Will the current lockdowns impact the restart of cruising here?

[NSWP]

4 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I had some amazing wagyu in Japan a few years ago, they really know how to cook it there and I was able to eat it without getting nauseous.

 

We mostly get ribeye from the butcher although I've just discovered Coles has really nice fillet. I've got a couple of great stirfry recipes that uses fillet steak so I cut steaks off the thicker part of the fillet then use the thinner bits for stirfries. I usually make a red wine jus but sometimes add smashed peppercorns or mushrooms.

Try the Woolworths grass fed thick eye fillets, in the cyrovac packs, not had a bad one yet, only small around 250g, but good.

 

Edited August 17, 2021 by NSWP

[Snoopkat]

2 minutes ago, NSWP said:

The shire used to be great back in the 70' and 80's.   Northies was always a cess pit frequented by boofheads.  I worked in the shire👮‍♂️for many years, seen it all, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Cronulla is the new Bondi judging by the number of people from the UK who have moved there. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, Snoopkat said:

We're not a big fan of wagyu that's too fatty, anything that is 5+ and above is too much for us. Our sweet spot is at the 3+ mark.  I like eye fillet wrapped in bacon and cooked medium rare.  We have a tray of chicken thigh fillets defrosting in the fridge, might make satay chicken and peanut sauce.

I haven't decided what to pull out of the freezer for dinner yet. I have lots of cooked chicken dishes that just need reheating. When I make one I usually make 6-8 serves which means I have easy cooking later. I think there is also some pork - might have that tonight.

 

[NSWP]

1 minute ago, Snoopkat said:

Cronulla is the new Bondi judging by the number of people from the UK who have moved there. 

And in my day plenty of Kiwis too, just like Bondi.

[Docker123]

26 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Since I don't actually like Spag. Bol much then it probably is.

 

Carbonara is one of the quickest and easiest of the pasta sauces.

- Guanciale (cured pig cheek) or pancetta or bacon, cooked until crispy.

- Garlic if you like it, I know you don't and technically it's not in the original recipe. I microplane it and add it to the guanciale once I've taken it off the heat

- Egg

- Parmesan.

Drain pasta reserving some of the water. Add everything else to the pasta pot, including any fat from the guanciale, and mix vigorously  and quickly until the sauce emulsifies, adding a bit of the pasta water if necessary.

 

Rolf bought a small truffle when he was shopping the other day. I used half of it on steaks last Friday and grated the rest over the pasta last night. Yum! 

 

I put two eggs in the container with the truffle for a few days. Since egg shells are permeable the truffle flavours the eggs.

 

Truffles are getting more affordable these days as more are grown in Australia. Since we haven't been able to go out for coffees for weeks we spent that money on a truffle treat.

 

If I make carbonara, I only use the egg yolk, much richer. Also less likely to scramble without the white.

 

[NSWP]

3 minutes ago, Docker123 said:

If I make carbonara, I only use the egg yolk, much richer. Also less likely to scramble without the white.

 

I eat a lot of gf pasta like fettucine, spaghetti etc. Different sauces from the jar or pack like carbonara, passata, tomato chilli, curry etc. Plus the beef, chook or pork of course, or the snags.

Edited August 17, 2021 by NSWP

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 minutes ago, Docker123 said:

If I make carbonara, I only use the egg yolk, much richer. Also less likely to scramble without the white.

 

I use one whole egg and one extra yolk. I've never had it scramble. I mix the parmesan in with the egg first which probably stops it scrambling.

 

I was really chuffed to discover one of our local butchers has guanciale so now I can make proper carbonara.

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Joe Biden was spot on saying 'Why should we keep Americans there any longer if the Afghan Forces are not prepared to defend their own country.'

 

I saw that, really peeved me off🤬 Let everyone suffer because of a corrupt government the United States funded and supported. Biden is no better than Trump trying to change the narrative😬. Those poor Afghans being back under Saudi control, those people deserve better than being constantly used as politically pawns. Shame on the world for letting this happen again😔. 

