scott123

Frank, welcome to the discussion :) I've made this a handful of times so far and each time tweaked the recipe a little further. The last time I ommitted the ginger completely and felt that the taste did not suffer. I think I'm going to skip the ginger from now on. Something is still missing. I haven't played around with brown sugar or white pepper, though. I also haven't had a chance to get a dark soy. I'm sure that will make a difference. I have also been contemplating 5 spice. I think that's a long shot, though. I get the feeling that 5 spice doesn't get used all that much in Chinese restaurants. I think the most important aspect to char siu is the final glaze/roasting. The apricot puree goes through a transformation when roasted. Too short and it has a tendency to be too fruity, too long and the sugars burn off and flavor is lost. I have never been more certain about char siu being an apricot/soy sauce marinade, though. My results are just way too close to the real deal for it to be anything else. Please let us know how your experimentation pans out.

Nullo, here is the base recipe that I posted to the other forum: gluten 6 T flax 5 T 1 t. oil 1 T. 1 1/2 t. fiber 3 T. 1 t. polydextrose 2 t salt 1/4 t. I think you might have forgotten the oil. Oil makes a huge difference in achieving a soft/fluffy crumb. Did you toss it or 'knead' it? The gluten has to develop in order for the air pockets to form. I think a punch down/second rise might be in order. Did you measure the temperature of your water? You'll want a very 'loose' (high moisture) dough. It should be fairly sticky when you begin kneading it and then lose that stickiness once the gluten is developed. In fact, you might want to break out your food processor, since that will knead a dough that is too sticky too work with. For best oven spring, rolls need to be formed correctly. The forming process works to stretch the gluten around itself and seals any cut edges. All in all, it sounds like a good first effort. Do you have any chicken broth lying around? If you dunk them in that, they could make nice dumplings.

Thanks, I'll definitely be picking up those gloves (and checking out my Middle Eastern grocers).

Got any tips on skinning hazelnuts? I tried it once and after a few hours I just gave up. With a substantial amount of labor I can get 90% of the skins off, but that last 10% just won't budge. And for something like hazelnut paste - they need to be completely skinless.

The ascorbic acid (vitamin c) used for baking is the same used in supplements. As jackal10 stated, you can buy powder, but I think the pills will be a little cheaper and much more readily available. I agree. Increased shelf life and increased output. Not necessarily increased quality. Nullo, other than the vitamin c, I'd forgo the dough conditioner route. Make the bread and see where you're at. If you find yourself running into dense crumb issues down the line, then, maybe, revisit the conditioner idea.

Good point. Veal bones will create a slightly less beefy flavor, though. They are great for body. If I have a stock being used in an application where I need more of it's body component than it's flavor component, I'll up the veal content. If I can't find veal, I'll go with powdered gelatin. When dissolved, the powdered gelatin I use is almost flavorless, so it's a great way of boosting the collagen content without impairing the flavor.

Trying to whip your opponent into a hollan 'daze?'

*tugging at my straight jacket* Suresh, I'm afraid I can't be of much help. They locked me away a long time ago ;) And I'll second Yetty, 'Fists of Curry' is a good one.

P.S. Microwaving is definitely not recommended. If any part of the dough reaches 150 degrees (f.) the proteins in the egg/flour will begin to cook, compromising the texture of your final product. You'll also end up with a hot outer inch/cold middle. Consistency of temperature is key to extruded cookies.

