How to cook a perfect steak

Posted on May 14, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers

To cook a perfect steak, start with a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. I have decided I prefer this method because the delicious juices accumulate in the pan rather than dripping into the fire. You can use anything that doesn’t require marinating–New York strip, ribeye, filet mignon etc.*

Cook a Perfect Steak

Heat a cast iron skillet very hot, then sprinkle it generously with salt.

Start by heating the empty skillet on a burner set to high. Unless you have a high-BTU professional grade stove you really can’t get it too hot. My burners are 15,000 BTU and I let it heat five minutes, easy.

While the skillet is heating, sprinkle some Kosher salt all around its surface. This will serve as a cushion for the meat. Don’t be shy: mine is a 12-inch skillet and I used maybe ¾ teaspoon.

Cook a Perfect Steak

Drop in the meat, then season the top side to your preference.

Now, drop in the meat. It should sizzle nicely when it hits the hot iron. If it doesn’t, you didn’t heat the pan enough. Not a problem, the other surface will be fine and you can use that for presentation. If the meat practically explodes when it hits, you’ve managed to get the skillet too hot. Good job; now turn it down a bit.

The Hand Test

The hand test: surface of the meat should feel like the heel of your hand.

While the first side is cooking, sprinkle on some seasoning. It’s already salted so sometimes I just grind a little pepper. Or I’ll use a combination of my Burger House seasoning and Cavendar’s Greek Seasoning.

Let the first side cook maybe 4 minutes, then flip it over. The surface should feel like the heel of your hand: tough on top, yielding underneath. You want both sides of the steak to feel like that so let the second side get good and crisp. If it’s a thin steak, it’s now done. For an inch-thick New York strip like this one, you might want to flip it one additional time. Now (after the steak has been in the skillet a total of 6-7 minutes) turn off the heat. It will continue to cook, but more slowly.

Cook a Perfect Steak

Let the steak rest a bit, then use a meat thermometer inserted from the side to confirm doneness.

Transfer the steak to a plate and let it rest a couple of minutes. Because we want to cook a perfect steak, we will cheat and use a meat thermometer to confirm doneness. This one is 118 degrees which, the beef people tell us, should be somewhere between rare and medium rare.

And when we slice it, that’s exactly what it is. There you have it, the best way to cook a perfect steak. Let it rest for a few more minutes which will produce some juicy juices you can sop up with potato or some crusty bread. Enjoy.

*Update: last night I used the same technique, with modifications, to cook a tri-tip that had been marinated in olive oil, finely chopped garlic and soy, worcestershire** and fish sauces with pepper but no salt. Salted the empty skillet then slapped the steak right down, without draining. At the end, I poured in the marinade to sizzle and add to the pan juices. Delicious.

Perfect Steak

Walla, that is how you cook a perfect steak.

**Do you know how to pronounce this word? It’s not “Wooster” as my mother taught me. For a very detailed answer, watch this video.

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Recipe: Josey Baker Seed Bread

Posted on May 9, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Josey Baker Seed Bread

Josey Baker Seed Bread

Josey Baker calls his Seed Bread “Seed Feast” but I’ve retitled it because of some changes in the recipe. This was the first of his loaves I tasted and and it exploded from flavor from the crumb, the sour and the toasted seeds. He told me he reuses all his bits and pieces of leftover starter for the next day’s bread and I suspect that is the source of his preferment. Makes two 2-lb loaves.

Ingredients, for the preferment:
125 g refreshed sourdough starter at 60%
185 g cool water (approximate, added in stages)
170 g whole wheat flour (or substitute other flours and adjust hydration per directions below)

For the seed mix:
160 g raw pumpkin seeds
110 g raw flax seeds (brown or gold)
110 g raw sunflower seeds
360 g/1 ½ c (approx) hot water

For the final dough:
750 g all purpose flour
480 g warm water
24 g Kosher salt (about 1 ½ T)
2 T olive oil

Method: mix the preferment 8-12 hours before you plan to start the bread. Add half the water to a bowl and stir to distribute the starter, then add the rest of the flour and gradually add water, stirring, till the preferment reaches the consistency of thick pancake batter. If you’re not using whole grain flour you may not need all the water. Cover and set aside in a warm place to work until bubbles appear.

