Archive for June, 2011
Homemade Corned Beef
I was nervous the first time I made corned beef. The thought of a beef brisket sitting in the fridge for over a week is a little disconcerting. I’ve made it many times since my first attempt and haven’t had a problem yet.
It takes several days, but it is very easy to do. Slow cooking it with Fermented Sauerkraut is one of my favorite meals. I get my pink curing salt online at spicebarn.
Ingredients:
- 5 lb beef brisket
Brine:
- 1 gal water
- 2 cups kosher salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (or white sugar)
- 5 tsp pink curing salt
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1/4 cup pickling spice
Combine brine ingredients and heat to dissolve. Let cool completely. I usually heat about 3 quarts of the water with the other ingredients to dissolve then add 2 lb of ice to cool it quicker.
Trim fat from brisket and hit it several times on each side with a meat tenderizer.
Place beef and brine in a non-reactive container (stainless steel, glass, or plastic). You can also use a Ziploc bag. Weigh the beef down with a plate to keep it submerged.
Place in the refrigerator for about 5 days. Turn the brisket a couple times while it is brining. After it has brined remove and rinse thoroughly. A couple times it came out a little too salty. I have started soaking it in fresh water for about an hour after the corning process to remove some of the saltiness.
Sauerkraut (Fermented)
I have been making my own fermented sauerkraut for a couple years now. It takes a little time to make, but I think it is completely worth it. It is wonderful with Homemade Corned Beef.
Ingredients:
- 7 – 8 lb green cabbage (about 3 large heads)
- 2 green apples
- 2 small onions
- 3 bay leaves, crumbled
- 1/4 tsp cheese culture (optional)
Plus the following ingredients are per pound:
- 1 tsp pickling salt
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
- 3 juniper berries
Storage:
- 2 tbs salt
- 1/4 cup vinegar
Clean and quarter the apples and onions. Slice the stem off the cabbage and remove outer leaves. Reserve a couple leaves for later. Quarter and core the cabbage; do not discard the core.
Slice the cabbage thinly.
Grate the cabbage cores, apples, and onions.
Combine the vegetables and bay leaves. Weigh all the ingredients.
The salt, caraway, and juniper berries are measured according to weight. My vegetables weighed 7 1/2 lbs so I added 7 1/2 tsp salt, 3 3/4 tsp caraway seeds, and 23 juniper berries. Mix with the cabbage mixture and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
I use a 5 liter Harsch fermenting crock (on the right). You can also use an open crock.
Place a large handful of cabbage in the crock and press down firmly with a potato masher or spoon. Keep adding handfuls of cabbage and pressing it down until all the vegetables are in the crock.
Add the cheese culture. Some of the recipes for fermenting called for whey so I started adding the culture instead of whey. Add the stones and enough filtered (or spring) water to cover. If you are using an open crock spread out the reserved whole leaves over the vegetables. Then add enough water to cover.
Put the lid on the crock and add enough water in the trough to cover the hole. If you are using an open crock fill a large plastic bag with water, place that over the cabbage being careful to watch for trapped air. The reason it needs to be covered in this manner is so air can escape, but not get into the crock. Here is a close up of my crock that shows the hole that allows air to escape.
Allow to sit at room temperature for 4 weeks. Mine started slowly bubbling after 2 days and continued for about a week.
After 4 weeks has passed remove the lid. When you first remove the lid it might smell a little funny and the liquid will be cloudy. The important thing is that the vegetables still have a nice texture; not soft or squishy. Add the salt and vinegar storage ingredients to a one gallon jar. Remove the sauerkraut and place into your storage jar. Pour in the liquid from the crock. Cover and refrigerate. This lasts for months in the refrigerator.
Gastronomy Spheres
I’ve been wanting to try some molecular gastronomy. I finally got the ingredients and tried mojitos and strawberry-lemonade. I think with these recipes you probably need an accurate scale.
Ingredients:
Mojito Spheres
- 3 tbs rum
- 1/4 cup club soda
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1/4 tsp calcium salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 12 leaves mint (plus additional leaves)
Strawberry-Lemonade Spheres
- 2 tbs (1 oz) lemon juice
- 3/4 cup (6 oz) water
- 1 tbs sugar
- 2.5 g calcium salt
- strawberries
Bath
- 2 g sodium alginate
- 3 cups filtered or bottled water
Here are the powders I’m using.
I used calcium lactate gluconate for both of these. For the mojitos blend rum, soda, calcium, sugar, lime, and mint; strain. For the lemonade blend lemon, water, sugar, and calcium.
Add one leaf or a small piece of strawberry to each mold then pour in the water mixture and freeze overnight. My mold holds about 1 1/2 tsp each.
Blend the sodium and water. It will be thick and murky. Let it rest about 30 minutes until it is clear.
Drop the frozen circles in a couple at a time and stir gently. Let rest in the sodium solution about 3 minutes.
Rinse and serve.
I didn’t have clear rum when I made the mojitos, but I think that would look nicer.
Lemon-Herb Fried Potatoes
I made fried potatoes the other day that everyone raved about. I planned on making just plain fried potatoes then decided try something different.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled and sliced
- 2 -3 tbs olive oil
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- 2 tsp herb blend
- salt and pepper
Put the oil, onion, and garlic into a large skillet. Cook on medium until soft. Add the potatoes, lemon juice, herbs, salt, and pepper. Cook through and lightly brown. I usually leave the lid on until they are starting to get soft, then brown them with the lid off.
