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Mr Nut’s special Penzeys Spice Rack

Hello friends

by now it is probably clear that Penzeys Spices are used in a lot of Mr Nut recipes. There are several reason for that choice, one is to avoid my wife’s  spice storage system where one must search through millions or  at least  nearly millions of spice bottles on her spice shelves.  Then there is the convenance of having all the spices premixed in one bottle instead of having to hunt through the millions of Cyndy’s spices bottles for the individual spices called for in the recipe. IT WAS TIME FOR A SOLUTION TO THE CHAOS.

The pictures in this blog are just ”thumbnails” of the actual pictures.  You can and should enlarge the ”thumbnails” to see the whole picture by clicking on them.  To return to normal view, click on the left facing arrow at the top of your screen)

 

This was made just for Penzeys Spices. With limited tools at my disposal the rack was made with utility in mind not beauty.

 

 

 

This rack will hold all the Penzey Spices I could ever want to use

 

 

 

 

 

The rack folds up nicely keeping the spices from falling out.

 

 

 

 

To be in touch with the technology of today, the latch is Velcro.

 

 

Looking forward to actually using the spice rack, until then it will be stored next to my heavy duty stand mixer.

Á bientôt

Mr Nut

Cheeseburger Soup

Hello friends,

last week Cyndy and I collaborated on making a recipe from Taste of Home magazine.  The contributor was Joanie Shawn of Madison WI.  Because Velveeta has not been considered eatable  in our family since our second oldest son, William, (age 53) had a ”love” affair with it during his Junior high years, we preceded wth a bit of skepticism.

The pictures in this blog are just ”thumbnails” of the actual pictures.  You can and should enlarge the ”thumbnails” to see the whole picture by clicking on them.  To return to normal view, click on the left facing arrow at the top of your screen)

 

Cindy, almost ready to add the cubed Velveeta to the soup.  She was the the boss, for  this endeavor

 

 

 

 

 

The soup looked weird.  But was it too thick with Velveeta?  The taste test yielded a NO.

 

 

 

As usual the presentation was  not professional but the taste was great.  A real winner recipe.

 

 

Á bientôt

Mr Nut

based on recipe from Taste of Home magazine by Joanie Shawnhan

Blog of 10-25-2016

At least eight servings for old folks

      In our family Velveeta ”cheese” was a no! no!  Not real “cheese”, was our impression of Velveeta.  But  Joanie Shawn’s recipe, with a few changes is a real winner.  This  is a easy and relatively quick meal as far a preparation and cooking goes.  The only negative thing is you really need to use the whole package of Velveeta, because in our family, what would be done  with the left over Velveeta.

Ingredients:

1/2  pound 92 or 94% lean ground beef

4 tablespoons butter, divided

3/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup shredded carrots

3/4  cup diced celery

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried parsley flakes

about 1 1/2 pounds  cubed unpeeled potatoes (most of the vitamins are in the skin)

3 cups low sodium chicken  broth

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 pound package Velveeta process ”cheese”, cubed

1 1/2 cup cups milk (fat free or 2% works well

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan sauté 1/2  pound ground beef until no longer pink. Drain off the grease and set it aside.
2. In the same saucepan, melt 1 Tbsp. butter over medium heat (be careful, butter burns easily), sauté 3/4 cup chopped onion, 3/4 cup shredded carrots, 3/4  cup diced celery, 1 teaspoon basil and 1 teaspoon parsley until tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Add to the same sauce pan, about 1 1/2 pounds potatoes, 1/2 pound ground beef and 3 cups low sodium chicken  broth. Bring it to a boil.
4. Simmer, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
5. In a small skillet, melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter.
6. Add 1/4 cup all-purpose flour stir until bubbly, 3-5 minutes.
7. Add the contents of the small skillet to the soup. again bring it to a boil. Cook and stir for two minutes.
8. Reduce heat to low. Stir in  1 pound Velveeta, 1 1/2 cup cups milk, and pepper.  cook until cheese melts. Remove from heat and  blend in 1/4 cup sour cream.

9.   Serve

CHICKEN CUTLET FRICASSEE SV

 

Hello friends,

Again, the The Food Lab book has provided this  novice kitchen warrior with a little more cooking knowledge.  This time it was about making chicken cutlets without beating the #$%&% out of the chicken breasts to make them thin.

