Peter the eater
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Posts posted by Peter the eater
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I'm not sure how many I own, but I usually have five or ten from the library.
Right now on loan I've got four Michael Ruhlman books and another three about hunting and eating wild game.
The beauty of this system is that I get to enjoy the book cover to cover for three weeks before passing or buying for the home library. They'll even order books if I ask politely, and explain how it will fill the holes in their collection.
Try it.
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Many cultures -- including the Acadians in my neck of the woods -- traditionally salt the herbs and greens from summer for use over the winter.
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This is very good stuff -- it's so nice to to have these online resources.
I've got an inexpensive polycarbonate plastic marinator that features a big plunger with an o-ring for a lid so I can reduce the volume/increase the pressure within the chamber. It seems to drive the soy sauce into the fork-perforated chicken breast well enough, but now I'm thinking it might enhance the cold brining experience.
If I use this gizmo to brine a small piece of pork belly in my fridge for a few days -- under pressure -- will I get better results/shorter time required?
Correction -- now that I've actually used the marinator a second time, I should clarify that the plunger is pulled UP to REDUCE the pressure inside. The meat "opens up" a bit and the marinade or brine rushes in.
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In a recent topic discussing knife storage there was a mention of magnetic knife racks magnetizing the knives, and what effect this might have, if any, on performance. I can't imagine it would affect even the highest of iron-rich foods. Or would it?
Naturally, I started to think about all the magnets in my kitchen. They're everywhere -- on the knife rack, on the can opener, holding cabinet doors snugly shut, inside every appliance motor, and the sealing strip on my fridge doors. If I had a magnetic induction stove element there'd be magnetism at work there too. I have a hotplate with a built-in spinning magnet -- you drop the tiny white hotdog-shaped stirrer in and it mixes your stuff.
So what is magnetism doing in your kitchen? I'm positive there are culinary processes unknown to me that utilize magnetism .
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I have a few comments....
Some complain that magnetic racks magnetize your knives too. In a word...so what (okay two words). Your onion is not going to fly across the room and stick to your blade. The knife's quality (or lack thereof) will not be affected by slight magnetic energy and does not stay magnetized for long upon removal.
Define "long" -- I haven't had my knifes on a magnet for almost two years, and they're still magnetized. Doesn't seem to affect them, though.
I've never considered the impact, if any, a magnetized knife might have in the kitchen. Could be worthy of a new topic.
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Wow.
I was expecting an alcoholic version of a guacamole relative, or something, but I'd much rather celebrate Mole day with a triple shot of single malt.
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. . . . pancetta was pretty much our first foray into cured meats and it encouraged us to do more! Did you find the smoked bacon post as well?
We took the plunge and got a simple smoker this past summer (Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker). It's been great - easy to use, keeps a stable temperature and I've been able to smoke at various heat levels including a low-temp hot smoke (180*F or lower) for the bacon and andouille sausages.
I just had a really great dinner and yet I'm getting hungry again...
I figured a pancetta type of cured pork was a good and easy place to start. I missed your smoky bacon, I'll look again.
I'm a member of Weber Nation and I've been eying their smokers. I wonder if I can rent a good smoker, then build one?
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So that's why the books are so expensive!
Great bit, really enjoyed it.
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IMHO, the best magnetic rack that has no metal touching your blade and is strong enough to hold the biggest and heaviest of knives is called the Mag-Blok. They are a solid piece of wood that's had rare earth magnets inserted. They also have beautiful one-of-a-kind racks too. Check them out. I have one for use with my high-end Japanese knives.
Octaveman, I saw the Mag-Blok and wondered if it will become very popular -- seems like a sound design. And now I know it's got your approval . . . maybe its time to go Christmas shopping.
BTW in the unlikely event anyone missed it, eG Society knife expert and author Chad Ward (aka Chad) has a great review of knife storage systems in his book.
Don't be a blockhead!
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Hi Peter, I just read your post - wow, it definitely makes me want to raise and share a pig with someone! But I don't have a farm, and unfortunately my freezer space might be lacking a little.
In any case, your new Pancetta is beautiful!
I know you said 'no smoking' but you really need to try it. It's a fun way to spend a couple hours (or a day) and you can do smoked bacon (very tasty), smoked shoulder, smokey cured sausages...
Thanks for sharing your adventures in good eating.
Thanks! I took a look at your Menu In Progress: Homemade Pancetta - nice job.
I look forward to smoking meat in a proper way, I just haven't acquired/built any good gear yet.
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Don't give up -- where there's a will there's almost always a way.In my garden, ground cherries grow next to carrots, onions, dill and asparagus. I don't think they go so well together.I think the the more interesting question is "how can I make these items work together". I know a lobster fisherman who grows peanuts and mint -- now to me that's a challenge.
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Great report Chris, thanks. You mention that:
The meat is stacked for dry-aging in 36F rooms that average about 90% humidity.The surface of the meat looks waxy and crunchy -- is this so in person?
That is shocking. Any idea how many heads of cattle there are in the US? I'm wondering who's more overprescribed -- the people or the cattle?Shocking statistic: 70% of all antibiotics used in the US go to cattle. -
I'll be watching too.
I bought soba for the first time a few weeks ago -- from the Halifax store at Queen & Victoria. Everyone needs more buckwheat in their life.
