ermintrude
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Posts posted by ermintrude
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s stated most tuna sold for consumption should be ok to eat raw, however the outside getting contaminated could be an issue. A quick sear on all sides would kill any surface bugs, but if you want it totally raw then cut a thin strip of each side would remove the potentially contaminated outer layer.
The majority of fresh tuna will have been frozen at some point so in your case since you can get it I'd go for the flash frozen. To defrost, if it's vacuum packed just put it under running cold water, or in a bowl and change frequently. If not vacuum packed then put it in a ziplock bag. Once defrosted give it a quick rinse and use ASAP.
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Take this to it's logical extreme where all the hard to get reataurant reservations are on eBay and put there by the reastaurant. You want to visit the Fat Duck, Noma etc, etc bid away. Bids could close 1 month before and any not sold be released as normal reservations. This would allow the restaurant to make more money on the reservation itself.
Personally I think this woul be a very bad thing as only people with the money to pay for the reservation could make it. These establishments are expensive but can be saved for as a treat and using dedication a reservation can often be made (I managed French Laundry, Fat Duck and failed after trying for 5 years with El Bulli). Having resevations open to the bigest bigger would mean that only the wealthy and not those who may appreciate the food were able to eat there. But if you believe in full on capitalisum then why not.
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By the way, even this food Web site has carried reckless advice to take Acetaminophen (a drug lately in the news) when you have a partially impaired liver!
Actually they are correct, in the majority (If a person has not been drinking heavily) of cases Acetaminophen is one of the safest drugs to take with a partially or even seriously impaired liver. Provided the body has enough glutathione then Acetaminophen is broken down into harmless metabolites however if the body runs out of glutathione then a diferent metabolic path is taken and one of the metabolites is toxic and kills liver cells. Glutathione can be depleted by ethanol consumption, excessive doses of Acetaminophen and or malnutrition. So provided that a person is well nourished, no more than 1g four times a day taken 4 hours apart and for several days and not drinking alcohol to excess then Acetaminophen is the way to go. The other pain killers Aspirin Ibuprofen etc are NSAIDS, these can thin the blood, cause bleeding and in people with partially or seriously impaired liver cause a lot more problems.
Often Acetaminophen poisoning is accidental, by taking 4g a day for to long, mixing medications without reading the ingredients and so going over the 4g per day limit, drinking alcohol and taking paracetamol and by the time the damage is done it's to late. In known overdose situations get to a hospital ASAP.
You can replenish glutathione levels by taking NAC (N-Acetyl-Cystene), and this is the antidote, given IV quickly enough to Acetaminophen poisoning. Unfortunately NAC smells of rotten eggs so it's not a popular supplement but perhaps one to consider if you know you will be drinking more than a few drinks.
All that said, if you have a partially impaired liver then you should follow your doctors advice.
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Ermintrude or anyone,
On the Kuon Rucor.. or on any of the pressure cookers!! How do you know the vent is not clogged by liquids perking through ?
The Kuhn Rikon uses a spring loaded valve, as the pressure inside increases the valve is pushed up against the resistance of the spring. When 1 red bar is showing the pressure is >=5PSI when 2 red bands are showing the pressure is 15PSI by regulating the heat the correct pressure is obtained without venting steam. If heat is not regulated eventually the spring valve will reach the position where it will start to vent. In addition for extra safety there is a secondary valve that will vent if maximum pressure is exceeded. The Kuhn Rikon website may help in understanding how this works
This page How is the DUROMATIC pressure cooker different from my Grandmother's? from thier FAQ also gives a good explanation
And finally, to answer your question "How do you know the vent is not clogged by liquids perking through" unless you go over pressure then there is no venting of liquids so the vent will not clog. If it does vent due to over pressure or overfilling then you need to clean the valve
Also I found the blog where they looked how different pressure cookers changed the results when making stock HERE
Hope that helps
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ANother vote here for Kuhn Rikon they don't vent like other preasure cookers so keep all the flavours inside wish I'd bought a larger one to make more stock. I remember reading that stock made in this is quicker and tasier than made the standard way, but the standrd way is better than a normal preasure cooker (can't find the reference). Not having a standard preasure cooker I can't verify this.
