mache

I have as well. I was interested more in the fact that he was substituting steaming for brining. -- Mache

Yesterday's New York Times article in the Dining & Wine section has a Jacques Pépin recipe for Steamed and Roasted Turkey that I am considering for Thanksgiving. The article states that steaming the turkey first makes for a very moist final product and allows one to skip brining. Instead of roasting it in the oven, I plan on using my smoker with cherry and apple woods. My smoker has very accurate temperature control. Has anyone tried this approach? Any general comments as to its potential for success or failure? -- Mache

Cooks Illustrated is the approach I use. Perfect Poached Eggs - Cook's Illustrated 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste 2 tablespoons white vinegar 8 large eggs, each cracked into a small cup/ramekin Ground black pepper Fill an 8-10 inch skillet nearly to within an inch of the rim with water Add 1 teaspoon salt and the vinegar and bring mixture to boil over high heat Remove pan from heat and quickly, working in two batches, cook 4 eggs at a time by lowering the lip of each cup into water letting the eggs flow into the pan. Cover the pan. Poach until yolks are medium firm, exactly four minutes, or for extra large or jumbo eggs, about 4 1/2 minutes. For looser egg yolks, poach 3 minutes. With slotted spoon, carefully lift and drain each egg over skillet. Set on warmed plate or platter and cover with foil until ready to use. Keep in a warm place or in oven set to 275 degrees.

We purchase an uncured pastrami from DaBecca that is wonderful and they use Eye of Round. You could use a wet corned beef cure for first round and then cook/smoke it using the CI method. If you get anything near the DaBecca product, it will be amazing. -- Mache

Sorry, marscapone is more like 75% fat, 23% water, and 2% MSNF. I would suggest the ice cream base recipe for a marscapone ice cream to be: 500g Fat Free Milk 225g Marscapone Cheese 225g Granulated Sugar 8 large egg yolks By my calculations you should get the following ratio by weight 20% Fat, 53% Water, 5% MSNF, 2% Solids, 21% Sugar Compare that the Alton Brown's vanilla ice cream recipe (my personal favorite) 235g Heavy Cream 725g Half and Half 225 Granulated Sugar 8 Large Egg Yolks Which comes to the follow weight ratios: 17% Fat, 59% Water, 5% MSNF, 2% Solids, 17% Sugar Give it a try and let me know what you think. -- Mache

Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen has a set of weight ratios for perfect ice cream. Fat Water MSNF Solids Sugar Premium Ice Cream 16-20% 55-64% 7-8% 0.2 -0.5% 13-16% Standard Ice Cream 12-14% 67-60% 8- 11% 0.3% 13-15% Economy 10% 64% 11% 0.3% 15% French Commercial 10-14% 67-58% 8-11% 2% 13-15% French Handmade 3-10% 69-54% 7-8% 6-8% 15-20% Gelato 18% 55-50% 7-8% 4-8% 16% MSNF = Milk Solids Not Fat I would use the premium ice cream ratios. A quick look on the Internet states that mascarpone cheese is 50% fat, 3% protein, 5% carbohydrate, and 42% water by weight. Using this information you should be able to balance out a tiramisu ice cream using mascarpone without any problem. To adjust the ratios either add water or add cream as needed. -- Mache

I reread the smitten kitten post and have decided that the next time I do this cake in my 9 x 13 pan I will use 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder and bake at 350 degrees F. Given the garden tile and the magic cake strip, I am assuming it will be done between 45 and 55 minutes. -- Mache

If you do try this version, I would read the thread I posted earlier which reduced the baking powder from 1 Tablespoon to 1 teaspoon for the loaf pan version.

Thanks. Because Honey Cake is a cultural touchstone, I am one of those people that was forced to eat hideously dry, bready, Honey Cake for my entire life. When I found this recipe, it was a revelation to me that such a cultural icon could also have great culinary merit. In my experience, that has not often been the case.

For now its just a puzzle that I want to figure out. If I go slow, even if things do not work it will all be eaten. I get my honey at Costco for around $12.99 USD for 5 pounds Costco also has bulk honey 40 pounds for $144.49 USD -- Mache

Agreed, but I only want to have to prep and wash one pan. -- Mache

Traditional Jewish Honey Cake I found out how to solve the problem. This recipe is from Marcy Goldman's A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking. The original recipe is here and a discussion about sunken centers is here. As has been suggested, while I reduced the baking powder and the oven temperature from the original recipe due to the use of a 9 x 13 pan rather than loaf pans, its still too much. I should reduce it further and perhaps can bake the cake at its original 350 degrees F. I will lower the baking powder by 1/4 teaspoons until I get a good result. Thanks to all for your thoughtful comments. -- Mache

