Sous Vide Lamb Chops with Cherry Rum Gastrique

A gastrique is a French-inspired sweet and sour sauce.

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar

dash sea salt

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup apple cider vinegar

2 cups pureed cherries

¼ cup spiced rum

Instructions:

1. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan.  The sugar should have the consistency of wet sand.  Heat on high and continue to move with spatula.  Add butter.

2. After 20-30min the sugar will begin to brown and caramelize.  Don’t allow to burn, but darken to the desired effect.

3.  Add the vinegar.  This will cool the sugar and it will look like dog poop.  Continue to heat until the sugar has dissolved into the vinegar.

4.  Add the pureed cherries and the rum.  Stir and allow to reduce on low heat.

That's the sauce, which I set aside until it was time to remove the lamb chops from the water bath.

The lamb chops were cooked with my Anova at 130 dF, which I changed to 132 dF for the last hour. I'm not sure that had an effect, but they were perfect.

Instead of searing, I placed the wet chops in a mixture of whole wheat flour, freshly chopped parsley, and salt and pepper and then seared them in a pan of hot olive oil.

The results were amazing.  The presentation did look a little like a murder scene, and I was expecting the gastrique to be less viscous, though it did not detract from the flavor.

I Got an Android Tablet, and it Really Makes Me Appreciate My iPad

I've been the owner of a Asus Nexus 7 Android tablet for a little more than 24 hours.  This the first Android device I've actually owned, though I do have plenty of experience developing on the platform.  My initial thoughts?  It's just not as good as my iPad.  There; said it.

After opening the box and turning on the device, I spent over an hour-and-half updating the operating system and apps to first Jelly Bean, and then Kit-Kat.  This reminded me of getting a new Windows computer!

The Windows memories also came back when I realized that several of the out-of-box apps that were updating themselves were of absolutely no use to me.  I have no need for Google's Korean IME, or Pinyin character apps, yet I can't get rid of them or hide them from the Play Store.

And after those two system upgrades, the only difference I noticed was an updated icon on the Settings app...

Vertically scrolling through a webpage in Chrome is not the smooth visual on the Nexus.  The text moves in a jerky fashion and you can't read words in motion because they are blurry.  I end up reading, pausing, scrolling, reading.  It's a detail that Apple got right.

A small detail that I found peculiar is that when I open the view of currently running apps by touching the Menu(? -- I just had to Google what that button was named), you can close the apps by sliding them away.  This is similar to closing apps in iOS 7, but on Android you can't slide more than at the same time.  After double-pressing the Home button on the iPad, you can swipe up several apps at a time to close them.

After using the Nexus for an hour or so with just casual usage, the biggest difference in my opinion became known.  The bottom-left part of the Nexus became warm because of processor use, but only in a small spot.  Without any prompting, I handed it to my girlfriend and asked her what she thought of the device.  She immediately said, "It doesn't feel like an Apple product.  It's warm on the bottom, but cold on the top."

"It doesn't feel like an Apple product."  She's right, and it took using a non-Apple product to highlight that.

My Humble 2014 Tech Predictions

It's January and every blogger is coming up with a predictions column; why the heck can't I get involved?

Prediction #1 -
Home Automation will still fail to gain traction in 2014.  For a guy who loves gadgets, wants to automate routine tasks, and lives in a house, I sit at the center of the Venn Diagram of people clamoring for this technology to take off.  But we're just not ready.

Take something as routine as unlocking a door.  In the past year we've seen at least 4 vapor-ware projects trying to tackle this (Lockitron, August, Kevo, and Goji to rattle off a few).  Only one is actually available to purchase and none will be able to solve my problem.

I have what's called an "interconnected deadbolt lock" and it's regulated by my HOA so I can't change the outside at all.  An interconnected deadbolt essentially lets you turn the interior handle to disengage the deadbolt.  It's actually a superior ergonomic design and offers an argument for added safety.

(The argument for added safety is that in a panic, someone attempting to exit the unit might not release the deadbolt and turn the door handle.  The door would obviously not open and might exacerbate panic.  "Why won't it open?!?")  Did I mention that these interconnected deadbolts are actually required in certain buildings per code; namely nursing homes and apartment complexes...two ripe targets for lock automation if I can think of any.

