Whats Cookin' Doc' ?

[Shaolin Crane]

So since I have been trying to cut back on dining options since its usually a good chunk of change for the choices I like to indulge in (except vegas, that's the time to go all out) I've gone back to my roots of cooking, took some cooking classes back in my teens and have been cooking ever since. Typically the most expensive cuts of meat are still just a fraction of a restaurant I can indulge to my hearts content and still stay under budget, with relation to my diet and workout plan of course.

So whatcha got? Post up pictures of stuff you create for dinner with a little description of what went into it, lets make it as long as the what are you listening to now. I'll kick it off with a few things I've been meaning to start the thread with.

Sashimi, purchased the whole steaks from the japanese fish market, mmmhmmm tasty
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0013.jpg

Filet Mignon roast, first time I tried cutting it thin to spread it out for a few days. Good, but cooks a little too fast on the grill.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0354.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0357.jpg

Next I cut the same roast in half(different day), brazed it on the grill and baked it 320* for about 20min, or until it shrinks noticeably.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0448.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0449.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0450.jpg

Next is my home made steak sauce, soy, garlic, sake based sauce cooked in open pot till just about boiling, little olive oil to thicken and give the sauce a base that doesnt soak into the meat too much.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0356.jpg

Truffled mashed potatoes, made like normal potatoes right up until the end, get the nice and hot and toss half a stick of butter, let melt, then add truffle oil.
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0355.jpg

I like to add some chopped garlic cloves and onions to the tops of the steaks just before serving the sauce. Post up!

[kdracer73]

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad94/kdracer73/motorgen%20stuff/images.jpg
Real food cuts into my gas money....

[Shaolin Crane]

I hear you, but normally i wait till monday for the meat sales and can get a 2.5lb filet mignon for about $15-17, couple bucks for a box of potatoe flakes and you got yourself a GOOD meal for what you pay for fast food at carls jr or p&g. Obviously cant do it every day, regular meals i buy the 20lb bag of frozen chicken at costco for about $10 and feeds me and Vanessa for a week, all meals inclusive.

[silverscmustang]

im with kd lol ive been having a lot of tube steak lately :D trying to save up

[Shaolin Crane]

Tube steak, hope thats slang for the steak sizzler serves, funny story ask me in person :rolling:

[silverscmustang]

lol sounds like an intresting story. Cant tell if you really dont know but its slang for hot dogs haha

[Shaolin Crane]

Lol its slang for meat whistle

[silverscmustang]

to some lol

[AARP]

2 recipes I like to use:

An easy soy sauce/brown sugar salmon marinade.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-salmon-i/detail.aspx

A smothered filet mignon.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/smothered-filet-mignon/detail.aspx

[94cobra69ss396]

My wife is a really good cook as is her sister (Phil's wife) but occasionally I like to make something for dinner. Tonight I made butter herb lobster with alfredo over penne.

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp40/94cobra69ss396/2011-08-23174115.jpg

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp40/94cobra69ss396/2011-08-23180300.jpg

[Vettezuki]

I'm more into the food production (gardening) side of things these days, but I do a little cooking and baking. I particularly like making things like bread, pasta, and corn tortillas from scratch. Cooking from staples can taste great(!), be considerably more healthy and cost pennies on the dollar. Recently I've been into using Couscous as a base for other things. Today I used a tomato soup with squash and zucchini from the garden over coucous with Feta. Cheap. Fast. Filling. Healthy. Tasty.

My brother is a far better cook and made some Gumbo last Saturday. And he is a fucking deadly mixologist.

Guy, your sauce sounds interesting. Sounds like a kind of wine reduction meets salad dressing type emulsion. :huh:

Ya'lls might be interetsed in Allen Bros. High end beef and sea food delivery if you wanna go gourmet. Not for the economically challenged. . .

http://www.allenbrothers.com/

[jedhead]

Allen Brothers is excellent. I had their dry aged steaks a few years ago.

I do a lot of cooking, but nothing really gourmet or fancy food. When my kids were younger we would have roll your own sushi night. I would make some sushi rice, slice raw tuna, thinly sliced Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced ham (my younger daughter did care for raw fish then), Masago. My daughters would have their bamboo mats and roll their own sushi.

Bob

[Shaolin Crane]

I'm more into the food production (gardening) side of things these days, but I do a little cooking and baking. I particularly like making things like bread, pasta, and corn tortillas from scratch. Cooking from staples can taste great(!), be considerably more healthy and cost pennies on the dollar. Recently I've been into using Couscous as a base for other things. Today I used a tomato soup with squash and zucchini from the garden over coucous with Feta. Cheap. Fast. Filling. Healthy. Tasty.

