My father used to say, “Chuck doesn’t do anything in halves.” He was right: sometimes its a virtue and sometimes a curse. He and my mother taught me to cook, sometimes using cookbooks, like Julia Child's, but more frequently just winging it. This site is a roller coaster ride of recipes, articles, ingredients and anything else that involves cooking and presenting food. There is something here for everybody from beginners to experts.
Cooking Temps
Chicken breast 165, Chicken thigh 170 or more. Pork med well 145, Pork med 140, Rack of lamb med rare 131, Beef very rare 125, Beef rare 130,Beef med rare 135, Duck Breast 126, Salmon med 118, Disclaimer: USDA stds dictate much higher temps. To be super safe, cook everything until it is dry and crunchy, then toss it in the trash
Last Minute Party, with 16 guests, Oh My!
My wife called me at work to let me know that a dinner party had quickly developed for about 16 people, at our house in 2 hours! That gave me about 45min after getting home to produce something. No problem. We had 1/2 a beef tenderloin left from xmas dinner and a salmon fillet. Beef bourguignon and smoked salmon. My daughter Carrie went to work on some pasta dough, While her husband Clayton cut up the fillet. Mushrooms, onion and bacon were tossed into a skillet to brown. The salmon was coated with 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1/3 cup generic meat rub. Ideally the salmon would have been brined. Oh well. Into the smoker at 275 degrees and the temperature probe set to alarm when the salmon got to 125. At the last minute I decided to make Hollandaise sauce for the salmon. Everything came together without any issues. Great fun!
This is where it is nice to have some go-to recipes that you can pull off without worry. Smoked salmon is always a crowd pleaser and really, really easy. The beef bourguignon recipe sets out the work flow to get it done quickly. My dad taught me to make Hollandaise quickly using a blender when I was about 10. The noodles take a little practice.
