JJR Food Thread

Haven't done this in a while.... crap!

Hmmmm I need to dig up some old pics

Roasted rainbow carrots with black garlic, made this a while ago



Here we have a smoked/seared Porterhouse, pretty sure this is 4lb





Smoked bone-in Ribeye, look at the color difference with the other steaks








The next pics have terrible lighting, cell phone camera, but this was a guys dinner I did several months ago, one of the best dinners i've cooked

1st course

Pan roasted chilean sea bass over a fennel and radish salad with a lemon vinaigrette. The sea bass got a little chewed up during cooking because my brothers "non-stick" pan was..... beyond recognition.



2nd course

Lobster Risotto, risotto cooked with saffron, lemon peel, and chives as well. pics may look deceiving but that is a half tail from a 3lb lobster. Underneath there was as much lobster as there was risotto.



3rd course

Roasted duck leg over navy beans braised with pancetta. This dish was just ridiculously amazing, super happy with the way this came out.



4th course

NY Strip with sweet potato puree, roasted shitake mushrooms, pickled radish, and a black walnut bordelaise. Dish came out a little sloppy but it was getting cold quick so I needed to hurry up.






Strip steak and roasted beet salad with goat cheese crumbles




Nothing wrong with a little smoked brisket yea?





Homemade string bean salad... just a touch of some good red wine vinegar and olive oil, could eat it every day



Crispy skin King Salmon, by far the easiest thing to make




This may not look too appetizing but its absolutely delicious and healthy. Ground chicken and lean beef cooked with a little indian flare served on top of Boston lettuce. Cooked up some onions, tomatoes, and garlic, then added... idk... cumin, garam something, curry powder, turmeric, etc, something else i can't pronounce, and ended up with this




And thats it for now

Damn, Iron Chef.

Very impressive dude. Definitely next league from where you were just a few years ago. The steaks and your technique on them are of interest me, I haven't seen that technique before... care to go into more detail for the start/finish process?

Thank you all

Originally Posted by NFRs2000nyc

Very impressive dude. Definitely next league from where you were just a few years ago. The steaks and your technique on them are of interest me, I haven't seen that technique before... care to go into more detail for the start/finish process?

Thanks man, i've been trying to step up my finesse with some of the dishes I've been making.

For those steaks, super simple.

1. Indirect heat with all natural lump charcoal, anywhere around 180-200 degrees is good. Smoke for an hour or so, until you reach an internal temp of 115. 110 for steaks that aren't Flinstone size. (cold steaks will take the smoke flavor better, no need to bring them to room temp, fridge to smoker)

2. Take it off, dry it, season with salt, and let it sit for 10 min or so.

3. I have an offset smoker, so, i move the charcoal from the side box to the actual grill itself (I made a mesh metal box that holds the charcoal) which.. is simple, just gotta pick the little box full of hot charcoal and put it in the actual grill par.

4. Sear that sucker, charcoal should be about an inch away from the grates.

Since the internal temp is already 110-115... it won't take too long until it is up to a perfect med rare. The best part it, the steak doesn't have to rest for too long. Few minutes and its good to do.

Use fatty cuts. Bone in strips and ribeyes work best. The charcoal will overwhelm the flavor of a filet unless you only cook it over charcoal and you don't smoke it.

Filet is for noobs. I only cook bone in ribeyes or porters when doing things like this. Appreciate the recipe, will give it a shot in the coming weekend. like I said before, nothing can get a chick like a man that can cook.

Originally Posted by NFRs2000nyc

, nothing can keep a chick like a man that can cook.

Ftfy.

Originally Posted by NFRs2000nyc

Filet is for noobs. I only cook bone in ribeyes or porters when doing things like this. Appreciate the recipe, will give it a shot in the coming weekend. like I said before, nothing can get a chick like a man that can cook.

You will definitely love it... i will warn you tho, after an hour under smoke, you will have an intense flavor, its delicious

I'll cook filets every once in a while if i'm having a lean day... usaully thats a quick sear in a pan though.

Hmmmm lets see, whats next. I wish I had a video of the brisket I made where I separated the point from the fat with two fingers

Maybe a carbonara or al'matriciana next

Damn, how does one get an invite to those dinner parties?

Originally Posted by SamDoe1

Damn, how does one get an invite to those dinner parties?

Gotta be a member of the foodie club.

Originally Posted by SamDoe1

Damn, how does one get an invite to those dinner parties?

Pay for the wine LOL

Originally Posted by NFRs2000nyc

Gotta be a member of the foodie club.

