Topic: What's Cookin'? (Read 94919 times)

Niku · « **Reply #1020 on:** June 16, 2012, 12:48:32 PM »

yeah i'm not saying that it is not the best way to throw money into a ravenous black pit from which it will never return

because it totally is

Mongrel · « **Reply #1021 on:** June 16, 2012, 01:50:22 PM »

Where "Ravenous black pit" = "Shinra's belly"?

Niku · « **Reply #1022 on:** June 16, 2012, 02:11:12 PM »

That's The Joke

James Edward Smith · « **Reply #1023 on:** June 16, 2012, 07:52:16 PM »

I made some soup with some of my pork shoulder left overs by boiling some ramen noodles, taking them out, putting some of the pork into the broth to flavour it a little, pouring it over the noodles, adding an egg and some green onions and then eating it. We were pretty hungry after not eating a lot due to being late for things today. It was yummy.

R^2 · « **Reply #1024 on:** June 28, 2012, 02:27:42 PM »

Sauteed some scallions, garlic, and chilis together. A little paprika, cayenne, cumin, chili powder, red pepper flake, and salt. Tossed in some pineapple. Made a quick roux out of the cooking oil, added a little stock to make a light sauce, and tossed in about a pound of shrimp.

Once the shrimp was cooked, put the whole shebang on top of some creamy polenta. Not quite traditional shrimp and grits, but damned tasty nonetheless.

François · « **Reply #1025 on:** June 28, 2012, 04:16:19 PM »

I made some gazpacho for the first time. As if on cue, the weather went from hot and muggy to cold and wet. (Which is bizarre for this time of year.)

Also, turns out I'm not a fan of gazpacho. That or I made a colossal mistake somewhere, but I'm not sure how I could have messed up "cut up a bunch of vegetables, add some herbs and oil and vinegar, put it in the blender and then in the fridge". I suppose my mild dislike of raw tomatoes was a critical flaw in my plan.

Niku · « **Reply #1026 on:** June 28, 2012, 04:27:23 PM »

Gazpacho really does benefit from resting overnight to let all those flavors really get all good and seeped in, but if you're not a fan of tomatoes or tomato juice, welp

François · « **Reply #1027 on:** June 28, 2012, 07:23:17 PM »

It's usually a crapshoot whether I like a dish with raw tomatoes in it, so if it's something new I try anyway. I'm sure I'd have enjoyed it more if it we were still having Seville-type summer days rather than London-type summer days.

Kfroog · « **Reply #1028 on:** June 28, 2012, 10:37:39 PM »

Are you really supposed to chill gazpacho? If so, that's the problem. Tomatoes are ruined by cooling.

edit: if not, that is still the problem, just in another sense, i guess

François · « **Reply #1029 on:** June 29, 2012, 12:17:20 AM »

Some recipes advocate actual ice cubes in there, which I have refrained from doing. It's meant to be a cold soup; had I not put it in the fridge it would be room temperature and basically be gross vegetable mush. As it is now it's not delicious but when the warm weather rolls back around it'll do its job vis-à-vis being refreshing as hell and hearty enough to count as a meal. (I've made a bunch and it's not so bad that I'd throw it away.)

R^2 · « **Reply #1030 on:** July 02, 2012, 05:47:44 PM »

I got a case of fresh vine-ripe tomatoes -- like, picked the day before and almost squashy they were so ripe -- from my CSA. Not really knowing what to do with so many goddamn tomatoes in a house where, yes, at least one person won't eat them, I made sauce.

The garlic we got is incredibly pungent and spicy. That went into the sauce too.

Tonight I made green-tomato-and-spinach lasagna with it. With sliced and roasted summer squashes, all those needed was a little oil and salt. And more of that awesome garlic got roasted and smeared on a loaf of sourdough we got from the same farmer's market from a local artisinal baker. It was so good you guys

so good

R^2 · « **Reply #1031 on:** July 09, 2012, 05:40:30 PM »

Green tomatoes, sliced and roasted. Topped with bolognese sauce and cheese. Served alongside roasted eightball squash in butter and fried tricolor potatoes.

I love this CSA.

R^2 · « **Reply #1032 on:** July 09, 2012, 05:42:11 PM »

The nongreen ripe tomatoes on the grilled cheese sandwich I had for lunch were so good also.

Büge · « **Reply #1033 on:** July 09, 2012, 05:54:34 PM »

R^2, how sharp are the knives you have at home? Do you use a sharpening stone for them or what?

R^2 · « **Reply #1034 on:** July 09, 2012, 07:03:46 PM »

Back when I lived in Atlanta and used my own knives I took them to a professional sharpener (coincidentally named Geoff Edges) once every couple of weeks, which is probably too excessive. Between those, I used a honing steel.

