Gravy's Cooking Thread
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Unglazed terra cotta. Done. Also quarry tiles.
It will slow warm up times of your oven if you leave it in there all the time, but it will also reduce the variance of your oven's heat over time, which is a pretty good thing. Especially for older ovens.
Made almond date scones yesterday afternoon, they were fucking delicious. Looked a little more golden than in pic:
Would definitely do again.
Then later that evening, I tried to make a roast beef. I'm cooking at over 7000 feet, and it was my first time using a meat thermomter. The thing was at max the entire time, so I think its busted. I had it in for an hour, and the recipe sad 45-60mins. I was really worried I was going to ruin it, so I pulled it. It might have been a little early. Tasted fine but I just wasn't really impressed. I think I fucked it up. Made with Basmati rice pilaf and broiled tomatoes topped with parmesan.
Would definitely do again.
Then later that evening, I tried to make a roast beef. I'm cooking at over 7000 feet, and it was my first time using a meat thermomter. The thing was at max the entire time, so I think its busted. I had it in for an hour, and the recipe sad 45-60mins. I was really worried I was going to ruin it, so I pulled it. It might have been a little early. Tasted fine but I just wasn't really impressed. I think I fucked it up. Made with Basmati rice pilaf and broiled tomatoes topped with parmesan.
Also, I need a carving set I think. Half the reason the meat doesn't look that great is I couldnt get a real nice slice when I was trying to go thin. One, inexperience carving large pieces of meat, and two, no carving set.
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Falstaff
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Erronius
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I've been making bread on a weekly basis now for a couple months I think? Both knead and no knead. A large part of the no-knead seems like some sort of FOTM fad to me (or a variation of hipster that I hadn't run into yet). I've yet to manage baking bread "in 5 minutes a day" unless you count having the dough being already made from a previous day or something...and that still doesn't work out. Pretty much every no-knead recipe I've found still wants you to do an initial rise before you store it, you still have to get everything together and mix, you still have to let the dough rest when you take it out of the fridge before you bake it...the only thing you avoid is 5-10 minutes of kneading, and I'm of the mind now that if you can't handle 5-10 minutes of kneading then you should just find a new hobby altogether.
I don't think no-knead is a wash at all, as I've turned out some 'decent' artisan/old world types of bread, but for me the main advantage is if let's say I have time to put together a batch of dough but I don't have the time to bake it, I can store the dough and bake it later on when I do have the time. Or I can make a big batch of dough and bake portions throughout the week (probably better for parents with kids who have the space to store dough). As far as bread-loaf types of bread I personally seem to have had better luck with kneaded breads, but YMMV.
I'd been looking at pizza stones and thinking of just getting a terra cotta piece, but I ended up being lazy and grabbed a cheap $10 one from Walmart. It's pretty thin and when I opened the box I was skeptical that it would hold much heat at all, but it actually did better than I thought. The first thing I baked were pepperoni rolls, which then burst and oozed mozzarella and pepperoni grease all over it, but it was $10 so IDGAF. Silly me tried taking it out of the oven between batches and attempting to scrub the grease out but people can probably guess how effective that was...in the end I put it back in the oven to reheat for the rest of the rolls and just had to wipe the grease off when the heat from the oven forced it back out of the stone. Now it looks like someone was murdered on it.
It also seems like there are a couple different "versions" of no-knead; ones where you let it rise for several hours then refrigerate, then other types that you let rise (at room temp) for 12 hours or more. I've only tried the former, as most of the latter recipes also encourage you to use a cast-iron pot to bake it in, or some similar container. Also the recipes that rise at room temp for that long also seem to take but a fraction of the yeast that a normal recipe does (like 1tsp versus 4.5tsp) which is probably the biggest reason I've been thinking of trying one; even when buying the bottles of yeast, you go through it pretty fast when you're using 4.5tsp/1.5T per batch of bread.
As an example, this recipe only uses1/4 tsp of yeast:
I don't think no-knead is a wash at all, as I've turned out some 'decent' artisan/old world types of bread, but for me the main advantage is if let's say I have time to put together a batch of dough but I don't have the time to bake it, I can store the dough and bake it later on when I do have the time. Or I can make a big batch of dough and bake portions throughout the week (probably better for parents with kids who have the space to store dough). As far as bread-loaf types of bread I personally seem to have had better luck with kneaded breads, but YMMV.
