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VibeGuy

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  1. VibeGuy

    Hot Cereal Add-Ins

    I like to saute either old-fashioned rolled or steel-cut oats in clarified butter, then *steam* them in a basket steamer until tender. It's very amenable to acting as a substrate for leftover daube, Chinese food, or curry in the morning. I can't do even brown rice in the morning (I get rice coma). Once I combined the steamed rice with leftover carmelized onions, minced country ham bits and covered the whole thing with poached eggs. Very successful.
  2. Natto is so many kinds of foul...and I don't have a texture problem - I can make a triple batch of tapioca disappear before it's cooled to room temp. I like fermentation flavors, but, ewwwwwwwww. Tibetan momo balls bother me. One bad exposure as a child. I think it was the bland steamed wrapper meeting the funky mutton. I'm queasy just thinking of the notion of a Japanese-Tibetan fusion concept...natto-laced momo balls....
  3. I've used it to dust whitefish in the style of meuniere. Served with sriracha and pickled ginger. Fairly successful. I'm also using it in lieu of kinako (roasted soybean flour) as I try to reverse-engineer Biscoffs, the speculaas cookies as served on leading airlines. (I know, I'm insane)
  4. In fact, Coke reached out to Dr Pepper/7Up to distribute Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper on the Freestyle platform. The deal involves investment by DP/7Up on the order of 100 million dollars over 20 years. I'm particularly intrigued by some of the brands poured on the Freestyle including the Dasani flavored waters. I don't do HFCS and I don't do caffeine anymore, so other than Sonic (Sprite Zero) or the odd Minute Maid Lite Lemonade fountain account, I don't usually buy sodas in quick service or casual dining, and I don't think I'm alone. I have a sneaking suspicion that Freestyle converts a large number of customers who were just ordering ice water into beverage buyers by having 50+ non-caloric options. My big concern with the machines is throughput - they're only rated for 90 drinks an hour, which is very, very low compared to a regular 8-valve Lancer or Cornelius postmix dispenser.
  5. I suspect the difference in calories is smaller; the US standard is to round to the nearest five calories/serving, so it could be something like 17 for one formula vs. 18 for another.
  6. The bigger issue to me WRT the sealed bags is that only a portion of the CO2 is trapped in the gluten network. I would wager that if a dough doubles, something like 50% of the produced CO2 is escaping rather than being trapped. That gas is going to have to go somewhere....
  7. I'm a fan of Wyler's frozen wild blueberries. I like them a bit better than the TJs ones, which are frankly, pretty good.
  8. Lowe's home improvement stores, in my area, are closing out the Masterbuilt electric "turkey fryer" units for $24.75, down from $170 list. 1650 watts, rated for use with both water and oil, approximately 5 gallon capacity, heating element on the bottom, etc. I have mine plugged into a RKC 101 PID controller with a K-type thermocouple (switching to a PT100 RTD as soon as it shows up). I'll also be adding a rib-rack type bag holder. I may use the built-in drain pipe to attach a bubbler for forced circulation, but we'll see. This shows the picture. It looks rather like an SVS, no? This looks to be a promising platform. I'm doing one of the notorious Ready-Roast birds in there right now.
  9. Thankfully the Vibe in my nick has absolutely nothing to do with the vibraphone, nor do I think Eigenvalue is an Austrian marketer of low-cost Gruner Vetliner. While partial differential equations aren't exactly my idea of a good time; neither do they scare me, per se - I just didn't want to reinvent the wheel where avoidable. I'd actually moved in the direction of the Stefan task late this evening, because I recognized the moving-boundary condition of a thawed layer of continually increasing thickness riding on the solid core of continually diminishing thickness, and promptly realized that I needed both another glass of wine and to reconsider abandoning the modelling approach for a more experimental one. Still, backing up once again, trying to find a generalizable approach to a specific problem...how are people approaching the issues of time spent in the temperature range from 5C to 54C in frozen-to-long cook applications? Is reduction of cross-section really the most-viable method? I'm somewhat loathe to open the package to get a probe in the middle, but that's looking like the lowest-hanging fruit right now. E, realizing that the love of a sandwich has morphed into something else entirely when mustard is replaced by math
  10. Oooh! How I missed that is beyond me. I reviewed your guide earlier to come up with the range of 160 to 170 (effective pastuerization, esp. of the sketchy stuffing meets the time/temp requirements for tender dark meat). The way I read that chart is that it's the time to reach equilibrium temperature with the bath given a particular shape. Is there a similar chart (or, better, an equation) that models the specific case of frozen-to-long-cook, where the bath temperature is > pasteurization temperature? Stated another way, I'd like to model a system where for, a given shape with "forcing dimension" X, Starting Temperature Tstart and bath temp Tbath, the time to a given temperature of interest Tinst is calculated, including accounting for the heat required to make the phase change if Tstart<1C E (edited for clarity)
