scott123

*mustering my best Hank Kingsley impression* Applesauce! Seriously, though, mustard sauce is a classic accompaniment to pork. Lately, I've been taking the fond from roast pork and making a roux based gravy. Not rocket science, and, surprisingly, not something you see too much in cookbooks, but I find it pretty 'killer.'

You and your wife built that oven yourself?! Whoah. That's some nice work. You're not a mason? The stones couldn't have been cheap, right? You didn't have all those just 'lying' around? As far as 'stepping out' and trying it myself, believe me, if I had that much level property, I'd build an oven in a heartbeat. As it is, 95% of my back yard is on a hill, and carving a plateau out of it is going to be a big project. Even if I could rent the necessary equipment, the only area that I could dig in is up a flight of stairs and the prospect of carrying pizzas up and down stairs doesn't sound too appealing. Although not the same thing, I've got a 1 1/4" x 17" x 21" soapstone slab on my bottom oven shelf, that, when preheated to 600, does a pretty comparable job. If you can do a pizza in 3 minutes, I can do one in about 6. Not quite as much oven spring (and much longer recovery time between pies), but still better than any of the local pizzerias, which, imo, all put out some of the best commercial pizza in the world. So I'm happy. Not brick oven happy, but happy none the less

Improper labeling does certainly lend more confusion to an already confused state of affairs, but... I'll bet any amount of money that the 1 tsp recipe you were looking at was actually using toasted sesame oil. There's very little perspective when it comes to toasted sesame oil quantities. Regardless of whether or not the recipe states 'toasted sesame oil' or 'sesame oil,' if the dish is Asian and the quantities are 1 tablespoon or less, I'd be extremely suspect. Unless, of course, you're making pancakes If you have the space, a dorm fridge for oils is an excellent idea. Instead of exposing the oils to light every time you need something from the big fridge, you're only exposing them when you need oil. Also, my experience with dorm fridges is pretty minimal, but if you could set the temperature so that it's not quite so cold, you could have a more pourable evoo longer (depending, of course, how long you store it). Another nice thing about a not quite so cold fridge is laminated dough proofing. Laminated doughs are a lot more manageable when their temperature is uniform, but not quite butter-hardening fridge temps. If, for instance, you could set a dorm fridge to 50 degrees, that might make for a much happier laminated dough. That is, if laminated doughs are your thing.

Scott, is there a reference for that? I thought the discoloration was caused by oxidation of fats? It's just an abstract, but this study delves into the subject further: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119953293/abstract? The discoloration is definitely not caused by oxidation of fats. Fat oxidized to a brown shade, regardless of the origin, is going to be rancid/inedible. 'Vintage' condensed milk, though, is quite delicious- the same flavor you get if you cooked it over the stove the day you bought it. As far as skimming goes... It's time for the culinary community to put a nail in it's coffin and expend this energy more productively. Cosmetically, perhaps skimming produces a clearer stock (I've never checked), but, for the most part, a perfectly clear stock is rarely necessary, and, for those dishes that require clarity, you clarify. I have tested skimming/not skimming's impact on taste, though, and the results there are 100% conclusive. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. It's all psychological. The initial skimmers saw the scum and said to themselves "ew, that looks gross, I should get right of it" and ever since, chefs have been thinking/doing the same thing. The reality, though, is that scum, when allow to simmer back into stock, has no negative impact on taste whatsoever. I've brought this example up here and elsewhere a few times and I continue to stand by it: Fond. The water in meat, while roasting, draws out all the supposed 'impurities' that come out of meat during stockmaking, and yet, at the end of the day, no chef in their right mind would ever skim fond. Skimming fond would be ludicrous. So, put it on a placard and raise it in the air. Tell it to your neighbor. Scribble it on the bathroom wall: DEATH TO SKIMMING!!!!!!

Seriously, if someone were to possess the necessary wealth to build something like that, they might as well go the whole hog and build a roof over it so they can bake in the rain.