[NSWP]

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I use one whole egg and one extra yolk. I've never had it scramble. I mix the parmesan in with the egg first which probably stops it scrambling.

 

I was really chuffed to discover one of our local butchers has guanciale so now I can make proper carbonara.

Guanciale? please explain !!

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 minutes ago, NSWP said:

I eat a lot of gf pasta like fettucine, spaghetti etc. Different sauces from the jar or pack like carbonara, passata, tomato chilli, curry etc. Plus the beef, chook or pork of course, or the snags.

I rarely use commercial pasta sauces. The tomato-based ones are often too acidic for me. There is one brand of passata I can use though.

 

Some of our pasta "sauces" aren't really sauces. One of our current favourites is pesto, pinenuts, sundried tomato and zucchini. Another one is bacon or pancetta, garlic and peas. In summer when I can get really nice tomatoes I just toss a bit of onion and garlic in a pan until they soften, add sliced fresh tomato, and finish with fresh basil. It's cooked in the time the pasta water comes to the boil and the pasta cooks.

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Guanciale? please explain !!

Pork cheek cured with black peppercorns. Very traditional Italian. I first heard of it watching MasterChef when they went to Italy for a week. I'd never seen it in Australia until a year or so ago. 

[NSWP]

Just now, OzKiwiJJ said:

Pork cheek cured with black peppercorns. Very traditional Italian. I first heard of it watching MasterChef when they went to Italy for a week. I'd never seen it in Australia until a year or so ago. 

Mmm sounds good, I will try and hunt it out down here, but I doubt anyone will have it.  A Pork Knuckle from Woollies or Coles or Aldi is considered an exotic dish, lol.

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Mmm sounds good, I will try and hunt it out down here, but I doubt anyone will have it.  A Pork Knuckle from Woollies or Coles or Aldi is considered an exotic dish, lol.

Tell your son to look in LV Meat Masters in Lane Cove Market Square for you. I've only ever seen it there. It only comes as a whole pig cheek so needs to be re-vac-packed between use.

[Aus Traveller]

31 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Try the Woolworths grass fed thick eye fillets, in the cyrovac packs, not had a bad one yet, only small around 250g, but good.

 

We buy the Woolies fillets also.  👍

[Russell21]

12 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I rarely use commercial pasta sauces. The tomato-based ones are often too acidic for me. There is one brand of passata I can use though.

 

Some of our pasta "sauces" aren't really sauces. One of our current favourites is pesto, pinenuts, sundried tomato and zucchini. Another one is bacon or pancetta, garlic and peas. In summer when I can get really nice tomatoes I just toss a bit of onion and garlic in a pan until they soften, add sliced fresh tomato, and finish with fresh basil. It's cooked in the time the pasta water comes to the boil and the pasta cooks.

Seven different types of Pasta adorn the top shelf in our pantry, and we regularly use our pasta machine too. A really tasty sauce for pasta is simply made with heated cream, don't overheat it or it will split, mild English mustard in it to your taste, and cooked fresh Salmon shredded through it, served with a light sprinkle of chopped Dill.

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

We buy the Woolies fillets also.  👍

I'll have to try them one day. I do like the Coles middle-cut tenderloins though as I can cut them to suit. They are around 750g and vac-packed so have a decent shelf life.

 

Our Woolies has a fresh meat counter and I've bought the steaks on a huge bone (tomahawk steaks?) a couple of times. It's a bit tricky to get them cooked correctly though. 

[ilikeanswers]

21 minutes ago, NSWP said:

A Pork Knuckle from Woollies or Coles or Aldi is considered an exotic dish, lol.

 

Pork Knuckle done right are amazing😋. There is (or was who knows with all this lockdown🙄) Polish restaurant in Ashfield does the most amazing knuckle, tender meat on the inside crispy crackling on the outside. 

[Snoopkat]

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I'll have to try them one day. I do like the Coles middle-cut tenderloins though as I can cut them to suit. They are around 750g and vac-packed so have a decent shelf life.

