Dannyalcatraz
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Posts posted by Dannyalcatraz
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15 hours ago, Dave Bryce said:
I
I love the "shrimp bath" idea.
dB
That’s one of my standard ways of handling shrimp. Almost every dish I make that has shrimp and a significant amount of liquid, that’s the technique that virtually ensures they’re perfectly cooked.
It comes from making gumbo- a recipe I intend to post later. Adding the seafood (if any) is basically the last step, and the shrimp are the last of the seafood to go in. Plop them into a boiling or simmering pot, cover it and turn off the heat. 10 or so minutes later (depending on the size of your shrimp), and they’re ready.
FWIW, it’s a technique that can also work with eggs. If you’re making a shakshouka and certain soups I can think of, the raw egg is broken into the hot liquids of the pot or even tableside to poach in the hot liquids.
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I did, and I have. Haven’t seen one in a while, though. TBH, I haven’t looked in a while- so thanks for the reminder!
FWIW, those sound like this:
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I tripped over a bump in the Internet and found this:
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Last things first, fully plated: Prime rib with creamy horseradish, turnip roots, and eggplant w/ shrimp & bacon.
Eggplant is Mom’s favorite veggie. So we collaborated to try something slightly different. Here’s the eggplant, sautéed with onions, tomatoes, bacon and seasoning ( more on that later).
Here it is after the shrimp were added and cooked.
Diced turnips, done with EVOO, butter, salt, parsley. They were cooked in the microwave, one of the better ways to handle starchy or watery veggies.
The rib roast, resting.
NOTES:
1) this was my second try with the reverse sear method, and I liked the results. I’m a convert. However I made one mistake- I skipped the step where you take the meat out of the oven while it heats up to full power for the sear. This is actually the KEY to the results you want from this method, namely, maximizing your medium-rare while minimizing the well done border.
2) I used the essentially the same seasoning mix on the eggplant as on the rib roast because I had a bunch left over. The mix was salt, black pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, rosemary and thyme. Parsley & chives were added to the eggplant as well. The eggplant was diced but not peeled. Shrimp were added next to last: submerged in the pot’s liquid & contents, and the pot turned off to poach them perfectly. The last step was adding a sleeve of crumbled Ritz crackers to add a buttery, salty punch AND bind & thicken the remaining liquids in the pot into something like a purée.
The result was surprising: the flavor was almost like an okra gumbo, despite having few ingredients in common. If I had added chicken stock to the pot, I could have passed it off as one. I’m not the biggest fan of eggplant- it’s THE defining line between veggies I like and those I don’t- but I’ll be making this again.
3) the diced turnip roots were done in the microwave with EVOO, butter, salt, pepper and parsley because the results we get that way are generally superior to other methods we’ve used in the past. The microwave essentially steams the roots quickly from the inside out, all while dehydrating them a bit. This results in tender, slightly sweet turnips.
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Playing off of THAT, I came up with a “BBQ” sauce of cherries, black pepper, cayenne, a Serrano, a jalapeño, mustard powder, vinegar and a few other spices that works well with chicken, pork and beef. So yeah, a fruit or berry sauce/compote, etc. could be a good pairing.
Look at what kind of edible berries exist where elk roam, and I bet you’d find some great options. Blueberries are a candidate, and I know they’re a common ingredient in homemade pemmican recipes.
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Surprisingly old musicians- compared to their contemporaries or bandmates- also included Ronnie James Dio (started in a doo wop band!), Andy Summers, and Mick Mars.
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Coincidentally, someone just sent me a recipe for a bison chili. Of note, the cook mixed some beef into the chili because of the leanness of the bison. Since elk is similarly lean, that might be something to consider for certain dishes.
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I believe Caev & I have discussed this in the past, so forgive me if I repeat myself!
I like the idea of using some of the other varietals of eggplant besides the giant ones found in most American groceries. The Indian, Vietnamese and Korean groceries near me sell some of the smaller kinds.
Something I learned from an Italian restauranteur is that when you slice eggplant thin before baking, it takes on a nuttier flavor and become quite crunchy. Now, she did that on a pizza, but the lesson stands: slicing your eggplant thinner or thicker will affect flavor, texture, and cooking time.
It’s a pain in the ass, but buying a high quality Parmesan and shredding it yourself is an investment that always pays off. If you can’t find a good parm, look for a cheese called parrano. It’s flavor is somewhere between parmesan and gouda, and it has an appearance and texture more like gouda.
