jayt90

A snow day kept me inside so I made a comforting tajine of beef ribs with cabbage and Kennebec potatoes.

Cold smoking produced a wonderful eye of round for me. A simple Weber kettle will work, or any similar device. The results are like a combination of pastrami and prosciutto. Slather the round with pink salt , sugar, and Romanian spices for 1 week, in a fruit cellar or fridge, Slow smoke with mild chips, apple or hickory, for 5 hours or until the meat reaches 125 F. Rest 30 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain and serve with vegetables and potatoes, including steamed cabbage.

There are pre Christmas turkey sales on now. I bought one today to keep until mid winter, when I will separate it and confit the legs, thighs, and wings.

Without the skin roasting or broiling is out. I would cut it up and reserve the the breast for steaks. They'll freeze well. The legs and wings can go into confit, if you wait two weeks for it, but I would go cassoulet: a crock of beans, goose, and chorizo.

Encouraged by the simplicity of chicken confit, I tried a confit last week. I had 12 pieces of thighs, wings and drumstick. The cooking vessel looked much like David's when packed and topped with lard, except the pieces were individual . I cooked them for 6 hours at 200 F. After cooling I pulled two leg portions for dinner, and sent the rest to the fruit cellar. While delicious and tender, I felt they were overcooked slightly. I'll have to check my oven when set to 200 F, but next time I'll pull from the oven when a piece reaches 185 F at the bone. I used supermarket lard (Maple Leaf) and that seems to be bland and innocuous, plus inexpensive. I'll re-use the chicken fat/lard combination for duck leg confit in a few weeks. Chicken legs are great for learning about this ancient method. Thanks David.

I'm a Luddite and use the simplest tools to get results. The two tools that work consistently for soups, sauces and seafood are: A good trivet with slow even conducting;; and a double boiler. Everyone has a double boiler, probably deep in the cupboards. I pulled mine out and use it for hollandaise, bechamel, and veloute It provides a constant temperature just below boiling. My gas burner would scorch pans on simmer, even with thick ceramics like Emile Henry. When I have to slow cook in a pan, I prepare a slow burner by placing a cast iron pan upside down over the flame at the low setting. I prepare the food in a pan on another burner, and move it to the cast iron trivet when I need long slow simmering. The OP is looking for precise temperature control in a pan or pot, and these two methods can be measured, charted, and repeated as required. I'm sure there are other low cost , low tech methods to solve these problems..

Egg whites work well for me, no added lemon juice, but the stock has to be be fat free. It also benefits from Riesling or other white wine during the cooking stage, with no liquid above the head parts.. So, strain and chill, then remove all traces of fat, and whisk in egg whites without a trace of yolk as you bring it to a hot, almost simmering temperature. The curds will sink, carrying impurities with them . It should be crystal clear and ready for the terrine. Commercial egg whites from a carton seem to work well, too, even if a bit outdated.

I'm trying to deal with Urbani Italian white truffle salt, one of those impassable deals at Costco (100 g for $7). It is very strong, almost like an intense garlic smell, and will overpower many dishes. A pinch is all I use on pasta or salads. Does anyone have experience with this? What works with it? I have heard that it is a secret ingredient for some chefs, but frankly, I wonder if they use it to excess to gain a few wondrous compliments.

On Grandma's farm, breakfast was scrambled eggs with a deep vermilion color. Lunch could be salt cod on toast with a white sauce. And dinner a roast mallard that Grandpa beheaded with the kids watching. There was a fresh apple pie made daily with Northern Spy's.

You can saw off a good sized shank and braise it like a lamb shank. The rest can be separated into small roasts, along natural muscle separations, as DDF suggests.

When making bread, I use the microwave to kick start the boule after kneading and shaping. All it takes is 1 to 2 minutes on the lowest power level. This distributes the warmth needed by the yeast quickly, without getting too hot. When I worked in a place with microwaves in the lunch room rather than a range, I found I could zap one or two jumbo shrimp in a minute. Or, I could reheat sous vide lunches in their ziploc freezer bags. Microwaves were great in the lunchroom, as long as I could avoid those pathetic frozen trays that most people bring.

I'll look into this. I am skeptical because edamame, most definitely a soy bean, is eaten at room temperature or slightly heated.

Beans will cook at minimum slow cooker temperature, which is > 160 F. How long? Depends on many things: Was there an overnight soak? Were they brought to a boil then allowed to sit for 2 hours? Were the beans fresh, i.e. harvested this year? A wise Mennonite cook once told me, "Some beans never come around." I prefer a higher temperature in a pressure cooker, typically 35 to 50 minutes in my PC. If I had to use a slow cooker, it would be overnight, and even so, unreliable.

Two or three chopped anchovy fillets, garlic, 2T rice vinegar, and a light touch of 1T tomato paste added to braising stock. I would finish the ribs under a broiler with a sprinkle of Provence herbs, while thickening the braising liquid.

