Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Dried shitake is an excellent umami ingredient. You can even put it in a grinder and make a powder, so it can be hidden. Heh.


Doing pork tenderloin in the sous vide. 24 hours at 140, then a hard sear on the grill?? Sound OK?

So what then? Maybe an hour to get it to 140?

So my wife and I have been working on cacio e pepe for a LONG time now. We've tried probably at least half a dozen recipes online, and found all of them to be inconsistent. With the exception of one attempt that hit the perfect consistency [cooked after some wine so we were perhaps a little tipsy], it's been all over the map. 

But I think we've nailed it. We started with a recipe from Serious Eats (note: it's not 100% "traditional" in that it uses some olive oil and butter, not just water/pasta/cheese/pepper), but their method seemed to be a bit hit or miss regarding the creaminess. But just recently we found a recipe from Geoffrey Zakarian that had a perfect and easily-repeatable method--but the ratios were off. 

So we basically combined them, and it's damn perfect. 

I love that dish. I've made it with the Alton Brown recipe and thought it to be fantastic.

As for today...

Now that we are lying low I'm looking for things to do. So, I cook.

Making Sauerbraten, which has been in the marinade since last Sunday. Another Alton Brown recipe, with a couple of my own twists. I've made it before and my mouth is watering to eat this stuff.

Also, making some pork ribs. 

Heh, was just talking about sauerbraten with my Milwaukee mates.  My Mom used to make that for us.  I recall it being a 2.5 day prep.  Dang is it tasty.   

18 dark old-fashioned gingersnaps (about 5 ounces), crushed

I went with 17. HA!

I had a roommate (he attended our Nashville Board Meeting, you may remember him, he wore the pink boa all day at the Bar), and he loved my carbonara dish so much, I'd make it at least weekly, sometimes more.  

I do agree, it requires some skill, and frankly it is all about how/when you bring the egg to the party.   Do it on the hot pan, and you're going to get soft scrambled eggs pretty quickly.    There are some ways around that, if you can get the pan off the heat for a bit,  I usually bring in the egg on a proper serving platter where the hot pasta is served.   moments after I take the base of the sauce, pour it into a another vessel with the egg, where it begins to 'cook' but not set into scrambled and then I quickly pour out onto the hot pasta platter.    This (for me) seems to pacify the worry wards of raw egg, w/o ruining the dish.

btw:  great neighborhood work / sharing this weekend.  I made a whole bunch of stock, and caramelized a ton of onions.  My neighbor made a whole packer brisket,  I went for a walk in the morning and I could smell it, I texted him and he said he started at 3:30 am.   He dropped a plate over later.   It was fantastic.   Wife made some great oatmeal chocolate chip/coconut and nut cookies.   The guys laying brick down the street got themselves a nice plate of cookies.    I saw more 'smokers' going on this weekend in my hood, than I can ever remember.