What's Cooking

[tjbnwi]

Tom that German Chocolate Cake has my craving meter running pretty high.  Thanks a lot!

I have been told by many it is the best they have ever had, that includes the ones my mother would make. The trick today is to make your own whole buttermilk, the lower fat buttermilk’s just don’t work.

My carrot and pound cakes are second to none, took me years to get the chemistry just right.

Chocolate chip cookies are another of my very special concoctions.

I need to find time to do some baking.

Tom

[member=4105]tjbnwi[/member]

How do you stay so thin?  I think I added a pound or two just looking at the pictures!  [eek]

Mike A.

Our insurance company lists me as obese.

I do need to lose about 15 pounds. 

Tom

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

Sunday's dinner.

Tomatos filled with meatballs, baked in the oven. Sprinkled with butter and breadcrumbs/panko before it's placed in the oven. Some french fries and left over red-sauce from Saturday.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[GoingMyWay]

Those fries look amazing!  I was eyeing the fries in your earlier post also.  Are those homemade fries or store bought?  Do you deep fry or bake them?

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

those fries are a store bought, a frozen, convenience product. I deep fry them, as I have a built in deep fryer in my kitchen. (https://www.neff-home.com/de/produktliste/N34K30N0 )

I/we used to make our own fries from time to time - like my Mom taught me - but it has gotten ridiculously hard to get "the right" potatoes ... And more often than not it turned out "not so well" because of that.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[GoingMyWay]

Hi Oliver,

Wow I'm jealous!  A built in deep fryer!!  Is it hard to change/clean the oil?

I have this little countertop model:https://www.t-falusa.com/Cooking-appliances/Fryers/Ultimate-EZ-Clean-Fryer/p/7211001726.  I bought it because it makes cleaning and storing the oil much less of a burden.

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

I use a fat that hardens when cold, so whenever I want to change it I simply let it cool down a bit after use, put a pot with plastic bag inside under the drain (it's inside the corresponding cabinet) and open the valve ...

If I used oil it would be even easier as I could drain it cold - but it's more hassle to dispose it. (I let the fat harden in the bag and it goes simply into trash, totally legal/OK here)

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

Last evenings dinner:
Marinated Flank Steak Sandwiches with Pepper Butter and Lime-Cilantro corn.

[attachimg=1]

 

[six-point socket II]

*yum*

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[aloysius]

Hi,

I/we used to make our own fries from time to time - like my Mom taught me - but it has gotten ridiculously hard to get "the right" potatoes ... And more often than not it turned out "not so well" because of that.

Kind regards,
Oliver

Idaho Russett, Russett Burbank or just Russett (different names for the same variety) are statistically the world's favourite - & probably North America's only - commercially available chipping potato these days. It's the Big Mac Donald's deep frying standard specification varietal.

I prefer older, more localised varieties myself, such as Tasman, Kennebecs or even on occasion Brownells.  Nobody else will have heard of any of these as they're local Antipodean varietals developed over a century ago, & will have fallen from favour for commercial or some other esoteric economic reason.  Nevertheless, they're still popular with fellow Tasmanian cognoscenti.  We love our heritage spuds & onions down under:  bugger your globalised standard varieties.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

I/we used to make our own fries from time to time - like my Mom taught me - but it has gotten ridiculously hard to get "the right" potatoes ... And more often than not it turned out "not so well" because of that.

Kind regards,
Oliver

Idaho Russett, Russett Burbank or just Russett (different names for the same variety) are statistically the world's favourite - & probably North America's only - commercially available chipping potato these days. It's the Big Mac Donald's deep frying standard specification varietal.

I prefer older, more localised varieties myself, such as Tasman, Kennebecs or even on occasion Brownells.  Nobody else will have heard of any of these as they're local Antipodean varietals developed over a century ago, & will have fallen from favour for commercial or some other esoteric economic reason.  Nevertheless, they're still popular with fellow Tasmanian cognoscenti.  We love our heritage spuds & onions down under:  bugger your globalised standard varieties.

