I cook it real slow. (Crockpot, Slow cooking thread)

[Zetanio]

The hardest part is the waiting as your house smells better and better as the hours pass.

I know!

I made some more ribs and a pork shoulder over the last week.

I have some shoulder left so I'll go take a picture but...

Protip for pork ribs:
If you are crockpot cooking them, put them in on the side, wrapping around the outside. Meat side out. Bonier side down.

[niacin]

something my husband and I have found that adding some sort of alcohol to your cooking brings out so much flavour in meats. We usually use sake but we found a recipe recently for slow cooking that turned out amazing.

a small can of tomatos
2 ny strip steaks
some tequilla
mexican spices (aka taco seasonings or fajita)
and maybe some salsa if you want also

cook it for about 3-6 hours and the meat should just fall apart on its own. we made our own quesedilla with it by putting a little cheese on a tortilla shell, meat, a little more cheese and another tortilla shell, cook it on the stove in a frying pan until the cheese is melted enough to hold it all together and enjoy. was AMAZING!!!!

[Zetanio]

Honestly seems like a waste of a strip steak. I'd use a London Broil or some much more tough piece of meat. The recipe sounds divine though.

[Siccmade]

I'm classy as shit and as such I'm attending a Wine & Food Pairing dinner on Saturday. My thought is to go with Duck as it potentially pairs well with my wine (Cab Franc). I have reservations though, mainly because I've not cooked Duck in any capacity ever and also because I'm not classy as shit.

I plan to Crock Pot and cook it similar to a Pot Roast w/ carrots, potatoes, onion etc. I'd like to hear suggestions because honestly I feel like I'm taking easy mode and I ducked the uhh... fancier recipes.

Any ideas that would make this stand out? My classiness is on the line here.

[Mojo]

Does anybody here do sous vide cooking? I used to be a pot roast fiend and have always wanted to see the results of a low temperature slow cooked roast. I ended up buying an oven thermometer for a few bucks, but then found out people had similar ideas and use a water bath with an immersion circulator. So I went and bought one to try it out. I've used it twice now and the meat (a day of cooking at 130F followed by a good sear) and the results have been strange. The meat is extremely tender and succulent (what I was aiming for), but there is this strange taste that is imparted to it. The good beef taste is there, but there is something else that is somewhat subtle. I don't know how to explain it, but it's unsettling and disturbing. I've tried finishing it off at a higher temperature but it doesn't seem to go away. I'm trying to figure out what is causing it.

[isladar]

Is there any chance you're tasting the plastic?

[Mojo]

It might be. I really don't know at this point. I'm going to try cooking some carrots in it and see how they taste. If the same taste is there, then yeah it's the plastic for sure.

[Tokitoki]

I'm classy as shit and as such I'm attending a Wine & Food Pairing dinner on Saturday. My thought is to go with Duck as it potentially pairs well with my wine (Cab Franc). I have reservations though, mainly because I've not cooked Duck in any capacity ever and also because I'm not classy as shit.

I plan to Crock Pot and cook it similar to a Pot Roast w/ carrots, potatoes, onion etc. I'd like to hear suggestions because honestly I feel like I'm taking easy mode and I ducked the uhh... fancier recipes.

Any ideas that would make this stand out? My classiness is on the line here.

Well, what I think is my favorite preparation of duck is a crispy skin with the fat rendered nicely. Duck fat is delicate and delicious, when prepared correctly, so I think a Crock Pot preparation may not be the most "classy."

That said, if you want to go the Crock Pot route, make sure to get a good sear on the skin so it at least has the correct color. The Crock Pot will keep it moist, and the fat should reach a nice consistency when it's done low and slow. Maybe use the same wine you are serving it with as a base in the pot. I'd also suggest using some fresh orange juice and zest. If you have a blender, you can take half an orange, skin and all, and throw it in a blender with some of the wine and some herbs (rosemary and something else maybe? Not too much to overwhelm it though) until it is smooth. Strain it through something (sieve or fine colander) to get rid of the solids. If you want to stay classy, maybe find some rainbow carrots, onion, and potatoes. If you want some color, and can find them, I am quite fond of the look purple potatoes give. Then again, if you're using a red wine as the base the purple potatoes won't really matter.

