@TasteFive steak turn out ok?

@rfusca steak was great. I made it with my home made chili powder again.

@TasteFive whats in your chili powder?

A mixture of dried chili that a roast and grind to a powder, salt peppercorn, and cumin seeds

all grounds and mixed together

always a good call

Sorry also left out coriander seeds

nice

tonight is a nice easy spaghetti. Did it late last night and its just chilling in the fridge right now.

yeah, I will never go back to store bought chili powder. I got the resape when Kent Rathbun's executive chef came to the cooking school and made what he called ancho crusted flank steak. Which basically amounted to an ancho chili powder rubbed onto a flank steak and grilled. So I have started to sub the mix out for anything that I might use chili powder on. And it goes great on chicken as well

cool, for me i am doing Italian sausage with sauteed with bell pepper and onion, over polenta.

@TasteFive ya, i keep hearing the same - I need to break down and go buy some chili's to make some

@TasteFive the wife doesn't like polenta :/

i have two more tries to make a version she'll eat. She's agreed on new dishes that she's never had, I get at least 5 attempts to make a version she'll like.

I used to think that it wasn't worth making because I hardly use it. But after making it I find it is so good I actually use it often.

@rfusca thats cool

there are some thing my wife just wont eat. Like curry

But over time she is getting adventurous

ya, both my wife and I are kinda picky eaters - but I've been slowly trying to expand our horizons

@rfusca thats a good thing, I try as well. Ingrdiant cost is the killer though

have have you done the polenta so far

@TasteFive seriously, ingredient cost kills

@TasteFive hmm?

i gotta figure out a dish to serve my in laws next week

i'm thinking braised short ribs

mmm, and would be good with polenta :)

@TasteFive i know! but i doubt I'll try that for the in laws - tensions are high there, it needs to be a spectacular meal lol

where are they from (i.e. nationality). You could try to make something your wife remembers them talking about loving growing up. Just stay clear from things that would be considered family recipes.

they don't really cook and grew up largely eating out (or some store bough heat and reserve meal) as well - so they like a good homemade meal, but they don't have many particularly memories to build on there. They're a hodge podge of what they like, but they consider themselves to have 'refined' taste - so its probably best to plate and make something that sounds 'fancy' lol. Currently, they live in south TX - close'ish to Brownsville.

Their families have been US bound for several generations - so not much in the way of cooking from their nationality either.

Braised short ribs sounds really good then. It can really pack a punch flavor wise. the long braise will mean not having to really work the meat is under-cooked for there liking or to tough. They should be at least a little familiar with the ingredients, nothing there to exotic. Just good'ol home cookin

yup

just gotta worry about side dishes - roasted garlic parm mashed potatoes would go well, but sounds too standard, I'd like to branch out a little, ya know?

If you are familiar with it, a country fried steak could be good as well.

I think you are young to find some sort of mash is going to be expected. you could try something with parsnips or turnips.

True, but its going to be the middle of the week and I think a dish I can do the day before, gets better overnight, and back in the oven to reheat - like the braised ribs would be easier on my schedule.

@TasteFive hmmm parsnip puree .... i'll have to give it a shot ahead of time

@rfusca definitly

you will probably also want to sort of greens

definitely

and I was going to bake some kind of bread for it as well.

with a cobler for dessert :)

@TasteFive hmm a cobbler... maybe

it would go with the menu, and you should be able to get some good peaches still

i'm infamous for dessert though, I gotta think that one out

dessert is definitely were I suffer. We just didn't eat very much of it growing up.

infamous; as in more than famous :)

i used to sell desserts

@rfusca really??

hello

@rumtscho hello

It's a nice day here

@TasteFive yup, just on the side though. But it got to be too much. Did it in the office (selling by the slice) and church (my church has like 16k+ members) and then I started getting near daily requests for a cake or two a day - and thats just rough in a small kitchen with real job also.

I got a present today

@rumtscho ?

it's a lot of sage, cut today

ah, cool

and now I don't know how to conserve it

@rfusca what church do you go to?

