Kosher Dosher...“I am a culinary Heretic"

Over the last few months, I've been thinking about Thanksgiving and all the lovely aromas associated with this beautiful Holiday. I won't be precise, but if you search the internet on Food and Drink in the Bible, the plethora of verses is pretty amazing. I will summarize what Ecclesiastes 9:7 says- Go eat your delectable food with Joy and drink your liquor with a happy heart and G-d will not only approve but give you a high five. I think G-d would approve of my paraphrasing and the liberties I took with His Text.  My all-time favorite nonreligious Holiday has to be Thanksgiving. I have many reasons why I love this Holiday, so here are just a couple to ponder. Generally speaking, regardless of your religion, we can all agree that Thanksgiving is for everyone!! Thanksgiving has the best smells!!! It incorporates just about every food group and cooking style. It does not discriminate.  I've been working on this idea for months. When I say working on, I mean day/night dreaming...

I haven't eaten Top-Sirloin in a while, and I don't ever recall making a post about this cut.  Top-Sirloin has great beef taste but is not my favorite for Sous-Vide. They are great if purchased for Roast Beef because they don't have much fat, and, when sliced thin and cold, it has a nice mouthfeel. I will occasionally buy Big ones from Costco and make Roast Beef, which I have blogged about. Dry-Brined with Fish-Salt at 1% for 72-hrs. Warm-Aged using a two-stage cooking method  at 113f for 4-Hrs. Finished at 128f at 9-Hrs. This time and temp gives an aldente bite. More chew than some might like. The concern with going longer is additional moisture loss. The negligible fat and long cooks will yield dry meat. The wife and kids prefer 13-15 Hrs. I sliced it very thin and used it on top of Pasta.  These were shocked and refrigerated before use. Rethermed for about 90-minutes and placed on the counter for about 5-Minutes.   If they had eaten right away, I would have left ...

This post is a continuation and supplement to my previous post titled Review of Chef Steps Sous-Vide-Faux-Age-Beef (The Modernist Strategy to Dry Age Beef). After posting this, I went on a search to find out if this is a new method. I found many variations using Blue-Cheese (nothing specific), sometimes Fish-Sauce and Koji. Most of the blends were not detailed or precise, and the ones that were used volume as their only measurement. I've been Faux-Aging with Fish-Salt/Sauce for years, so this is just up my alley to try.  I decided to try different Blue-Cheeses but stick with the 72-Hours time frame because that seemed to produce the best results. I also chose different percentages of Blue-Cheese 2%, 4%, and 6% based on the protein's weight. I.e., 1000-gram steak at 6% would need 60 grams of Blue-Cheese. I selected Roquefort because it's made from Sheep's Milk. But note, I love all Blue-Cheeses. Although I love Stilton Blue-Cheese, the Roquefort Cheese was better, in m...

I've wanted to make Blood-Orange Cello for months now, but since they were not in season, I was forced to wait. What did I say? Yes, I had to wait, which is somewhat of a forgotten concept in our postmodern culture. The modernism of impatience and instant gratification and the need to experience fulfillment without delay have become foreign concepts. I've grown accustomed to instant gratification, and this delay made me ponder our societal choices. Why is this important? I think delayed gratification can be a powerful mechanism for forward-thinking. Ok, enough with my inner perceptions and on with the recipe or modus.  Again my favorite ethanol to use is Everclear because it's a neutral spirit and its high ABV (95%). Starting with a very high ABV allows you more flexibility when dialing in the desired ABV after dilution. And because it's 190-Proof (95% ABV), you get more bang for your buck. I find that shooting for an ABV (Alcohol by Volume) of 40%/80-proof is best for ...

  (OP-11/17) It's that time of the year again when we break out the recipes and research new ones to cook. This year I wanted to focus on my favorite dessert, which is CheeseCake. Cheesecake is my go-to dessert for almost every occasion and every outing.  This year I wanted to try something I have never done before, which is Sous-Vide desserts. I took me tried and true Sous-Vide CheeseCake recipe, made some necessary adjustments, and came up with a recipe. I will include the basic CheeseCake recipe at the bottom of the page.  First I want to talk about masons jars for the moment. I have tried 4 different types until I finally settled in on these. I won't bore you will all the details, but just know these are best. Why I like them? They are Widemouth and large at the base and easy to fill. I love using all sizes.... 4, 8, and even 16 oz for big eaters. The ones in the pics are 8 oz. The 16 oz ones are awesome if you like a lot of toppings.  INGREDIENTS  (makes 11...