This is just kind of off the top of my head though. I think the orange would go nicely with the duck and the "peppery" taste that a cab franc is said to lend to other blends. One thing I would worry about is it being too acidic. I'm not a huge wine drinker, I prefer beer and whisky, so I can't say exactly how it'll turn out.

[Siccmade]

Mojo, I've gotta go w/ Isladar. If you just bought it, you're likely tasting the manufacturing still. A lot of times you need (should) cook a rinse cycle or two.

Toki, thanks for that. I'm more of a beer drinking, hard liquor swigging type as well but we have so many wineries within an easy drive out here that my folks and I have been getting into it. My buddy's wife is hosting and she's got years of soul in her food so I'm trying to impress w/ both the look and flavor. I've only ate Duck once and it was from a Chinese restaurant, I have zero palate. I'm going to go w/ what you said about the orange, herbs and coloring. I'll try to post some pics for good measure.

[Tokitoki]

Toki, thanks for that. I'm more of a beer drinking, hard liquor swigging type as well but we have so many wineries within an easy drive out here that my folks and I have been getting into it. My buddy's wife is hosting and she's got years of soul in her food so I'm trying to impress w/ both the look and flavor. I've only ate Duck once and it was from a Chinese restaurant, I have zero palate. I'm going to go w/ what you said about the orange, herbs and coloring. I'll try to post some pics for good measure.

As a second herb, I'd go with sage I think. You don't want to go too heavy on the herbs; duck itself is quite nice. I'd say get some butter going in a pan, add some fresh, chopped sage. Let it brown and bubble (usually 2 minutes or so) then put the duck in the pan skin side down and give it a nice sear. This would be the basis of a brown-butter sage sauce and would give the duck breast a nice caramel color. Throw the rosemary in the blender with the orange and wine; again not too much rosemary since it can be overpowering.

Of course a little salt & pepper on the duck before going in the pan as well.

[Jicent]

I'm classy as shit and as such I'm attending a Wine & Food Pairing dinner on Saturday. My thought is to go with Duck as it potentially pairs well with my wine (Cab Franc). I have reservations though, mainly because I've not cooked Duck in any capacity ever and also because I'm not classy as shit.

I plan to Crock Pot and cook it similar to a Pot Roast w/ carrots, potatoes, onion etc. I'd like to hear suggestions because honestly I feel like I'm taking easy mode and I ducked the uhh... fancier recipes.

Any ideas that would make this stand out? My classiness is on the line here.

Make duck coq au vin it's a classic French dish made with red wine and duck, and it's delicious. Just google the recipe there are a few from food network that are probably good.

Edit: forgot to say its a braised dish, so you can do it in the crock pot.

[SamanosukeShiva]

Make sure when using duck, depending on how big it is, you'll need to skim some of the fat off, cooking that long is probably gonna render a lot of fat. Some fat is fine but you dont want a big pool of fat on top. Personally I dont like my potatoes and carrots overly soft especially when cooking on crock pot, so I'd cook the duck and onion/wine/spices in crock pot by itself, and at halfway point, skim the fat, and put in the vegs and finish cooking all the way.

[Psion]

I know the show "Good Eats" has at least one video on cooking duck, and as others have mentioned, the crispy skin is one of the best parts. I'm sure if you wiki the good eats episodes list and just do ctrl +f "duck" you should find the episode in short order. You tube has some person called goodeatscomplete that had most of the episodes up too.

If you don't know what the show is, i highly recommend it. very entertaining and informative, and every recipe i've tried from it has come out fantastic, and the techniques he teaches have helped me drastically improve my cooking skills, from decent to delicious.