  11. I am barely allowed to shallow-fry at home after a memorable potatoes parisienne incident the first time I had him over for dinner. Nothing makes for an awkward date quite like a grease fire....(fyi, cold dry potato balls turn into cold wet potato balls if it's a humid day and you linger over a glass of wine - jus' sayin'). I am still allowed to do deep-fried whole pork loins at friends' houses if their homeowner's insurance is paid. Since I'm the only one who gets excited about the skin, it's no big deal if the browning is a little mottled. Back to the OEM directions. Given their open-to-atmosphere bag roasting method and "350F for 5 to 6 hours to reach 165 with a few cups of water in the pan to get things started" instructions, I'm guessing that in 350F saturated air, the time between 40 and 140 is borderline four hours (its at least an hour from "fully frozen" and it took 45 minutes to get from 130 to 160. So, does anyone have a resource or method for calculating the heat transfer difference between air / saturated air at a given temperature and water at a given temperature? E
  12. I'm extremely happy with both my 7L and 5L versions. The 5L is about 25 years old, the 7L 10. A second bowl is a godsend. I love the meat grinder because it's all-metal and stays cold if you freeze it before grinding. I would suggest getting one of the BeaterBlade/Flexiblade/squeegee-type flat beaters for it - between the adjustable spacing between the beater and the bowl and one of these third-party beaters,I can make *anything* emulsify without unmixed goo on the bottom of the bowl. E
  13. The "resting" was more a case of "ponder sides, wait for oven to be free". I'm the only one around here who gets even remotely excited about turkey skin, so I may just torch the exposed stuffing to get a bit of crust. The finicky one doesn't care for dark meat, stuffing, skin or medium-rare white meat, so really I want to optimize the safety of the stuffing and get awesome dark meat. Also, there's really something to be said for a high-quality convenience product that I can just stick in the bath and walk away from - there are days that facing my FoodSaver Pro III seems unbearable. Given the unusual shape and substantial size, I've read backwards to page 62 in toto, and I still haven't found a calculation method for spheroids - the infinite slab calculations don't seem to be applicable. Extrapolating a bit, I'm looking at temps between 160 and 170, and I'm guessing that 24 hours +- would have both the desired pasteurization and gustatory effects. What I really need to have more confidence in is that given the size and shape, I'm getting through the danger zones in an appropriate amount of time, even from frozen.
  14. I face a bit of a challenge; the first attempt turned out delicious, and nobody's dead, but I'd like some guidance... Kroger (and their local affiliates QFC and Fred Meyer) has introduced a surprisingly clever product - they call it a "ready roast" turkey - I call it hours of knife work in a box. It's a smallish bird (I would guess on the order of 14 pounds or so) that is essentially brined and boned out (leaving skin, breast meat, thigh meat and bone-in legs), then stuffed (standard bread stuffing, with apples and dried cranberries). The whole affair is formed into an 8.5 lb oblate spheroid about 9" in diameter, with legs seductively arranged at a 45 degree angle to the mass, tied, and bagged in a heavy polyethylene-type bag. Retail price is $40, which I find laughable for factory poultry, but with on-pack coupons and in-store promos, I bit at $15. Color me curious. The OEM instructions are to cook from frozen, venting the bag in five places, place in a roasting pan with an inch of water, and roast at 350F for 5 to 6 hours until the stuffing reads 165F. Said instructions make my head explode, as there's no way that bird would ever be moist and/or tender. Thus, I thawed the bird under flowing 40F water until poking at the bag and flexing the mass indicated I was pretty close to thawed. I then circulated it at 160F until I was dying of starvation, 4.5 hours. I removed the bag from the bath and allowed it to rest 15 minutes, then removed the bag and netting, wiped the skin clean and temped the bird with a two-point-calibrated Thermapen, at which point the breast and thigh meats both read 155F but the stuffing was a dismal 130F. I rubbed the skin with compound butter and roasted it at 350F until the stuffing read 160F, about 45 minutes. It was frankly a reasonable success. Moist, juicy, even-textured; skin, while not crispy, had a pleasing chew and roasty flavors. The drippings responded nicely to the boil-strain-saute method and made a delicious if slightly salty gravy. I wanted to leave it in the bath longer, but hunger and the emerging desire for a sandwich of thigh, stuffing, cranberry and butter lettuce on homemade white, just after midnight, got the better of me. It was good enough and required so little hands-on time that I bought two more. (seriously, those sandwiches are my downfall). My belief is that I would be better off with a longer circulation and finishing under the non-preheated broiler with the door open, no resting. Given a 45L preheated bath, should I skip the thawing step and just plunge bird into bath and walk away? How long would you anticipate I should circulate? Thermodynamics isn't my strong suit and my mechanical engineer partner thinks it's a ridiculous way to cook a turkey because it doesn't make the house smell delicious. He does, however, believe it makes a very moist breast. E
