All coq au vin'd out. Made it for the third time in a row (it had been a while since I entertained, so crammed it all in one weekend). I also always do steak, so it was time to treat people to something different, which they all loved. Fortunately not a whole lot left over.

One thing I struggle with a bit is browning the skin without tearing it off the thigh. For the most part it's good, but every once in a while...

The smell once those veggies hit the pan and it starts to deglaze is out of this world. I would by an air freshener of that smell, I'd wear it as cologne, I'd start sniffing stranger who smelled like it.

Apple sauce again. Apples, pears, cinnamon stick, vanilla, fresh ginger, and a little Captain Morgans because I always cook with booze. Even managed to make it chunky instead of the super fine puree I usually do.

Eat my coq.

I need my first time to be by you.

Hurricane comfort food - turkey goulash. Ngl, I ate two bowls. 🍽🍴

Is it because I'll make it with extra sauce?

my taste bud taste like shit and water if bad how can i fix it

Toothpaste?

Porc au vin?

We'll test it out.

Debated using mead as the wine, but figure I'll try this out first as the wine isn't very good. Probably Guy Saget just having crappy wine, I'm all about the Henri Bourgeois for drinking.

Plated, with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Added lentils, which were delicious.

When making Coq, the recipe says to stir in a butter/flour mixture once the mushrooms and onions are finished. So basically creating a roux around the veggies? The advantage being one less step compared to making a roux beforehand?

I think I'll give the mead a go ahead next time, with a heavy dose of fresh rosemary. I only had dried basil and oregano, but did coat the pork in Tony's, smoked paprika, and a little MSG.

Bit of meal prepping today for when I get home at 10pm+ and am hungry. Mesquite lime chicken, green beans and not pictured the raw veggies on the side :)

Leg of Lamb, in the slow cooker:

Things I learned:

• Should have just roasted it
• Should have trimmed the fat cap
• Should have taken it out when I first checked it
• Love is a battlefield

I do find with most meats, a good browning is almost essential. Sometimes I also get super lazy and do my browning on the BBQ, then transfer to the slow cooker.

Also dry brining, which is letting it sit in the fridge, uncovered for a couple days with seasoning. Gets rid of the excess moisture and gives your seasoning time to work all throughout the meat.

First time attempting Penne Alla Vodka, and this may be drunk Prinzy2 talking, but super delicious.

I did make a few substitutions. I don't have pancetta, peeled San Marzano tomatoes, or Pecorino Romano, so I did pork belly, regular old diced tomatoes, and Parmigiano Reggiano. Also used Ciroc Vodka, because it was the only unflavored vodka on hand.

I've been watching Vincenzo's react videos and they are absolute comedy gold. There are several videos that try to make pasta casserole in a step or two, and it has him beet red, in tears, and speechless.

Going to try Bolognese using this recipe one of these days. However, I'm going to be substituting some of the beef and pork for veal and lamb, because baby animals are delicious, and maybe water with bone broth.

Thoughts?

It's something I've wanted to try for awhile now.

I like lamb much more than I like beef, but I haven't had veal in a long time.

Great subs, in my opinion, though.

And bone broth makes everything I've used it in tastier.

It's cold as balls, we got a boatload of snow, and I'm a tad hungover. So I made veggie soup, with chicken broth.

Cooked the onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil with a little salt and MSG. Added a slash of vodka. Then the sweet potato and regular potato. Chicken broth and herbs (basil, oregano, smoked paprika). Then needed a little extra salt, so Tony's of course, a small can of V8, then a half cup of lentils. Let simmer for 30 minutes, and I had soup!

Surprisingly good for veggie soup, wish I had some kidney beans to add to it though.

Went a little off the reservation with the recipe, but still turned out good.

Initially started cooking the celery, onion, and carrot before blending, which is not what he did in the video. Would have saved some time if I actually watched it first. Then added a pound of beef I got as a gift from a client who's a big-ass rancher. He just grinds the whole cow, so there's some premium cuts of meat in there that you don't get in store bought ground beef. Added some ground pork and lamb, which really added what I think is a deeper flavor. Couldn't find veal sadly. Added half a bottle of white wine, Muscadet, because it was cheap and I bought a case a while back. Then pureed some Roma tomatoes I had in the oven and put them through the strainer, then into the sauce with some store-bought passata because 10 tomatoes didn't give me enough. Dried oregano, fresh basil, pepper, fleur de sel, water. Simmer with the lid on, then off, to get rid of the excess moisture. And done!