Beyond automating door locks, there are still no good ways to automate window shades, lighting, or HVAC unless you have $40k to spend on a Crestron system.

I think systems that are actually on the market and people are talking about, almost exclusively from Nest, will whet whistles, but not create an industry this year.


Prediction #2 -
Money will continue to evolve.  As a child, money was rectangular green paper in a birthday card.  Today it's a number on a screen.  My credit cards are simply numbers.  Bank accounts...numbers.  We're moving away from a physical currency for our day-to-day, be that good bad or indifferent.

In 2014, we will be hearing more of Bitcoin, and expect a deluge of products like Coin to help better manage all those numbers.  I still expect to see Cash4Gold commercials, and authentic reproductions of old minted silver pieces advertised on late-night TV (actually not, see Prediction #4), but our wallets will first slim, then become digital, then merge completely with our phones.

Alternative point of sale systems like Square showed up for sale in Starbucks this year.  Taxis, farmers' markets, and single-day events were all cash-only until Square made it dead simple to collect credit cards.  And consumers love it!

I think big things will happen in 2014, and continue to happen for the foreseeable future.


Prediction #3 -
We might start paying attention to cyber security and may start understanding it.  Edward Snowden brought the conversation about encryption, hacking, and cyber security to the American living room last year.  Average folks who use technology, but don't exactly understand it and taking notice.  Throw in the various high-profile hacking attacks the media exposed in 2013, and it forces the discussion.

I think the security industry is ready to flood the market this year with new products and services and a side-effect of their marketing efforts will be an abundance of education.  The consumer space will become more educated, demand more-transparency, and get it from the industry.


Prediction #4 -
Cables being cut by your average Joe.  My girlfriend tried to cancel her Cox cable subscription this year and just keep Internet access.  Cox, in an effort to save "subscriber count", gave her a years' worth of cable service for free.  (And we can still count on two hands the times we've used it.)  That's the sign of a product in trouble, and that's the only product the cable industry has.

We use Netflix and Hulu at home.  On airplanes, we download movie rentals from iTunes.  Neither of us own a DVD or Blue-ray player.  It's all digital and "early adopters" have already cut the cable.  I don't think we're quite that "early"; I think we're in the group of critical mass and soon everyone will be cutting cable.  My parents may not cut their cable this year, but I guarantee they'll never add it at their new beach house.  They might add Internet so they can watch Netflix, though.

Beef Eye of Round Sous Vide

The meat traditionally used in a baked roast beef has wonderful qualities when cooked sous vide.  Wonderful "steak-like" qualities.

Last night I cooked an Eye of Round sous vide at 131 deg F for 6.5 hours.  Added in the bag was some olive oil, salt, pepper, a splash of white marsala, and a splash of left-over Cabernet.  I removed it and seared with Sumrall's new propane blow torch.

I had a slight problem with air trapped in the vacuum bag.  I'm not sure if that was just a poor vacuum job on my part, or if the meat had water trapped inside.

Results were certainly adequate, but not as impressive as the last-time I made the dish.  I believe I might have had too much salt, or cooked for too long, as it was tender, but slightly drier than I was hoping. 

Ray Morgan .22LR #57

My great-uncle Ray Morgan was  gunsmith.  I never knew him, but apparently his .22 long rifles are to this day highly-regarded among competitive small-bore, prone shooters.

What Ray actually produced from his shop in New Haven, Conn were .22 caliber bolt actions.  When combined with a barrel, a trigger, and a stock, you have yourself a full rifle.  Morgan rifles are most-similar to either a Winchester Model 52, or a Remington 37.

Just yesterday I was fortunate enough to acquire a Ray Morgan -- Number 57.  There are less than 80 Ray Morgan rifles in existence (some say less than 60), and I've had my eye out for one for several years now.  This particular rifle is nice as its previous owner had been a gentleman named, George Stephens.  George had written an article about this particular rifle for Precision Shooting magazine, August 1999, so it's history is well-documented.  Mr. Stephens has unfortunately passed.

