What's Cooking

[woodbutcherbower]

I never even heard of sous vide until I read this thread. It looks very interesting. Looking forward to reading replies to Peter ‘14 grills’ Halle’s post. All the BBQ grills sold in the UK are supplied with a roof so you can cook in the torrential rain.

The best I ever managed was one grill with 14 sausages on  [sad]

 

[4nthony]

I never even heard of sous vide until I read this thread. It looks very interesting.

I love cooking sous vide and would highly recommend it. My first time trying it out was manually on the stove with a 12" stock pot over a simmering flame. It takes some finesse with the flame to get the water to stay at a consistent temp for the hour or so it takes to cook. I cooked a Tri-Tip to medium rare (~132°) then gave it a quick sear in a cast iron pan and it was amazing. Add whatever seasonings and herbs you want into the bag before submerging.

Also, as long as the temp stays consistent, you can leave items in the water bath beyond the cook time. It won't overcook unless the temp keeps rising. Definitely worth a try if you've never done it before.

Some additional info:https://www.chefsteps.com/sous-vide

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Thanks [member=75283]4nthony[/member]. I just ordered some bags and a good-quality thermometer and I’ll use the stockpot beginner’s method to try it out. Looking forward to experimenting. Thanks also for the link and the tips.

 

[GoingMyWay]

What's not to like with that program, summer charcoal grilling with fresh corn and beef.

The corn was interesting looking and tasted really good but the traditional yellow/white sweet corn is a lot better, this stuff is more for making points at a cook-off.

The tenderloin was delicious...a little EVOO on both sides, some kosher salt and black pepper and pull the tenderloin at 135°...it's really that simple.

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That's some interesting looking corn and a perfectly cooked steak!

I never even heard of sous vide until I read this thread. It looks very interesting.

I love cooking sous vide and would highly recommend it. My first time trying it out was manually on the stove with a 12" stock pot over a simmering flame. It takes some finesse with the flame to get the water to stay at a consistent temp for the hour or so it takes to cook. I cooked a Tri-Tip to medium rare (~132°) then gave it a quick sear in a cast iron pan and it was amazing. Add whatever seasonings and herbs you want into the bag before submerging.

Also, as long as the temp stays consistent, you can leave items in the water bath beyond the cook time. It won't overcook unless the temp keeps rising. Definitely worth a try if you've never done it before.

Some additional info:https://www.chefsteps.com/sous-vide

Cooking sous vide with an immersion circulator is super easy and convenient.  My friend initially made fun of me when I told him I was cooking sous vide.  Come to find out he got a Joule and cooks sous vide all the time!  He did the same exact thing with the beer can chicken roasting pan that I bought.  He made fun of it and then he went out and bought a pan for himself.

Thanks [member=75283]4nthony[/member]. I just ordered some bags and a good-quality thermometer and I’ll use the stockpot beginner’s method to try it out. Looking forward to experimenting. Thanks also for the link and the tips.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you cook sous vide!

This past Saturday we had a little Korean BBQ at home cooked on the Blackstone.

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[peter halle]

[member=66216]GoingMyWay[/member] , I have to love the things that you cook.  That looks great and the beef has unbelievable marbling, which I know is part of the allure of Wagyu.

But I have to look at the humorous side of life and wonder if the manufacturer of the Blackstone griddle (which I also own and enjoy) ever thought that someone would be cooking such high end meat on it.  In my mind it is all too much thought of as a "tool" to quickly get primarily inexpensive things done.

Love your posts and again, I am not poking fun at you - kudos for using a perfect tool for the job at hand!

Peter

 

[GoingMyWay]

Thanks Peter!

The meat was actually a little too fatty for me and very expensive.  You're right, the Blackstone is an amazingly affordable (really a bargain in my opinion) piece of equipment.  I got it for less than $200 from Walmart.  I absolutely love the thing!  It's great for cooking just about anything.  I've seen people using the griddle like a giant burner to cook in a cast iron pot and also deep fry using a disposable aluminum tray.

I am looking forward to seeing your Anova Precision Oven posts!

 

[rvieceli]

[member=66216]GoingMyWay[/member] Do you have a lid for your Blackstone? It looks like the current 28 inch at Walmart does not come with a lid. After using yours do you think a 22 inch would be too small for 2 people?