My brother is a far better cook and made some Gumbo last Saturday. And he is a fucking deadly mixologist.

Guy, your sauce sounds interesting. Sounds like a kind of wine reduction meets salad dressing type emulsion. :huh:

Ya'lls might be interetsed in Allen Bros. High end beef and sea food delivery if you wanna go gourmet. Not for the economically challenged. . .

http://www.allenbrothers.com/

i actually prefer fresh and easy, few notches in quality for the fillet above albertsons and other markets.

The sauce starts out with a soy base, unfortunately being italian blooded im not allowed genetically to record amounts. But figure 3/4 cup soy sauce, tbl spoon of olive oil, 3 tbl spoon ketchup, cup of any high grade sake, 1/8 cup garlic powder, couple shakes of salt, 1/4 cup worshestershire sauce, bring to a boil then reduce heat to half until the soy just starts to burn off. The sauce probably isnt the healthiest choice but you only need about a tbl spoon or two

[Vettezuki]

i actually prefer fresh and easy . . .

To Allen Brothers? I'm confused.

[Kozak]

i actually prefer fresh and easy, few notches in quality for the fillet above albertsons and other markets.

The sauce starts out with a soy base, unfortunately being italian blooded im not allowed genetically to record amounts. But figure 3/4 cup soy sauce, tbl spoon of olive oil, 3 tbl spoon ketchup, cup of any high grade sake, 1/8 cup garlic powder, couple shakes of salt, 1/4 cup worshestershire sauce, bring to a boil then reduce heat to half until the soy just starts to burn off. The sauce probably isnt the healthiest choice but you only need about a tbl spoon or two

My girl has the same problem, but she's not italian. Anyway, she and I cook at least once a week, I'll link up some pics on my FB profile, she's really a goddess in the kitchen.

[Vettezuki]

My girl has the same problem, but she's not italian. Anyway, she and I cook at least once a week, I'll link up some pics on my FB profile, she's really a goddess in the kitchen.

Funny my wife has never once followed a recipe in her life I don't think. It's fine for cooking once you have some techniques and principles under your belt. Not so much with baking. That's more chemistry and the amounts (whether you explicitly measure them or not) need to be in correct proportion or it just ain't gonna work out for you.

[jedhead]

I also tend to wing it when it comes to cooking. My dishes come out slightly different everytime. I do follow directions when baking since chemistry is involved. I have alter brown sugar to white sugar ratio to change the texture of my chocolate chip cookies, but that is about it.
One bit of advice about making sauces with soy sauce, the flavor changes some when you boil it and the imported Japanese soy sauce has a better taste because of the wine that the US version don't have.
I make a teriyaki sauce that I use for a base in many items I cook.

Bob

[Shaolin Crane]

I also tend to wing it when it comes to cooking. My dishes come out slightly different everytime. I do follow directions when baking since chemistry is involved. I have alter brown sugar to white sugar ratio to change the texture of my chocolate chip cookies, but that is about it.
One bit of advice about making sauces with soy sauce, the flavor changes some when you boil it and the imported Japanese soy sauce has a better taste because of the wine that the US version don't have.
I make a teriyaki sauce that I use for a base in many items I cook.

Bob

Yeah I learned that the hard way a while ago, I only buy the imported soy sauce from the japanese market, anything japanese really i buy from there. Adding sake or some other sort of light alcohol keeps the soy from boiling to a teped taste, the sake just seems to taste better in the sauce than other alcohols, maybe its just me.

[jedhead]

I agree. I like to use sake or ajimirin (flavored cooking sake) for Japanese dishes. I use grape wine for western cooking.

Bob

[Shaolin Crane]

I really think its preference, my girlfriend likes it more when i make it with champagne, i prefere sake. Another sauce im trying to nail is a caramelized red wine aujus, im close but not quite there.

[Vettezuki]

. . . Another sauce im trying to nail is a caramelized red wine aujus.

Anything special about that compared to a red wine based reduction sauce?

[Vettezuki]

While prepping Thanksgiving dinner, my brother and I opted for making frozen custard instead of just plain old ice cream. Frozen custard is common throughout the Midwest, especially Wisconsin. It is waaaayyy more rich than ice cream and far more time consuming to make with at least one you can blow it moment. We did pretty good, especially for a first try. I'd like to experiment with the recipe as the standard recipe in my little Cusinart ice cream maker book (under "Premium" Ice Cream) was ridiculously rich.

