Cooking with wanye...

[wanye]

this is a general cooking thread, where people can see what i've been making for dinner or experimenting with. feel free to ask questions about my techniques/recipes or get recommendations/tips/ideas. i'm a big fan of GOOD EATS/alton brown, AMERICAS TEST KITCHEN & COOKS COUNTRY, and SERIOUSEATS/kenji.

anyway, i just got back from sorrento, where i went on a bit of a pizza pilgrimage. i had 9 pizzas in 7 days! anyway, while i was there, i had one of the best arancini balls i've ever had (frankie's bar - great pizza too!)

so i decided to try making some. but that would involve making risotto beforehand. OH THE HUMANITY!

so i dug out some halved duck breasts i got cheap from tesco a while back, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic granules, bagged up, and cooked in the sous vide bath for 2 hours at 135f. removed the juices (which went in the risotto stock) and cooled, then put in the fridge to reheat/brown in the skillet.

meanwhile, i made mushroom risotto using the seriouseats "no stir" recipe technique. basically, soak the rice in the stock to remove the starch, toast the rice, then chuck it all in a pan with most of the stock, stir and cover. cook for 10 minutes, stir again, cover for 10 mins. then add parmesan/whipped cream (i dont usually use cream)and the last cup or so of stock, and stir constantly for 3-4 mins.

barely any effort compared to traditional methods, and great results every time so far (ive used it 4-5 times already)

in the last 5 mins, i finished off the duck in a griddle pan, just heating skin down for ~5 mins (it was already fully cooked, so didnt need the meat cooking any more)

slice, and serve with the rest of the wine that didnt get used in the risotto!

then, leftovers!

i spread the remains onto a small sheet pan, covered in clingfilm, and stuck in the fridge till today...

then during my lunchbreak, i got out the pan, and a bowl of cornflour, and my trusty oxo good grips ice cream scoop (perfect size!) and balled them up, placing a big cube of mozzarella in the middle, then dredged in the cornflour, placed on a tray, and chucked in the freezer for 45 mins to firm up.

after that, i filled a bowl with breadcrumbs (some italian sourdough i had left from my trip, cut with panko to bulk it out) and some milk in another bowl, dipped in and then thoroughly coated in breadcrumbs.

they are now back in the freezer. i'm going to take some out for dinner tonight, and bag the rest up for the freezer for another time

i'll be frying some of the balls later, will post updates...

[wanye]

the other night, my gf mentioned she really fancied spaghetti. i'm lazy and like to batch cook, so time for a quick "freezer meal"

i dug out a tub of beef shortrib ragu that i made a while back, where i'd also added some (cooked) pork mince to the mix before freezing, then added in some tomatoes, fresh parsley and a buttload of parmesan. literally took 5 mins to cook! (and 5 mins to defrost earlier in the day)

cooked some spaghetti, and serve!

[wanye]

last week, i made tandoori chicken, vegetable fried rice, matar paneer and onion paratha from stuff i had already in my freezer and things that needed using in the fridge (veg)

so ages ago i bought some whole boneless chicken thighs, which i marinaded in tandoori spices and yoghurt, then froze. i dug out the bag the night before to defrost, then cut into large chunks and skewered to cook in the pizza oven.

i also dug out a tub of marinaded paneer cubes that i'd frozen, defrosted (5 mins in the microwave if your in a hurry!) and added a bunch of frozen peas to the pan.

meanwhile, i made veg rice, using some leftover boiled rice from the night before, adding garlic, ginger, soy, fish sauce, onion, sweet pepper, frozen peas/sweetcorn and a few eggs.

once the rice was ready (i just needed to add the runny omelette i'd made back in and reheat once the chicken was done) it was time for the meat... out to the pizza oven!

protip - always align your skewers with the griddle handle, or your'e in for a world of pan when trying to rotate things!

the front chunks nearer the flame were done, but the ones at the back werent quite ready, so i took them off the skewer and finished off the rest - always temp your chicken when bbqing! a thermapen/instand read thermometer is essential for all good cooks.

heat some frozen paratha in a pan, reheat the rice/paneer and serve!

as a bonus, i made some chocolate mousse (with grated dark choc on top) earlier in the day - i need some better decorative dessert bowls/ramekins - gu pots are too small!