Thanks

Ron

 

[GoingMyWay]

[member=3192]rvieceli[/member] I do have a lid for mine.  I think having the lid is very handy.  We've put the lid down and steamed snow crab legs on there.  It's not the most efficient way to steam the long crab legs, but it's more convenient for us versus getting out the big hotel pan with steamer insert.

I think our Blackstone is an older model (I bought it in store at Walmart in June 2021) with all metal kid handle like in the first picture on Amazon.  It looks like the newer model has an orange silicone grip on the lid handle:https://www.walmart.com/ip/Blacksto...1088?fulfillmentIntent=In-store&athbdg=L1300.

I was just mentioning to my wife on Saturday that maybe a larger (looks like 28" is the next bigger size) might nice, but we don't have the space on a our small deck for 2 Weber grills and a large Blackstone.  We're only cooking for my wife and myself (well I can't forget the dog too) and I think the 22" is perfectly fine.  Assuming I had the space, I think I'd still opt for a model with a lid.  Another plus with the 22" model that I linked is that griddle just drops into 4 holes on the stand.  This allows you to easily take just the standalone Blackstone griddle with you if you want to go camping or tailgating.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

The meat was actually a little too fatty for me and very expensive. 

Agreed. A year or so back, I took my girlfriend out for a crazy-expensive Sushi + Teppanyaki anniversary meal at what's reputed to be one of the UK's highest-rated Japanese restaurants. She's totally worth it. The evening 90% consisted of a guy hand-dancing, throwing stuff into the air/catching it and generally goofing around swishing tools around on a hotplate, making a lot of scraping noises. After half an hour of this performance, he finally presented us with a coupla tiny slivers of A5 Wagyu, a few square inches of lobster, and a tiny pile of vegetable offcuts.

£300. All style and almost no substance.

We both came out of there just as hungry as when we’d walked in - and headed straight to the nearest fish & chip shop for some food.

 

[GoingMyWay]

[member=3192]rvieceli[/member] I just saw Walmart has a 28" Blackstone with an Electric Air Fryer that has a lid:https://www.walmart.com/ip/Blacksto...e-with-Electric-Air-Fryer-and-Hood/219229834.

 

[rvieceli]

Thanks. I did see that one as well

 

[Cheese]

So does anyone else on here grow their own vegetables, salad and fruit? I've done it for the last few years and it's hugely rewarding, plus - you'll never, ever believe just how good this simple stuff can taste when it was still in the ground 30 minutes before you eat it. Growing your own isn't a difficult thing to do unless you're in Death Valley, Alaska, the northern end of the midwest (Minnesota/North Dakota/Michigan), Siberia, the Sahara or the Moon, and you don't need much ground area to keep you well-fed, vitamin-and-mineral-pumped, pesticide-free and GM-free.

So here's some of the recent Minnesota harvest from a Black Mulberry tree that I planted in the back yard.

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After attempting to harvest these things by hand I realized that there had to be a better way. While working in an adjoining garden I noticed that even in a very gentle breeze these things kept releasing themselves and falling on the ground. So I decided to let nature have its way.
I spread a clean sheet on the ground and weighted down the corners. I just let things happen and at the end of the day I took a look.

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It may not look like much on the ground but once rounded up, you'd be surprised and there are still thousands of them yet to ripen on the tree. Harvesting can be messy even if you use the sheet method because of falling from the tree and the heat wave we're having (95º-100º) softens up the berries considerably, there's berry juice on everything. However it's certainly worth the effort.

For dessert tonight I'll pick up some vanilla bean ice cream/gelato and tomorrow I'll make some smoothies. Should be interesting.

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[woodbutcherbower]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] Fantastic !!! My apologies for the disservice Ive obviously mistakenly done to the Minnesota climate - my only experience was a trip to Minneapolis many years ago. But it was December, all 10,000 lakes were frozen over, and there was a huge ice palace in the middle of the city carved from 4-foot ice blocks. Maybe I should visit again in the summer. Enjoy the smoothies  [smile]

 

[Mortiser]

You mean 11,842 lakes.  [wink]

 

[Cheese]

My apologies for the disservice I’ve obviously mistakenly done to the Minnesota climate - my only experience was a trip to Minneapolis many years ago. But it was December, all 10,000 lakes were frozen over, and there was a huge ice palace in the middle of the city carved from 4-foot ice blocks. Maybe I should visit again in the summer. Enjoy the smoothies  [smile]

