Holiday Prime Rib

Posted on December 28, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Holiday Prime Rib

Holiday Prime Rib 2023.

A standing rib roast is getting awful expensive, but I was able to find a 4 bone (about 9 pounds) large end USDA Choice roast for under $65 at a local supermarket for holiday prime rib 2023. Now all that was left was to prep and serve the royal beast. (Got some inspiration from this NYT article [free link for nonsubscribers] which laments the fall in popularity of prime rib before concluding it’s as popular as ever.)

Decades ago I had a job at Victoria Station where I was responsible for steaks, managing the rib roasts and assembling a specialty shrimp dish. There is a thread somewhere online reminiscing about the “low and slow” cooking technique at Victoria Station but that’s not what I remember. We had a convection oven and cranked it up to 500 or maybe 550 degrees. Rib roasts were brought out of the cooler in the afternoon and we’d let them come  to room temperature before rubbing with salt and subjecting them to intense heat for I’m guessing 50 minutes and not much more. The steak grill was to the left of the vertical ovens so I’d frequently burn my arm flipping steaks and I still have a few scars to this day.

Prime Rib Leftovers

Cold prime rib for next day leftovers. Doneness from just rare next to the bone to crispy but not dry at the edges… exactly what I was aiming for.

I followed the same technique for my 2023 holiday prime rib, with a few tweaks. Pre-salted the night before for a dry brine, then rubbed in cracked pepper on all surfaces as the oven was warming up. (I had actually planned to use the reverse sear method which is trending and possibly fine, but I discovered an hour before planned serving time that the slow cooking phase takes up to 4 hours, d’oh!) At 50 minutes the temperature was only 106 degrees and 118 is recommended for a roast that will be rare to medium rare after resting, so I gave it 10 more minutes. The result was superb.

I had forgotten till I cut into the roast that we had frequently undercooked our prime ribs at Victoria Station when demand outran supply. We had a pass with some sturdy heat lamps, so an undercooked (i.e. bloody) slice would spend a few minutes there before going out. And it didn’t hurt that the restaurant had yellow lighting that made every cut of beef look perfect.

I was moderately interested in the jus described in the NYT Cooking recipe, a gravy made with a little of the pan juices stiffened with beef stock and flour. But in the end I served as is traditional for me (and was standard practice at Victoria Station) with sour cream mixed with a healthy portion of Sau-Sea horseradish. Delicious, and leftover sandwiches the next day were even better. UPDATE: with a little prodding from Chuckeye Dave, I recalled that we actually did have a container of au jus made from a concentrate at Victoria Station. It was kept warm on a corner of the steak grill and we would spoon a little onto each serving of prime rib as it went out.

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Making the PBC sandwich from Heinz

Posted on December 26, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Heinz PBC sandwich

PBC Sandwich from Heinz.

The PBC sandwich from Heinz does not incorporate peanut butter and cheese as you might expect (though we approve of that combination). It’s peanut butter, bacon and chili sauce from a recipe that appeared in the 1933 Heinz Salad Cookbook. We ran across it and had to give it a try because we love peanut butter.

Heinz PBC sandwich recipe

Here’s the 1933 recipe for PBC Sandwich from Heinz.

Method is pretty straightforward with a few quirks. Take 2 slices of bread and toast on one side only. (We did this by inserting two slices together in the wider bagel slot of our upright toaster.) Spread untoasted side of one slice with peanut butter, then slather on some Heinz Chili Sauce. Now add strips of bacon, trimmed to fit the bread, and broil at a medium setting till the bacon crisps at the edges and sizzles.

PBC sandwich with gherkins

Our gherkins strategy!

Thus far the recipe is as described in an episode of Sandwiches of History, a Youtube channel we will probably revisit at some point. The host tries it as an open face sandwich and proclaims it okay, then adds some hot sauce and pepper and a second piece of bread and likes it better. What is never discussed is the addition of “sliced gherkins” in the original recipe which gave us pause. Heinz doesn’t directly tell us to put the pickles on the sandwich but rather to “serve with”. But who slices up gherkins? These sweet pickles are pretty small to begin with and I expect 100% of snackers eat them whole. Maybe gherkins were the size of cantaloupes in 1933?

