how many of you guys cook???

[parbaked]

This is a great steak: http://www.kayoubidesu.com/?p=4
Kawamura-san cooks it on a low heat so as not to 'destroy' the fat.
You end up with something like a sous-vide steak but better.
 
I'm off to Japan next week.
We'll go here for my birthday...also very good.
http://www.ginza-miyama.com

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lludson /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Well, nothing beats fast Tzatziki if you can get it from a good Greek restaurant. I fell in love with Tzatziki when I lived in Toronto eating out. Warmed pita bread to dip with. Can't be beat. The Danforth is the place to be for Greek. Go if you ever go. Anyway...

 

I had to learn to make it, and perfect it. When I make Tzatziki, it's not a super-fast process. So I make extra. It keeps really nice for two weeks in the fridge. So you can make this a day or two ahead - EASY. Send people home with it, they'll love you. Send a single woman home with some, she'll come back for more than a refill...

 

Thanks for the recipe! Didn't brave the traffic today but next time I'm in my favorite grocery and deli (which are around 15km away) I'm getting ground lamb. I'd even settle for the ones already formed into burgers, as long as these were ground the day before at worst.

 

I didn't get into Greek food until after college. One of my closest friends had been into it a lot longer, like sometime in high school, but everytime I pass by the restaurants I see vegetables with cheese. I didn't realize until later that there can actually be a lot of meat, like grilled lamb. The only thing I'm still looking for nowadays is blood stew. We have our own, and one of the restaurants here rehashed it by using the blood to braise pork intestines and liver, then instead of serving that as per the usual way, they take the meat chunks out and deep-fry them, reduce the braising liquid more, and then pour it over the crunchy organs.

 

The other reason why I'm looking for blood stew: Herodotus wrote about the Persians freaking out watching the Spartans eating "blood," which was basically lamb blood and guts stew. If I can get those lamb guts here, I'd do the blood stew, and then instead of the usual rice cake bun we eat with pork blood stew, I'm gonna use it in a kebab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lludson /img/forum/go_quote.gif

BTW, I like your game on the steaks. Really good thoughts for a big crowd. 

 

Believe it or not even with an 850g poterhouse I actually end up doing several strips or boneless ribeyes (but the muscle attached to the shortrib is still there), because damn, if we're partying, we're really partying. When we greeted the Lunar new year we got around 35 people, and we grilled rouhgly 

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lludson /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

For intimates of 8 or less, I like Filet Mignon. But also Rib-Eyes in a big way. Because on the grill, you freaking can't go wrong with them cause of the fat. Pan-seared Filet Mignon is the cat's ass. But yeah, in a big group I can totally see doing all porter.

 

 

You have it damned right going cast iron (and butter and garlic). People think steaks are to be grilled. And they're wrong. 

 

On its own I don't really serve tenderloin, or even the better grade filet, unless I'm gonna use an aluminum skillet and then make a sauce with the fond and pretend I can cook French food (ie, au poivre). With the porterhouse for larger groups though I still get a strip that I like and then there's that filet on the other side of the bone, but when they're together in one steak with the bone on it has that wow factor when you get it thick and large. I even presented the raw steak before seasoning so they know what's coming, and also to pretend like I'm a server at one of the steakhouses here who will bring the dry aged roast cut to your table and you choose what you want and how thick you want it since you're paying by weight anyway, then he comes back to show the cut was done properly and will show you how it does on the weighing scale. 

 

Dinner alone at home though is another story - I can get decent local tenderloin from the nearby wet market (not even wet aged, but the cow was killed just hours before) $6/kg, dry out the surface with just a little salt (to facilitate searing on fresh meat) and constantly wiping throughout the day as it sits on a roasting rack in the fridge, and then use a really hot skillet to sear it.

 

As for skillet vs cast iron it really depends on a number of factors. If there are too few of us to warrant having to clean out a grill, we use skillets (what cast iron or aluminum, depending on whether we're making sauce) and grill pans (cast iron). When there are a lot of us and definitely we're all sitting outside (it's usually hotter indoors than just under the shade), whatever grill we have on so there's no running between there and the kitchen. Sometimes it depends on what or how we season the steaks - skillets have the advantage of being able to cook the steak through in butter with herbs and garlic, but that isn't an advantage considering the reason why I really got into that was how many times I've had to re-season cast iron thanks to burned pepper (or other dry rub ingredients) that got stuck and won't come off even after baking the skillet. 