[Shaolin Crane]

Today i made a new steak sauce and I think is my favorite so far. Every year at the we shop usually get everyone a 22lb or turkey for everyones family dinner. Since i typically dont do one since my dad is the one who buys them and he gets his own this year i opted for a 8lb filet mignon butcher cut. So tonight for Vanessa and my dinner we each had a 1.5lb cut of filet mignon with white truffle mashed pototates with a soy/champagne/rice wine/sake/garlic sauce which came out amazing. Would you like to do dinner now Ben seeing as i have a $100 piece of meat left in the fridge? :smack:

[Vettezuki]

Would you like to do dinner now Ben seeing as i have a $100 piece of meat left in the fridge? :smack:

Yes. I can bring frozen custard since everything I'm growing (accept plenty of basil, lavender, rosemary, and lemons) is in between. Now we just need to find a place. :smack:

[Jammer89]

This thread wins. haha

I love to cook with the wife as well. I have many special dishes that I love to make but the top ones in my book are risotto (mainly parm), Authentic mexican rice and beans and above all else, Gumbo! Love that stuff. I do it a little different than the traditional way i believe. Mine resembles a stew more than a soup. I've recently started to experiment with couscous. Didn't turn out quite right but I'll get it eventually.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff175/jmmr221122/S1052512.jpg

And GUY. Steaks don't need sauces foo! :no: lol

[Vettezuki]

This thread wins. haha

I love to cook with the wife as well. I have many special dishes that I love to make but the top ones in my book are risotto (mainly parm), Authentic mexican rice and beans and above all else, Gumbo! Love that stuff. I do it a little different than the traditional way i believe. Mine resembles a stew more than a soup. I've recently started to experiment with couscous. Didn't turn out quite right but I'll get it eventually.

And GUY. Steaks don't need sauces foo! :no: lol

I eat couscous fairly often. What do you use for the thickener in your gumbo?

[Jammer89]

I eat couscous fairly often. What do you use for the thickener in your gumbo?

I start with a rue made from white flour and oil or Bacon fat if I have it on hand. It gets thick like that because I let the "holy trinity" break all the way down into a sauce. It takes around 4 hours.

[Shaolin Crane]

No steak NEEDS sauces, but its fun to try and mate a good steak with a sauce that doesnt hide the flavor. Expensive steakhouses do it, i can too.

[Jammer89]

No steak NEEDS sauces, but its fun to try and mate a good steak with a sauce that doesnt hide the flavor. Expensive steakhouses do it, i can too.

Real steakhouses serve their steaks with salt and pepper. :D

[Shaolin Crane]

So i guess mastros, vic and anthonys, nine, prime, cut, mix,etc arent real steak houses?

[Jammer89]

Meh :huh:. The whole point of a great cut of meat is to NOT mask the flavor with some sauce. I guess that's the old school in me. :drink:

[Shaolin Crane]

Never said I felt differently, when i eat the steak i typically dont use the sauce much at all. Vanessa however loves the sauces and enjoys that I make different ones.

[Jammer89]

Never said I felt differently, when i eat the steak i typically dont use the sauce much at all. Vanessa however loves the sauces and enjoys that I make different ones.

I cook an awesome ribeye and Jen puts catshup on it. It makes me wanna blast California condors out of the sky with a 12 GA. and punch elderly people in da face. :smack:

[Shaolin Crane]

This man knows

[N8Dogg98]

Yea man... I buy nice aged filets sometimes and when the wife pulls out the ranch dressing a little part of me dies inside :(

[Vettezuki]

Yea man... I buy nice aged filets sometimes and when the wife pulls out the ranch dressing a little part of me dies inside :(

Ranch Dressing on a steak? <shivers>

[Shaolin Crane]

Been lagging on updates
Last weeks breakfast
2lb Ham steak
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0783.jpg
7 eggs flipped perfectly as one
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0784.jpg
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0785.jpg
New jerkey cooker
http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc322/ShaolinCrane/IMAG0808.jpg
Already made several pounds of jerkey

[Jammer89]

Jerky makers are cool. :thumbs_up:

I was doing lawn work last weekend and some guy walks up and asks me if I was interested in some beef. I almost slapped him with my rake. :smack:

Turns out he was making a delivery for the company he works for. We make a deal and I walk away with about 12 lbs. of genuine USDA black angus beef. Ribeyes and porters for $40. Damn delicious. :thumbs_up: