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What are you eating?


Minirova
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I have one. One thing to always remember is that air fryers are convection ovens. Treat them as ovens*. They're great for things already coated with oil or has their own source of oil with the exception of breaded stuff (certain parts of the breading gets cooked faster). I frequently use mines for roasted veggies and chicken wings. They're awesome for Chinese BBQ pork (char siew). I should try them with dumplings. While I haven't tried it, I bet you can get great bacon out of it. I really do think they're a great addition to a kitchen. Beats using the big oven.

 

* I use mines in conjunction with a toaster oven. The toaster oven is well, a regular oven, so I can cook something most of the way while the air fryer cooks the same thing all the way. I then transfer to air fryer for final touches. The toaster oven can then be used as a warmer (or the microwave can, which I use when I cook entrees on the stove). I can pretty much avoid using the big oven which is a pain in the ass since I would have to take out all the things inside it...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sangria Señorial (sangria flavoured soda), with melon and vanilla ice-cream.

 

Take the melon put it in the fridge for a couple of hours, slice it into small chunks, put them in a glass of your choice and muddle them a bit, then carefully pour the sangria in, top with a scoop of ice-cream. One melon should be enough for several servings.

 

It tastes way better than it has any right to. :P 

 

I was originally trying to make this:

 

But I ran into a couple of issues:

 

  • No store around here sells cream soda
  • Even the smallest melon I could find is way too much for one person/serving
  • Didn't want to wait for the melon to freeze

So I improvised a bit, happy with the result though. :P \m/ \m/

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  • 2 weeks later...

IMG_20191022_210410.jpg?width=780&height

So I made the chile relleno I mentioned in the Youtube thread. I'll be making it again some other time (it's actually easy to do but it has some quirks) and I for sure going to continue using the sauce in other applications. Also my favorite part:

IMG_20191022_181529.jpg?width=439&height

I should really get an actual cast iron griddle or baking steel, that's thing is cast aluminum with a non-stick coating. The coating might die if I do this too much... of course I also got the option of just using an open flame...

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  • 1 month later...

God damn it, I got some avocados in the mail recently as a gift and I am trying so hard to figure out when they're ripe so I can make guacamole but so far every single one I've tried has just not worked out. I tried cutting one open a few minutes ago because it was dark brown on the outside but the inside was hard as a fucking rock. My spoon couldn't even penetrate it to scoop it out and I ended up just throwing the whole thing away in disgust. They say you're supposed to squeeze it but I have never squeezed an actual ripe avocado so I have no frame of reference. I've wasted four of these damn things so far and it's so frustrating.

Edited by Mister Jack
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I should next-day air you some ripe ones in a modern case of sending oranges/citrus to people for Christmas. 

 

Anyhow, ripe avocado is soft when lightly squeezed. Squeeze it in a similar way you judge a ripeness of say a peach or other stone fruit. About the firmness of say a ripe banana. I think another good way is to knock it around in a clawed hand. Anyway you do it, it should not be hard like say an apple or hard peach. For guacamole, I say it shouldn't even be firm. I think another way to describe it is to imagine butter. Out from the fridge it is rock hard but once room temp, it cuts and somewhat/is spreads easily. That's more or less what you want out of a ripe avocado. 

The avocado skin also should not be brown since it can indicate a bruise. As for an overripe avocado... it should be really obvious. Really soft with browning skin and separation of the flesh from the skin. Now what is not obvious is an a matured avocado and one that is just past it's prime.

 

I hope all my comparisons helps you form a frame of reference in your mind. It takes time to figure it out. For me, I can glance at some to get a general idea then a touch test to narrow it down. One thing you can probably do is get a paper bag and toss them in with a banana to speed things up.

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  • 1 month later...

Preparing dinner for NYE:

 

zILFLlE.jpg

 

Porchetta recipe from Binging With Babish, minus the chilli flakes as I'll be making an habanero sauce to go with it. :P 

 

I'll also make some turkey al pastor, and compliment it with mashed potatoes and a salad of some kind, haven't decided on that one yet. :P 

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  • 4 months later...

Honestly, this is probably one of my better saves. I didn't take a picture of the dry dough but it was like a damp clump of crumbs. I cut it up then toss back into the stand mixer with 1/4 cup of water to hydrate but it was too much. The dough wouldn't come back together so I added bit of AP flour in small quantities till it came together and looked about right. Tossed it back into the fridge to rise then proceed as normal. I probably should have proofed them for two hours instead of one though. 

 

I think my sour dough experience helped me to save this. Making sour dough bread allows you to play around so much. Mixing different flours in different ratios while changing up the hydration. The only things that remain constant were how much flour(s), how much starter and how much salt for the amount of bread you wanted. 

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  • 7 months later...

I would put this in the Youtube channel thread but they cook basically how and what I cook when I do Chinese. The above is basically how I do blanched veggies. While I have different methods and preferences, what they do during the cooking and suggest during their discussion portion of the videos are great advices.

 

But yeah... growing up I never got the distain most American children have for veggies until I really looked. I never went through that phase since the veggies I ate were tasty. I have preferences, mind but nothing was ever bad unless they were cooked wrong (which is basically the issue with how most Americans approach veggies for the longest time).

 

Another great channel to follow and video to watch:

Chinese Cooking Demystified is a bit more straightforward. Cooking with Lau is more homely and got great discussion sessions.

 

Edit: For the last video when they do morning glory (I know them as water spinach or ong choy), you don't have to blanch. Stir fry with more oil. Shrimp paste or fermented tofu can come in the end. Hell, even the sauce for the other veggies might not be needed. It's all comes down to preference though.

Edited by Mal
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  • 3 weeks later...

Now this is to go with the above. Add in some rice and you got a meal. My neighborhood got it's own Chinese BBQ place similar to the one shown above. The place got an entire assembly line of ducks, chicken and pigs drying and curing for a day or so that the head chef got to attend to plus the counter work (chopping) that he also do. 

 

You actually could copy this at home, just got to adapt your technique. 

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/23/2019 at 2:18 PM, Mister Jack said:

God damn it, I got some avocados in the mail recently as a gift and I am trying so hard to figure out when they're ripe so I can make guacamole but so far every single one I've tried has just not worked out. I tried cutting one open a few minutes ago because it was dark brown on the outside but the inside was hard as a fucking rock. My spoon couldn't even penetrate it to scoop it out and I ended up just throwing the whole thing away in disgust. They say you're supposed to squeeze it but I have never squeezed an actual ripe avocado so I have no frame of reference. I've wasted four of these damn things so far and it's so frustrating.

 

The avocados (all Hass or similar variety) he shows are absolute perfection. It's actually kind of hard to get unbruised ones at the market... Unless you get a rock hard one to let it ripe. Even then you might get one that's bruised on the outside and rock hard on the inside. Anyhow, he shows you the color difference between fresh and ripe avocado. How it feels is what he (and like I) said. 

 

On a personal note, I'm really into the fuerte variety of avocado. Super flavourful but far pickier on ripening since you either can peel the skin off or you'll be scraping it off. The skin is far thinner than a Hass, which can be scooped. So if it's even a slightly overripe, the skin on a fuerte is very fragile. 

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