Carnivore #20 : Baked Chicken Leg

 

Baked Chicken Leg.



The 3 Steps.



1. The Prep.



2. The Oven.



3. The Serve.

Two pieces of chicken legs.

#1. The Prep.


Clean the chicken.

Rub some seasalt over it.

Rinse off.

Pat dry with ...

kitchen papers.

#2 : The Oven.


Grease the oven tray.

Add seasalt.


Add pepper.


Add paprika.

Add excess butter lumps

 left on tray.

Oven at 200c @ 30 minutes.


No pre-heat.

At 10 minutes,

I rotate the tray.



I suddenly remember

the black and white

flatbread incident. 

At 15 minutes.

Flip over.



Season same way.



Seasalt.



Pepper.



Paprika.

Bast the chicken with

 the pan drippings.

Return to Oven.


Wire rack is up one level.


For a crispier skin.

At 30 minutes.


The aroma is like KFC.


The skin looks crispy.

#3 : The Serve.


Enjoy the roasted chicken

with scramble eggs.



Spoon the pan juices

over the chicken.

The skin is surprisingly crispy.

It must be the seasalt scrub.

Yummy delicious.


So good and satisfying.

The Carnivore Lifestyle.

Carnivore #19 : Cottage Crisps

Cottage Crisps.

A no-carb snack.


The 2 ingredients.


Cottage Cheese / a small tub.


Orange Cheddar / for topping

The cottage cheese.

Wet the oven tray

 to hold the baking sheet

 better.

Scoop a teaspoon

of cottage cheese.

Arrange the cottage balls

 on the oven tray.

Flatten the cottage balls.

Ngam-ngam.

Just nice for one tray.

Cut an inch of a cheese block.

Grate it.

Pinch a handful ...

and place above the cottage circles.

So far,  so good.

Looks promising.

Pop the tray in the oven.



180c @ 40 minutes.



No pre-heat.



Rotate halfway.

At 40 minutes.



At 20 minutes midway, 

as I rotate the tray,

I notice

water

 around the circles.



I am alarmed.



Naturally. 



AI says not to panic, 

 and that the moisture

at the 20 minute point

 is

 "completely normal."

So at 40 minutes,

I remove the tray

from the oven.



Much of the moisture

 has disappeared.



I peer down

 to have a closer look.




Hmmm.




Frown. 




The carnivore chips

 look like

they have

melted into

 and

 become one

with the

parchment paper.




Shrug.



Dismiss the concern.



I decide that

that's 

"completely normal"

too.



We will leave the crisps out

to cool completely

and check again later.



About 30 minutes later.

After the 30 minute cool down, 


peel the crisps


 from the baking sheet.

I am surprise

they come away easily.

Ahhh.



Lo and behold.



I find a Winner.



It's beautiful.



I present that solo crisp

 to Bryan.



He takes it,

clearly impressed.



I hold my breath,

watch him take a bite,

and waited in anticipation

 for his comment.



He is munching and

nodding away,

as he looks and admires

the Winner in his hand.



He says

in disbelief,



"Hmmm.



Very good.



Very crispy.



Very nice."





Hear that?



I secretly beam with pride ...

but not for long

because the moment

I lay the plate of crisps down, 

we could see immediately

 that the rest are -


different.



Unlike the Winner ...



the others look

a tad too limp

and a tad too soft.



We take a bite.




Chew.




Chew




Chew.




We chew quietly.



I wait for Bryan to say

 something.



Instead, 


I see him suddenly busy

scrolling on his handphone,

 avoiding my gaze

and chewing to himself.





Oh.




This 




is




 not




good.





I finally break the silence,


 "How do you say

masuk angin

in English?"



It can't be



enter wind ...



Literal translation.



The reply is instant.


"Not crunchy."




Now was that so hard?




Yeah, he's right.



Somehow ...


the rest of the crisps


are soft, 


chewy


 and


 not crunchy.



Like masuk angin already.




So darn weird.



A tray of cottage chips, 

that goes into an oven

together,

all basking under

the same heat,

comes out with only

ONE

that is perfect.



How do you explain this

phenomenon?



I can't.



Unbeknownst to me, 

my culinary resume

has somehow expanded

to include the

 impossible.



That aside,

thankfully,

the taste is still

 incredibly


AWESOME


despite the

mystery.



Chewy or crunchy,

each precious

little crisp

is still a

HIGH PROTEIN

snack.




That,

 in itself,

is already so

mind-blowing

incredible.



Until the next try.



We will bake

 10 minutes longer

to dry the stubborn moisture

 and crisp the chips better.



Enjoy the cottage crisps.



No crunch.



Never mind.



Still good.



Chewy and gooey!



So addictive!



We chew the rest of them up.



Moooooooo ...

The Carnivore Lifestyle. 

Carnivore #18 : Reverse-Seared Ribeye

Reverse-Seared Ribeye.



The 3 Steps.



1. The Prep.



2. The Oven Cook.



3. The Pan Sear.

#1. The Prep.


Straight from the tray

to the paper towels.



Bryan is busy at the computer.



I'm in charged.



Normally, 

 I wouldn't think twice

about rinsing the meat

before cooking

 but I know how Bryan

 feels about his

ribeye steak. 



Skip the Spa.

Pat dry with paper towels.



Season with seasalt all over.



Generously.

#2. The Oven Cook.


Place the steaks on a wire rack

 over an oven tray.

Low temperature cook.



100c @ 30 mins.



No pre-heat.

At 30 minutes.

#3. The Pan Sear.


Heat up the cast-iron pan

till it is screaming hot.


Bryan is doing the sear.


Add ghee to prepare

the pan  for ...

the sear.



Gently lower the steaks

 onto the pan.



Leave it to sizzle

undisturbed

for a minute or so.

Flip over.

Nice.

Add butter.

Spoon the hot fats ...

over the steaks.

Bast on high heat

for a quick few seconds.

The steaks are done.


Remove and place to rest

on a serving board.

Pour the pan drippings

into a dipping-saucer.

Add a slab butter.

Hey, presto!


The dipping sauce.

As it turns out ...

the steaks are not ...

medium-rare ...

but more to just medium.

Still delicious ...

with the

dipping sauce, 

as we lick

the platter clean.



For the record, 

 the reverse technique

did not quite work here

 because the steaks,

apparently,

are not thick enough.



The ribeye should be

1.5 to 2 inches thick

 for this method to produce

a medium-rare. 



How do I know?



I uh, 

complained to

my good friend, AI,

and received this

enlightenment.

The Carnivore Lifestyle.