I'd been looking at pizza stones and thinking of just getting a terra cotta piece, but I ended up being lazy and grabbed a cheap $10 one from Walmart. It's pretty thin and when I opened the box I was skeptical that it would hold much heat at all, but it actually did better than I thought. The first thing I baked were pepperoni rolls, which then burst and oozed mozzarella and pepperoni grease all over it, but it was $10 so IDGAF. Silly me tried taking it out of the oven between batches and attempting to scrub the grease out but people can probably guess how effective that was...in the end I put it back in the oven to reheat for the rest of the rolls and just had to wipe the grease off when the heat from the oven forced it back out of the stone. Now it looks like someone was murdered on it.
It also seems like there are a couple different "versions" of no-knead; ones where you let it rise for several hours then refrigerate, then other types that you let rise (at room temp) for 12 hours or more. I've only tried the former, as most of the latter recipes also encourage you to use a cast-iron pot to bake it in, or some similar container. Also the recipes that rise at room temp for that long also seem to take but a fraction of the yeast that a normal recipe does (like 1tsp versus 4.5tsp) which is probably the biggest reason I've been thinking of trying one; even when buying the bottles of yeast, you go through it pretty fast when you're using 4.5tsp/1.5T per batch of bread.
As an example, this recipe only uses1/4 tsp of yeast:
Ingredients:
3 cups bread flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon fine table salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
Covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel...something that can go into a 450F oven.)
Directions:
1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.
2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on counter. Plop your dough onto parchment paper. Lift parchment paper up with dough and place into a large bowl. Cover bowl with a towel. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you've got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.
3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Grab the ends of the parchment paper and lift entire wobbly dough blob out of bowl into pot. Doesn't matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes. Best way to eat it? Smear a warm slice with some good butter (Kerrygold and Lurpac are both found in your grocery stores, usually on top shelf)
3 cups bread flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon fine table salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
Covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel...something that can go into a 450F oven.)
Directions:
1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.
2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on counter. Plop your dough onto parchment paper. Lift parchment paper up with dough and place into a large bowl. Cover bowl with a towel. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you've got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.
3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Grab the ends of the parchment paper and lift entire wobbly dough blob out of bowl into pot. Doesn't matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes. Best way to eat it? Smear a warm slice with some good butter (Kerrygold and Lurpac are both found in your grocery stores, usually on top shelf)
Falstaff
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Already claimed! That's an easy access drawer, so my large nonstick pan lives there.
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I was on a bread kick back a few years ago. The results were good for the most part but I found the whole experience just too much work for the reward. Also, its a fucking art of its own to make a good bread. I have tried yeast starters, wild yest starters, I have aged my dough in the fridge, etc...
But now with the bread machine its too fucking easy. I dont even bake in the thing anymore, just use it to mix, knead and rise my dough. Then I plop it into the oven for good results. Matter of fact I just used it this past weekend to make some pizza dough. I made one deep dish and one regular.
It literally takes like 10 min to assemble the ingredients and pour them into the bread maker. It beeps a hour later, just retrieve the dough, cut it in 1/2 or just leave whole, shape it, let it rise some more for 1/2 hour and then its go time.
I have thought about the terra cotta thing. Shit, I even thought about lining my oven with fucking bricks, but never did it.
But now with the bread machine its too fucking easy. I dont even bake in the thing anymore, just use it to mix, knead and rise my dough. Then I plop it into the oven for good results. Matter of fact I just used it this past weekend to make some pizza dough. I made one deep dish and one regular.
It literally takes like 10 min to assemble the ingredients and pour them into the bread maker. It beeps a hour later, just retrieve the dough, cut it in 1/2 or just leave whole, shape it, let it rise some more for 1/2 hour and then its go time.
I have thought about the terra cotta thing. Shit, I even thought about lining my oven with fucking bricks, but never did it.
Falstaff
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These are the tortilla chips you find in our house. Never used them for chili con carne.
Welcome to Donkey Chips!
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Gravy
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I do like Tostitos. Light and crispy. And I like the gay flavored jalapeno flavored ones, but I haven't seen them in quite some time. Never lime or fajita, though.
But we usually end up with the cheap ass Aldi chips, which aren't horrible, but not near as good. Actually, I think the last really good tortilla chip I had was made by Snyders of Hanover (the pretzel people).
But we usually end up with the cheap ass Aldi chips, which aren't horrible, but not near as good. Actually, I think the last really good tortilla chip I had was made by Snyders of Hanover (the pretzel people).