Blackening- was Re: [Sca-cooks] Steak

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Phlip:
>  > Properly done, ah, there's the rub, if you'll pardon the pun.
>>  Well that makes sense as far as it goes.  Not everyone who
>>  attempts this trick is a Prudhomme, or even an Adamantius.
>
>Or even a Phlip ;-) It's an interesting technique, but it does require
>practice and a good blower in your kitchen, or else being done outside. What
>irritates me is the (professional, presumably) cooks at restaurants who
>advertise the technique, and either try to feed you burned food, or are TOO
>careful, and send it out bronzed. When I first heard of it, I figured it was
>just up my alley, with my love for spicy foods, and I was surprised that the
>hot flavor was as mild and sweet as it was. But, then, as with any new
>texhnique, I read the instructions and tried it until I got it right. Just
>one of those thangs, I guess.

This is like the POWs my Dad was in charge of in Normandy. They saw
American cooks stirring the powdered eggs in galvanized tubs and a
paddle that looked like an oar, and of course they were terrible. So
they got somebody to --get this-- translate the instructions, word
for word, more or less, into German. It turns out powdered eggs
aren't nearly as bad when you follow the instructions.

>  > I'm about to go back on the low-carb regimen, so there's
>>  a fair amount of steak in my future, but not much sugar,
>>  caramelized or otherwise.
>
>Don't think there's enough sugar in the crust of a properly blackened piece
>of meat to interfere with your diet- just enough to give a mild sweet/hot
>flavor.

Blackening mixtures frequently contain a bit of onion powder. A
little goes a fairly long way; and if you don't go wild, it's like a
whopping gram of carb added to your steak. I also am not sure whether
caramel qualifies as a fully metabolizable sugar...

Adamantius

--
"No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes
deserves to be called a scholar."
	-DONALD FOSTER