Add Thyme: Don't Passover Gefilte Fish

Add Thyme: Don't Passover Gefilte Fish: Gefilte Fish is a traditional course served during a Passover Seder.  Many people are unaware of what it is and those that are familiar wi...

Don't be Pig Headed When it Comes to Headcheese

So looking for something a little more adventurous my cooking buddy David and I thought it would be cool to sous vide a pig's head.  They sell them at a local market called Duc Loi.  A wonderful place where you can buy chicken feet, frozen fish balls, Italian tuna, fresh masa, organic produce and more Asian products than all the world's Whole Foods combined.  And at a significant discount, although you won't be able to visit an aroma therapist or buy a pba free Paul Frank thermos for your chai decaf  latte.

At DL you can get the whole beast, and that is a good thing, not only for the world but also for your taste buds.  In the western world of the last 50 years or so we have been too used to eating high on the hog.  But for centuries the whole beast has been not only enjoyed, but celebrated.  And David & I are into celebrating old things, tasty things and modern things so we went about making our modern day head cheese.  Following the guidance of @offalchris we started butchering our pig head.

For a more graphic detail on the butchering check our chef friend from PTC Jill's documentation here.  I will spare you most of the butchery, but for us it was awesome taking the meat off the bone. And there is a lot of meat on that bone/skull.  After removing the meat from skull we had nearly 10 pounds of meat to season and roll.  The the skull is useful as well - we roasted it then placed it in very large pot of water to get a porky stock out of it.

Once we removed the meat we concocted a flavor profile of garlic, lemons, rosemary and mint, with a spice rub that included coriander, cinnamon and dried chilies.

Once it was seasoned we got Alabama on it.  Roll and Tied..

After the meat was secured by twine we placed the 10 pound loaf in a vacuum sealed bag and let it marinate overnight.  Yeah, this is a multi-day process so if you are thinking about doing it plan it out 4 days in advance before enjoying it.  After its overnight marinade, it was placed into a water bath at 190 degrees F for the 24 hour cooking process.

 Once removed from the sous vide bath, it was plunged into an ice bath to stop the cooking process let the meat set up.                                                      

Then back to the fridge for another overnight chill out. 

The next morning it looked like this.  The white part is the congealed fat, and the darker brown parts on the ends are delicious meat jelly, you want  the meat jelly. 

So after removing the the loaf from the bag and separating out the fat and meat jelly, I sliced into it and split it in half to reveal a beautiful marbled masterpiece of meat. The knife sliced through it like butter, amazing just amazing.  Dense, rich and fatty after tasting it David & I could only say it was "F-ing Delicious!"

It makes an excellent base for a salad.  Or as it is so soft and tender you can just spread it on like a meat mayonnaise on a nice piece of crusty bread with a few greens and a spicy picked pepper.  Don't be afraid eating delicious things, just because they're not high on the hog.  Don't be pig headed, enjoy and savor the pig head, it is F-ing delicious.

Due to the long cooking and cooling process I doubt it will ever be featured in a cooking class with Add Thyme, but when we do a sous vide class I will be sure to mention it.

Pastrami Smoked and Sous Vide

Looking for an excuse to use my BBQ smoker and my Sous Vide Supreme for my Super Bowl Party I thought I might give pastrami a try. Pastrami is a deli stable but rare to see it out of a deli or sub shop. And I have never had it homemade, so I was down for the challenge.

So Pastrami is almost the same as corned beef, except pastrami gets a pepper and coriander crust and good amount of time in the smoker. And you start your pastrami as you would with a corned beef in a heavily seasoned brine. I based mine included black pepper, garlic powder, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, pink salt, whole all spice, cinnamon, cloves, onion powder, salt, bay leaf and brown sugar. I combined all the brining ingredients in water and brought to a boil then let steep and cool over night in the fridge. The next day I added my 3 pound brisket to the brine and let soak for 4 days, flipping it every day to ensure an even brine.

After 4 days in the brine, soak the brisket in fresh cold water for at least 4 hours or overnight to balance out the salt. After the rinse pat dry the brisket and apply an even mixture of cracked black pepper and cracked coriander seeds. The brisket is now ready for the smoker.

I used a hot smoke on my BBQ grill keeping the temp btwn 180 and 200 degrees F. Using a combo of apple wood pellets and mesquite for about 3 hours until the internal temp of the brisket reached about 135 F. After reaching that temp I removed it from the smoker.

I had read that after smoking generally the pastrami is cooled and then steamed later just before serving. Since I had a few days before the Super Bowl party, I thought what better way to knock out a step and just put it in sous vide and finish the cooking over a period over a couple days in a moist heat without over cooking it.

