Real men can cook (recipes) (Page 41)

jazzcat67: Making plant based beef jerky might be a stretch for me to figure out.

I've always wanted to get a dehydrator to make other yummy treat but I'm sure it would work on jerky too. I know my daughters would love it, they love jerky and pretty much any drained out meat. They always want one of those dried out pepperoni sticks from beside the cash register at the grocery store. I have nothing against pepperoni sticks but I do have something against un wrapped food in a high traffic area where who knows how many people have sneezed or touched these things. Making it at home however appeals to me.

I'm going to try your jerky Cor, well my girls will anyway so I'll let you know what they think. Thanks for the great idea. Never let this thread die!

Corwin:

The trick is in the slicing... you want VERY thin strips, yet as uniform thickness as you can muster.
I've heard of people throwing the meat in the freezer first until it's half frozen and firm (but not frozen solid), and then slicing it on an electric meat slicer, but I'm an expert with my knives so I've never felt the need. As well as, when the meat is pliable I can press it and bend it this way and that if the grain is uneven, and think out the very best plan of attack for each strip.

jazzcat67: I also keep my knife very sharp after learning how to do this by hand.

The key is to hone it before every use to keep that razor sharp edge. So many thinking honing is sharpening but it you hone a dull knife you still have a dull knife.

Big Bopper: Bought a chunk of smoked tofu today; $2.48 for 210 g. It might make good jerky because of the texture. I'll use half of it in a rice noodle dish I'll have tonight. It is very lightly smoked and will hold together even in a stir-fry toss. I cut it in 2 mm wafers and put it in the brine...teriyaki and crushed red chillies and I'll dry them in a cooling oven when the bread comes out in about 2 hours. We'll see how the tofu picks up the flavours.

OK, my first attempt at tofu jerky had mixed success. \When I get dehydrator I'll try it again. It has pretty good flavour, but is rather rubbery.

jazzcat67: You might have better results with some smoked Tempeh. I think it might hold together a bit better but I'm not certain what the absence of moisture will do to the texture. I've seen articles where people used mushrooms too. I have a recipe to turn portobellos into a faux plant based bacon. I never quite understood the need for that but it exists and what I've tried was delicious.

Corwin: Ooh... smokey mushroom jerky... king oyster mushrooms would work, they're mostly stem... it would have a long grain to it like meat jerky.

I'm not a Vegan (not by a long shot), but I'd eat the heck out of that if it turned out well.

Big Bopper: That smoked tofu holds together very well. That aspect of it is amazing. It was great in the rice noodle dish. I'll use it again!

Dagon_Hastur:

"Dork formerly known as 'Azathoth' and 'Peloquin_Nightbreed'" here, and I just wanted to say that there are lots of great posts since last I posted! I appreciate you all keeping this alive. It means a lot to me. Let's keep it going...what do you all say?

Big Bopper: I did a great Pork Fried Chow mein the other day. Mise en place all the ingredients - cut and prepare all ingredients so you can throw it all into a hot wok.

pork with a little fat, salted, peppered, tossed in flour in bite size pieces
onion, medium chunks
garlic, sliced
ginger, fine sliced
carrot, medium dice
bell peppers any colour as well as green, fine slice
greens, kale, chard, cabbage, broccoli, small-bite size
bean sprouts
chillies or chillie flakes
ground coriander
vegetable oil
sesame oil
soy sauce
noodles
water

Boil a few quarts or litres of water to cook the noodles. Drain, sprinkle with oil to keep loose
Wok on high, add three or four tablespoons of vegetable oil. When smokin' add pork, turning it to get all surfaces crispy brown. Add carrot and onion. It happens quite fast now, keep tossing. Add greens, then ginger, garlic and chillies. Add some soy and coriander, then cooked noodles. Toss noodles to incorporate the ingredients. Add a sprinkle of water, enough that the flour on the pork thickens it into a sauce. Add peppers and sprouts, finish with a sprinkle of sesame oil. Turn heat off on wok and serve.

The trick here is to have all your ingredients ready to go into the wok when it is red-hot. Add ingredients that need more time to cook first, and the ingredients that are damaged too long in the heat are added just before serving. Onions and carrots love it very hot, but add ginger and garlic after the greens so the temperature isn't as high. Add peppers and sprouts last because you want them crispy and fresh. The cooking should only take a few minutes in the wok, once the prep-work is done and the noodles cooked.

