What are you cooking for dinner this weekend?

[acotts]

Grilled over some hard wood charcoal: Picaña (a beef cut from the top of the sirloin), Skirt steak, Argentine pork and blood sausages, sweetbreads and Spanish chistorra sausages (loaded with Spanish paprika). Chilean wine to wash it all down.

Dude, are you a pro cook or pro photographer?

[maunahaole]

Part of last night's feast. Shrimp on the grill. These were swimming just a few hours before these pics were taken.

[Shinomaster]

salad.

[pale scotsman]

Shino, we're gonna need a finished product pic on that one. Man, those tomatoes look good!

[caleb]

Second breakfast after this morning's ride:

Leftover pinwheel steak
Eggs from the corner store
Veggies from the garden.

[Shinomaster]

Shino, we're gonna need a finished product pic on that one. Man, those tomatoes look good!

oy..I ate about three pounds of heirloom tomatoes last night.. made my tummy hurt.

[henry g.]

Dude, are you a pro cook or pro photographer?

I'm a photographer and designer. Nothing fancy about the menu. Here in Miami any bunch of Argentine or Brazilian blue collar working stiffs getting together to watch the game (Fútbol not Football) would have the same pile of meat on the grill.

One thing I had this past weekend that was new to me were these 2 Chilean digestives/bitters that someone visiting from Chile brought. Great stuff.

[RIHans]

salad.

I like...I take those...add some fresh Mozzarella cheese, EVOO, garnish it up...

Caprese Salad.

Looks super Shino! Nice rack.

[rwsaunders]

Ok Too Tall...I was in Bayou country two weeks ago and I thought of you when I saw this gas station fare. I have another trip planned in about a month...any interest in the menu items, as I could always ship with dry ice?

[Too Tall]

RW that last trip to S.Carolina ruined me man I can't handle my BBQ like I usedtacould (that's a southern thing). There was this place in Asheville....I ate too much...it changed me. Ouch.
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Dinner Last Night

Mussels + Fries

This is really about fries ;)
Tall French Fries
1. Hand cut potatos into whatever shape / size you want leave skin on the ends. Toss all into flat tupperware container cover with water and soak 24 hrs. in refrigerator...change water once.
2. Use a heavy tall sided iron pot or dutch oven and corn oil heated to 325 for first fry. Put cold patted dry fries in oil for 3 or 4 mins. in small enough batchs that your thermometer does not dip below 325. Dip first cook fries out onto cookie sheet with paper towels and store in fridge.
3. Second fry at 375 until done the way you like em. Be sure to leave some runts in the oil so that folks who like to eat burnt things are happy ;) Place into a large SS bowl and toss with your secret mix of salt, cheyenne, rosemary...whatever! SERVE IMMEDIATELY .

Short Mussels

OK there are a million ways to do this and here is my take.
1. Drink a beer.
2. Cook ahead drain and crumble bacon, set aside.
3. use a large SS skillet and heat some EVO adding thin leeks and shallots. Cook until start to carmelize than add bacon and finely diced GOOD garlic not the cr@p you've had sitting out on the kitchen window shelf with green shoots ok? Cook all a few more mins.
4. Clean/Drained/debearded mussels (we don't need to talk about how to achieve that). Raise heat in skillet and before you ruin that nice mixture add mussels to cover bottom of pan + some. Raise heat all the way and prepare for madness.
5. START tossing the pan over high heat add diced hot peppers (if you like) and a handfull of blue cheese IF YOU WANT or not and don't let the pan sit, toss it often this won't take long. Stop after a few tosses and cover tightly for one min.
6. Add white wine and be careful if you use gas it will want to flame off. Toss Toss Toss and done when all the boys and girs are open!!! Depending on your cooktop you might have to cover tightly for an extra few seconds to build steam **Before the LAST Toss I like to add cilantro or flat leaf parsley or some other fresh herb your call. It's DONE :)

*** Instead of white wine I did one pan with vodka and loved it. Be super careful of the flame off. If you use electric light a match.

Yumm

[JoB]

Got some brisket from Sheppard Mansions in Hanover PA (Scottish Highland Cattle) at the local market.
Dry-rub: paprika, S&P, brown sugar, some herbs
Cooked it slowly and not too hot on indirect heat - took about 3 hours for 1.5-lbs' worth of meat.

