Chez Bink

Quick dinner from chez bink tonight: Some sweet/tangy chicken thighs over some jasmine rice - really good!

Details:

Sauteed chicken thighs in 2 batches (removed before done), then sort of caramelized some onions in the fond, deglazed with chicken broth (my fond and bits were getting a bit too dark).

Meanwhile, in a small pan (inspired by pioneer woman post I found), tossed in some strawberry jam (no apricot preserves hanging out like her post called for - lol), a chez bink touch of more sugar, decent dose of Ketchup (probably about 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup - or maybe more of each, for the jam and ketchup). Found some raspberry chipoltle sauce that's been in the fridge for too long and added a bit of that, then a bit of soy sauce (about a tbsp), and even less worchestershire, and then finished off with some hot sauce (a good tbsp, maybe more). The heat doesn't really cut thru the sweet much, so this is definitely a sweeter sauce the way I whipped it up. Forgot the garlic, but oh well - it was really good!

Tossed the almost cooked chicken back in the pan, covered with the onions and then the sauce, into a 350 deg. oven. After about 5 mins, I switched the oven to high broil and let it sizzle away until I had a nice level on top that I liked. Plate over a bed of freshly steamed jasmine rice and away you go!

proofing dough tip without a "proofing" setting:

Saw this somewhere and tried it - works well. If you don't have a proofing setting on your oven, give this a shot (especially if you're in a cold climate)! Boil a small amount of water in a small pan, and then put it in the bottom of your cold oven below the rack where you'll put your dough to proof (might have to move the rack up to fit the pan). I use it combination with a bread machine making dough, so this for me is the final rise, but it would work for any step. When I shape the dough (into rolls for example), I put the shaped dough into it's baking container, cover with a tea towel, and place into the cold oven on the rack above the hot pan of water, which I usually put on a pot holder or some other insulator - sit back and wait for amazing proofing :-)

Chez Bink in the kitchen this morning - woo hoo! it's a cold morning again in TX - warming up with some yummy grub. Diced, soaked, dried, seasoned and air fried potatoes, finished in a cast iron pan with fresh veggies for potatoes o'brien - better than the frozen stuff! Some cheaper thin steak I found at the store, perfect for a nice breakfast and a farm fresh scrambled egg - yum city!

well it's a new year, new years resolution - post more food photos - lol 🙂 This is a sausage and basil with tomato sauce and fresh mozzarella, cooked in a chefman homeslice pizza oven, manual setting, top heat at 800 deg, lower at 750. Cooked for about 4 minutes with a couple of turns. Very happy with the crust and flavor! Dough was from my bread machine "pizza dough" setting/recipe which is a 60% hydration (approx) and more ny style than neapolitan as it has some oil and sugar. This was a bulk ferment in the bread machine and then about 48 hrs of cold ferment in the fridge.

Wow so I really need to take more food photos and post them 🙂. Here’s a quick meal I whipped up last night:

Good use of some leftover cooked rice and a chicken breast needing to be cooked - pretty quick weeknight meal. Slice up the chicken breast real quick, get out the wok, scrounge the fridge for veggies, dice them up quick, start with the chicken in the wok, add the veggies when chicken about half done, add the rice when chicken almost done, some soy, fish sauce, sugar and salt, scramble in an egg at the end, mix in and top with cilantro - voila, chicken fried rice 🙂

hey all you fellow home cooks and wannabes out there! Sorry been a while for a tip post. I was planning on some tacos and of course didn't thaw the ground beef. There are lots of ways to thaw frozen proteins quickly (running water, instant pot, etc...). Today I stumbled into a way I've never tried - I think it was from that company "butcher box" of all places - lol. I saw a youtube video on it and had to try it. In short, what you do is heat up a pan, add some oil and let it get hot, then put your frozen block of ground beef in the hot pan. I made some spanish rice (sauteed onions and jalapeno), got that on the stove, and then got out the frozen block of ground beef (1 lb).

warning: hot does NOT equal "high" - keep the heat around medium high max. As your meat hits the hot oil most of the moisture will evaporate but some will hit the hot oil - and you know what they say - oil and water don't mix :-) Too much heat and you run the risk of an mini hot oil burst/splatter - and trust me - that's not too cool. If that happens, get the pan off the heat immediately and step away - let it cool down and continue :-)

ok - with that warning out of the way - cook the frozen block until it starts browning (if you had freezer burn/moisture on the frozen block, you might need to run some water on it to remove that and then pat the block dry with a paper towel). This will only take a minute or two. Flip the block over, and now scrape the browned and mostly cooked ground beef off the cooked side you just flipped. Rinse and repeat a few times - voila!