Woks make cooking fun!

*I slice the pork very thin and in small strips so yes it gets well cooked.

uglycow10: Years and years ago I have visited another country and unfortunately, got a touch of trichinosis from eating undercooked pork. Since that time I tend to cremate my pork, as a precautionary measure.
MY question to you is this....
If you are merely browning of searing the pork...how safe is it to eat without getting oneself sick?

PS...it sounds like a perfectly delicious dish....and easy to manage...you real man!

Dagon_Hastur:

I will also try to tackle this question:

Make sure you know where your pork comes from. Going to a local small time butcher is best, but they can be very expensive. If you go to a chain grocery store, ask the guy behind the counter where the franchise buys its pork. Maybe even do some online research on the name of the place they give you, before you make a purchase. This is time consuming, but much better than taking the risk with trichinosis.

In more recent times in the States, pigs are fed and housed differently and better, in an attempt to rid them of the disease. It worked pretty well. I know you said this occurred elsewhere, and I am sorry you suffered with that...I've heard it is horrible..

Once you bring home the meat and begin to prepare it, it is, of course, very important that the outside of the pork is washed well, as that is mostly where the bacteria is. Many people do eat pork that is close to a "medium rare." But if that is something that makes you squeamish, I think it is safe to simply cook the inside to 165 degrees F, which is easily checked with a meat thermometer (a good meat thermometer is an awesome small investment, btw - for all meat cuts and roasts, it is a must). When I was big on cooking pork cuts, I left some pinkness and never had an issue. But when cooking ground pork, I *always* made sure to cook it very well and with no pink at all.

I hope this helped in some way.

Corwin: It's the same with pork here in Canada... the pigs are raised in very sanitary conditions, so there's very little danger of Trichinosis. Lean pork loin can actually be cooked medium-rare.
I use a meat thermometer when cooking a large piece of pork to achieve a perfect internal temperature of 170 F. You don't want it underdone, but overcooking pork (especially leaner cuts ) ruins what would have been a juicy and succulent cut of meat.
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Speaking of pork, pork loin was on sale last week, so I made a big batch of homemade Kielbasa. The really good old-fashioned style Kielbasa is rather pricey at the grocer, but it is actually very simple to make at home at a fraction of the cost. This recipe doesn't even require a smoker.

I started with about a 7 lb slab of pork loin with the rib portion attached (the rib portion has darker meat, so it gives the Kielbasa a nice marbled texture and colour).
I cut it into pork-chop sized slabs, remove most of the excess fat, then brine it for 24 hours.
I place the cuts into a large stainless steel bowl, cover with water, and add a handful of salt, a smaller handful of sugar, about 3 tablespoons of fresh ground pepper, about 5 heaping tablespoons of pureed garlic, and about 3 or 4 tablespoons of Mesquite liquid smoke.
The pork just loves to drink up that brine, and the cuts swell in size by the next day.

Once brined for at least 24 hours, rinse the meat off, and toss in another tablespoon of ground pepper. You want to remove all the brine, but I like to add some pepper back into it so I can see flecks of pepper in the finished Kielbasa.
I use a hand-crank meat grinder to tube the meat. I remove the blade and grinder fitting, and merely use the auger bit and a tubular fitting to feed the sausage casing and force the meat into the casing. (sausage casings can be purchased at your local butcher or meat packers, if you can't find it at the grocer ).

I ended up with about a 4 foot coil. On a well oiled baking sheet I cook it at 350F until an internal temperature of about 190F is reached. That's a bit higher than I would normally cook pork, but it makes for a nice firm Kielbasa and keeps longer.
Once removed from the heat and allowed to cool, I wipe it dry with paper towels and hang it up in the kitchen for a day to further dry and cure.

Dagon_Hastur: Very nice, Cor.

