OMG! Who needs to go out to eat!

[Golden sunsets]

Well, I just made my first home made pizza: Margherita. I would rate it a 6 on a scale of 1-10. But I can see where I can improve. Next time it will be an 8/10. And dinner cost ~$3. What's not to love?

We discovered the joys of home made artisan pizza a couple of years ago and haven't ventured into a pizza parlor since. For us the secret is a pizza stone, a paddle, pizza balls from our favorite gourmet pizza parlor(yes we cheat but the dough rises just the right amount and I don't think I could replicate it myself). The rest is all in your imagination for endless variations of toppings. My personal favorites are Pesto arugula and prosuitto and Bacon and mushroom.

 

[Texas Proud]

Just for the people who are looking at the thermometer..... I bought the pop and it works plenty fast for me at 1/3rd the price...

 

[ElizabethT]

When I was young and could eat a lot without gaining weight, the joy of food was all in the eating.

Now, as I eat less, I compensate by finding additional pleasure in the food preparation.

Our motto, a bit tongue and cheek, is 'We have to earn our meals.' A nice 8 - 10 mile hike goes a long way in offsetting calories enjoyed later in the day.

I made this Cooking Light meal last week (not related to above note!) and it was wonderful and simple, Pork Chops with Balsamic Roasted Vegetables: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pork-chops-balsamic-roasted-vegetables

 

[Golden sunsets]

They're on sale again, this time in purple. I bought one for a gift for DW's nephew, who enjoys cooking on the grill. Super-Fast Thermapen® Thermometer from ThermoWorks

Thanks Walt for the tip. I was waiting for a sale as I hate paying full price for anything. I ordered a purple one last night. A question for you expert grillers. At what temp do you take a rib eye off the flame for a perfect medium rare? And how long do you let it rest?

 

[NW-Bound]

Our motto, a bit tongue and cheek, is 'We have to earn our meals.' A nice 8 - 10 mile hike goes a long way in offsetting calories enjoyed later in the day...

We are not overweight (current BMI of 24 for me, less for DW), but do not exercise as often as we should. We just came back from a 4 mile hike, with 2000 ft climb (it took 3 hours). It killed my appetite, even though I have not had anything for breakfast or lunch other than a coffee, and I think I will just have a Cup-O-Noodle this evening.

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks Walt for the tip. I was waiting for a sale as I hate paying full price for anything. I ordered a purple one last night. A question for you expert grillers. At what temp do you take a rib eye off the flame for a perfect medium rare? And how long do you let it rest?

130 max at center. At least 5 mins.

You have to experiment with which temp matches your taste.

When resting - I place a foil "tent" over the meat - just folded so that it perches over the steak like an A-frame and let's the steam out, but protects from cooling too fast.

 

[audreyh1]

Highest setting?

This is on a gas grill? Do they have standard temperature settings?

How's the cleanup on those grills?

One thing I noticed is that you can sear the meat with hotter temperatures on a simple hibachi with charcoal than you can on gas.

My parents went to the trouble of getting a gas hookup outside for the grill, was unsatisfied with the results and just used the pan instead.

My gas grill will get up over 700 degrees with a natural gas connection to the house.

I don't cook anything at that temperature. That's for burning off and brushing the grates clean.

I get plenty of "sear" - crusty outer coating on meat - at 450 or even less. We really don't like strong black grill marks on our meat, so I'm very careful.

Big black grill marks = unpleasant bitter flavor which is one reason we often avoid ordering grilled food at a restaurant unless we know they do it well.

Hate burnt tasting meat. When RVing it smelled like many folks felt burning the meat was some kind of camping requirement.

 

[springnr]

I too prefer to sear meat at lower temps.https://www.fasttech.com/search?infrared Thermometer

 

[Golden sunsets]

130 max at center. At least 5 mins. You have to experiment with which temp matches your taste. When resting - I place a foil "tent" over the meat - just folded so that it perches over the steak like an A-frame and let's the steam out, but protects from cooling too fast.

