I'm tired of being in charge of supper around here. I'm out of ideas and enthusiasm, so today I made a pot of chili. I'm going to have a chili dog and the better half will probably have a bowl of chili with cheese and fritos on top. We have such refined tastes. Pass the beer!
I made Chicken Fried Steak again. This time was better but still had issues. -I purchased thin-sliced eye of round. -I beat it with a tenderizer hammer. -I soaked it in a baking soda solution (1/2 cup water + 1 tsp baking soda.) -I rinsed the solution off and dried it. -I proceeded with the normal recipe. It was so incredibly tender. I literally pulled it apart with a fork. Most directions for this process state that it works best for meats used in stir-frys, because the meat (especially thin cuts) falls apart like this. The issues: 1) It had the slight off-taste of baking soda. >Next time I won't just rinse it, I'll soak it in a bowl of fresh water. 2) I cooked it for 4 minutes on each side, but when the breading pulled aside, it was raw. It did not look as though it had cooked one bit on either side. >I have no idea what happened. The breading was thoroughly cooked to the point of just beginning to char. There is nothing in any of the baking soda methods that says anything other than "cook as normal." I cooked that thin piece of meat for a total of 8 minutes. I can't believe that the breading (milk>flour>egg>flour) insulated it that well...the cube steak I did before cooked OK at 4 minutes per side, and it was thick. I'm going to use this method to make a steak sub later in the week. At least then I'll be able to observe--without the breading blocking my view--how this particular cut of meat cooks after it's been tenderized this way.
Baking soda is used to tenderize the meat. You soak small cuts of meat in it (as you would a salt brine) and then rinse it off. For larger cuts, you rub the baking soda all over the surface and let it sit in the fridge. Baking powder is used in the batter to make it rise. I thought about doing both (b. soda to tenderize and b. powder in the batter), but I wanted to use the leftover flour in the gravy (since I put spices in it), and I was not certain what the b. powder might do to the gravy. Baking soda is not only used to tenderize meats (beef/chicken/pork), it also does something to the surface so that they brown better. To tenderize, you let the baking soda sit on the meat. To brown better, you dust the surface right before letting the meat hit the heat. As I said, I've seen this done on cooking shows, but have never actually used it myself before last night.
So "pastelitos" are small pastries stuffed with whatever one wishes? Looks good. One of the few things I miss about living in an urban area is the availability of international foods. I had Peruvian friends who knew where the good Peruvian restaurants were. The father made the best huacatay.
Ooh K....sorry you have so much trouble.....I have never had these problems with CFS...but whatever works for you.
I'm on a streak: I make pasta and sous vide with no problem, but suddenly struggle with coffee and CFS.
Stirfry today. All the veggies are prepped; just waiting on the husband to return from running the roads to crank 'er up.
A smoky night as everyone is cooking pig over an open fire pit and that is what everyone is going have pork tomorrow. This is a yearly feast on the 24 and Christmas is left overs.
It's been years since I've done a pig roast. A neighbor and I did one decades ago in my back yard in DC suburbia. Good times.
I was gonna cobble together Thanksgiving dinner on Christmas using frozen leftovers, but instead had a salad, a bowl of Progresso clam chowder with a grilled Canadian bacon & cheese sandwich. So tonight's gonna be Turkey Day redux. I recently saw the last serving of cranberry sauce floating around in the freezer but can't lay my hands on it. I'll have to do without. But I found a couple of slices of pumpkin pie in there, so that more than compensates.