Best.piece.of.meat.ever. Served with a dab of a spicy/sweet BBQ-type sauce.

We had some red cabbage from an old Austrian family recipe to go with it, along with some boiled and pan fried potatoes.

I can't stop thinking about how good that brisket was. Great flavor, tender, just perfect. Can't wait for next weekend :-)

[RIHans]

Got some dry rub...Got some Carolina slaw...

Cooking it low and slow. JoB...I want to eat at your house, bubba!
Love it!

[Too Tall]

Yeah Joe!!! Dish, talk about the cabbage recipe.

[JoB]

Aw, thanks guys!

Fun fact: Red cabbage = "Blaukraut" (blue cabbage) in the Western part of Austria, but "Rotkraut" (red cabbage) in the Eastern part. WTH?

The final outcome of this is a stewed, finely sliced red cabbage that is pretty sweet and has a dark purple color. Very pretty side dish.

Finely slice or mandoline one head of red cabbage (approx 1.5 lbs, I'd say), add 1 TBS of salt, juice of approx 1/2 lemon - mix and let it sit while you...

saute approx 3 TBS of finely diced shallot, or onion if you have to in 2 TBS of melted butter

Add cabbage to pan, add 1 C good red wine, 1/2 C or so of water for starters. Add pepper to taste.

Add 2 TBS white sugar, 1/2 small cored/peel/diced apple, and 2-3 TBS of my mom's cranberry jam... but a sweet plum, diced apricot, etc., will also work... you want to create some complex sweetness.

Optional: add some cloves, touch of cinnamon.

Put a lid on, and cook at a low simmer until cabbage is almost soft. Remove lid to reduce.

When there is very little liquid left, add a tiny bit of corn starch (or flour) mixed up with an extra bit of wine... cabbage should turn dark blue/red and shiny.

Salt to taste at this point.

Goes great with strong-flavored meats, it's the classic side dish for venison and other game dishes in Austria.

Yeah Joe!!! Dish, talk about the cabbage recipe.

[Too Tall]

I've been on a tear this week. Reading about Ramen, Japanese Meals in a bag etc. etc. The Ramen I speak of is not fresh, it arrives in a packet and depending on the version prep. by adding hot water + provided spices and eat it! Most folks add their own: sliced veggies, meat etc. Also there are a million ways to prepare this. I'll paste (verbatim) a blog entry of a pro. chef who has his own take on ramen and hope you'll find it interesting not just becuase he spells as poorly as myself but because he creates what appears to be a first rate dinner in 15 mins. for less the a few greenbacks no less!

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Yakisoba? Ramen
Friday, July 17th, 2009
I’ve been holding this tasty but long rambling recipe for over a year now. It’s finally time to post. Aside from capitalizing some letters, I’m leaving this gem alone. Remember to stop at every step and clean, per the instructions!

Submitted By: xxxxxxxx

Submitted From: Iowa/Hawaii/North Carolina

Ingredients

three packs ramen. (pork, mushroom chicken, chicken)
one medium-large carrot
a small bunch cilantro
sangria (optional)
shoyu (a type of soy sauce)
1-2 tablespoon oil
four tablespoons sugar
water
one egg
1 bay leaf
black pepper
minced garlic
Cooking Equipment Required: nonstick pan, plastic spatula, knife, cuttingboard, any other measuing tools or portion bowl if you need them.

This is more less a lesson how to make maybe one of the most badass ramen dishes you’ve ever had. I’m not give exact cookin time and what nots because my gear is different then yours. and you prolly wont follow the directions to the tee anyways. Theres a million ways to do it, this is just the most common way i get the job done in my tiny ass apartment.

Fill large nonstick skillet with about a two or three cups of water, add bay leaf and red pepper, and boil for five minutes. Pour this bay water out and set aside. Clean mess made thus far. Place sugar in pan along with a dabble of water. crank stove on med-high and cook until sugar is dark brown, like almost too brown but just on the edge of being burnt. be care it can easily go over board if your not paying attention. stir it but kind of shaking the pan. one its done your going to add the bay water to the pan. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!!! It’s going to snap crackle and pop violently. Sugar cooked at this stage is VERY HOT, the water will turn to steam and throw the sugar up into the air, it will burn you instantly.

