What did everyone cook today?

[YooperDog]

Just finished cooking for 50+/-, youngest son’s wedding. Four style of sliders, 2 chicken and 2 beef; baked beans, creamed corn, oriental salad, potato salad, desserts. Got a little bit behind on the cooking time curve other than that everything went w/o a hitch. Last of the guests left this evening, cleanup started breaking out the good stuff, Ben Riach, single malt, 12 yr.

[calldoctoday]

YooperDog Congratulations on a job well done & done! Enjoy & relax.

[calldoctoday]

Chef I used to always use the foil at 160/165. I try to use the butcher paper when I can. However, to get that real nice crust I either have to go all out & slow with no crutch to get the best or definitely finish it off the last hour or so to get it. However, I don’t get it for the most part with the butcher paper by itself any more or less than the foil. I am not sure what I must be doing wrong as folks everywhere rave that using the butcher paper is the answer, all by itself from 160/165 on out.

[drbrown35801]

Congratulations to your sons marriage as well and on your event. The scotch is well deserved.

[drbrown35801]

I did ribeye steak burritos with onions peppers, provolone cheese,and a special sauce I make for them.

[Chef]

calldoctoday I’ve, likely just by habit, use butcher paper at 150 get a reasonable bark, better than foil, but for a really thick bark, unwrap and decrease temperature to about 215 after it gets out of the stall. Only variable I would think at play is humidity. My heat flows over water and then up through my tuning plates, so I guess it is rather moist heat.

[TexLaw]

Chef I (and other BBQ buddies of mine) have found that pit humidity has a lot more to do with how much meat is on the pit, rather than whether one uses a water pan. I’m sure a water pan does something, but I never noticed any significant difference on my pit.

[Jonathon]

YooperDog Congratulations! And sorry that I didn’t follow through with the pics of sushi but believe it or not I actually started eating it on the drive home and was done with everything but the tempura rolls before I remembered I was gonna take pics.

[TexLaw]

This wasn’t today. In fact, it was a few days ago, but it’s something I enjoy from time to time. Farinata.

Basically, it’s a flatbread made by frying a thin, chickpea flour batter. This one is flavored with rosemary and black pepper (quite traditional). They make for a great snack or light meal. I also like having a leftover slice or two cold for breakfast.

[calldoctoday]

That looks intriguing & tasty. I will have to learn more about it.

[TexLaw]

calldoctoday It’s definitely worth checking out. You’ll also find it called socca, cecina, and torta di ceci. I’ve slowed down making them during the Summer, since I don’t really like making a super hot oven, but I still crave them. I like them so much that I bought a tinned copper pan for making them, but that pan also is good for thin focaccia and other flatbreads.

Here’s my (current) recipe:

For a 25 cm farinata pan or a #10 Griswold skillet (roughly 25.5 cm diameter at the bottom:

-100 g chickpea flour
-300 g water
-4 g salt
-50 g olive oil
-Freshly ground black pepper (as much as you like–I used a good tablespoon or so)
-Rosemary (about a tablespoon fresh or a teaspoon or so dried–whatever you like)

Add enough of the water to make a very thick mix (about a third) and stir with a whisk to smooth out the lumps as best as you can (you can whisk very briskly once it’s combined enough to keep from splashing around). Add the rest of the water and whisk until lumps are gone (or as good as you can get it)—be more gentle, now, as it’s a very thin batter and easily splashed around—you’re just mixing. If you need to, whisk again about a few minutes later to get rid of all lumps. Let the mix sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to hydrate, but the longer you can let it go, the better. (Recipes I’ve researched say that 8 hours is even better, and one said that 12 is even better still.)

Stir in the rosemary whenever you like. I often do it right after I’ve added all the water. When using fresh, I’ve also added it just before baking, and I’ve not noticed much difference at all. For dried, I want to add it well before baking to hydrate a bit. (FYI, fresh is better, but I have a large rosemary plant at home)

To cook, preheat your oven to around 550F or as high as it will go (mine goes to 555 F). If you have a baking stone or steel, have it on a rack midway up in your oven higher (depending on how hot your broiler gets) and let that heat completely. Place your pan or skillet on the stone/steel (or just in the oven, if no stone) to preheat (a traditional pan only takes a few minutes–5 wasn’t quite enough for my #10 Griswold skillet). While the pan/skillet is preheating, skim off and discard any foam on the top (I rarely have any) and then stir in the salt. Remove the pan/skillet from the oven, pour in the oil and swirl to cover the bottom. Pour in the batter over a wooden spoon or spatula held just above the oil. Sprinkle on the pepper. Return pan or skillet or pan to the oven.

For my oven, I bake it for 7 minutes. Then, I switch over to broil and let it go until the top is done as I want it (typically another 7-8 minutes). Times can vary wildly depending on how hot an oven gets, how hot a broiler gets and how long it takes to heat up, how done you like it what you cook it in, how large a recipe you make, etc. The idea is to have it crispy on the top and bottom and creamy in the middle (it’s very thin, though).

Alternatives: If you want a substitute for or addition to black pepper, you can use white pepper, cumin, fennel, paprika (hot, sweet, or smoked), or blend away. If you want a substitute for or addition to rosemary, great options are tarragon oregano, marjoram, savory, thyme, herbes de Provence, or blend away. Really, whatever sounds good to you is worth a shot, but I’d stick herbs and spices—nothing wet and chunky—it’s not an omelette or frittata.

[Chef]

TexLaw said in What did everyone cook today?:

Farinata.

That does look good. I have all the ingredients, I think I’ll start some this evening. I’ll cook mine on my Primo, can easily reach 550 F on that thing.

Thanks once again TexLaw

[Jonathon]

TexLaw 100% showing this to my wife to see if she has interest in making it. I have an interest in eating it but this sounds more like her area than mine.

Sorry, should clarify, she is an awesome baker and I am a terrible one. I get all nervous and check things WAY too many times, opening the oven or taking the top off something and ruining it!

[Chef]

Jonathon Wish I could trust my wife in the kitchen LOL

[Tex_77]

Chef Mine told me this weekend, she took a gourmet cooking class in high school, but it just consisted of watching Julia Child’s cooking shows. Needless to say I do 99% of the cooking my house, but I enjoy it.

[Chef]

Tex_77 You let her do that much. LOL I can’t do 1%. It would burn down the house.

Like you, I find cooking the most relaxing thing in the world, other than seeing the joy of those in need. Sadly, there are so many people hurting and I so blessed to supply meals to them.

[drbrown35801]

Ribeye steak sandwiches!

[drbrown35801]

[drbrown35801]

Cooking is my therapy, I understand that very well. It keeps me from thinking about and remembering this best left forgotten.

[Jonathon]

drbrown35801 Can’t tell you how many times I have started a project in a negative mood and right around the grinding I start feeling better and it just improves from there. It is sort of like a meditation!