Schielke

January 4, 2003

All I know about Konnyaku (spelling) is that it is made from yam flour and has caloric value. Aparently it expands 30 to 50 times its size in your digestive system, which makes you feel full. It is used as a diet food in japan and is sometimes flavored with seaweed.

I would love to know the taste, uses, and any interesting experiences you have had with it. I am sure I can get it here in Seattle at one of the Asian Groceries. Are any brands better than others? Can you make it at home? Would you want to?

Thanks everybody!

Ben

January 4, 2003

Hmmm, I will have to do some research into that home pacojet...even though it probably costs more than I want to spend right now. I saw on the Pacojet Web site that they list for 2500 bucks a piece. I couldn't find any on Ebay, is there some cool underground used pacojet market that I dont know about? The process is kinda interesting...how much noise do they make?

One issue that I have been having with my sorbets is that the syrup tends to seperate towards the bottom of the container I store them in once mixed. There is a noticeable thin layer of syrup on the very bottom of the container once the mixture has firmed up. Do I have too much syrup or is it melting too much before it freezes?

Ben

January 3, 2003

Interesting, thanks again for your insight.

I have been thinking about doing some experimentation with smoked flavors in cold dishes such as sorbets and this will help out a lot!

Ben

January 3, 2003

The River Café Italian Kitchen cookbook has a chocolate sorbet made with syrup, cocoa and whatever alcohol you like to flavour the final mixture with. I have used Cointreau, kirschwasser, rum, as well as some homemade Slovakian firewater (made with plums, from the nose of it) brought over by one of our au pairs. It has all been good (though each has been very different).
The density of the syrup is important because it alters the freezing temperature of the product and hence your ability to continue churning the mixture before it freezes, and hence the size of the crystals in the final sorbet. Instead of dropping eggs into your syrup to test this, you can get a saccharometer, what the French call a pèse-sirop -- essentially a glass egg: hollow glass tube, closed at both ends, weighted, with a scale inside. With this, you can measure your syrup in degrees Baumé, and decide whether to make an 18-to-20 degree rich sorbet, which will have a texture almost like fine ice cream, or a less rich one, e.g. 14 degrees, which will have a grainier, more granita-like texture. The gadget costs no more than a few pounds (I think I paid £4) , though you may need to go to a professional supply house since home kitchenware stores, for some reason, don't tend to stock these. Note that the richer you make your syrup, the sweeter the mixture becomes, and the more you may need to compensate with lemon juice or other acid. You can get more texture with less sweetness by adding glucose syrup (available at bakers' supplies) to the sugar mixture. Also note that alcohols change the freezing properties of sorbet and ice cream solutions.
If you don't want to buy a saccharometer, Harold McGee (in The Curious Cook) has analysed all of this to a fare-thee-well. He gives a table, showing, for each type of fruit, the amount of sugar you need to add to get a sorbet of a given texture, and the amount of lemon juice needed to balance the sweetness. The amounts vary a lot, because different fruits contain different amounts of natural sugar.
I still think that the saccharometer (and tasting spoons) do the job faster and easier!

Last night I made a chocolate sorbet from "Desserts by Pierre Herme". It had 7 oz of dark chocolate, 1 cup sugar (scant), and 2 cups water. It turned out pretty nice. A rich chocolate flavor, but without the added roundness of cream. It is very delicioius, but you cannot eat much of it.

Thanks for the tip on the saccharometer, I may look into this for future sorbet endeavors. Right now, I will stick with my egg. His name is Sorby and he likes to float in sugar. :laugh:

One other question: When making savory sorbets, is any sugar involved? How is the chemistry altered?

Thanks for the great info!

Ben

January 3, 2003

Stoners rejoice!

Duuuude!!!!

January 3, 2003

For sorbets I have been using a 1:1 sugar to water ratio for simple syrup mixed with your fruit juice or other flavoring. After this I usually add a tablespoon or so of corn syrup for smoothness.

The proportion for syrup to juice (or other) depends on the desired sweetness and the amount of sugar in the juice (or other). A tip I learned from Charlie Trotters Gourmet Cooking for Dummies book is to take a raw egg, wash it, and then drop it in your mixture.

If the egg barely floats or not at all, you need more syrup.

If the egg floats very high in the mixture, you need more water.

If the egg sits with about 1/4 of it's surface showing you are right on.

A recent recipe that I enjoy is:

Satsuma Rum Sorbet with Shaved Dark Chocolate

1 c water

1 c sugar

1 T corn syrup

3/4 c juice from satsuma oranges (6-8 satsumas)

2 strips of zest from oranges

1 jigger of dark rum

2 T shaved dark chocolate

1. Bring sugar, water, corn syrup and orange zest to light boil over medium heat.

2. Remove orange zest strips from syrup.

3. Cool syrup in ice bath.

4. Stir orange juice into syrup mixture. Make sure it is well combined.

5. Freeze in your Ice Cream machine as per manufacturer's directions.

6. When mixture is starting to get thick, add the jigger of dark rum slowly and then the shaved chocolate.

7. Let combine in the machine.

8. Pour out into airtight container and freeze to desired firmness.

January 3, 2003

So how do you all keep your bacon fat once it is bestowed upon you?