 

And then there's the size of the steak vs the skillet - as much as I use a 12in Lodge (I have a 9x9 grill pan and a 6in breakfast skillet also), some steaks like the porterhouse still don't fit (and I already trimmed the muscle at the muscle hanging off fat at the end of the strip), and even when they do, some burners are just weird - either they throw fire too far to the outer rim or too close to the center that it takes about 10mins of heating the skillet just to get it even throughout (and you have to start at lower heat so as not to risk warping it). Most times we just kept feeding charcoal so the grill is ready at all times (especially when we have a lot of cheap, thin cut sirloin and pita), while a gas grill heats up the cast iron grates faster. That porterhouse up there was done on a gas grill at my friend's roofdeck (house is a building near downtown). 

 

Even on a 12x12 grill pan I still sometimes prefer the grill over the stove. On the skillet or grill pan the meat needs to make contact with the grate not just to get the cross-hatch marks on but to sear the meat. On the grill, even in the dark and one side can't stick evenly, you only lose the diamond markings, but the heat emanating from the burners still sears the exterior evenly, apart from the need to put the porterhouse upright to cook the meat attached to that area of the bone.

 

One thing we tried out but stopped doing quickly though was "caveman style," ie, directly on the charcoal. It works on the first round, but never after that when you'll need to blow the burned charcoal out of the way first. And it wasn't "caveman" enough if we needed to use fancy wood Matchlight brickettes as the cheap lump charcoal just puts on an even more hydrocarbon flavor on it (and our starter fluid is plain palm oil). That said the fun part about charcoal though is how I manhandle an industrial stand fan to point directly at the charcoal (fanning in this heat is just torture, and slow), plus it's cheaper to keep charcoal running especially when it's a few kilos of carne asada (and pita or tacos). That also has a problem with our skillets - even though we drain them on racks there's enough sugar on it still to burn on the skillet. On a grill, as long as it isn't the marinade fluid dripping into and killing the fire, all we'll do is settle for a less dark sear to prevent the sugar from burning (the cook through on indirect heat will still sterilize the exterior anyway). 

 

For smaller parties though I'd still go with cast iron and herb butter cook-through, and one reason why when I build my own house or renovate the one I grew up and living in alone now (it's my parents who bought a new one and moved out, fun), I'd have an island with bar stools around it. This way I can use a skillet or griddle pan, or if it's big enough, a flat top for teppanyaki (or a buttload of bacon and eggs) and people can watch me at work. Great for friends and fantastic with dates (unless they're vegan, or Hindu).

 

What people are amazed by at some point was how they thought our steak wraps were still Australian Wagyu or Prime Angus, but we just laugh and tell them that if that was what those were we wouldn't put them in tacos or pita. Nobody realized initially that those were the Aussie equivalent of USDA Select top sirloin (or ribeye), and they were still sweet all thanks to how we used some orange soda in the marinade (cheap cheat, but hey, it worked). Local fresh (ie not wet aged) sirloin works better actually but if it's not as fresh as getting it from the butcher (note that over here it's the delis that have aged meats) the day the cow was slaughtered (ie you take absolute advantage of freshness) it doesn't work. Slaughterhouses here operate at night to get the meat in the wet markets and butcher shops by morning - I've seen a still beating heart right next to the brisket here. 

 

Sometimes though the best way to eat beef is to not use any heat at all. Still not confident about prepping it myself, given how I can't sue anybody if they can argue that it might have been my knife or cutting board.

People go to Korean restaurants for the grill, I go there to eat raw beef.

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lludson /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

I actually try to go room temp on my steaks, and do it real hot on the pan. Time it right with thickness and you will have your perfect cool red center. Some people combine the pan with over time too. Sear the outside to keep the juices in, and the oven goes a little deeper without cooking the red tender godly stuff.

 

Our steaks are actually warm in the center despite starting off chilled and still keeping that color, and we know we cut them too soon if we can see it steaming. So now we just go with room temp red center rather than lose the juices to the atmosphere or the plate.

 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lludson /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

EDIT: Just re-read your post. You are somewhere hot for sure! I had to look at your profile. 0.75 is a butcher job on nice streak, pardon the pun. 1.5 is where it's at - totally with you. For my filet mignon, I have it cut at 2". You wanna pay for good meat? You need meat that cooks properly. I am in an area in Michigan where people don't pay premiums. And you have to ask for custom cuts...

 

The heat index hit 51deg C this week and it isn't even May yet. And this afternoon there was a brief but still intense rainshower, but since it didn't completely cool everything well enough, humidity was unbearable.