Thanks Audrey. Looking forward to trying this out. We too cover loosely with foil for 5 minutes.

 

[audreyh1]

I have discovered that it is definitely worth eating out when you are traveling in France. What great experience! Good reason to return.

 

[ElizabethT]

Last night's dinner was wonderful, and certainly up to restaurant standards: Grilled top sirloin rubbed with a mix of kosher salt, freshly ground pepper and allspice, smashed russet potatoes with blue cheese and fresh thyme, and sauteed broccolini drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of blue cheese. We paired it all with an Argentinian Malbec. Dessert was a couple of blondies I made using whole wheat flour, caramelized brown sugar, toasted pecans and butterscotch chips.

No meat thermometer as of yet, but my steak did turn out a perfectly done medium rare - 5 minutes per side on med high heat, one flip, 1 1/2" thickness.

I do so enjoy putting out lovely food.

 

[Meadbh]

Last night's dinner was wonderful, and certainly up to restaurant standards: Grilled top sirloin rubbed with a mix of kosher salt, freshly ground pepper and allspice, smashed russet potatoes with blue cheese and fresh thyme, and sauteed broccolini drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar and a sprinkling of blue cheese. We paired it all with an Argentinian Malbec. Dessert was a couple of blondies I made using whole wheat flour, caramelized brown sugar, toasted pecans and butterscotch chips.

No meat thermometer as of yet, but my steak did turn out a perfectly done medium rare - 5 minutes per side on med high heat, one flip, 1 1/2" thickness.

I do so enjoy putting out lovely food.

That sounds absolutely delicious. It's so wonderful to have the time to cook good food and experiment. As my culinary skills improve, I find myself being more critical of restaurant food.

I've learnt how to make delicious pizza, too!

 

[ElizabethT]

That sounds absolutely delicious. It's so wonderful to have the time to cook good food and experiment. As my culinary skills improve, I find myself being more critical of restaurant food.

I've learnt how to make delicious pizza, too!

Me too, with regard to becoming more critical of restaurant food. The one thing, however, I am definitely not skilled, or even interested in really, is making good sauces. If a restaurant makes a beautiful sauce to go over an equally beautiful protein, I'm still very appreciative.

Question: How do you get your pizza dough crispy throughout? I've just started making my own pizza dough (much easier than I thought it would be), but am still trying to figure out how to get it cooked/crisp'd evenly. I do use a heated pizza stone, but I still have room for improvement.

 

[Meadbh]

Question: How do you get your pizza dough crispy throughout? I've just started making my own pizza dough (much easier than I thought it would be), but am still trying to figure out how to get it cooked/crisp'd evenly. I do use a heated pizza stone, but I still have room for improvement.

I'm hardly an expert!

As you can see from the photo, I don't have a pizza stone, though I believe they deliver the best results. My pizza pan has holes in the bottom. I oil it and work the dough right on the pan rather than the countertop, because I'm too lazy to clean a floury countertop. But who knows, that might not work next time.

 

[ERD50]

Depends on how much cooking/baking/grilling you do and how patient you are while waiting for the $10 thermometer to give you an accurate temperature. The Thermapen takes about 2-3 seconds versus up to 30 seconds waiting while the oven or grill is open losing heat. It's a very individual preference whether it's worth the $$$ to you. To my husband, it is entirely worth it.

I don't have a thermo-pen to compare, but my cheap (~$15) CDN settles in less than 6 seconds. While the delta between 2-3 seconds and 30 seconds is significant, I can live with 6 seconds, and $75 in my (virtual) wallet.

On another note - the nice thing about souse-vide steak cooking - no need for fast temperature response, and no resting and guessing how much temperature rise you will get. Sear so fast that you avoid the rise.

