These days, when I wake up, I see something like this: Pavel, lying down partially covered by duvet, snuggled to my body pillow.
Month: January 2015
Really hits close too home…
Pimp my ride sled
We were talking about local places to go sledding, a few days ago during lunch, when a co-worker mentioned that it was a very sensible to buy “breakdown” insurance if we were to rent a sled. He also mentioned that he’d purchased one a little while ago, but didn’t get the optional cowhide cushion on it.
Pimp my sled, indeed :)
[recipe] Beef Stroganoff
Beef Stroganoff first appeared in Russian cookbooks in the mid 1800s, presumably named for a prominent member of the Stroganoff family. The dish became popular in the U.S. in the 1950s from servicemen returning from Europe and China after WWII.
If you substitute yogurt for the sour cream, use full fat yogurt, and make sure to take the pan off the heat before stirring it in or it may curdle.
70g butter
500g of top sirloin or tenderloin, cut thin
1/3 cup chopped shallots (can substitute onions)
250g button mushrooms, sliced
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp of dry tarragon or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh tarragon
1 cup of sour cream at room temperature
1 Melt half of butter in a large skillet on medium heat. Increase the heat to high/med-high and add the strips of beef. You want to cook the beef quickly, browning on each side, so the temp needs to be high enough to brown the beef, but not so high as to burn the butter. You may need to work in batches. While cooking the beef, sprinkle with some salt and pepper. When both sides are browned, remove the beef to a bowl and set aside.
2 In the same pan, reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots. Cook the shallots for a minute or two, allowing them to soak up any meat drippings. Remove the shallots to the same bowl as the meat and set aside.
3 In the same pan, melt last of the butter. Increase heat to medium high and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes. While cooking, sprinkle the nutmeg and the tarragon on the mushrooms.
4 Reduce the heat to low and add the sour cream to the mushrooms. You may want to add a tablespoon or two of water or stock to thin the sauce (or not). Mix in the sour cream thoroughly. Do not let it come to a simmer or boil or the sour cream may curdle. Stir in the beef and shallots. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice.
[recipe] Beer-Braised Brisket
Serve brisket with sauces, slaw, pickles, and rolls so guests can assemble into sandwiches.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup kosher salt, plus more
1 8–10-pound untrimmed flat-cut brisket
2 onions, thinly sliced
500ml can beer
Preparation
Mix brown sugar, mustard, oil, black pepper, cumin, paprika, cayenne, and 1/4 cup salt until smooth. Rub all over brisket, working into crevices. Wrap in plastic; chill 1–2 days. Let meat sit out until room temperature, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 325F/165C. Scatter onions in a large roasting pan and set brisket, fat side up, on top. Add beer; cover with foil. Braise until meat is very tender, 5–6 hours. Remove from oven; heat broiler. Broil brisket, uncovered, until top is browned and crisp, 5–10 minutes.
Let brisket cool slightly. Remove from pan and shred or slice. Remove onions with a slotted spoon; mix into brisket. Taste and moisten with some cooking liquid and season with salt, if needed.
Geekery ahead!
I just bought a home media PC. In a box the size of your hand, it packs as much computing power as a decent laptop (intel duar-core i3 processor, HD Graphics, and 8-channel audio), with 16GB of RAM and a 16GB SSD. It’s going to be connected to the TV, and via either an IR remote control or a wireless keyboard, we can bittorrent to our heart’s content and watch it as it streams :)
It’s going to be a replacement to the current play!on box, which is getting long in the tooth (and more importantly, the remote has been dropped so many times that it’s starting to disintegrate).
What phase is your project in?
Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.
Tim doesn’t give a shit
To quote Captain Kirk
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