I pulled out the mostly cooked beef as the block was cooking from my pan and ran it through a strainer in batches so I didn't overcook it and to also drain the fat from it. When I was complete with the whole block, I drained the remaining fat from the pan (I used 80/20), returned all the beef I drained, added some taco seasoning and a bit of beef broth (about 3/4 cup), mixed well, brought to a simmer, and then reduced the heat and covered. The rice finished around the same time.

Overall - not a bad method - went from a frozen brick of ground beef to a full meal in under 30 minutes.

Todays tip: Perfect soft or hard boiled eggs without the gadgets - all you need is a metal mesh strainer and a 2 qt pot with lid!

Yes there are many ways and gadgets to get the perfect hard boiled egg, but here is a simple way if you have a metal strainer that uses steam to cook the eggs. If you don’t have a metal strainer - get a 2 or 3 pack - they’re so handy!

The trick is to have a metal strainer (with the long handle) that fits over your pot without falling in and suspends just above a small amount of water. This will fully cook the eggs via steam and not cause the dreaded “egg leak” that can happen by shells cracking when the eggs are laid directly into a pot of boiling water. My 2 qt sauce pot and medium strainer work well for this task.

Start by putting a small amount of water in the pot - just eyeball it (make sure the strainer sits above or mostly above it and that you’ll still have some left after 10-12 minutes of boiling. Turn the heat for the pot on high and wait for the water (no eggs) to boil. Once it’s boiling put your eggs in the strainer and set it on the pot so the eggs are suspended and cover with the pot lid. In about 10 minutes you’ll have perfect soft boiled eggs and in about 12 minutes you’ll have perfect hard boiled eggs. I say “about because I was just glancing at a clock on the wall 🙂

Before the 10 or 12 minutes is up, put some ice cubes and water in a bowl large enough to dip the strainer in. When the eggs are done, turn off the heat and put the strainer in the ice bath. Give them about 5 minutes to cool down.

Peeling: I like to roll the cooled eggs on a flat surface, lightly cracking the shell until I’ve gone a full circle. At this point you should be able just crack the shell open and peel it right off. If it won’t crack easily - roll it again with a bit more pressure. Rinse the peeled eggs in the cool water bowl and you’re ready to go - enjoy!!!

Today's tips - PIzza time !! Yes, it's much more work than ordering, but it's very satisfying :-) Plus who's gonna take a picture of carry-out or delivery ?? :-)

Ok first - the dough. This is the basic 18/10/2 dough - 18 oz of flour - this was the '00 pizza but all purpose works just fine. Add 2 tsp or salt to the flour and mix. The "10" is 10 oz of warm water - I nuke mine in a coffee cup 15 seconds at a time and check the temp until it's about 115. Then 2 tsp of sugar and 2 tsp of yeast (active dry is what I used - one small package this time). I accidentally used 2 tbsp of sugar so the yeast really bloomed fast - lol. Add the yeast and sugar to the warm water and stir well - wait for the yeast to bloom (foam and bubbles on top) - usually takes 5-10 mins. Once it's bloomed, add to the dry mix. I've got a kitchen aid mixer, so just putting in the dough hook and letting it do it's thing - you'll have a nice dough in about 15 mins or so.

Tip - while the dough is mixing, turn on the oven at 170 deg. Once it preheats, shut it off. By the time the dough is done, the oven will a perfect proofing spot :-)

Tip - dough will be ready when it's nice and elastic and if you stop the mixer - you can stretch it and see thru it. I tend to always rip mine apart when trying to see thru it, so it's not "perfect", but if the dough ball is nice and pliable - it's probably fine. This pizza dough was "pliable" :-).