No apologies necessary [member=75780]woodbutcherbower[/member] ...I only put up with the miserable winters because the spring, summer & fall seasons are so nice.  [smile]  [big grin]

The ice palace and ice sculptures are part of the yearly Winter Carnival and Holidazzle events.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

You mean 11,842 lakes.  [wink]

A bit of online research - and you’re obviously correct. My apologies yet again. When I was there (2007 as I recall) the car license plates only claimed 10k. The state needs to upgrade this to reality. Immediately.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

What's not to like with that program, summer charcoal grilling with fresh corn and beef.

The corn was interesting looking and tasted really good but the traditional yellow/white sweet corn is a lot better, this stuff is more for making points at a cook-off.

The tenderloin was delicious...a little EVOO on both sides, some kosher salt and black pepper and pull the tenderloin at 135°...it's really that simple.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

[attachimg=3]

That's some interesting looking corn and a perfectly cooked steak!

I never even heard of sous vide until I read this thread. It looks very interesting.

I love cooking sous vide and would highly recommend it. My first time trying it out was manually on the stove with a 12" stock pot over a simmering flame. It takes some finesse with the flame to get the water to stay at a consistent temp for the hour or so it takes to cook. I cooked a Tri-Tip to medium rare (~132°) then gave it a quick sear in a cast iron pan and it was amazing. Add whatever seasonings and herbs you want into the bag before submerging.

Also, as long as the temp stays consistent, you can leave items in the water bath beyond the cook time. It won't overcook unless the temp keeps rising. Definitely worth a try if you've never done it before.

Some additional info:https://www.chefsteps.com/sous-vide

Cooking sous vide with an immersion circulator is super easy and convenient.  My friend initially made fun of me when I told him I was cooking sous vide.  Come to find out he got a Joule and cooks sous vide all the time!  He did the same exact thing with the beer can chicken roasting pan that I bought.  He made fun of it and then he went out and bought a pan for himself.

Thanks [member=75283]4nthony[/member]. I just ordered some bags and a good-quality thermometer and I’ll use the stockpot beginner’s method to try it out. Looking forward to experimenting. Thanks also for the link and the tips.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you cook sous vide!

This past Saturday we had a little Korean BBQ at home cooked on the Blackstone.

I bought that portable Blackstone at Walmart end of last year. It had a cover and a lid but the lid doesn’t seem useful to me yet.

I’m impressed I can make 6 double smash burgers on it. No one wants grilled burgers anymore

 

[squall_line]

You mean 11,842 lakes.  [wink]

A bit of online research - and you’re obviously correct. My apologies yet again. When I was there (2007 as I recall) the car license plates only claimed 10k. The state needs to upgrade this to reality. Immediately.

The plates still only claim 10k, I think [member=39410]Mortiser[/member] was referring to [member=44099]Cheese[/member] 's location tag

 

[GoingMyWay]

Those are some nice looking mulberries [member=44099]Cheese[/member].  My wife plucked some mulberries from some trees in the neighborhood.  She said they weren't very sweet.  She harvested a bunch more with the intention of drying them out to make tea, but unfortunately they didn't get dry enough and ended up growing some mold so the whole batch had to be tossed.

Last night I made a really odd sounding dessert.  I made hard boiled egg pudding aka chocolate pudding.  It uses hard boiled eggs, cocoa powder, coconut milk, some sweetener, and a little vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.  I really had my doubts about it so we cut the recipe in half in case it ended up being terrible, but it's pretty good.  It wasn't really that sweet.  It doesn't taste or smell like hard boiled eggs at all.  If I hadn't made it myself, I'd have had no idea it wasn't anything other than a regular pudding.

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[Cheese]

Those are some nice looking mulberries [member=44099]Cheese[/member].  My wife plucked some mulberries from some trees in the neighborhood.  She said they weren't very sweet.  She harvested a bunch more with the intention of drying them out to make tea, but unfortunately they didn't get dry enough and ended up growing some mold so the whole batch had to be tossed.

I've always heard that it's the mulberry leaves that you make tea out of, not the berries themselves which makes sense because the leaves could be dried. The leaves are supposed to be caffeine free and the tea is an antioxidant, here's some info from Health Line.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mulberry-leaf