk mustard on remaining 3 slices of bread, and evenly place the cucumber slices on top. Trim off any overlapping cucumber.

Carefully spread a thin layer of tomato ketchup on one side of the toast, and place the toast ketchup-side down on to the bread slices with the egg mayonnaise, truffle and gastrique.

Spread the bone marrow salad on top of the toast and place the bread slices containing the egg yolk mustard cucumber-side down on to the toast.

Ensure the slices are lined up neatly and trim any edges if necessary.

Slice the 3 sandwiches into quarters diagonally, with each sandwich yielding 4 neat, triangular sections. Allow 2 portions per person.

the independent.co.uk wrote it up.

Des, this tea time is a bit pricey!

All tips of the hat go to -
http://internet.gawker.com/22-of-the-coolest-freakiest-articles-on-wikipedia-1660205252/+maxread

 

[snugglestruggle]

Honestly, that ^^^ is just too much dam work for a sandwich, not even for guests. If I'm going to be playing Martha Stewart and getting all fancy, it better be for some serious eating.