Voodoolily's Snacktastic Recipe Thread!!

[Sky]

Eating supper last night, my fiancee asked me what I had for lunch. I told her supper was my first meal. I sometimes forget to eat when I'm working on stuff. I then relented, saying I had a few bananas, some tortilla chips with salsa, and some mixed nuts for protein throughout the day as I worked. She said...that's eating :) Then she mumbled some comment about if it's not cooked on the grill it's not a meal or something 

We had grilled pork loins marinated in some DinoBBQ garlic sauce with some corn and red pepper with southwesty spices. Went together great.

[voodoolily]

Once those come out I'll sear a 20 oz, dry aged, NY Strip, lightly coated with oil, salt and pepper in a preheated cast iron pan on both sides and then broil for 2-2.5 minutes a side (while still in the cast iron pan, whole thing goes under the broiler).

Who helped you eat those five servings of beef? 

[Sky]

Heathen! That's one serving, the way god intended.

Though you should bake it low and then finish in the scorching hot pan imo.

[schild]

Edit:  A little more on the wine because I was quite surprised by it.  2003 Ruffino Il Ducale.  I grabbed it on sale at Shaw's for $14.99, strong nose, quite a bit of the bottle in it so air it out a bit.  A strong musky odor with a very heavy overlay of vanilla and cracked pepper.  The color was a really dark ruby with a clear and very well defined meniscus line, the taste was smooth and heady, again vanilla and black pepper and a bit of blackberry with still quite a bit of tannin so it may be even better over the next year or two.  A very good 15 dollar bottle, highly recommended.

While you were doing that, I was sipping something from a more recent vintage. It had notes of caramel and vanilla with a slightly oaky aftertaste. It had a dark brown hew that shone a slight red when light hit it at the right angle. Sometimes almost orangish. I imagine it probably wouldn't be very good a year from now since the bottle had already been tapped. But hey, it only cost $1.15. And came with free refills.

It was Diet Coke.

[Bunk]

Once those come out I'll sear a 20 oz, dry aged, NY Strip, lightly coated with oil, salt and pepper in a preheated cast iron pan on both sides and then broil for 2-2.5 minutes a side (while still in the cast iron pan, whole thing goes under the broiler).

Who helped you eat those five servings of beef? 

In the good old days, we used to all pile in the car and cross the border to Blaine WA. Was a dive called Vista Pizza that served a 16oz Steak for $6.00 and a pitcher of beer for $5.00.

There is a man rule that applies to Murgos' situation: A chunk of meat equals a serving, regardless of size.

[Murgos]

I ended up with about 1/3rd of it left over, I'm 220 and active, even so 1 & 1/4 pounds of steak, with trimmings, was too much.  God, it was a pretty cut of beef though, 2" thick, perfectly marbled, the anticipation of eating it was almost as good as the meal itself.

I put the cast iron frying pan under the broiler until the oven reached 500 degrees, then put the pan on high heat while I seared the steak.  2.5 minutes on a side once it went back under the broiler, it had a perfect golden brown crust with a just this side of blood red center.  It's no Ruth's Chris 1800 degree sear but it was about as good as I can get at home.

I've tried a lot of different ways of cooking a steak and so far this one is my favorite, yes even above grilling over a hickory wood fire.

[voodoolily]

I usually just sear both sides in hot grill pan, finish in 350 oven for 10 minutes (to warm the interior), pink and juicy interior. Such as:

[Oz]

That is how all steaks should look.  it makes me cry whenever guests ask for me to cook one medium or worse.  i mean come on!   

[voodoolily]

Just tell them to get out.

[Sky]

Yes, that's a properly cooked steak.

I'm surprised the 350º oven didn't overcook the outer layers while cooking the inner layers. It always did for me, I'd end up with a band of grey or else the middle would be undercooked. I tried the Cook's Illustrated version and it came out perfect, like VL's. Many ways to skin a cat, so whatever works! Here's the one I've used to great success, for the spectators in the thread:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Pat steaks dry with paper towel. Cut each steak in half vertically to create four 8-ounce steaks. Season entire surface of steaks liberally with salt and pepper; gently press sides of steaks until uniform 1 1/2 inches thick. Place steaks on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet; transfer baking sheet to oven. Cook until instant-read thermometer inserted in center of steak registers 90 to 95 degrees for rare to medium-rare, 20 to 25 minutes, or 100 to 105 degrees for medium, 25 to 30 minutes.

2. Heat oil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat until smoking. Place steaks in skillet and sear steaks until well-browned and crusty, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, lifting once halfway through to redistribute fat underneath each steak. (Reduce heat if fond begins to burn.) Using tongs, turn steaks and cook until well browned on second side, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer all steaks to wire cooling rack and reduce heat under pan to medium. Use tongs to stand 2 steaks on their sides. Holding steaks together, return to skillet and sear on all sides until browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Repeat with remaining 2 steaks.

