You can skip the introduction and jump to the recipe if you don’t care for my rambling palaver.

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Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week.

It’s taking me some effort to get used to Australian central time. With daylight saving, Adelaide is 30 minutes ahead of Brisbane and 30 minutes behind with standard time. It feels weird when I speak or send messages with family in Brisbane.

When I lived in Darwin, I could ignore the change in daylight saving because it was not adopted by Queensland (the greatest state in the federation) nor the Northern Territory (the greatest territory in the federation).

Carbon Steel

I haven’t been cooking much of interest lately. When I’ve been home, I’ve been cooking beef steaks (various cuts), lamb chops, beef mince, and beef short ribs. Breakfasts have been eggs. Mostly scrambled and sometimes fried.

For anything pan-fried, I’ve been using my carbon steel frypan. It’s a Matfer 30 cm diameter frypan.

Before moving to Adelaide, I had seasoned it in preparation for the move and accidentally left it on a hot electric ring for about 45 minutes. I’d been outside and hadn’t noticed the smoke. When the frypan cooled, I noted the surface had a peculiar feel. It wasn’t sticky, nor was it smooth. It felt like I was dragging my finger across emery paper. I wondered what the surface composition was. I speculated what may have happened to the steel surface under prolonged heat. I knew the feel of the surface was unlikely to be problematic because the oven methods for seasoning have the frypan smoking for more than an hour. The difference, however, is that the metal would never exceed 250 °C. On an electric ring, the surface temperature would be higher. I wondered if the heat may have caused a reaction to the pan’s surface. I packed it and hoped the pan would not rust while I was in packing and moving mode.

When I arrived in Adelaide and unpacked the frypan, I was happy to see it had not rusted. I put it away and used a small stainless-steel frypan for the first few weeks while getting used to my kitchen and gas cooker.

Last week, I scrubbed the carbon steel frypan with steel wool and seasoned it again.

When I bought the frypan a couple of years ago, I followed the instructions when I initially seasoned it with vegetable oil, potato peels, and coarse salt. Before adopting a low-carbohydrate healthy fat diet, I continued to use vegetable oil to maintain the frypan’s surface. I needed to try something else because I now avoid vegetable and seed oils.

When viewing YouTube videos on the subject, most people warned that using animal fats was a problem because the fat would spoil. The thought of rancid fat puts a lot of people off. Seed oils like canola and rice bran oil are popular. The problem is that physical and chemical alteration is necessary to extend seed oils’ expiration times and preserve the fat from spoiling. This processing can involve solvents and other chemical treatments.

Because I’m using this pan daily, I used beef fat to season the pan. When cooking eggs in butter, I’ll wipe out the frypan with a cloth, and the butter residue will remain.

So far, I’ve not had any problems with the frypan. I don’t sense that the non-stick layer from seasoning with animal-based fats spoils. I only use butter or fat from beef, lamb, pork, or chicken.

When I’ve finished cooking, I use a cloth or kitchen paper to wipe off all the excess fat, and I wait for the frypan to cool before heating to a smoking temperature.

The frypan is looking nicely seasoned.

A jingle for Yummy Lummy

I was listening to a technology podcast during the week, and the host used artificial intelligence (a large language model) to create a jingle for his podcast.

I used Microsoft Copilot to create this jingle.

(Verse 1)

Come on over to Yummy Lummy, where the flavours bloom,

Home-cooked meals and tasty treats, served in every room.

From the heart of our kitchen, to your dining delight,

Yummy Lummy’s got the recipes, to make your day so bright!

(Chorus)

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy Lummy, a feast for your tummy,

Savour the flavour, feel the love; oh, isn’t it so yummy?

From breakfast to dinner, and every snack in between,

Yummy Lummy’s the food blog, that’s the best you’ve ever seen!

(Verse 2)

Discover new dishes, or classic ones renewed,

With Yummy Lummy’s guidance, you’ll become a master food dude!

So come join the journey, let’s explore the culinary scene,

With Yummy Lummy’s food blog, you’ll see what we mean!

(Chorus)

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy Lummy, a feast for your tummy,

Savour the flavour, feel the love; oh, isn’t it so yummy?

From breakfast to dinner, and every snack in between,

Yummy Lummy’s the food blog, that’s the best you’ve ever seen!

(Outro)

So here’s to good eating, and here’s to good cheer,

With Yummy Lummy’s food blog, the best food is right here!

Recipe

Tonight, I slowly cooked a 600-gram piece of beef chuck. I bought it at $AUD21/kilogram. Used the pressure cooker a couple of weeks ago.

Equipment

• Slow cooker.
• Carbon steel frypan.

Ingredients

• Beef chuck steak.
• Meat broth from previous meals (it contains beef, lamb, pork, chicken juices and beef, lamb, pork, chicken fat).
• Salt

Instructions

1. Remove the meat from the packaging.
2. Place the meat and broth into a slow cooker.
3. Cook the meat for eight hours.
4. Remove the meat and sear it in a carbon steel frypan.
5. Pour the remaining meat broth into the pressure cooker.
6. Cook at high pressure for 15 minutes to effectively kill any microorganisms.
7. Keep the disinfected cooking liquor in the refrigerator.
8. Serve the steak on a plate.
9. If you’re following a meat-only diet, just the steak will be more than sufficient to satisfy your hunger. You can pick up the steak and bite into it. This minimises washing.
10. If you’re eating a low-carbohydrate diet, steak and plant-based foods like avocado, leafy green leaves, olives, and tomatoes are a good combination.
11. If you’re not concerned with carbohydrates, fill your boots.
12. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, this steak won’t be suitable.
13. Always give thanks to the Lord.
14. Eat with whatever implements you prefer. I used a fork.

Kathleen’s meal

Kathleen asked me to make her something with laksa flavours.

I cooked a laksa-flavoured pumpkin soup with coconut cream. I added some sprouts, coriander (cilantro for North Americans), and spring onions (scallions for North Americans).

Thoughts on the meal

The steak was tender and flavoursome. I have no complaints.

Final thoughts

• Do you cook with carbon steel cookware?
• Do you like the Yummy Lummy jingle?
• Would you prefer my steak or Kathleen’s soup?

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.