Are you sure you're not talking about toasted sesame oil? Because, by the sound of it (small 'rice vinegar-ish' bottles, Asian recipes that call for a teaspoon or more, that, in turn, ruin the dish), that's got toasted sesame oil written all over it. 'Regular' sesame oil is clear/light colored and has a very mild flavor profile, much like other nut oils such as peanut and sunflower. I'm not saying 'regular' sesame oil is never used in small amounts (a low fat dressing might use a teaspoon), but, generally speaking, like all cooking oils, sesame oil is used in larger amounts for things like frying and sauteeing. If your oil is clear/light colored and has a 'strong' flavor, it's rancid. No doubt about it. Sesame oil, in the West, has a horrible turnover and it tends to be packaged in clear containers, which only compounds the light issue. If you want to spend your Whole Paycheck, Spectrum packs sesame oil in nitrogen (at least they did, it's been a few years since I checked), but even that is no guarantee of fresh oil, as the price tag guarantee that these bottle collect LOTS of dust. If, on the other hand, your small rice vinegar-ish bottle contains a chocolate colored oil, than that's toasted sesame oil. In the whole of the Western culinary universe, I don't think any single ingredient is more misunderstood than toasted sesame oil. It's bad enough that a lot of people think 'sesame oil' and 'toasted sesame oil' are interchangeable, but the quantities you tend to see in recipes are obscene. As you've noticed, toasted sesame oil is very very powerful stuff. Your gut feeling to measure it in drops is right on the money. If you see a recipe that measures it in teaspoons (or greater, I've seen tablespoons *shuddering*) run away- as fast as you can. Toasted sesame oil should always be measured in drops- always. One good thing does come from this culinary pooch screwing, though. Toasted sesame oil quantities are an excellent litmus test as to whether an Asian recipe holds water. If they measure it in anything other than drops, you can be safely assured that the author doesn't know what the hell he/she is talking about. Another ingredient that's used in similarly clueless/excessive amounts is garam masala. If I see a lot of that in a recipe, I know that this is coming from an untrustworthy source.

Irregularly shaped bacon pieces for 70 cents a pound?!?! Does such a place exist? Is this this the mythical paradise Shangri-La? It looks like it's time to call the movers. I'm packing my bags as we speak. Edit: If you see a strange figure lurking in the shadows, don't be alarmed. I'm not stalking you, I'm stalking the bacon

Collard greens, much like beef shank, used to be poor people's food, but those days are long gone. The last time I checked, collard greens were about the same price as swiss chard (cha ching!). Unless you have a source for really cheap greens, you might want to rethink this. Also, this may sound a little farfetched, but the fact that it's a 'hobo' party and that it's only $1 may very well produce a mindset in your guests that they think they're going to be deprived in some way. This mindset, in turn, might make them eat more. It's basic psychology. If people believe food is scarce, they'll get hungry. On the flip side, they may make the decision that $1 could never give them enough food and decide to eat beforehand. This is probably what I'd do. So, you could have people that are hungrier than usual or people that aren't hungry at all. I would probably plan on the former.

Re; tuna. I used to think the same thing. Have you priced canned tuna lately? Have you weighed the yield from an average 5 oz. can? Let me tell, the result is NOT pretty. A 5 oz. can yields about 3.5 oz. of meat. With cooking loss, that translates into about 4 oz. raw. At about a buck and a quarter per can, that's $5 a lb. $5/lb is NOT cheap, even for fish. Even on sale for $.99 a can that's still $4/lb- a decent price for fish, but not cheap at all compared to sale chicken or beef. And $1.25/can is low end tuna. TJs albacore (one of the better tunas) is $1.60, effectively putting it in the $6/lb. realm. Maybe tuna is effectively inexpensive because one tends to eat a can in a single sitting (and not more), but pound for pound, canned tuna is not cheap.

Blended tofu makes a pretty good egg replacer.

Do you have a hunting or a fishing license? Seriously, though, I'm probably one of the most frugal cooks on the planet and I can't come up with a satisfying $1 meal- at least, not satisfying in relation to a half decent portion of meat. Having done a fair amount of catering, 1/2 lb. of meat is really not enough for most people. I'm thinking minimum 3/4 lb. Find me a halfway edible boneless meat that costs less than 1.50 a lb.- it just doesn't exist. You could go the vegetarian route and maybe hit that $1 realm, but... that's not going to be satisfying. You could probably do it for $2, but not for $1. As far as doing it for $2, it'll be less about suggestions you find here for particular dishes and more about being able to work with what's on sale. I also think your chance for success is going to depend a lot on how much work you want to put into it. As you spend less, in order to achieve spectacular results, labor goes up- way up. Turning low fat/low flavor $1.99/lb sale chicken breast or $1.99/lb sale bottom round into something beautiful usually takes an incredible about of labor. In many ways it's like trying to squeeze blood from a stone. Eggs are cheap. Personally, I've learned to loathe them- at least prepared in the normal ways- fried, boiled, scrambled, etc. Quiche is nice, but the cheese in it would kill your budget. I haven't done one in a while, but maybe a souffle might be a nice addition. Again, though, you'd have to be careful with how much/what type of cheese you use.