Any ideas how to make a sage-flavored condiment with a long shelf life?

@TasteFive New Life Church - in 2010 it was the fastest growing church in the nation

yeah I know of them

your in colarado

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "my church has 16k members". Is this church as the institution, similar to "the Greek Orthodox church", or do you mean that the local priest is reading service for 16k people in a single building?

@rumtscho 16k across all the services

Our Church is currently at 19K

Ah, OK.

I suspected as much, but this is not how people talk about their religion here.

In Germany, when asked about religion, non-Christians usually name the religion as a whole, and Christians tell you their, um, kind of church (I don't know the correct name for that)

@rumtscho Yes, that would probably be the same here. But I asked him specifically about his church

So they say either "katholisch" or "evangelisch" or "orthodox". It doesn't matter if Calvinist or New Life church or something else, they just say "evangelisch".

@rumtscho Even if you ask them what church they went to, they wouldn't tell you a specific church?

@TasteFive I'm not sure that somebody ever asks about a specific church. If somebody asks "What church are you in", you usually only get "evangelisch" as an answer, you probably have to explain that you want the actual name to get it.

@TasteFive no, we're in Arkansas

@rfusca ahh so not the new life I was thinking about

we were seeded from that new life

ahh sweet

yup

where do you go?

@rfusca brady boyd, came from our church. Gateway

I love Brady Boyd, we miss him here. But he is no doubt were Gods wants him to be.

Maybe that's just because I live in a predominantly Catholic area, but there are several evangelic churches in the city. And I mean "several churches" as in "several buildings", because I have no idea if they belong to the same church-as-institution or to different ones.

@TasteFive nice, i've heard of gateway

@rumtscho I get it, here people would ask either what denomination you are, or what church do you go to. If you ask what church it is usually because you are interested in the church itself, to find out say it location, or who the pastor is.

@TasteFive Do the locations overlap? Is it usual to have more than one church of a given denomination in a neighbourhood?

@rfusca is the 16k including all your locations?

@TasteFive i think its including the two locations that are real close to here, within about 15 minutes of each other

across the state - I don't know how many

@rumtscho there are multiple churches of a single denomination here as well, as well a single church might have multiple locations (or campuses).

for example, my church has 3 campuses. Southlake, North Richland Hills, and frisco. These are different cities in the Dallas/Ft Worth Metro. But there are still a good amount of other churches in those same areas of the same denomination.

We have 2 campuses in the immediate area and 5 across the state (well, 6, another one opens this weekend)

@rumtscho these are often referred to as mega-churches here

@TasteFive That's probably the reason. Here, you usually only have one church-as-a-building per denomination per city part, and everyone from this part goes there. Only exotic churches such as Adventists have a single church-as-location per city (in small cities, it is not a building but the people gather in somebody's home for service) and the members come from the area where theoretically there is another church of that denomination.

@rumtscho ya, its much different here and I think overall there's probably more distinct denominations here

@rumtscho Were I am from in Southern California. There wouldn't be many churches like this either. In the City I lived basically every school gymnasium and some warehouse spaces were churches on the weekend.

But you would also drive to the opposite side of the city if you liked the pastor or worship there better.

I am afraid to ask what a "whorehouse space" is and why it is connected to a church.

lol

warehouse

oops

thats a pretty bad typo

yes it is

OK, that makes more sense now.

lol

well, bbl - off to lunch

Welcom to chat @Sobachatina. We are discussing American churches and Freudian slips here.

Interesting.

I hope not together.

Actually- I see above that they are. Sad.

Also, do you have an idea how to preserve lots of sage?

@rumtscho how much sage do you have

I would chop it up and freese it in icecube trays with some water

With all my herbs I make as much as I can use into sauces such as pesto and freeze it.

@TasteFive about 15 sprigs.

Everything else I dehydrate. And I weep as the bright flavors are lost forever.

@Sobachatina I don't keep the freezer turned on all the time.

drying it isprobably your best bet than

I agree.