We ended up slicing the gherkins lengthwise and adding them to the sandwich, then closing up the assembly and slicing to serve. It was fine, nothing not to like. Next time we’d probably broil both pieces of bread with the bacon on the plain side to capture more of the bacon grease. And the gherkins add mostly a sweet/sour element which could be obtained more economically with pickle relish. Also, full disclosure, we did not use Heinz Chili Sauce which is just very expensive ketchup with some sweet heat added but rather a house brand which served our purposes just fine. And Heinz no longer makes peanut butter so we substituted the magnificent Trader Joe’s product.

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Misen products are now discounted on Amazon!

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Misen Chef Knives

The two top knives are Misen, now available for 25% off at Amazon via this link.

We were delighted to discover the Misen store in Amazon.com. (And you bet that’s an affiliate link.) You can order one of their knives or a non-stick skillet set, to name our two favorite categories, get a nice discount in many cases, and enjoy free shipping if you have Prime (or accept a trial subscription). I realize this news is a little late for holiday shopping, so please bookmark the page for future reference. And maybe they will have an after-Christmas sale.

What Misen products to buy? We are huge fans of the chef’s knife and non-stick skillets and have multiples in daily use. Serious Eats apparently tested a defective knife recently which knocked Misen off Kenji’s “nice” list (thanks to Chuckeye Dave for sharing the link) but you can get any knife resharpened for $14 (covers shipping both ways) via this link. We’ve tried the knife sharpening service and the results are excellent.

In the past we’ve ordered directly from Misen which is not a bad experience, but we ended up adding on items that we didn’t really need in order to reach a minimum ordering threshold (we’re looking at you, Mr. cast iron dutch oven). If  you’re used to shopping with Amazon Prime, you know it’s so much easier plus you can enjoy free returns if necessary. And you’ll be supporting Burnt My Fingers with a small affiliate commission that doesn’t add to the purchase price. It’s a good deal, so please check out the Misen store on Amazon.

UPDATE: according to a couple of Amazon reviewers, Misen’s “Lifetime Warranty Against Defects” (which we recently used successfully) does NOT apply to products purchased on Amazon. So if you are buying a knife you might be better off purchasing directly from Misen.  Non stick skillets, on the other hand, are guaranteed to wear out so I’d be fine ordering from Amazon if I can get a lower price and faster delivery.

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Walla! Kenji Lopez-Alt exposed.

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Misen Chef Knife

Misen Chef’s Knife, from Kenji’s review on Serious Eats. The knife is now available at a nice discount on Amazon.

A kind reader corrected our use of “walla” to convey “there you have it” when executing a culinary tour de force. The correct spelling/usage is “voila” and of course we know that. We use walla in solidarity with all the home cooks who employ this phonetic rendition on Facebook etc. to convey their excitement about a dish. Also, did you know that “walla” is actually a technical term in motion picture sound to describe background crowd noise? You didn’t? Now who’s the charlatan in this scenario?*

Walla is the perfect term to introduce this article, which exposes the dark/mischievous side of culinary icon/gadfly Kenji Lopez-Alt. Called “The 18 Knives Kenji’s Collected Over the Years”, it describes each knife with its origin story. Some may say 18 is way too many: you have a favorite chef’s knife, paring knife, a flexible boning knife, a bread knife… so what are all these other knives? Well, with a couple exceptions they are products you can buy at a link in the article. Kenji is delivering clickbait, in other words.

We are in general big Kenji fans and have followed him since his early days on Serious Eats. His writing combines the scientific precision of Harold McGee with the passion of an enthusiastic home cook. We love how he breaks a recipe down into steps, each of which can be performed in different ways with varying results he is happy to share before announcing the best way at the end. But he doesn’t always use his superpowers for good, as when he took us in a wild misdirection during our search for the secret recipe for Halal Guys white sauce. [Update: the Reddit entry has been edited and is not as egregious as it used to be.]