Is that your final answer? You want a lifeline? I could probably hook you up with Harold McGee's email, if that would help Seriously, though- try simmering stock for 24 hours. Not pressure cooking, just a low boil. You'll see the color changes that take place as the maillard reactions occur. All in the presence of plenty of moisture. 'Is said?' By whom? Maillard reactions aren't like flicking a switch. It's not like "153, no, nothing happening... 154, still nothing... 155 WOW!" Where protein and sugars are present, maillard is happening pretty much all the time. Certain conditions can be more conducive/less conducive to maillard, but, for the most part, it never completely ceases. Think faster/slower, not stopped/started/occurring/not occurring. Oh, and scientifically speaking, dulce de leche isn't caramelization. Caramelization is the pyrolysis of sugar. The heat necessary to pyrolyze the sugar in condensed milk would burn the milk proteins. Any time you're browning anything other than pure sugar, it isn't caramelization because the other ingredients will usually burn before the sugar browns. Dulce de leche is produced by maillard browning of the proteins- at lower temps than caramelization. Leave a can of condensed milk on the shelf for a few years, then open it- it will be a nice shade of tan. Maillard at room temp- in the presence of moisture. Caramelization requires the absence of water. And that's my final answer

I have never worked with/seen Saponaria, but I get the feeling that the effect/taste might be a little bit like marshmallow root, which, according to Wikipedia is also used in halvah. This all being said, halvah, like most desserts/foods that originate in far away places, can have a LOT of variations. Darienne, I think your best bet is to approach this regionally. I'm going to go out on a limb here, and, based on your present Ontario address, I'm guessing Bubi gave you New York style halvah as a child. New York style halvah can definitely vary a bit, but for the most part, it usually contains egg whites and does not contain honey, milk or flour (seriously, flour?). If memory serves me correctly, it doesn't contain any root extracts either. Making halvah has been on my to do list for quite some time. Like you, I have collected quite a few recipes. Even though I haven't gotten around to making it yet, I have gleaned a few important tips: 1. Like I said before, find a recipe that uses beaten egg whites 2. The sugar syrup has to be cooked to a candy stage. Don't ask me which one, but it has to be cooked to at least a soft ball stage. You might start at hard crack and then go softer than there in ensuing attempts. No matter what, you don't want the sugar syrup to color. 3. The sugar in NY style halvah is an uncrystallized glass. You'll want an anti-crystallization ingredient- I see Lior uses lemon juice, but for a more NY slant, I'd go with corn syrup. 4. At the very core of halvah's taste is the tahini. For the most part, tahini doesn't have a lot of turnover in North America. This means that the odds of getting not so fresh tahini are pretty high. Make sure you're using the freshest tahini possible. One rule of thumb that I go by when buying tahini is to buy it only in glass jars and to avoid any jars with a layer of oil on top (oil layer=age). Egg whites, firm peak, corn syrup/sugar syrup cooked to ______ stage. Fold syrup into whites, then fold that (gently) into your tahini (it should be difficult to stir). Don't overmix it. The streaks/flakes- that's from having layers of slightly unmixed sugar/egg white between layers of tahini. Good luck. Btw, fyi, halvah can be purchased online: http://www.economycandy.com/store/category.aspx?SID=1&Category_ID=5&

Thanks for the link. That's extremely comprehensive. I spent some time looking through it and an appropriate formula doesn't seem to be jumping out at me. It seems like everything is either area based or somehow involves Q, which I can only seem to resolve if I have a figure for the mass- which I don't. I'm trying to go from a single point on the exterior to the single point in the center of the core. A point with no mass, no area. At least that's how I'm picturing it. If you do find the time to dig out a relevant formula, I'd be incredibly appreciative.

