scott123

Just an idea, but could one lard with either rendered/chilled fat or ground fat?

It does look amazing, but isn't there more visible specs of spices (such as black pepper) in the coating? Cajun seasoning in only on the raw chicken, right? Not in the pancake batter or the dipping flour?

My colander's holes are too big so I put the cheesecloth inside it, pour in the curds and then give it a spray with the faucet sprayer. As Chris mentioned, tepid sounds about right.

Hmmm, well my final result was definitely cohesive, but I will try to the cold water next time instead and see if I can tell the difference. Glad to know that more yogurt might have done the works, I can then safely assume that normal whole yogurt will do the trick if used in enough quantity? I agree that fried paneer is better. I figure I can taste the nuances better eating it in a raw state though, and can then decide if I like the results, which should improve the fried version as well. ← I've tried icing/chilling the curds before pressing and although the result was cohesive when pressed, when I tried to cut it into cubes it fell apart. If the curds are still relatively hot when you press them, the result is much more dense/sliceable. Chilled curds create air pockets which, in turn, help to create the illusion of a more tender paneer, but I think tenderness really comes from the form of coagulant, the amount used and the heat the curds are exposed to after they are formed. Tough curds come from too much heat after the curds are formed or too much acid. This is why one should never follow a recipe when adding acid. It should always be just enough acid to precipitate the curds and no more. Once the curds form you want to get them drained as quickly as possible, as the hot water they're sitting in will continue to cook them. I may be wrong on this, but when Suvir adds ice to his curds, I believe he's bringing down the temp quickly, but not that drastically. It relates more to preventing the curds from continuing to cook rather than chilling them before pressing. In other words, I think he's using the ice to bring the curds from very hot to just hot, rather than from hot to cool. You want to bring the temperature down enough so the curds stop cooking but not so far that they don't bond correctly.

I rinse my curds as well. Quickly, though. And I don't ice them. I find that if the curds cool too much, they're not as cohesive when pressed. I press immediately when making block paneer. If I'm making crumbly unpressed dessert paneer, then I use ice. Fresh milk is harder to curdle. More yogurt probably would have done the trick. I can't eat 'raw' paneer. It's just too good fried.

Brooks, I don't think anyone here is trashing Popeye's Chicken. At least that's not my impression. I, personally, love the stuff. What's being trashed here is that particular recipe- that bears no resemblance whatsoever to what you consumed today.

Sugar, I'm not so sure about, but MSG is used in Popeye's, that I know for certain. MSG is used in all fast food chicken. Here is a link to KFC that shows what they put MSG in- everything. http://www.yum.com/nutrition/allergen/allergen_kfc.asp

LOL Yup. If I had a dollar for every botched copycat recipe I've found online, I'd be very rich. Did they play "pin the tail on the ingredient?"

Xanthan is ideal for incorporating air into ice cream. The increased viscosity from the xanthan aids in the formation/stability of the foam. The added air helps to create softness/scoopability. There are a few gums that are popular for making ice cream. Xanthan is one. Guar is another. Cellulose gum is popular as well. Here are some good articles on ice cream chemistry/the use of gums: http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1...=2501&req=cream http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1...=2501&req=cream http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/2...=2501&req=cream

I haven't played with it in a while, I gotta dig it up from my pantry, but if memory serves me right... when you sprinkled xanthan gum on top of a liquid, it didn't clump like a flour/starch would. It looked almost like yeast (not in that it bubbled, but in texture) and floated on top of the liquid. I remember it was really hard to get it to dissolve. That's why I was curious if you need to make a slurry first or if it just requires lots of work (blender style) to get it to dissolve properly. I was also curious if its heat activated before it'll thicken. ← Xanthan requires no heat to activate/hydrate/thicken. If the xanthan gum particles are not well dispersed before hitting the liquid, they will clump and take longer to hydrate. A blender can be used to disperse the particles or the xanthan can be pre-mixed with dry ingredients. I achieve excellent results by sprinkling the xanthan with a salt shaker while whisking vigorously. Because of it's molecular structure, xanthan gum is one of the easiest gums to dissolve. With well dispersed particles, hydration should take place almost immediately. Should clumping occur, time will eventually resolve the issue. This is true for all gums (although with some it takes days). I primarily use xanthan in extremely small amounts as a stabilizer. When used as a thickener, the sauce becomes slippery/slimy. It has a good synergy with guar, so that helps texturally, but not much. I have experimented using it in smaller amounts in conjunction with other thickeners, and, so far, have been unhappy with the results. Even in small amounts I can still detect it's slimy quality. Stabilizing can be achieved with miniscule amounts. It's superb for preventing coconut milk from breaking as well as preventing cheese sauces from curdling. These are some excellent resources on xanthan gum (along with other gums): http://class.fst.ohio-state.edu/FST621/Add...lasses/gums.htm http://www.bakingbusiness.com/tech/channel...=16424&PF=print http://class.fst.ohio-state.edu/FST621/Add...asses/ggum3.pdf

I have never, in my life, opened a can of sweetened condensed milk to find it anything other than white and normal. Given years of experience as a pastry chef (not to mention as a sweet-toothed civilian), that's an awful lot of cans, usually of Nestle or Fussel's brand. Is this more a US thing? ← I think it could be a US thing due to the fact that Americans don't bake with condensed milk all that much so it has a tendency to sit on the shelves. This is from Nestle's US website: Eagle brand condensed milk is another national brand:

Thanks for the recipe. I'm sure it's delicious, but the kind of halvah that I'm looking for has egg whites. While doing some additional research on the subject, I came across this article that talks about the process Joyva uses: Thanks everyone for your help! I thought that Joyva-type sesame halvah (in block form) was an international thing, but now that I've seen the myriad number of responses/types of halvah, I get the feeling that Joyva is more of a New York phenomenon.