I use alton brown drying method. It works very well

Hello @TasteFive. I don't believe I've seen you before. Welcome.

I was thinking on the lines of something pesto-like, in the hope that there is some kind of preparation which will will have a shelf life of several weeks for an open jar.

@Sobachatina hello

@TasteFive Is that with his box fan and air filters?

@Sobachatina correct

Much better results than hanging them

I don't want to dry it. I have a tiny sprig dried, and it has lasted for 4 months now.

I'll need years to go through this bouquet here if it is dried.

The only other thing I could think of would be to find a dish that incorporates a lot of it and can be bottled.

@rumtscho you can chop it and cover in oil. should last for weeks

How long does an opened pesto jar last in a fridge? I've never stored it.

@TasteFive Won't that be a botulism risk?

@TasteFive I'm always scared to do this sort of thing because of the risk of botulism with garlic oil.

Sage has a lot less moisture to begin with so I would think the risk wouldn't be as high.

well I guess now that I think of it a probably am thing more along the line of a week

@Sobachatina but it is true it would be less of a risk

The taste of sage is too strong, I can't eat a sage pesto as pasta sauce or such. I want some preparation which can be used as a condiment in small amounts, so it should last for a long time.

Some kind of sage ketchup, if you like.

It is a problem. I grow sage- and it grows almost year round here- but my wife doesn't much care for it so I use it very infrequently.

The other thing I was thinking of was to go sweet.

I could make it to saturated sugar syrup or just candy.

Then you could use it to make sage lemonade.

But it pairs so well with meat, I don't want to miss the opportunity to use it for savory applications.

@Sobachatina I doubt that it stores well.

No no- I mean candy it and use the candy in lemonade later.

I wish I had a garden. Then I would plant all kinds of herbs in it.

Now, if I want the real thing, I must pay insane prizes.

@Sobachatina mmm, good idea

Herbs are easy- you don't need a garden- just a window.

A handful of fresh parsley costs 1.80 €. I thought about getting some for the stew yesterday, but all the other vegetables together cost about 85 cents, so I decided that I'll go with dried stuff instead.

@Sobachatina I need a garden. No good window that get enough direct sun at my house, that the pets also can't get to :).

I bet you could find savory applications of candied sage as well. Cooked into a glaze for roasted meat for example.

@TasteFive That is true. My cat eats all our plants. Even the fake ones.

@Sobachatina Don't the English have some kind of preserve with spearmint? Maybe I can make it with sage.

@rumtscho wow that is high for the herbs.

@rumtscho That's true- you could make sage jelly and use that as a condiment or ingredient.

@Sobachatina Yes, that's what I was thinking of. Only I think this stuff I saw in the English shop here was oil-based, not sugar-based.

that is another good idea

You stew it as you would a tea- strain out the now-slimy leaves, and add sugar and pectin (and sometimes an acid) and bottle the liquid.

Interesting- I haven't seen that.

We make peppermint jelly whenever we have a bumper crop and it is very good with meat.

Maybe I should go to the English shop and buy the spearmint stuff.

Sage would be interesting. Now I want to try it.

Then I could take a good look at it.

@Sobachatina Now I found a use for your sage. I'm very pleased with myself (even though it was completely accidental).

Maybe I can make sage caramels, then I would have both fat and sugar in it.

But I'm afraid that the sage taste will boil out at caramel temperatures.

Sadly, there isn't a big enough patch of sun under my window to grow herbs there. Besides, it is taken up by the edge of my bed.

@rumtscho that would be my guess

Here the predominant sagey application is in stuffing. And I almost always hate that stuff.

I have some potted plants inside the room, but they don't do well in the low light. I'm sure a herb plant from which leaves are harvested would just die.

@Sobachatina I wouldn't put too much sage in a single dish. It is too strong a taste, especially when cooked. Raw, it is almost OK.

Hmm, the English shop is still open. Maybe I should go home now and get some mint jelly (or was it mint in oil?) on the way, then finish work from home.

