Sorry for only replying now. Crazy week!
Oh yes, for sure. Temperature control is everything. If you cannot do that, you will end up with either raw inside or dry inside. Pork belly roast, if you get that crackling right, is something from heaven!
Oh absolutely. I stole a trick from Jamie Oliver that works every time. My own magic, is whether it's a piece of gammon or a pork belly, I stick it in a pot of cider 24 hours before roasting. It's obviously only the gammon that I boil, but that soak does something amazing to the meat on both very different roasts.
I stick it in a pot of cider 24 hours before roasting
Is this the Jamie Oliver trick?
That sounds really interesting though! Might try it out. When I braai meat, I always soak it in copious amounts of lemon juice, always makes the meat juicy and tender. Especially lamb/mutton.
Yes! Lemon juice, white or rose wine, garlic, salt and rosemary or lamb and mutton. Let that soak overnight and even mutton chops are tender!
Sorry for only replying now. Always behind schedule and the harder I try to stay on it, the more I struggle.
That sounds just divine. I love it. My other favourite is any steak, marinade with pepper, olive oil, lemon juice, and balsamic vinegar. That never disappoints.
That's ok, I've been so caught up with work I haven't been active for quite some time. I was in a great flow, but I feel a bit bedraggled and turned upside down at the moment.
Ah yes, let me pause to reflect on the perfect steak.
Salt, pepper, and or mustard seeds and olive oil = perfection
However, Gosh that does sound amazing! I've never tried the balsamic vinegar but now I'm intrigued! I'll have to give it a go for sure!
For sure! The balsamic vinegar is a great addition. With some steak, it just does something beautiful. It feels so strange, I have been doing it like that my whole life, so whenever I eat steak without it, something always feels lost.
I love the addition of mustard though! When you cook any meat with mustard, the condiment or the powder, something beautiful happens. A roast in the oven coated with mustard and then the gravy made with ample of the meat-juice-mustard-sauce, is something heavenly!
Valentine's steaks ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ the one was lazy aged. What a difference hey. I'm not sure if I told you but I spent 5 years working in a grill and butchery (Theo's in Mouille Point). An upper class restaurant with its own blockman which meant we cleaned, treated and aged all our meat. Everything from venison to biltong. I started out as just a waitress but I loved getting my hands dirty and getting involved in all aspects, especially when it came to my passions for wine and food. I eventually ended up in management because I aur I breathed was the industry.
I loved standing with the block man and learning with my own hands how to remove sinue, cut the perfect steaks, whether they were sirloin, rump or fillet and being able to identify each them on the pass. It made service much easier especially on busy nights!
I also was fascinated by dry and wet aging and enthralled by the amazing difference that love and care for the meat makes. No need for BBQ marinate omg 🫣🫣🫣🫣
Sorry for only replying now! Life hey. As soon as I think I have a tight grasp around its neck, it eludes me.
That is an awesome experience! I always wanted that, having worked in bakeries and such. But from my experience, few people know how to work with sourdough really. The head chef who appointed me also said as much, that they always lose their head baker because of the low pay and other places reaping everyone who can work with sourdough. Strange that baking in our country is still seen as such a low-ranked job despite the skillset being so scarce.
Anyways, those steaks look awesome! I love the Italian cooking philosophy: use as few ingredients as possible; it will both test your skill as a cook and it will highlight how amazing food tastes as you will savour the individual ingredients for what they can provide.