Grumpy old men and gourmets

So you dont eat animore, this may give you an appetite.

I bought a couple of new pans yesterday, (ceramic coated) made in Germany,  they arrived today and i had to try them out.

Get a clean pork filet about 300 gr cut it to 2.5 cm slices press these flat with your hand or hit it hard with the flat side of a big knife, season the pieces with salt and cayenne pepper, set aside. Chop 100 gr of sliced bacon about 10 to 15 mm wide, add 25 gr of butter to your new 25 cm pan when hot add the bacon, slice some 300 gr of champions add this to pan when the bacon is half cooked (starting to get light brown) flip it like professional cook or just stir it with a spoon until the champs start to get light brown, set aside, in the same pan add 25 gr of butter and add 1 chopped (very small dices) red onion, when soft and clear add 2 strings of copped celery 1 half of red and green bell pepper, let cook on middle heat about 10 min, while flipping occasionally, add the bacon and champions, high heat, flip off and on until very hot, add 3 dl of beef soup (powder or homemade) and 1-2 dl cream, let cook up and set it to simmer, start your oven on 150 C. now start your new 30 cm pan with 25 gr of butter, let get light brown on high heat, add the filet pieces, about 3 min each side, just searing, Check the vegs and add 1 spoon of Maizena mixed well with a little water, add slowly and let cook up in between to get the consistency you like and to assemble it. Add it all to the bigger pan and put it in the oven for 15-30 min. then serve it with white potatoes, spaghetti or  just a green salad. When the pan comes out of the oven, place it on low heat and season with salt and cayenne pepper or whatever you like. enjoy with your wife and 2 other persons, or eat it 2-3 days in a row.

An arctic char about to swim into the smoker...

Beautiful fish. And I love Arctic Char, a wonderful fish. I usually wind up poaching or pan searing it with grains of paradise, some salt, and olive oil.

My BIL has recently gotten a smoker, we went to his house to help break in his new pool. He made smoked salmon and a pork butt in the smoker, both were just outstanding. Makes me think about getting a smoker.

And 45 minutes later...

I use the smoker quite a bit, but only in summer as this is obviously an outdoor activity. This is an electric smoker - some might call that heresy, but I believe the smoke doesn’t care much what created it. And you have at least some idea how long it’s going to take. Haven’t really tried much else than various fish, though. Usually great results, but small vendaces are easy to overdo.

The actual recipe this time - for the smoke, cuttings of alder, a fresh twig of juniper and a couple of cubes of dark sugar (gives the fish a nice deep brown colour, probably doesn’t affect the taste). The fish needs only some sea salt inside in advance.

Beautiful fish! Looks delicious. My BILs is an electric smoker too, I agree, the smoke doesn't care where it comes from other than the quality of the wood and other add ins such as you used.