Seeds for Seed Bread

Seeds for Seed Bread, after toasting

At the same time, prepare the seeds. Toast the seeds in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until lightly toasted, frequently turning with a spoon and/or rotating the tray in the oven so they don’t burn. Pour into a bowl then add very hot water to cover, approximately 1 1/2 cup.

When preferment is ready, mix in water and flour for final dough. Allow to autolyse 30 minutes then drain the seeds and add them to the dough along with the salt. Knead until you get good gluten development, 8 or so minutes of hand kneading or equivalent in rotary mixer, or 5 sequences of stretch and folds at 15 minute intervals. (Instructions for stretch-and-fold and other dough handling techniques can be found in this recipe.) The dough should be pretty flaccid but not so liquid it sticks to your hands or the sides of the mixing bowl; add some more flour as you go if necessary.

Seed Bread Crumb

Seed Bread Crumb

After kneading, pour olive oil over the dough in a bowl and turn so it coats all surfaces. Cover and rise 4 hours or until noticeably risen. Shape into two balls, rest 20 minutes, then shape into boules or batards and proof in floured bannetons or equivalent until noticeably risen, about 2 hours.

20 minutes before you plan to bake, preheat two dutch ovens in a 500 degree oven. Remove the pans from the oven (carefully, using good pot holders, so you don’t get burned) and transfer to a heat-proof surface like a trivet on your counter. Shake a little polenta or cornmeal into the bottom of the pans then flip in the loaves from the bannetons. Score tops of loaves with a sharp knife. Cover, return to oven and reduce heat to 475 degrees. Bake 20 minutes to steam the loaves, then remove lids and bake 25 minutes uncovered, or until nicely browned with an internal temperature of 206 degrees. Turn out on a wire rack and allow to cool at least 2 hours before slicing.

Posted in Baking and Baked Goods, Recipes | Tagged , | 1 Comment

How to present a pickle plate

Posted on May 7, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Pickle Plate

My pickle plate (would eliminate either the green beans or asparagus, both at bottom, next time)

It irks me that places are charging $4 or so for a “pickle plate” the size of a saucer with 3 or 4 choices. I would rather go to Tommy’s Joynt in San Francisco, where there is a pickle jar on the counter and you can curdle your stomach to your heart’s content. But the good news is, the current trend gives you license to serve up a pickle plate to your guests with a straight face and even, if there are some bonus proteins and carbs included, call it lunch.

Pickle Plate Lunch

Pickle plate with bread and cheese = lunch

“Pickles” can refer both to lacto fermented vegetables and to items which do not have their chemical composition changed, but are preserved in a vinegar brine. I would serve both of these on a pickle plate. The example shown here has two lacto ferments, the green beans and the asparagus. (They are oddly similar in taste after the fermentation, but not quite the same, so I would serve on or the other next time.) Add to this a pickled egg (there’s your protein) and some beets and onions from Jake’s grandmother’s recipe. I also included some cauliflower chunks that were macerating in leftover pickle juice from Pucker’s, a local brand.

If I had them I might have included some sweetened bread-and-butter pickles or some spicy giardinara. I would not have added Sichuan Pickled Vegetables which are complex enough they need to be enjoyed on their own, or in the context of a bowl of jook or medley of Sichuan dishes.

As it is, I added a piece of toasted Olive Bread with Rye Starter that had been spread with some Stilton from Trader Joe’s. There you go, here’s your lunch.