  15. You guys rule! I need new pants - breakfast at the market came with bacon the likes of which I have never eaten. The roast pork sandwich was fantastic, the gelato terrific. I had some very "local" flavors - but I think scrapple is a profoundly acquired taste. Had a great meal across the street from my hotel at the bar underneath le Bec Fin. I look forward to my next trip and getting to explore a little more. Eric
  16. Oh great oracles of foodiedom: I've been summoned for a day of work in your phair city on Thursday, but I'll have Phriday phree. I've spent time in Philly before, but not nearly enough to have any local sensibility. What I'm looking for are a couple of foodie secrets that I absolutely must experience to understand the regional foodways, preferably casual and relatively affordable. I won't have a car, but I'll be staying at the Hyatt downtown and am perfectly comfortable with public transportation even in neighborhoods that might be considered sketchy. What are, say, three things I have to taste/see/experience to even begin to "get it"? Eric
  17. *sigh* CR is so beautifully hyped. $36/lb for fillet? I'm all for premium ingredients. What I fail to understand is how seined and gillnetted sockeye is even remotely a "premium ingredient". My criteria for spending over $15/lb on salmon happen to be: 1) Line Caught. No exceptions. Firmer flesh, less bruising. 2) Wild. Also no exceptions. 3) King/Chinook. Yes, there are other fish in the sea, but I'm picky. I'll put well-handled Columbia, Trask or Rogue/Klamath river Chinook up against CR any day. I agree the Yukon fishery produces fantastic fish as well, and the hype surcharge sure seems lower. Eric, Crankily.
  18. Pots de Creme would be a pudding, no? My vote for pudding is the rommegrot served at the Scandinavian place on 15th (the name of which escapes me). It's like a blancmange made with sour cream, served usually with a dried fruit compote. The rice pudding at Ikea with a dollop of lignonberry isn't bad either. Imperial Garden in the Great Wall Mall serves a *sublime* coconut tapioca topped with a lard pastry crust. Mmmmmmmn. Eric
  19. Full Disclosure: the guys behind Hot Dish are friends of mine and I've helped in the most minor of ways with their opening. I have no stake in the restaurant other than wanting to see dear friends succeed. It's going to be "American Comfort", serving breakfast as well as L/D, and the full bar remains. Dan's got a way with comfort food, and aside from his churlish insistence that peas don't belong in tuna-noodle casserole, he's very on-plan. Expect a couple of interesting finds on the breakfast menu, sandwiches and a handful of entrees at lunch, and intensive comfort at dinner. They expect to open in the next few weeks. Eric
  20. The ubiquitous plastic boxes of fresh herbs found in local grocers (Fred Meyer, QFC, Whole Paycheck) can, in fact, be found filled with epazote. I couldn't tell you the brand offhand, but anyone who uses fresh herbs in this area will know the one on sight. Eric
  21. Clam chowder here is probably more endemic than Boston itself, and the style is consistent - you can float the soup spoon on it, it's so thick. I have to say that Thai places in Seattle are *everywhere* - maybe it's just the crowd I hang with, but I'm pretty sure everyone in Seattle can describe pad thai accurately. I'd wager the most popular hotdog in town is the buck-fitty-with-a-soda Costco dog. They certainly created an enduring icon. What I've always found somwhat odd is that we don't have an emblematic sandwich here , despite a Scandinavian heritage and a business culture that doesn't thrive on the Power Lunch. Pastrami on marble rye is to NYC as <blank> is to Seattle... I've got nothing to fill that blank with... Eric
  22. I use American Hotel Register. They stock locally in Kent. Eric
  23. Eats in W. Seattle has consistently good baking - I really enjoy it. Reports from someone who worked there from startup until recently didn't feel there was a lot of growth/experimentation potential, but thought the owner/chef(s) were easy to work for. E
  24. Two, two, two birds in one stone: knockout lunch of Friday at Fu Man Dumpling House. Some of the most authentic Taiwanese-style food I've had outside of Taiwan. Everything was fresh and tender; a total surprise given the neighborhood. Do *not* miss their roast chicken. It is totally sublime. And they do pack to go, which would make it an *excellent idea for a take-out bird with moist meat and perfectly-seasoned skin. Eric
  25. There's fresh goat in the case of the Mexican market next to the Goodwill on Ambaum in what I would optimistically call Lower White Center. Eric
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