5/28 - Home Grilled BBQ NY Steaks

Bone-in New York Steak from Safeway (about 1 inch thick)...on sale!!


salted + seasoned steak...left out about 1 hr on table


sear the fatty edges, then the bone first


get a good sear on one side, and flip


after a few more flips, we are done!



Steps:

1. take steak out of refrigerator about 1 hr prior to cooking
2. season with about 1tsp salt
3. season with all over liberally with 1-2 tbsp of bbq spice mixture (homeblend of paprika, brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, cumin, and onion powder...about equal parts each)
4. when 1 hour is up and steak no longer super cold, pat down steaks to remove moisture on meat
5. heat up cast iron grill pan...leave on medium high heat
   
6. sear fatty edge for 1 minute, then sear other fatty side 1 minute...run the sides all along the pan to grease it up
   
7. Sear bone side for 1 minute
8. Sear presentation side of steak for 2 minutes
9. flip and sear other side for 2 minutes
10. sear bone side again for 1 minute
    
11. flip and rotate to give presentation side the criss cross marks and cover with a pan (turn down heat to medium if needed)...cook leave for 2 minutes
    
12. flip and rotate again and cover for 2 more minutes
13. check temp...should be about 125-130 at about this point
14. rest 5 minutes on a heated place and loosely cover with foil

Result:

• super tender all around (meat was only select grade at best...no marbling at all...)
  
• all around medium rare even near the bone
• crisp thick crust...nice and caramelized because of sugar
• when cutting, not much juice or blood came out...resting really helped
• beautiful color
  

5/17 - Sambal Inspired Roasted Flounder

"sambal" ingredients:

• fish paste - 2 slices of 1x1x1/4 or about 1.5 tbsp
• garlic - 4 cloves minced
• onion - 1/2 minced
• ginger - 1 inch knob minced
• dried chili pepper - 1 ea (seeded)
• ketchup - 3 tbsp

fish - 2 flounders with head cut and gutted

Steps:

1. bash up garlic, onion, ginger, and chili pepper in a mortar and pestle
   
2. saute fish paste with 2 tbsp oil in medium heat pan
3. add garlic, onion, ginger, and chili pepper mixture
   
4. add ketchup and mix, then turn off heat...total time is about 4-5 minutes
5. let mixture cool
6. preheat oven to 425
   
7. salt fish lightly
   
8. slather on top of flounders and cut slits in fish to allow more absorption of flavor
9. place fish into oven and set timer for 20min
10. check doneness of fish and take out...should bea bout 20min and "sambal" should be darkened...(if too dark, turn down to 400)
11. serve asap!

** didn't write down recipe immediately so might have forgot a few ingredients (celery, sugar, and / or fish sauce might have been used)

Result:

• wow...the flavor is just amazing...spicy, sweet, and super complex
• crispy sambal but fish not crispy enough...
• very moist fish and salty enough
• sauteing fish paste and adding ketchup to it was amazing! never tried it before
  

Next Time:

• bake fish at 450 degrees 5 minutes, then place sambal on and roast at 400 til done...about 20 minutes total (to allow fish to get crisper and dryer)

4/4 - 2 medium pizzas

ingredients:

dough

• 300 g - bread flour
• 192 g - water
• 6 g - salt
• 4.5 g - yeast
• 25 ea - black peppercorns
• optional (15g EVOO)

pizza sauce

• 1 can chopped tomato

pizza toppings

• olive oil
• 4 handfuls of cheese (mexican blend this time because no mozzarella at home)
• precooked chicken (pan seared) - 1 pc cut into medium dice

make pizza sauce:

1. strain tomatoes, save liquid
2. reduce liquid til syrupy (10 min)
3. pour tomato back into cooled tomato juice (liquid)
4. blend til smooth
5. add pinch of salt and pepper

make pizza:

1. knead with bread machine at dough setting for sweet breads (1:30)
2. cut dough into 2 pieces + round it out...wait 10-15 to rest dough
3. shape dough into pizza
4. top with tomato sauce, then cheese, then chicken breast
5. optional: brush olive oil on the edges of crust for better color
6. bake at 500 degree oven on pizza stone at floor of oven...8-10 minutes

A+...proportions for pizza dough is great...very crusty...would be better with the optional oil but not necessary...chicken breast was great...only thing was that cheese not stringy like mozzarella...but any cheese is tasty

TV: Master Chefs - La Brea Baker

• dough is very wet after mixed with food processor (just as wet as when i do 5min bread)
  