I would think that removing the tile would make the sunken area that much larger. In my opinion, I would lose the direct heat source hitting the bottom of the pan and be more dependent on heat moving from the perimeter of the pan to its interior. Do you have a different opinion? -- Mache

A flower nail is a sharpened metal rod attached to a flat head. Stood on its head on the bottom of the cake pan and surrounded by batter, heat is conducted from the pan bottom up through the metal and directly into the batter. In my case, placed in the center of the 9 x 13 pan, it would conduct heat to that portion of the batter that is furthest from the pan sides and taking the longest time to cook. It is also used as a base for icing-based floral patterns. The patterns are created on the head and then attached to the cake with the sharpened metal rod. -- Mache

Where are the best Internet suppliers for flat bottomed flower nails? -- Mache

I have a cake recipe that results in a minor sunken area in the center of its 9 x 13 pan. It has great flavor and crumb and the center is level and a cake tester comes out clean when I remove it from the oven. I bake it for 70 minutes at 325 degrees F on an unglazed 13 x 13 garden tile using a moistened magic cake strip. I use 2.25 teaspoons of baking powder. I could use some help on how to resolve the problem. Here is what I know: Baking the cake longer results in unacceptable browning and drying out of the cake's perimeter. Over beating the batter eliminates the sunken center but makes the cake breadier due to increased developed gluten. My choices are: 1. Lower the temperature to 300 degrees F and bake the cake longer hoping that it will not brown or dry out. 2. Increase the baking powder to 2.5 teaspoons and leave time and temperature unchanged. Any ideas on how to fix this problem? -- Mache

I made the tiramisu and it was fantastic. My guests suggested that it was very much at the level one would expect from a fine dining restaurant. -- Mache

I think people are missing a pesky concept called homogenization. Cream is homogenized which in lay terms means pushed through a very fine sieve at high pressure to chop up the butter fat molecules. Adding butter to ice cream base, regardless of how much whipping is done, will just separate in colder temperatures to result in an ice cream that has an icy greasy mouth feel. Even if you try to incorporate the butter into eggs when you are taking the eggs to nape, you will still get separation because it would be just like cooling Hollandaise that will ultimately break into pools of solidified butter. I do not believe there is a way to increase butter fat in ice cream by using butter - you always have to use homogenized creams to achieve the desired effect. -- Mache

I work in the computer industry and recently saw an interesting project on a BBQ forum that I frequent that took a retail Internet router and made it into a automatic temperature controller (ATC) for smokers - LinkMeter Using that device as a starting point, I would think it should be fairly to make a Sous Vide Controller. All you would need is controllable heater and circulation pump. Are there people doing these types of DIY projects and if so, what types of controllable heaters and pumps would they recommend. -- Mache

I got these from a thread on eG sometime ago and they are great, very moist, but not drippy sticky. -- Mache

I use a laboratory hot plate magnetic stirer to take egged mixtures (like egged ice cream bases, cream anglaise, or Hollandaise) to nape. I got inexpensively off of Craigslist, purchased a new teflon coated magnetic stir bar, and attach a candy thermometer to the side of a non-ferrous (All-Clad) 2 quart saucepan. This makes it incredibly easy to get egged mixtures to nape, giving you an easy way to watch the temperature all the way to 180 degrees Fahrenheit without curdling. -- Mache

It its enameled throughout, I would soak it in a 25% bleach solution for 24-48 hours. -- Mache

Take a smoker to your site and smoke a couple of briskets

I have a favorite chocolate glaze recipe that liquifies very quickly at around 70 degrees F. We have had some very bad layer cake disasters (top layer slides off) as a result. Can anyone suggest how I could change the recipe to make it more stable at higher temperatures but still keep the same overall taste profile? -- Mache Chocolate Glaze - Makes about 3 1/2 cups 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup boiling water 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder - Droste cocoa powder - Dutch processed with alkali 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted - Valrhona, Le Noir Amer 71% Cacao - Black package with red stripe 1 cup canola oil 3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted 1. Place sugar in large mixer bowl, add boiling water and whisk slowly until sugar dissolved. Add cocoa and mix well with a whisk. 2. Roughly chop the chocolate into squares/chunks and place in a bowl over a sauce pan of just simmering but not boiling water. Let chocolate melt. 3. Combine melted chocolate and oil; add to sugar and cocoa mixture, beating slowly with whisk until well mixed. Add butter and beat slowly with whisk until until butter is completely incorporated into glaze. 4. Cover and chill several hours, preferably overnight for best texture and flavor. Stir well before using. Makes enough to generously frost center, top and sides of two 9 inch layer cakes.

The Fra'Mani Savory Turkey Meatloaf is in the refrigerated prepared foods section. I do not know if it's nationwide or just the San Francisco area. The Costco that I go to (Redwood City) has a number of Fra'mani products. -- Mache