Soapstone's Thermal conductivity: 6.4 W/mK Specific heat capacity: 0.98 J/gK Density: 2,980 kg/m³ Thickness of slab: 1.25" (3.18 cm) Distance to center: .625" (1.59 cm) Ambient temperature: 500 deg. F. (260 C.) Core temp: 70 deg. F (21.11 C.) I'm looking for the time it takes for the core to reach 500 deg (while maintaining a 500 deg. ambient temp). For simplicity's sake, I don't care about radiant heat or convection, just conduction. I'm also aware that soapstone, being a natural material, varies in conductivity. 6.4 W/mK is a good enough ballpark for my present needs. Lastly, I'm also, for now, not taking thermal diffusivity into account- I'm only thinking linearly/one dimension, so area/volume shouldn't play a role. At least, I don't think it should. The center of a 1.25" x 10" x 10" slab should hit 500 deg. about the same time as a 1.25" x 30" x 40" slab (1.25 will always be the smallest dimension). I know McGee played around a bit with meat and the time it takes for energy to reach it's core, but I'm thinking stone is a little different (simpler, I would think) due to the exact dimensions and lack of water evaporation/convection. The application for this is extremely practical. If I can get a half decent ballpark on the time it takes for the energy to transfer, I can save considerable money on electricity costs. Cumulatively, I've probably spent about 24 hours on this over the last 6 months. I'm calling 'Uncle' on this one. I'm sure the answer is probably staring me in the face, but for now, it has me beat. And, please, I'm looking for the math, not "I heat my soapstone for x minutes and it works great for me." I need to see the formula- not just to satisfy my 6 month long curiosity, but to be able to apply it to other materials (like firebrick).

Nix the TJs dough and make your own. Commercial refrigerated dough, unless you know exactly when it was made, is invariably overproofed. Overproofing works against you in three major ways. 1. Alcohol-y off flavors. Good dough should always highlight the flavor of the wheat, not taste like a 40 of cheap malt liquor. 2. Crumb. Overproofing makes for lumpy, non extensible gluten that doesn't rise properly. 3. Stickiness. Overproofed dough is so sticky it's almost gooey. It's like everything is covered with rubber cement. Commercial refrigerated dough is a lose lose lose scenario. Make your own the dough the day before using the slow rise method and refrigerate it overnight. That will give you your best flavor, crumb and oven spring. Lastly, ditto on working quickly. Mise en place is vital. The moment the pizza dough hits the peel you've got a ticking time bomb of stickiness as the moisture in the dough migrates to the flour on the peel.

My apologies if this has been discussed before, but has anyone had success making hollandaise in a water bath?

How long are you holding it for? A healthy simmer (30+ minutes) is good for engorging/breaking down the starch granules in flour based sauces/gravies, but... the sugars/proteins in milk will produce maillard browning/off flavors when cooked for that long. I simmer bechamel for 10 minutes- no more. As far as holding it... those same maillard compounds will be produced at holding temps as well, just more slowly. I might hold bechamel at 150 for an hour... maybe an hour and a half if push came to shove, but beyond that, no way. Milk + extended heat = not a happy camper. If I needed bechamel over a longer period of time than an hour and a half, I'd probably split it up into portions and store them in the walk-in, taking out an hour's worth at a time, bringing it up to temp in the microwave. As far as the skin that has a tendency to form. A vigorous whisking usually does away with a thin skin. Better yet, if you can whisk it every 15 minutes or so, no skin will form. This intense periodic whisking will not only help prevent a skin, it will create a smoother end product as well. Bechamel loves being whisked. Mornay is cheese based, which changes the chemistry. The acid of the cheese gives it a propensity for curdling. Extended holding increases that propensity. I probably wouldn't hold mornay for that long, but if I had no other choice, I'd seek out ingredients to enhance it's stability.

You are forgetting that before you do this, you cook the cheesecake which has fat that is emulsified by both milk caseins, and egg proteins (lecithin). A good cheesecake should play off of the strengths of both caseins and lecithin. Also, mealiness depends on the amount of flour and how long the gluten formed by the flour is allowed to form. ← Most of the cheesecake recipes I've seen don't contain that many egg yolks. My recipe (dense/creamy style) contains 1 yolk for 8 ounces of cheese. That's not a lot of lecithin. Even if they did contain a lot of yolks, I don't see lecithin as being especially effective at protecting the texture of frozen emulsions. Try freezing mayo and you'll see what I'd talking about. The major player in the cheese cake stabilization equation is the casein in the cream cheese, not the lecithin in the yolks. As far as the flour goes... not all cheesecakes contain flour, and, those that do contain so little flour that gluten is not an issue. Fat is a barrier to gluten formation- it's what makes pie crusts flaky- gluten can't bond/form through a layer of shortening or butter. With cheesecake it's the same thing- there's no way for protein strands to actually make contact with each other/form gluten through that much cream cheese/egg/other ingredients.