As with most competitive rifles, #57 has been modified over the years.  In the condition I acquired it, it's original Johnson barrel had been replaced by a stainless steel Hart barrel with a custom-built scope rail.  It has been re-stocked and pillar bedded in November of 1997 with a laminated walnut stock by Alex Sitman.  It has a Sam Gates rear sight and a Ray Steel front sight.  Family history aside, it's a very nice rifle and I'll probably never been a good-enough shot to appreciate its quality.

When I went to Plunsteadville, PA to pick-up the rifle from Gary Quinlan, I made sure to have him explain proper care to me:

Four Little Pigs Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin for the 4th

When shopping recently for some MEAT, I came across the following in the meat cooler at Costco:

1. St. Louis cut pork spare ribs, for $5.99 /lb
2. Pork baby back ribs, for $2.59 /lb
3. Pork tenderloin, for $2.39 /lb

This means that the best-quality meat was actually the cheapest, so I walked out with 8.49 lbs of a whole pork tenderloin.  As they say, "we're eating high on the hog tonight!"

Approximately 5 lb. of pork tenderloin.

I saved about 3 lb. to either grill and/or smoke and cut the remaining tenderloin into 4 equal "chunks" for sous vide.  The filets were flavored with the following: (from left to right)

My four little pigs for the 4th of July.

1. Wild dried rosemary with salt and pepper.  The rosemary came from the lighthouse keeper's garden at Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego, CA.  Don't worry, the ranger was giving away excess trimmings to visitors since they were worried the rosemary bush was taking over too much of the garden.  It was just luck we were there at that time.  Unfortunately, I took the photo prior to seasoning this filet, so it's shown pristine.

2. Pink Himalayan sea salt and freshly-ground pepper

3. Brown sugar, honey and tarragon

4. Byrons' Butt Rub, my go-to pork dry rub

Pink Himalayan sea salt and freshly-ground pepper.

Brown sugar, honey, and tarragon.  An additional squirt of honey was injected into the bag before vacuum-sealing.  Photo taken prior to tarragon being added.

Byrons' Butt Rub.

Results:

The 135 F was a much better temperature than the 145 F I used previously for pork.  The meat was nice and tender.  The only two I prepared were the Rosemary and the Brown sugar, honey, tarragon.  The consensus was that the Rosemary yielded much stronger flavor.  The latter was far more subtle, though I would continue to experiment with that flavoring in the future.

The pork was removed at 5pm, having been in the water bath at 135 F since 10:30am.  Two were immediately frozen and two were seared and served.

Pre-seared.  The Rosemary pork is on the bottom.

Nice searing.

More nice searing.

Post-searing.

Sliced and served.

Nice color, very tender texture, good flavor.

Nice slice of the tenderloin.

Pork Chili for the 4th of July

What to do with left-over smoked baby back ribs on the 4th of July?  How about a slow-cooked chili? The best part of making this recipe on Independence Day is that if you have already started drinking, it does not matter.  All of the ingredients are to taste.  I threw it in a crock pot over night and sat back.

Sumrall and I didn't even bother to de-bone the ribs; after a bit, the meat just falls off.  This chili is quite spicy, so I rinsed the ribs before giving them to Ele and Patotas.

Here's what went in:
- 1 rack of smoked baby back ribs
- Large can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 cans of cannellini beans
- Cumin powder
- Brown sugar
- Whole, peeled garlic bud
- Cocoa powder
- Molasses
- 365 Blackened Cajun Spice
- Tomato paste
- 1 12oz bottle of amber ale
- Salt
- Pepper
- Water
- Frank's RedHot
- 2 tablespoons of cayenne powder
- Paprika

Mmmm....chili...

See the bone from the baby back rib.  The meat separated after only a short time cooking.

Results of Carolina Style BBQ Sauce

After setting the fridge for a couple of days, I took out my three different versions of my Carolina-style BBQ sauce.  This is a vinegar-based sauce, with a spicy kick.

Version 1:

Considered the best; offered the smoothest flavor.  I think this is a function of the paprika, which helped to cover up the cayenne.

Version 2:

The least favorite.  "Cayenne is a very agressive flavor".

Version 3:

People thought this had an "Asian" flavor to it, similar to the hot sauces you'd see at Filipino restaurant.

What's behind jar #1?  Jar #2?  Jar #3?

Rob enjoying the meat.