Posted in Condiments, Eating, Recipes | Tagged | 1 Comment

Recipe: Fennel Braised Pork Chops

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Fennel Braised Pork Chops

Fennel Braised Pork Chops: expect some nice caramelization from the brown sugar

A tweak of the recipe in Alison Roman’s Dining In. Fennel Braised Pork Chops are sweet/sour/crunchy on the outside and throw off a wonderful liquid which you can use to prepare some accompanying greens. Serves 2 with very large portions or 3-4 if you are prepared to partition the chops before serving.

Ingredients:
2 pork loin chops, cut at least 1-inch thick (about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pound total)
1 T fennel seeds
1 T brown sugar
2 t Kosher salt
½ t freshly ground black pepper
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced
1 t lemon juice
4 c or so braising greens, ideally including half a fennel bulb

Method: toast fennel seeds in a skillet without burning for about 4 minutes, till they are very aromatic. Cool slightly then grind with a mortar and pestle; the toasted fennel should disintegrate into a coarse powder. Mix with brown sugar, salt and pepper and rub on all sides (including the edges) of two large pork chops. Brine for an hour or so until the chops give off a good amount of liquid.

Fennel Chops Brining

Fennel Braised Pork Chops in their brine

Heat a cast iron pan till very hot; add the olive oil then the pork chops and sear both sides. They will be blackened quickly because of the sugar in the marinade but don’t let them burn. Lower the heat to medium and cook, turning frequently, till the center reaches 140 degrees F as measured on a meat thermometer. Reserve the chops and add garlic and fennel (thinly sliced in the long direction) to the delicious pan juices and cook until caramelized, 4 minutes or so. Add braising greens and cover; steam a couple of minutes then add lemon juice. Return pork chops to the pan and cover, heat to serving temperature and bring to table (with appropriate safety measures) in the sizzling cast iron pan.

Posted in Eating, Mains, Recipes | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Diamond Crystal or Morton’s, which Kosher salt is better?

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Kosher Salt Boxes

Diamond Crystal vs Morton’s Kosher salt: bigger box, higher price

Most every recipe on Burnt My Fingers specifies (unless we forget) Kosher salt. That’s because we mistrust the tiny crystals of table salt that make it easy to oversalt your food, plus you might pick up iodized salt by mistake which would play havoc with your ferments. However, there are two popular brands of Kosher salt, so which to use…. Diamond Crystal or Morton’s?

Kosher Salt Detail

Look closely and you can see the difference in Diamond Crystal (on the left) and Morton’s Kosher Salt.

Readers have occasionally pointed out that Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt is produced by grinding down larger salt pieces, whereas Diamond Crystal has a proprietary process for reforming its crystals into fancy fluffy cones. As a result, a given amount of Morton’s by volume contains more NaCl than the same volume of Diamond Crystal. If you measure by teaspoons without knowing that—for example, if you are a lifelong user of Crystal but find yourself in a Morton’s kitchen—you are at risk of severely undersalting or oversalting your food.

As a regular reader of Burnt My Fingers, you can guess which we prefer: Morton’s. That’s because it is cheaper. It’s rare to find the two brands in the same supermarket, but in repeated shopping in my area Diamond Crystal comes in at about $4 and Morton’s at $3 for 48 oz. Which is not surprising—the looser structure of Diamond requires a bigger box, and there’s that extra processing to pay for.

You can find lots of chatter online about how “professional kitchens always use Diamond” but that doesn’t seem right—why have a higher food cost than necessary without getting an extra benefit? One legitimate vote for Diamond is from Stella Parks at BraveTart—she prefers diamond Crystal because it’s pure salt, whereas Morton’s has an anti-caking agent that can throw off certain candy recipes.

I did a poll on Facebook’s Tell Me What You’re Eating group and the votes (mostly from pro chefs) was 14-3 Mortons. Too small a sample to be statistically valid, but I’m calling it for Morton. There was also a sizeable bunch who said Himalayan Pink Salt, which is a topic for another day.