The other advantage of Kuhn Rikon is no messing with weights and very quiet and even if it over preasures no mess just a hiss as excess preasure is released.
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Just chacked and on amazon.co.uk it's now £335 up £50 from when I ordered it, glad I got in early.
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While disapointed I hacve to wait till April as compensation I'm hoping the tasting menu will be up and running by then.
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Another vote for Chitlins, had them once as a kid, never again
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For a full on english breakfast you could go to http://www.thecocktavern.com/about/ (breakfast menu not listed) which is underneath smithfield meat market and is open very early in the morning. You can see the market andn the traders in the pub having a pint after work at 8am
Loads of interesting places near buy, i'd recomend http://www.northroadrestaurant.co.uk/ for an interesting and very reasonable lunch
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Are there vacuum bags for home sealers that can handle the 116+ degrees C to kill botulism spores?
Cooking sous vide then a short blast in the preasure cooker to destroy any botulism would allow sous vide confit to be kept non refrigerated but can any bags handle temps of around 120C. Also would that change the texture, I guess not as often I have used v hot oil when persevering confit. Or would 120C first then slow sous vide be better.
If I can find bags that can handle being in a pressure cooker that can be used with a home sealer, I'd be happy to experiment, until then going for no risk so eat soon or freeze.
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My conclusion is that while sous vide can give eggs of certain texture(s) that can be used in various dishes, they cannot substitute for a perfectly cooked poached egg or soft boiled egg.
A perfect soft boiled egg is not possible sous vide, using all the sous vide various temps eggs the white is either not set enough or the yolk is set to much. For me the guaranteed way to make a perfect boiled egg it to steam for 12 mins, starting from cold with 500g of water in a thermomix. Still don't have a 100% method for a poached egg, but the cling film method is quite successful. These methods need a temperature gradient to achieve the results and require attention. While a sous vide egg has interesting textures and has it's place but for something to dip my solders in for breakfast it's not for me. Even when using them for poached the while is always to runny or the yolk to stiff compared to a good poached egg.
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Original menu was for 4
Sous vide Torcheron of Foie Gras with Perigod Truffles
Taster of smoked scallop with avruga
Slow roast fore rib of beef with all the trimmings.
Hestons hidden orange Christmas pudding plus brandy sauce (Roux based)
But now due to the weather and now feeding 8 and could expand (max 12)
Due black/white truffle mix up courses changed and now:-
Start with rissoto, only a one or two spoons each but full on white truffle.
Trio of sliced smoked scallop and teaspoon of avruga on top.
Torcheron of foie with toasted brioche with(Cognac or Sauternes jelly)
(The above is very rich so thinking maybe better to serve all at once as a first course, and each just a taster)
Slow roast fore rib of beef with all the trimmings.
estons hidden orange Christmas pudding plus brandy sauce (Roux based or egg not sure)
Cheese - loads of. Insert when needed
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Ordered and paid for 50g of black truffles to go in my Foie GRAS torcheron, just unwrapped them and buy mistake they sent me white alba truffles. Cant send them back as they'd be off by the time they got back over the holidays so I am now forced to make a risotto. Shame about the Foie Gras but I can make do.
Looks like a very merry Christmas.
http://desmond-cf1.yfrog.com/scaled.php/0/614/1y6z.jpg/640/640
They look a bit dark in the picture but that's as I had no flash on my phone
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"Please enlighten us Yanks on what you mean by pop up restaurant. "
It's a restaurant that just pops up, stays around for anything from a day to a few month then is gone. This ranges from an individual or group of amaturs doing it to famous chefs "Pierre Koffman" had one on the roof of selfridges several years ago, before he opened "Koffmans". They can be in someones home, an empty building a tent etc. Some are well publicised (generally fully legal) others are word of mouth only. They are an interesting addition.