We have Kennebecs in my area of NYS. Brownell sounds familiar too , but not sure.

When making my own fries one of the primary tricks is to fry twice. Blanch fry then drain, then fry again. A couple other things ........................... dry them with a towel after cutting, shake in a bag with a little corn starch, then fry.  See Cook's Illustrated / Country for a detailed method.

I think it is odd ( in the USA at least) that there are restaurants touted for having the most incredible fries ever because they are cut fresh in house , etc. I always avoid the fries in those places because I have rarely had any that were any good. They tend to cut them and put them in the fryer. You get big, thick, soft,  floppy, non-crisp  "fries".  Yuk.

Seth

 

[aloysius]

There's apparently a secret to great chips:
Traditional dripping as opposed to rapeseed oils or other plant-based alternatives.
Parboiling for 3 minutes, quick draining & drying by rolling in a towel.
Immediate snap-freezing.
Immersion (carefully) of frozen chips in preheated dripping.
A light golden-coloured fry rather than a dark browning.
Little or no (natural, not chemically "flavoured") salt to taste.
Serve hot immediately, uncovered allowing steam to escape.

Health practitioners & dieticians would have paroxysms of angst about using animal fats.  Quite rightly so, I'm sure.  But if they're regarded as an occasional treat as opposed to a staple any subsequent harm is minimised.  To put it another way:  which tastes better?  Butter or Margarine?  I rest my case.

 

[GoingMyWay]

4th of July Dinner was grilled wings, brats, hot dogs, and burgers.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

[attachimg=3]

[attachimg=4]

[attachimg=5]

 

[Cheese]

4th of July Dinner was grilled wings, brats, hot dogs, and burgers.

Food looks nummy... [smile] Maybe I'll make some burgers tonight.  [big grin]

For the 4th I made Hoisin Shrimp with Bok Choy, Shiitakes and Peppers in a sheet pan. Easy to prepare and everyone just helps themselves. Goes good with an ice cold beer.

 

[dltflt]

Hello all

I don’t want to change the direction of this thread but if I may I’d like to ask a question about
knives.  We have a full set of Cutco knives for every day use, but I would like to acquire a few nice knives for my downstairs kitchen that I’m now using as my kitchen for grilling and making pizza dough. 

Knives are a bit of a mystery to me.  Stainless, carbon steel or whatever ever else they’re using to make knives.  Do you need to spend a lot of money or can it be a reasonable purchase.  Seriously I visited a high end kitchen store the other day and I had no idea of what to buy steel wise.  I knew I wanted a chef’s knife and a boning knife but I didn’t know what to buy.  They had so many knives it was confusing

What brought this to mind was the comment about the knife Cheese used in the photo

Thanks all

What do you think of your Cutco knives?  I was just in Costco and they had a 21 piece set for 1149. I was impressed with the demo.

 

[Koamolly]

Hello all

I don’t want to change the direction of this thread but if I may I’d like to ask a question about
knives.  We have a full set of Cutco knives for every day use, but I would like to acquire a few nice knives for my downstairs kitchen that I’m now using as my kitchen for grilling and making pizza dough. 

Knives are a bit of a mystery to me.  Stainless, carbon steel or whatever ever else they’re using to make knives.  Do you need to spend a lot of money or can it be a reasonable purchase.  Seriously I visited a high end kitchen store the other day and I had no idea of what to buy steel wise.  I knew I wanted a chef’s knife and a boning knife but I didn’t know what to buy.  They had so many knives it was confusing

What brought this to mind was the comment about the knife Cheese used in the photo

Thanks all

What do you think of your Cutco knives?  I was just in Costco and they had a 21 piece set for 1149. I was impressed with the demo.

