FAT (Food Appreciation Thread)

TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh
When we talk bread, we talk food. When we talk food, there is no end. So, here's a thread where we can talk about the F word to our tummy's content, without throwing good and proper sourdough threads out of whack.OK, OK I'm guilty...if not the guiltiest one of them all.

I'll start with stuff I'm shifting from Reese's thread.

:)
Thanks, Maedi, for all your help in the migration.


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valvanite's picture
valvanite 2008 July 23
oh thanks mate!!! i do try

i had to really thin about the menu where we were, because we are primaraly a bowling allety, i had to make a nice snack menu that would be easy to prepare but also cheap and appealing to people who are coming into our centre to bowl.

but i also have the dinner menu fo those who would like to dine also
TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2008 July 23
This is definitely not a 'boring' menu...and you don't try to dumb down your customers' tastes, although it's a casual scene. Very fresh and very cosmopolitan.

I'm going to pinch some ideas to cook for my family, if I may....
valvanite's picture
valvanite 2008 July 23
of course mate, be my guest!

ill be posting my new dinner menu on there soon, starts next monday, so stay tuned to the website!.

in fact, let me know what you wana cook and i can give you a somewhat recipe for it.
TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2008 July 23
;)


You can PM me if you prefer. Other than the broccoli, I would love to know how to whip up the other components. Much obliged.

Pork tenderloins

Sage rolled pieces of pork, with garlic and pumpkin puree,

Steamed broccoli and finished with traditional apple sauce


 I am still quite awed at the menu...so extensive. I see a lot of Thai influence here and there...how about including some Malaysian in future....like satay? *wink*


TP

valvanite's picture
valvanite 2008 July 23
i currently have a peanut satay flatbread wich isnt as popular as i thought. but oh well..


you start with a belly of pork and open it up trimming any small amounts of sinuey fat from it and chop up fresh sage.

add it into the unrolled belly and rub it in with sea salt (not much as belly is salty already) Black pepper and some extra virgin olive oil.

roll it up tightly and tie off with strong cotton string down the roll. for a 30cm roll i usually get around 5 or 6 ties.

bake it at 150 degrees celcius for around 1.5 hours, bathed in canola oil half fill, add bay leaves, whole peppercorns and some rosemary stalks. Cover with tin foil and bake.

remove from oven and let cool, once cooled it can be sliced into prefered thicknesses and served.

the pumpkin i usually roast whole, Knock off the top stalk with the end of your knife and rub oil on it, season and sit in tray in the oven at 200 degrees celcius for around an hour or until soft to the touch,

let cool and then rip into it, remove seeds and proceed to mash with hands, removing skin also, but it will give a very earthy flavoured pumpkin.

apple sauce is easy as well, peel and chop a few apples and put into steaming water with a small amount of lemon juice to stop browning. add a cinnnamoin stick  and turn up the heat until apples are soft.

remove most of the water and you should be able to whisk it into a puree.


and there you have it, you may peel rind off the belly of course,  but i tend to leave it on when reheating, as i reheat it in the hot oil that i baked it in, I keep that oil also until i have finished the batch of belly i have made, it delvelops flavour every time i reuse it.


enjoy and let me know how it goes.
PaddyL 2008 July 29
It's the one herb in my little back porch garden that's really flourishing, so if you could tell me how to do sage rolled pork, I'd love to know.  Thanks.
TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2008 July 29
or better still, just click for Reese's recipe. Alas, I have to go hunt for sage; not many supermarkets carry it. Envy, envy.
valvanite's picture
valvanite 2008 July 29
supply is short down hetre in NZ at the mo as well, sometimes i have to substitute with oregeno or majorum and some rosemary. But its not the same
PaddyL 2008 July 30
Are you now in your winter season?  I'll try the sage in a pork tenderloin, but I don't think I'd do it in that much oil, and certainly not canola.  When heated, canola gives off an unpleasant smell and taste.  But thanks for the recipe, it has inspired me.
valvanite's picture
valvanite 2008 July 30
yeah were are in winter at the mo, a few storms as well..
only reason i use canola is because i find it doesnt smell when heated!


 using the olive oils to cook this would not only be costly in my line of work, but i also wouldnt want everything to taste of olives, or salad dressing for that matter.

in a one off domestic sense, sunflower or lard would be ideal.


Ive just released my new all day bistro menu, so when i get 20 mins time ill post up a pdf of it or something.
PaddyL 2008 July 30
I was following a recipe to the letter a few years ago, and it called for doughnuts to be fried in canola oil, so out I go to buy the oil, heated it up, and it stank to high heaven.  It might have been a cheap knockoff, but I haven't used it since.  Peanut oil for deep frying on the rare occasions when I do that, and safflower oil in my bread.  How much oil do you use to cook the pork?
TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2008 July 30
Paddy, I think you might have gotten a batch of canola oil which had gone rancid...canola oil tends to get rancid faster than most other oils. Otherwise it's quite odourless even when I used to use it for cooking. I now use grapeseed oil (probably too pricey for commercial use) for cooking and EVOO for salad dressings.
 