• it is placed onto a heavily floured surface
• for rustic, not need, just onto a floured parchment paper then tea towel over to rise, then bake
• for other bread, after put onto floured surface, knead it by throwing it around...not kneading to the core..more about stretching the outside...and throwing it down...she did it with 1 hand...starts off very wet and becomes less wet on outside
• to get coils on the bread exterior, can let rise in a straw basket lined with a towel
• for the slash, use a flat razor blade and slice very deep...3/4 to 1 inch deep and lift up a little with hand even
• 500 degree oven with ceramic tile on bottom rack and preheat
• before putting bread onto tile, spray sides and back of oven with a spritzer then close oven door to trap the steam
• place break from peel to tile
• then spray sides and back of oven several more times within next 10minutes
• when bread is nice and brown on top, can flip it over out and bake a few more minutes to brown bottom better (she did this with the rustic bread)
• with focaccia, its the same dough...when done rising, cut out with a circle mold and use hardy veg like arugala to line the edge by pushing into it....can place tomatoes, rosemary, cheese, etc to flavor the bread and bake in same manner as before
• bread in done in about 30min
• she placed the olive loaf into the refrigerator for overnight then took out, checked it was back to 72-74 degrees then slashed and baked it
• to make sourdough starter, she puts 1 lb of grapes (stems and all) in a towel and wraps it then bangs its moderately til juices come out...then she submerges it in a slurry of flour and water (maybe 2 cups each, i dunno)...very watery slurry...not much flour vs water it seems...then she lets it sit for 7 days covered in the kitchen...on 7th day, she wrings out the grapes from the towel and uses it with flour, yeast, and salt into the food processor...and pours water from the spout as it all comes together...
  

3/2: pan fried flounder with lemon herb butter

ingredients:

• headless flounder with everything attached but organs
• flour (1/4 cup)
  
• salt
• butter (3tbsp)
• 1/8 onion (minced)
  
• oregano leaves (4 sprigs)
  
• lemon juice (of 1 lemon)
• lemon peel (of 1 lemon)

1. salt fish and sit overnight
2. put 1/4 cup flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper
   
3. dust with flour and pat off excess (should get dry to the touch..)
4. heat up about 1 tsbp of oil per fish and when hot, place fish onto pan
5. cook 1 side about 3-4 min til golden brown then gently flip
6. cook 3-4 minutes more then flip again to make sure its nicely colored on both sides and flesh is firm to touch
7. take fish off and onto a towel lined plate to absorb extra oil then onto a rack to keep crisp
8. for the sauce, when all fish are done, use the same pan and add butter with onions and cook for about 1 min til slightly translucent
   
9. drop in oregano to fry slightly
10. add lemon juice and salt to taste
11. take off heat and serve on side or over fish

result:

loved it! no recipe but came out perfect...fish totally moist and goes perfectly well with the lemony sauce...nice briny flavor with sour was great...i tested 1/2 batch with flour coating vs flour + cornstarch...no difference so just go with flour

next time:

use clarified butter instead for better appearance...frothy solids on top of sauce is not great....use 1/8 cup of onion is good...i used about 1/4 cup and was way too much...sauce too lumpy

Omelette

"Robuchon"

• 6-12 eggs (3 per person)
• salt
  
• pepper
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tbsp butter

1. break eggs into a large bowl...season with a pinch of salt and pepper
2. beat firmly with a fork to obtain a foamy mixture
3. heat oil in a skillet over low heat...add 2 tsp butter and cook 2 minutes over med heat...tilt pan to distribute fat
4. when butter foams, pour in the beaten eggs + reduce heat to low
5. with a wooden spatula, quickly scrape the eggs cooked on the bottom and sides of pan, pulling them to the center several times
6. after 5min, shake the omelette pan so that the omelette gets "polished"
7. cook over low heat 1-2 min more for a moist omelette
8. turn off heat and add remaining butter to pan and allow to melt all around the omelette (makes sure omelette will not stick to pan)

flipped omelette

• quickly flip pan over plate holding the plate against the pan the whole time

rolled omelette

• tilt skillet so that omelette slides more to one side, up against the edge.
  
• use a spatula to lift the side opposite the handle and fold the omelet in half.
• use a fork to make the folded edge more round
• shake the pan with a short, sharp movements to make the omelette roll over itself
• use fork to make it rounder if necessary
• tild skillet over the plate and flip the rolled omelet out
  

Baked Eggs

"Robuchon"

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees and place rack on upper middle position
   
2. bring 1 qt water to a boil
3. butter sides of the ramekins and place a small pinch of salt in each
4. crack eggs carefully into ramekins
5. take small saucepan and line botom with parchment paper poked with a fork (saucepan big enough to hold the ramekins) - this helps keep the water from boiling over and cannot be skipped if doing in the oven
   
6. put ramekins in saucepan
7. pour boiling water, enough to reach halfway up ramekins

if doing on stovetop

• put saucepan over low heat so water bath bubbles gentlycook for 5 min for small eggs and 6-7 for med eggs and 8-9 for large eggs
  
• should be able to see coagulated white and liquid yolk...do not wait to see white solidify completely or else yolk will solidify too

if doing in oven

• put saucepan into oven...rack above middle
• cook 6 minute small eggs, 8-9 med eggs, 1-min for very large ones
• should be able to see coagulated white and liquid yolk...do not wait to see white solidify completely or else yolk will solidify too

* for a slightly more cooked yolk, cover pot for the last bit of cooking