Steak:

[dredge]

Originally Posted by quido [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

to the people looking for recipes: do you really think this one guy has some lone secret that nobody else knows about, that you can't find on the internet in less than two minutes, that is a deal-breaker when it comes to cuisine? I know all the notes to Little Wing - does that mean I can play it like Jimi? No. Cooking successfully isn't knowing the right recipe - that much should be a given - it's a certain amount of attention, finesse, and an amount of knowledge and experience that simply can't be taught. I'm no expert but I know that much.

it's pretty much true, I had to write standardized recipes in the past, like for this restaurant, covert everything to metric and get translated into Mongolian, but for the most part the only recipes that have stayed with me through the years are baking recipes because baking pastries and stuff is chemistry, you shouldn't try to just wing it when it comes to baking ratios or stuff doesn't turn out and you wasted time and money. I'm not a pastry guy by the way, I let my fiance do all the baking, she's got way more patience with scales and measurements than I do.

If you want to learn how to cook I suggest trying to learn different basic techniques and what works best for each main ingredient, for example learn how to braise short ribs, and then you will know how to prepare tough cuts of meat and how to slow cook things etc... Learn how to grill a piece of salmon, chicken, steak etc.. Learn how to make a pot of soup and a stew, etc..

Learning what flavors complement each other comes with experience, simple is usually better. Some things just work, like fish usually pairs well with lemon, butter, white wine, maybe some fresh dill, etc... there is a reason no one puts pizza sauce on it, don't try to reinvent the wheel.

I don't walk around with recipes in my head, if I'm getting ready to make something and I'm not sure on all the ingredients I glance at a recipe online and get the "gist" of it, I rarely write down measurements, because experience will get me through most of the time.

With that said here are 2 recipes that look solid to me, I wouldn't use Madeira wine because I don't have any, I would use what I have available etc.. and I would adjust the recipe to use the red eye gravy.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/mich...0400000118324/

http://homecooking.about.com/od/cond.../blsauce23.htm

I picked these two because they're from "southern living" magazine and happen to like them

[Hailto]

Nice, might try this tonight.

[Lexical]

Originally Posted by dredge [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Learning what flavors complement each other comes with experience, simple is usually better. Some things just work, like fish usually pairs well with lemon, butter, white wine, maybe some fresh dill, etc

I have actually been trying to work mint into a salmon dish since lemon and mint compliment each other well, but the mint is either too faint or over powers everything. I want to find some other spice that would bring a nice balance to the whole thing. Do you have a suggestion? Do you think a faint bitter would be good to bring down the mint while not burying it?

[dredge]

Lexical, I must admit Mint isn't one of my favorite herbs, I would prefer to pair fresh thyme and some pepper and lemon personally, but what comes to mind is the one thing I love that is mint, and it goes well on just about everything:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Mint-Chutney

Not sure if it's the best thing for Salmon but I like Mint Chutney as a condiment on other stuff.

If I wanted to make some simple nice grilled Salmon, I would probably make a compound butter.
Let a stick of butter get soft "room temp", dice up some FRESH herbs "mint, basil, thyme, chives, dill" etc... mince up a shallot if you want "optional" whip it all together in a bowl, add a dash of salt & pepper, maybe a drop of Tabasco and or Worcestershire sauce/ or Maggi's

mix it all together but don't let it melt,
from here you can put back in fridge or get fancy and roll it up in some wax paper so you can slice off disks after it hardens back up.

any ways, just put some on top of your grilled salmon or other meat and serve, it will melt into a delicious sauce

[dredge]

btw this technique has endless possibilities:

avocado butter
roasted red pepper butter
citrus butter
etc........

[dredge]

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Blackened Tuna Steak w/ Avocado lime butter

[Relapse2]

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[Orruar]

Originally Posted by Lexical [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Well, at least we can all still agree that french cuisine is the absolute worst. Not saying it is all bad, but going through all the stale bread, watery wines, and tasteless garbage they try to pass off as an entree just isn't worth the palpable dishes.

French cuisine is great if you're constipated. The reason you don't see many fat frenchmen is that they all suffer from near constant diarrhea from the food they eat.

[Orruar]

Originally Posted by Relapse2 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

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This is also a fantastic substitute for french cuisine for solving the aforementioned constipation problem.

[Orruar]

Originally Posted by Ephirith [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Hostility toward skillful preparation is usually an attempt to mask culinary ignorance brought about by poverty and/or general retardation.

You're probably the asshole at the barbecue who insists the burgers be served raw because it's manly.

Define skillful. To me, skillful is making something taste good. Every time I've had some fancy meal that looked really pretty, it suffered in the taste department. Some people say we eat with our eyes. I eat with my mouth, and my mouth hates extra bullshit on my steak. Give it a nice rub and let the natural juices be your flavoring. If you really want to enhance the flavor, get a nice merlot to drink, but leave my steak alone.