TP
celia's picture
celia 2008 July 30

Grapeseed oil here too, TP!  There was a discussion on another food board I visit about canola oil, and some people were complaining that when it's heated to a high heat, it smells like fish!
valvanite's picture
valvanite 2008 July 30
yes it does smell like fish when rancid, my sous chef made an aioli the other day with rancid canola we were trying to run down. Her aioli smelled like fish and she had no idea why, i laughed a little inside.

we use to use a lot o canola for our frying, we do a lot of frying at work, so we went though 70 litres a week.

now we use cottonseed oil, great stuff, lasts twice as long if filtered every night after service, and a little cheaper as well for a 20litre box.





PaddyL 2008 July 31
I finally googled canola oil and found out a whole lot, some good, some bad, and which does one believe?  Who knows.  Anyway, I did discover that it goes rancid very easily, and if heated to very high temperatures it does tend to smell.  I think I'll stick to peanut oil for frying and safflower or sunflower oil for my baking.  I've also read in some older cookbooks that lard is the absolute best for frying doughnuts, but I don't think I'm all that sold on lard yet.
valvanite's picture
valvanite 2008 July 31
from what i know, beef dripping is the best fryer of all,

but the price is ludicrous. We have a fish and chip shop in NZ, World famous fish and chip shop, And they use pure beef dripping. MY GOD are they the best chip ever.

pity if i want them i have to fly 45 mins and an hour drive to get to the township
PaddyL 2008 July 31
Now you've got my mouth watering for cod and chips from a certain chip shop in Gorey, Co. Wexford.  We stayed with family in Wexford 3 years ago, and my gosh, but the chips were lovely.  Can't find them in Montreal Canada to save your life!
valvanite's picture
valvanite 2008 July 31
havent played to much yet,. been a bit busy pulling out my new menu and all

would post pics but this website wont let me cut and paste links into my [img] tags.

will have to upload to strike website and go from there
www.strikenz.co.nz

the last 5 pics are the new dishes, ask for more info

TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2008 July 31

Hmm...it should be ok to cut n paste links from online albums/sourdough gallery.

Meanwhile. I just came back from Tesco. Got my pork belly and sage!! I think I'll make some sourdough herb rolls to go with it. Pix when done.

TP
TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2008 August 1
My family thank you, Reese. *Mummy is beaming*. The pumpkin I made into carrot pumpkin soup, eaten with sourdough sage spelt rolls (aack, no pix). The belly is on a bed of water spinach and semidried amoroso tomatoes with balsamic dressing.


TP



Maedi's picture
Maedi 2008 August 1
[quote]would post pics but this website wont let me cut and paste links into my [img] tags.[/quote]
Hi Valvanite. Currently you have to use Edit -> Paste in your browser instead of Ctrl C on your keyboard. Sorry about that.

Thanks,
Maedi
PaddyL 2008 August 2
Could you define pork belly for me please?  It isn't pork tenderloin, I assume.  It's just that the belly part of the name sounds very fat.
TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2008 August 2

If you picture a pig standing, it's the underside, whereas, tenderloin is on top. It's also called 3-layer pork, because you can see layers of skin, meat and fats. Yep, it's fat but the good thing is much of these fats are rendered off during the long roast; I got half a cup out of the 2 plus hours roasting, which I'm keeping to make some chinese pastry. I didn't bathe my belly in olive oil as I reckoned my cut had enough fats to keep it succulent, and it did. I got mine without skin because it was going to be rolled. However, the belly had lovely caramelisation. Yum. Pork does go very well with sage and applesauce.

TP
PaddyL 2008 August 2
That's where I thought it came from, the pork belly, but I can't picture it as anything but a lump of fat.  I'll have to look harder in the meat section of our market next time.  I did buy a pork tenderloin which will either be cut up for kebabs, with sage, or split and rubbed with chopped sage sometime this weekend.  This is a very educational site, foodwise and otherwise.  My sourdough breads, by the way, without any kind of commercial yeast whatsoever, are still blowing my mind.
TeckPoh's picture
TeckPoh 2008 August 2
It's thrilling to hear about your bread experience, Paddy. After more than 3 years of 'discovering' sourdough breads, I'm still amazed by it and am learning something new even now.

BTW, you don't have to worry about overcooking bellies but don't overcook tenderloins. They'll turn out dry. Otherwise, they're beautiful.

Cheers
TP
PaddyL 2008 August 3
My sister does the cooking of the meals, though we both toss ideas around.  I'm the baker/dessert maker in the family.  Anyway, Sheila usually wraps the pork tenderloin with strips of streaky bacon and that keeps it from drying out.
PaddyL 2008 August 3
I minced a good amount of sage which was spread on the slightly flattened tenderloin, it was tied up, and I put sprigs of rosemary, a bit of tarragon, and a couple more sage leaves on top, then it was covered with bacon.  No extra oil needed.  Baked in the oven, it was moist and tender and magnificent.  Thanks for the sage tip, we'll definitely be doing this again!

About pictures; I personally do not have a digital camera, but my nephew does, and when he's around which isn't that often these days, I try to get him to take pictures.  The only thing is he has to be on the spot when the subject is ready to be photographed, so I'll just have to ask him to teach me how to use the camera.  Then I should be able to prove that I really am turning out some pretty good sourdough!

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