The most important consideration, whether yours is a professional kitchen or you serve a few hungry mouths at home, is to be consistent. Pick your salt and measure by weight, not volume. Err on the side of caution, then taste as you go. You can’t turn back the clock on an oversalted dish, but neither can you make up for that first disappointing bite of an undersalted product.

P.S. Kosher salt got its name not because it’s produced under Kosher supervision, though it is, but because it’s used in the process of koshering meat, which means to draw the blood out.

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Recipe: Cabbage Wedge with Blue Cheese and Miso Dressing

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Cabbage Miso Blue Cheese

Cabbage Wedge with Blue Cheese and Miso Dressing

Yet another way to eat our favorite vegetable, cabbage! Inspired by a recipe from Lady of the House in Detroit, Cabbage Wedge with Blue Cheese and Miso Dressing has a similar presentation to the iceberg wedge served in fancy steakhouses. Try it with corned beef! The miso dressing is nice on its own and would go well with any salad involving fruit or nuts.
Serves 6-8.

Ingredients:
1 medium head green cabbage
Neutral oil (like safflower or peanut) for roasting
1/2 c crumbly blue cheese

For the miso dressing:
1 T Kosher salt
1 T sugar
2 T honey
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 T white miso
1 1/2 t fresh ginger, peeled then grated or chopped
1/2 c neutral oil (like safflower or peanut) for the dressing

Method: remove outer leaves of cabbage and cut in 6-8 serving size wedges. Heat oil in a large sauté pan and pan-roast each wedge approximately 5 minutes on each side, until browned. Reserve.

For the miso dressing, mix all ingredients with a whisk (if using grated ginger) or mini-chop (if ginger is chopped). To serve, reassemble a cabbage wedge on each plate, pour over dressing and top with crumbled blue cheese. Serve hot, room temperature or cold.

Posted in Eating, Recipes, Sides | Tagged , | Leave a comment

My other cookbook is a Kindle

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Noma Kindle Example

A typical page from the Kindle version of The Noma Guide to Fermentation

Some chef friends had an online discussion about how they like to read recipes. Almost everybody said they preferred physical cookbooks because they like to look at the pictures and see how the food is plated. Number of people who preferred a Kindle cookbook version: zero.

It is worth noting that a beautifully photographed and lavishly printed book like the French Laundry Cookbook has no place in a working kitchen (unless it’s the immaculate French Laundry kitchen, maybe) and if these chefs are inspired by the recipes they likely transcribe them to some other medium.

I have plenty of cookbooks and when I cook from them I tend to take a photo with my iPad then prop the tablet up so I can refer to the picture while working. But lately I have been eliminating the middleman and just buying new cookbooks on Kindle. Kindle cookbooks are impossible to spill on or misplace because the document resides in the Bezos Cloud; if you drop your tablet in the stockpot, just grab your laptop. You can save the books onto multiple devices and browse them at your leisure, like when you are on a plane. And you can take screenshots of the pages if you want to print them out.

And, the Kindle visual translation is not at all bad, assuming you’re reading in color on a high resolution device. Ingredients lists and instructions are easy to read with a quick look, and photos aren’t of gallery standards but fine for looking at what the dish is supposed to look like. (This is forensic, vs. artistic, photography and it’s what we strive for on Burnt My Fingers.)

Right now I’m reading Rene Redzepi’s The Noma Guide to Fermentation and Stella Parks’ BraveTart. Both are eminently readable for entertainment as well as knowledge, and I don’t think I’m giving up anything by looking at a digital version. Your thoughts?

Posted in Cooking, Food for Thought | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The surprising truth about kouign amann

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Kouign Amann Slice

Side and top view of kouign amann slice from Au Kouign Amann in Montreal.

I hungered for a sugary, buttery kouign amann (pronounced QUEEN followed by “almond” in which the “d” is silent) before I knew such a thing existed. I had recently moved to Saratoga Springs, NY and discovered the excellent croissants at Mrs. London’s Bakery. Good as those were, I was dissatisfied with the uneven distribution of sweet filling in the almond and chocolate versions.

