I recently had the opportunity to make some Japanese A5 waygu for a celebration. I cooked these on a cast iron plate over a wood fired grill. In total it was 3 ribeye and 2 strips all of which were to die for. Textually the meet was practically falling apart and the flavour was out of the world. A phenomenal experience and recommended for everyone to try once.
A fall/winter classic that warms you up on a cold day and is a perfect dish for this time of the year. No real variations on the recipe a slow braised cut of beef pairs perfectly with polenta and then a light salad to balance it out.
I was able to get my hands on a couple bushels of home grown Ontario Pears 😉 and decided to try my hand at fruit wines. I juiced all the pears through my kitchenaid and then adjusted the juice with pectinase to clean it up and reduce cloudiness. I let this ferment in plastic jugs up to 10% abv which still had a bit of sweetness and was refreshingly tart.
Following my trip to Italy I have been craving Aperol spritz as it truly is a perfect drink for a hot summer day. The recipe is not overly complex but I do like a particular variation with a sugar cube placed at the bottom of the glass as it both adds flavor and provides a nucleation point for the Prosecco.
Vodka infusions are exceedingly simple and provide a great way to elevate a cocktail. The premise is simple, you use ethanol as a solvent to extract whatever flavor you want. I made 4 different infusions: chamomile, strawberry, pineapple and lemongrass. I have had improved results by using dried fruits as the end product is not diluted and I find I get faster infusions.
One of the ways to measure furnace efficiency/life is by measuring “temperature rise” (https://hvacrschool.com/furnace-air-temperature-rise/ ) which is effectively the temperature difference between the furnace inlet and furnace exhaust. A temperature rise too low or too high can indicate issues with the furnace and monitoring this can prevent very expensive repairs.
Rather than manually testing this every X months I decided this would be a cool project to automate and set alerts for if the temperature rise ever deteriorates. I bought a couple thermocouples and wired them up to a spare NodeMcu so that I could create a wireless data logger. One thermocouple was put into the exhaust and the other plugged into the inlet. Once implemented I was able to see a 25°c temperature rise which is inline for my furnace model. Next steps are setting up automatic alerts if the temperature difference starts trending out.
This is akin to process control where rather than run equipment to failure we find the key variables (indicators) and proactively measure them to preempt any failure. In a home settings this is relatively benign but in a large manufacturing setting, a fouled heat exchanger that is unable to raise the temperature high enough can cause millions in losses.
It can be said that most of us wouldn’t be alive here on earth without the invention and production of synthetic fertilizers. Though it has been a bit taboo in current culture, fertilizers have a significant impact on crop growth and for the normal individual an answer to the questions “why does my garden suck”.
The problem most individuals have (and I think this speaks to a more general theme in life) is that they don’t measure/monitor their soil health and pH. Test kits can be purchased for ~5$ and they measure pH, nitrogen, phosphorus and potash which are all vital to having your plants thrive.
I did a test for a couple of my large grow barrels that have been neglected for a bit and got very low levels across the board with low N (nitrogen), K (potash) and P (phosphorus). To boost the soil nutrients I add a general 10-10-10 fertilizer where each number refers to its N-P-K content.
Not much of a recipe, just a couple notes. Got this from a colleague who is an avid fisherman, the fish tasted great but cleaning and preparing the fish was a fair bit of work and makes you appreciate the convenience of supermarkets.
This is another recipe that is just perfect for a cold winter day. Very hearty and just cures the winter blues.
The beef short rib is fall of the bone tender and the butternut squash risotto is just a perfect fit for a hearty cold winter day.
Taking a bit of inspiration from other recipes this is perfect on a cold winter day. Oxtail is braised in a wine sauce until falling apart and served over wilted spinach and parsnip puree. This is all topped with a meet jus though I probably could have reduced and thickened it up a bit better. I definitely overdid the amount of parsnip puree but it was to die for so no complaints.
