10 Fancy Steak Rubs and Marinades That Go Beyond Salt and Pepper Summer may be over, but that doesn't mean steak season has to be. As we trade our grills in for stove tops, we also re-open ourselves to a whole world of opportunity, courtesy of our fridges and kitchen cabinets. From herbs to citrus fruits to spices, there are countless ingredients we can toss into tasty steak rubs and marinades that go beyond plain salt and pepper (not that good ol' New York style isn't delicious as well). Once again, we've asked our friend Chef Frank Deloach to help us think of 10 exceptional ways to season steak to add flavor without adding fat. Directions? Combine ingredients, rub all over your gorgeously marbled beef slabs (think Ribeye, Strip and Sirloin) and pop it in the fridge (two hours max) to soak up all those beautiful flavors. 1 cup ancho chile powder 1/3 cup smoked paprika 3 tablespoon dried oregano 3 tablespoon dried mustard 3 tablespoon dried coriander 1 tablespoon cumin 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon black pepper zest of 2 limes Peter Pham
10 Second Tip: How to Clean a Cast Iron Skillet Cast iron skillets are great for creating flavorful dishes, but they may seem a bit intimidating when it comes time to clean them. After all, you don’t want to clean them like you would your other pots because then you ruin its flavor magic. So that means no hot water and dish soap? But hwo else do you clean a pan after you’ve used it. The whole point of a cast iron skillet is two essential things: the unique flavor that gets locks into your food when you use your cast iron skillet and the fact that your skillet can last YEARS all while looking good as new. That is, if you take care of it properly. If you let a medley of flavors sit and stew on the surface of your pan, you’ll lose that magical addition of flavor that the skillet gives your dishes. And you really want a skillet that looks and IS clean, don’t you? Well, with this technique, you can preserve that cast iron flavor and the quality of your skillet using two simple ingredients: salt and olive oil.
Salting Ground Beef | Serious Eats It's time for another round of The Burger Lab. Got a suggestion for an upcoming topic? Email Kenji here, and he'll do his best to answer your queries in a future post. [Photographs: J. WARNING: This article contains graphic images of burgers being smashed, maimed, cut, tortured, and otherwise destroyed. DISCLAIMER: Before I get any comments along the lines of, "ugh—why are all those burgers overcooked? With all that fine print out of the way, start by taking a look at the two burgers below, then tell me which one you'd rather eat. So why does option left look and taste like a tender, juicy, well-textured beauty, and option right, like a solid, rubbery object that would look more at home on an alien autopsy table? It all has to do with this: [Photograph: Robyn Lee] NaCl—regular old table salt. Before the explanation, let's step back a bit. Methods for Salting Burger Patties shouldn't a burger be better if you season the meat before forming the patties? Now, on to the testing: On to the carnage:
The Right Way To Clean, Season, And Restore A Cast Iron Skillet Cooking is more than a way to make the food that keeps us alive, it’s also a time-honored tradition that can be quite enjoyable. Since many people spend a lot of time in the kitchen, there are also plenty of gadgets that help to make things easier. Sometimes, however, going with an old staple is the best choice, and that is the case with cast-iron. Cast-iron has been used for years and is both time-tested and proven to be a great way to cook your food. If you are interested in making the most out of the use of your cast-iron pan, it’s important to know how to season and clean the skillets properly. One thing you can do is to start out with a pan that is already seasoned – that already has a layer of baked-on oil. How Do You Season A Cast-Iron Skillet? You can create the perfect nonstick finish on the cast-iron skillet by following these steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Cleaning A Cast-Iron Skillet Proper 12T 12tomatoes_abovevideo How Do You Season A Cast-Iron Skillet? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Whole Hog Butchering: Breaking down a Mangalitsa-Red Waddle Heritage Pig Much of meat’s flavor comes from fat. People are starting to embrace fattier cuts, and cooking with pork lard is making a comeback. With the welcome of full flavored, lard-laden pork, the fat, furry Mangalitsa heritage breed of pig, native to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is gaining in popularity. Known as the “kobe beef” of the pork world, their meat is marbled and fat stores plentiful. It’s said that their fat is less saturated that normal pig fat, and so tastes lighter and cleaner. Jointing a pig is different from traditional butchering. The Right Way To Clean, Season, And Restore A Cast Iron Skillet – 12 Tomatoes Cooking is more than a way to make the food that keeps us alive, it’s also a time-honored tradition that can be quite enjoyable. Since many people spend a lot of time in the kitchen, there are also plenty of gadgets that help to make things easier. Sometimes, however, going with an old staple is the best choice, and that is the case with cast-iron. Cast-iron has been used for years and is both time-tested and proven to be a great way to cook your food. One thing you can do is to start out with a pan that is already seasoned – that already has a layer of baked-on oil. How Do You Season A Cast-Iron Skillet? You can create the perfect nonstick finish on the cast-iron skillet by following these steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Cleaning A Cast-Iron Skillet You can clean a cast-iron skillet easily by simply rinsing and wiping it with a clean washcloth or soft sponge. Proper 12T 12tomatoes_abovevideo
British rocket scientist says he's designed a better saucepan - Los Angeles Times Cooking isn’t rocket science, but maybe designing cookware is. A professor of engineering at Oxford University has designed a new saucepan that he says heats up faster and uses 40% less energy than conventional saucepans. The “Flare Pan”, designed by Thomas Povey, is being manufactured and sold by Lakeland, a British kitchenware chain. It was introduced for sale Wednesday, but so far it seems to be available only in Britain, though it can be ordered through Lakeland’s website, with prices starting at about $85. Delivery won't begin until Aug. 25. Povey specializes in the design of high-efficiency cooling systems for next-generation jet engines. Made from cast aluminum and sporting a series of “fins” around the bottom of the pan, the Flare Pan “channels heat from the flame across the bottom and up the sides of the pan, resulting in highly efficient, even heat distribution,” according to a release from Isis Innovation, which licenses technology developed at Oxford.
What’s the best way to wash a cast iron pan? Burning Questions Burning QuestionsBurning Questions is The Takeout's Q&A feature that satiates your food and drink curiosities Have a cooking-related question that needs answering? Email us at hello@thetakeout.com. I’ve been told that you’re not supposed to wash cast iron pans with soap and water, but I have no idea how I’m supposed to clean it. I’m very glad a reader asked this question, because Twitter erupts into a firestorm over cast iron pans every few months, at which point I’m forced to say the same damn things over and over again, and I am exhausted by this malarkey. I cook just about everything in a cast iron skillet: meat, vegetables, pie, pancakes, and, of course, pandowdies. “But you’re not supposed to wash cast iron, or else you’ll remove the cure from the pan!” If you put uncured cast iron under a microscope, you’d see it has a jagged surface full of nooks and crannies that need to be protected from things that can damage the iron, like water.
Cocktail 101: How to Make Oleo-Saccharum [Photographs: Jennifer Hess and Michael Dietsch] What is oleo-saccharum? First, let's dissect the word itself. Oleo—oil or fat. Saccharum—sugar. Oleo-saccharum is an ingredient in cocktails and punches that was relatively commonly used in 19th-century bartending as a way to provide an elegantly citrusy flavor and aroma to alcoholic beverages. How do you make this elixir? First, zest a few lemons, leaving behind most of the white pith. Add sugar. I like to use my hands at this point to gently toss the sugar into the peels. After an hour, you'll have a bunch of lemon peels in the bowl, but a nice amount of lemon oil also, pooled up in the bottom of the bowl. You don't need to drain the oil off the peels, but if you did, it would look something like this: What you do with it at this point is up to you. What I like to do is to take the contents of my bowl—lemon peels, oil, undissolved sugar, and all—and add them to a small saucepan. About the Author: Michael Dietsch writes A Dash of Bitters.