Everyday Misc Cooking Photos w/ details

[tony b]

Sort of aioli meets chimichurri. 

[Braai-Q]

The weather in the UK has been miserable. It's like someone flicked the winter switch and I don't think it has stopped raining in the last 24 hours. We felt Sunday would be a good day for a 'pub lunch' aka Sunday roast so laid in ingredients and set the challenge of cooking most of it in our 19KK. Despite it raining constantly. It was also 6 degrees. 

So, we cooked a 1.6KG topside of beef (sourced from a farm about 2 miles from us) and added the traditional Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and decided to go with cauliflower cheese as another side. It was just the two of us and a dog who very much wanted in on the action. If you've never done a traditional English Sunday roast, it's about sequencing and timing if you want to eat everything hot.

We did a rub on the topside and gave it 45 mins while the KK was bedding in - quite simple - salt/black pepper/olive oil together with tiny amount of oregano and braai spice (I made it a while ago and think I had cumin seed, coriander seed, cayenne, chilli, salt,thyme in the mixture). Put a small piece of coffee wood in once we were ready to cook. Took it off with internal temperature at 52°C but ambient on the Meater+ was about 50°C out on the TelTru in the dome. Not that much of an issue as I was only interested in the internal temperature but I would have expected them to be much closer in a heat soaked KK after temps had stabilised with the meat in. 

Yorkshires came out well - second time doing them in the KK (210°C for 20mins). Put some water in to increase vapour in the KK. We have a range cooker and all the ovens have a fan assist function which produces a lot of steam and makes for incredibly good Yorkshires. On our first attempt, we'd found the Yorkshires to be a little dry and the texture wasn't quite right - bubble size/density wasn't great and it wasn't particularly elastic and aerated. They should be light and fluffy. The additional water vapour created sufficient steam to resolve this. Be interested if anyone else has had the same experience or has a different method. 

Given we were cooking the potatoes in duck fat and the Yorkshires were being cooked with a duck fat base, I thought I'd cut out the cream for the Cauliflower cheese to reduce the richness. I didn't want to overpower the dish with smoke but wanted to get some coffee wood smoke into the cauliflower so I cooked the cauliflower separately in a foil tray as an indirect cook and threw coffee wood on to the coal for smoke. Gave it 15-20 mins at 175°C and it tasted fabulous - it was a little underdone deliberately but I was pouring a bechamel over and finishing in the oven. I made a roux, added whole milk, Cheddar Cheese and nutmeg. Topped with a little grated cheese and cooked in the oven. I could have done it in the KK stacking shelves but didn't want to end up see sawing temperatures and messing timings up. The cook graph for ambient temperatures on the Meater app showed a rock solid horizontal line once I'd reached target temperature. Would have been easy running with the 32KK as well but the oven was just as easy and the cauliflower already had the right level of smoke I wanted. 

Few pictures below taken on iPhone. We had it with a lovely bottle of Peyrouzelles 2017. 

[MacKenzie]

Looks and sounds delicious. 

[MacKenzie]

A friend set me on this journey of roasted tomatoes, lucky me.

[MacKenzie]

Right after the tomatoes I started on cheese burgers. The cheese was a Guinness flavoured cheddar cheese that I love.

Dressed the bun with some pickled peppers and tomato slices.

Burger off the KK and onto the bun, then topped with the cheese.

[tony b]

As noted earlier, inspired to try the Peruvian chicken with green sauce. Marinated the chicken overnight. Rotisserie basket, direct, coffee and peach wood chunks, started out at 275F for the first 30 minutes, then slowly raised temps up to 350F for the last 30 minutes for crispier skin. 

Out of the rack. 

Plated with side salad, crusty bread and airfried spuds, with green sauce on the side.

This green sauce is da bomb, folks! 

[Noble dogs]

5 hours ago, Braai-Q said:

The weather in the UK has been miserable. It's like someone flicked the winter switch and I don't think it has stopped raining in the last 24 hours. We felt Sunday would be a good day for a 'pub lunch' aka Sunday roast so laid in ingredients and set the challenge of cooking most of it in our 19KK. Despite it raining constantly. It was also 6 degrees. 

So, we cooked a 1.6KG topside of beef (sourced from a farm about 2 miles from us) and added the traditional Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and decided to go with cauliflower cheese as another side. It was just the two of us and a dog who very much wanted in on the action. If you've never done a traditional English Sunday roast, it's about sequencing and timing if you want to eat everything hot.

We did a rub on the topside and gave it 45 mins while the KK was bedding in - quite simple - salt/black pepper/olive oil together with tiny amount of oregano and braai spice (I made it a while ago and think I had cumin seed, coriander seed, cayenne, chilli, salt,thyme in the mixture). Put a small piece of coffee wood in once we were ready to cook. Took it off with internal temperature at 52°C but ambient on the Meater+ was about 50°C out on the TelTru in the dome. Not that much of an issue as I was only interested in the internal temperature but I would have expected them to be much closer in a heat soaked KK after temps had stabilised with the meat in. 