The pictures in this blog are just ”thumbnails” of the actual pictures.  You can and should enlarge the ”thumbnails” to see the whole picture by clicking on them.  To return to normal view, click on the left facing arrow at the top of your screen)

 

With a sharp knife and the smooth side of the chicken breast up, make a horizontal cut to divide the chicken breast into two pieces.

 

 

 

 

What you have is two cutlets without working out your frustrations with a meat hammer.

 

 

The second thing learned was, for searing meat a FLAT bottomed skillet is needed so that the oil placed in the skillet will fill the air gaps between the meat and the surface of the skillet. liquid transfers heat better than air (a little of science: physics ).

As learned before, dry brining has advances over wet brining.  If you have time, at least forty minutes, rub a little Kosher Salt  onto the surface of the cutlets and and place  them on a plate, uncovered in the refrigerator for at least forty minutes (maximun time overnight).  The modern refrigerator with it frost free design helps draw out excess moisture from the meat.

With that new or improved knowledge, it’s time to move on to the recipe.

Á bientôt

Mr Nut

 Mr Nut’s original recipe

blog of 10-24-2016

Serves 4 older persons

       Chicken cutlets were cooked using the Sous Vide machine for two hours at 141℉.  The mushrooms and onion  were sautéd  until they developed their own fond to serve as the base of the sauce. The mushrooms boosted the fricassee’s meaty flavor.  Finally, the sauce was  finished with sour cream, which added body.  Wondra flour was slowly added and whisked into the sauce to thicken it to your desired consistency.

Making Cutlets out of the breasts:

 

 

With a sharp knife and the smooth side of the chicken breast up, make a horizontal cut to divide the chicken breast into two pieces.

 

 

 

 

What you have is two cutlets without working out frustrations with a meat hammer.

 

As learned before, dry brining has advances over wet brining.  If you have time at least forty minutes Using Kosher Salt rub a little salt  into the surface of the cutlets and and place  them on a plate, uncovered in the refrigerator for at least forty minutes (maximun time overnight). The modern refrigerator with it frost free design helps draw out excess moisture from the meat.

INGREDIENTS: 

—————— Brining and Sous Vide cutlets———————

1 tablespoon Kosher; salt for dry brining

about one pound chicken cutlets (four).

1 tablespoon Penzeys Spices: Adobo*

1 teaspoon parsley flakes 

• Ingredients in Adobo: onion, garlic, Tellicherry black pepper, Oregano, cumin and cayenne pepper. 

——————————Sauce———————

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup onion , chopped fine

6 ounces mushrooms , cut into 1/4-inch slices

2 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth.

1/2 cup sour cream

Wondra flour added slowly for thickening agent

2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon tarragon or parsley flakes

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

————————— the cutlets——————-

1. Cut each cutlet in two equal parts (easier to sear smaller pieces).
2. If time dry brine the cutlets for forty minutes.
3. After brining, using a paper towel remove any excess salt from the cutlets surfaces.
4. Preheat water to 141 °F in a stock pot with a SV machine installed: set the SV machine for time to 2 hours and temperature at 141 °F.
5. Season the cutlets with 1 Tablespoon Adobo and  1 teaspoon parsley flakes.
6. Place the coated cutlets in  Ziploc bag(s), remove as much air from the bags lowered into the water bath. (keep the tops above the water level)
7. Cook the cutlets for 2 hours, or up to 4 hours

—————————- sauce————————

1. About thirty minutes before the cutlets are going to be removed from the Sous Vide machine, Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch flat bottomed skillet over medium-high heat ( I use a stainless Steel skillet)
2. Sauté 1/2 cup onion for about three minutes
3. Add the 6 ounces mushrooms and continue Sautéing for another 2 minutes.
4. Add 2 tablespoon flour and 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic; cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.
5. Then add 1/2 cup wine to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated and mushrooms are browned.
6. Add 1 cup chicken low sodium broth and bring mixture to boil,  then let sauce simmer for about five minutes.
7. When the sauce volume has been reduced , remove the cutlets from the Sous Vide machine and pat them dry with paper towels.
8. To use the same skillet for searing the cutlets  that the sauce was made in, pour the sauce in a bowl to hold it until the cutlets have been seared.
9. To sear the cutlets heat the skillet to a high temperature, above 350℉.  Drops of water should ”dance” in the skillet when it is hot enough for searing.
10. Add one teaspoon canola oil to help increase the contact of the cutlets with the skillet.
11. Sear each side of the cutlets for about one minute.
12. Move the cutlets to a platter.
13. Lower the temperature of the skillet to medium low ( move the skillet off the burner to help it  to cool down a bit) and then return the sauce to the skillet and simmer until warm, scraping bottom of skillet with wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits (the fond).
14. Whisk 1/2 cup sour cream into the sauce and slowly add Wondra to thicken the sauce.
15. Stir in 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon tarragon or parsley flakes.
16. Return to simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
17. Pour sauce over cutlets and serve.