Tip - the 18/10/2 makes about 2 medium pizzas - the pizza you see is probably 12" and 1/2 of the dough ball. That's the fun part of making your own - I can see some calzone love coming tomorrow with the remaining dough - or maybe i'll toss it in the freezer for later use :-)

Tip - let the dough rise and then punch down - rinse and repeat as often as you want - I did 3 rises. More rises and punch downs ... more flavor :-)

Tip - preheat the oven to 450 when rolling out the dough.

Tip - cook the dough for a few minutes .. before applying the sauce. Check the dough and verify it's slightly hard - enough to hold the sauce. Add your sauce and put back in the oven. Cook for about 5 more minutes and then pull one more time - add in your pre-cooked meat, veggies and cheese.

Tip - to avoid "raw veggie" flavor - sautee the veggies while the crust is cooking up.

How this was layered - sauce on the bottom, thin layer of cheese, layer of sausage and some pepperoni and veggies, main layer of cheese, some pepperoni, sausage and veggies on top.

Amping up a chicken noodle box soup closer to homemade!

Disclaimer - the photo actually IS homemade chicken soup!, but my "fake" homemade looked pretty close :-)

So you're in the mood for some chicken noodle soup - a can sounds ok, homemade sounds great but will take a bunch of work - what to do? Amp up that box soup!

So I grew up on can and boxed chicken noodle - it's pretty much the only soup I would eat until a few years ago (well minus campbells tomato) :-). I'm still a basic soup eater, but no reason we can't amp up that box soup!

With very little effort and no extra cooking on your part, you can turn a basic box soup into a glorious "homemade" soup in no time at all - let's get started!

Tip #1 - add in some chicken broth vs water , I only say some because I didn't have much in my carton of broth :-) Also - add another cup or so beyond whatever the box says - it won't water it down much and you'll get more volume!

Tip #2 - One can of chicken, please! Break open that can of chicken chunks, and break up with your hands as you add them to the pot.

Tip #3 - Dice up a bit of carrot and onion and toss in - I forgot celery - doh! Yeah - add that too!!

Tip #4 - Add in more seasonings! I tossed in some pepper and a bit of sage to mine.

Tip #5 - Add in a bit of vermicelli (careful - it absorbs well!) It will cook pretty fast and give you more noodle for your soup to match the box noodles and it's pretty cheap!

Tip #6 - if you want even more flavor - toss in a chicken bullion cube - and don't "salt to taste" (those things are loaded with salt) :-)

There you have it - a nice quick way to amp up a regular box of noodle soup into something a bit more impressive!

So I know we're closing in on Turkey time, but today we're talking Chicken!

There are so many ways to cook chicken and so many meals that can be made. It's probably my go-to protein. We always try to keep fresh Chicken in the fridge at the ready for whatever we whip up from it (chicken+sauce plus side, chicken and rice, grilled chicken, chicken tenders, chicken and pasta, stir fry with chicken, etc...).

Over the years, I've managed to destroy a lot of chicken, mostly on the grill, as that was my "domain" (can you really have a domain while knowing next to nothing about it ??). If it's blackened, it's done and tasty, right ??? LOL - ummm, that's a big negatory there chez binky :-)

Our family prefers chicken breasts over thighs (well I like thighs in several dishes, but I always get outvoted). They're amazing, taste great, but they definitely have a down side - they're easy to overcook and dry out. Many people prefer boneless thighs just because they're more forgiving to cook. Here are some tips that will hopefully help no matter how you're cooking.

Tip: Temp/Temp/Temp - you must keep the temperature of chicken (especially a chicken breast) below 165 if you don't want to dry it out. There is some carryover cooking (it will cook internally after pulled from pot/pan/skillet/grill/etc...) of about 3-5 deg. , so you can pull at 160 and you'll be fine. This assumes you're only going to warm up the chicken after this (or keep it on a hot plate in the oven) and not return to a dish for more cooking. For example - you're going to cook up in pasta sauce after you make the chicken. Consider cooking below 165 if it's going to be poaching in some sauce, etc... before a dish is finished. Many people don't realize they're drying it out by overcooking this way.

