Lockdown food

[hafle]

Seen some interesting (tasty looking) photos on the forum over the past few days. Given the lockdowns and layoffs, I imagine that there will be a lot of people putting a lot more time into their cooking simply as a means of killing time, and also because they've the time to do things properly, e.g low and slow.

So what're folk upto or have planned? Or are you all just a bunch of pasta hoarders?

I took 120 eggs home from work that would otherwise have been binned. So having taken some to the food bank, I decided to make 4 dozen pickled eggs. White vinegar, salt, sugar, red onion, bay leaf, star anise, mustard seeds, corriander seeds, garlic. Boil up the brine, sterilise jars, cook and peel eggs. Looking forward to two weeks from now.



Tomorrow is slow cooking a few dozen pig cheeks. Tempted to try building a cold smoker. Empty egg trays full of sawdust make for a perfect slow burn.

[Rod]

I took 120 eggs home from work that would otherwise have been binned. So having taken some to the food bank, I decided to make 4 dozen pickled eggs. White vinegar, salt, sugar, red onion, bay leaf, star anise, mustard seeds, corriander seeds, garlic. Boil up the brine, sterilise jars, cook and peel eggs. Looking forward to two weeks from now.

Nice! Better keep the windows open though 😁

[GraniteQuarry]

You best whack on Cool Hand Luke and match the egg eating scene

Usual menus here as the fridge and freezer are always full and seems the panic is over somewhat, Costco yesterday was quiet and fully stocked (as usual).

Emergency backup is a case of baked beans and a couple 5kg bags of protein powder!

[yumma]

Well as the fridge started to run empty, lunch today was boiled rice, cubed carrot and cubed seafood sticks; all seasoned with a drizzle of Olive oil, never done before but a surprisingly pleasant concoction. Only 3 days until the Online delivery, who knows what culinary treats tomorrow brings. God speed all and be safe.

[Passenger]

Eating like kings here, no shortages in the supermarkets and plenty of time to prepare quality meals from scratch. Good for morale, health. T bone steak , sweet potato’s and veg medley this evening.

[woodacre1983]

Got the slow cooker running most days with some form of stew or the kids current favourite old fashioned corn beef hash.

Currently got some peas soaking and with be doing a large batch of pea and ham soup tomorrow again in the slow cooker


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[subseastu]

Did 3 batches of soup for the wife and me a d the folks in case anyone ones down with the lurgy. Spiced parsnip, tomato and cream, sweet potato with orange and pistachio. All fairly simple to make. Also made fish cakes with cod cheeks, smoked haddock and salmon.

Tonight I got the pizza oven out but completely ballsed my dough up and ended up binning it. Got to look a d a few YouTube vids to remind myself what to do

Spag bog tomorrow

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[sweets]

Just finished drying and slicing a batch of Billtong - made not because of lockdown, but because it is delicious and had been meaning to do a batch, and now have more time to do so.
Yum
D

[IdiotAbroad]

Just finished drying and slicing a batch of Billtong - made not because of lockdown, but because it is delicious and had been meaning to do a batch, and now have more time to do so.
Yum
D

I quite fancy a go at making biltong - any tips?


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[subseastu]

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[TheFlyingBanana]

Nice! Better keep the windows open though 

That was my first thought.

My second was that he is cleverly planning ahead to a future where he won't need any bog roll.

[blackal]

Been making beef jerky most weekends - getting pretty good at it now.

Soy, liquid smoke, garlic powder, black pepper, salt, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, chilli powder.

[sweets]

I quite fancy a go at making biltong - any tips?


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Okay, here you go.
Recipe based on just over 2kg silverside cut into strips up to 3/4" thick, cut along the grain.

1 - overnight vinegar soak. This can be simple, but I complicate this, my mix is

100ml Balsamic vinegar
20g Worcester sauce
50ml red wine vinegar
50ml cider vinegar
50g soft brown sugar
10g sea salt

Mix it all together and lay in a covered flat dish overnight in the fridge, turning at least once. I find using a variety of vinegars broadens the taste, makes it more complex.

Next day, get it out, pour the liquid away and dry the meat thoroughly.

Here is the batch post soaking



Pan roast the following

33g Coriander seeds
22g peppercorns

Then grind them (I use a coffee grinder repurposed for my spices) with

20g sea salt
2g chilli
2g szechuan pepper

Those last 2 can be altered to taste, I grow my chillis so they are quite strong, and with 2g you can taste it but it is not all you can taste.

You should have a fine sawdust looking spice mix.



Coat the meat all over, it will stick no problem



Lastly you need a drier.
I made a wooden box with a door and window, with a 40W heater inside (some use a light bulb), a computer fan for air circulation and a thermostat set to about 25 C

Hook the meat and hang it in the box so thjat none of it is touching its neighbour, for about 3 1/2 to 4 days (thermostatic heater and fan going the whole time).





When it is firm to the touch (thicker pieces take longer), turn it all off, take the meat out,



brush all the excess spices off (almost all of them),



and slice across the grain to your desired thickness.
I like mine quite thin.



Photos now added.

Dave

[IdiotAbroad]

Okay, here you go.
Recipe based on just over 2kg silverside cut into strips up to 3/4" thick, cut along the grain.

1 - overnight vinegar soak. This can be simple, but I complicate this, my mix is

100ml Balsamic vinegar
20g Worcester sauce
50ml red wine vinegar
50ml cider vinegar
50g soft brown sugar
10g sea salt

Mix it all together and lay in a covered flat dish overnight in the fridge, turning at least once. I find using a variety of vinegars broadens the taste, makes it more complex.

Next day, get it out, pour the liquid away and dry the meat thoroughly.

Pan roast the following

33g Coriander seeds
22g peppercorns

Then grind them (I use a coffee grinder repurposed for my spices) with

20g sea salt
2g chilli
2g szechuan pepper

Those last 2 can be altered to taste, I grow my chillis so they are quite strong, and with 2g you can taste it but it is not all you can taste.

You should have a fine sawdust looking spice mix.

Coat the meat all over, it will stick no probklem

Lastly you need a drier.
I made a wooden box with a door and window, with a 40W heater inside (some use a light bulb), a computer fan for air circulation and a thermostat set to about 25 C

Hook the meat and hang it in the box so thjat none of it is touching its neighbour, for about 3 1/2 to 4 days (thermostatic heater and fan going the whole time).

When it is firm to the touch (thicker pieces take longer), turn it all off, take the meat out, brush all the excess spices off (almost all of them), and slice across the grain to your desired thickness.
I like mine quite thin.

I would share photos, but Postimage is not allowing uploads just now, for maintenance.

Dave

Thanks Dave - amazing! Will see what I can muster...



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[sweets]

Photos now added above. We had some as part of lunch today, yummy.
The extra ingredients (over a traditional biltong recipe) of a little sugar, worcester sauce and balsamic are noticable in the final product.

D

[hafle]

Wow, that stuff looks fantastic! Might have to consider making up one of these boxes during the down time.