Cooking/Baking So, I'm getting ready to prepare my next dish for the weekend, but I haven't decided yet. I was thinking something in the wrap department, a chicken gyro maybe? Haven't decided, but I'm excited to get some time over the weekend to experiment. I also tried some baking during the week, made these chocolate cookies with peanut butter filling on the inside. They turned out pretty dope. Been shopping around for a good cast iron or steel pan to prep for my attempt at making steak. I haven't really settled on anything just yet. It's mostly a mental game for me. I don't want to ruin a perfectly good piece of meat, but I'm not sure how else to approach the situation having never done it before. Work/Working Out So I ended up getting into contact with the Speaker of my states assembly as well as an assemblywoman. They both offered me recommendations and a reference, but I refused the speakers because of other unrelated things. I figure with a reference from an assemblywoman getting a job might be a bit easier. Let's hope! I'm not sure why I connected working out with work, but here we are. I got back into jogging about a month ago, so I've slowly started returning to the gym. I shoot to go to the gym pretty early in the morning as a preemptive measure for when I get a job. All in all this month is really looking up so far.
My wife has begun watching a British baking show on Netflix. It's a reality TV contest and I watched two episodes with her. It was fun and made me want to bake. You should post your meal in #grubski.
The starts of the seasons are really good too. You've got people (like Norm, who's in a later season) who know enough to make tasty things, but aren't proficient enough or inclined (again Norm) to make them super fancy looking to satisfy Paul and Merry. To me, things generally seemed more attainable at home at the start.
OMG!! In the UK it is called The Great British Bake Off and it is very popular. Basically all of my friends watch it. People are really obsessed about it here and it has got loads of people to start baking (again). I was so confused for a second when you made that post because I thought "is there some other British baking TV show that I haven't heard of, like on ITV?". It's so jarring to see it called The Great British Baking Show on PBS... I need to lie down. This is like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone all over again.
Gyros are traditionally slow-cooked on a spit. This is tricky to do at home. "Tex-mex" gyros are traditionally heavily-marinated meat skillet-cooked with veggies. This is the simplest thing ever. Basic advice is to use more seasoning than you think is reasonable, cook hotter than you think is reasonable, recognize that a little carbonization is damn-near mandatory for decent street food and tzatziki is important. I make mine with greek yogurt, fresh lemon juice, tahini, salt, pepper and dill. Some people hate dill. I am not one of them. Use your judgement. Steak is hard to fuck up. It's pan-independent. That said, I don't pan-fry steak. "Meat for meat's sake" dishes I grill whenever possible. The easiest, most basic approach to "cuts of meat" is to pat dry with paper towels, sprinkle liberally on all sides with salt and pepper, get as close to room temperature as is practical and then when you put it on the hot, don't fuck with it until it's half-done. Then flip it and don't fuck with it some more. That nice carbonization/maillard reaction wonderment doesn't happen near as nice if you constantly fidget with it. Allow me to state for the record that I am not a member of the Slavish Adulation of Cast Iron Club. You're going to buy Lodge because that's what's available and Lodge doesn't cook that well. I also have a legit Wagner from like 1932 and guess what? It doesn't cook that well either. Despite arguments about how bomb-proof cast iron is, it's extraordinarily precious if you want the purported "non-stick" properties to persist. Copper-bottomed stainless steel, in my experience, cooks the most evenly.
Regarding pans: Get a big, solid cast iron pan. It will outlive you by several generations if you treat it right. One of the most treasured family heirlooms (That has been argued over in wills) is my grandmothers cast iron pan. Regarding steaks: Watch Chef Ramsay. Notice how little he fucks with the meat. Salt, pepper, let it warm up a bit before you put it in the pan, LET IT REST before you cut into it. Beyond that, your job is to pick a decent cut. Ask a butcher, tell him you're still learning a fine touch with cooking and would rather not mess up something nice. Let the professionals guide you, but don't let them talk you into buying a big expensive ribeye you don't know how to treat properly just yet.
Here's a drunk man's discourse/pep talk on that: Tl;dw: unless you reduce it to carbon, it's gonna taste good.I don't want to ruin a perfectly good piece of meat, but I'm not sure how else to approach the situation having never done it before.