Tip - Use a good thermometer. I have a thermoworks thermapen thermometer - it's THE way to verify good temps in my opinion. I went through 3 thermometers before I found one that was fast, accurate and reliable - that's the thermapen. It's not cheap around $100, but if you're cooking at home, saving the $$ from eating out, it will pay for itself in no time flat when you cook chicken to temp, pull steaks at your desired temp, etc...

So let's get into some detailed tips using various methods:

Grilling: It's fine to have a grill nice and hot, but keep an eye on the chicken breast - as it cooks, the color on the side will change. Unless your grill grates are super sticky, the chicken should release when you see it changing color about 3/4 up the side. Many people put a bit of high smoke point oil (avocado, grapeseed, etc..) on the chicken before putting it on the grill. This is to help with sticking more than anything. If your grates are super clean, in theory you don't need the oil - mileage may vary :-). So you've got those great grill marks on both sides, pull out the thermometer and you read ... 135 ...At this point most will toss the chicken breast/thigh back on the grill and cook it until it reaches temp over the same high heat - this is where you're probably going to burn part of it, and where you might overcook it quickly. A better solution is to kill the heat on 1/2 the burners, move the chicken to this side, and close the lid. You're now effectively using the grill as an oven, as this non-conductive heat cooks your chicken to temp without burning/flare ups.

Baking/Roasting. Unlike the grill, baked chicken in the oven is heating with convective heat - essentially a hot box. The first tip on this front is get a cheap oven thermometer and check your oven temp so you know that when a recipe calls for 350 - your oven is really 350. Many ovens are off by 25 deg or higher. If you're cooking by internal temp, this won't matter as much, but if you cook by recipes/times, this can seriously bite you and overcook/dry out a chicken in no time flat. I use my probe thermometer a lot, but that requires me to open the oven door (there goes the heat!). If you bake/roast chicken a lot, consider an inexpensive wired probe thermometer (I think mine was less than $10 off amazon) - nice easy way to keep an eye on the chicken as it cooks up. If you want a bit of browned/crispy exterior (or skin if you have it on), a bit of fat (e.g. - olive oil, avocado oil) are good options to coat the the chicken. I would pat the chicken dry first (to get the moisture off the exterior for browning), coat with oil (or butter) and then add my seasonings, as they will stick to either the oil or butter. Cooking time is basically going to depend on what temp you set the oven at. Some will say that in order to have a tender chicken it needs to be marinated overnight and then cooked low and slow, maybe in some moisture. I'd argue that it just needs to be cooked properly to temp. A chicken has plenty of moisture if it doesn't release it all during the cooking process!

Sauteeing/Skillet : This is probably how I cook chicken the most. Basic steps are to get the pan hot, then add your oil/fat and get it hot. Pan is hot when the water test (sprinkle a bit of water in the hot pan) is good and you get the evaporative "pssssh" without the little bubbles scurrying all over the place. If you get that, lower the heat a bit, pull the pan off the heat for 30 secs to a minute, and try again. Put just enough oil to cover the pan (1-2 tbsp). It's ready for the chicken when it forms stripes/striations when you tilt the pan. If you start seeing wisps of smoke you're about to hit the smoke point - definitely ready, pull the pan off the burner for a moment - maybe lower the heat just a tad. It's a "best practice" to pat dry your protein for a good sautee - the lack of moisture will ensure maximum browning/caramelization when the chicken hits the pan. Like grilling, I will cook one side about 3/4 of the way up as it changes color. It should release just fine in the pan at this point. You don't want the heat so high that you've got oil spittering and sputtering while the chicken cooks - you probably want a med-high type of heat vs straight high.

