'Velvetizing'

I recently picked up a wok and stir fry book, not so much for the recipes, which are pretty half assed, but to get ideas. Almost all of them that include meat use this process. Anyway, I read about it a little and tried it with a shrimp stir-fry recipe I made for steph, and now I'm totally in love.

Velvetizing is a chinese method of poaching meat. Meat is always boneless and cut into small stir-fry-sized pieces. The meat is lightly coated with corn starch and egg white (and a little water if necessary). A small amount of oil is heated to 260-280 degrees in a wok. The meat is then cooked, not fried, in the oil for only a minute or two. Because the pieces are small they will be thoroughly cooked and then added back to the stir-fry at the last moment. Intuitively named, it's designed to cook the meat gently while sealing in the flavor and moisture. I've only tried it with shrimp so far, but it did amazing things. The shrimp was cooked perfectly, fluffy, moist and tender. I have never had results like this with a dry heat method.

Thinking about it, it's really ingenious. It combines the extremely efficient dry heat method of frying with the gentle low heat method of poaching. Because it's poached in oil, not water, the moisture has nowhere to go. The egg white and cornstarch create a thin barrier to aid in this effect. However, unlike frying, the heat is low enough that the internal temperature of the food never gets high enough to steam is from the inside, so it stays very very tender and moist.

The draw backs are it adds additional time and mess to your stir-frys, but you can't argue with the results or 5000 years of delicious home cooked food.

Sharpest Knife EVER!

Now that I'm once again in the market for a new knife, I've found that Henckels has just released a new line that may rightfully take the title of the sharpest high carbon steel cutlery around.

For awhile Kershaw's Shun line with it's VG-10 core and 16 layers of SUS-410 stainless steel offered about the best edge retention around. and with a rockwell hardness rating of 60-61 degrees, it was in a league of it's own compared to most other major knife makers at 56-58 degrees. However, J.A. Henckels just released it's Twin Cermax knives, boasting an impressive 66 rockwell score, making it by far the hardest HCS knife around. You can't use a regular honing steel with these because most are 66 degrees as well; you have to get Henckels diamond steel. Those 5 points are gonna cost you though. the twin cermax 6.5" santoku sells online for $189 compared to the shun 6.5" santoku at $99.

To combat Henckels new line, Kershaw has released the Shun Elite, also scoring a 66 and in a similar price range.

As a result, Shun knives are finally starting to come down in price. Most of them are about $20-30 cheaper than last year around this time, which is awesome. Anyone looking for a new knife should check these babies out. I have nothing but good things to say about my Shun santoku.

Leg of Lame? NO!

I didn't take this picture so it's not my fault it looks bad. For some reason it's almost impossible to find a leg of lamb with the sirloin or thigh part still attached. Instead you get the shank half, with or without the bone. This is ok as long as you cook it rare to medium rare (125-130 degrees F) any more well done and you might as well slather yogurt on it and wrap it in a pita.

I went to a job interview this morning and the executive chef told me "everything has already been done, either accidental or otherwise." I took a queue from this and used a recipe from Gourmet magazine. The April '05 issue included a recipe entitled Anchovy and Rosemary Roasted Lamb. I didn't quite follow the recipe exactly so I'm not worried about the feds busting down my door for posting this recipe I did, adapted from the one in the magazine. I served it with a garlic and red pepper couscous with pistachios and mint pesto. Here's how I did it!:

Roast Leg of Lamb:
1 (4-5lb) shank half semi-boneless leg of lamb
5 large cloves garlic, finely minced
6 1/2 anchovy fillets, finely minced
3 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mash the garlic and anchovy's into a fine paste, combine with the olive oil and salt and set aside.

Trim all but a thin layer of fat from the lamb roast. Place the lamb in a roasting pan and score the top with a sharp knive. Rub the spice paste all over, making sure it gets into the cracks. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

Stick a thermometer into the thickest part and roast until internal temperature reaches 125-130 degrees. Remove from oven and let sit at least 20 minutes before cutting. Serve with mint tea, mint pesto and couscous.

for the mint pesto:
4 Tbs parsley, finely minced
3 Tbs mint leaves, finely minced
1 Tbs anchovy paste
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbs capers, finely minced
1 splash red wine vinegar

For the couscous:
1/4 cup dried couscous
2-3 cups stock
2 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup pistachios, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes, stirring. Add the red pepper and pistachios and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the couscous and stir until coated with oil. Pour in the stock slowly, adding less than you think is necessary. Cook until absorbed, adding more stock if necessary. Serve immediately.

for the mint tea:
Bring a quart of water to boil. put 7-10 mint leaves in a coffee mug or tea glass. Put about 5 drops of lemon juice in the mug. Pour the boiling water over the tea leaves and let steep for 10 minutes, covered. Remove the leaves and stir in a drop of honey before serving.

Minneola

I'm not in the habit of trying random citrus fruits that show up in the produce section, but that doesn't mean I never do. The minneola is a delicious not-to-sweet, not-too-tart citrus fruit, notably different than a tangerine. Perfect for someone disheartened by the sweetness of the orange as well as the sourness of a grapefruit. I was interested, so Stephanie looked it up to find its from a group of fruits known as tangelos.

Tangelos are hybrids of tangerines and grapefruit or pomellos. First known crosses made by Dr. Walter T. Swingle in the late 19th century. They are significantly different from other citrus fruits and comprise a category in themselves. They were discoveredOther tangelos include, 'K-early', 'nova', 'orlando', 'seminole', 'Thornton" and of course the 'Ugli'.

Scotch Eggs

I just recently came across this classic pub fare at Brit's Pub in downtown minneapolis. I had literally been in town an hour. Our waiter forgot the original order and returned with the late-night menu, where it grabbed our attention. This is by far the most significant British contribution to the culinary world I've tasted as well as the only reason our waiter received any tip at all. I thought of Steph immediately when I had this cause I think she'd like it and it's amazingly delicious. I'm planning on making it soon.

It consists of a hard boiled egg, wrapped in breakfast sausage, covered in bread crumbs and deep fried. Not exactly diet food, but damned you are if you dimiss it on those grounds. They served it with a dijon mustard mayonnaise based sauce. Here's my attempt at reverse engineering the recipe:

2 hard boiled eggs, peeled
2-4 links breakfast sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
oil for for deep frying

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs dijon mustard
1 tsp sherry vinegar
fresh ground black pepper

Put the flour in a shallow dish and roll the eggs in it to coat lightly. Enclose the eggs in the sausage and dust again with flour. dredge in the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs. Fry for a minute or two until the sausage is cooked through. Slice in half and serve warm or cold with dijon mustard sauce.