With all due respect, not my frozen cheesecakes. I do package very carefully and vacuum seal. I have had mealy cheesecake and I think it is the formula more than the freezing to be at fault. Freezing is essential to handling cheesecakes that are built into tier cakes, or that need to portioned into a hundred pretty servings quickly and efficiently. Freezing is a tool, used properly it is a very good tool. ← K8memphis, the chemistry is basic. The fat is emulsified by milk protein (casein) into tiny globules. When the water in the cheesecake freezes, it expands, rupturing these globules/breaking the emulsion. This alters the texture. The salt and sugar in cheesecake act as freezing point depressors and the cheese particles/proteins (and in a fluffy cheese cake, air) encourage small ice crystal development, so the damage is minimal, but, it's still ever so slightly impaired. Anything that's dairy based will be impaired by freezing. Cheesecake is no exception. Your cheesecakes, when frozen, are slightly impaired texturally. If you want to argue that this impairment is indetectable, that's your perogative. I can taste the difference, though. If I had to place the textural impairment of freezing on a scale of 0 to 10, I'd probably place it around .5. Overcooking cheesecake, though, is about a 10. Overcooked cheesecakes are exceptionally mealy. ← I think one of the single greatest misconceptions about baking is that anything about it is absolute. Those types of statements do a genuine disservice to all bakers. Nonetheless, my friend, there is no argument because you've never had my cheesecake...and at this rate... ← Ummmm... just about everything relating to baking is absolute. It's chemistry. If you add an acid to an alkali, carbon dioxide is formed. It's physics. It's thermodynamics. This isn't like stew where you throw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that and everything magically turns out wonderful. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. I don't think you can get any more absolute than that. Science and the 'absolute' laws it is ruled by has been a 'service' to bakers since the age of reason. If you want to go around saying that 2 + 2 can equal 5, hey, go for it. Be aware, though, that there are those of us that approach these matters a little more empirically.

With all due respect, not my frozen cheesecakes. I do package very carefully and vacuum seal. I have had mealy cheesecake and I think it is the formula more than the freezing to be at fault. Freezing is essential to handling cheesecakes that are built into tier cakes, or that need to portioned into a hundred pretty servings quickly and efficiently. Freezing is a tool, used properly it is a very good tool. ← K8memphis, the chemistry is basic. The fat is emulsified by milk protein (casein) into tiny globules. When the water in the cheesecake freezes, it expands, rupturing these globules/breaking the emulsion. This alters the texture. The salt and sugar in cheesecake act as freezing point depressors and the cheese particles/proteins (and in a fluffy cheese cake, air) encourage small ice crystal development, so the damage is minimal, but, it's still ever so slightly impaired. Anything that's dairy based will be impaired by freezing. Cheesecake is no exception. Your cheesecakes, when frozen, are slightly impaired texturally. If you want to argue that this impairment is indetectable, that's your perogative. I can taste the difference, though. If I had to place the textural impairment of freezing on a scale of 0 to 10, I'd probably place it around .5. Overcooking cheesecake, though, is about a 10. Overcooked cheesecakes are exceptionally mealy.

Although freezing cooked cheesecakes is 'widely accepted,' I feel very strongly that it impairs the texture/causes a slight mealiness in the final product. As far as freezing the raw batter, I wouldn't only think it would exacerbate the problem, because of the greater percentage of water/ice crystals that could potentially rupture the casein framework. This being said, if creamy textured cheesecakes aren't that important to you, I don't think freezing either the cooked cheesecake or the batter would be a huge impairment. If a silky texture is your goal, though, I wouldn't involve a freezer in the process in any way.

I'm curious, are you trying to reduce your fat intake? Was the lean beef a really good buy? Did they run out of the 80/20 stuff? There's some good workarounds here, but ultimately, I think your hunch that very lean won't work in burgers, meatballs and meatloaf is on the money.

Poivre Frozen beef stock drippings (more stock if steaks are grilled) cognac/brandy onions caramelized in beef fat heavy cream a truckload of cracked pepper tiny amount of arrowroot to help sauce cling better

I'm not sure how much this helps, but I can pull up tens of links that use the term 'otes' when referring to oats, but not one that uses 'ottes.' Here's just a few: From the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary From a 17th century English will And, from a 16th century recipe for ale As far as sidnes goes... I'm baffled as well. These pages might help: Medieval and Renaissance Food Homepage Links on Medieval Lent Even if the pages themselves don't reference the term, your friend might email some of the authors.