There are way better knives for far less money.  Stay away.  But if the demo seduced you... Costco has a great return policy.  Seriously, for $1150 you can get some really nice kitchen knives... and probably another Festool sander or something.  I have a few Cutco knives.
https://cheftalk.com/threads/cutco-knives.11067/

 

[tjbnwi]

Give these a try. I’m really impressed with mine. Mine have tak handles.
https://www.crateandbarrel.com/shop-by-brand/schmidt-brothers/1

Tom

 

[dltflt]

Hello all

I don’t want to change the direction of this thread but if I may I’d like to ask a question about
knives.  We have a full set of Cutco knives for every day use, but I would like to acquire a few nice knives for my downstairs kitchen that I’m now using as my kitchen for grilling and making pizza dough. 

Knives are a bit of a mystery to me.  Stainless, carbon steel or whatever ever else they’re using to make knives.  Do you need to spend a lot of money or can it be a reasonable purchase.  Seriously I visited a high end kitchen store the other day and I had no idea of what to buy steel wise.  I knew I wanted a chef’s knife and a boning knife but I didn’t know what to buy.  They had so many knives it was confusing

What brought this to mind was the comment about the knife Cheese used in the photo

Thanks all

What do you think of your Cutco knives?  I was just in Costco and they had a 21 piece set for 1149. I was impressed with the demo.

There are way better knives for far less money.  Stay away.  But if the demo seduced you... Costco has a great return policy.  Seriously, for $1150 you can get some really nice kitchen knives... and probably another Festool sander or something.  I have a few Cutco knives.
https://cheftalk.com/threads/cutco-knives.11067/

Thanks for the reply. I did some research and they get horrible reviews. So I will continue to look for a nice set of kitchen knives.

 

[GoingMyWay]

I "worked" for Cutco for all of a day or two during the summer of 2000.  I was the very last person to be interviewed.  I was nervous because some of the other people sitting with me were declined, while others were hired.  I didn't know how it was going to go for me.  Sure enough I passed the interview and was able to purchase the "salesman" set that would be required to give the in home demos.  At the time I was a big fan of QVC and infomercial style selling so I LOVED the sales pitch that we were taught to give the in home demos.  I still remember some of it to this day.  I never actually gave a paid in home presentation - only showed my grandparents the sales pitch.  I just kept the set and that was my time with Cutco.

The only 2 items from the  salesman set  that I really liked from Cutco were the Spatula/Spreader and the Shears (Model 77).  The Shears were actually used in the demo to cut a penny into a "corkscrew."  They were that strong.  They also separate completely for easy cleaning.  We mostly wash ours in the dishwasher with no ill effects.    I still have the same Shears from 18 years ago and 2 years ago I picked up 2 more pairs Cutco Shears from Amazon.  They are very pricey at $100+ but I consider them worth every penny.  I believe I saw Costco selling a pair of the Shears along with a bread knife as a set for $100 something.  It didn't look like they were just selling the Shears alone.  I gave one of the pairs to my in-laws and kept the other pair for us.  They really are the best in my opinion. 

 

[aloysius]

Sets of tools (knives, chisels, pots & pans etc.) generally tend to be a mixed blessing.  Cheaper unit pricing from multiple purchases are defrayed by intrinsic redundancy.

If you're lucky, maybe HALF of your set will be useful, rapidly becoming favourites.  The other half will languish relatively or in a worse case scenario entirely unused in their ludicrously commodious designer display.  Worse, the useless items on permanent display serve as a permanent reminder of your profligacy, wastefulness & ill-considered impulsiveness.

Knives tend to be an intensely personal tool. What works for one might just as justifiably be considered rubbish by another.  Just as nobody could ever advise me what type of person to choose as a life-partner, I could never trust another's advise with cutlery.  I can't even trust myself!

Here's a case in point.  Seduced by multiple glowing reviews, provocative marketing & a century or more of heritage, I chose what I considered to be a triumph of design from the supposed creators & makers of what must be the world's most expensive serrated bread knife:
https://www.guede-messerstore24.de/guede-brotmesser-balbach-da7431-32/a-527/

Whilst this is well & truly "out of my league", I should've heeded the red flags that were beginning to appear.  Euro 4600 (about AU $7500) for what is to all intents & purposes a "disposable" & otherwise pretty ordinary general purpose bread & other soft produce slicer.  Any purchaser, sufficiently foolish but with eyes wide open deserves to be ripped off.  Such was my reaction to such blatantly exorbitant, ludicrous extravagance.