And our question about this article is… what happened to the Misen Chef’s knife, which Kenji called “the holy grail of inexpensive chef’s knives. Incredible quality and design, high-end materials, perfect balance, and a razor-sharp edge”? That review (or an earlier version, since this one is dated June 2023) caused us to try Misen knives after a satisfactory experience with their skillets. And we’re glad we did and now have 2 Misen chef’s knives and a paring knife in daily use while our heavier Victorinox sits idle in the block. (By the way, Misen products like the chef’s knife and skillets are now available on Amazon [affiliate link!] at a substantial discount plus you don’t pay for shipping if you’re a Prime member.)

I don’t want to think that Misen was omitted from the more recent roundup because they didn’t pay up for a link. But, walla, the evidence is there.

*Bonus points if you recognize this quote from A Bug’s Life, one of the greatest movies ever made. And why was there not a Bug’s Life 2?

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The magic of membrillo

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Membrillo

Membrillo magic? More like meh.

We ordered a cheese platter from Whole Foods for our on-the-road Thanksgiving reunion. It came with a nice selection of cheeses and crackers and a little tin of membrillo, or quince paste. Nobody showed much interest in the membrillo so I tossed it into my suitcase when departing. It’s been on my desk ever since and I occasionally take a little nibble.

And I have to say, what’s the big deal about membrillo?

You would think it’s god’s own nectar based on accolades from its fans. Murray’s Cheese calls it “candy for grownups” and praises its “punchy sweetness”. Forever Cheese extols the “magic of membrillo” and quivers with excitement over the “mystical world of the quince and the much-heralded cheese accompaniment it becomes.” And here’s a guy who loves membrillo so much for its “highly aromatic, floral flavor” that he has planted a quince tree so he can make his own.

Membrillo Tin

This is the tin of membrillo included in our Whole Foods cheese assortment.

To me, meh. I’d much rather have figs or dates, fresh or dried, on my cheese plate. My guess is that the “magic of membrillo” is its high pectin content; ancients discovered they could mix sugar (or, more likely, honey) with the bitter fruit juice and walla, it would set up into a semi-solid consistency with a dramatic pink/orange hue.

Can we think of anything else with a high pectin content that sets up into a gel? That’s right, cranberries. What if the Fertile Crescent had run through New England instead of the middle east? Then we’d all be praising the genius of the bright red accompaniment to sharp cheeses. In fact I have a can of cranberry sauce left over from Thanksgiving and I’m going to try that next time I serve up some stinky cheese and crackers!

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A visit to Educated Palate in San Francisco

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Educated Palate Service

Pastry service counter at Educated Palate.

Educated Palate is a bakery operated by the students in the Culinary Arts and Hospitality program at San Francisco City College. It is only open on Thursdays, between 9:30 and 11:30 am, and by chance we were there on the final day of the semester.

Patrons are provided a paper menu to check off their choices, including sweet and savory pastries, a daily sandwich, and a baguette. You wait in line to submit your order and then wait another 20 minutes or so as it is assembled and finally you are called to submit your credit card and receive your goods. Prices are in general about half retail plus you are supporting the work of the next generation of bakers. The biggest bargain is the baguette, a full size loaf of around 13 inches for $1, limit one to a customer.

Waiting at Educated Palate

You place your order, then you wait.

So far I’ve tried the macarons (superb, especially a kiwi flavor with bits of kiwi inside), a comforting oatmeal cookie and plain and almond croissants. The croissants could use a little more loft in the lamination but were still the equal of most at better storefront bakeries. The chef/professor who was handing out pencils (to fill out the menu sheets) told me the program lasts two semesters and costs $1000 and most of the students find work after, or are promoted in the bakeries where they already work.

Pastry Meun

Today’s menu at Educated Palate.

