Summer 2010 What's Cooking wiki thread

[maunahaole]

on the plate, going in the house



some meyer lemon, about 2 minutes after harvest from the tree



dinner time. with a spinach & stuff sautee and okinawan sweet potato

[dave1215]

i'd like to read a "smoked out" thread on maunahaole's pursuit of gastronomy.
how he got started.
what have been his inspirations.
where he sees this passion heading.

[Too Tall]

+1 One of the more creative non-pros I know with an almost too good to be true proximity to fresh seafood (envy).

[maunahaole]

I'm a hack. Just a fat guy who likes to eat. I only do this for friends and family. Working in food service is too demanding. Learned basics on a charcoal grill at the top of Vail many years ago in exchange for a ski pass.

[dave1215]

I'm a hack. Just a fat guy who likes to eat. I only do this for friends and family. Working in food service is too demanding. Learned basics on a charcoal grill at the top of Vail many years ago in exchange for a ski pass.

deconstructed your meals may seem quite simple - good fresh ingredients
but when plated and presented - there is such great balance in color and texture
cooked to perfection with just enough seasoning to draw out the natural flavors
i can almost savor the aroma through this series of tubes even 6 hours away

do you build your meal around what's available or plan and shop off the menu?

[maunahaole]

More often than not, it is what is available and looks good. Availability on some stuff here is a little uncertain sometimes.


Grilled thick cut boneless pork loin chops with Kellogg sauce tonight. I have plenty.

[AJPM44]

Tonight we had cheeseburgers and a sweet potato hash with arugula for myself, and sauteed haddock with red onions, tomatillos and green zebra tomatoes for the wife. I made extra in case Earl comes to visit for the next couple of days.

[Too Tall]

Fine, just TRY to pretend Maunahole just try.

Hey. RIHans or anyone chime in. I'm doing a few test runs at Shrimp and Grits this weekend. The dish is ridiculously simple when done right however this Southern Northern Jewboy was not raised cooking grits. I LOVE grits and polenta, what's the secret to silky texture? If anyone has a good take on homestyle grits and shrimp I'm all tears ;)

[AJPM44]

Fine, just TRY to pretend Maunahole just try.

Hey. RIHans or anyone chime in. I'm doing a few test runs at Shrimp and Grits this weekend. The dish is ridiculously simple when done right however this Southern Northern Jewboy was not raised cooking grits. I LOVE grits and polenta, what's the secret to silky texture? If anyone has a good take on homestyle grits and shrimp I'm all tears ;)

A really rich chicken stock and whole milk make for a very tasty polenta. Keep the heat on the low side so you don't scorch the milk. And the grain of the polenta is the main thing that affects the silkiness. Fine ground will be more silky, and gritty will be coarse, obviously. But they all taste good. Enjoy.

[maunahaole]

I picked up some beef chuck short ribs last night. I'm going to take a crack at making kal-bi, which is a korean bbq style. I have some pulped up strawberry guava from the tree in the freezer that will get worked into the marinade, which is similar to teriyaki. Bonus of little bone nuggets for the dogs. Pics and cook report to follow.

TT - looks like a rainout for you this weekend, I expect perfect shrimp & grits technique by Tuesday. BTW - saw some nice looking lump crabmeat @ the store last nite....I may be bugging you for a recipe soon.

[Too Tall]

HAHA PM me for the crabcake recipe that is one thing I do keep under my hat ;) The hurricane is a bust, lots of wind and what looks to be a glorious week.
Ahhhhh good call on the chicken stock. I'll make some up and report back. There will be bacon ;)

[maunahaole]

Fair enough...mine will never as good as yours, though. Cant say that I blame you for not publishing that.

I want to know what Shino is serving up. Dude makes some nice looking grub.