Are you sure about the dye and fragrance-free dawn? I scoured the website and found no mention of it.

Wow, not a lot of condensed milk users here. Throwing it away?! Oxidation and chemical spoilage?! Condensed milk, depending on the conditions under which is was made/stored, can vary from pure white to dark tan. About every 4th can I buy is tan and I almost never get one that's pure white. I've just come to accept condensed milk to be light beige. The white is more preferable, but the caramel notes from the tan version can be nice, depending on the dessert. It is what it is. But please, don't throw it away.

Nice idea, but I'm leaning more towards a 'Nutellato'- milkier w/ hazelnut paste. And definitely made by Haagen Daz. Most importantly, though, my 'Nutellato' would have no affiliation with the Winter Olympics for fear that it might be discontinued once the Olympics were over. This stuff better be around forever. ← Name change ok, but don't take away my dark chocolate! The flavor I'm thinking of is closer to an Italian Baci truffle rather than Nutella. ← A Baci truffle, huh? Hmmm... I like Baci truffles, but I much more partial to the smoother (and milkier) Godiva open oyster. I guess I could probably survive with a dark chocolate hazelnut ice cream as long as the hazelnuts were completely pulverized. The smallest piece of disernable hazelnut and I'd be out of there But, hey, if there's a market for Baci truffles AND Godiva open oysters, then a I'm sure there'd be a market for a milk AND a dark chocolate hazelnut ice cream. I can picture it now, the two flavors on the shelf, co-existing in harmony

Quarry tiles aren't the best choice because they aren't always made to handle the thermal shock of baking. Soapstone is ideal, but is extremely expensive. Fire brick is what most wood burning ovens are made from. Look in the yellow pages under brick and call places until you find someone that sells it. Fire brick IS made to handle the thermal shock of baking and is only slightly more costly than quarry tile.

I wouldn't recommend using a cracked stone to bake with. A cracked stone is a structurally weakened stone. A structurally weakened stone is much more prone to leaving shards/bits of rock in your baked goods. As hard as your teeth are, these pieces of stone are harder. I know.

Nice idea, but I'm leaning more towards a 'Nutellato'- milkier w/ hazelnut paste. And definitely made by Haagen Daz. Most importantly, though, my 'Nutellato' would have no affiliation with the Winter Olympics for fear that it might be discontinued once the Olympics were over. This stuff better be around forever.

That was pretty damn soon.

The Upper East Side, huh? I lived in the UES for 2 years and I have to say that while I was living there, I never associated it with food. Most of my fondest memories involved traveling from the East Side to other parts of the city for culinary adventures. In the middle of the night, I'd walk across Central Park to get to still warm H&H bagels. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it. One Sunday a month it would be pierogies in the basement of a building across from St. Georges church in the village. If you haven't had a homemade pierogy prepared lovingly by a Ukranian grandmother, trust me, you haven't lived. Are there cheesecakes in Manhattan? I can't imagine it Back when I was worshipping cheesecake, Brooklyn was Mecca. And then there was Ethiopian food in Hell's Kitchen. I use to be covered in the stuff until I watch the locals and learned how to eat without making a mess. When I wasn't getting my bagel fix in the middle of the night, I'd be walking down Columbus to Little India and cavorting with surly cabbies while feasting on clouds of the puffiest naan and choice of 3 veggies for $4. This was a few years ago, so I wouldn't be surprised if the East Side had evolved into it's culinary own. Megan, I'm ready to have my preconceptions obliterated.

I think Planet might be a regional thing. Nothing like that here. For a while we had a natural dish detergent called 'Sun & Earth' available in supermarkets, but then it disappeared and reappeared at Whole Foods (with a considerable markup, I might add). Sun & Earth is slightly more concentrated than TJ's but not much.

I can't speak for Kansas City, but St. Louis has one good pastrami on rye and one good slice. One. Not more than that, though. And that's downtown St. Louis. Once you get out of the urban areas, forget about it. I'd wager to say Kansas City is similar. It's not likely, but Kansas City, by a mere fluke, might have a good slice and a good pastrami. But a good Chicken Tikka Masala, Jerked Chicken, Pad Thai, Cuban Sandwich, Gyro, Chicken and Broccoli, Falafel, Doro Wat, Paella? No way.

I am very sensitive to industrial perfumes, so I have to stay clear of most brands of dishwashing liquid. I've been spending big bucks on natural brands like Seventh Generation and Ecover and slightly less money on Trader Joes citrus dishwashing liquid, but the results have always been the same- a weak, watered down product that requires a LOT of it to get any suds. Seventh Generation is definitely more concentrated than the Trader Joes, but it's just too expensive for me. Trader Joes is so watered down it's ridiculous. Does anyone have a source for a decent bulk unscented dishwashing liquid? Are the surfactants in liquid laundry detergent that different/toxic compared to dishwashing liquid? I can get relatively cheap unscented laundry liquid. I'm guessing it's only a matter of months before the big dishwashing liquid manufacturers come out with fragrance free versions, but until then, I'd like to come up with something decent and affordable.

Assuming that your cooled sauce will be thicker than simple syrup, you can remove a lot of the guesswork by using a thermometer. The boiling temperature will indicate the syrup's water content/viscosity when cooled. That way you don't have to let the sauce cool to see if it's the desired thickness.

Beautiful. Congratulations. What temperature did you smoke them at? What kind of wood?