Yorkshires came out well - second time doing them in the KK (210°C for 20mins). Put some water in to increase vapour in the KK. We have a range cooker and all the ovens have a fan assist function which produces a lot of steam and makes for incredibly good Yorkshires. On our first attempt, we'd found the Yorkshires to be a little dry and the texture wasn't quite right - bubble size/density wasn't great and it wasn't particularly elastic and aerated. They should be light and fluffy. The additional water vapour created sufficient steam to resolve this. Be interested if anyone else has had the same experience or has a different method. 

Given we were cooking the potatoes in duck fat and the Yorkshires were being cooked with a duck fat base, I thought I'd cut out the cream for the Cauliflower cheese to reduce the richness. I didn't want to overpower the dish with smoke but wanted to get some coffee wood smoke into the cauliflower so I cooked the cauliflower separately in a foil tray as an indirect cook and threw coffee wood on to the coal for smoke. Gave it 15-20 mins at 175°C and it tasted fabulous - it was a little underdone deliberately but I was pouring a bechamel over and finishing in the oven. I made a roux, added whole milk, Cheddar Cheese and nutmeg. Topped with a little grated cheese and cooked in the oven. I could have done it in the KK stacking shelves but didn't want to end up see sawing temperatures and messing timings up. The cook graph for ambient temperatures on the Meater app showed a rock solid horizontal line once I'd reached target temperature. Would have been easy running with the 32KK as well but the oven was just as easy and the cauliflower already had the right level of smoke I wanted. 

Few pictures below taken on iPhone. We had it with a lovely bottle of Peyrouzelles 2017. 

That cheese! Looks delicious.

[Braai-Q]

3 hours ago, Noble dogs said:

That cheese! Looks delicious.

Ta! It was. I opened the fridge this morning to find that there were a lot more leftovers than I thought! Good start to the week. 

[RokDok]

Great food pictures- can't wait for the arrival of my KK. I just love the notion that you need an Allen key to cook a chicken.

16 hours ago, Braai-Q said:

The weather in the UK has been miserable. It's like someone flicked the winter switch and I don't think it has stopped raining in the last 24 hours. We felt Sunday would be a good day for a 'pub lunch' aka Sunday roast

There is something about minds thinking alike here @Braai-Q???

We also had Roast Beef Sunday Lunch yesterday 1.3 kg sirloin, with Yorkshire pud, roast potatoes and root veg with some greens from the allotment, but, cooked on the range.

17 hours ago, Braai-Q said:

a traditional English Sunday roast, it's about sequencing and timing

Timing is vital. We cooked the beef initially (and had a slight difference of opinion with Mrs RD as to the correct cooking time for the beef ) and let it rest for an hour. Put the veg & roasties in and then went down the pub ( next door ) for a couple of pre lunch beers. Mrs RD had to nip back for a moment to do the YP.

Bottle of Cotes de Rhone and we were set.

Can't wait to do this on the KK !!

I think we might invest in a MEATER - I like the idea of being able to monitor your cooking from the comfort of your local pub.

Range shouldn't be a problem - our baby alarm used to work there.

Cheers

 

RD

[Braai-Q]

37 minutes ago, RokDok said:

Great food pictures- can't wait for the arrival of my KK. I just love the notion that you need an Allen key to cook a chicken.

Don't forget the torque wrench if you really want to make sure! 🤘

 

37 minutes ago, RokDok said:

We also had Roast Beef Sunday Lunch yesterday 1.3 kg sirloin, with Yorkshire pud, roast potatoes and root veg with some greens from the allotment, but, cooked on the range.

👍

37 minutes ago, RokDok said:

Timing is vital. We cooked the beef initially (and had a slight difference of opinion with Mrs RD as to the correct cooking time for the beef ) and let it rest for an hour. Put the veg & roasties in and then went down the pub ( next door ) for a couple of pre lunch beers. Mrs RD had to nip back for a moment to do the YP.

Bottle of Cotes de Rhone and we were set.

Can't wait to do this on the KK !!

It sounds like you have your first cook lined up in the KK. The Yorkshires I think are a bit easier in the oven though. 

37 minutes ago, RokDok said:

I think we might invest in a MEATER - I like the idea of being able to monitor your cooking from the comfort of your local pub.

If you're buying one, get a Meater+ (with repeater). I think the standard Meater doesn't have the signal range much beyond the KK. Even then, I find that I sometimes lose signal on the Meater+. You may have to plan your table booking based on Meater signal optimisation!

 

[Troble]

@tony b I’m glad you liked it! Try it with some of your air fryed potatoes sometime.

i made pizza Saturday but thought it was too boring to post my usual pepperoni, cheese and veggie pizza 

did boneless leg of lamb on the spit. Mediterranean salad, cous cous and Tadziki sauce. Unlike the UK it’s been hotter than sh*t here. Was too busy hosting, cooking. Drinking and swimming to take pics but managed one finished plate pic 

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Troble

[Basher]

Smoked rainbow trout pressed with dill, capers and tiger prawns. And seeded sourdough.