Boar Steak Dinner for Father’s Day
For Father’s Day this year we went all out. The kids pitched in and I think we made a great meal. I’m allergic to peanuts so my son did the Peanut Butter Pie. My daughter makes the best Classic Risotto so she took care of that. We had Clams Casino for an appetizer. For our main dish we had boar steaks with Bearnaise sauce and crispy onions. The appetizer, side dish, and dessert are separate posts.
Ingredients
- 4 boar steaks
- 1 sweet onion
Bearnaise Sauce:
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 2 tsp fresh tarragon (1/2 tsp dried)
- 3 tbs white wine vinegar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 stick butter
- lemon juice
In a small saucepan on medium cook the shallot and tarragon until soft. Add the vinegar and cook another 2 minutes. Allow to cool. Stir 1 tbs water into the egg yolks. Stir the egg yolks into the shallot mixture and return to the stove on low. Whisk until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the butter 1 tbs at a time and stir until melted. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.
Sprinkle the boar with garlic, salt, pepper, and herbs. Cook on a hot griddle about 2 -3 minutes per side.
For the crispy onion strings I have a nice little gadget that cuts them. They should be deep fried at about 400° for a few seconds until they are golden. They were tasty, but didn’t come out exactly as I hoped. I might try putting a little batter on them next time.
Here is our finished meal. Delicious!
Peanut Butter Pie
- 1 ready made crust (I used oreo)
- 1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- whipped topping
Classic Risotto
This was an accompaniment for our Father’s Day dinner. My daughter made it the first time we tried it. She did it so well that it’s become her job every time.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup arborio rice, do not rinse
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup butter, divided
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup dry white wine (I use vermouth)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
Heat water and broth in a saucepan on low. Put the onion and 2 tbs butter in another saucepan. Cook on medium until soft. Add the rice and stir together. Add the wine and stir until absorbed.
Increase the heat to medium high and stir in 1 cup of the broth mixture. Stir until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Keep stirring and adding the broth mixture 1 cup at a time. It should take about 30 minutes for all the liquid to be absorbed. Stir in butter, cream, cheese, salt, and pepper and cook an additional 2 minutes.
I recently tried this with short grain rice and I had very nice results. I think I’ll continue to use the arborio, but the short grain would probably work in a pinch.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Clams Casino
This is a great appetizer and really has a lot of flavor.
Ingredients:
- 24 medium littleneck clams, shucked into bottom shell
- 2 oz bacon or pancetta, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 4 tbs Parmesan
- Salt and pepper
I haven’t been able to figure out how to shuck clams so I just steam them until they open. It takes about 15 minutes. After they have opened scoop the clam into the bottom of each shell and discard the top shell.
While the clams are steaming fry the bacon until crisp, add the bell pepper, shallots, garlic, and oregano and cook about 5 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until it is almost evaporated. Remove the skillet from the heat and cool. Stir in 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange the clams on a baking sheet. Spoon the vegetable mixture onto the clams.
Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan.
Bake at 500° until the clams are just cooked through and the top is golden, about 10 minutes.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Today feels like the hottest day this year, so I had the brilliant idea of making hot chicken noodle soup. It may not have been my best idea ever, but the soup was really good and it’s so easy to prepare. One nice thing about this recipe is you can vary the ingredients to what you have on hand. I like to use fresh ingredients, but I have used canned tomatoes in a pinch.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 chicken, cut up
- 1 – 2 tbs herb blend (I usually use poultry seasoning)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 whole carrots, grated
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 2 cups water
- 6 oz egg noodles
Combine everything but the noodles in a crock pot set to low. Cook for 6 hours and pull the meat off the bones. Add more water if needed.
Turn the cooker to high and add the noodles. They should only take about 20 minutes. Serve with crusty bread (not pictured since mine failed).
The Best Roast Beef for Sandwiches
One of the greatest successes I’ve had with sous vide cooking is roast beef for sandwiches. Here is how I do it.
Ingredients
- beef roast (I used a 3lb London broil)
- granulated garlic (not fresh)
- salt
- pepper
To prepare the roast trim the fat and sprinkle liberally with garlic, salt, and pepper. I have read that using fresh garlic turns bitter when cooking sous vide so I always use dried.
Seal roast in a plastic bag.
Place in your sous vide cooker set at 136°. The first time I made this I cooked it for two days. The last time I made it I cooked it for 12 hours. I was happy with the results both times. It wasn’t quite as tender with the shorter time, but I preferred the texture. Check the water once or twice to see if more is needed to cover.
Leave the meat in the bag until you are ready to slice it. Remove from the cooker and place in a sink of ice water for about 30 minutes to quickly cool it. Place it in the refrigerator overnight or long enough for it to completely cool. You can place it in the freezer for a couple hours to make it easier to slice. Remove from the bag and reserve the au jus. Thinly slice it.
Here is the finished product. I usually heat the au jus with a cup of water and 1 tbs of cornstarch to thicken it slightly to make French dip sandwiches.
The Cooking Cobb 