Shalmanese
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Posts posted by Shalmanese
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and barbeque!
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Chicken stock takes less than an hour in a PC and the bones come out crumbly which means all the gelatin has been leeched out. If you want a lighter stock, then you might have to experiment a bit with shorter cooking times.
However, because there is very little steam leakage, your stock won't reduce. What I like to do to maximise yield is to stuff the PC full of chicken bones only and make a bone only stock and then strain it and then simmer it in a pot with some finely diced mirepoix for about 30 minutes to reduce it an infuse it with vegtable flavour. That way, you get more stock per batch.
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Yes, foams and quail brains only make up a small section of the book. The reason why they are mentioned so often here is because they are among the more interesting sections. But the real strength of the Cooks Book is in the basics. You are taught how to make stocks, sauces, fresh pasta, cakes, bread and many other basic preparations. In addition, it has chapters on many non-european cuisines including Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Mexican etc. all written by experts in the field.
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Just picked up a copy yesterday and was leafing through it on a 13 our flight. It truely is a fantastic book and contains a ton of inspiration. I especially love all the esoteric chef tricks which wouldn't find thier way into a normal cookbook.
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Good luck finding one in the US but I love my computer controlled PC which I detailed here.
It automatically brings the pot up to pressure and then keeps it there so you get no vapour loss whatsoever. It has a timing feature so you can dump something in and forget about it.
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The best way to get truffle flavor into your popcorn would be butter. Truffle flavor infuses very nicely into warm melted butter. For optimum extraction of flavor, grate the truffle with a fine microplane.
"Truffle salt" is certain to be just as artificially flavored as truffle oil.
The truffle salt had visible specks of black truffle among the salt.
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It's the chewing gum thing, it doesn't lose it's flavour you do.
Really? I had no idea. Does that mean if I put half-chewed gum back in my mouth it will taste fine again?
You've never done this? You should try it once.
The other unfortunate trend that some chefs go to is to try and cram as many flavours into an main as possible in order to keep it exciting. But instead you get a melange of contradictorary flavours with not rhyme or reason. I agree that multiple apps would probably be the best way to go, flavour wise. But you have to realise, cooking 2 lamb shanks is only infitesmally harder than cooking 1 lamb shank and only costs a tiny bit more in food costs. More and smaller dishes are always going to cost more for the same quantity of food. Perhaps the new model of dining will be 30 small plates and then going out for a hamburger afterwards.
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I'm standing at my stove popping some popcorn (something which I consume in un-Godly quantities on a regular basis)... and I had a most delicious thought... you probably know where this one's going based on the subject of this forum... YEP, has anyone ever shaved/infused/sprinkled truffles over their popcorn?
I know, it sounds like somthing only an insanely extravagent person, say A. Ducasse, would do/serve... but why not? I'm a popcorn freak - and I wonder what "truffled" popcorn would be like - well, I know - done successfully, it'd be HEAVENLY. I'm sure it's been done - anyone with an encounter?
Happy crunching on this one!
U.E.
Intriguing. The truffle store in Pike Place market in Seattle sells truffle salt which was actually surprisingly truffly in flavour. Maybe a sprinkle of that cut with some regular salt on popcorn would work. It's $22 for 100gm (3.5 oz?) which is not terrific value but it's not absurd either.
What about truffles from more exotic regions? I know they have started harvesting them in Tasmania recently and some in Western Australia as well. A friend of mine claims to have an aunt who harvests them in England and theres oregon ones as well. It's hard to filter out the hype from the content but I've read several accounts of chefs raving on about how they are as good if not better than Perigolds. In part though, it might be an issue of freshness more than anything else.
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I really like a pressure cooker for small batch stocks when you have just a couple of bones and don't want to go to the effort of a full blown stock. It takes just 2 hours start to finish (less if you dont need to roast) and you can get the full charecter of the stock without diluting it with a neutral stock like chicken.
If you have a PC then why not? If it comes out weak, then just keep reducing until you get the flavour you like. Otherwise, there are plenty of asian soups that would do well with a very light and delicate flavour.
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Yeah, I realised after the fact that it was a meatless meal. But I had plenty of meat for lunch *points upthread*. It was good to eat something light after such a hot day.
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Oh, and having the right items in your fridge or pantry can dramtically simplify meal prep. Stuff like herb oil, roasted garlic, onion or shallot confit, compound butters, fresh herbs, roasted peppers, duxelle (mushroom paste) etc. all add an elegant touch to any dish for very little effort.
One I like to make is 3 large tbsp of onion confit and 3 cubes of frozen, homemade beef stock per person, cover with boiling water and season to taste. Add in a splash of sherry vinegar and you have french onion soup in 15 minutes that tastes like it took all day to make.
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One from Gordon Ramsey which I haven't tried but looks intriguing is just brocolli, water, salt & pepper. Simmer until tender and then blend until smooth. Serve with croutons & goat cheese.
Quick cooked pasta dishes can look very elegant, especially ones with seafood.
Salads, especially salads with cooked meats.
And theres always steak, the ultimate fast meal.
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I declare this the official start of summer!
Asparagus soup with yogurt and croutons:
Home-made Tagliatele with a Marinara sauce.
The sauce was some shallots, garlic & chilli slow cooked in this season's Australian olive oil (picked just 3 months ago, yowza, the taste is incredible!). Some beautiful tomatos tossed in at the last second. Then, topped with some buffalo pecorino and some maldon sea salt flakes. Thank you random egulleteer who told me you could freeze fresh pasta, it came out perfect!
Dessert:
Anyone jealous yet?
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*salutes*
Aye Aye Capt'n!
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She said that for guotie (pot sticklers) dough, you have to mix the flour (just plain non-self raising flour) with boiling water and for jiaozi (boiled ones) dough you mix the flour with cold water.
I have heard that, too. Also, for jiaozi, your make the wrapper thicker in the middle and thinner on the edges. My wife uses a special tapered jiaozi rolling pin for this. Otherwise the "top" of the jiaozi, which is formed by pressing together two edges, would be thicker than the base, and the wrapper wouldn't cook uniformly throughout in the boiling water. This is not an issue with guotie, since the base is cooked differently from the top.
The way our family does it, you get the rolling pin and roll about 1/3rd the way into the centre then roll out. Rotate the dough 30 degrees and repeat. If you do it right, your left with the outsides thinner than the middle.
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Jiaozi for one is a very lonely thing. Jiaozi should be a chance for everybody to get together and cook up a storm:
(From last Chinese New Years, this was *after* everybody had ate their fill) In total, I think we had 20 people in the kitchen at once.
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Have you tried toasting and then freezing the flour? I'm heading off on holiday tomorrow so I have no chance to experiment but I'll investigate further when I get back. I am intrigued by this.
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Sure, you can make a cheese souffle with a bechamel base.
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Well deserved. Keep up the good work!
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Well, the milk braised lamb ended up going in the Dinner thread but the leftover milk sauce (which, by the way is EXCELLENT on sandwiches)... Oh my!
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Milk braised lamb with blanched spinach.
Served with a Banana & Kiwifruit smoothie.
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But what happens if I need to slice a tomato right after I've been chopping hammers?
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Lamb actually, I'm wondering if it'll taste as good as the pork version. But goddamn does it look ugly halfway through cooking.
Watch chefs kicking lumps out of each other
in Australia & New Zealand: Dining
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Excellent interview! good work.