Or maybe I could try to make some kind of alcoholic sage extract, I'm sure it will keep a long time.

Of course, I risk ending up with a bad-jägermeister-imitation taste.

I'm off shopping, see you later.

@rumtscho see ya

See you later.

i hardly ever use sage it seems

i use it occasionally

it didn't take this season in the garden, so I haven't used any

ya

my peppers did freaking awesome this year

Man we just had a bad year. last year we has a ton of peppers

this year was light on everything

ya, we had it pretty hot too - but not quite as bad as ya'll

i was afraid my favorite flowering plant - my clematis - wouldn't survive the heat because its not real heat tolerant and looks nearly all brown, but I just noticed new growth the other day. So that made me really happy. It put down some solid roots last year that must have helped this year.

And here again ;)

@rumtscho did you find what you were looking for

The mint stuff in the english shop turned out to be made of water, mint, vinegar and sugar

Maybe that's why I didn't buy it last time.

But I ended up buying things I don't need immediately, like always -.-

That's problematic, it is a mini mall and there is the english shop there, and a turkish grocery beside it.

I got some ale, I've never had real English ale.

OK, I've had Kilkenny, but that's Irish, and you can get it everywhere.

I got this one

beer-pages.com/notes/beer-of-the-month-2005-07.shtml

I hope it's good, it wasn't cheap.

i'm not much of a beer drinker ( or really much alcohol in general) - I'll have a glass of wine with a good meal, but thats about it

just never developed a taste for it

I don't drink alcohol often

But I'm all about trying out new things.

So I'm excited at what it will taste like.

Also got evaporated milk, so I can test the melty cheese from the new food lab.

hmm?

aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/09/…

Looks terrific.

I won't use it for burgers of course

but the gelatine is really nifty.

ah, hadn't seen that yet - the updated version

That's from yesterday.

ya, i saw

The old version was quite straightforward

with all the drawbacks of your average fondue.

I'm eager to taste this one.

ya, i know

not sure how i feel about the gelatin

If I was a cheesemaker, i'd start making a sage cheese right now.

@TasteFive why?

It just seems weird to me.

What is weird about it? Seems very logical to use it.

Of course, you'll end up with "American cheese" texture and not Parmesan texture, but that's the purpose of the whole thing.

seems pretty easy - and cheap

might be different mind sets. It doesn't seem that logical to me. Also I absolutely hate american cheese.

there's not many people who like american cheese that I know of.

@rfusca No, but imagine putting this on a hot dish where a hard aged cheese will be ruined.

Raclette like, but not with the young cheeses needed for raclette.

Of course it will be gooey, but that's how you want melted cheese.

I guess I just miss the overall point in doing this.

I wouldn't bother doing it and then eating the cheese cold.

@TasteFive Imagine baking a stew.

I'm not sure if you would call it stew or casserole.

@TasteFive when you want gooey, melty cheese on something like a burger or grilled cheese, but you want a better cheese

You get a thick walled dish, fill it with veggies and put it into the oven at low for a longish time.

Or you make lasagna.

So you pour something egg based or maybe bechamel over the whole thing, and bake.

When it is ready, you want a cheese crust on it.

What do you do?

sprinkle it with shedded cheese and put it under the broiler...

If you want a strong, aged cheese, you have to grate it really fine, and end up with a dry thin crust.

My lasagna is bachamel and parmagiano, I just spinkle shredded cheese on it

@rumtscho which is usually what I am going for

Else you have to go for pizza cheese for a crust the tickness of pizza crust. And that's still only a semi-hard to soft cheese.

If you want it thick, you must use a young gounda or similar.

Or raclette cheese, or whatever.

I guess I am more of a pick the right cheese for the job kind of guy

They melt well, but don't have that much aroma.

