u/ZookeepergameSea2012

I am coming off of a 6 day fast. I had two days easing into eating. Today, I made shallot turmeric garlic cauliflower rice, sauteed zucchini and bell peppers cooked with anchovy/shallot/garlic with oil, then a sous vide filet seared and then topped with a soft boiled egg. On the bottom left are mussels steamed in a pan sauce with some lemon juice and lemon zest to serve.

This is a sandwich that I have been working on. It is a Chicago Philly fusion. I made a pretzel roll since Philly pretzels are popular and I did half with poppy seeds (like a Chicago Hot Dog) and half with sesame seeds (like a Philadelphia Cheesesteak). I toasted the insides on a cast iron, then put in the toaster oven to warm up the whole bun. The dough for the bun is a 48 hour ferment. I put tallow in the cast iron and used shaved ribeye like a Philly Cheesesteak but then added chopped Giardiniera like a Chicago Beef. When that cooked up, I topped with Cooper Sharp like a Philly Cheesesteak, added a splash of water to the pan, and covered to steam. Then I topped with sport peppers and a lightly pickled tomato similar to a Chicago Hot Dog. Chicago dogs don't pickle the tomatoes but I had to do it here, a normal tomato comes out flat.

I made several and packed them in covered sugarcane bowls, then delivered them to the bartenders in my area. It was a big hit. I'm dialing in the recipe for a Specialty Philly Cheesesteak contest. I will use long pretzel rolls like a cheesesteak for the contest. But, I was able to make more making them pretzel roll style for the test run.

I'm trying to see if there is a good drizzle that I could put on it. If you have any ideas, let me know. I will serve the cheesesteak with a Cooper Sharp dip.

Today, my friend wanted a between medium rare and medium steak with forbidden rice for her bar shift. So, I did 133.5F and skipped the ice bath before the sear. I let it rest a few minutes after patting dry and then did a 450F beef tallow sear for 35 seconds per side. Let it rest 5 mins and sliced. I made the forbidden rice with beef stock on the porridge setting on my rice cooker, I did 2 cups of stock to 1 cup of rice. You don't add salt because the evaporation concentrates the salt in it already. Porridge setting goes for 1 hr 10 mins then I leave it at keep warm for 20 mins.

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Packed it up and dropped it off. It was a hit. Slices make it easier to eat during the shift.

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Six hours seems to be great for ribeye if you like to also eat the fat. It comes out super tender with fat that melts in your mouth. These steaks are just over 1.5" thick.

I made this today for my friends. I did the chicken in the sous vide with a few thyme sprigs, roasted garlic, and salt. I made forbidden rice along with arborio rice with stock. When the rice was done, I spread over some parchment and I dehydrated for 6 hours. Meanwhile, I made Hasselback Potatoes by infusing thyme and garlic in avocado oil then cutting the potatoes and using the compress function on my chamber sealer to push the flavor into the potatoes. I cooked those until almost done then pulled them out and put a thyme garlic compound butter on top and wrapped in foil and put in the fridge.

Once that prep was done, when the chicken was almost ready, I put the potatoes back in the over at 425F uncovered for 20 mins. Then, I did an ice bath and sear on the chicken. Made a mustard pan sauce. Then, got oil to 380F and crisped the dehydrated rice. I put a slice of the compound butter to use on the potatoes or chicken.

It turned out. I also made steamed snow peas but it was served on the side.

I dipped these in Creole mustard. I need to do a different kind of wash so more salt sticks. But, they are great tasting.

I didn't take the time to plate it nice because I was hungry. I made 2 cups of basmati rice that I toasted first and then used 1.5 cups of coconut milk (cream and liquid) 1.5 cups water 1 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt plus more to taste at the end.

Meanwhile, I made scallops from frozen in the sous vide for 45 mins at 124F. Seared in cast iron. Then, I took a squeeze and lime juice and the bag liquids to deglaze the pan. I added the rest of the coconut milk can. I let that reduce on medium heat for 5 mins.

Put the rice on the plate. Hit it with a squeeze of lime juice. Popped the scallops on top. Spooned the reduction around the rice. And, I topped it with toasted coconut flakes.

This is what I made for the bartenders at my local bar. They got 4 scallops each. I just made a small plate to tatse everything.

I bought a big jar of Calabrian Chilis and you have to use them within a week of opening. So, I have been trying a lot of things with them. This past week, I got a mandolin slicer with a blade that had an adjustable thickness. So, I sliced up a bunch of potatoes and tossed the slices in olive oil and Italian seasoning. I par baked them for 10 minutes at 350F. When I pulled them out, I stirred in 2 Tbs of crushed Calabrian Chilis and let them rest.