3. Transfer steaks to wire cooling rack and let rest, loosely tented with foil, for 10 minutes while preparing pan sauce. Arrange steaks on individual plates and spoon sauce over steaks; serve immediately.

VL's certainly sounds easier and faster, I'll have to do more experimenting!

[Nevermore]

Murgos cooked his steak the Alton Brown way, which does come out quite nice.

[rattran]

I'll stick with a thin layer of charcoal, then chunks of hickory in the weber grill on the front porch. Nothing beats the smoky goodness of the outside with the still cold inside.

Plus, the smoke tends to drift over into the neighbors house. It's my way of paying them back for the mariachi music.

[Sky]

New grill idea:



Even has a cooling rack up top!

[Nevermore]

Why is that fail?  Necessity is the mother of invention.  That's actually pretty clever.


Edit: I speel gud.

[Bunk]

Until you burn your armpits trying to reach in and get that fryingpan.

[Signe]

Until you burn your armpits trying to reach in and get that fryingpan.

So turn it upside down.  I can see myself doing that if I'm stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tow, and having nothing but a lighter and a container of jiffy pop.  It's a brilliant idea.

[Sky]

Should've removed the plastic, too. Otherwise, it isn't a horrible idea. I remember being at that level of primitive invention, about fifteen years ago.

[voodoolily]

Too bad you wouldn't be able to use it straight as a grill - the galvanization is not tasty and maybe a little poisonous.

[Murgos]

Too bad you wouldn't be able to use it straight as a grill - the galvanization is not tasty and maybe a little poisonous.

What do they galvanize shopping carts with?

[Signe]

I never thought about it before, but there is so much I don't know about shopping carts!

[Nevermore]

Just wrap all the food up in aluminum foil.  It'll be fine!

[Sauced]

What do they galvanize shopping carts with?

Almost all steel mesh that is going to spend time outdoors, like that used in carts, is zinc galvanized.  At least in the Pacific NW.

It makes it tricky to find good materials to build a large grill for a 100lb pig.

[Murgos]

What do they galvanize shopping carts with?

It makes it tricky to find good materials to build a large grill for a 100lb pig.

I was wondering why she knew so much about the properties of shopping carts vis-a-vis taste.

What did you end up using?  A segment of wrought iron fencing with the paint sanded off?  Though I guess you could have just sandblasted the shopping cart...

[Nevermore]

Or dug a hole in the ground.  Or used a strong spit.

[voodoolily]

What did you end up using?  A segment of wrought iron fencing with the paint sanded off?  Though I guess you could have just sandblasted the shopping cart...

We wired together steel rebar (for the frame) and steel mesh (the kind used for framing concrete pouring), reinforced with hardwire cloth. We wired both sides with hose clamps. It looked like a medieval torture device.

[Ookii]

What's something exciting I can do with a bunch of veggies (carrots, green peppers, peas, etc.) that is not one of the following:

1) Curry
2) Stir-Fry
3) Soup
4) Grilling
5) Nothing

[schild]

Give them to homeless people.

[Sky]

What's something exciting I can do with a bunch of veggies (carrots, green peppers, peas, etc.) that is not one of the following:

1) Curry
2) Stir-Fry
3) Soup
4) Grilling
5) Nothing

Eat them.

[Nebu]

What's something exciting I can do with a bunch of veggies (carrots, green peppers, peas, etc.) that is not one of the following:

1) Curry
2) Stir-Fry
3) Soup
4) Grilling
5) Nothing

Chili (yes, vegi chili is awesome!), pot pie, kabobs (sans peas), stew,or a roast?

[Ookii]

Not bad, but I want more ideas!   

[schild]

Chili was what I was going to post, but Soup covered it I thought. Use it for a crazy lasagna or pasta salad.

[Nevermore]

Potato salad! 

[schild]

Potato salad! 

I see what you did there.

[cmlancas]

I'm a little late to the party here, but I'm pretty sure that one of the meat cutters I used to work with did whole pigs every year and found screens (much like the mesh) that are specially for roasting pigs. Not sure where he found them.

Nice setup there, VDL.


Oh, and if you're looking to do a whole pig, go watch last season's Top Chef (I think with four people left) while they are doing the whole pig. One of the female chefs butchers a pig perfectly, and it's a great example of how to do it correctly.

Also, the other three chefs do it completely wrong. You should be able to completely butcher a pig with a 12", 10", and 6" knife. The whole cleaver bit is ridiculous.

[cmlancas]

Veggie Kabobs sound like a winner to me. Are you completely against eating meat, or are you just trying to empty a fridge?



Edit: Risotto?