B Patisserie Kouign Amann

b. pattiserie kouign aman. Photo by by Fuzheado, licensed under Creative Commons.

Coincidentally, I had ramped up my baking and was spending a lot of time on The Fresh Loaf baking website and at the King Arthur baking school in Norwich, VT. At one of these places I first heard about what sounded like a dream come true: a croissant-like pastry but with the pieces folded in on themselves, instead of rolled, to nurture a perfect heart of caramelized goodness at the center. This was the kouign amann.

I found my first kouign amann in the wild at a farmer’s market in Dallas, on a family trip. A local baker made them one day a week, and I went early before they sold out. It was more than okay, but I knew I would taste better. Then, not long after, I was in San Francisco and visited b. patisserie, said to make the best kouign amann in America. Their version was fabulously good, a flaky explosion inside the little pastry box. I was so overwhelmed that I ate it before taking a picture but fortunately there are thousands of photos on the internet.

Might I dare making kouign amann on my own? Not likely, since I have shied away from their lesser sibling, the croissant. Not so much because I was afraid of the laborious steps involved as because I was worried I would eat the entire batch by myself. And kouign amann is an even higher order of complexity as well as temptation—according to Chef Steps, “we’re gonna be honest: they’re hard to make. They take a full day of investment, and you might not get them right on the first try. Your kitchen will be a mess. You may get stressed out.” No thanks guys. Plenty of stress over here already.

Then I took a trip to Montreal.

Whole Kouign Amann Pie

Be still my heart. Entire kouign amann pie from Au Kouign Amann in Montreal.

At a shop called simply Au Kouign Amann I encountered a pastry that, at first glance, was closer to a pizza than a croissant. Many buy the whole pie, but it’s also sold by the slice. The day’s supply was spoken for but I negotiated with the proprietor to “find” me a couple slices which I took back to my burrow. Initial reaction: disappointment. Where were those lovely laminated layers? Then I bit into the thing: ecstacy. Somehow the butter was in every bite with a sugary propellant that blasted my synapses while simultaneously coating my arteries.

Au Kouign Amann Croissant

Croissant from Au Kouign Amann, just to show these guys can do laminated dough when they need to.

And it turns out this is the true kouign amann, two words which mean simply “bread and butter” in Bretony where it is from. In its homeland kouign amann is not an artisanal pouf but a hearty baked good often prepared from leftover bread dough. I have lots of that around. It’s rolled into a thin round, molded into a circular pan with the excess hanging over the edges, then the surface is liberally coated with sugar and butter (really GOOD butter, obviously) and the excess dough is folded in on itself. It is baked and voila, kouign amann. I know there is a lot of technique involved but those are the basics.

Ready to enter pastry paradise? Get started with this post from The Fresh Loaf in which Susan Mckenna Grant describes a journey similar to the one we just related, except that she actually got to go to Brittany to discover the true kouign amann. This recipe from her blog lays out her actual process of making the original-style pies. And, for comparison of technique and ingredients, almost everyone refers to this canonical recipe from David Lebowitz which may well be the origin story of the individual-serving pastries in the U.S.

And yes, we will try making our own and report back. But first we have to eat through the whole pie we’re bringing home from Montreal.

Kouign Amann Label

The label affixed to my entire pie from Au Kouign Amann. Suitable for peeling off and framing.

UPDATE: our whole pie is now gone, though the charming box artwork (which we may steam off and frame) remains. I now have to admit that at least part of the appeal of the authentic slice was the first weekend of spring in Montreal. It’s a very tasty treat, but I’m not ready to say it’s better than the croissant dough makeover. On the other hand, it’s a lot easier to make. Le choix t’appartient!

ANOTHER UPDATE: King Arthur Flour has published its recipe for the original Kouign Aman! Find it here. It’s long, but that’s because they have taken care to describe each step which should be followed exactly as written. Definitely going to make this.