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The pork bellies were cured in a salt-sugar-saltpetre mix for 5 days. I rolled a few pieces up and a few were left flat, some was sliced and frozen, and some was strung up to dry in a cool ventilated place:
This dried-cured bacon looks and tastes a lot like the pancetta I can get at the market. It's chewy and salty and is best sliced real thin. I imagine the stuff will keep quite a while without a freezer, but I've got enough to last until the 2012 London Olympics.
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As lala suggests this is often said in referring to food and wine. On Molto Mario, he always says this (at least every show), but always in reference to wine.
Mario seems to know what he's talking about, and he's surely Sally's friend given the reciprocal praise found in the The Improvisational Cook. That's all good, I'm just looking for an explanation as to why.
Does a certain microclimate and soil quality produce compatible plants?
Have wine makers adjusted their product to compliment the local produce?
Or is it just an established tradition, widely seen as true?
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What twaddle! Cockeyed philosophy applied to cooking. Folk medicine is full of this kind of pseudowisdom.
So you're a no then?
Sometimes folk medicine will pass Randomized Double-Blind Studies and actually work. Making food tasty is different, one person's yummy is another person gag reflex.
I want a respected and licensed flavorist to explain why this topic title could be true. If there is such a person, I may have made it up.
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I was under the impression that this saying referred to wine and food, not food and food.
Peter, in what way (in your experience) does this not hold true for food?
Many great contemporary restaurants put together ingredients that are from all over the map, and get great results. MG and TE chefs experiment and manipulate to rave reviews. It just makes me wonder what really makes a flavor combo work.
Just to be clear, Sally Schneider's The Improvisational Cook offers this idea as a starting point for home chefs who want to get to a new creative level, and in her context it makes sense to me. Personally, I place a buy local and buy in season at the top of my list of priorities. That doesn't mean they will make the best flavor combos, IMO.
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I just heard Anna Olsen say that on" Fresh"
eta: PB and Chocolate don't grow together, but they sure do taste good together!!
I like Anna Olsen, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Here's my problem: this idea, though it sounds nice, just isn't true most of the time.
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Saw a 1200lb pumpkin!
And here's what a 1200lb pumpkin looks like:
Hard to see just how big it really is -- if you want a sense of scale try googling Manuel Uribe, the 1200lb man.
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I've heard this idea before: what grows together goes together.
This is a fundamental concept in Sally Schneider's The Improvisational Cook. She calls it the "first step in understanding flavor". For anyone trying to come up with something new, start by combining ingredients that grow together in the same region and season. It's a good book, a Beard Nominee in 2006, and I'm glad my library has a copy. I'd probably feel more critical if I'd paid the $45 cover price.
I understand why we perceive traditional flavor combinations as good -- it's the way it's always been -- generations of trial and error. Strawberry and rhubarb, tomato and eggplant, apples and winter squash, etc. It's practical to use ingredients together as they become available together, but does that necessarily mean they taste good together?
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I miss Annapolis Valley apples! Has anyone had the chance to use any local apples this fall?
I remember all the varieties available, and I miss that!
There are apples everywhere. We went to the Fall Fair Exhibition yesterday and there were free Valley apples to sample -- they were all good but I didn't taste any new varieties. Saw a 1200lb pumpkin!
We made several litres of applesauce from a peck of Cortlands, with a bag of cranberries thrown in for good measure.
Apples really are the potatoes of the trees -- or is it the other way around?
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All this oyster talk prompted me to go out and get some, plus a few other ingredients:
6 oysters @ $0.49 each = $2.94
0.39lbs Atlantic shrimp @ $3.99/lb = $1.56
0.312kg salmon trimmings @7.69/kg = $2.40
Under 7 bucks, not bad. Now what?
Chop the fish into regular chunks, shuck the oysters without spilling blood, and peel the prawns.
Collect all the shrimp heads and shells and simmer in a cup of water for 15 minutes, strain.
Chop an onion and some garlic, soften in butter, sprinkle in a little flour, pour in shrimp broth, add the raw seafood and simmer for a few minutes.
Add a little cream just before serving, salt and pepper. Serve over black ink noodles:
Serves six - an oyster a piece.
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i may not be one of "the knife people", but, have it, love it. (bought it at bed, bath and beyond). any knife, anywhere you want to put it. no accidental forcing (and therefore dulling) by trying to slide the wrong knife into the wrong slot. i can fit several more knives into this block than i can in the ones with predetermined knife placement slots.
Thanks for the response, I wondered about forcing a knife into the block -- if it was loaded, if an edge would suffer. Could you fill it and empty it several times a day, all week and still have the block perform well?
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I've had the pork bellies in the fridge dry-curing for three days now. Lots of salt, some sugar and a tiny bit of KNO3. They look deep and chewy. The plan is to roll one up tightly in cheesecloth plus straps to gt a round rolled pancetta.
Here's the look going into he cure a few days ago:
Magnetism In The Kitchen
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
I'm still wondering if magnetism is used in any way to prepare, cook or otherwise manipulate food. Surely somewhere someone (who probably cooks wearing a lab coat) has tried to levitate an appetizer or something.
My curiosity has been triggered, I think, by a colleague who has designed a roof for a hockey rink. This building features an exposed metal roof structure with a thin weatherproof membrane attached to the underside with magnets. Unorthodox, yes, but clever because the roof membrane is continuous without penetrations i.e. not leaky.
My point is . . . I'm amazed when a strange solution is successful.