I recently bought another temperature controller (home brewers use these for fermentation temperature control and kegerator control), and wired up a socket to it so I can control anything (110V AC, <10 amps). It has a waterproof sensor (they sell these for aquarium use), and I plan to plug my manual control crock pot into it to maintain the temperature w/o any hands on monitoring. I'll get it close to temperature first with warm/hot tap water, then the on/off cycle of the crock pot will maintain it.


-ERD50

 

[fidler4]

Me too, with regard to becoming more critical of restaurant food. The one thing, however, I am definitely not skilled, or even interested in really, is making good sauces. If a restaurant makes a beautiful sauce to go over an equally beautiful protein, I'm still very appreciative.



Question: How do you get your pizza dough crispy throughout? I've just started making my own pizza dough (much easier than I thought it would be), but am still trying to figure out how to get it cooked/crisp'd evenly. I do use a heated pizza stone, but I still have room for improvement.

Here is a great pizza making forum with everything you wanted to know and more about pizza dough and pizza making.

http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php

It can be very intimidating but there is a lot of good info here.

 

[ElizabethT]

I'm hardly an expert!

As you can see from the photo, I don't have a pizza stone, though I believe they deliver the best results. My pizza pan has holes in the bottom. I oil it and work the dough right on the pan rather than the countertop, because I'm too lazy to clean a floury countertop. But who knows, that might not work next time.

Meadbh - I roll mine out on parchment paper, which I then can easily and non-messily transfer to the pizza stone for baking. (The parchment paper can be folded & reused multiple times)

Here is a great pizza making forum with everything you wanted to know and more about pizza dough and pizza making.

Pizza Making Forum - Index

It can be very intimidating but there is a lot of good info here.

fidler4 - That is a great forum, thank you. From what I've read so far, it appears you could make a career out of perfecting at-home pizza!

 

[NW-Bound]

I have discovered that it is definitely worth eating out when you are traveling in France. What great experience! Good reason to return.

I would add Italy and Spain to the list. Yes, food is a good reason to travel. It only costs money.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

One of the simpler foods but very different when made at home. Not a bean fan, but I do like bean dip. Did some home made refried beans. Very different from the canned! Much better! Try it! These beans may never make the transition to bean dip.

 

[ElizabethT]

Wild salmon in the freezer, ripe mango in the fruit bin, fresh mint in my garden, so you know where this is going . . .

Last night's dinner was grilled salmon topped with a Mango and Mint Salsa Recipe | Epicurious.com. I served it over some nutty brown rice along with a butter leaf and tomato salad topped with an oil and lemon vinaigrette. Dessert was my go-to Scripps Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies - Recipe - Cooks.com. I double the chips called for, because, well, chips!

My herb garden now has mint, basil, parsley, thyme, oregano and chives. Using fresh herbs almost exclusively at this point has really elevated what comes out of my kitchen.

 

[NW-Bound]

You are still missing sage, rosemary, tarragon, sorrel, lemon grass...

Just joking, of course. You have a decent herb garden.

 

[BBQ-Nut]

Father's day I did up a big pork shoulder for pulled pork, 4 hours of smoke then finished in the oven to get to final temp

Some KC style bbq sauce, served on a big roll with fresh coleslaw and homemade cornbread.


Dad got the thumbs up from the family!

 

[NW-Bound]

It surely looks tender. I can see a bone falling off to the right lower corner of the photo.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Father's day I did up a big pork shoulder for pulled pork, 4 hours of smoke then finished in the oven to get to final temp

Some KC style bbq sauce, served on a big roll with fresh coleslaw and homemade cornbread.


Dad got the thumbs up from the family!

You could sell a million cookbooks with photos like this one. Yum!

 

[ElizabethT]

You are still missing sage, rosemary, tarragon, sorrel, lemon grass...

Just joking, of course. You have a decent herb garden.

Oops - I forgot I have rosemary too!

I know you jest, but I do actually add herbs as I find myself using them regularly. I find that thyme, oregano and basil are the three I use most often at this point.