Educated Palate is on the ground floor of the City College building at the very busy corner of Fourth and Mission. In better times a fine dining restaurant, also operated by students, occupied the space. A very quirky beat cop guards the main building and happily directed me to an upstairs restroom since the one in the bakery was, as seems to happen often, out of service. A real San Francisco treat.

Folks who live in the Capital District of upstate New York can access a similar experience at Pane e Dolci, a counter next to the Casola Dining Room at SCCC which is open during the fall and spring semesters on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 am.to 2:30 pm. Like Educated Palate, it’s well worth a visit and the baked goods are only part of the enjoyment.

Pastry Assortment

My order from Educated Palate.

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Recipe: Fast Focaccia

Posted on December 5, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Fast Focaccia

Fast Focaccia, finished.

Fast focaccia takes about 2 ½ hours from pitching the yeast to enjoying the first warm bite. And it’s really really good, thanks to plenty of olive oil and salt. Based on this NYT Cooking recipe with a couple of tweaks to make it even faster. Makes 1 focaccia, 9×13 inches.

Ingredients
1 ½ c lukewarm water (355 g)
1 t sugar
2 t yeast
3 T good olive oil
3 c all purpose flour (390 g)
2 t Kosher salt
Additional olive oil and salt (preferably Maldon flakes) for garnish

Focaccia Dough

Fast Focaccia dough is way too slack for the usual step of poking indents with your finger.

Method: add sugar and yeast to lukewarm water in the bowl of a rotary mixer; stir to dissolve sugar. Rest for 5 minutes or so until yeast blooms; add 3 T olive oil then flour and 2 t Kosher salt in that order. Mix at first speed until ingredients are combined then second speed for 5 minutes, until the dough forms a cohesive, very sticky mass.

Prepare a second bowl by coating generously with olive oil. Using a spatula, scrape the very sticky dough into the bowl. Cover and rise in a warm place* for 1 hour, or until doubled. Line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper and coat generously with olive oil using a brush or rolled up paper towel. Transfer the dough to this plan using a spatula to get all of it. Cover and rise 30 minutes until the dough rises somewhat. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Bake the focaccia for 25 minutes or a bit longer, until golden brown but still soft and springy. Brush top with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt immediately after removing from oven. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, then eat and enjoy.

*NYT offers a great trick for turning your microwave into a proofing box: put in a large cup of just-boiled water along with the bowl of dough.

Focaccia Sandwich

Focaccia sandwich with some nice mortadella.

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Why can’t we have food like this in the 518?

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Hundred Dollar Hamburger

Hundred Dollar Hamburger at Mesa Grill.

I recently finished a sojourn in Sedona, AZ, a tourist town at least the equal of Saratoga Springs measured by the ratio of visitors dining out to residents. I was impressed by two places, Rascals and Mesa Grill, that served an iconoclastic menu in the face of the assumption that tourists want something safe and familiar.

Pictured above is the “Hundred Dollar Hamburger” from Mesa Grill. The restaurant is situated in the airport that serves private pilots. The hamburger doesn’t actually cost $100; that’s a reference to the cost in gas for a pilot who is looking to accumulate hours toward her license and flies in to have a bite. But to my point, it doesn’t look like a hamburger, does it? The menu describes it as “Prime Angus burger on sourdough toast, green chili, caramelized onion, bacon, roasted tomato, cotija & Oaxaca cheese, pico de gallo, chipotle creme.” It was delectable.

Rascals Old Fashioned

Old Fashioned at Rascals.

I ate at Rascals, which dubs itself a “New American Diner”, the night after my big lunch at Mesa Grill. I wasn’t up for a full meal and was satisfied with the Firecracker Shrimp, served General Tso-style on a bed of Asian slaw. But what was distinctive about this meal was the cocktail selection; they stock esoteric high-proof spirits and mix them into interesting drinks like the Four Roses Small Batch Old Fashioned: 104 proof Kentucky straight bourbon, orange bitters, muddled orange rind, Bordeaux cherry (like a maraschino but dark purple and cured in house).

