me make food

Phone pic was in low light and that part looks black, it was a dark red. Also this is after I had seasoned it and let it rest for 30 minutes. It is squished in the pic, it did not shrink that much. Still that pic looks awesome as hell.

I have started doing this and it is awesome. 1 day is enough, but the one above has 3 days in the air in the fridge. I use skewers jammed into a foam plate so it can age on both sides. Wrap the steak in a layer of paper towel and stick in the fridge. My first time looked like this.

Why would you do such a thing? Well basically you are just working some moisture out to concentrate flavor. Wikipedia can take it from here:

The process enhances beef by two means. First, moisture is evaporated from the muscle. This creates a greater concentration of beef flavor and taste. Second, the beef’s natural enzymes break down the connective tissue in the muscle, which leads to more tender beef.
Dry aging of beef is rare in super-markets in the United States today due to the significant loss of weight in the aging process. It is found in steakhouses and certain restaurants.

At home 1-3 days is the range you want to be in. Even though I had the ribeye wrapped in paper towels, 3 days took its toll. The edges were really dry. one bite seemed like there were pieces of jerky in there. The flavor was insane though. This was a select grade steak from Russ’s and it tasted and melted like butter. I cooked it in 4 minutes over my rocket hot side of the grill after coming to room temp and coated with fancy ass salts and cracked pepper.

1 day is enough, two is awesome, and 3 days you tackled the cow in the wild and then laughed at it for 72 hours before eating. The paper towel protects the meat and you are going to sear the outsides anyway, so be not fearful of the nasties. That steak was ageing in the cotton carpeted plastic coffin before you picked it up.

May 1st Asiago sauce with chicken

April 30th Chicken and chilies. I no longer make it with heavy cream or cheese. Just a bechemel with some light soup cream.

April 27th mac and cheese

April 19th Beefy goop with homemade noodles

April 14th chicken and rice

April 8th chicken Caesar salad

Just wanted to try and make my own egg noodles. Sure, they are cheap, but I googled and made some.

Ingredients

* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 pinch salt
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Add the beaten egg, milk, and butter. Knead dough until smooth, about 5 minutes. Let rest in a covered bowl for 10 minutes.
2. On a floured surface, roll out to 1/8 or 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired lengths and shapes.
3. Allow to air dry before cooking.
4. To cook fresh pasta, in a large pot with boiling salted water cook until al dente.

Alton Brown did an episode on meatballs and we swooned over the Swedish meatballs and wanted to try it. Figured it was beef in a gravy on noodles so eeeeeeee

Well they were really strange. Really soft and just strange. I think it was the pork. Theresa somehow grabed pork side, which is what bacon comes from and I think it was not the best. Plus we ground up a lot of fat and prob did not need too. Maybe it was the bread, but it just did not seem right. Next time just beef.

I am still craving another Dinker’s burger. The charred patties had such a great flavor and I wanted to recreate at home. Figured a cast iron pan was my best bet. to increase the char I did two 2 ounce patties for each burger which I cut into perfect circles with a tupperware. One piece of cheese in the middle of the patties, and mine had 1 piece of bacon on it. Iron skillet browned the tiny buns to toast them as well.

Was it dinkers quality? Close, but these were in a whole nuther realm. They shrunk so much, got thick, and charred big time while not being over cooked. The KRAFT singles were way too big and made a cheeseslide which made them hard to eat. It was awesome. I plan on modifying them a bit, but that how we do burgers I be thinking.

^sorry I did not get a final pic

Got this idea from triple D when they visited Dixie Quicks (Site seems down) in Omaha. YOUTUBE of episode (recipe 2 mins in)
Mixing fresh peppers and onions into the sauce seemed like a great idea since we have modified the standard anyway.

We have been rocking the peppercorn steaks for a long time. It was getting a bit old and we decided to chill on them for a while. I saw the vid and knew we had to try it. I picked up the biggest NY strip I could find, some Anaheim peppers, and onion. I really did not check the steak enough and it was not a good cut at all Still decided to try it out because the sauce looked so interesting.

It has been grilling food show season and I had a hankering for a fresh ground burger. Picked up a chuck steak and ground it up. Theresa likes the burgers I make usually from reg ground beef from Super Saver and she let me mix in a bit of the stuff I ground for her into her two uber thin burgers. I went for a massive 7 ounce fatty cooked to a perfect medium. I ground all the fat on the steak and very lightly packed my burger. This made it pretty much fall apart on the grill, but I handled it very carefully and with only one flip it made it to my bun. Sauteed some mushrooms with some of the dried cayenne peppers I grew last year, salt, pepper, and then topped with a slice of pepper jack. Oh man was it good. As Chef Todd says, rocket hot with the lid open. I did not finish it all, but man was it good.

Smashburger is coming to NE with a 10 store deal in Lincoln and Omaha. Smashburger uses angus beef and smashes a ball to make the burger. Seems to be a lot like Fatburger up in Omaha.

A week or so ago we hit up 9 south chargrill and I went with their Monteray chicken sammich once again. The mix of guacamole and bacon is really good. They offer a burger version and I figured I had to try and make one at home. A bit of pepperjack cheese between two 3 oz burgers and some fresh made guac made for a darn fine tasty burger.

Picked up some Le Quartier breads, one sourdough, and a crusty pain de campagne I like. Used the slicer for even cuts and dried them on my grill in a pan with the opposite side at medium with the bread not under flame. Looking to dry them with heat and not use inhouse stuff in warmer weather. Grill as an oven.

I call it a fat parfait

Two really thin burger patties with grated year old white cheddar, sauteed mushrooms, 1.5 pieces of Neuskes apple wood smoked bacon, and a fried bologna wheel between stone ground whole grain bun.

Nom