USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

[XYZ]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

This

Also, pork tenderloin really should not get that dry if you're keeping an eye on the internal temp. They say 160 for pork, but as long as you're at 150+, I think you're safe from trichinosis.

I've found that tenderloin is nearly impossible to cook to the point of dry. You would literally have to try to do it -- it's called tenderloin and costs more than a roast for a reason. Periodically I'll make a pork/bean/leek soup and after learning my lesson the first time or two I've used tenderloin ever since as it never, ever dries out. Sit in broth while cooking, freeze, thaw, sit in fridge for three days, you name it. Always tender.

As Almington mentioned, if you're really worried about tenderness you have to brine/marinate it. Pick your acids, but for what Bob was doing if you took some apple cider, a bit of tomato puree and some crushed rosemary and used it as a marinade; and then wiped it with the maple mustard glaze...you would seriously have to go insanely over the top to dry it out. Plus it would taste really good.

 

[XYZ]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

While I'm here, over the past few years or so I've gravitated towards what I guess I'll call the European model of eating. It really is amazing what we stick in ourselves in terms of additives and processed items, and while I'm not some moralistic ***** about trying not to do so, something about sticking all that crap into our systems just didn't ring right to me. Nevermind the fact that if you go fresh and natural, it tastes magnitudes better which is reason enough alone to make the change.

As such, I've focused on trying to eat things that only have the ingredients they are supposed to and are made the way they are supposed to be. A little common sense, along with eating sensible portions and maintaining an active lifestyle has worked wonders. It really isn't that complex so long as one maintains a sensical balance. You can still use fats, oils, meats, cheeses, etc. but you just have to do it within reason. Yes it helps that I'll torch 2000 calories a day on the road bike when I want to, but I still believe that a logical sort of balance is the right way to go -- as it worked wonders even before getting back into cycling. Take in only things the body is supposed to, don't eat giant portions, and burn some of it off and you can eat pretty tasty. Leberwurst, anyone?

As part of this, about a year ago I got into baking bread. Really, look at the back of a store-bought loaf of bread. It's freaking bread. It shouldn't have 30 ingredients. It's been made for thousands of years and should have about six or seven. To me, you look at one of those labels and it just doesn't ring right. Same for jellies and jams: Fruit, water, sugar, acid, pectin. What in blazes else is necessary?

Anyway, as we all know...baking is an art form. It's fairly easy to get the taste right but appearance and texture is a whole 'nother matter. For the hell of it, though, here are the latest two efforts. First one is some garlic basil rolls I made for some small burgers/sliders we grilled, second is tonight's effort of some honey oat sandwich rolls and cinnamon raisin bread I use for breakfast toast. Not overly happy with the appearance of the bread, but as said...it's an art form.

 

[leswp1]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Yum!

 

[Hammer]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

As part of this, about a year ago I got into baking bread. Really, look at the back of a store-bought loaf of bread. It's freaking bread. It shouldn't have 30 ingredients. It's been made for thousands of years and should have about six or seven. To me, you look at one of those labels and it just doesn't ring right. Same for jellies and jams: Fruit, water, sugar, acid, pectin. What in blazes else is necessary?

Anyway, as we all know...baking is an art form. It's fairly easy to get the taste right but appearance and texture is a whole 'nother matter. For the hell of it, though, here are the latest two efforts. First one is some garlic basil rolls I made for some small burgers/sliders we grilled, second is tonight's effort of some honey oat sandwich rolls and cinnamon raisin bread I use for breakfast toast. Not overly happy with the appearance of the bread, but as said...it's an art form.

Dumb question time: do you use a breadmaker?

 

[XYZ]

Dumb question time: do you use a breadmaker?

Negative

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

As I recall, those machines were a giant PITA to keep clean.

 

[XYZ]

As I recall, those machines were a giant PITA to keep clean.

I have a friend who has one and he really likes it. It's new though so maybe newer designs make cleaning a bit easier? On my end, I use the kitchen aid to mix the dough but pound it down and form it by hand. Whole process ends up taking 3+ hours per item but most of that is waiting time. Probably 20 mins of actual active effort.

I have to admit I do get some weird sense of satisfaction from using garlic and basil off the porch and throwing it in with a few natural ingredients. Total travel distance for a fresh loaf is about 30 feet. Dirt cheap and it makes the whole place smell great, too.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

It was a huge deal 20 years ago when my grandma got the first model that they used to sell on QVC, then gave my mom one for Christmas. I think we used the d*mn thing maybe a dozen times over the next five years . Due to the shape of the internal compartment, it produced these barrel-shaped loaves, but they got reasonably crusty and the mixes available for it tasted pretty good at the time. In hindsight, with all the fancy breads you can get in a decent grocery store nowadays, the bread was just OK. I imagine they've improved at least a bit on the machine design since.

