Cooking

Not sure what your point is, really. We’re not talking about hi-tech or commercial fishing.

My turn to cater for a pre Xmas family do tomorrow and so I’m into the tail end of a cooking marathon. Made a big Lasagne based on Quorn mince yesterday and today is vegie pie day. It’s an in law’s recipe I’ve enjoyed but never made before so here’s hoping.
The pre roast

A dozen eggs, count 'em.

The line up

In you go

The egging

Lid firmly on

Turned out OK. That’s the Quorn Lasagne to the rear.

I’ll heat the lasagne but serve the vegie pie cold and knock out a big zucchini and mushroom slice in the morning and I’m done. My better half is in charge of the salads and dips and if they don’t like it, well… you know.

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What is it? Have not heard of it.

It’s a fake mince based on mushrooms.

Sounds good, will have to try it.

The Quorn was one of the big English fox hunting clubs, so I assume it’s minced fox.

Normally, I’d say the unthinkable in pursuit of the uneatable, but since it’s vegans and vegos, I’ll just bag both sides of the coin.

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Baking bacon in the oven instead of frying it.

Wow. It’s awesome.

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If you are frying bacon. Put it in the pan before you heat the pan.

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Here’s a better tip. Don’t get anything that’s liquid smoked.

That’s the way chefs do it.

Yep I’m all over it now!

Sometimes you learn something in old age that you wish you had known years ago.

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Works for sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes too… in fact you can pretty much do a full breakfast in the oven minus the eggs

The hell is that strange looking thing in the top right with all the blue buttons on it?

I’ve had a few punters enquire as to what goes down on Christmas Day in Japan. TBH, I don’t really know, but let me address this from my own point of view.

First of all, being a predominantly Buddhist country, Christmas Day isn’t a national holiday in Japan. Business as usual. Saying that, I have kept the tradition alive. My wife and I always take a day off from work, along with our primary school aged son.

As is the norm, Xmas Day is a ‘cooking turkey’ mission for me. I had a 7kg turkey defrosting in the fridge for 4 days. Prepped it this morning & had it on the Weber (charcoal only) at 10:30 a.m. In the past, it has taken me anywhere between 5-7 hours (to cook), however, I nailed it this year in 4.5 hours (plus an additional hour to rest). I covered it in prosciutto for the first couple of hours (then removed it for a crispy bacon type snack). I figure the warmer winter temps had a big part to play in the cooking time variation compared with previous years. Was sunny and around 10 degrees today, compared with 3-4 in previous years. I basted it regularly, as per usual, and removed it once it hit 70-72 degrees internal temp. Retained the fatty juices and made a delicious gravy. There were veggies in the pan, however, I removed them earlier once they were done. Merry Xmas to all. Share your cooking pics (if that was your gig). Cheers.

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Isn’t KFC supposed to be the Xmas tradition in Japan?

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I made braised brisket, but I ate it before reading this.

There are therefore no photographs.

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Yep - but usually on Christmas Eve.

Thanks for the education JR. Turkey looked magnifico.

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The problem I’ve always had with turkey is getting all of it cooked without large portions of it drying out. Do you have any idea what the temperature was that you cooked it at? And into what part of it did you stick the meat thermometer? Was the meat cooked right through so it fell off the bone? And did you do the potatoes etc in the Weber as well or in your oven?

It looks absolutely sensational.

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To keep it moist you’ve either got to baste it regularly or, cover the the thing in a pile of butter and wrap with foil. The butter/basting should keep the breast meat moist, and the butter makes a great base for a gravy. Bung your thermometer into the thigh but not touching the bone. Once the thigh meat hits 75c internal you’re golden.

I did this in my smoker a while back. I cooked it at about 120c cos I wanted to expose it to the smoke for longer, but you’d normally go around 165c.

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