 

The grocery chain I go to for minimum quality (apart from the ones we use for carne asada) initially sliced their steaks at 0.75, but they were open to custom cuts. At some point I was there and people who didn't know you can ask from the back were watching me pack each of the 2in thick Porterhouse steaks straight into my cooler (individually cling wrapped, I don't want one steak brushing against another and getting that black abrasion on them). Suddenly everyone was asking for the same cuts and I was chatting about searing with the old guy next to me, and apparently he had one of those huge, thick aluminum skillets with the handle that won't fit in a home oven. By now they just display a portion of the roast cut along with at most three 1in steaks, but sometimes I find 1.25in steaks on display and just roll with those, usually because I'm rushing, but sometimes because the rest of the roast cut that they still had is mostly too far from the center already.

 

Even the Costco subsidiary here said they don't do custom cuts but we just go, "no, we're getting the whole ribeye, but we need it cut into 1.75in steaks and the butt ends minced!" (for burgers or stir fry). And then they slap a discount for taking the whole cut, and we can buy enough local lager (or local, sweet strawberry wine) with the savings. If I had my way though it would be that North Korean wine you can buy at the DMZ tourist center - it has some bits of grape skin on the bottom but it's a medium-bodied but sweet wine that goes well with beef. The sweet wines we have here are too sweet they go better with rich deserts or for braising beef.

 

[lludson]

Whoops, I mean 'some people combine the pan with *oven* time'.
 
It was really fun reading your post. You know what you're doing way more than I do. Great tips!! I'd love to be there for your gatherings. You're making totally amazing stuff.
 
That is hilarious how you buy the whole rib-eye! Haha. 
 
Man, I didn't buy a cow last year. This whole discussion has me wanting to get one back in the freezer. It's amazing what you can do with a packager. They'll cut and grind eveything the way you want.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lludson /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

It was really fun reading your post. You know what you're doing way more than I do. Great tips!! I'd love to be there for your gatherings. You're making totally amazing stuff.

 

 

This is what happens when we spend half our bonuses on meat and beer (sometimes wine).

 

Also, while we have our share of whackos who punch their wives when they don't find a hot meal at home (plus some fastfood delivery commercials joking about how men don't know their way around the kitchen) the same way that people joke about "make me a sandwich," over here it's very different otherwise. The more culturally specific joke, traditionally at least, is to tease men who can cook that they're ready to get married, and in some regions parents used to expect a guy to cook this vegetable dish using bitter gourd before they give their blessing to the engagement. If anything, the misoginy actually has a tendency to follow the pattern of professional kitchens - while the West jokes about "go back to the kitchen and make me sandwich!" we're going "why the hell would I want a female with her small hands making me a sandwich?!" Basically, the "macho male" isn't one who will whip his partner into making the sandwich, but one who scoffs at her smaller hands as being incapable of making sandwiches sized for his hands, his jaws, and his appetite.

 

While I won't exactly go off on anyone purely for being female I do have to admit this isn't just coming from nowhere, but when I get to run the kitchen my aunts keep complaining that the brisket is piled on too high and the sourdough is too much. Or despite the fact that I'm the one eating a sandwich made with reheated roast pork (it was tender enough to pull apart, then I skillet fried it in the drippings, which I also brushed on the bread) they react in such a way that they'll be the ones to bust arteries.

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by lludson /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

That is hilarious how you buy the whole rib-eye! Haha. 

 

Man, I didn't buy a cow last year. This whole discussion has me wanting to get one back in the freezer. It's amazing what you can do with a packager. They'll cut and grind eveything the way you want.

 

You just ask, they have them in wet aging, vacuum sealed bags in the back, if it's one of the better groceries that actually stocks them.

 

Costco has them on one of the freezers to the side, but their local subsidiary doesn't and we have to ask the butchers (the one grocery that does this just has pork and tougher cuts of beef in its concessionaire freezer). When we do, the guy brings out a cart with several samples - NZ, Aussie, Australian-bred Jap cattle, US Angus, etc - so we can look at the cross section on the ones that had their butt ends lopped off already. We were doing that last December 30 prepping for the New Year, and while chatting with the people there who were also asking to get their steaks that way (and listening to us debate price vs marbling), one asked what restaurant we were running. We met the question with laughter and embarrassment primarily because we said we were planning on eating them (which everybody thought it meant just two people eating, as opposed to thirty), but what we didn't say was that if we were running our own restaurant in the way we want, we'd have our own cattle ranch where we'd experiment a cross between the hardy and adaptable Texas steer and Cianina, not this stuff that has to be flown in. Social media makes that a lot easier - we can run a burger or smoking joint primarily, then announce Saturday night specials whenever the steak cuts are going to hit the end of the 21 Day aging process.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VALi82vwDow