[Too Tall]

Delaware's finest...backfin crabmeat. Handpicked and made into the most scrumptious crabcakes on earth. Crisp surface and warm crabmeat goodness inside. Also, what I really think is the best white corn anyplace. This is silver queen variety grown on the eastern shore of MD. We grabbed a dozen fresh off the truck..ahhhhhh. To top it off we washed it down with a bottle of incredible Captain Lawrence Brewing Company Nor' Easter beer Darren sent us and by Providence (haha get it) arrived just in time. WOW. But wait, we get to eat dinner watching the waves. This is nothing like the splendor many of VSalon live every day but it's what we look forward to and hope you can relate.

Peace, Josh

[maunahaole]

That looks awesome. Hi Doreen!

My kal-bi is in the soup getting ready for fire.

[maunahaole]

Kal-bi for dinner tonight - a Korean-bbq style beef shortrib. This uses the cut called flanken, aka a chuck shortrib. These sat in the soup of a mix of soy sauce, strawbery guava pulp, sambal oelek (asian grocery item, chili & pepper paste), garlic, ginger, black pepper, wasabi oil, sesame oil, mirin, green onion, turbinado sugar, and probably a few things that I forgot to list. I was kitchen sinking it and adding stuff as it looked good. This mix was heated and cooled before soaking the meat. It was done under the influence of several beers, which explains a lot. This was cooked over fairly high heat, about 8-10 minurtes, until medium, turned frequently and basted with the marinade after each turn. I'm pretty happy with the result.
Simple dinner tonight, just with some green salad and purple sweet potato ( a staple in our house)

Meat soaking it up.



Hitting the grill



somewhere mid-cook



ready to eat.

[Too Tall]

Ouch. Short ribs look amazing. Nice work.

Shrimp and Grits #1 went well. I decided to make parmesian pepper grits as the base with a drizzle of garlic oil made with a touch of the bacon rendering. Shrimp were cooked over high heat in an cast iron pan that was used to cook the bacon. Sooooo, grits in the bowl and shrimp stuck in! I crumbled a bit of bacon thru the grits as well.

Overall I'd give it a hearty 8 for flavor and texture / quality. Lots of room to refine. Needs a squeeze of lemon to brighten the shrimp and flat leaf parsley or cilantro whisked in and toss over to finish.

Super easy to make one pan one pot meal.

[maunahaole]

That looks like a winner. Kudos on re-using the bacon grease. Can't let all that flavor go to waste.

[OnTheEllipse]

Josh, you're a bonafide Marylander. I'm into all of that.

We've been making this red sauce recipe we saw on a Bourdain/No Reservations "techniques" episode all summer long. Super simple, but a lot different than what I grew up eating (mom let that sauce cook all day)

recipe here:
Spaghetti With Fresh Tomato Sauce and Basil - Travel Article - Travel Channel

made my first beer can chicken last night....lots of coarse sea salt, pepper, olive oil and old bay. came out amazing!

[Too Tall]

Thanks for the nice compliment. Muryland, ahh smell the harvest :) Kudos. A. Bourdain is a badarse and can cook. He certainly can indulge omg.

Tonight I was able to pre-arrange some hardshell crabs from a seafood house I've been ordering from for many yrs. The nice lady took three days to get back but dang she delivered. I asked for #1 blue crabs alive and pissed off ;) Cooked traditional:
1. In a tall heavy stock pot or similar place a large soup bowl upside down.
2. add a mix of about 1:3 vinegar / water or beer / water to bottom.
3. stack chilled crabs around the plate and sprinkle seasoning lightly each layer
4. start high heat, when you get first whisps of boil cover tightly with a weight and cook for about 20 more mins. Put you hand on the outside of your pot and feel when the steam has saturated the upper layers of crabs and count 20 mins. Boo Yah.
5. Spread them out and let cool some. Hardshells are best when warm not super hot...the meat falls out and shells dry enough to crack easier.

Anyone who uses melted butter is banned to PBJ sammies yo.

[maunahaole]

I agree - you should not have to put the butter crutch under something that has such great flavor on its own. However, I think the penalty ought to be Easy Mac for a week. PBJ can be made to taste good. Easy Mac always sucks.

I think Sully wants a taste of shellfish.

Oh, tell me about those tomatoes you got there, they look like they are on par with the crabs.