Also to keep it moist, I had read where brisket can dry even in sous vide, without a extra fat. Since I had a little pork belly fat lying around, I thought what better fat than pork fat? With its extra larded insurance I placed the pastrami into my Sous Vide Supreme water oven for 48 hours at 64 degrees Centigrade.

Finally the day of the big game arrived and the feast was about to begin. I removed the cut the vacuum sealed bag and a waft of smoky beefy goodness filled the room. I drained the meat juices out of the bag and unfortunately I did not save it due to the craziness of guests arriving for the party and game. The pastrami was tender, moist and unbelievably delicious. I was able to sample a few pieces before the real madness started. And made a half a sandwich 5 minutes into the game, when I returned to the kitchen at halftime the entire pastrami had been devoured! And no it wasn't the only thing on the menu, I also had 2 different types of chowder, a bacon explosion, chips, guacamole, queso dip, and a kugel. I was really hoping for leftovers, to cure my Monday morning headache, but alas the only leftovers I had were the photos.

Super Bowl Menu

So the menu is set for next week. It will be the of Battle Chowders as the creamy New England kind takes on the tomato based challenger from Manhattan. The American Classic Ro*tel Queso always has a roster spot on the menu. As does the Bacon Explosion, and in honor of the NY Slice it will be a Bacon Explosion Pizza Style. And Mini Boston Cream Pies for dessert.

Only 27 more cooking days left......

till the greatest of all American Feasts! The SUPER BOWL! Already eliminated Cincinnati Chili, Georgia Peach Pie, Pittsburgh all in one sandwiches and K.C. BBQ. But Texas BBQ, Mile High Green Chili, Wisconsin Brats, Maryland Crabs, Manhattan Clam and New England Clam Chowders are still in it. Unfortunately the best two food Cities are matching up this weekend as Jambalaya takes on Cioppino when the Saints and 49ers clash in San Francisco. What match up menu do you want to see on Super Bowl Sunday? My dream match up is Green Chili vs. Cioppino, all though my house might be a little tense in the days leading up to the BIG GAME!

What French call American X-mas Trees

Mmmm meat candy!

Bacon!

My Wife's Baked Goods are Amazing

 

She calls this "Crack" try it and be addicted.

Fromage Fort or What to do with leftover cheese

So you've bought a wedge of brie and haven't finished it, and you have a bit of jack left from taco Tuesdays, you have a half a log of goat cheese remaining and there is just a little roquefort left over from that dinner party from last month, what do you do with all? You make a cheesy spread called fromage fort that's what you do.

This isn't a recipe as much as it is a solution to make scraps into something delicious. Take your left over bits of cheese, cutting off any unwanted mold spots you have on them, until you have about a pound of cheese remnants. Add to that 3 Tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup of white wine, a garlic clove, a pinch of herbs (today thyme) and a pinch of pepper flakes.

Chop up the cheeses into smaller pieces and place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor with the chopping blade and process the mixture until it is smooth.

Once smooth remove and place covered in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or better overnight so the flavors can meld together. Remember there are no set rules for the cheese ratio, just use what you got, it's all cheese and cheese is never undelicious.

You can use it as a dip, let it soften for a couple hours, it's an excellent filling for an omelette, or spread it on bread and toast it until is melty bubbly gooey goodness.

Ménage à Turkey, the Thanksgiving Three Way

It all started out innocently as my wife and I decided to host Thanksgiving, but soon it turned into not just one turkey but 3 of the big birds. We bought our first bird early. Then later in the day while shopping for other ingredients for the meal at a local grocery store we discovered that we could by 2 extra birds for $10 based on the stuffing, cream, yams, butter, etc. we were buying. My wife chimed in first, that it would be more then worth it just on using one for stock. I agreed and took it further saying we should save the breasts and sous vide them in butter. Then I thought well I might as well get a third and put my BBQ grill to work before the rainy season starts.

Tuesday - We'll start with the sous vide, Barbara did a fantastic job of butchery and removed the breast from the carcass. From there I removed the skin from the breast and divided them into 2 pieces. I then placed the breasts in a simple wet brine that I also used for the BBQ bird. Both were set in the brine for 4 hours, would have done the one for the BBQ longer but needed to have done by sundown.

I removed the skin from the breast and saved for crisping up on Thanksgiving Day. For the sous vide I combined 1/2 cup of soft butter with 2 Tablespoons of Bell's Seasoning and a teaspoon of kosher salt.

