I just thought I'd share. I know there are a lot of veg-heads here, but I'm not one.
My favorite food website is inappropriately named http://www.amazingribs.com/. It thoroughly covers a WIDE range of ingredients and techniques. And a great thanksgiving turkey method.
It's sort of in the style of Alton Brown, in that is doesn't just give recipes, it gives the reasoning behind why you do it a certain way and myth-busts a LOT of old bullshit. It's addictive.
I have to recommend the thermometer treatise. My cooking acuity has tripled since I bought a high quality digital thermometer.
Just tossing it out there because it has helped me a lot, and I was a line cook for several years... I'm buying decent thermo's for the in-laws this Christmas.
Meat can definitely be underrated. I often hear people exclaim "I cannot enjoy turkey because it is so dry!".
Well, then you're not cooking it right! A bit of tin foil will keep the moisture in and it requires zero effort.
There's always very simple methods that improve the quality of cooking. You don't have to stand over the food, but tasting, feeling the texture, looking at the colour; you can get some really high quality cooking.
Agreed, and I have found it best to cook the stuffing out side the turkey otherwise by the time the stuffing is done the turkey is dry. I love meat but its not my fault my Mom teethed me on a T-bone and I spent 10 years as a grill cook at a steakhouse. I have cooked over a million steaks and love them very much.
I like my steaks "Chiago Med-rare" which is chard on the outside and Med-rare inside , you can't beat a nice sear. Vegies are great too but I need the beef.
It probably helps that I get a regular feed of free "organic" beef from my father the hobby farmer.
I used hickory last time, but any fruit wood like apple or cherry works great too. I love mesquite, but it is too overpowering for the family on thanksgiving. I meant it in the OP when I tried to send people to the site, he is a BBQ competition judge and book writer and has and entire in-depth page on wood if you have any questions. I just like how he entails research behind it and has forum moderators who are the people who actually do the testing and are in the required field for what they speak of (sort of why I like the tek):
I love to only use salt on my steaks. Just apply salt about an hour before you cook, generous amounts of salt. It fuses with the flavor of the meat, then you rince it off, dry it completely on the surface, sear it in a cast iron pan and plop it into the oven to finish.
Its a great, pure taste. You taste the great meat, and no other crap seasoning or anything. Only works with good tasting cuts of meat, though. not so good with cheap steak.
I love fresh cracked pepper, rock salt, and garlic. Your way does sound good, maybe a nice tenderloin mmmm. 99% of the time I use my grill but have used the cast iron pan in a pinch.
The perfect steak is cooked slowly, then you seal the edges with an intense heat (possibly a blowtorch). So it is medium rare in the middle, but flame grilled on the outside. Not so sure about having it to the point where it is chard, Trev. Nice bit of light seasoning and some BBQ sauce on the side.
Me too! I'll use a little clarified butter to grease up a lean cut like a tenderloin both before and after, but 90% of recipes call for pepper beforehand, which tasted like crap once burned at 600 degrees.
Porterhouses are bullshit because the two sides cook at different rates so one side is usually inferior, I'd rather have a single strip cooked to perfection.
Most people agree that the ribeye is the best. I agree, but if I could have the spinalis alone I'd be a happy man.
I made steaks this weekend, and my did that experience open my eyes. I'll never buy vaccuum packed steak again, well, unless I'm making stew or something. From now on whenever I'm having just steaks I'm going to exclusively buy it at the butcher shop.
I'm not really all that great at cooking steaks, yet, struggling a bit with figuring out the right temperatures/settings on the oven, but hey, I'm getting there.
What do you guys normally have with? I really like just cooking a potatoes in tin foil or cooking them in a ovenproof dish with spices and butter, I also really like frying up some shallots with champinjong and chanterelle just diced in a pan with butter and some salt and pepper.
Cooking a proper steak: Heat your oven to 500*F, place your cast iron pan in to heat as well. Prep your meat however you like (I prefer rock salt and cracked black pepper). Once your pan and oven have heated, remove the pan from the oven and place on the stove on high, and sear your steaks 30 seconds per side, then toss the pan in the oven for 2 minutes, then flip your steaks, and cook an additional 2 minutes, then rest the steaks. I usually make a sauce from the drippings with a handful of sliced mushrooms, tablespoon of butter, and a half cup of red wine and a little water (1/4 cup or so), cooked in the cast iron pan over medium heat until thickened, then pour it over the steaks. Sides: steamed asparagus and carrots with a little crushed garlic and pepper and raw spinach. Serve with red wine or dark beer.
I slide ether way really, I love the old steak or pork once in a while but some times I have a bowl of pasta with a nice sauce (home made, a can of peeled tomatoes, some chili, basil, garlic and parsley) or something along those lines.
Steaks for me have to be still bleeding, with a pepper or mushroom sauce with steamed carrots, peas, broccoli and some mashed potatoes. Spinach is also good, but if I even think there is a Brussel sprout in the same state as my steak I'll hunt it down and kill it with fire.