[Kerberoz]

If you don't know what the show is, i highly recommend it. very entertaining and informative, and every recipe i've tried from it has come out fantastic, and the techniques he teaches have helped me drastically improve my cooking skills, from decent to delicious.

This. Watch the whole damn series. He actually teaches you to cook, as opposed to just teaching a couple recipes like most cooking shows do.

[Psion]

This. Watch the whole damn series. He actually teaches you to cook, as opposed to just teaching a couple recipes like most cooking shows do.

I wish we could like... clone alton brown a few thousand times, and have each clone make a series about different subjects, like chemistry, calculus, physics, finances, etc. Then we would have entertaining informative information on every topic and no one would go unlearned! (seriously, every teacher i've asked about regarding shows that are fun and informative about their subject has stared at me like i've grown two extra heads. my calculus professor said that he "didn't believe" in weird teaching methods and that the only way to learn math is to do the problems over and over again. he didn't seem to understand the concept that making a subject funny and engaging the audience is the best way to make what you learn stick in your head, instead of turning them into math zombies every class period.)

But yes, watch the series. you won't regret it. i wasn't even that into cooking, yet the shows were so hilarious that i watched the entire series, in my spare time, and looked forward to each episode. I.... I even bought a food processor because of it ;; i love it though, i even made chocolate bark using the melting method he described in his art of darkness episode for my moms birthday. it came out perfectly snappy and awesome, and she got her favorite combo of cranberry, chocolate, and almond.

My only regret is that he didn't seem to have any real mention on crockpot recipes, i think he might have covered one or two only.

[Blubbartron]

I wish we could like... clone alton brown a few thousand times, and have each clone make a series about different subjects, like chemistry, calculus, physics, finances, etc. Then we would have entertaining informative information on every topic and no one would go unlearned! (seriously, every teacher i've asked about regarding shows that are fun and informative about their subject has stared at me like i've grown two extra heads. my calculus professor said that he "didn't believe" in weird teaching methods and that the only way to learn math is to do the problems over and over again. he didn't seem to understand the concept that making a subject funny and engaging the audience is the best way to make what you learn stick in your head, instead of turning them into math zombies every class period.)

But yes, watch the series. you won't regret it. i wasn't even that into cooking, yet the shows were so hilarious that i watched the entire series, in my spare time, and looked forward to each episode. I.... I even bought a food processor because of it ;; i love it though, i even made chocolate bark using the melting method he described in his art of darkness episode for my moms birthday. it came out perfectly snappy and awesome, and she got her favorite combo of cranberry, chocolate, and almond.

My only regret is that he didn't seem to have any real mention on crockpot recipes, i think he might have covered one or two only.

He's right about math. There's no way to make the ridiculous number of formulas you need to use for complex integration fun and engaging. You simply have to memorize them. And you need to do enough problems to have the experience-backed intuition to reasonably "guess" which method of integrating is going to be the most successful for the problem in front of you.

[Zetanio]

Don't crockpot Duck. You *can* braise it and go that route but the best method of cooking is seared in a cast iron on the fat side and finished in the oven on high heat after draining fat (which you save to cook eggs in).

[SamanosukeShiva]

yeah, when I was learning how to make crispy skin duck, someone gave it a tip to just cook it like you cook bacon, low heat long time skin side down to render the fat off the skin till crispy.

[Zetanio]

SHA BAM!



Pork chops on top of sweet taters.

Spices:
Sekrit Zet Spice rub(contains paprika, salt, pepper and stuff)
More *NEW* hungarian HOT paprika
Sriracha drizzle
Worchesterchestershireshire sauce - some spirnkles
little bitta wata - q cup
4 Berkshire pork chops raised with silver spoons and shot with a big gun

and a little soy sauce, because you should put a little in EVERYTHING you slowcooker.

[Zetanio]

Helllloooooooo slowcookers!

Ze Butt

Spoiler: show

Ze seasoning and vinegar

Spoiler: show

Pre-sauce (Going to be add-your-own-sauce because girls are finicky)

Spoiler: show