For the quintessential spritz recipe, turn no further than the grandmommy of all German American cookbooks, Betty Crocker. That's the recipe my German grandmother used. The recipe can be found here. Any recipe for spritz will only give you a rough picture, though. Even with a good recipe it's still easy to make mediocre cookies. Here's the extent of my 'beyond the recipe' spritz making knowledge. Cooking Utensil A thick aluminum cookie sheet is the right tool for the job. Both parchment and silpat will insulate the dough and affect the rate of colorization. These cookies have plenty of butter - with a spatula and quick hands they can be easily removed to the cooling rack. Temperature When you extrude dough through a die, a jagged porous uneven edge is formed. I'm sure tool and die manufacturers have a name for it. I don't. This porosity helps extruded pasta soak up sauce better. In extruded cookies, it creates nooks and crannies that dissolve quickly when they hit saliva. This jaggedy extrusion is your goal. The warmer the dough, the less jagged the extrusion. The colder the dough, the more likely the dough will tear as you dispense it. The worst temperature scenario is dough with varying temps - a room temperature lump that's been refrigerated briefly, for instance. The warm part of the dough will go through the die faster than the cold and you'll end up with a ribbony mess. In a perfect world (or a commercial kitchen) one would have a dedicated spritz dough (and croissant dough) refrigerator set to 55. This provides a good amount of jaggedness to the extrusion without tearing. How does one achieve this not quite fridge temp but not quite room temp throughout the entirety of the dough? Well, I'm still working on it, but here's the workarounds I have so far. If you have a 55 degree day outside, leave the dough outside for a few hours. I've taken to chilling the disk shaped dough thoroughly, mixing it briefly with my warm hands and then leaving it out for about 15 minutes while the gluten relaxes. A well sealed package/55 degree water bath might work. Resting Not a lot of recipes include a resting phase. Gluten is not the friend of these cookies. A 15 minute rest between mixing/pressing and then another after pressing helps immeasurably. Sifting Always sift your dry ingredients in recipe where gluten is to be minimalized. Separate particles of flour = faster incorporation with wet = less mixing = less gluten formation = tender cookies Shape Shape plays a massive role in the way these cookies impact the palate. I've never had a round (pressed from above) spritz that wasn't mealy textured. Thin is the only way to achieve a melt in your mouth texture. The top die in the picture is the one to use. Everything else results in too thick of a cookie. The ridges also help to provide flakiness/tenderness and a quicker burst of flavor. Dispense lines running the entire length of the cookie sheet, chill in the freezer briefly and then cut the lines into individual cookies. Flavorings Play around with the vanilla/almond extracts all you want, but be aware of one thing. These are neither almond cookies nor vanilla cookies. These are butter cookies. That's the first taste that should hit you when you take a bite - buttery goodness. Subtlety is key - as a child I considered these insipid. Many people do. Baking them a little longer helps (see below) but if you want an in your face experience, I'd make a different cookie. Ingredient Substitution These cookies, when gluten development is minimalized, are extremely tender. You have to be careful when transporting them, since they break on a dime. If you want to go the extra mile and create the most tender/fragile cookie on the planet, use unbleached (not whole wheat) pastry flour. They'll just about break if you breath on them the wrong way, but the texture is something you'll never forget. Color Traditionally, spritz cookies are cooked just until set. When used in combination with cake flour, this produces a pure white cookie. These can be a little too subtle for me. But then I'm not 100% German :) Being half English/Irish, with a strong penchant for shortbreads, I allow a very slight amount of color to enter the picture. If insipidness concerns you, you may want to take a similar route. The key word is slight. Achieving a very slight golden tinge to spritz is a huge pain in the butt. With a 400 degree oven, the window you get for this color is miniscule. I'd venture to say 20 seconds in either direction is tantemount for failure. The effort is worth it, though. I've manage to convert all my German relatives over to the heresy of slightly colored spritz. Storage Once they are completely cool, store them at room temp in an air tight cookie tin. If you're making the cookies as a gift or for a party, make them at least 2 days beforehand. The flavor of a spritz benefits tremendously from a day or two of aging.

I'm in the New York area and would like to participate. Although I applaud creative/innovative approaches to food, I have to admit that I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to Indian cuisine. If you're looking for the 'old school' perspective to play off of, I'd be happy to provide it.

Nullo, so far the only place that I have found that carries polydextrose is Honeyville. I get a bunch of other low carb things there as well, including almond flour, corn bran and oat fiber. Here is a good discussion on polydextrose. Since I saw polydextrose in quite a few commercial low carb products, I had a good feeling about it for home baking. Now that I'm actually baking with it, I'm ecstatic. So far, all of the missing properties of splenda - sugar's preservative, bulking, textural, caramelizing, glassing qualities - are all there. The biggest question mark is carb impact. Technically polydextrose is classified as 1 cal/g. This translates into .25 carb/g. There have been some studies, though, that show polydextrose to be non glycemic. If this is true, then we are looking at a zero carb impact. It's also supposed to be good for you in quite a few fiber like ways. Recently I used polydextrose to make a glaze for chinese bbq spare ribs. The texture was incredibly sugarlike.

