You make some amazing shit I’m not cultured enough to even try.
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My sainted mother gave me a gigantic plate of homemade chicken fried steak, real mashed taters, scratch gravy and fresh green beans with bacon

It’s a looong way from light spring fare, but good lawd it’s gonna be good later... it’ll be the best heart attack I ever had!
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Wow, that all looks good!
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Gumbo action after I've drank way too much.




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I love my sous vide and I cook a lot of things in my sous vide. So, tonight, I made steaks and corn on the cob.

Yes, you can cook corn on the cob in a sous vide. If you do it right, it is really rich. The temperature is 183, which is high for a sous vide, but I add a lot of butter and I salt the cobs before they go into the sous vide. They come out crunchy and yet really juicy and you don’t really need to butter them when they get out of the sous vide. One word of caution: add something to the bottom of the bag and maybe a heavy pot lid because as the corn heats up, it releases gasses, which can make the sous vide bag light and start to float, so the cob is not submerged.

And I cooked the steak sous vide. I cook mine a little higher than others, but I think it’s because of my sous vide unit. I have a PolyScience Chef unit, which I think holds its temperature better. I’ve seen pictures of people who cook their steaks at about 128 degrees, but with a different unit, and their steaks look more done than mine, which I cook at 131.5. Do what works in your own sous vide if you have one.

I really like The Spice House for spices and seasoning mixes, so, tonight I made a seasoning mix for my steak with:
Oxaca Coffee Ancho Chili Rub
Mesquite smoke powder
Celery Salt
Blue Cheese Powder (not so much for the blue cheese flavor as for the umami)

Smear steaks with anchovy paste and a little bit of soy sauce and then sprinkle with seasoning mix. Sous vide for an hour at 131.5. Finish by searing in red hot cast iron pan. Add a touch of lard and pat of butter and drizzle over one side of the steak before flipping. Sprinkle steak with Parmesan cheese and flip. Drizzle steak with pan drippings repeatedly before serving. I usually sear each side about 45 seconds or so.

For any sauce, I usually have a little remaining seasoning mix left over. So, making a basic sauce is like this:
Melt butter in a pan. Add onions or shallots unlit browned. Add grated fresh garlic until aromatic. Add remaining seasoning mix to absorb remaining butter. When mixture gets sticky and aromatic (about 30-45 seconds), add about 1/4-1/2 cup alcohol (wine or bourbon are my typical choices.)* Reduce until very thick. Add veal Demi-glacé, about ¾ - 1 cup. Whisk thoroughly and reduce briefly. Finish by adding ¼ cup or so of cream. Whisk thoroughly before service.

FMB and I had several discussions about sous vide and how to add umami to something in a sous vide. Every time I cook a steak this way, I think of him. So tonight, amidst my quarantine, I lift my glass to FMB. I hope he can enjoy my meal vicariously. I just wish I could hear his critique because he would undoubtedly have suggestions, comments, or alterations.

*If adding bourbon and cooking on a gas stove, pull pan OFF the stove before adding. Let it the bubbles die down before putting it on the stove. Tilt the pan and let it flame. Flames might be large initially, but they will die down.
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I bought a couple packs of these sous vide weights, they work very well for floaty foods.


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Thanks man but don't be fooled. It's pretty much shredded chicken, refried beans in a flour tortilla topped with cheese. I'd likely wind up hanging from a bridge in Juarez for trying to serve that as anything other than Midwest-Mex around here.
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It's a tortilla with cheese, meat, and veg. . . . Hey look, IT'S ALL THE SAME. . . . Why doncha say somethin' Spanish and I'll bring it to ya.
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Midwexican?
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Those look perfect. I’ve been using a rock.
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How did you do the chicken? I haven’t had the best of luck trying to get shredded chicken.
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Typically I'd brine and smoke a whole chicken and shred it but we only had breasts on hand so I used some OJ with cider vinegar, lime juice, EVOO and some annatto* paste. Thighs would likely work better as well. I let the chicken marinate for a few hours. Poured the chicken with marinade into a foil pan and put it on the smoker for roughly an hour or 150F internal. I reduced the marinade from the foil pan as a mop once the chicken is shredded then pour some in a vac seal bag with the leftover chicken and freeze it for later. Wife makes the sauce which is sort of like a bechamel with canned green chiles. Roll the chicken and refrieds in a tortilla, top with sauce and bake.

*Annatto paste is totally unnecessary or can be subbed with paprika, it's really there to give it color, like that reddish hue you see in enchiladas. I like to use it my bbq rubs because it imparts very little flavor but produces that deep red color; same with chili.

**You can also sub in a store bought rotisserie chicken
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That’s fair. Whenever I smoke a chicken I just end up eating the damn chicken. LOL
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It's a conundrum.

On one hand, smoked chicken is delicious all by itself, and when it's smoked you're done and ready to eat.

And on the other hand, smoked chicken is even more delicious when you put in other dishes like the enchiladas above with some veggies and broiled cojita crumbled over it, but that's more work. . . .
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Chicken in general is one thing I get burned out on quickly if I don't change up cooking techniques and dishes.
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