 

BTW, here's what that NYE haul looked like:

 

Thinner ribeyes are from the ones that were already cut, and my friend served them to his cousins on NYE. He also got a few extra NY strips and sirloin, and wow, I was skeptical because the label is obscuring the meat, but while the marbling wasn't spectacular, the flavor was a touch better than the NZ ribeyes.

 

"Marinated" the roast and steaks in olive oil and herbs, but no acids to ruin the meat, which come up to room temp (or close to it) in the bags so the meat won't get condensation from the humidity that can interfere with searing, while the herbs have 48hrs in the fridge to impart the aroma and flavor into the beef. I take the steaks out of the bag still cold, I season it with salt and pepper, and then sear on all sides, then I let them cook through in low heat and then the residual heat on the pan.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 

Beef Caldereta (a spicy stew, ie, Caldera) that is very different from the usual recipes. I normally serve this with a bed of mashed potato under the beef and veggies in a deep plate (ie, I literally serve it looking like a volcano of mashed potato getting a lava overflow of beef chunks, tomatoes, carrots, bacon, and sauce), but this time I did something different from my own recipe. I baked the potatoes in their own separate tin foil pouch, and after baking it covered in tin foil I let it cool and transported it to my friend's birthday party, where I brought it back to a slow boil in his huge aluminum skillet melting all the buffalo milk cheese to thicken the sauce (I always prefer this cheese as opposed to reducing it or using liver spread as per traditional recipes) while I crisped up the bacon and baked potatoes. Red sauce looks redder but brighter thanks to using annato-infused palm oil to sear and then later on adding paprika (on top of the paprika on the dry rub).

 

To finish it all off I then put everything together in the aluminum skillet and served it at the drinking table in that same skillet (with a little bit more fresh ground black pepper all around). It was still bubbling but that didn't stop people from taking steamed up Instagram pics and then eating it right after. Left over sauce was wiped off the skillet with white bread. If I had known their heat tolerance was a lot better (note that we were already eating bacon-wrapped chili peppers as a side dish) I'd have used more chili.

 

Like any beef dish I make I highly recommend dark beer, but this time go with something lighter (ie not too sweet, not too full bodied) that you can drink a lot of because there is a lot of chili in this, on top of which it's best eaten hot. Also a lot of beef fat and bacon.

 

The hilarious part is that while I was explaining how I made it and while finishing it up I was talking in my Gordon Ramsay voice (if you ever watched the shows filmed in his own kitchen at home, you'd be familiar with how he can ruin diet programs). Too much laughing (and huffing the paprika, tomato, bacon, and beef fat) that nobody thought of recording it.

 

[Melrose]

Outside of my mom being a terrific cook, I learned quite a bit following Gordon Ramsay/Jamie Oliver/Mark Bittman videos off YouTube... you can pull together some pretty tasty, not-bad-for-you dinners in just a short amount of time.
 
I like to cook, but really have to be in the mood to make it something 'fancy' like a cheesecake or a steak or something.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Outside of my mom being a terrific cook, I learned quite a bit following Gordon Ramsay/Jamie Oliver/Mark Bittman videos off YouTube... you can pull together some pretty tasty, not-bad-for-you dinners in just a short amount of time.

 

The way Gordon Ramsay talks about how his food smells, you'd either wish you had Smellavision, or you won't need it and just take his word for it 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

I like to cook, but really have to be in the mood to make it something 'fancy' like a cheesecake or a steak or something.

 

Steak isn't really that "fancy" in terms of technique, although for the most part the meat might need to be. In terms of technique, as long as you have a good skillet made of cast iron, carbon steel, or thick-bottom shiny aluminum (no need for a grill) or a cast iron grill pan, you can make a steak. Basically, anything that can take and hold a lot of heat will do so you can sear the meat, and you can just do a basic sear without doing anything else. Even the meat doesn't need to be that fancy either, especially if you like your meat just short of medium-rare (if not rare) and can get it from the butcher at the right thickness (minimum 1.25in), this way you won't need to have a lot of headroom before it gets too tough. 