Let me get this straight. You reduce the stock uncovered, then cover it, let it sit to cool, and then place (still covered) in the fridge?

Lipton's onion soup dip with ruffles... yummmmmm... that is some gooooooood stuff. There's not a lot of garbage in Lipton's onion soup, btw. I've researched it. It's basically just toasted onions, salt, msg, sugar, cornstarch, shortening and onion powder. The next time I order from Penzey's I'm getting toasted onion flakes so I can make my own low carb version (no cornstarch, no shortening). Maxmillan, almost every onion dip recipe I've seen uses way too much of the soup mix, resulting in salt city. It's basically a conspiracy by Lipton to make you use as much mix as possible. Go buy another container of sour cream and dilute it. Then get yourself some chips. You won't regret it.

Here's one more perspective to throw in the pot. Even though I don't think they are unhealthy, I don't enjoy the taste of the aluminum salts that are formed with salty/acidic foods. And parchment liners don't prevent these salts from being formed with wet foods like meatloaf or lasagna. Whatsup1, there are a two other options you might want to consider Nonstick sheet pans are almost always teflon on steel. An enameled roasting pan You're best bet is to call a few local restaurants suppliers. My local places have entire catalogs of stainless steel cookware. I have come across a handful of stainless steel sheet pans in my travels. I have never seen an aluminum core sheet pan, and I doubt that one exists. As mentioned previously, the conductivity of stainless steel is horrible so you'll have a hard time browning the bottom of anything. Here is a list of some common thermal conductivity coefficients: Silver .96 copper .94 Aluminum (spun or pressed) .53 Cast aluminum .33 Steel .16 iron .12 s/s .05

If the stock is gelled when you awaken this morning, it confirms that it wasn't cold enough after 5 hours in the fridge. If this was the case, that's a lot of hours in the bacterial 'danger zone.' Refrigerating future 3 qt. stocks in smaller/shallower containers or a water bath might help to cut that cooling time down a bit.

Hmmmm... could you be more specific as to which kind of cheese? The lobster and peanut butter is a tough call. It's a bit of a stretch, but maybe it works on a Pad Thai kind of level. Veering in that direction, something sour might help to balance things like a lime/tamarind chutney. Bacon, lobster, peanut butter and lime/tamarind chutney on rice bread - grilled?

How about a grilled bacon, lobster and warm peanut butter sandwich? ← Sounds messy. What about deep frying it instead? After all, Elvis' favorite sandwich was a deep-fried banana and peanut butter sandwich...I bet he just never thought of putting bacon into it too... ← Elvis' favorite sandwich was a grilled PB&B. Which, according to the Presley Family Cookbook, he grilled in bacon fat. So he wasn't that far off.

How about a grilled bacon, lobster and warm peanut butter sandwich?

I have observed unroasted 'white' poultry stock taking on more and more color as I simmer it. This coloring seems to accelerate during the final reduction phase. This 'coloring' is the production of maillard compounds, is it not? At 212 degrees? In fact, I have taking a white chicken stock, reduced it, added water, reduced it again, added water and then compared that against a roasted chicken stock. To my palate, the flavors formed were exceedingly similar between the concentrated simmered stock and the roasted poultry version. If these are maillard compounds being formed, is it possible that roasting and prolong concentrated simmering could produce the same compounds?