Ultimately, I wasn't that pleased with any of the versions and want to go back to the drawing board on Carolina-style.  I'd like to use white vinegar as a base next time and need to find something that makes the sauce a colloidal suspension.  I heard garlic, ketchup or xantham gum and will report back.

Smoked Whole Chickens

I was so apprehensions to smoke whole chickens because others had scared me with things like, "The chicken is a different thickness all over, so it's difficult to get a consistent cook." Or, "You only ever get either the white meat or dark meat done well. The other doesn't come out."

Well, I tried two whole birds and was amazed at the results. Here's the story.

Meat:

2 whole chickens, one cut spatcock and one left whole

Rub (Spatcock chicken):

Sea salt

Pepper

Cayenne pepper

Paprika

Lemon salt

Rub (Whole chicken):

Sea salt

Pepper

Rosemary

Thyme

Wood:

Mesquite 75%, leftover Pecan 25%

Chickens were placed in smoker at 12:45pm and set at 225 F.  The bag of wood chips was opened and a little water poured in, then agitated to wet the wood.  The wood was completely charred by 2:15pm and more was added.  That wood was completely charred by 3:30pm and again by 4:15pm.  By 5:11pm the internal temperature was still 145 F and the temperature was raised on the smoker to 250 F.  Chickens were removed at 7:15pm with an internal temperature reading of 165 F.

Results:

When the whole chicken’s breast was pierced with a paring knife at 7pm, a gush of clear liquid ran out.  I felt like a Roman sentry on Calgary.  The chicken was extremely juicy, extremely moist and tender.  It rivaled the texture of sous vide chicken breasts.

The flavors were a toss up; each had its merits.

The spatcocking vs the whole chicken seemed to produce no different results.  Chicken stock was made with the remaining carcuses.  

I consider this an extremely good first attempt at chicken smoking.

The rosemary chicken on the left and the spatcock, spicy chicken on the right.  It was a whole lot more fun to do the spatcock bird.

Chickens were placed in the smoker at 225 F.  They took about 2 hours longer than I expected.

Laid out and ready to carve.

Delicious, tender, tender meat.  I didn't notice a difference in moisture between the whole chicken and the spatcock one.

We Need a Standard Database Front-End Platform

How many companies out there offer a product that is simply a fancy front-end to a database?  There's a ton!

How many enterprise solutions that get sold boil down to a flavored front-end to a database?  They have forms, lists, validation, linkage...all basic database stuff.  But this database front-end is for expenses!  It's completely different from that database front-end to manage customers!  Or the one for IT data!  Or the one I use on the weekends to view the homes for sale in my city!

How much duplicity of effort exists between these disparate tools simply to provide a user-friendly way to manage data?  How many startups waste their first several development cycles simply developing a system, flavored to their target market.

There are many...too many.

The reason being is that SQL has failed us.  To clarify the blame, it's failed us in the prospect that it's an easy way to get data in and out of databases.  SQL is not.  It has not kept up with times, with user expectations, or with the way we work and it's left this void that countless companies attempt to fill with their products.  These products get bought up no matter what they cost since they are the only available option to real people who need to do real work with data.

Where is the standard, visual, open source platform for managing data?  I am not talking about phpMyAdmin; that's a visual, open source tool to manage a database.  What can I use to manage the data, to build processes around it, and to structure reports?

Just think if there was a standard platform available, just how much faster to value any data-centric tool could be?  Instead of each development team spending 3 years creating the same middleware piece, they could immediately just build specifically what the users needed.  It could be pretty, it would be easy to use and it could provide immediate value.  We would be so much further ahead of ourselves.

Anyone have the jump start on such a project?  I'm interested.

Improvements to the Panel Mount Connector

I haven't been happy with the 3-prong panel mount connector on my sous vide temperature controller which connected the RTD probe to the PID controller.  The connector had a spring-slide on it to keep it in place and I just didn't like the ergonomics of connecting and disconnecting it.

I then started building a replacement connector using a 2.5mm TRRS "headphone" style jack.  My goal with that was, in a pinch, be able to use the thermocouple probes from my iGrill and/or Maverick since they used 2.5mm TS style jacks.  At the end of the day, I just could not get the solder to hold well enough and had to switch to a 3.5mm TRS connector.