Mushroom and Onion Salisbury Steak SV

Hello friends,

From November 13, 2012 a recipe for French Onion Salisbury Steak, cried out for help.  It was written using many colors (new color printer), but not much about cooking skills or knowledge.  Also, now in 2016 many of my new recipes use the Sous Vide method of cooking.  As I read the book The Food Lab my knowledge is increasing even though it is sort of fleeting, after a few days.  But I reread the source of the knowledge as needed.

For example, when searing meat oil is usually introduce to the skillet to help  increase the contact of the meat with the skillet surface.  This requires a skillet with an FLAT base.  most of our skillets are concave, thus not good for searing.  We do (Cyndy and I share) have one stainless steel skillet that has a flat base and searing in it is faster than starting the outside grill and using the searing burner.

Á bientôt,

Mr Nut

Mr Nut’s recipe blog of Oct  23, 2016

Makes four 4 ounce steaks;

        With a strong desire for medium-rare Salisbury Steak, the only choice that is acceptable  and safe is Sous Vide cooking.  Also with the use of Penzey Spices, most of  the individual spices are  already mixed in the Penzey Spice mixes.

Ingredients:

——————for the Salisbury Steak:—————-

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/8 cup minced dry parsley flakes

1 teaspoon Penzeys Spices; Beef Roast*

• Ingredients in Beef Roast: sweet paprika, salt, onion,  celery,arrowroot, sugar, garlic , black pepper, minced parsley, dill seed, caraway, turmeric, dill weed, bay leaf, thyme, savory, basil, marjoram and rosemary.

———————-for the sauce—————-

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup sliced onions;  slices cut in half

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 14.5 ounce can beef broth

1/4 cup dry red wine

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions:

———————Sous Vide ——————

1. Mix by hand, the one pound ground beef, 1/8 cup dry parsley flakes and  one teaspoon Beef Roast spices.
2. Heat water in the Sous Vide machine to 131℉ and set the time to to 2 to 4 hours ( I will take the meat out of the sous vide machine soon after about two hours plus)
3. Divide into meat mixture into four oval  patties,  about one half to three quarters  of an inch thick.
4. Place the patties into a Zip-loc bag along with a spoon for extra weight.
5. When the water bath has reached 131℉, place the zip-loc meat into the water and start the machine.
6. ————————Sauce ———————-
7. About thirty minutes before the meat is going to be removed from the Sous Vide machine,  heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a high sided stainless Steel flat bottomed skillet to medium heat.
8. Sauté  the 1 cup onions for  five minutes, adding the 1 cup mushroom for the last two minutes.
9. Add the 1 teaspoon minced garlic and 1 tablespoon tomato paste and  sauté about one minute
10. Stir in the  14.5 ounce can beef broth, 1/4 cup dry red wine, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt.1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, and bring the sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the liquid has reduced by about 50% in volume.
11. When the sauce volume has been reduced , remove the meat from the Sous Vide machine and pat the steaks dry with paper towels.
12. To use the same skillet for searing the meat that the sauce was made in, Pour the sauce in a bowl to hold it until the meat has been seared.
13. To sear the meat heat the skillet to a high temperature, above 350℉.  Drops of water should ”dance” in the skillet when it is hot enough for searing.
14. Add one teaspoon canola oil to help increase the contact of the meat with the skillet.
15. Sear each side of the salisbury steaks for about one minute.
16. lower the temperature of the skillet to medium low ( move the skillet off the burner to help it  to cool down a bit) and then return the sauce to the skillet and simmer until warm.
17. Remove the steaks to a platter, and thicken the sauce with Wondra  to your liking, then boil sauce for one minute.
18. Serve the sauce over the top of the steaks.

Chicken Cutlets Parmigiana SV

 

Hello friends

Again there was need to revise and simplify another recipe.  For example, why make Marinara sauce when Ragu Italian Spaghetti sauce works just as well.  Also, it seemed logical to group the ingredients for each phase of the cooking.  Therefore, the recipe that follows this blog reflects the above changes.