Let us know. I think it is overkill for a small piece of brisket, not specified as point, flat or deckel. If it works I'll be a convert.

If I can't slow smoke it, I'll go indoors with a braise: slather with your sauce for an hour or two, then braise with an inch of liquid (beer, stock, Dr. Pepper, coffee are some things people use) in my tagine, or tightly lidded Staub type vessel. Put it in a slow oven, 225F for 3 hours for this fairly small brisket. The internal temp should reach 190, any higher and it will get stringy. I make a sauce while it rests; then cut slices across the grain. I really don't know about Maillard, unless maybe you sear first. I don't.

If I make basmati in the rice cooker, I use it once and discard the rest, because it dries out excessively, and when revived and reheated it is distinctly mushy. However, Calrose is a different story altogether. I hold the leftover in the fridge, then reheat on the Quick Rice selection. The Tiger rice cooker has it ready in about 10 minutes.

You need pure salt for pickling. No additives. Diamond Crystal kosher should be fine, or any coarse pickling salt.

Quite a bit, I imagine. Insect parts are a natural occurrence, and I don't blame the growers/packers if a few get through. Hopefully the spice is lower in insecticide residue if a few pieces of insect legs arrive in the package. You can shake off insect parts, barely visible, and maybe blast with Dust Off if super fastidious. The problem of occasional salmonella or other microbes can be dealt with by toasting ground spices. Radiation is allowed to be used on spices in many places, and this will kill living insects or organisms, but the dead parts remain.

The recipe has 1/2 cup ground anchos, and that should provide thickening with masa, as long as the tomatoes are not too watery. So how much chili powder was substituted? If 1/2 cup (doubtful) there would be thickening, too . I like the Epicurious recipe. It does need a variety of dried chiles, including hot, pungent, and smoked. Your addition of garlic and cumin is fine. The amount of allspice, cloves and cinammon is minimal, and should add just a hint of sweetness if the dried peppers are expanded and dominant. 12 oz. of dark beer will add sweetness, and sloppiness. A smaller can of Pilsener would be my choice. The recipe reminds me of a prize winning chili in Esquire many years ago, which I unfortunately lost. So I will use this one, with a combination of ancho, poblano, serrano and habenero peppers, and a can of lighter beer.

I have a feeling certain root vegetables contribute to cloudy stock, and I've had good results with just bones, skin, necks, plus celery. No carrots or other roots. I'm not sure about onions yet. I would usually have Ruhlman's vegetable stock on hand, and mix it with my all purpose meat and bones stock in making sauce or soup. Ruhlman has a unique vegetable stock, done in 30 minutes. The fennel bulb he uses is pure inspiration. I think the recipe is ''Ratio".

DDFarm, what is natural release? I let the stock cook at 13 psi for about an hour, with no excess steaming. (13psi is all I can get from a Lagostina, but generally it is quick). I release pressure just by turning off the heat and waiting, about 15-20 minutes. If I need to use it right away, I'll de-pressure under a stream of water. That is immediate, and the broth is still reasonably clear.

I tried a version of Portuguese salt cod. Layers of potato slices, poached salt cod, onion, potatoes again; topped with a blend of herbs, hotter peppers, garlic, olive oil and tomato sauce. Then into a hot oven for an hour. Served on a mustard leaf. I used a deep cast iron pan for even heating.

The complaints I'm seeing here about pressure cookers seem to be (1) muddied flavors. (2) stringy meat. These can occur from overcooking and adding too many ingredients. For a traditional beef stew, I'll size up vegetables and chunks of meat to cook to completion at the same time. For example, beef chunks from a Costco tray can mix with halves of carrots, onions, and russets, but parsnips and yams would have to be chunk sized. The broth when finished will make a fine sauce, not expected to be clear. This will cook in 25 minutes. More time and the beef is stringy. I have looked at short term PC cooking, and it almost always works. I cooked de Cecco spaghetti last night for 15 minutes, more than the time recommended on the package, and it was perfect. This brand seems to need intense heat and lots of time. Lobsters are a favorite PC item for me. I can toss in two or even three, with a trivet on the bottom, and steam at high pressure for 10 minutes. It takes that amount of time to cook through, and the lobsters come out very hot but succulent. One thing I won't do in a PC is a roast. It takes a long time to cook through, and the outside will be overdone. That might be better in sous vide. Ruhlman has a fine recipe for vegetable stock in Ratio, and I can do this in 25 minutes. More time, and the delicate flavor and color is lost. Fish stock is also a revelation. I use the carcasses and a large fish head, jam them in, and PC for 25 minutes with aromatics. Results are clear, gelatinous and full of flavor. Come to think of it, I rarely PC for more than 50 minutes. It all depends on the size and texture of the things going in.

Beef ribs have considerable collagen and take 2 hours to 5 hours to finish in a slow braise. I use a pressure cooker more often than not; the collagen breaks down in .5 hr. before the meat gets stringy.