tekobo

What she said!

You guys have all been super kind a supportive through the year. Thank you for your generosity. My life changed a lot during 2018 - not unusual, I am sure we all go through fun and scary changes every year - but it was always nice to be able to escape to a place where people were at least as crazy and at least as mad about food as I am. Here's to a new year of discovery!

Ha ha. Fondue on a konro. I hope you got her a real present too! As for Philly? Slim chance at the play offs but my bet is that, if we make it in, we will go deeper than the Pats in their current state. Merry Christmas one and all.

Hey there KK friends. It has been a great year, getting to know you and my KKs. Thank you for being here, a constant in a weird and changing world. Have a great Christmas season and New Year. Much love.

On balance this sounds like good news. For you. I hope your upwind is very windy. Duh. Maybe I have not thought that one through.

@Pequod, glad you liked the show. I haven't watched the whole series yet. Saving them for a nice winter's evening. I learned a lot from her about salting too. And yes, looking at good focaccia creates the most unlikely urge to gorge on soft fatty bread. Put like that it doesn't sound so good but it IS so good.

Impressive collection @Bruce Pearson! My scaredy cat self hopes you keep them somewhere safe... I too love kitchen knives and we had a big collection at one stage. Like @tony b, the Husband and I ended up adding one cook's knife and one paring knife each to our collection a couple of Christmas' ago. They became our go-to knives and we have cut our collection right down to those four knives plus a great vegetable cleaver from the same maker. We also kept a bread knife, a filleting knife and a boning knife and got rid of all the rest of our knives. Our guy's website is now way to cool for skool but here he is for those of you on this side of the waters: https://blok-knives.co.uk

Beautifully cooked steak @h2oskibumz. Look forward to seeing more posts from you!

Ha ha We ate well. Hard not to in Italy. What has me really excited though, is the pizza making lesson that we had. Very un-Italian in that he was not rigid about the dough recipe and very good in that he showed us how to handle and shape the dough. Lots of really good techniques including making sure your dough ball is tight before leaving to rise, handling v gently to keep the circular shape when you lift it out, gentle pressing to "open" the dough and then the two handed, rotating pull on a very well dusted surface to stretch the dough into a circle. The below were baked in an indoor oven in circular pans. Now need to replicate that shaping at home in the KK.

I am in Italy at the moment and have to say that your focaccia looks better than any I have seen here. Nonna would be proud. If you have not seen the focaccia making scene in the Salt Fat Acid Heat series on Netflix, you must. Greed inducing thing of beauty.

A very impressive selection Tony. I hope they mature nicely through the winter. It's funny that tolerance thing. I find my tastebuds can take more heat over time but my tummy's resistance to attack is a more reliable measure of what I should and should not eat!

No need to import any more tequila Tyrus. We have such a large store of booze at home that I tell my husband that he has either bought enough to last us until we die or to kill us!

I quite like having a bit of chew! Wouldn't go longer on an ordinary steak but looking forward to experimenting with time and temp on a thick forerib chop. I used the following site for guidance: https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html#tempchart1

A great way to fish in KK @Aussie Ora. One to copy for sure! Maybe not the eyeball bit though!!

Thanks for all your kind comments and for suggesting it in the first place @tony b. Yes, @Bruce Pearson, I would do it again. Probably with a thicker steak. I think I got the same texture that I like from a blue steak but was easier to chew.

Thanks Mac. Just checking - are prawns/shrimps on your list of non-preferred seafood? Sounds like lots of fun. One of our friends said our taco evening was a bit surreal for him. There we were, talking about Brexit, listening to mariachi music while eating Nigerian-Mexican food. He left a little less worried about Brexit but I think that was more down to the margaritas than our conversation!

I simply couldn't get my head around why one would sous vide a steak. I like my steak blue and the KK cooks it perfectly well, at high heat, in 3 minutes max. Why mess around with vacuum packing and sitting around in a water bath? Well, I was intrigued by @tony b's suggestion that I try to "confit" a dairy cow steak in its own fat. So I tried it. Marinaded the meat for a few hours in oil, salt and tarragon. Put some cold cow fat into each vacuum bag. Now, how to avoid over cooking the steaks? I went for 45C for 1.25 hrs. Then I chilled them back down in the fridge before introducing them to the KK for just under 2 minutes. The result was messy but sublime.

Fish tacos v shrimp tacos? It's a draw! The Husband brought back a whole stack of corn tortillas from Houston on Saturday morning. Had friends round to try, in quick succession, shrimp and then fish and then beef tacos. No photos at table but KK shots below. I left some suya pepper on the table for people to help themselves to additional. Had to restrain Spanish friend from sprinkling too liberally until he had judged the level of chilli! All good. I marinaded the prawns lime zest, suya pepper and oil for a couple of hours. Real quick cook in KK. Soaked wooden skewers were fine. My fingers were not! Marinaded sea bass steaks in lime juice and Texan friend's chipotle spice mix and oil. I oiled the grill between cooks and found that jiggling the fish a little with tongs before trying to turn meant that I managed to keep the skin on most of them. Added suya pepper at table once flaked. All the usual fixings - salad, chipotle mayonnaise, avocado, roast tomato salsa and some mature red Leicester cheese. The cheese was picked so it was the same colour as Monterey Jack but I suspect they taste very different. Accompanied by margaritas. A good night was had by all.

Lovely crispy skin on those wings Mac. Yum!

That looks like a lot of fun. Hard work, I'm sure, but what a result. Everything right where you want it. Looking forward to seeing it fully commissioned.

Mouthwatering view, ears n' all.

Thanks for the full description @Lannoos. I am super impressed, particularly by the fact that you were able to retain the Jiggle. Awesome!

Nice looking chook and veg @Aussie Ora

That looks good Mac. Was the steak sous vide? If so, what time and temp did you use for the sous vide element?

Now THAT is a fantastic idea. I have looked up sous vide confit and have found a few duck recipes. Definitely going to try this. And soon. The only problem is that The Husband is in Houston this week and is due to bring back some corn tortillas. Sous vide steak or fish tacos or sous vide steak or fish tacos? I think we will find a way to fit both into a short weekend!