Once you flip - you'll cook it until you have a good browning on the other side. At this point, check the internal temp (probe in the side or fattest part). If you're nowhere near 160-165, you've got a few options. You can lower the heat, add a bit of liquid (water/broth) , cover the skillet and finish the chicken by steaming it - this won't take long and is a good method. If you don't desire any of the liquid, you can also put the skillet (with chicken) into a preheated oven to finish. If you have a cast iron skillet - it shines in this operation - first you sautee in it, then put it directly into the oven to finish cooking the chicken (your skillet AND handle) need to be oven-safe if you go this route.
A 3rd option is to pull the chicken, lower the heat, make a pan sauce in the pan, and then return the chicken to the pan to cook in the sauce. Many recipes will have you do this, and many people don't realize this is what's happening as they're just following steps. If you break down the recipe instructions you can clearly see it's just having you sautee, pull the chicken, make a sauce, and then return and poach/simmer the chicken in the sauce until it's done. Sometimes recipes will "cheat" and have you make the sauce and then toss the chicken in it (you'll get no browning), or do a quick "brown on each side" and then throw everything in with the chicken - they're effectively doing the same thing as option #3, just combining steps. I personally think that if you understand the sautee / steam or sautee / roast/bake or sautee / poach method combinations, you'll easily be able to make your own creations without the need for a recipe.

Poaching: I'm a huge fan of a basic chicken salad (mayo, red onion, celery, salt / pepper / sugar, tiny amount of pickle juice), so I poach a lot of chicken breasts and then shred them. This is a great hands off way to cook the chicken and then shred it for tacos, chicken salad, sliders, etc.. Partially fill a pan large enough to hold a couple of chicken breasts with cold water (start with cold - you're on a very slow path and don't want to encourage the chicken to release moisture), add the chicken breasts , and then put on a burner and set it at a max of medium (on an electric stove, gas may be lower). Essentially, you barely want to see bubbles. Let it warm up to this point and then poach for 10-15 mins. I couldn't tell you time - I just check (by pulling with tongs to make sure I'm not testing water or hot surface temp) and when I'm around 165, I pull the chicken off the burner and then immediately shred (easier when hot). When you compare how much you might be paying for a tub of chicken salad these days to the massive amount you can make from 2 chicken breasts, you'll be shocked at the highway robbery of convenience you've been paying for :-). This method is also a great way to cube up the poached chicken and store in the fridge for whipping up all kinds of salads and wraps

Tonight's tip - No more Dry Meatloaf !!

No photo, but trust me - it was really good :-)

Tip - use a broiling pan which will support the loaf (the fat will drip thru) and foil line the bottom pan - healthier meatloaf and easier cleanup!

Tip - Instead of just using breadcrumbs to bind the loaf along with eggs, tear up a couple slices of bread, and then soak in a bit of milk. They'll help bind the meat, but your resulting meatloaf will be a bit more moist - so good ! You don't need to soak the bread, just enough milk to get it wet and mix it up with a spoon to get some milk on all the pieces.

Tip - To avoid raw onion/garlic flavor - sautee a bit and toss in the loaf mix before adding the meat.

Tip - Cheese - put some good cheese in the loaf mix - I used parmesan/reggiano, good stuff. YUM!

Tip - Bake temp - 350 or 375 - cook time will be around an hour. I like to pull after about 45 mins and apply a 2nd coat of glaze.

Tip - Put the loaf in the oven and cook for a few minutes before applying the initial glaze. The loaf will have a better structure and it's easier to put the glaze on.

Tips for glaze - make enough so you have enough for the initial glaze, and then after about 45 mins, to put on another layer. Keep the glaze brush out of the glaze and just spoon it out and then spread. That will keep the glaze "clean" and if you have any extra - you can use on your plate :-)

When is it done? not by time, but by internal temp - 160-165 and you're good to go. Depending on which rack it's on in the oven, you may have a "done" temp lower in the loaf, but the top might need a few more mins. You can speed this along by using the broil function for a 1 minute or two - careful or you might burn the whole glaze :-)

I don't use a recipe per se, but for 2 lbs of ground chuck, I use 2-3 slices of bread, just enough milk to get them wet, mixed in some pre-sauteed onion/garlic, added italian seasonsings, a couple eggs, some cheese and bread crumbs, mixed well, added the meat, and away we went :-)

Defrosting Tips for today:

We've all done it - forget to lay something frozen out for dinner or defrost ahead of time - DOH !! Here are a few tips to aid with this situation. The first two are super quick! Also - if you're using an instant pot/pressure cooker, don't be afraid to just add the frozen protein - you'll only need to add a few mins of cook time for frozen proteins.