Á bientôt

Mr Nut

Original recipe;  inspired by in the book titled Modernist Cooking made easy by Jason Logsdon

revised in blog of 10-19–16

Ingredients:

————— Sous Vide——-

2 chicken cutlets about 1 lb.

12 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon Penzeys Spices Jerk *

1 tablespoon fresh crushed rosemary or 1/2  teaspoon dry crushed  rosemary

*Jerk Ingredients: ginger, chili pepper, brown sugar, garlic, paprika, allspice, lemon grass, thyme, nutmeg, black pepper, cumin, cayenne red pepper and jalapeño. 

———Coating —————————

1/4 cup dried Italian style bread crumbs

1/8  cup grated parmesan or Italian style cheese

1 teaspoon dried  parsley flakes

1/4 cup plain yogurt   (apply with a Pastry Brush)

—————-Searing——————

1/8 cup olive oil

———Marinara Sauce: —————

just use 1/2 a jar of Ragu Italian (or any style) style Spaghetti sauce.

———Pasta———————

3 1/2 ounces wheat based pasta (non wheat tends to breakdown when warmed up in leftovers).

——————-finishing Chicken———————-

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

4  slices mozzarella cheese (1/4inch thick)

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Dried oregano, (sprinkle on top of the plate before serving

Directions 

(At least 3 to 5 hours before serving)

————-Sous Vide the Cutlets———-

1. On the Sous Vide machine  set temperature to 138 °F and time to 2 to 4 hours
2. On both sides; salt the cutlets and  then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Jerk
3. Place the cutlets in a Zip-loc bag with a spoon for weight.
4. place bag in water bath, expelling as much air as possible, and seal.
5. 4. Sous Vide the cutlets for at least two hours

———————-Pasta————————  

Cook the 4 ounces of wheat pasta according to the directions on the pasta package

——————Coating the cutlets———-30 minutes before serving,

1. Remove the chicken from the sous vide bag and pat dry.
2. Then combine the 1/4 cup bread crumbs, 1/8 cup grated parmesan cheese, and 1 teaspoon parsley flakes in a pie tin.
3. Using a pastry brush coat the cutlets with plain yogurt.
4. Coat the cutlets with the bread crumb mixture.

————————Searing————————

1. Preheat a flat bottomed non stick skillet  to high heat. if drops of water ”dance” on the surface of the skillet, it is hot enough for searing.
2. Add 1/8 cup olive oil to the preheated non stick skillet,
3. Sear the dredged chicken cutlets  until the crust becomes golden brown  flip and repeat on the other side. (one minute per side).
4. Remove the cutlets from the skillet and place them  on a jelly roll pan.

——————-Finishing the cutlets———————-

1. Preheat the broiler on the oven.
2. Top each chicken cutlet with the 1/2 teaspoon basil, four slices mozzarella and 2 tablespoons parmesan cheeses.
3. Broil on the jelly roll pan in the oven until the cheese is browned and bubbly.
4. Remove from the oven and place the chicken on a plate,
5. Add the pasta and top it with the marinara sauce.
6. Sprinkle the oregano over everything and serve.

Loin Pork Chops Marsala SV

Hello friends,

Chicken Marsala is a great meal, but how about Pork Marsala?  Back in April 2015 a recipe for Chicken Marsala was developed, based on an allrecipes.com recipe. Why not a Pork Marsala using the Sous Vide method of cooking  loin pork chops to medium rare without overcooking the outer portions of the loin pork chops.

After studying brining in the book The Food Lab by J Kenji López-Alt,  I have moved away from wet brining with water, salt and sugar, since that introduces water into the meat, decreasing  the meat’s flavor.   For this recipe, a dry salt brining will be used for a minimum of one hour.  Then the loin pork chops will be cooked Sous Vide method for  three to five hours ( three is enough) in a water bath set at 131℉. Then the loin pork chops will be coated and then seared in a very hot flat bottom skillet.

After removing the seared loin pork chops (set  them aside and keep them warm) Sauté the mushrooms for a couple of minutes in the same but cooler skillet and then add the Marsala wine and Sherry, simmer and then thicken the sauce with Wondra flour to form a thick sauce. Return the loin pork chops to the sauce and to heat up the chops.

Á bientôt

Mr Nut

Mr Nut’s recipe

Servings: 4

      The Sous Vide method of cooking allows for a consistent temperature throughout the meat.   Dry brining helps tenderize the meat without adding water into the meat.  With the Sous Vide cooking method the  brining is actually optional but it does tenderize the meat more than just Sous Vide cooking.  Even for an inept man this would be an easy and delicious meal.