[wanye]

have you ever tried adding fish sauce to heinz tomato ketchup?

give it a try! it gives it a nice extra umami kick!

here is some along with garlic chilli mayo and some lao gan ma spicy bean paste i mixed with gochujang and added some toasted cashews (leftover from a meal a few nights before)

i dont buy fried chicken anymore, its almost always disappointing. instead, i buy 2-3kg of boneless chicken thighs, chop them up, marinade them and dredge then in flour. today i was going for KFC-style asian chicken. normally the chunks are a lot smaller, these were more like chicken tenders in size.

soy/ginger/garlic/rice wine in a ziploc bag with the chunks then froze for later. dug them out, defrosted overnight, and coat in a heavily seasoned cornstarch/potato starch/bread flour mix with added cajun spice mix, old bay, garlic granules and white pepper.

thoroughly coat, place on a tray and freeze

these can then just be dropped in the fryer at 375f for 5-8 mins

also, fry up some sliced potatoes (i wanted to try and recreate the "chips" we had at the hotel in sorrento. i failed, but they were still very nice!

once the chicken was cooked, i tossed mine in some of the gochujang/lao gan ma/garlic mayo i'd dolloped on top (gf likes hers "dry" or i'dve done the lot of it in a bowl before serving

done!

[niccynoo66]

That all looks amazing 🤩

[wanye]

steak and chips?

a couple of beedham's finest aged ribeyes, seasoned, vacuum sealed and cooked for an hour at 135f (medium rare), then cooled, stored in the fridge overnight and browned/reheated the next day.

massive ass oven chips. cut up, steam covered in a microwave for 4-5 mins, cool completely (half hour or longer in the freezer) then coat in a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch & water in a small bown, then 45-60 secs in a microwave, stirring every 15-20 secs till you get PVA glue consistency)

once ready to cook, preheat your oven to 220c with a big baking tray with some lard/goose fat/whatever, for 10 mins, then drop the chips on the tray. cook for 15 mins or so, then flip and cook for another 10 mins or so. the crispiest, fluffiest oven chips you will ever make!

technique here (at 15:15)



fire up the pizza oven, get the griddle nice and hot, add some garlic ghee (higher smoke point than just normal butter) and cook for a couple of minutes either side to get a nice brown crust and render the fat

my main regret with these steaks was that i should have got them cut twice as thick! if they were thicker, that lovely pink in the middle would be right through the whole steak

but yeah, serve with the leftover garlic ghee, peppercorn sauce and some belgian frites mayo. oh and some salad

for dessert, we had a piece of baked chocolate cheesecake that i made a hile back and froze. dug a couple of bits out and left in the fridge to defrost for a couple of hours

we actually got the munchies later that night, so i dug out a couple of slices of my pistachio cream and chocolate pizza that i've made. just reheat in a covered frying pan for a couple of minutes!

[wanye]

Originally Posted by niccynoo66

That all looks amazing 🤩

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thanks! i was hoping to launch a catering side hustle, but it's on hold right now while the world burns and prices are extreme. most of this is experimentation for finish at home takeaway meals and event catering (pizza and fried chicken mostly)

i've been working on presentation and photography recently, so i can build up an archive of great photos to sell it all when the time is right

[Pumpkin Pie]

It all looks great but the beef ragu is my choice. I love it.

[Supersuzie]

Goodness me I'm absolutely starving now!

I really want to try to make those chips and the fried chicken. I've stopped getting takeaway too as its always greasy and disappointing and I really love Korean fried chicken so that's right up my street.

[Taffy1959]

That all looks and sounds amazing but that chocolate cake wow wow wow 🤩

Your girlfriend is avery lucky woman my husband can just about manage beans on toast 🤣