Why can’t we have nice things like this in the Cap District? Of course we do, but not enough. (Check out the interesting things Brady Duhame is doing at Max London’s and the drinks at Hamlet & Ghost.) Too often a menu will consist of a salmon dish, a short rib dish, a bricked chicken dish, a squash risotto vegetarian dish. Restaurants are serving up greatest hits they know diners will recognize and appreciate, vs taking chances with new ideas. And don’t get me started on the folks who open yet another Italian red sauce place.

Certainly we need far more ethnic eateries. I was talking with a woman in my exercise class about how much we love Greek food and neither of us could name a Greek restaurant within 40 miles. But what’s wrong with a fresh take on comfort food classics, like the $100 hamburger above? Give it a try and, if they don’t like it, you can take it off the menu.

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Recipe: Jello Cookies

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Jello Cookies

Jello Cookies. The orange ones are made with Orange Yellow; the green with Pistachio Pudding.

I had orange jello cookies on Halloween in the dining hall at Skidmore College and was inspired to research the recipe. Jello cookies are basically sugar cookies with Jell-O powder added in for color and flavor. Settled on this from Taste of Home but am not happy with the result; next time I will (and you should now) add more leavening (boost the baking powder to ½ t) and use more Jell-O powder. Or, try this recipe which is based on cake mix for the ultimate grocery aisle hack. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Ingredients:
½ c unsalted butter, softened
½ c sugar
1 egg
1 ½ c flour
¼ t baking powder*
¼ t baking soda
Jell-O powder, up to 4 different flavors

Jello Cookies

Jello Cookies cooling on rack. I’d use more Jello next time for a more intense color.

Method: cream sugar and butter until thoroughly blended. Add other ingredients except Jello and stir until thoroughly combined. Divide dough into batches depending on how many colors you are using; I divided in half and used 4 T dry Jello mix for each batch. (This is a fun activity for kids as the dough develops the consistency of play-do though they shouldn’t snitch bites because of the raw egg.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop, form the dough into balls and transfer to a half sheet pan or cookie sheet lined with silicone pad or parchment paper; space the balls an inch apart and flatten slightly with your hand. Bake 10-20 minutes or until edges just start to brown. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack using a spatula; cookies are ready to eat when firm.

*This doesn’t seem enough to me and the cookies did not rise as much as expected. I’d double the baking powder next time.

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Recipe: Breakfast Sausage Balls

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Burnt My Fingers
Breakfast Sausage Balls

Breakfast Sausage Balls with maple syrup.

Breakfast Sausage Balls are an easy morning-meal solution when you’re getting ready for Thanksgiving or Black Friday shopping or just want something quick and filling to stuff in your pie hole. Sausage and pancakes and maple syrup rolled into one, with a bonus hit of cheddar cheese. Found this recipe on Tik-Tok so you know it’s good.  Makes about 24 1-inch sausage balls.

Ingredients:
2 ½ c “just add water” pancake mix such as Hungry Jack*
¼ to ½ c milk
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb roll breakfast sausage (Jones Dairy Farm preferred)
Syrup (maple preferred) for serving

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients in a bowl. Thoroughly mix  using a sturdy spoon or the slow speed of stand mixer. Start with ¼ c milk and add more as needed; you want just enough to form a cohesive mass with no dry sections of flour.

Use a tablespoon or ice cream scoop to shape into balls. Arrange the balls on a half sheet pan or two quarter sheet pans (cookie sheets) lined with silicone pad or parchment paper, allowing about an inch between balls for expansion.

Bake until the balls puff up nicely and begin to brown, about 25 minutes. Serve hot with maple or other syrup. Breakfast Sausage Balls reheat nicely in oven or microwave.

*Confusingly, there are other “complete” pancake mixes that look almost identical but have a blurb “just add milk and eggs”. Those are probably better but defeat the purpose of a quick and easy preparation.

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