I made a quick yeast-free flatbread dough. I got my pizza stone to 450F and baked the flatbread for 6 mins. I pulled it out and brushed with olive oil and put the potato slices on top. I topped it with roasted red pepper slices. Baked it for 8 mins then topped with a drizzle of Calabrian Chili Aoli.

It is not much to look at but it tasted great. The potatoes and roasted red peppers cut through the heat. I made a second flatbread where I added some pickled red onion and the contrast was great.

If you ever have leftover Calabrian Chilis, I highly recommend making an aoli with it. With an immersion blender, it takes less than 2 munutes. I used it a bunch of different ways. This evening, I am going to make an Italian sub and put the aoli on the toasted bread.

What does everyone else do to keep their wood cutting boards nice? I bought this 4 step system with a bar of soap with essential oils to clean it, then a coconut oil and essential oil combo to let it soak in to the wood, then a beeswax/coconut oil/orange essential combo to wax it. The 4th step is a spray that you use between waxing.

I have about 12 wood cutting boards of various quality and a few wood serving boards. I probably clean, oil, and wax twice month per board. I separate what I use for raw meat, cooked meat, charcuterie, and vegetables.

Anyway, the issue is that every couple days, I have two or three cutting boards on the counter waiting for the oil to soak in. I tried to put them up where I keep the boards but if you do it before the oil is soaked in, the oil gets on the shelf.

Just curious if other people run into this, do you oil your board less frequently, have a different system, etc? I tried the titanium boards and felt like they dulled my knives. I don't want to use plastic.

I cooked the tri tip for 6 hours at 133.5F in the sous vide. When done, I seared then sliced thin.

I made a red chimichurri sauce but instead of my usual red pepper flakes, I used Calabrian Chilis in Oil for the heat. I cut back the amount of roasted red pepper a bit in the processor. But, I added some roughly chopped up roasted red pepper into the chimichurri.

I made picked red onions to add on top for some texture.

For the rice, I rinsed 2 cups of rice. In my saucepan, I heated up some avocado oil and added red onion then some garlic. Then added the rice and toasted it a bit. I used 2.5 cups of beef broth and 1.5 cups of RO water and the rice mixture into the rice cooker along with some salt and pepper.

I made a Calabrian Chili Aoli because you don't have much time until the chilis go bad once you open the jar. With that aoli, I mixed it with drained canned tuna along with salt and pepper. I put that in some cut bell peppers and topped with either pickled red onions or capers.

I made this for the bartenders at my local bar. So far, the feedback has been positive. The thin slices of the tri tip were very tender. And, that cut goes perfect with chimichurri, red or green.

I cut it in half after the sous vide. This was cooked from frozen. I vacuum sealed with just salt. It cooked for 6 hours at 133.5F. I seared in Avocado Oil because I was putting chimichurri on it and I didn't want the butter flavor.

I made a garlic and onion beef rice (cooked in beef broth) to serve thin strips of the meat on. I made a red chimichurri sauce for the top and pickled red onions. I would have liked to have gotten a better sear. But, it tasted great, super tender, and the red chimichurri sauce was perfect for the meat and the rice.

So, I cook every week for the bartenders at my local bar. One of them doesn't eat meat but does eat eggs, cheese, and such. So, usually, she doesn't eat what I make. Today, I made a dish she could eat.

I made saffron water and used my rice cooker to cook the rice. 1 cup of rinsed rice, one cup of saffron water, 1 cup of vegetable stock, 2 tbs salted butter, 3 tbs additional RO water, and two bay leaves. When the rice was 8 mins from being done, I sauteed 3/4 of a medium yellow onion diced, a yellow pepper diced for 5 mins in avocado oil, then added 4 cloves of minced garlic with a little more avocado oil (fat brings out the saffron). Cooked for 2 more mins. I folded that into the rice once it hit "keep warm" and after removing the bay leaves.

In the meantime, I gently simmered a can of black eyed peas in vegetable stock and RO water with garlic salt. After 20 mins, I drained and gently folded that into the rice cooker mixture of sauteed aromatics and rice. I added half a cup of vegetable stock, salt, 1/4 tsp cardamom, and fresh ground pepper. I let the flavors come together for 20 mins.

I let that meld together in the rice cooker on keep warm.