1. According to Cook's illustrated, the time tested way to do a relatively "quick" and safe defrost, is to put the protein in a zip lock bag and into a room temp pot of water. Heat until water hits 140 deg (about 5 mins). Kill the heat and check on protein at regular intervals. A 1 inch steak should be thawed in about 10 mins total and stay out of the danger zone (40-140 deg. internal temp) the whole time.

2. Sous vide

If you have a dedicated sous vide machine that can take "low" temps, put the frozen steak in ziplock into about 4 qts of water, set the machine to 140 deg. A 1 inch steak will be ready in about 10 mins.

3. The total chez bink hack ... tested out another method today - takes longer, but seems to work just fine (different protein). The goal is put the frozen protein in ziplock into cold water that stays below 40 deg. Since I don't have a dedicated sous vide machine, I whipped up a total hack - in a large pot of water, I put in my vac sealed protein (ground beef). I tossed in a bunch of ice cubes, water still wasn't cold enough, so I grabbed a big freeze block from the freezer (you know the ones - big square, knock you out if you got hit with one) - water temp was dropping fast - bingo!. Truth be told that was probably too cold - I finally pulled it after a few hours and the water was still hovering right around 40 and I had a small ice block attached to my beef packaging - lol. It will chill in the fridge overnight, so yes I could have used it same day if I was paying more attention, but I was working, so this was kind of a set it and forget it and make sure it was nice and cold. With a bit more attention I could have sped it up and probably had a nice thawed pack of ground beef in under a couple of hours.

chez bink tip de jour: It's ok to mix cool gadgets and traditional cooking appliances! This is a meal that made in a pressure cooker two nights ago, and last night the leftovers went into a cast iron skillet, were topped with cheese, and tossed in an oven on 350 for a bit - oh yeah!

I was looking to make something fast and found a cool video from the salted pepper channel on the youtubes involving a sausage and pepper meal in the ninja foodi (pressure cooker / instant pot). I only partially watched the video (and missed her cheesy bake discussion - lol), and zipped into the kitchen and got to work. The base of her meal was italian sausage. I had just purchased some hot italian sausage and also had some chicken getting near the expiration date, so I sliced up a couple of sausages and about half a chicken breast - tossed them in the pot on sautee.

The other main ingredient for her meal was peppers. I had some onions and green peppers in the fridge and just the other day bought a bag of those cool mini sweet peppers (red/orange/yellow), so I sliced up one of each and tossed my onions and peppers into the pot after removing the mostly cooked sausage and chicken (still on sautee mode). I think she pulled the peppers out in her video - I just left mine in and deglazed with a small amount of red wine. Then I poured in varying amounts of beef and chicken broth (both cartons had literally like 1/4 left tops) and had to break out new cartons. I'd say I put more beef than chicken if that helps - lol.

Next up (still on sautee but heat now lower) came the pasta. She used 8oz, I had a bag of mostly unused rigatoni that I weighed to see how close it was. It was 13 oz - have no idea what I used 3 oz for before! So in went my pasta and more broth along with the chicken and sausage. I tossed in some salt/pepper/ and parsley/oregano and more basil (can you have too much basil ???). I also added a couple cloves of freshly diced garlic - because ... well ... garlic !!

I recalled brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and some can of tomatoes from her video. I tossed in a couple of teaspoons worth of sugar (maybe more :-)), less than a tbsp of balsamic (ok, maybe one :-)), and then tossed in some parm - because ... well parm :-). I found a regular (14 oz ) can of crushed tomatoes for my creation - stirred all that together while still on sautee.

