mkayahara

Thanks to all for your informative replies. So, next question: Has anyone tried pressure-cooking them?

Give Powder to the People a call: http://www.powdertothepeople.ca/. They don't list it on their site, but they do have some in stock.

That's what I do - mix panko with olive oil and seasonings, and brown in the oven before using. I'm not sure you would even need the oil: it's just "bread," so it should toast up nicely even without it! Olive oil for the flavor, not for browning. Oh. Well that makes sense, then!

That's what I do - mix panko with olive oil and seasonings, and brown in the oven before using. I'm not sure you would even need the oil: it's just "bread," so it should toast up nicely even without it!

Shot in the dark here, but it resembles a cocoa butter transfer sheet.

How about browning them separately in the oven before breading the chops?

If there were lumps of tapioca-egg mixture at the bottom, I'd say that's your culprit right there: that's the part that's going to thicken your pudding, so if it wasn't mixed in, it couldn't thicken. I don't see why an immersion blender wouldn't work. It's certainly worth a try! Though if it were me, I'd try it out on the burnt sugar pudding, partly to make sure it works, and partly because the ingredients are cheaper.

Well, the weight amounts in the recipe you linked to are not the same as those in the book, which calls for 36 grams of tapioca starch, not 28 and 520 grams whole milk instead of 460. (The volumetric measurement is the same.) But since you refer to the burnt sugar pudding as well, I'm guessing you're using the book? I've made the chocolate pudding, and it turned out quite nice, in my opinion. Were you measuring by weight or volume? If by weight, my guess would be either that you need a high-speed blender for these recipes (I used a Vitamix), or else cutting the recipe in half interfered with how it blended. Did you have lumps in the bottom from undispersed tapioca-egg mixture, or anything like that?

I was recently looking up cooking times for pressure-cooked steel-cut oats in Modernist Cuisine at Home, and noticed that they give a cooking time of 12-15 minutes for stove-top cooking (and 7 minutes for pressure cooking). Remembering this thread, I wondered why an overnight cook would be necessary if they take only 15 minutes in the morning. So what gives? Are people really that pressed for time in the morning, or are the MCaH folks low-balling the cooking time?

I think the standard "meritocratic" response to that is that the "less motivated" will become more motivated once they stop being able to feed their families.

Yeah, it's nice that you choose to stereotype an entire country based on your anecdotal evidence, but that doesn't change the fact that tipping is standard and expected in Canada, and 15% is considered the norm. Some individuals may not adhere to that norm, but that doesn't mean the tipping culture is different. And I personally take exception to your remark, being a Canadian who routinely tips 18%-20%.

I'm not sure if I'm reading you properly, but it's worth pointing out that Canada has the same tipping culture as the US. I don't object to leaving tips, since it is the way the system works currently, but I don't think there's anything wrong with questioning whether the system could be made to work better.

I've made a few recipes from this book and her earlier Moroccan one, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco. I recently made the bisteeya and it was wonderful. I've made several of the tagines and they're always tasty. And don't overlook the salads! The beet and carrot ones are my favourites. If you're not sure whether or not you'll like the recipes, don't invest in a proper tagine; most of them can be cooked in a regular pot just as well, though you may want to reduce the amount of water going in at the start. I'm not sure what ingredients you'd need to "invest" in, other than spices. The barriers to entry in Moroccan cooking are pretty low, and most of the ingredients are things you can use in other cuisines as well.

I just came across this TEDx video from the University of Guelph that addresses tipping culture in North America, so I thought I'd share it. Particularly interesting is his claim that tipping is one of the key drivers in restaurant industry transiency in Canada and the US. Thoughts?

Nice one, Kerry! Glad to see it worked out. Did you end up using the asparagus pot as the base?

Ashen, I think the Copper Pot reserve is brilliant stuff. I recently had back-to-back Manhattans with the Barrel Select and Copper Pot, and the Copper Pot was far and away the winner. This will be my next Canadian whisky purchase... right after I snag a bottle of Lot 40. Yesterday, though, I was flying through Hong Kong on my way home from Hanoi, and picked up a litre bottle of Ardbeg 10-year. Worked out to about half the price it sells for at home, pro-rated for volume.

Agar should be brought to at least 90C for proper hydration, but it does not form airs the same way lecithin does. Typical concentration is in the 1% neighbourhood; acidic bases will require more. Gel your base with the agar, blend it until smooth, then dispense it from a whipped cream siphon to foam.

I received a copy of this as a Christmas gift this morning, and am very much looking forward to diving into it. It's kind of cruel to have only two days with the book before I leave for Thailand, though.

If you were just asking, then I guess the answer I would give is: risotto. (Among other things.) I mean, yes, water can be used to great effect in some preparations, but having a neutral stock is extremely useful, even for home cooks. It's great for pan sauces, too, where you want the mouthfeel of stock, without necessarily wanting the flavours associated with a dark stock. I would say I use light chicken stock the way restaurants use light veal stock, since chicken is a lot easier for me to source.

Then it seems a bit precipitate to dismiss those who make chicken stock at home.

You make risotto with just water?

If you just thaw and can, I'd be worried about whether or not the boiling water bath would raise the core of the jelly to the proper temperature. (Not to mention syneresis from the freeze-thaw process.) I believe most water-processing times are predicated on the product being hot to begin with, so I would heat higher than just "until it can pour." Also, what kind of pectin are you using? Have you checked to make sure it will remelt once it's set?

Yes, if you heat a cream-based foam above the crystallization temperature of butterfat, it's gonna collapse. That's why whipped cream is served cold. If you want to garnish a hot product (like soup) with a foam, the easiest approach is to stabilize the foam with egg whites or starch, or use something like agar or Versawhip, depending on what kind of texture you're looking for.

How so?

Agreed. In Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, he calls for something like 3/4 oz. allspice dram and 1 tsp. simple syrup... I prefer to reverse those proportions with St. Elizabeth.