Question for anyone, but directed to Mr. Miracle: What kind of knives do you use and prefer? I have a $25 Henckel chef knife that is okay, but I prefer to use a dirt cheap santoku that I picked up at Aldi's broke ass mother fucker store. For $11, it feels better, looks cooler and has held its edge extremely well - its a forged, German, damast steel blade with a stainless handle and is much heavier than the Henckel. I use this almost exclusively now and absolutely love that its very balanced but much heavier. After Christmas I'll be investing in a great knife and looking for opinions. Have you used heavier knives? Do you prefer a certain type of blade, like santoku?
I'm also interested in knife recommendations because I plan to buy my mom a set of knives for Christmas. She has used a combination of old janky steak knives for cooking for as long as I can remember but the last time she came to visit me and used my knives and cutting board she seemed to like them a lot. I need something that will hold up to quite a bit of abuse; she tends to use plates as cutting boards and sometimes uses knives as a hammer or screwdriver. I'm thinking maybe a standard chef's knife and a couple of smaller paring-type knives but I'd appreciate some specific recommendations as far as brands or blade shapes go.
If you are looking for a good deal, get a Victorinox Forschner in an 8". Affordable and well made. Right now l use Global and Kershaw Shun Collection knives. Great weight, excellent balance. Flay swears by them. However, if you're looking to get the best blade possible, l can recommend no other cutlery higher then these: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HATTORI.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/HATTORI.html</a> l don't really use my Hattori for work anymore, it's more of an heirloom piece to my cutlery collection, but you will find no better knives on the planet then those crafted by lchiro Hattori. l'd recommend the KD series, although those are incredibly hard to come by (and will run you about 2-3 grand on eBay or Amazon). The HD is less expensive and far superior to any blade of that level.
I think the thick green onions (scallion, shallots, what ever) are going out of season. They ae used big time in the cuisine I like. Would substituting leeks work at all? Ill be stir frying it into traditional szechuan Kung Pow. Any other suggestions?
Shallots are not green onions, they're a more mild version of garlic. Not the same flavor. To my knowledge, leeks aren't an aromatic. You're not going to get a pungent flavor out of them as you would with green onions. I'd try using regular white onions, but add them very conservatively as their flavor is going to be stronger than green onions. Green onions are easy to grow at home. Try planting some next season, they grow like weeds.
I want to make veal saltimbocca but in a tomato sauce. Does any have a receipe for good italian tomato sauce?
A simple pomodoro will do. Get a large, thick-bottomed pot. A couple shots of olive oil, 2oz at most, to start, get it good and hot and saute half a chopped white onion and a couple of crushed garlic cloves until they're just starting to brown. At that point, add your tomatoes. Something like 32oz will do, and while you can use just about any kind of tomato available, I recommend plum tomatoes, preferably imported. Canned are fine, and you can decide the consistency of your sauce by how chopped they are when you add them. If you want a smooth sauce, run them through a blender for a bit. Now, you have an option at this point. You can add some sugar to offset the bitterness, a few teaspoons or so, or you can let the sauce stew for a couple hours, and every 15 minutes you can skim a layer of liquid from the top of the pot, along with any "tomato foam", to get rid of the bitterness without sugar. Whatever method you choose, add a 1/2 cup of fresh chopped basil just before serving. You can freeze whatever you don't use right away for future use. If you're going to make veal saltimbocca with this sauce, I recommend a Heritage Road Bloodstone Shiraz to pair with it, assuming you're into wine.
I got myself a meat grinder for Christmas. I need some ideas on how to really get some use out of it other than getting rid of the dead hookers.
For me, Christmas time = cookie baking. I make tons of cookies to give away as gifts. It applies to everyone on your gift list (who doesn't like cookies?), but with a pretty tin and a few different types, it still seems personal. I've been having trouble, however, with this one chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's my favorite recipe, with toasted pecans and lots of chocolate, but this year the cookies have started spreading more. They're supposed to kind of plump up, but instead they're all just merging together. I've tried refrigerating the dough, making sure the baking sheet isn't hot, whipping the butter less, and other googled ideas, but nothing is working (and I have no idea what I'm doing differently). I had a friend recommend that I switch away from butter, that Crisco has less water and so won't spread as much, but I can't see the cookies tasting as good without butter. It seems that we have some pretty handy chefs here, does anyone have any ideas?
I will have pictures soon, but I think there are people here who will appreciate what my family had for Christmas dinner: 2 3-bone standing rib roasts. Locally sourced, Grade A-Prime, from an actual butcher. Came to 19 lbs and about $350 total, and was absolutely amazing, both to see and eat.
I've always wanted to be able to cook Thai, but every attempt I've had has been mediocre at best. Anyone recommend any good books, chefs, or tips on cooking Thai food?
Holy hell, I don't know why I've waited this long to cook with cast iron. I used my new grill pan last night for the first time to cook some venison tenderloin and it was easily the best piece of meat I've ever made. Even my girlfriend--who tends to be hit or miss with venison, depending on how it's cooked--said that she couldn't believe how good it was. I makes me want to go to this nearby butcher that I just discovered and demand the best steak they have.
Smoking a brisket and making burnt ends with hickory this afternoon. A damn near holy experience if done right.
I have two frying pans, one with a non-stick coating and one without. The one without I'm pretty sure is stainless steel. My issue is that the one without the non-stick coating is an absolute bitch to clean; it takes a ton of scubbing with a brillo pad and soap to get it clean. Any tips to make it less of a pain in the ass?
Yeah... stop flushing the flavour down the sink. Now, I'm no pro, so I could get some of this wrong, so you pros feel free to correct me... When you cook stuff in non-stick pans, all that sticky/burnt stuff on the bottom of it is 100% flavour. There's a basic process called deglazing where you slowly pour liquid over those stuck on bits, while it's over heat, and the flashing of the liquid helps to loosen the burnt on stuff. Scrape it with a wooden spatula, and keep pouring in little bits of liquid until it's mostly/all removed from the pan. This is assuming it's not some big carbon block that's stuck on the pan. That liquid can be something like wine, or chicken/beef broth, that kind of thing. Pick a flavour that goes with what you're cooking. Or use water. Just pour it on slowly enough that it flashes or immediately boils each time you do... at least I find that works out best. If you just dump it all in, it doesn't work. Sometimes, depending on the size of the bits, you might want to strain the stuff through a sieve or something. Usually this process is a nice base/start for a gravy, but every now and then it just makes a nice little tasty/flavourful liquid accompaniment. If you're cooking something that won't benefit from deglazing, you might want to consider using the non-stick pan for it. Or increase your grease (oil, butter, whatever) before you cook so that it won't stick. Or exercise better control over the heat of your pan. Otherwise, rinse the pot out as best you can, scrape out what you can, then put water and dishwashing soap in it, and put it back on the stove. Get it hot. It should penetrate the carbonite, and you can scrape it loose. $0.02
Question about freezing food for all you pros: I've always made things like spaghetti sauce, chili, lasagna, etc. and froze it for later. Can I do the same thing with, say, chicken and potatoes? Or stirfry? I'm thinking of doing a bunch of pre-cooked dinners, kind of like you'd see in the frozen aisle at the grocery store, but I'm not sure what precautions to take. Can you just freeze all that shit in single-portion sizes, or do you have to be aware of anything in particular?