Ingredients:

——-Brining —————

four loin pork chops

about one tablespoon Kosher Salt ( has coarser granules)

——-Sous Vide cooking————————

about 1/8 cup Penzeys Spices – Bavarian*

*Bavarian ingredients: crushed brown mustard, rosemary,garlic, thyme, bay leaves and sage

———Coating ————-

up to 1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

about 1/4 cup Plain Yogurt (use pastry brush to coat pork chops)

———Searing————-

2 tablespoons butter

1/8 cup  olive oil

———Sauce——

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup Marsala wine

1/4 cup sherry (avoid cooking sherry)

Wonder flour (for thickening)

Directions:

1. Rub the one tablespoon Kosher Salt into the pork chops surface. Place them on a plate uncovered in the refrigerator for one hour. Then wipe off all  excess salt (too much salt will show up in the taste of the finished meat).
2. Prepare the Sous Vide water bath: set the temperature at 131℉ and the time to 3 to 5 hours. Heat the water to 131℉.
3. Season the loin pork chops with Bavarian* (a Penzeys spices) and place them in a Zip-loc bag in a single layer. Add weight to help keep the bag submerged in the water bath.
4. Place the Zip-loc bag with the seasoned pork chops in the heated water and start the Sous Vide machine. ( three hours is actually enough time)
5.  In a shallow dish or bowl, mix together the 1/4 cup bread crumbs,, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon oregano.
6. Coat the pork chops with plain yogurt (use pastry brush to coat cutlets) and press on the bread crumb mixture.
7. In a skillet with a flat bottom heat 2 tablespoons butter and 1/8 cup  olive oil to a high heat for searing.
8. Sear the coated pork chops on both sides and the set them aside.
9. Lower temperature under skillet to medium heat and sauté the 1 cup sliced mushrooms for about two minutes.
10. Pour in the 1/2 cup Marsala wine and 1/4 cup Sherry ( avoid cooking sherry). loosen any fond that has adhered to the skillet surface.
11. Simmer until the volume is about half of original volume.
12. Thicken using Wondra flour to for a thick sauce.
13. Add the cooked pork chops to reheat them.
14. Serve the pork chops with the sauce poured on top of the meat.

 

Pizza Sauce and making pizza (also freezing Pizza)

Help friends,

Just a short note to update the cooking of Mr Nut’s frozen pizza.  Since the toppings are about one inch thick, it was necessary to micro-wave the pizza first, for about four minutes before placing it in the 450℉ oven, not on a pizza stone, but on the upper middle oven rack for about 20 minutes.

The updated recipe for making and freezing pizza follows.

Á bientôt,

Mr Nut

Pizza Sauce and making pizza (also freezing Pizza)

updated 10-7-16

 

Continuing the pizza making recipes development from a previous  blog, let’s deal with making the sauce.  Also baking one pizza and freezing the second pizza. If you have already made your pizza dough and have the sausage ready to go, (see blog: Making Mr Nut’s Pizza Dough and pizza sausage) let’s finish the pizzas. It makes sense to make two pizzas at a time because tomato sauce comes in 8 ounce cans and tomato paste comes in a 6 ounce can. i.e. no waste.

Mr Nut’s Pizza Sauce Ingredients: (for two pizzas)

2 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 cup finely chopped broccoli stems or celery.

1/2 cup finely chopped red or green pepper.

1/2 cup chopped onion

8 ounces tomato sauce

6 ounces tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Pizza Sauce Directions:

Put 2 teaspoon olive oil in sauce pan and sauté the red ingredients, then add the green ingredients to the brown ingredients. and keep on low heat until needed.

After the two circular pizza doughs have been par-baked, set one aside to completely cool.  With the second par-baked pizza dough build your pizza. (keep the dough on parchment paper)

Pizza Toppings:  (for one pizza)

3 ounces  shredded mozzarella cheese

about 3 ounces  sautéed Italian style sausage

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (sautéed).

1/2 cup sweet onions, (sautéed).

1/4 cup grated Italian Style Parmesan cheese.

15 slices pepperoni; 1 3/4 diameter slices

1/4 cup red pepper pieces, (sautéed).

1/4 cup red onion pieces, (sautéed).