Served with ramen because I didn't have pasta.

I have people coming for supper tomorrow, so I'll have pasta then.

If you’re active on here, don’t forget to participate in the NG cookbook collab by itsreddqueen! You can find it here:

https://itsreddqueen.newgrounds.com/news/post/1309250

Caprese salad (with Canadian mozzarella) and roasted bone marrow.

Not sure how I felt about the bone marrow. Might just stick to using it in soups and sauces.

I'm having a hard time remembering how I used to prepare the bone marrow. I think I would get the bones as medallions rather than cut lengthwise. I would quickly blanch them and then poke the marrow out of the bones so that I could have a small round chunk to work with.

The stuff is delicate and fatty. It'll completely disintegrate and render if you cook it for too long. I may have cooked it sous-vide and then seared it on both sides very quickly.

Most often I used it as an addition to sauces. Bone marrow butter is to die for. Adding it to stocks or demi-glace is heavenly. It's got a lot of character that you won't get anywhere else, and it's full of gelatin and collagen which thickens your sauce. Throw a nugget into your mirepoix when you're making bolognese next time.

No clue if I did it right or not. I just soaked it in cold salt water for a few hours (I think you're suppose to do it for 12 and change the water every 4), and threw it in the oven at 450*F on convection for 15 minutes. The internal temp was over the 145*F that the recipe recommended. Sous-vide would be perfect for that.

I think I'll save the other 4 canoe bones for soups and sauces. Might be a tasty addition to Bearnaise some time. Definitely would add some substance to the bolognese, which got demolished this evening by my dinner guests.

Safeway garlic toast with mozza and smoked cheddar melted on top, and a home-made bruschetta. Even did the quick boil and blanch to get the skin off, and seeded and got the goop out. Slivered onion, basil, olive oil, fresh basil.

Mushrooms and snails with butter, garlic, and small amount of onion. Needed some salt, whoops.

Pappardelle with bolognese.

Literally nothing left, and it was 500g of pasta, 2.7L of bolognese, a full loaf of French bread, plus a pound of snails and mushrooms between 5 people and 2 very small kids who filled up on leftover halloween candy and were little monsters the whole night.

Roast beef with carrots, potatoes, and onions:

Eggplant parmigiana:

Chocolate cake with candy eyeball:

A colorful salad I prepped today 🥗

Looks bomb

Cooked chicken hearts last night. Tasted like dark chicken meat, but a little chewy texture-wise. Did them in a mirepoix, then a mixed in some flour/butter paste, then Henri Bourgeois Sancerre which might be my all time favourite wine, reduced, then added the hearts.

I'd do them again, maybe with some actual herbs, maybe some mushrooms.

I like a nice hard sear on my chicken hearts. Cook them about half way, then add brunoise shallots til they begin to caramelize. Deglaze, mount some butter, and you're golden.

So I was actually really excited when my parents made a trip to the city and said they were going to my favourite Italian grocery store. I wanted Guanciale, which is cured pork cheek, and Pecorino Romano, a creamy salty cheese made from sheep milk.

Then I looked at the curing ingredients on the guanciale, potassium nitrate and sodium nitrite.... FUUUUUCK..... Shit is poison IMO. I'm still going to eat it, but maybe I'll have a bunch of people over too.

Live and learn I guess.

I used to have a bomb-ass recipe for guanciale if you could find pork jowl. But I'm pretty sure we used the pink shit, though. Whether that's sodium or potassium nitrate / nitrite I can't remember. Either way, salt and cane sugar will cure just about anything your heart desires.

It would be awesome to have a massive cold room where you could just hang stuff and forget about it.

The pink stuff is the nitrate/nitrite combo usually around 6%, can't get the high concentrate stuff anymore, and mainly it makes the meat keep its colour while it cooks, which is why bacon doesn't turn grey as it's frying. It also kills bacteria, but kind of a lazy, cheap way of doing it.

Next time I'll try and find an uncured cheek, or maybe just stick with the uncured pork belly and season it before cooking.

A co-worker of mine who has a hobby farm, is bringing over some back fat off a pig he recently had butchered. So now I'm looking up lardo.

Rabbit holes I tell you...

This thread isn't the place for fat jokes.