Gravy's Cooking Thread

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
41,076
175,147
Do yourselves a favour, and cook your next ham like this. I made this last night, it was unbelievably delicious.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1...Wc%26cad%3Drjt

Ingredients

2kg unsmoked boneless gammon joint
1 carrot , chopped
1 onion , peeled and chopped
1 leek , trimmed and chopped
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 bay leaves
about 25 whole cloves for studding

HONEY GLAZE

200g demerara sugar
25ml sherry vinegar
100ml Madeira wine
250g honey



Method

Put the gammon in a large pan and cover with cold water. Add the carrot, onion, leek, cinnamon, peppercorns, coriander seeds and bay. Bring to the boil, then turn down to simmer for around 2 1/2 hrs, topping up the water with boiling water if necessary. Scoop off any impurities that rise to the top.
Carefully pour the liquid away (I like to keep it for making soup), then let the ham cool a little while you heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Lift the ham into a roasting tin, then cut away the skin leaving behind an even layer of fat. Score the fat all over in a criss-cross pattern, then stud cloves all over the ham.
To make the glaze, put the sugar, vinegar and maderia in a pan and bring to boil. Add the honey, bring to a boil and remove from the heat.
Pour half of the glaze over the fat of the ham, roast for 15 mins, then pour over the rest and return to the oven for another 35 mins, basting with the pan juices 3-4 times as it bakes. Turn the pan around a few times during cooking, so the fat colours evenly, and keep basting. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 mins before carving. This can be roasted on the day or up to 2 days ahead and served cold.


rrr_img_31152.jpg
 

Kovaks

Mr. Poopybutthole
2,354
3,142
I thought Adriano Zumbo was the god of macaron.
remembered why I was staying away from this, hadn't tried the Italian method yet, gave it a go today and they came out perfect, will take some pics when I have them filled.
 

Troll_sl

shitlord
1,703
6
The menu for tonight:

Pan-seared scallops
Japanese risotto
Daikon and strawberry salad

Will post recipes later.
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
16,409
7,407
Daikon and strawberry? Doesn't sound very appetizing. Daikon is basically the asain version of iceberg lettuce.
 

BoldW

Molten Core Raider
2,081
25
about 25 whole cloves for studding
That sounds like serious overkill, 25 cloves. How was the flavor of the cloves? I'm just wondering if using one or two with the glaze, and using it as a sauce over the sliced ham for some sweet yumminess might not work better.
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
41,076
175,147
That sounds like serious overkill, 25 cloves. How was the flavor of the cloves? I'm just wondering if using one or two with the glaze, and using it as a sauce over the sliced ham for some sweet yumminess might not work better.
The clove flavouring was perfect. I take the cloves off after cooking. Incorporating them into the sauce might be okay, but it would be a slightly different flavour, I'm thinking. This is a more aromatic approach to cloves, rather than a glaze approach. Worked great, though.
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
41,076
175,147
What's the best seasons to use for a steak? I was trying out different things, and I wanted to know what other people use.
It depends on what steak you have. If it is a cheaper cut, marinate it for a while in some Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. If it's an amazing, not to be beat cut of steak, just season it when it goes on the grill. If it is cheap, try a marinade like this for about 24 hours:

1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Different people have different marinades for it. Try a few from a google search, and find what you like.
 

Sutekh

Blackwing Lair Raider
7,489
106
If you put that on a steak I'm going to come to your house and beat you.

The BEST seasoning to use on a steak is Salt.

When I want to be fancy and change things up a bit I usually go with a form of blackened spices from my man Alton Brown.
Blackening Spice:
3 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried ground thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

throw that on a room temp steak, add some bleu cheese. Enjoy.

But if you put it in that orange juice shit and then even attempt to put it on a grill two things are going to happen. One you're going to burn the shit out of your steak and two I will break my foot off in your ass.
 