This article goes into how the big boys do it: http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1998/0798AP.html The long shelf life is going to be tricky. Water is the enemy. The best way of tying up water in a bar like this is sugar. Here are the ingredients for a chocolate peanut butter Atkins advantage bar: Ingredients: Protein blend (Soy protein isolate, hydrolyzed collagen, whey protein isolate, calcium /sodium caseinate), glycerine, polydextrose (fiber), cocoa butter, peanut flour, water, peanuts, natural coconut oil (non-hydrogenated), cellulose, cocoa powder, natural and artificial flavor, olive oil, lecithin, maltodextrin, guar gum, citric acid (flavor enhancer), salt, sucralose (Splenda® brand non-nutritive sweetener). Nutrition Blend: Calcium (tricalcium phosphate and calcium carbonate), magnesium (magnesium oxide), vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B-1 (thiamin), vitamin B-2 (riboflavin), vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), vitamin B-12 (cyanocobalamin), natural vitamin E (acetate), niacin, biotin, pantothenic acid, zinc, folic acid, chromium (chromium chelate), vitamin K, selenium. I'm sure that the packaging places a large role in shelf life but from an ingredient perspective, here's what's helping to preserve it: Polydextrose (by tying up water) Glycerine (same) Maltodextrin (same) Salt (same) Citric Acid (lowering the pH) You will also notice that 'water' appears pretty far down the list. From the number of times 'glassing' and crystallization are mentioned in the link above, I'd say that protein bars are a soy protein based fudge. A nougat also comes to mind. Both of these require the textural properties of sugar. So you either go with sugar alcohols, which many people eschew, or, you take the Atkins route and use polydextrose. I've been baking a little bit with polydextrose lately, and let me tell you, it is amazing stuff. All the textural properties of sugar with a fraction of the carbs and almost no sweetness. I would boil a polydextrose syrup down until it gets a soft ball stage, add your nut butters/protein isolates and then mold/let cool. The chewy/dense protein bars are definitely not baked. The light/crunchy or oaty ones are. If you go the soy route (almost all bars do), I recommend one of two forms. Soy protein isolate (kinda pricey) or Fearns brand Soy Powder. The soy 'powder' is a type of soy flour that's been processed differently and tastes better. The protein isolate shouldn't have a taste at all. I would stay away from soy flour for this application (or anything else).

Such as? I'm sure you're right, but my first thought went to a bacon chicken teriyaki. And then it went to cucumber avocado bacon roll. Mmmmmmm... Now bacon green tea ice cream... *squinting, pursing my lips* ... *Long deep breath* If it was offered me, I think I'd try it! Anyone with a bacon haiku?

Chocolate-bacon cake?

After tasting peanut butter bacon cookies at the last eGullet NJ picnic, it has finally dawned on me that there is nothing on this planet that doesn't go well with bacon. Am I stating the obvious here? Am I missing something? Bacon reminds me of lecithin. Do you know the way that lecithin has a water loving head and fat loving tail?. Bacon has those same hermaphroditic qualities, except it's savory head and a sweet tail. Come up with a food where bacon would be completely out of place. I dare you :)

I guess I have to ask, why diabetics aren't more specific when they call ahead and request a special dessert? They or their SO ask for a 'diabetic dessert' and they should know better then to be so vague. If they could specify sugar-free, artifically sweetened or low carb. it would be far easier for the non-diabetic chef or reservationist to understand what they are requesting. ← I think a phone call from a person asking for a 'diabetic' dessert is an entirely different story than what's being discussed here. That's clear as crystal. This is a misinformed individual laboring under the myth that 'diabetic' denotes sugar/refined flour free. I think it's extremely safe to say that any diabetic who was comfortable with sugar in their desserts would most likely not call an establishment requesting a 'diabetic' dessert, and, if they did, it would most definitely never be without further clarification. If you wish to stop the spread of misinformation, so that people like Ruth don't have to go blue in the face, you might choose to ask them something like "uh, could you clarify what you mean by 'diabetic?'" Or you can leave them to their blissful ignorance and make them the sugar/refined flour free confection they're requesting. Catering to a person that subscribes to a myth is one thing. You can play along with their skewed paradigm or choose to challenge it. It's up to you. Within these four cyberwalls and the diabetic community as a whole, that's where the shades of gray come into play. I know this doesn't help you in your effort to reach out to the diabetic community, but it might make your life a little easier when dealing with customers with a limited perspective.