Yet here was another fine example of the Solingen cutler's art, resplendent in all its glory:
https://www.guede-messerstore24.de/kochmesser-the-knife-damast-guede/a-7926/

Those curves!  The gorgeous damascene patinated interplay of light, dark & reflectivity.  That subtly curvaceous midriff swelling almost begging for a lustful grasp from fevered, sweaty palms!  A mere snip at less than half the price of the "original" Brotmesser.  Yet another red flag, however.  Any knifemaker sufficiently arrogant to name their product "THE Knife", (die Messer) should immediately arouse suspicion.  But there were glowing reviews, extolling the virtues of it's "radical" redesign of this rather basic tool (a chef's knife).  From no less than a "master-chef"  (whatever the eff that's supposed to be!).  More convincing than a "master builder" or "master plumber" perhaps, but in reality I suspect s/he to be closer akin, if you can forgive the double-entendre, to a "master-baiter".

In a masterful stroke of marketing, there was yet another "poor man's" version.  A snip at a mere fraction of the original's price, yet offering most if not all of that seductive form-
factor, including a "free" leather sheath:
https://www.guede-messerstore24.de/kochmesser-the-knife-guede-olive-lederscheide/a-8447/

The clincher was a retailer's half-price offer (a "gentlemen's outfitter" high-end clothing & "accessories" retailer) no less.  This should've been the third & final red flag that sent me running for the hills screaming noooooo, bank balance intact.  In my ignorance, impulsiveness & stupidity I nevertheless forked out what was for me an insanely extravagant AU $250 including postage for this veritable panacea for all my woes that would not only reinforce, rejuvenate & reinvigorate my domestic culinary skills, but perhaps, as the TV advertorials are frequently wont to claim, actually "change my life".

The reality, as always, is more prosaic.  "The Knife" is pretty useless.  It's way too heavy (all that steel, of course).  Should've forseen that one.  Worse, the weight is carried way too far forward, making for a ludicrously disproportionate front-heavy "balance" that requires a tiring death-grip to counterpoint.  The handle is tiny, made from a poorly selected, knotty piece of rubbish firewood-grade olivewood.

It has one of the "laziest" grinds I've ever experienced!  Way too convex, thick & wedge-sectioned, meaning that cutting all but the softest vegs are a chore, & in the hardest (pumpkin & the like) nigh on impossible to force such a pronounced wedge through resilient hard flesh.  The bearded heel of the blade, just as in a medieval axe, supposedly "lightens" the back end, but it simultaneously places one's fingers in harm's way, effectively rendering the back 1/3 of the blade unusable!  Plus it's also impossible to use a sharpening "steel".

After several hours (I do mean several) attempting a hollow grind on the blade, I at least have a semblance of workable form for the front 2/3 of the cutting edge and bolstering.  But the pronounced weight-forward bias & small handle section are rather insurmountable issues that will permanently & irremediably refrain from lifting this abortion from the realm of uselessness.

What a waste!  What a disappointment.  What an unbelievably poor design emanating from such a renowned toolmaker.  What was I thinking?  What an idiot!  Maybe it's going to be useful for no other reason than as a permanent reminder of just how easily a fool & his or her hard-earned readies can be separated by canny but deceptive marketing.

In some ways it's reminiscent of my reaction to some of the worst product from yet another well renowned but unnamed Teutonic toolmaker.  Caveat emptor, one & all.  All that glisters etc. etc.

I can hear the sly sniggers, chortles, snickers & guffaws of schadenfreude from afar!  OK.  I admit it:  I'm the tool!

 

[six-point socket II]

While shopping on Thursday I came across a really nice 1.6 kg piece of mock tender - and with all the talk about Bœuf bourguignon ... I simply had to make some ... This is going to be deep-freezed now for some "colder" days ...

Kind regards,
Oliver