Topper's Grilling Advice!

[Topper]

Oil well before using.

A light skiff rubbed in with your bare hand, and then another, and another.... until it won't absorb more. Flip it over and repeat.

Mineral oil is recommended. The hell with the rancid oil carcinogens, I use olive oil.

[5thhorseman]

So I've got a pig and charcoal bbq with a spit secured for a friends birthday party coming up soon. Thinking of brining the hog. Any suggestions?

[Blob Mckenzie]

So I've got a pig and charcoal bbq with a spit secured for a friends birthday party coming up soon. Thinking of brining the hog. Any suggestions?

I think the Picktons have a few recipes

[Topper]

brine it, cook it low and slow.

[2Fingers]

Top, ever since you told me how to properly fry mushrooms my wife is extremely happy. I don't even like mushrooms and only cook them for her but they smell good that I ALMOST want to try them.

Thanks for advice.

[Puck]

So I've got a pig and charcoal bbq with a spit secured for a friends birthday party coming up soon. Thinking of brining the hog. Any suggestions?

Hey 5th... How did this turn out?

[5thhorseman]

Shit man, it was fucking awesome! But a hell of a lot of work. Brining wasn't needed as it was a pretty large hog, 93 lbs if I remember correctly.

If you're thinking of doing it, get ready for a long day. My buddy and I got up at 5am, charcoal started and pig on the spit by 6am. Done 12 hours later. Then all the cutting and serving. Leftovers galore even though we had 80 people. By the end of the night I was toast, and I'd hardly had a drink.

I'll try to remember to post a picture of the hog when I get home.

[Puck]

Nice! I'd love to try cooking something like that someday.

I'm volunteering at Brewery and the Beast again this year. That event has all manner of stuff turning slowly over charcoal all day. Awesome food, and TONS of it.

[Topper]

5 second rule only applies to panties

[Chef Boi RD]

Topper been experimenting with mushroom ragout recipes, ya got any suggestions.

[Topper]

Cook your 'shroom separate. Get the pan hot on high, dry (no oil), toss in your 'shrooms, let them sweat and shrinks to concentrate the flavours then turn the heat down to just below medium and add evo. Get them just starting to brown.

Dried 'shrooms are good for stocks as they will release flavour as the simmer but they never quite reach edible textures. so discard them or put the stock in a blender.

Made carbonara for the kid tonight.... do you want anchovies in that? - "YEAH!"

[2Fingers]

Top

Over the past couple of months I have bought some steaks, sliced it thin and then panned fried with only olive oil, salt and pepper.

First time it was awesome, so flavorful and tender, I was amazed at the simplicity of the cooking. Second time I bought a better cut and tried the same thing but it just did not come out well, I thought other than the cut of meat it was the same?

For just pan frying what cut would you recommend and other than olive oil, salt and pepper anything else?

[Topper]

If you are cutting a steak into strips and then pan frying it you are doing two things wrong.

1) cut it after you cook it and have let it rest.

2) you are cutting parallel to the grain of the meat

The best cut of meat for this is flank, though skirt is also quite good. On a budget, go for inside round that has been cut for roulade or cut an inside round yourself. You want the grain of the meat parallel the long direction of the cut.

Bring the meat to room temp, salt and pepper, then a skiff of oil on the meat, into a very hot cast iron fry pan to brown, flip and brown the other side. Rest the meat 5 minutes on a rack over a plate, then slice strips across the grain. The meat must be RARE!

Fleur de Sel is great at this point. If you want, a splash of balsamic is nice. Stilton is fucking amazing.

[Topper]

Basic Tomato Sauce

You can use fresh tomatoes or canned. If using canned, buy the ones that have only one or two ingredients, tomatoes and sometimes basil. DO NOT buy the canned tomatoes with a preservative. You'll end up with a chalky taste to the sauce. Some swear by San Marzano tomatoes.

If using fresh tomatoes, roast in the oven on a sheet pan or sweat in a pot to soften and then run them though a mouli mill to remove seeds and skin. Skin is indigestible, seeds are bitter. If canned, just run through a mouli mill.

In a bit of EVO, sweat chopped onion, add minced garlic and sweat, add tomatoes, basil (leaves and stems, chop the leaves but leave the stems whole) and white wine. There are flavour compounds in tomatoes that are only alcohol soluble and use white instead of red wine to avoid adding a tannin taste in the sauce. Top with water and simmer.

Reduce it to the consistency you desire. I usually take some off as soup and reduce the rest to a thicker sauce that I can use for pizza if I want or the few times we have a marinara sauce.

Careful with salt and pepper as the final product is reduced, you may want to worry about adding them when you use the final sauce.

I portion the soup and sauce into yogourt containers and freeze.

I'm always intrigued by the Italian affinity for tomatoes. The are from the Americas and were unknown in Europe until post Columbus times. Even then they were a feared member of the nightshade family. Potatoes and maize have similar history. When potatoes were introduced to the Italian kitchen there was no knowledge of how to cook them. Cooks were told to use them as a substitute for chestnuts and cook them in a similar fashion.

[5thhorseman]

I had to look up mouli. I use a similar contraption ... works okay as it can handle a good volume; it just leaks a bit.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/Garden/page ... 33279&ap=1