 

 

On top of that you won't need to spend $50/kg - any decent grocery with chilled beef and can cut them properly would have decent enough steaks. I get my more usual steaks from a grocery store that sells chilled, wet-aged beef even cheaper than how much bigger chains sell "fresh" frozen beef (that looks suspiciously too red, or not enough that it looks more like pork), and then just ask the butcher to slice me some 1.5in or 1.25in steaks out of the whole roast (by now they use 1in minimum, presumably because people ask for thicket cuts). I usually get the Oyster Blade (roughly $8/kg here) as it's actually a tender cut of meat, save for that sinew in the middle, but if I'm eating it alone at home and there's no need to explain to anybody how to avoid that section, no problem. I just use more oil since the meat will contract and lose contact with the skillet. A bacon press will help though.

 

 

[Melrose]

 

 

The way Gordon Ramsay talks about how his food smells, you'd either wish you had Smellavision, or you won't need it and just take his word for it 

 

 

Steak isn't really that "fancy" in terms of technique, although for the most part the meat might need to be. In terms of technique, as long as you have a good skillet made of cast iron, carbon steel, or thick-bottom shiny aluminum (no need for a grill) or a cast iron grill pan, you can make a steak. Basically, anything that can take and hold a lot of heat will do so you can sear the meat, and you can just do a basic sear without doing anything else. Even the meat doesn't need to be that fancy either, especially if you like your meat just short of medium-rare (if not rare) and can get it from the butcher at the right thickness (minimum 1.25in), this way you won't need to have a lot of headroom before it gets too tough. 

 

 

On top of that you won't need to spend $50/kg - any decent grocery with chilled beef and can cut them properly would have decent enough steaks. I get my more usual steaks from a grocery store that sells chilled, wet-aged beef even cheaper than how much bigger chains sell "fresh" frozen beef (that looks suspiciously too red, or not enough that it looks more like pork), and then just ask the butcher to slice me some 1.5in or 1.25in steaks out of the whole roast (by now they use 1in minimum, presumably because people ask for thicket cuts). I usually get the Oyster Blade (roughly $8/kg here) as it's actually a tender cut of meat, save for that sinew in the middle, but if I'm eating it alone at home and there's no need to explain to anybody how to avoid that section, no problem. I just use more oil since the meat will contract and lose contact with the skillet. A bacon press will help though.

 

I'm not crazy about Gordon's regular presentation, like his abrasive profanity-laden tirades, but his home-cooking videos on YouTube are well done and easy to follow. And if you use what he tells you to, it really does smell pretty good too.
 
The whole meat thing is I never really learned how to cook a steak properly in the first place - I only usually do it when I can open up the grill; Filet Mignon is just too expensive to have that often...although, speaking of good beef, I did have pulled pork-style strip steak once. THAT was very nice.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melrose /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

The whole meat thing is I never really learned how to cook a steak properly in the first place - I only usually do it when I can open up the grill; Filet Mignon is just too expensive to have that often.

 

You can practice and even perpetually eat just the regular tenderloin type cut filet mignon style (from the thicker/wider parts of the tenderloin, and then cut into 2in thick steaks) except the meat itself didn't come from high quality cattle. That's the thing about tenderloin - it won't be tough anyway so cheaper grade is fine. As for flavor, that's what you'll practice on cheaper stuff - searing on aluminum skillets and then making pan sauce. Start with steak au poivre and then work on trying out your own versions of other fond-based pan sauce.

 

[PalJoey]

 
I'm not crazy about Gordon's regular presentation, like his abrasive profanity-laden tirades, but his home-cooking videos on YouTube are well done and easy to follow. And if you use what he tells you to, it really does smell pretty good too.
 
The whole meat thing is I never really learned how to cook a steak properly in the first place - I only usually do it when I can open up the grill; Filet Mignon is just too expensive to have that often...although, speaking of good beef, I did have pulled pork-style strip steak once. THAT was very nice.

Filet mignon is pricey because it can be barely cooked and still be tender. Good for Beef Wellington or Steak Tartare, but less flavour than rump, sirloin or ribeye, which are also cheaper cuts. They need very little more cooking and will usually taste great.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Filet mignon is pricey because it can be barely cooked and still be tender. Good for Beef Wellington or Steak Tartare, but less flavour than rump, sirloin or ribeye, which are also cheaper cuts. They need very little more cooking and will usually taste great.