 

[XYZ]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Lately, every Sunday around here has been "I try something new" day. A little while back I went with a recipe I stole off an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives from a diner in, I think, Los Angeles that would put Korean twists on classic American fare. The chef seemed like an awesome guy. Was of Chinese heritage but had focused on Korean cooking since he was a little kid. I have this all written down somewhere, but off the top of my head it went:

1. Puree fresh ginger, kiwi, garlic, gochujang (sambal oelek would work also and is easier to find) , onion, water. Use water to obtaind desired consistency.
2. Add soy sauce and sugar
3. Split mix in half
4. With first half, marinate pork chops (I did it overnight but probably not necessary to go that long)
5. To second half, add honey, white vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds. This is your final sauce. Careful to be minimal with the sesame oil or it will overpower it.
6. Coat pork chops in corn starch slurry and deep fry as long as possible before slurry starts to burn
7. Remove from fryer and let cool for a bit
8. Finish in fyring pan and squirt finished sauce over to coat. Bring pork back up in temp and it should finish it's last bit of cooking at the same time.
9. Serve over fries and garnish with green onion

I may have missed ingredient or two and couldn't tell you how much of each I used as I'm going by memory, but these things were awesome. More or less a Korean take on country fried pork chops. The pork was among the most tender I've had as far as chops go, thanks to the marinade obviously.

And...while writing this I realized I had some of it left. As far as color goes, this is what it ended up as:

 

[walrus]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

I have a Cusinart bread maker, it makes decent bread I never made any "artisan" type bread, mainly whole wheat, White or Oat. The bread was good, certainly better than what you could get in a grocery store. The problem is the paddles that knead the bread, you either leave them in and they get cooked into the bread or you have to babysit the machine and take them out before it starts to cook, kind of a pain to me. Using a kitchen aid mixer with a dough hook and the oven is just as easy. I would buy a Kitchen Aid as it more useful for other things.

I don't eat any grains now, the bread machine is useless, the Kitchen aid gets used all the time

 

[jen]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

I have a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-BBCCX20-Bakery-Supreme-Machine/dp/B0000T6J3I">Zojirushi x20</a> and love it (they have a newer model out, but it's basically the same). I think a few others here have the same one.

The first bread machine I had used the barrel-shaped pan, but this one is great. You can either bake it in the machine, or just use it to knead, and then form by hand (for rolls or anything else). I always check it after a few minutes of kneading to make sure the dough looks OK and add water or flour if necessary, but it's very little effort for fresh bread. I still use my old machine for the dough cycle sometimes, if it's a smaller recipe. Assuming you know what you're doing (and keep the ratios of the key ingredients for the chemical process similar), it's easy to tweak bread recipes to your liking.

and yes, they've made improvements in the last 20 years.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

I have to admit I do get some weird sense of satisfaction from using garlic and basil off the porch and throwing it in with a few natural ingredients. Total travel distance for a fresh loaf is about 30 feet. Dirt cheap and it makes the whole place smell great, too.

Do you have a wheat field in your backyard and a mill on your patio?

 

[XYZ]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Do you have a wheat field in your backyard and a mill on your patio?

Under my bed, actually.

 

[jen]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

<a href="http://milkbarstore.com/main/press/recipes-and-how-tos/#compost">Compost Cookies</a>. I tweaked it a little bit and substituted a few different mix-ins... in addition to what the recipe called for. English toffee bits, caramel bits, and mini Reese's pieces. They are very addictive. I mixed a little too much after adding the chips and pretzels, so those are barely identifiable. I'd skip the Reese's next time, as they tended to dominate the other flavors. Another really flat cookie, like their cornflake-marshmallow.

I have a lot of the leftover graham crust, but will probably make some key lime pie gelato and throw it in. For some unknown reason (temporary insanity perhaps - or maybe because they were on sale) I actually bought and juiced key limes for the first (and last) time.

 

[jen]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

I helped clean out my grandmother's basement a few weeks ago - she had a room full of mason jars with many scary things in them (don't can tomatoes - your kids and grandkids will thank you when they have to clean out your house after you're gone), but we discovered 5 huge mason jars of homemade maple syrup (labeled "1989"). My mom (who used to work at a nature center where they made syrup) claimed real syrup doesn't get old if stored properly, but you have to re-boil it to re-disperse the sugar. I figured it was worth a try, so I took all the stuff home, and just reboiled one of the jars - I broke up the huge block of sugar, but it dissolved eventually. Tastes pretty good - trying it with homemade blueberry waffles tomorrow morning.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

we discovered 5 huge mason jars of homemade maple syrup (labeled "1989").

That would be my clue to avoid eating anything in that room.

 

[jen]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

That would be my clue to avoid eating anything in that room.

the only thing we saved was the maple syrup. some of the things were unidentifiable. she also had a freezer full of raspberries - we didn't save those - I think the newest were 2 years old (the thought of her picking and freezing all those raspberries at age 80 makes me smile)

Made <a href="http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/high-fiber-sourdough-waffles-recipe">high fiber sourdough waffles</a> this morning, with wild blueberries, and my grandmother's syrup - delicious. The syrup thickened up overnight and was perfect.

 

[MissThundercat]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Just bought a pound of leaf lard. After I render it, what's the best way to store it?

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Just bought a pound of leaf lard. After I render it, what's the best way to store it?

I recommend Googling a lot of culinary questions. The consensus seems to be refrigeration for a few months, freezing in airtight packaging for up to a year. A few say that if you have the time for proper canning (boiling the jars and such), that will extend the life. It's ultimately up to the smell/appearance/taste test.

 

[XYZ]

Re: USCHO Cooks: Open Your Mystery Basket.

Just bought a pound of leaf lard. After I render it, what's the best way to store it?

If it was sold as leaf lard isn't it already rendered? Throw it in a container with a lid in the fridge same as you would would any other fat you wanted to save for future use. It's no different than bacon drippings save for the part of the hog it came from. What do you plan on using this for?