I topped the creation with most of an 8oz jar of tomato paste. She put hers on top to avoid a burn message - not sure I've ever had that issue. I put mine on top, but I probably had too much liquid (was just trying to cover the pasta to avoid a crunch piece of rigatoni) so it didn't stay there and was absorbed during cooking, which was fine.

switched the cooker to pressure mode, set the cook time for 4 minutes, and away we went! It was done in about 10-15 mins tops since my liquid gold (broth) was already so hot :-)). I did a quick release on the pressure, and gave it a good stir - oh man, the aroma coming out of that cooker !!!

I let it sit for a bit to thicken (5-10 mins) and noticed I still had a bit too much liquid (aka "runny sauce") at that time :-) I got a bit creative and propped open the lid so it was still mostly on and let some of that moisture evaporate. This whole time the pot was on the warming/keep warm setting that stays on unless you shut it off :-). It was at this point that the taste testers swooped in ...

The meal from two nights ago was really flavorful, but since I didn't even watch her entire video where she talked about adding some leftovers to a cast iron pan and tossing on some cheese. I happened to see that when sharing the video with somebody earlier, so you KNOW that's what last night's plan was :-)

Bink Tip: preheat the oven, then toss in the cold leftover pasta and let that get nice and toasty on 350 for a bit BEFORE adding your cheese. I added a pizza blend cheese I found in the fridge and some parm/reggiano. While it may look cool, I burned the parm a bit. If I had that pasta scorching on the reheat I would have had a faster melt and still gotten that slightly brown goodness without the burn. I probably could have achieved a similar effect if I put the parm/reggiano in as the "under" cheese instead of the top. Always something to experiment with in the land of pasta bakes and cheese toppings that don't all melt :-).

Here's the video I keep referencing - check it out for actual measurements and guided instruction if that floats your boat - or just wing it using cooking methods like Chezzzzzz Bink !!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=473l927A11A&t=1s

Lunch today was brought to us by the marinade tips in a previous post along with some leftover Spanish rice! The steak was also not normal fajita skirt steak, it was part of the sirloin I had added to the teriyaki beef and rice meal the other night in the pressure cooker. I just took the chunk that was left (maybe 1/3 of a lb) and whipped up a marinade and tossed it in the fridge for a lunch in a day or 2. Turned out to be 2 days :-)

Quick method of how I actually made it: I heated up a cast iron pan then added some grapeseed oil, brought that almost to a wisp of smoke point, then pulled the steak right out of the marinade. Yes I I know - a "real" home chef would have patted it dry - I was in a hurry today and I knew the marinade drippings would evaporate off pretty fast - just gotta watch the reaction with the hot oil :-).

I seared the steak chunk on both sides then pulled from the pan (it wasn't quite done - temp probe was reading about 100 deg). I pulled the pan off the heat and lowered the heat on the pan. I then tossed in the veggies in the steak bits/fond and then added some "fajita" seasonings of indiscriminate portions - a bit of salt/pepper, then some chili powder, then some cumin, a bit of garlic powder, and we ready to rock!

Sauted the veggies and the seasonings back on the lower heat, then gradually brought the heat back up. I deglazed the pan with some beef broth to clean the bottom of the pan of any bits to keep them from burning/sticking. While the veggies cooked a bit more, I sliced up the meat into fajita sized pieces (it had been resting) and tossed those in with the veggies and cranked the heat.

I added a bit more broth and some worchestershire. In hindsight - I probably could have used the remaining marinade, but I would have needed to bring it up to a higher heat to cook out any forming bacteria, etc... still could have done it - just took the quicker route. Brought up the heat a bit more after cleaning the pan of any bits to avoid burning, and then let it reduce. When the liquid was about gone, pulled the masterpiece off the burner and turned off the heat :-)

If I was really on my game I would have cleared the cast iron and cranked the heat and warmed my tortilla. Today - the tortilla and leftover rice got the microwave :-)

Added my toppings (small amount of diced red onion, tomato and cilantro) and away we went - not a bad lunch and it didn't cost me $10-$15 - woo hoo!