Eomer

Trakanon Raider
5,472
272
Montreal steak spice wins for light seasoning. If you're marinating, I've used the following when marinating a flank steak for 24 hours to cut up for beep dip sandwiches:

1 cup oil (whatever kind you want, I use canola)
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup soy cause

Adjust accordingly if you find the vinegar or soy is too strong for your liking. Beat or stab the shit out of the steak so the marinade can work in there.
 

Sutekh

Blackwing Lair Raider
7,489
106
If you're using that marinade I wouldn't suggest leaving it over 8 hours. The vinegar will cause your meat to become tough and gross not to mention marinating ANYTHING in 24 hours can result in the meat going bad. Usually 2-3 hours is good.
 

Eomer

Trakanon Raider
5,472
272
I kept it refrigerated while marinating. It's been awhile since I last did it, but I never had issues and the meat was quite tender and pulled apart nicely when biting in to the sandwiches.

I will admit I'm a shit cook though, so maybe don't listen to me.
 

Sutekh

Blackwing Lair Raider
7,489
106
There's a shitload of literature on it across the internet as you can imagine. But 24 hr's is absolutely dangerous when marinating any type of uncooked meat, you're not talking about death or anything but mostly bad taste + stomach issues, up to and including some poopin. If I were you I would give it probably 4 hours, it will give you the perfect point of marination with your flavors, the tenderness of the meat isn't affected the longer you marinate (rather than becoming more tough), that is determined via cooking method.

I'm not a chef by trade, it's just my passion. I love cooking and have done some pretty extensive self-research on it.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
<Silver Donator>
14,441
2,223
Don't fucking marinate steak. Salt and pepper and cook it correctly and you can't improve on it. If you are going to put a bunch of bullshit on it, why spend the money for a steak?
 

Charles_sl

shitlord
228
0
There's a shitload of literature on it across the internet as you can imagine. But 24 hr's is absolutely dangerous when marinating any type of uncooked meat, you're not talking about death or anything but mostly bad taste + stomach issues, up to and including some poopin. If I were you I would give it probably 4 hours, it will give you the perfect point of marination with your flavors, the tenderness of the meat isn't affected the longer you marinate (rather than becoming more tough), that is determined via cooking method.

I'm not a chef by trade, it's just my passion. I love cooking and have done some pretty extensive self-research on it.
I wouldn't worry about anything like this. Acids and other things in marinades will start to break down the meat but that's normal, if you leave it for a long period of time you would be able to tell if the meat was very broken down due to the marinade, broken down to the point where you no longer wanted to eat it. But that isn't going to make anyone sick, marinating something in an acidic, salty, cold environment isn't going to cause any outbreak of pathogens for sure.

Personally I've never heard anyone say that marinating things for other 24 hours is an issue, in fact I can think of things offhand that are marinated for that length of time or longer. I'm sure that I've left things marinating for 24 hours or longer too and I've never gotten sick from them.
 

Sutekh

Blackwing Lair Raider
7,489
106
Well I'd worry about it since anyone with any knowledge of anything related to cooking would tell you it's undoubtedly the incorrect way to do things and will only hurt more than help in the long run.
 

Big Phoenix

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
<Gold Donor>
44,667
93,348
People need to lay off the "salt and pepper" only on steaks. Eating a steak isnt a fucking one time event in your life.
 

Dyvim

Bronze Knight of the Realm
1,420
195
People need to lay off the "salt and pepper" only on steaks. Eating a steak isnt a fucking one time event in your life.
Some things in life dont need to be fiddled with, salt and pepper is all you really need (well and love but thats another topic).
 

BoldW

Molten Core Raider
2,081
25
Gonna go with oil salt and pepper, at least on a New York (my favorite). As a kid, I did love me some Au Poivre sauce on a filet, though. I think it really depends on the cut and how you like your meat. Flanks and skirts are often real good with marinades and sauces, even just a bit of butter on a skirt is pretty good. But, if we're talking a decent New York, KISS.