Now, the RTD probe has three wires to connect.  These headphone jacks, in any size, can have 2, 3, or 4 wire connections.  They are called, "tip", "ring" and "sleeve" connections in a nod to the old telephone switchboard days.  If there are three connections, it is "TRS" for Tip, Ring, Sleeve".  If there are four connections (like on your iPhone), they are "TRRS" for Tip, Ring, Ring, Sleeve.

And, again, I used 3.5mm TRS to hookup the RTP probe.

The Auber PID controller has 3 leads for input from the temp. probe and they are shown here facing the camera on the right.  Notice that I left the original leads going to the first connector and simply added 3 new leads going to the "headphone" jack.  This allows me to use either temperature probe.

The 3.5mm TRS connector is slicker, easier to connect and more-familiar to end-users.

Sous Vide Chicken Breast with Paprika

I made some amazing chicken breasts recently.  First dusted with sea salt, pepper and paprika, the breasts were individually vacuum-bagged and cooked in the water over at 145 F for 3 hours.  There were then seared on the propane grill.

The result was perfect texture and great flavor!

This breast did not have paprika.  Notice the perfect, smooth and juicy texture.

Eight chicken breasts were cooked at once in my 12qt water bath.

Consistent color all the way through.

This was a separate chicken breast that was cooked for 145 F for  almost 5 hours.  While it was still juicy, it started to get "stringy", as you would expect if you were making pulled chicken.  I wasn't pulling this chicken, so it wasn't what I was going for, and will keep the time to 3hrs next time for breasts.

Carolina-style BBQ Sauce

I wanted to try my hand at a vinegar-based "Carolina-style" BBQ sauce.  After some Internet searching, I came up with a recipe and made two other variations for testing.  I'm going to let it rest in the fridge and test them later.

My initial thoughts are that I am not pleased that the ingredients are separating in the jars and believe I need to add something to make them colloidal suspensions.

Version 1
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons sea salt
1/4 cup cayenne
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Version 2
1.5 cups apple cider vinegar
1 tablspoon salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup cayenne

Version 3
1.5 cups apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup crushed red pepper flakes

I used apple cider vinegar as the base for each of the three versions of the sauce.

I picked up these really nice bowls from Smart & Final's restaurant supply section.

All my ingredients.  Missing from photo is the apple cider vinegar.  The top bag is cayenne pepper, paprika is below that and the red crushed pepper flakes are at the bottom.

Settin' out in a mason jar, "Carolina" style!

Smoked Duck Soup

What to do with a smoked duck?  I decided to de-bone it and prepare a duck soup stock.  I froze the broth in a large FoodSaver bag and eventually prepared a lovely duck soup.  The term "duck stock" is honestly quite an understatement as after boiling the bones, what's left behind is hearty enough to stand alone.

Duck Stock - "Caldo de pato"

- Carved duck carcas, divided into pieces

- 20cups cold water

- 3 celery sticks

- 8 mini carrots

- 1/4 onion

- 4 bay leaves

- Thyme

- Pepper

- Parsley

- Salt

Preparing the Duck stock: (similar recipe can be found here.)

1.  Took one whole duck, which I had previously smoked, deboned it and placed the bones in a cauldron of water.  The volume of water was purely dependent on the size of the cauldron.
2.  Added chopped onion, celery, carrots and other ingredients.  The vegetables were diced in larger pieces.
3. Add a crushed bay leaf, spices, and salt and pepper.
4.  Allow to simmer for about 2 hours.  Your kitchen area will smell fantastic during this process.

5.  After allowing to cool, pour through a cheesecloth to strain out all but the broth itself.
6.  The vegetables should be preserved for another project.  I'm not sure what that is yet, but the flavor they retain is remarkable.
7.  Freeze the stock; I chose to use my FoodSaver and ended up with two large bags.

Preparation of the Soup:  (Somewhat inspired by what I've found here.)

1.  Thaw the stock.
2.  Add chopped duck meat, mushrooms and spinach.
3.  Prepare your noodles separately.  I like farfalle, or fusilli.
4.  Place the noodles in bottom of the servering bowl.  Ladle soup in the bowl to cover and enjoy.

This is a very hearty soup and frankly might be too heavy for an appetizer.

Enjoy.