I divided the mixture in two and used each half of the mixture in one pouch with each breast and vacuum sealed and placed in the fridge until Thanksgiving Day.

Due to the threat of rain I had to BBQ the smoked bird on Tuesday. To expedite the cooking process I removed the back bone. It was brined for 4 hours, and then placed over a pan filled with a bottle of white wine, 2 wine bottles of water, a bunch of green onions, and a lemon halved and a very hot indirect fire. Grilled bird hot for about 1 hour & 45 minutes, until the internal temp reached 165. Removing the back bone took off about an hour of grilling time.

Also on Tuesday the regular roasted turkey was given its dry brine. And placed in the fridge till Thanksgiving morning.

Thanksgiving Day arrives and the the dry brined bird is removed from the fridge and its breast is buttered after resting for an hour out of the fridge. Then it was placed in a 375 degree oven for about 3 hours until it reached an internal temp of 165.

While the dry brine bird was roasting away our buttered breasts were put into the Sous Vide Supreme at 150 for about 3 hours. Then when the roasted bird finished in the oven, the breast skins were placed on a sheet pan and crisped up in the oven to add crunch to the sous vide breasts. Also cooked smoked bird was carved and placed in the sous vide supreme 30 minutes prior to eating to take the chill off the bird.

Of course since I was cooking for a group of hungry people, and making gravy, biscuits, sweet potatoes etc... I wasn't able to get a photo of the finished birds. Luckily my brother took a photo of the buffet before it was demolished. And of the three birds the one to end up on top as the taste favorite was the sous vide breast. With one guest proclaiming normally to be a dark meat fan, but was won over by the juiciness of the sous vide bird. Second was the BBQ bird, the smoky flavor added a real taste sensation, and while the roasted bird was good it was just not as good as the other two. Next year just one bird, broken down and done sous vide. Its not that we didn't love the other birds, but doing just one is a lot less complicated.

Easy as 3,2,1 Make Gravy

3,2,1 Make gravy.

A basic guideline for making gravy is 3 Tablespoons of flour, to 2 tablespoons of fat (butter) to 1 Cup of liquid (stock).

Step one is to melt your fat.

Step two is to whisk in your flour and cook for 3 minutes over medium high heat to cook out the raw flour taste. This hot fat paste is called a roux. You can cook it longer for a darker gravy. But the longer you cook it the less liquid it is able to hold, if you want a darker gravy add a tablespoon and 10 extra minutes to your roux.

Step three is to slowly add your liquid into the roux while whisking like mad! If you don’t keep up the maniacal whisking you will have lumpy gravy, not good. Keep it smooth by whisking hard and pouring slow.

Taste and season with salt and pepper. There your gravy is ready to enjoy. And enjoy it right away or keep on stirring until ready to enjoy.

Rubbing your Turkey or Applying the Dry Brine

Hey its Tuesday before Thanksgiving lets apply the dry brine to the bird! Everyone smile!

Here's the rub, seriously a dry brine isn't more than a rub. So rub it all over, inside and out, in between the legs and wings and don't forget the back side.

OK wrap that bird and put it back in the cooler and let the rub do its magic.

Don't let free speech be censored!

Whiskey Sugared Sweet Potatoes Sous Vide

I don't do marshmallows, I do enjoy whiskey so this sweet potato recipe does not include fluff but is sweet on the hard stuff.

4 Sweet Potatoes
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
pinch granulated garlic
pinch granulated onions
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup American whiskey
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Start by placing the whiskey in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil and reduce by half, this burns off the alcohol and concentrates the whiskey flavor.

Peel and cube sweet potatoes in 1/2 inch pieces. Combine the sugar, spices and salt mix to combine, then add the reduced whiskey to make a paste.

Pour the whiskey sugar paste over the cubed sweet potatoes and mix until the cubes are coated.

Place the whiskey sugared sweet spuds in a vacuum bag, with 4 tablespoons of butter and suck out the air.

Place in 150 F degree water bath, for an hour.

Remove the bag from the water bath, open the bag and strain the liquid from the sweet potatoes. Place the potatoes on in a sheet pan lined with either parchment paper or a silpat. And roast for 25 minutes at 400 degrees F, stirring potatoes after 15 minutes.

While sweet potatoes are roasting, reduce the reserved liquid into a thick syrup.

Place roasted sweet potatoes in bowl and coat with reduced sweet potato liquid and a table spoon of cider vinegar. Garnish with toasted pecans or few tablespoons of chopped Italian parsley, but for the love of humanity do not add marshmallows. This is an adultish side dish leave the kid stuff for dessert.