Buying good mozzarella is also worth it. I’ve happily been using the Bel Gioso from my local groceries most of the time. Occasionally, I use one from The Mozzarella Company, a local cheese maker. And in some recipes, I substitute a middle eastern cheese called akawi, which is kind of like a firmer, more flavorful mozzarella. That might work for this recipe, too.
Lastly, using panko as part or all of your breading can add a nice crispness and color to almost any fried or baked breaded dish. One of my cousins married a German guy, and his admission ticket to any event is his schnitzel. He started including panko in his breading a few years ago after Wolfgang Puck sang its praises.
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I’ve only had elk prepared in professional kitchens, usually in things like jerky or stews. It’s a fairly beefy flavor, and like bison, tends to be very lean. Mushrooms and onions would be obvious partners.
I read somewhere that elk’s lean character means your target temp for dimness should be 130-150degF, but don’t quote me on that.
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Sounds great!
FWIW: There was a family-run BBQ joint near me* that had a KILLER grilled chicken with a jalapeño ranch dressing. Jalapeños aren’t my favorite pepper, but their sauce was so good I could almost eat it like soup. You might want to explore something like that to boost the heat quotient.
* they closed due to needing to move cross-country for family reasons
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On 4/18/2022 at 8:42 AM, Dave Bryce said:
Love the concept…but I’m not the biggest bleu cheese fan.
Now you’ve got me thinking about what cheese I could sub. 🤔😁
dB
I hear and believe you, but I wasn’t kidding when I said two people who don’t like blue cheese love Boston Pizza’s blue cheese sauce enough they get their own ramekins of it.
That said, if I were a non-blue lover like yourself trying to find a substitute, I’d look first at smoked versions of cheeses I know I like. And the smokier the better. That smoke will go a l9g way towards filling the role the blue mold does- giving a contrasting, non-dairy flavor to the sauce’s body of cream and butter.
Right now, the smokiest non-blue cheese we currently have in our fridge is a wedge of Yancey’s Fancy Smoked Gouda. Boar’s Head Smoked Gruyere or Hickory Farms’ smoked cheddar might be good, too.
My next guess would be a beer or wine infused cheese. Cahill Irish Porter cheese would be a good option. Merlot Bellavitano (or possibly Espresso Bellavitano) could work as well.
This site might help you in your search:
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Not the sautéed zucchini, onions & tomatoes…
Not the pan full of NY Strips bring sautéed in butter & EVOO…
THIS: a creamy blue cheese dipping sauce!
Plated.This was my first attempt at mimicking the creamy blue cheese dipping sauce that comes with the bacon-wrapped flatiron appetizer at Boston’s Pizza (a Canadian chain spreading through the USA). It’s such a good dipping sauce that 2 people I know who don’t like blue cheeses in general demand their own ramekins when we order this appetizer.
This time I used half a stick of unsalted butter, a half container of heavy whipping cream, 2/3 of a wedge of Blue Dauvergne cheese, and ground black pepper. The only complaint: not thick enough. Next time, I’m using the whole cheese wedge.
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Just stumbled upon this group:
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2 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:
The Divinyls did pretty well. Honestly, when I saw them Aerosmith was going through the "drugs and booze" phase and it showed. Steven Tyler more than held his end up and Brad Whitford had to take some of Joe Perry's solos because he was not in good shape at all. My impression walking out the door was the The Divinyls ate their lunch and that was not what I was expecting but I really enjoyed their set. They were tight and put on a great show.
I’ve only seen a handful of performances when someone on the stage was clearly under the influence, of something.
The most memorable one was a nightclub show in Austin in the 1990s. Local studs Black Pearl were opening, followed by a band from Houston. The headliner was BLUE ÖYSTER CULT!!!
I had broken my foot, so I my friend and I had stationed me up against a wall near the restrooms. As we leaned there, this huge, incredibly drunk blonde dude who was topless but for a sheepskin vest kept hitting on her. She did her best to ignore him while Black Pearl blew the lid off the club. After their set wrapped up, they called the second band to the stage…and the drunk blond dude peeled himself off the wall and stationed himself at the keyboards. The lead singer grabbed the mic and announced they were Galactic Cowboys, and had just signed their first major label contract,
Drunk blondie got it ALL wrong- tempos, keys, songs, even particular notes as his fingers stumbled over themselves. I heard he got fired a few weeks later.
