Take 2:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dd8bf672eb.png

Decreased the oven to 210°, kept the same bake time. This time, I got a nicely dark red center which didn't go away. The above still seems slightly over-done to me, but it was still pretty tender.

None the less, there's still something not quite right here. I believe that the combination of the two techniques (dry age and bake) is just too much for one piece of meat. As before, not terrible, but not amazing.

Having already done the direct skillet cook on an aged piece of beef, I shall try the reverse-sear method on an un-aged piece, and compare.

Looks pretty good to me!

Back to the burgers for a second, if you haven't, watch "The Burger Show" on YouTube. From the same people that do the hit wings/interview show called "Hot Ones"

That's the puzzling thing. It looks good. It tastes good. But there is an X factor at play with regard to the texture which I need to suss out. I think I'm just over-drying it, by doing both processes.


Yes, both of them from "First We Feast." They're in my regular rotation, along with Alex (FrenchGuyCooking), Uri Tuchman, Alton Brown, and This Old Tony.

Actually just watched Binging with Babish: Chateaubriand Steak. It's influencing my thought process...


I'm gonna give the reverse-sear another try on an un-aged cut, but I have to say that, at present, it's not a front-runner for me.

A steak that thin should not go in the oven. Either screaming hot pan only, or if you must cook it before searing, that's sous vide territory only. That's what's going on here. :)

^ That certainly seems like a plausible explanation.

Overall, I'm pleased with the results I'd been getting from the screaming hot pan method, and will probably put this idea to rest for now.

Speaking of that, I'm sous vide cooking beef brisket next to homemade gluten free ladyfinger cookies.

Adapting to a gluten free diet is not that bad, it has been 1 month now and everything is tasty. The most difficult part is that I cannot grab fast food anymore.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6e7dcd2fdf.jpg

What's the plan for finishing the brisket? Torched in oven for a few minutes? I loooooooooove brisket but i don't have a smoker setup and won't until Spring at earliest.

Is the GF transition for medical reasons, or...?

I'm curious as to seeing the sous vide unit in a stainless pot. I would have thought that heat loss through the sides would unacceptably high. Is this not the case?

Nah. Any decent sous vide is more than capable of keeping up with that.

If a kettle with steel or alloy sides can comfortably boil water, a sousvide should be fine.

Sousvides only keep the water at around 70deg don't they? so it should be an easy job for it.

Here's a neat little trick:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...03e63fd33c.png


Those little plastic squeeze bottles are fairly cheap, and this is so convenient that I'm kind of annoyed I didn't discover it earlier. It's not as pretty as the fancy-looking oil cruets with the stainless spout, and while those may be what you find on the table at your favorite chain-Italian restaurant, I guarantee you that the plastic squeeze bottle is what the line-cooks in the back have at the griddle. Extremely precise control of both volume and direction, and yet very easy to dispense a lot quickly when that's what you need.



Anyway...

Definitely getting better results from having gone back to a very short drying and a simple hotter-than-hades iron skillet.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...452230baa4.png


No funny business, no alteration of chroma / saturation in photoshop, that's just three minutes per side on "really quite hot." Great char, and the juices I'd been missing are back.

So, yeah. For individual steaks of reasonable thickness, the reverse-sear thing is not for me. Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best one.



Also did scalloped potatoes from scratch, which was a first for me. Slice on the mandoline, toss with olive oil, cook in a skillet for about 4 minutes, working in batches so that each individual slice gets its own dedicated pan-space.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...90ffb2236d.png

(Working from right to left here. The saucepan at left wasn't used in the cooking process, it was just the nearest container I had at hand to deposit the browned potato slices into.)



Brown some minced shallot. Then toss in a big handful of spinach and let it wilt just slightly.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3bc07e78f3.png

(Yes, I am pan-frying spinach. Just a bit.)

Quickly remove the spinach and shallot as soon as the greens begin to shrivel. Put the potatoes back in. Add some white wine, then cream, a dash of pepper, romano, and the spinach and shallot mix. Stir at a simmer as it reduces a bit. Once the potatoes are tender, divide among a pair of small baking dishes (I used my two small skillets) and bake at 450° for 20 minutes. I did the first half covered in foil, then uncovered to brown the top a bit.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...24eaf697d1.png

Nothing for scale, but this is an 8" pan.

I throw burgers on the grill and they taste good.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ee9a9ac385.png



https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c93cb503e2.png



Also:

Please cut corn laying on its side. It's so stupid how people try to cut corn standing upright. I sliced ten ears of corn and lost a few kernels.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...520103ac74.png
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cebfd68dc4.png


and just to remind Joe:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f7858b184c.png

The transition to GF is for medical reasons, she is part of the 1% which auto-digest her intestine when she eats some. We're getting used to it, I'll post recipies and pictures of food when I'll find interesting stuff.


As for the sous vide, there is no significant heat loss through the metal pot. As long as the little motor can swirl water everywhere around the meat pieces (no plastic blocking heated water to go up to the side of the pot), everything is the same temperature and well below the heating power potential of the unit.

To finish, I sprinkled salt of the meat then seared with a propane torch. It's quite fun to look at the face of people in the kitchen when you light it!

Also everyone in this thread should already know that:
1. stainless steel is a relatively poor thermal conductor
2. shiny things are also relatively poor thermal radiators

so there's that.

There is that...



Why are lox and smoked salmon so goddamned expensive?

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1939baa8e6.jpg

Really happy, juste made gluten free "puff pastry" (Is it how to call "Pâte feuilletée" in english?) which is supposed to be one of the most difficult thing to do gluten free. I then formed small bowls with it to cook "Vol-aux-vents" for which I added a generous quantity of Béchamel sauce mixed with cooked vegetables and chicken. It was a bit more crunchy than what I was looking for, but it was really tasty.

As a bonus, here is an off focus potato phone photo of a gluten free apple crumble. A really ugly pic, I agree. The difficult thing was that I needed not to use oats as it could trigger the coeliac disease, so this crumble is made with equal parts of gluten free flour, brown sugar, butter and puffed quinoa. Was crunchy and tasty, also a success.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...727ace69ca.jpg

Oklahoma City, where we have had an NBA team for more than a decade, but Costco just opened it's first location in the metro a few months ago.

https://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Sign...100096211.html

I like how "extravagant" is a listed feature.

That's exactly what I found humorous and posted on Facebook for the ad.

"Edible side table."