 

Our Woolies has a fresh meat counter and I've bought the steaks on a huge bone (tomahawk steaks?) a couple of times. It's a bit tricky to get them cooked correctly though. 

I use this when I need to cook thicker cut steaks to the desired doneness. Works better than I expected. I've also started using the reverse sear method for the more fancy cuts, it's a bit more work but worth it.

 

https://meater.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwmeiIBhA6EiwA-uaeFb6p0kTYifa63ATnE9MPFEY2dgkyYwQU2IB8zN5rzOUe--Ltmtd_uxoC-SUQAvD_BwE

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 minutes ago, Russell21 said:

Seven different types of Pasta adorn the top shelf in our pantry, and we regularly use our pasta machine too. A really tasty sauce for pasta is simply made with heated cream, don't overheat it or it will split, mild English mustard in it to your taste, and cooked fresh Salmon shredded through it, served with a light sprinkle of chopped Dill.

I love making fresh pasta but my kitchen doesn't have a suitable place to set up my pasta machine so I don't make it very often.

 

That sauce sounds nice. 

 

I sometimes make a mushroom sauce, just fresh mushrooms sauteed in butter, a little stock, and finished with a little sour cream. Sometimes I soak some porcini, chopbthem finely to add to the mushrooms and use the soaking liquid instead of stock. Also Herbies Spices have really nice porcini powder which is a lazy way of boosting the flavour.

 

[Docker123]

Today’s lotto numbers

 

NSW: 452

Vic: 24

Qld: 1

ACT: 17

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, Snoopkat said:

I use this when I need to cook thicker cut steaks to the desired doneness. Works better than I expected. I've also started using the reverse sear method for the more fancy cuts, it's a bit more work but worth it.

 

https://meater.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwmeiIBhA6EiwA-uaeFb6p0kTYifa63ATnE9MPFEY2dgkyYwQU2IB8zN5rzOUe--Ltmtd_uxoC-SUQAvD_BwE

That looks great. I have a very good meat thermometer with which I can choose different settings for various types of meat, poultry and fish. But it has a long cable so not as good as your one. Can yours be used in the oven?

[Snoopkat]

46 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

That looks great. I have a very good meat thermometer with which I can choose different settings for various types of meat, poultry and fish. But it has a long cable so not as good as your one. Can yours be used in the oven?

Yes it can though I haven't tried using it to cook roasts. The only issue I have with it is the preset internal temperature is alot higher than I would have liked. For example, I like my steak medium rare so the internal temp should be around 46. But the preset temp for a medium rare steak is at 55-59 which is way too high.  

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, Snoopkat said:

Yes it can though I haven't tried using it to cook roasts. The only issue I have with it is the preset internal temperature is alot higher than I would have liked. For example, I like my steak medium rare so the internal temp should be around 46. But the preset temp for a medium rare steak is at 55-59 which is way too high.  

My themometer shows 60 at med-rare. 

 

But the definitions for steak doneness vary a lot. I've seen a rare steak described as what I would call med-rare, and at other times what I would call blue.

[Snoopkat]

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

My themometer shows 60 at med-rare. 

 

But the definitions for steak doneness vary a lot. I've seen a rare steak described as what I would call med-rare, and at other times what I would call blue.

Oh wow, 60 is definitely in the medium well category for me.  Half the fun of cooking is in trying out different methods and seeing what works best. A friend and I were debating the merits of cooking steak using a sous vide. I thought it was a waste of money, he thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread. We're planning on having a cook off once this bloody lockdown is over. 

[GUT2407]

4 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

My themometer shows 60 at med-rare. 

 

But the definitions for steak doneness vary a lot. I've seen a rare steak described as what I would call med-rare, and at other times what I would call blue.

Fist time I order a steak anywhere I opt medium rare, I prefer it a bit lighter done, then adjust with following visits (if they get a second chance ay cooking me a steak) sometimes it is closer to rare other times almost well done. Mrs G likes her steak cremated, then cook it a bit more.