Fill the pan with more water, enough liquid to cook your ramen noodles. add all three seasoning packets and a few shakes of shoyu. Bring to a boil. Clean mess made thus far. While waiting for bay water/sugar to brown/soup to boil, you can do these things; break each block of dry ramen into fourths, set aside slice carrot thin on hard bias, set aside on different part of cutting board not being used or a small bowl. mash garlic with blade of knife against cutting board, mince, set aside on different part of cutting board. give the leaves of the cilantro a good tear or two. with your hands if you have long stems just run your knife through it once to cut them down to edible size.

So now we are ready to cook noodles. add your noodles to the soup. cook it until they get to a medium well- very well. drain. yes that super complicated involved soup/stock we made. drain it, throw it away, unless you want to save it for something. that flavor is now in the noodles. so soup is not nessiscary. set noodles aside. clean mess made thus far. CLEAN YOUR PAN. clean pan is important every step of the way because clean stuff performs better. better performance = awesome ramen noodles. NOW OVER HIGH HEAT. (because we are simulating what a wok does.) add a tablespoon of oil to your pan. hot pan, cold oil, perfect saute. the egg. im a bachlor, im also a freelance chef with serval years of professional cooking experience and three years of culinary arts school. YOU COULD crack the egg into a bowl and whip it. add it to the pan cook it, and slice it. but that makes a fucking mess. more dishes to do. it would like nicer. depends one who your trying to impress. i just add the egg to the pan and kind chop it with my spatula as i cooks. neext add your carrots, then garlic. cook to your liking. i love char, but not mush, are we all fimilar with the term al dente? add your noodles. add another table spoon of oil. toss noodles in oil, coat evenly. add cilantro. toss. wilt cilantro a lil. add a few shakes of shoyu, add this to the pan as even as possibly. dont just drop a bunch of soy in one spot. make it even. toss cook for a minute or two. toss. i high sear/hard brulee on noodle. so that that way it’s kind crunchy, chewy, soft, tasty. remember “Al dente” for those of you who think you can cook. finish with a sprinkle of sangria wine over the top. and a toss or two. plate up, looks cool on a black plate. stuff some chop stick in it for the oriental flare garnish with some sesame seeds. clean mess thus far. eat. dishes. sleep.

Afterword:


see? this can serve two smaller portions. im a heavy eater and bicyclist so i eat the entire thing to myself most days. variations: celery, scallion, mushroom, bean sprouts, pork, chicken, beef, tofu, young ginger, peanuts, onions, eggplant, zucchini, fish, shrimp, scallops, it seems involved. but is your good you can make it in no less then 15 minutes. remember: you can still be poor and not eat crap. unless your spending all your money on drugs or liquor, you can afford to buy a few thing to jazz up your ramen noodles. experiment. there’s a million different way to do this shit. not knowing how to cook is like not knowing how to fuck. you have to eat for the rest of your life. so your going to need to know how to cook. women have no place in the kitchen, they will prolly screw it up. there no excuse for a man who doesn’t know how to cook. start with a clean kitchen. even if your really hungry and anxious to get cooking. start with a clean kitchen, it will make cooking a hell of a lot easier for you. cleanliness if next to godliness. clean as you go.

[JoB]

this guy is awesome.

[Shinomaster]

Imam Bayildi (swooning Imam) It's so good the guy fainted after he ate it, or so the legend goes. It's hella tasty! In Turkey and other enlightened places they don't let eggplants grow to be the size of soft balls. Eggplants that large taste like sh*t and are full of large seeds. These are from our garden.

[rydesteel]

Hey wth is the recipe at Shino? That looks tasty. My folks have a couple eggplants in the garden and I need an excuse to raid the freezer of a pack or 2 of lambchops. Give it up my friend.;>)

[Shinomaster]

[Shinomaster]

Oh rats...This recipe is about right. http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/...m-bayildi.html

I like to bake it uncovered so the onions and garlic brown a bit and caramelize, which is wrong I suppose.