Gravy's Cooking Thread

cross hatch cut? Do you mean he scored it for you? A lot of recipes call for scoring Flank to help Marinades set. I'm not sure if there is a scientific reason but I'm surprised he just did it without asking you first.

lanx_sl said:

I thought they scored it to break up the fibers so you don't get the "chewy" effect.

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That's got to be a misnomer. I've had plenty of unscored skirt/flank that was tender and delicious.

Deathwing_sl said:

Cutting against the grain(for flank or other similar cuts) will have a far greater effect than a couple surface scores.

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Yep, that is definitely the most important thing. Makes a huge difference.

Hoss_sl said:

So are all the recipes getting moved to the first post? Just asking because I'm not following the thread closely, but there's not nearly as many recipes as I'd expect from a 100+ page cooking thread.

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We probably spend 90% of our time in this thread discussing various cooking techniques, or ideas, rather than sharing exact recipes.

P.S. Stay away from the Sous-Vide crazies

Here's a good recipe. Now that it's cooling off may be time for some turtle sauce piquante.



Ingredients

2-3 pounds turtle meat
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup green onion tops, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, chopped



2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 can (14 oz) diced stewed tomatoes
1 can (10 oz) Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilies
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
2 tbs roux (optional)
cajun seasoning mix (homemade, Chachere's or Zatarain's)

Parboiling and Browning meat:

Parboil the turtle meat for 5 or 10 minutes. Pour off water. If the meat is from young turtle, you can omit the parboiling. Pour off the water.
Season the meat with cajun seasoning mix (homemade, Chachere's or Zatarain's).
Add a small amount of grease or margarine to a heavy walled cast iron or aluminum pot. Heat the pot. When hot, add the turtle meat and brown over high heat until deep brown and until some of the browning sticks to the bottom of the pot. Stir constantly.

Saut? Vegetables:

After the meat is browned, remove from the pot.
Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, and saut? until wilted in the brownings.

Smother:

Add the meat back to the mixture.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, stewed tomatoes, Rotel, and tomato sauce. If needed, add water to cover the meat.

Optional Roux:
"Sauce piquante" means to cook in a tomato base. I do not like a strong, distinctive "tomato saucy" taste, so sometimes I like to add a couple of tablespoons of roux to enrich the tomato base flavor. To make your own roux, add 2 tbs flour and 2 tbs oil to a heavy pan. Place on medium heat, and stir constantly until a chocolate brown roux is obtained. This takes awhile. Its hard to make a small batch of roux, so I recommend you use store bought roux.

Cook with the pot covered under low heat so the mixture simmers (lightly boils). Keep adding water so the meat stays barely covered. You need to simmer long enough so the distinctive "tomato saucy" taste is cooked down to a smooth tomato base flavor, and the meat is tender.
Taste and add more cajun seasoning (or salt and pepper) to taste.

Add the garnish:

When almost done, add the chopped green onion tops and parsley.

Serving:

Serve turtle meat and sauce piquante over cooked white rice.

Beautiful.

I'm not going to lie, Bisi. Your steak is making me horny.