 
Actually as far as steaks are concerned all of them would be more tender if "barely cooked," meaning "blue" or tataki - very thin sear (at very high heat, usually the meat is still chilled), and the interior of the meat is practically raw. The exceptions of course are when you deal with anything that isn't meat that needs to render, like the membrane between the short rib and the rib "eye" in a ribeye steak (which is very rarely just the "eye" itself) or the cartilage-like membrane in the center of the Oyster Blade (shoulder) roast (if you know your way around that, it makes a steak as tender as the rib "eye" section).
 
If the opposite of "barely cooked" that you're referring to is smoking or braising the meat for several hours, you don't typically use steak cuts for that to begin with - that's for very tough muscles that get a lot of work. Rump, shank, and especially brisket with its layer of silverskin that people remove for smoking (as it gets in the way of the dry rub) or render to make the broth or sauce richer.
 
The real reason for why filet mignon and tenderloin in general is pricey is because it's a tiny section of the animal and happens the most tender, regardless of how much cooking you do to it. Even when cooked well done it won't get as tough as other cuts, but of course that's a waste of good meat. The tips of that section though do end up as salpicao here, basically browned chunks on a skillet and then a lot of oil and mushrooms are added to make a pan sauce as well as to keep the meat from losing a lot of moisture while it's broken down by cooking (that's why smoking and braising or broth makes "overcooked" meat tender - they don't cause as much moisture loss as dry heat cooking).

 

[PalJoey]

Going to the other extreme from fillet, a shop has opened locally to me that stocks beef cheek on a regular basis, instead of just occasionally. Now that's a fantastic cheap cut, if you can give it enough time.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  Going to the other extreme from fillet, a shop has opened locally to me that stocks beef cheek on a regular basis, instead of just occasionally. Now that's a fantastic cheap cut, if you can give it enough time.

 
Try this recipe for pork cheeks - we've done it with beef cheeks and it was just a little less crunchy but of course has that flavor of beef fat.
http://www.pinoyrecipe.net/filipino-pork-sisig-recipe/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisig
 
 
BTW...what do the cheeks look like? Because over here you literally get them like how they took John Travolta's and Nic Cage's Face Off (or when the Joker did the same thing) - and we cook them like a crackling.
 
Or sometimes it comes in a half-skull (you can see the teeth there) 

 No really this is beer chow here

 

[PalJoey]

BTW...what do the cheeks look like? 

They look like a very fibrous steak - no bone attached but lots of connective tissue that needs softening.
 

 
 
I tend to season them with just salt & pepper, sear them in a frying pan, then put them in a roasting bag with sauteed shallots and herbs (sometimes also chopped carrots and celery). Give it a few hours in the slow cooker, and it is tender enough that you can eat it without a knife. Using the roasting bag produces lots of juice, which you can use to make gravy while the meat rests.
 
For a contrast of textures, I usually serve them with potatoes roasted in goose fat so they are good and crispy. As for greens, it's whatever looks good in the shop at the time. Or a tin of marrowfat peas, drained and heated up in the gravy.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PalJoey /img/forum/go_quote.gif

They look like a very fibrous steak - no bone attached but lots of connective tissue that needs softening.

 

Totally nothing like what we normally get over here - we literally call them "pork mask," and the beef equivalent is available in other places as well, although not as complete since the ears aren't really that good (they end up getting ground for pet food).

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by PalJoey /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

I tend to season them with just salt & pepper, sear them in a frying pan, then put them in a roasting bag with sauteed shallots and herbs (sometimes also chopped carrots and celery). Give it a few hours in the slow cooker, and it is tender enough that you can eat it without a knife. Using the roasting bag produces lots of juice, which you can use to make gravy while the meat rests.

 

For a contrast of textures, I usually serve them with potatoes roasted in goose fat so they are good and crispy. As for greens, it's whatever looks good in the shop at the time. Or a tin of marrowfat peas, drained and heated up in the gravy.

 

Try that recipe above - basically the reverse process. Brown, braise in broth with a little soy sauce and vinegar (slow cooker or Dutch oven), let dry on a rack and slice into very small cubes, then fry in a hot wok or saute pan (along with some chili) - toss it a lot and then at some point let them sit to crisp up a bit. Best served on a cast iron plate and then seasoned with a little bit of lemon juice. You can use tripe and oxtail but start the tripe six hours ahead of the cheeks at least, and the ox tail roughly two to four hours after the tripe.

 

At least those parts are a lot easier to get over there - they're a total b***** to find in the US. And people go "ewwwwww" about it which is hilarious considering it ends up in processed mystery meat loaded with salt and they eat that.