In Nashville and here I use whatever knives are in the kitchen I happen to be in, which are in various states of quality and maintenance. My mother had one of those ceramic knives, and it was absolute garbage. My knives are currently in storage.

Brentai · « **Reply #1035 on:** July 09, 2012, 09:24:01 PM »

Were they garbage because they were ceramic, or because they were garbage? I'm interested in this because the water around here is apparently made of some magical super-corrosive agent and I find new pits in all my stainless shit basically every time I so much as turn on the faucet.

James Edward Smith · « **Reply #1036 on:** July 09, 2012, 10:15:06 PM »

Good ceramic knives are just as sharp as steel.

It's really simple whether you want to use them or not:

Ceramic knives:

Are harder than steel and therefore retain a sharp edge longer.
Are more brittle and are therefore easier to break by say dropping them very hard or banging them on something.
Are too hard a substance to sharpen in your house and so when they get too dull, you basically just have to throw them away.

So the basic idea is a knife for people who don't want to sharpen their knives that is harder than steel so it's edge lasts longer than a steel blade's would.

I'm not sure if you can strop them to make them last longer or not.

On an unrelated note, I don't really like honing rods, they seem too agressive to me unless you are honing a cleaver or something. Just use a leather belt.

Quote from: Brentai on July 09, 2012, 09:24:01 PM

I'm interested in this because the water around here is apparently made of some magical super-corrosive agent and I find new pits in all my stainless shit basically every time I so much as turn on the faucet.

I would say just don't leave your knives in the water for too long and maybe put a little vegetable oil on them?

Shinra · « **Reply #1037 on:** July 10, 2012, 06:01:55 AM »

I always hand wash and towel dry my knives. Never, ever put my knives in the sink.

Doesn't help that my main chef's is an antique carbon steel knife that gets rust spots if it's within 50 yards of water.

R^2 · « **Reply #1038 on:** July 10, 2012, 06:44:59 AM »

Ceramic knives are approximately as sharp as steel... but not for long.

In order for a knife to be a knife, the cutting edge has to be as small as possible, because physics. A steel edge will bend or warp slightly as it knocks against the cutting board, so that you're cutting with not-exactly-the-edge. Proper use of a honing steel (or strap of leather? I guess) will put it back in line so you can keep cutting. Ceramic knives are made of sterner stuff, so they don't need honing.

But both ceramic and steel knives will eventually have enough material stripped away from the edge that they become dull. In this case, no amount of honing can resharpen a steel knife, you'll have to take a stone or a belt-sharpener to it to remove enough material from the sides that you have a proper edge again. And since they can't be sharpened, it is at this point that a ceramic knife is only fit to throw away -- you might as well use the spine of the knife instead of the edge.

The idea that ceramic knives never need sharpening is pure informercial-marketing trash.

The two people I knew who owned ceramic knives kept them in the knife drawer with all their other cutlery, so it didn't help that they also got chipped and dinged from being swung around with two dozen other pieces of steel of various shapes and sizes.

It's my general experience that forged steel (a rod is heated and pounded and folded into shape) makes a better knife than stamped steel (a plate has the knife-shape cut out of it, which is then ground to an edge), so a $70 knife does better than a $20 knife. But beyond that it doesn't make much difference, a $300 knife doesn't seem to be all that much better than a $70 knife.

Either way, you're better off with a $20 knife and a $10 honing steel than you are with a ceramic knife you got for free.

Edit: Fuck it.
Good Eats Moment - Happines is a Sharp Knife

That's a condensed version of an episode on knife maintenance, in which Mr. Brown (who lives and records in Marietta, GA) consulted with the aforementioned Geoff Edges on his craft. It was a big "Hey! I know that guy!" moment for me.

Mongrel · « **Reply #1039 on:** July 10, 2012, 06:12:29 PM »

We are way overdue for putting good money into a good all-around utility 8" blade knife. The ones that catch my eye are always about $100-$120 up here (probably equal to the $70 knifes you're talking about, due to stupid Canadian markups).

The other day, I was hanging around a store and saw a really keen-looking knife that had been part of a set which was broken up and being sold on clearance. Sticker was $135, but it was on sale for $65. Anyway, a quick check online showed that you could get that same knife for $40 on Amazon, so forget it. In fact it really seems like online is the way to go. Importing a knife seems to be no problem customs-wise and it's massively cheaper on some US sites. The only problem is buying sight-unseen. So I want to fish for recommendations.

Just about anything will be better than the dull-as-shit crap we normally use, so absolute keenness is not vital. What I'm looking for is something at a reasonable price which is fairly durable and may keep its edge a bit longer than similarly-priced blades.

Do any of you have any recommendations for specific knives? Or if not, even specific manufacturers?

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Author Topic: What's Cookin'? (Read 94919 times)