Ben

January 3, 2003

Frying bacon is so risky for me! I usually want it in the morning when I am without shirt...which leads to me hopping around in the kitchen yelping as my chest hair sizzles.

Hope that wasn't too graphic! :blink:

Ben

January 3, 2003

Ive never had slab bacon..I get the smoked bacon from whole food which is awesome - and it may indeed be slab...Ive never seen slabs of bacon in my grocery stores or do yuou have to goto a butcher? Excuse my lack of knowledge on this

Neither have I, I assume it is a butcher thing. Does anybody in the Seattle area know where to get a slab o' bacon? Klink's butcher on Queen Anne perhaps?

Ben

January 3, 2003

Alton Brown also recommends the oven for all of your bacon cooking needs. I have yet to try this though so I cannot attest to its benefits or drawbacks.

Also Heyjude's bacon candy recipe calls for the oven. And that is bacon like the bacon god meant for it to be.

Ben

January 2, 2003

Interesting, thanks for the info. I wonder how it got the name XO sauce. Perhaps it was some chef's secret blend and they labeled it as such.

Ben

January 2, 2003

What exactly is in XO sauce? I have only seen it used on Iron Chef and they never describe it.

Thanks!

Ben

January 2, 2003

I have heard that each guinness brew is designed to appeal to the country it is being sold in. I have no proof to back that up though.

Ben

January 2, 2003

Awesome! Thanks for the low down! Consider me schooled.

Ben

January 1, 2003

How does the classification of sparkling wines that are listed as dry, extra dry, and so on work? Is it reverse where extra dry means sweet? The Chateau St. Michelle extra dry sparkling wine is somewhat sweet and is described as such...

Does anyboy else have insight on this?

Thanks

Ben

January 1, 2003

I made an orange-rum sorbet with shaved dark chocolate (sharfen-berger of course)

I snuck a taste last night...mmmmm

Ben

January 1, 2003

Jebus!

Any recs on some dead on volume measurements?

Ben

December 31, 2002

Cool, thanks! I am looking forward to trying them out. I almost bought a 1.5 L of the Argyle, but I decided to go for variety.

Ben

December 31, 2002

For tonight I picked up the standard Argyle Brut and a bottle of Zardetto Prosecco. I am still a champagne infant, but it should be fun!

Ben

December 31, 2002

There is a coffee place called Arosa on Madison (near where I work on Pill Hill) that has great panini sandwiches. The owner (Hans) also makes really good homemade waffles. They are made with yeast and allowed to rise before being grilled in the waffle iron. Yummy! I first tried his paninis last week, and they were grand. Also on First Hill (on Boren), Otis Cafe has pretty good panini sandwiches. I like Hans' sandwiches better, though.
There is NOWHERE (unless you want to eat at McDonald's or Subway) to get a sandwich for under $6. Even Quizno's inedible horrors are really pricy.
What a coincidence - I know Hans and his wife Ellen. They are members of the Swiss Club and we see each other sometimes at dinner parties and events. I haven't been to his sandwich shop for awhile though. At that time, he told me Tom Skerritt would come in sometimes.
You mentioned Subway in passing, and never having eaten a Subway sandwich before, I'm curious what are they like? Do they taste better than they look? I've never had the courage to try one.

They are the height of mediocraty. Mid to low grade meat, semi fresh bland veggies, fresh baked homogeneous bread, crappy condiments.

Ben

December 31, 2002

I like hot chocolate!

I have been meaning to do some experimentation too! Could somebody outline their favorite styles of the sweet stuff? Those previous threads were about european and mexican (I think) hot chocolate...how about your other day to day stuff?

Are you pro or con mini marshmallow?

I know nightscotsman digs big homemade mallows. Awww yeah

Ben

December 30, 2002

What else is being served at the meal? Or will the crust determine this? :smile:

Ben

December 30, 2002

I am a big fan of the presentations you get at the County Fair or some such event. The V-Slicer is the only thing I have come close to buying (since I need a mandoline); does anybody know how well it compares?

The best part about the county fair ones is that they are live and the people doing the presentation are not as good so it can get pretty funny at times. I did have a bad experience once though. I used to hang out at the fair all the time back in the day since my mom was a 4-H leader and I had to be there for a week solid. There was one guy who was selling the hand cranked food processer (Rocket Chef or something), and he would make fresh salsa for the audience to taste. I would stop by the booth every so often to get a little free snack. Later that night I was throwing up every half hour like clockwork. I had a taste aversion to cilantro for about 5 years.

:wacko:

Ben

December 30, 2002

Macrina bakery is pretty damn good too. The potato bread is off tha hook!

Ben

December 30, 2002

Most likely the entire west coast is doughbut/donut wasteland (and getting worse as Krispy Kreme raises it's poofy, too-sweet head), but that place in the market that makes those mini-donuts with that antique machine is still pretty cool.
Jim

I totally agree, I love the deluxe ones with the chocolate and sprinkles....mmmm tiny doughnuts.

Ben

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