BÖC, of course, simply killed it, it was essentially a best of show by a great band that was playing a 3’ tall club stage like they were on a stadium tour.
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They were definitely a fun band!
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6 hours ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:
The Chats and Alien Weaponry
The Chats are an amusing little punk band, and Alien Weaponry fuses native music & language with modern metal, kind of like what Sepultura did on their album, Roots.
Sent from my iPad
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9 hours ago, AUSSIEKEYS said:
Hi Danny. Theres 2 bands you mentioned there ive not heard of.
*****
Hey mate talking of a common name everytime i see your signature area down the bottom that mentions Murphys Music it reminds me when I worked in a store called Murphys Music in Sydney as a fill in for one day. I was a fill in at another music shop affilidated with murphys and they asked me to help out there. Must be Murphy Musics everwhere hee hee. So a bit like band names eh.
Which two?
As for Murphy’s…yeah, there’s probably one in every county in the English-speaking world! The one near me is a family owned & operated business founded in the 1960s. Good people.
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Continuing the tangent on other notable Aussie (and nearby) bands:
The Atlantics
Rose Tattoo
The Chats
Kylie Minogue
Alien Weaponry
(Also, apologies for misspelling Split Enz- I know better!)
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Those 2 videos reminded me of things I’ve heard in electronic music from the 1960s (like early Tangerine Dream) or atmospheric stuff from movie and videogame soundtracks in the 80s-90s. Also a bit from the industrial bands like Godflesh and Pigface. Maybe a bit of Ronnie Montrose’s more Sci-Fi themed albums.
They might have stumbled upon some hidden studio secrets of the (not-so) Ancients.
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7 hours ago, hurricane hugo said:
Aaaaaand the other part of it:
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Split Endz was an amazing band. Loved their music and their vids.
Australia had a lot going on back then. Several bands broke through.
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The 80s were kind of a golden age for synth players getting in big bands. Besides the explosion of New Wave bands, look what happened in rock: Journey, Montrose, Yngwie Malmsteen, Rainbow, Tony Carey/Planet P Project, Asia, Europe!
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Never got to see them or a lot of the 80s bands I love(d).
But for me, as good as they were, there were other bands that I prefer. Missing Persons, Duran Duran, Devo and Depeche Mode spring to mind.
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The sandwich:
1) 1/4lb Creole hot sausage patty from old family recipe (all beef)
2) Roasted Garlic sliced bread, toasted and drizzled with EVOO
3) babaganoush from a local restaurant (smoked, puréed eggplant spread)
4) tabouli from a local restaurant (diced parsley, EVOO, lemon juice, tomato, bulgar wheat, etc.)
Side: leftover linguine stroganoff
Results: the heat of the sausage played nicely with the smoky flavors of the babaganoush and the herbal acidity of the tabouli. I’m not COMPLETELY surprised- we traditionally pair this sausage on sandwiches with pickles and mayo- but the devil is always in the details. The spices in the individual ingredients could still have clashed.
Verdict: I wanted a second sandwich! But I wanted to leave the last patty for my Dad. I would SO eat this sandwich again. I would serve this to others. If I had a restaurant, I’d give it a test run there.
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Dinner: A Tasty Experience in Experiments
in Now We’re Cooking…
Posted
In this case, no. It really was the flavor, and I’m still puzzling out WHY. There’s no paprika or rosemary in my gumbos, and there wasn’t any bay leaf in this stuff. And yet, the results were self evident. I was the first to say it, but everyone in the family echoed my sentiments.
That said, there’s probably a bit of truth in your guess about the TEXTURE.
There’s an actual slime that okra produces when cooked, and that slime is how it thickens stuff up.
Eggplant isn’t really slimy so much as waterlogged. So as it cooks, the water leaves the eggplant as its flesh kind of breaks down. The resultant mush can act like a thickening slurry. That’s why a LOT of eggplant dishes start with drying it out some, or dicing it so small/slicing it so thinly that it dries out quickly while cooking.
Still, the amount of thickening that happens is minimized by the sheer amount of water in eggplant. This dish- which I will DEFINITELY be making again- was pretty soupy until I added the sleeve of crushed Ritz crackers.