I posted the following on a friend's post, and I think I'll post here, too. Pizza:

*Dough:
3 and 1/2 to 4 cups of flour (all purpose will create a chewier crust, and bread flour will make it crispier - do not use self rising)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 instant dry yeast package
1 1/2 cups water @ 110 degrees F
2 tbsp oil (extra virgin olive oil is preferable, but canola will work)

Put the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast together in a large mixing bowl. With a wire whisk (or electric mixer), combine until the mix looks almost sifted. Slowly pour the warm water and oil in. Now using a spoon, mix everything as you pour, until a rough dough ball is formed. (if sticky, add more flour - if dry, add water a tsp at a time) Take the ball and put it on a lightly floured surface. Knead, about 3 to 5 minutes, or until a smooth and firm ball is made. Lightly grease another big bowl, place the ball in it, then cover with a damp kitchen cloth. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until it doubles in size. After it's risen, put the ball back on a lightly floured surface, cut in 2 equal pieces, then cover those with a couple of wet towels or plastic wrap, and allow them to rise about 10 minutes.
During the 10 minutes rise, preheat the oven at 500 degrees. Prepare 2 pizza pans smeared with a rather light coating of oil, and if you don't have pizza pans, cookie sheets will work. After the final rise, stretch the sides of the finished dough in the air, with your hands until a disk is formed. Place the dough disk on each pan, and work firmly but gently, from the center out to form a nice pizza dough form, with a lip of thicker dough around the outside of the circle. It's important not to fold the dough over on itself or overwork it. Place each pizza dough in the oven and cook about 5 to 7 minutes to stop the rise completely and partial cook the crusts.

*Sauce
1 28 oz can whole San Marzano tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
cracked black pepper to taste
*Optional: Add 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper.

In a bowl, crush the tomatoes by hand. After the course squishing is done, feed the meat and juice through a strainer or sieve into another bowl, to create a smoother sauce. Add all the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. DO NOT COOK. Place to the side.

*Pizza Preparation
(turn the oven up to 550 degrees)
-After the crusts have cooled enough to touch, apply a decent amount of uncooked sauce in the middle of both. Using a ladle in a circle, "push" the sauce out to the edges until coating the crust to the dough lip.
-Sprinkle a fairly sparse layer of your shredded cheese of choice (mozzarella, cheddar, American/cheddar combination, etc) over the sauced area.
-This is where it is up to you, to use whatever meat or veggie toppings you wish (hamburger, pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, jalapeno, mushrooms, onions, etc).
-Now sprinkle a hearty layer of your favorite cheese over the top.
*Optional: Sprinkle a little dried oregano and dried basil over the top, with a crack or 2 of black pepper...just for extra flavor.
-Cook on 550 degrees until the dough lip begins to brown, and when the cheese melts and gets slightly bubbly. If the cheese is done, but the edges are not browned, it is fine to turn the broiler on for a few minutes. Just be vigilant, as it can burn easily on broil.

I sometimes like to make a cheeseburger pizza. For the sauce (thin layer), I combine equal parts mayonnaise, ketchup and yellow mustard (I know...odd, but trust me). On top of that, a sparse layer of shredded America/cheddar cheese combo. For the ingredients of the middle part of the pizza I use already cooked and fat-drained hamburger meat, finely chopped and blot-dried onions, finely chopped and blot-dried dill pickles...all ingredients are mixed and sprinkled over the sparse cheese layer. Then, after the middle is added, a nice layer of the same shredded American/cheddar combo cheese. Then, I like to add thinly sliced good tomato and cooked and crumbled bacon (turkey or pork bacon).
I have also used an Alfredo sauce as a pizza sauce, with chicken breast for meat and mozzarella and goat and Parmesan cheese combo. Really, there's a thousand or more combinations for pizza, and that's why I love to make them. Just remember that the ingredients are best drained of excess liquid, and the more ingredients you use...the thinner the layers used should be, in order to maintain the structural integrity of the pizza.


*Note: If authentic Italian pizza margherita is your thing, use 00 flour instead of all purpose or bread flour. Use extra virgin olive oil. Do not precook the crust, either. Just add the sauce to the raw worked dough, add slices of a good mozzarella cheese, then place whole basil leaves (or olives and other ingredients you wish for) over the top. I don't have a stone oven, which really adds a nice slight smoky flavor. A conventional oven still can work, but not as nice to taste as the old authentic way. You will certainly want to use the broiler on this one.

Dagon_Hastur: I usually don't like listing exact and detailed measurement recipes, but it may help for this particular cooking preparation. The dough and sauce tend to need more precision.

Big Bopper: I must rave about the Webber barbecue. Best barbecue I've used. The heat is uniform over the whole surface and very adjustable. Best barbecued chicken ever.

Corwin: Is that a charcoal or gas BBQ?

Dagon_Hastur: Charcoal all the way, for myself. Hank Hill can kiss it.