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Test driving the Misen nonstick skillet

Posted on April 14, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Misen Nonstick Results

Perfectly cooked bacon and omelet made in Misen nonstick skillet

The promotional period for the Misen Nonstick Skillet has ended, but if you click the link to this checkout page you will get a pop-up offering the same 20% off for new customers in return for your email address. I’d go for it, (and buy the Misen Chef’s Knife as well since you’re getting the discount). Even at full price, I have to say I’d be tempted by this very exciting product.

Misen Cooked Steak

New York strip cooked in Misen nonstick skillet looked like it had been prepared in a cast iron pan.

The Misen Nonstick Skillet promo page (it’s not yet listed on their mail order product page) has some fun details and videos including a sunny side up egg skittering across the skillet, like a leaf in a pond, as a guy blows on it. I didn’t try that but I did make the best omelet and crispy bacon I’ve ever cooked. The secret is not the coating (I’ve got other good nonstick pans) but the brilliant heat distribution of the base which is like a good cast iron skillet or copper pot. I did take videos of the bacon and the egg as they cooked which I’ll add to this post when I figure out how to upload videos to WordPress. The bacon sizzled on the top as well as the bottom and the omelet bubbled like a witch’s cauldron.

Misen After Use

Surface of Misen nonstick skillet after wiping out after use. There’s still a residue that came off with a bit of soap. Interesting development I’ll investigate further.

I have previously commented (in my endorsement of their Smoky Joe) that Weber grills of every design cook better than any other grills I’ve encountered, due to better management of heat. I feel like Misen has somehow accomplished the same thing and it’s a pan I look forward to using for quite a while. I was surprised when the bacon fat started smoking and used a laser thermometer to discover the upper edges of the skillet registered 490 degrees F—well above the rated maximum of 450 degrees. Will have to watch that in the future.

The build seems exceptional and I will put this pan through its paces and do my best to wear it out, without sticking it with forks or burning it, and hope it lasts a good long time. But for now, the heat spreading features are reason enough to buy it at 20% off.

Update November 2019: I’m suddenly getting a lot of traffic on this page which is great except that the discount links above have expired. Go ahead and click them then explore the site when you get there. You will probably find a current discount or an offer when you sign up for email. By the way, the above are NOT affiliate links. I’m recommending it simply because the Misen non-stick skillet is a great product.

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Food for Thought: Alison Roman

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Burnt My Fingers
Chickpea Coconut Stew

Spiced Chickpea Stew With Coconut and Turmeric, from Alison Roman. Photo: Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott for The New York Times. Prop Stylist: Kalen Kaminski.

When Alison Roman launched her biweekly cooking column in the New York Times a year ago, she described herself as an unfussy cook: “To me, unfussy doesn’t mean boring — it means approachable and accessible. It means getting dinner on the table with ingredients that are simultaneously inexpensive and interesting, treating them in a mix of new and familiar ways and doing it in less time than it takes to start a new series on Netflix.” That describes our approach on Burnt My Fingers as well, which may be she is the one recipe author of the many reliable sources on NYT that we seek out by name.

Check out this Caesar-like salad that is made with raw egg yolks and croutons soaked in chicken fat and anchovies. A Quick Ragu that also depends on anchovies. Quick crispy pork chops that partly inspired this recipe but hers is probably better, if you have radishes. And this Spiced Chickpea Coconut Stew which was what got our attention in the first place.

We also like the side trips she takes in columns like the one accompanying her braised chicken recipe, where Roman talks about why she doesn’t have an Instant Pot and how to turn the recipe into pozole. New York Times reader comments, to both the columns and recipes, are another bonus. Not just the “made this, loved it” kind you see in most food blogs but a delightful combination of useful and cranky. Check it out.

Posted in Eating, Food for Thought | Tagged , | 2 Comments