Roma tomato slices, (about 6 slices)

Recommended order of toppings: 

1. Place a base thin  layer of the mozzarella cheese on the crust.

2. Add the brown-green mixture. (sauce)

3. A layer of sharp cheddar or  more mozzarella cheese.

4. Add the Roma tomato slices, pepperoni slices, and Italian Style Parmesan cheese or more mozzarella cheese.

5. The add the  sausage and sautéed mushrooms, Red onion and red pepper pieces).

6. Top it off with the black olive slices.

Using the Peel return the par-baked pizza to the oven at 450℉ after topping it, for another ten to fifteen minutes or until the cheese has melted.

After you have enjoyed the pizza and the second par-baked pizza crust has completely cooled, repeat the topping direction above.

Freeze the pizza: Place the pizza on a baking sheet and freeze, uncovered, until solid, about 3 hours.  Once frozen wrap the pizzas in plastic wrap and aluminum foil: The double layer protects the pizzas from drying out in the freezer.  You can freeze pizza for up to three months.

Bake the frozen pizzas: When ready to eat the pizza, preheat the oven to 450°F. Since the toppings are about one inch thick, it is necessary to micro-wave the pizza first for about four minutes before placing it in the 450℉ oven, not on a pizza stone, but on upper middle oven rack for about 20 minutes. Bake until the crust is dark brown and the cheese in the center of the pizza is bubbly. Eat immediately.

Pork Loin Roast using Sous Vide method

Hello friends,

It’s time to venture off on my own with an original recipe.  The Food Lab book  recommends Sous Vide approach for cooking meat followed by a good searing technique.  However, there are little to no detailed instructions for the process.  Four  sources were used to develop this recipe for a loin pork roast. The Food Lab by  j. Kenji López-Alt; All About Roasting by Molly Stevens;  Modernist Cooking Sous Vide by Jason Logsdon and of course Google.

For the life of me the conversion of linear measurement in millimeters  to inches escapes me and what is left of my brain.  Enter a Google search and  right away one inch was equal to 25.4 mm.  Wow! how neat, later, that night in the hot tub, my memory resurfaced.  The conversion key used throughout  college was, floated to the top of my brain:  one inch was equal to 2.54 centimeters.  This information was need to determine the cooking time for the Loin Pork Roast because the height guide for determining cooking time was in millimeters.

Being a believer in wet brining meat before cooking it, the concept of dry brining was new to me. Wet brining adds water to the  meat, thus diluting the flavor.  Dry brining yields a more flavorful meat because it does not add water to the meat. Time is the issue, if you can brine 40 minutes and up to three days then dry brining would be preferred.  If you are rushed then  a 30 minute super wet brine would be acceptable.  Be careful with the amount of salt used in dry brining, since you may be able to detect the sodium in the finished product. An eight hour dry brine was used for this recipe.

The pictures in this blog are just ”thumbnails” of the actual pictures.  You can and should enlarge the ”thumbnails” to see the whole picture by clicking on them.  To return to normal view, click on the left facing arrow at the top of your screen)

A funny thing happened on the way to the searing.  The pork roast that was sort of in one piece became three pieces.  Why??

 

This was  just one piece, but  part of three muscles.  According to J. Kenji López-Alt the brining process ”effectively unravel(s) the proteins that make up the sheath around the muscle bundles.” Thus the muscles separated.

 

 

 

 

What started our as one piece of meat became three pieces.

 

 

It was time to move on to searing the meat which required a skillet with a FLAT bottom surface.  This was very important because when you add oil to the skillet it must cover the bottom surface of the skillet, thus insuring that there is good contact between the skillet bottom and the complete surface of the meat in contact with the skillet.  All of our skillets were convex in the interior (not good), and the oil was not under the meat correctly. Also, the  searing really messed up the stovetop area, with oil spatters everywhere.  Next time the searing burner on our outdoor grill will be  used because the unevenness of the skillet surface nor the  meat surface will  be a problem.

 

 

Notice that the complete meat surface was not seared, because much of the meat surface never had contact with the skillet surface.

 

 

 

Notice the great pink color of the interior of the meat slices.  Also, the searing did not cook the interior of the slices.  The flavor was great and the meat was very tender.

 

 

Alot was learned with this attempt at a new recipe.  The following recipe reflects some the thing learned this time.