Dagon_Hastur:

Big Bopper: It's propane. Seriously, if you get a chance to use one, or better still, buy one, you'll be impressed. I think Webber makes a charcoal version. too. Yeah, charcoal is excellent, but I need the ease of propane. Mine is a portable that sits on a stainless steel shelf outside my kitchen window. In winter I can barbecue from inside the house.

Corwin: I've owned a propane grill, and have used them plenty of times, but I just find that food BBQ'd on a propane grill just tastes like... well... food that's been BBQ'd on a propane grill.

Many years ago I switched to charcoal and never looked back. I don't find that the 10 or 15 minutes it takes to get the coals glowing to be that inconvenient, nor do I want to compromise the flavor of my BBQ in exchange for a little bit of convenience.
Shuffling around the coals and tweaking the vents is a bit of an art-form, but once you get it down to a science you have much more fine control over the dispersal of heat, as well as control over just how much or how little smokiness you want to infuse into the food.

Although I do understand that for those that live in apartments and BBQ on their balconies, the charcoal is too messy and smoky, in which case propane is an acceptable alternative.
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But whether using propane or charcoal, an important feature when selecting a BBQ is a cast-iron grill with a flattened grilling surface. The cast-iron becomes seasoned over time, they're indestructible and easy to clean, and a quick rub with a bit of grapeseed oil before each use creates an ideal grilling surface.

Big Bopper: I just had garlic scapes, sauteed hot in coconut oil. I ate them with baby bok choy, tofu and rice noodles. Amazing how the flavour changes from biting hot garlic to the wonderful flavour it has when cooked.

jazzcat67: A little late to the BBQ talk I see.

The tip you use to oil your grill Cor has been in my toolbox for years also. Nothing hits the grill till after it's oiled and guess what, nothing ever sticks provided I've brought it to temperature.

My wife actually bought me a dual purpose Q a few years ago. One side is Propane and the other side is charcoal. You know which side I like best but living here on the wet coast sometimes gas is all you can do in a downpour. Nothing beats that charcoal flavor. Anything good is worth waiting for.

What annoys me most is how flimsy Q's are made these days. I don't care how much you spend it's got a shelf life of about 3 years before it needs repairs if you use it with any frequency. Sure not like the iron Hibachi's we all had back in the 70's. I bet a few people are still cooking on those.

I had a guy tell me all about the Big Green Egg a while back and that's what I've got my eye on now. http://biggreenegg.ca

Peace out and keep this thread alive gentlemen.

Corwin: I got a beauty of a charcoal BBQ that's lasted me about 10 years now. Paid about $150 for it. It's called an Outdoorsman... awesome cast iron grills, an adjustable vent on bottom left and bottom right, an adjustable chimney, adjustable coal tray, and a built in thermometer. The body isn't cast iron, but it's fairly heavy steel, and I just blast it with a can of high-heat paint every other year or so to keep the rust from forming. The coal tray has disintegrated once, but I just fabricated another one in my shop.

But I've never seen another one like it since, especially at that price. When it does rot out on me one day, I'll use the cast iron grills (which are practically indestructible), and mig weld together another body for it.
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Oh, on a side note, I attempted to make Vegan smoked sausages a few weeks ago, using textured soy protein, olive oil, salt and pepper, and liquid smoke... not because I'm going Vegan or anything, but because of the high cost of meat these days. I get that textured soy for next to nothing at a specialty foods store.
But.... I won't bother posting the recipe... they had a nice texture, but they tasted like monkey butt.
Failed experiment.

jazzcat67: I've never tried monkey butt so I'll take your word on that. lol

When making a meat-free sausage which is an oxymoron right from the start it's best to use seitan pronounced "Satan". Basically gluten on steroids. see link below.

http://rouxbe.com/recipes/5130/text

Once you have this then you start building flavor. Its a lot of work compared to buying a ready made sausage but like anything when you do the work yourself there is a certain satisfaction and on the upside it does not taste like monkey butt.

http://rouxbe.com/recipes/5132/text?tab=recipes
.
The cost of meat is shocking which is maybe why I'm smiling so much these days with my backyard garden in full swing. I just need Oreo's and toilet paper from the grocery stores these days.

Big Bopper: Time to say goodbye to the barbecued steak. After the steak and prawns I'm having on Saturday...but vegetarian is a little extreme. When the best cut I can afford is monkey butt, maybe then!