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I'd go with a simple risoto but be happy with any of the above.
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What is the print run of this book?
How many people will be buying this for an investment ?
Some books such as "Nose to Tail Eating" and also "The cracking is superb" went to silly prices, but fell through the floor when second edition was released. Books like the "El Bulli" cook books I can't see they would be reprinted, since they stopped doing English versions, the value of these seems to be increasing rapidly - but would I part with the books (Well just for cash no, unless it goes to silly numbers).
Unfortunately, I'm not good on investment, I got a stain on "The Big Fat Duck" but I am enjoying and using the book which is way more important. And the fact book 6 could be up for visits to the kitchen sounds brilliant.
V Looking forward to this and it's a present from my Mum :-)
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Not yet tasted anything that combined real champagne with chocolate where I didn't think it was a not worth the cost of real champagne when other cheaper wines could be used but I must say "Mixing champagne with cocoa (powder), a good quality one, blend the mixture into a iSi whipper, and then foam it over some half-filled champagne flutes, really iced ones" could be worth a go" have you tried this ? Is the foam stable, I would have though adding some lethicin or egg white would be needed to make the foam stable and do you pressurise the iSi whipper with CO2 or N20?
It's Christmas if I remember may have a play
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If you are not happy and have something to compain about the service you can leagaly withold some or all of the service charge. I've done this on a couple of extreem occasions. I've also not paid it as part of my bill (say paid by plastic) and then left cash equivilent or more as a tip it in places where I know that the service charge does not go to the staff.
If you are not happy and have something to compain about the foodyou can leagaly withold some or all of the food charge. Of course you should complain at the moment you have a problem and most good restaurants will ensure it's fixed there and then, but if needed you can refuse to pay some or all of the charge.
If you don't wish to make a fuss about this (and it can cause one) make sure you write "paid under protest" on the bill so you can claim it back later.
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Just bought some Marmite XS - really nice, stronger but smother than normal marmite
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Had a very pleasent lunch at North Road a bargain at £20 for three courses.
The cuisine is nordic and the starter of Ox Cheak with pear was stunning, the main course of Brill with dill oil was very nice resting on a salty butter sauce flecked with dill oil that didn't over power any thing. Desert was jerusalem artichoke, raw ice cream and sunflower, this was very unusual and seemed to be grated artichoke, sunflowwer seeds and iceream covered with a creamy foam and candied artichoke slices on top, odd but stranglely morish.
I'll have to visit again as the a la carte looks very interesting.
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Three of us booked for lunch on 2nd April
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If you fancy japanese try Nobo - You let them know what price you will pay (Think $150+ per head) and they will do a tasting menu to your budget, have done this several times there and always had a great time.
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Further cooking may kill most of the bacteria but will not guarantee safety if certain toxins (botulism, for example) have already been produced by the organisms.
Cost/risk/benefit analysis is up to you.
Any botulism toxin will be destroyed if you get the temperature up to 100 degrees centigrade (boiling in stock) for 10 minutes, it won't kill the spores though, but it's the toxin you need to worry about. Also botulisum pefers anerobic conditions so it's unlikely. Also that temp will kill of any of the other nasties there BUT it will not destroy toxins from bugs like Staphylococcus, but these would have been killed by the first cooking, so recontamination would have needed to occur. Since already cooked and only at room temp for 6 hours and in a closed oven - I'd make that stock (for home use only of course - and not recomending it but I've made stock several times from a carcus left overnight in the oven and and I'm still here)
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I took the plunge (Sale Miss Brahms )
The Dishwasher-Loading Topic
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
I've a Siemiens dishwasher, when the top rack is removed it comes with a spay head that fits on the back where the water that feeds the up baskets arm goes. This makes sure that the water is better distributed for a good clean. My old AEG didn't have this but was still fine to use with no top basket.
I always find dishwasher loading to be an art, if around I jump in after my lodgers loaded it and I generally manage to get a 1/3rd more in.