Then, I pushed 6 hard boiled eggs that were chilled through my potato ricer and gently folded in a mixture of a homemade avocado mayo, dijon mustard, hot smoked paprika, salt, and pepper combination. I put that in halved mini peppers, topped with capers, and dusted with hot smoked paprika. I put the pepper halves on a bed of mixed greens. Then, I topped with flaky sea salt and chopped parsley.

I served the black eyed peas and rice with a poached egg, flaky salt, chopped parsley. The poached egg really added to the rice dish.

Anyway, it all worked out. I highly recommend the halved peppers with the egg salad. Personally, I would have like bacon in both, but I wanted to include everyone.

I made a hot dog inspired by the Chicago Dog but nowhere near an actual Chicago Dog. I didn't want sweet so I chopped pickles instead of using sweet relish. I put down yellow mustard, chopped up pickles, chopped up and salted tomatoes, a little celery salt, and sliced peppers that I fermented and I put it on Brioche rolls that I made. I just didn't have poppy seed rolls and I didn't want to go out.

2nd Dog is a kimchi dog. I put down yellow mustard, sauteed kimchi that I fermented (yes, I know it kills the probiotics, but I ate some raw, too), mozzarella cheese shredded, more sauteed kimchi, and a garlic sriracha sauce.

Yesterday, I made Shrimp Rangoon Dogs. Hot dogs wrapped in wonton wrappers and fried to crisp up. I put cream cheese, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, green onions, salt, pepper, corn, and diced shrimp that I heated into a sauce. Garnished with more shrimp, more green onions, and garlic sriracha sauce. This particular hot dog yesterday in another group I'm in got a lot of hate, only 52% upvote ratio. But, it was very good. I'm using grass fed 100% beef hot dogs. So, seafood goes great with it. I also made a Crab Mac and Cheese a few weeks back that was good. But, a lot of people were triggered by seafood on a hot dog.

I had some grass fed beef hot dogs and shrimp ready to cook. I also had some brioche rolls that I needed to use. So, I cooked the hot dogs in the sous vide at 150F for 2 hours. I didn't want a grilled taste and I wanted a firm texture. I cooked the EZ Peel shrimp for 30 minutes at 135F.

I brushed wonton wrappers with egg and put them around the hot dogs and I crisped them up in a small amount of oil on a cast iron pan. I sauteed some jalapeños and garlic to soften and then added cream cheese, dark soy sauce, green onions, salt and pepper. Once it was heated through, I added some corn. Once that was cooked, I chopped up most of the shrimp and stirred it in.

When I put it together, I topped with some additional shrimp, green onions, and a garlic sriracha sauce. It turned out better than I expected.

I had some grass fed beef hot dogs and shrimp ready to cook. I also had some brioche rolls that I needed to use. So, I cooked the hot dogs in the sous vide at 150F for 2 hours. I didn't want a grilled taste and I wanted a firm texture. I cooked the EZ Peel shrimp for 30 minutes at 135F.

I brushed wonton wrappers with egg and put them around the hot dogs and I crisped them up in a small amount of oil on a cast iron pan. I sauteed some jalapeños and garlic to soften and then added cream cheese, dark soy sauce, green onions, salt and pepper. Once it was heated through, I added some corn. Once that was cooked, I chopped up most of the shrimp and stirred it in.

When I put it together, I topped with some additional shrimp, green onions, and a garlic sriracha sauce. They turned out really good.

I did this with a combination of sous vide, cast iron, and a pizza stone in my air fryer combo oven.

I cooked chicken breast for 90 minutes at 140F in the sous vide. I then sliced the chicken like you were going to butterfly it, but I went all the way through. I put basil leaves on both sides and a slice of prosciutto on each side. Egg wash and panko. Fried it for about 40 seconds per side.

I used a diced tomato sauce instead of the usual white wine sauce. I made naan bread and let it cool. I put the diced tomato sauce, sliced chicken saltimbocca, extra sliced ham, a couple grates of parmigiano reggiano, covered with shredded mozzarella, topped with a couple tomato slices, and put on my preheated 400F baking stone for 5 minutes. Then topped with some extra fresh basil.

It isn't necessarily much to look at but it really worked out nice. One half chicken breast sliced in half then making two like I described above made 4 flatbreads. So, it probably worked out to under $2.00 per flatbread.

I know Chicken Saltimbocca is supposed to use sage but I didn't have any and I grow my own basil.

Does anyone else make some interesting flatbreads? I think this one is up there with my red chimichurri chicken flatbread in terms of taste. I just need to figure out a better plating. I think maybe having sauce, cheese, ham, then chicken might look better.