My wife hates sorting through fish bones, so this was a good way to sort this out.
Followed by eye fillet steaks. And roasted lemons.



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[Aussie Ora]

Butterfly lamb shoulder

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[Aussie Ora]

Lamb shoulder

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[tony b]

On 10/5/2020 at 2:18 PM, Troble said:

@tony b I’m glad you liked it! Try it with some of your air fryed potatoes sometime.

Check the plated photo - there's a dollop of green sauce by the spuds for dipping! Yes, it was very good with them.

[tekobo]

On 10/4/2020 at 11:58 PM, Braai-Q said:

Would have been easy running with the 32KK as well but the oven was just as easy and the cauliflower already had the right level of smoke I wanted. 

Was going to call you a cissy for reverting to your IDK until I read this.  Interested to know how often you fire up both your KKs.  Do you find you favour one over the other?

[Braai-Q]

2 hours ago, tekobo said:

Was going to call you a cissy for reverting to your IDK until I read this.  Interested to know how often you fire up both your KKs.  Do you find you favour one over the other?

It's funny, I really felt the need for a steak sandwich for lunch yesterday - stay with me on this story, it does answer your question. 

I was going past our local 'artisan' bakery who do excellent french sticks. They import T55 from France as the baker used to work in Paris and won't make them with anything else. Calling yourself an 'artisan baker' does mean you have to commit to standards. So I grabbed some French sticks, figured out what steak I had in the freezer and set about making a steak baguette for lunch with fried onions. I only had a 350g sirloin to hand (first world problem) - everything else was multipacked frozen. This was already a fanciful endeavour for a weekday lunch and thawing a multi pack of steaks was up there with hunting my lunch for the level of effort it involved. 

I set about defrosting the steak in a hot water bath and thought about how I was going to cook it. Char-grilled flavour was what the meat deserved so I fired up the KK - the 19 stepped up because anything short of a side of a cow looks lost in the 32. By the time that the meat was defrosted, the KK had a lovely bed of coals and the onions were chopped and the pan was at temperature. Medium rare steak (sliced) in preference to hammering it out was the order of the day. I fried the onions in Lescure unsalted butter (we're keeping it French) until they were caramelised and had just the smallest amount of bite. The French sticks were still warm (they'd just come out the oven at the bakery) so they were slathered in further butter. Sliced the meat, trimmed the fat and liberally accompanied with onion. Finished with a couple of twists of pink Himalayan salt. So about 45 minutes from idea to plate. I think my wife upset her colleagues by arriving late for her conference call while trying to finish her lunch and she was asked what she was having. So she showed them. I think they hated her for the rest of the call. 😅

For a quick grill, I find myself using the 19 but I did a Moussaka the other day and used the 32 for the sheer amount of grill area. Salting and cooking aubergines is a pain using the IDK but on the KK, it feels so much easier. Particularly when you atomise the olive oil versus pasting it on. It reduces oil in the dish (and yes, I know I just spent two paragraphs talking about cooking in butter). But I tend to bulk cook and freeze what I don't need for convenience. I've done a few low and slow cooks recently and have just used the 19 but I don't think I'd ever do pizza on it even though it can handle it easily and I have a 19 stone. If we ever get to entertain again, we'd certainly use both at the same time. I don't see the 19 as an inferior KK because it's smaller, it's just a different tool which comes into its own at different times. I'm glad I kept it. Good forum wisdom and peer pressure right there!

[tekobo]

3 hours ago, Braai-Q said:

For a quick grill, I find myself using the 19 but I did a Moussaka the other day and used the 32 for the sheer amount of grill area.

Thanks for the context @Braai-Q.  I too hate A1 for having such a lovely lunch, properly soaked in butter, while I had to shove reheated rice down quickly in between Teams meetings today.  

I buy your rationale.  When cooking big I sometimes hit the limits, literally, with my 23 and I am looking forward to my 32 being more than adequate for my needs.  I expect the 16 will be perfect for making my very own lunchtime steak sandwich.

3 hours ago, Braai-Q said:

I don't see the 19 as an inferior KK because it's smaller, it's just a different tool which comes into its own at different times. I'm glad I kept it. Good forum wisdom and peer pressure right there!

So glad to have been of assistance!

[tony b]

Speaking of steaks, did a nice bacon-wrapped sirloin last night, direct, lower grate, mesquite and post oak chunks. As an homage, I called this dinner "No Flies On Me Steak Night!" 😄

Duck Fat air-fried Yukon Golds (with Peruvian green sauce - the new "crack" in my house!), chimichurri for the steak, sautéed mushrooms and a nice side salad.

[Troble]

@tony b”the new crack” in your house. I take that as the ultimate compliment

great looking meals as always 

Edited October 8, 2020 by Troble