This as well!

Did you try that reverse sear/smoke on that steak yet?

Originally Posted by JJR4884

Pay for the wine LOL



This as well!

Did you try that reverse sear/smoke on that steak yet?

No, that's gonna be a while. I started lifting again (the wife too) so we eat very clean 5 days a week) and cheat on weekends, and it's been carb heaven cheating....pasta, pizza, etc. I'll have to make the steak sometime soon though. Plus we keep having guests every weekend and serving that will get a bit expensive

Originally Posted by JJR4884

Pay for the wine LOL

Done, when am I supposed to get there?

Wait, for the smoked brisket how'd you get the center to be cooked and the outside rare like that?

Originally Posted by MorganFreeman

Wait, for the smoked brisket how'd you get the center to be cooked and the outside rare like that?

I cooked it in a reverse microwave

kidding. the ring around the edge of the brisket is the "smoke ring"

Damn, all of those look amazing. Wicked smoke ring.

My latest food adventure was cooking up a bunch of t-bones at my law partner's 2,000 acre cattle ranch. Cooked to that "rare plus" you describe above. Ate outside on the patio 50 feet from where the steaks' brothers and sisters were grazing. Wish I'd taken pictures of the food, but that was about as "local" as it gets.

also: I've been a slave to my instant read thermometer when it comes to meat for a long time now . . . but I've finally figured out how to get steaks cooked right every time. Let them get up to room temp before cooking. Then high heat to get some sear on them - 1 min or so per side. Then off to medium heat. Then the moment they start building some resistance to a poke with a spatula, take off to rest. That point where it goes from raw to having a bit of resistance is right around 120-122 degrees and is the perfect rare side of medium rare.

Originally Posted by NFRs2000nyc

Filet is for noobs. I only cook bone in ribeyes or porters when doing things like this. Appreciate the recipe, will give it a shot in the coming weekend. like I said before, nothing can get a chick like a man that can cook.

Only steak I'll cook / order at restaurant is a bone in rib eye.

So decided at the market I wanted to make something different today, however... this typical dish would have needed overnight prepping (soaking beans and brining chicken)

Smoked chicken (shredded) and mixed with pancetta-rosemary braised navy beans. Took 3 hours. By far the easiest and tastiest dish I've made in a long time. Literally decided at the market today to do this, so don't criticize the lack of prep work.

Chicken on the smoker, unseasoned, unbrined, nothing but a sprinkle of spice rub. Smoked for 2.5 hours (boneless skinless chicken breast)

I put everything in a large non-stick pot as it was ready

2 thick slices of pancetta, cubed
3 mixed color carrots, diced
1 celery stalk sliced fine
2 small yellow onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves sliced

Browned in the pot, rinsed the beans, yep... no soaking needed, added the beans once everything in the pot was nicely browned, added 1.5 cups of beef broth, 5 cups of water, and 4 rosemary sprigs. Bring to a boil then simmer and leave the lid a little bit open, stir often, keep a simmer for about 2 hours and your beans will be almost cooked, most liquid should be gone by this time. Took the chicken off the smoker and shredded it with a hand mixer. Yes, the same mixer you'd use to mix cake batter. Works amazing.

Mixed the chicken in, added more stock/water as I saw fit, and viola. Pics look crappy but its delicious.

Few take aways- Definitely would have picked up chicken that was not skinless, also would have brined overnight obviously. Had about 5lb of chicken (to 1lb of beans) and I think the perfect ratio would have been one less piece of chicken. Oh well, I was going for a heavy protein dish anyways. Next time, cubing the pancetta bigger

Beans braising



Chicken mixed in

Been a while damnit

Tried a new seasoning approach to searing a beautiful NY Strip that I had last night. Unbelievable results... ended up seasoning the steak liberally with salt wayyyy before I cooked it, little step by step below.

1. Dried the steak off and kept it in the fridge... i propped the steak up on a little ring of aluminum foil so keep the entire outside dry. The bottom gets wet if you don't elevate the steak.
2. About an hour before cooking, I took the steak out of the fridge, seasoned liberally with kosher salt, and kept it propped up
3. You'll notice the salt will draw liquid out of the steak within minutes of seasoning. Wait. About 45 min later you'll notice the steak is dry again, this is what you want.
4. No more seasoning needed, put the steak in a hot cast iron pan and cooked 3 min per side (top and bottom) then popped it in the broiler, on its sides (not top and bottom) and flipped it a few times until it was cooked to my likings, rare +

I'll upload pics with my phone....