Á bientôt,

Mr Nut

Pork Loin Roast using Sous Vide method

Based on information from: The Food Lab by  j. Kenji López-Alt;

All About Roasting by Molly Stevens; Modernist Cooking Sous Vide by Jason Logsdon

serves about six

Ingredients:

one pork loin roast; about 28 ounces and two inches thick

about 2 teaspoons Kosher salt

about 2 teaspoons Penzeys Spices; Adobo seasoning **

1 tablespoon canola oil

**Penzeys Spices; Adobo seasoning contains: onion, garlic, Tellicherry black pepper, Mexican oregano, cumin and cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. If you have at least forty minutes before cooking;  Dry brining  the meat by rubbing about 2 teaspoons Kosher salt into the meat, place meat on a cooling rack in a jelly roll pan and refrigerate uncovered (allows the surface to dry out a little).  My brining goal was at least eight hours. OR if short of time wet brine the meat for thirty minutes using 1/8 cup sea salt and two tablespoon sugar in enough water to submerged the meat.
2. After brining, do not rinse, rub into the meat the 2 teaspoons  Adobo seasoning, and place the meat in a Zip-Loc bag.
3. Heat the Sous Vide water bath to 131℉, set the time to 3.5 to 4 hours and start the sous vide machine.
4. Remove the meat from the sous vide machine, use a paper towel to pat it dry.
5. In a  skillet with a flat bottom surface, heat the 1 tablespoon canola oil to a high heat ( if drops of water dance in the heated skillet then the pan is  hot enough to sear the meat). or if you have a searing burner on your oudoor grill use it instead of a skillet.
6. Sear the meat in the skillet on both or all sides.
7. Before slicing, allow  the meat to rest for about five minutes.
8. Serve with apple sauce.

Pizza Sauce and making pizza (also freezing Pizza)

Hello friends,

Continuing the pizza making recipes development from yesterday’s blog, let’s deal with making the sauce.  Also baking one pizza and freezing the second pizza. If you have already made your pizza dough and have the sausage ready to go, (see blog: Making Mr Nut’s Pizza Dough and pizza sausage) let’s finish the pizzas. It makes sense to make two pizzas at a time because tomato sauce comes in 8 ounce cans and tomato paste comes in a 6 ounce can. i.e. no waste.

Mr Nut’s Pizza Sauce Ingredients: (for two pizzas)

2 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 cup finely chopped broccoli stems or celery.

1/2 cup finely chopped red or green pepper.

1/2 cup chopped onion

8 ounces tomato sauce

6 ounces tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Pizza Sauce Directions:

Put 2 teaspoon olive oil in sauce pan and sauté the red ingredients, then add the green ingredients to the brown ingredients. and keep on low heat until needed.

After the two circular pizza doughs have been par-baked, set one aside to completely cool.  With the second par-baked pizza dough build your pizza. (keep the dough on parchment paper)

Pizza Toppings:  (for one pizza)

3 ounces  shredded mozzarella cheese

about 3 ounces  sautéed Italian style sausage

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (sautéed).

1/2 cup sweet onions, (sautéed).

1/4 cup grated Italian Style Parmesan cheese.

15 slices pepperoni; 1 3/4 diameter slices

1/4 cup red pepper pieces, (sautéed).

1/4 cup red onion pieces, (sautéed).

Roma tomato slices, (about 6 slices)

Recommended order of toppings: 

1. Place a base thin  layer of the mozzarella cheese on the crust.

2. Add the brown-green mixture. (sauce)

3. A layer of sharp cheddar or  more mozzarella cheese.

4. Add the Roma tomato slices, pepperoni slices, and Italian Style Parmesan cheese or more mozzarella cheese.

5. The add the  sausage and sautéed mushrooms, Red onion and red pepper pieces).

6. Top it off with the black olive slices.

Using the Peel return the par-baked pizza to the oven at 450℉  after topping it, for another ten to fifteen minutes or until the cheese has melted.

After you have enjoyed the pizza and the second par-baked pizza crust has completely cooled, repeat the topping direction above.

Freeze the pizza: Place the pizza on a baking sheet and freeze, uncovered, until solid, about 3 hours.  Once frozen wrap the pizzas in plastic wrap and aluminum foil: The double layer protects the pizzas from drying out in the freezer.  You can freeze pizza for up to three months.

Bake the frozen pizzas: When ready to eat the pizza, preheat the oven to 450°F. If you have a baking stone, place it in the oven as it heats; When the oven has heated.   Bake for 8-10  ???? minutes, until the crust is dark brown and the cheese in the center of the pizza is bubbly. Eat immediately.