With this trick, you can have both the taste and texture for a good thick crust.

if this technique would work for a good parm - i wonder what gooey melting parm on a good burger would be like

@rfusca a waste of parm :)

But I only say that because I don't like burgers, so feel free to try.

oh, i love a good burger

burger are awesome

but I think it is the american side of us.

freshly ground, salt, pepper - nothing complicated, good crust but juicy inside - yummy

nice buttered, toasted bun

mmmm

at this rate spaghetti may take a backseat to me breaking out the meat grinder tonight lol

It could taste awesome, if you removed the mayo, pickles and onions, left the meat whole instead of grinding it, and used real bread instead of these sweet sponges you call buns.

So, a steak with melted cheese on a baguette. This is a burger I would eat.

lol

thats not a burger, its a steak sandwich lol

But then, I'd prefer to have the steak on a plate and the baguette beside it. The cheese can stay melted on the steak.

I guess I would just have to really see an application for this be demonstrated, cause I totally fail at seeing its usefulness, even with your descriptions just can't picture it.

@TasteFive shrug - I think its neat, but I don't think i'd ever consistently do it more than just once to see

@rumtscho sweet sponges we call buns. How dare you sir :)

but spaghetti has got to stay for tonight...i got two tarts to start on tonight

@rfusca Not totally writing it of, would just have to see a real application of it before attempting it myself.

@TasteFive sure

@TasteFive This is a potato raclette.

maybe i'll have a go at it sometime and show you the results

Forget the pickle for now, it can be made better with better veggies.

But it is made with raclette cheese.

soo, it looks like a boiled potato and cheese?

The raclette cheese doesn't have that much taste.

Now imagine it made with aged goat cheese instead.

But the same amount of cheese

in the same consistency, so you can dip your potatoes in it.

So you are talking about things were you want a cheese sauce

@TasteFive No, a cheese sauce isn't concentrated enough. You want pure cheese in a liquid form.

@rumtscho i don't think that it would work well there....it'd go solid pretty quick there

@rfusca that is what I am thinking

and it looks to me like the serious eats article is basically a cheese sauce set with some gelitin.

if you've ever used american cheese - its only gooey so long as its pretty warm. Once it cools down, its a bit rubbery

@rfusca You mean Kenji's gelled cheese? It should stay melted for long enough in this amount.

@rfusca Such dishes are supposed to be eaten hot.

@rumtscho sure, but unless the plate is pretty hot too - all that cheese on the plate will cool down quickly

For raclette, there are special table grill/raclette combos where guests toast their cheese covered veggies right on the table, similar to fondue.

i'm just telling ya - i have a 3 year old, so I've worked A LOT with american style sliced cheese. If you want it for its gooey-ness, its got to be wrapped up in something hot - like a burger or sandwhich

And for a lasagna, even a congealed parmesan crust from melty cheese is probably better than congealed emmentaler.

any go for it, take pictures. I would love to see the results

hello @yossarian

hello

Any genial ideas for preserving sage?

@TasteFive I think that Kenji makes better pictures than I have the patience for.

Leave it on the plant.

Our sage plant has been kicking for 6 years.

Just read the article and scroll down.

@yossarian I don't have a garden.

Pot and a window? I think ours was inside for a year or so.

Our secretary cut her plant today and brought me a big bouquet of sage.

How long do you want to save it? What do you want to do with it?

@yossarian Very long. I want to use small amounts as a condiment, preferably savory.

Generally to preserve herbs I either: dry them or chop and freeze them.

If you don't have ideas, I'll cook it into a jelly or cordial.

But I haven't tried either with sage because we always have it on hand.

Freezer isn't an option, and I can't use up that much dried sage.

sell it on the herb black market ;)

the seedy underbelly of savory seasonings

@rfusca I got my hands on such a golden piece of contraband, and you think I'll waste it on some uneducated buyer who will cut it into shreds and serve with noodles?

I suspect they'd even put nutmeg on it.

hey, if they've got the cash, you've got the stash

You could make a sage butter...

Germans use almost as much nutmeg as pepper.

and by that he means ' sage ' butter wink wink

@yossarian I'm afraid it will go moldy after I simmer it in an hour and then remove the water...

lol