s_sevilla
participating member-
Posts
186 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Everything posted by s_sevilla
-
as far as getting it to emulsify and coat well, as long as I have a little good mustard in there it seems to do well. As opposed to what I see most people do (a little salad with your dressing?) I like my salads with only a breath of dressing, so I tend to make my mine on the stronger 1:1 side of things.
-
Does anyone have any thoughts on other uses for Xanthan Gum besides oil-less dressings, and the requisite vegan and gluten free cooking? (I saw that "poi" on Top Chef, but I would think it would be a little slimy, as I learned with some of the sodium-alginate thickened sauces I've tried) I'm sure it would help the texture of some of my baked goods, but I'm trying to find other uses for it before justifying a big bag of it.
-
The "freeze filter" phenom is actually a result of a process called "syneresis" which occurs when you stress gel matrices. for a very short and layman's explanation: Think of it this way, anytime you have a gel, you have very few of proteins hooked together, like a structure, and a ton of water just kind of sitting in between the bound proteins. This water really isn't bound to anything, its just there. When you stress the gel with temperature, the water molecules will expand/contract, when frozen, the expand a lot. While the gel matrix may remain (for the most part) intact, the water will "rip out", creating pathways and openings. When thawed, the gel stays together, and the water filters out. This technique will clarify almost anything, including fats and oils emulsified into water, and leaves you with a consomme with a clean taste. This will increase the yield of some clarifications (I've heard it works well with tomatoe water). Note: This explanation isn't entirely correct, but it makes a little more sense than the closest explanation I could find that actually tells you what is going on. The process: infuse water with whatever ingredient you want the flavor of. add gellan/knox to create a .5-.7% gel solution (experiment with it a little) let set, then freeze. once frozen, remove to a collander lined with cheesecloth, and let thaw. depending on what you are clarifying, you may want to do this in the refridgerator.
-
I bike 20 miles to work every day, and I find that the problem is not so much keeping the sandwich from sprouting a farm of bacteria, but constructing it so that it survives the ride intact. Tupperware helps, but the sandwiches can still disintegrate. I suggest falafal in pita bread, with a side of tahini or hummus. Avoid anything squishy and wet or that will wilt, like tomatoes, unless you want to pack them seprately and assemble when you eat. Consider making a store of tomato confit, onion confit, and roasted bell peppers, as they make the tastiest and sturdiest sandwiches. Use sturdy, artisan rolls. Any sort of cured meats (the stuff with sodium nitrates) should be fine over 4 hours, as will most cheeses. Think of it this way: If it already has good bacteria growing in it, it takes longer for the bad bacteria to grow in it. Also consider Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, which survive pretty well. One more tip: I found that applying the mustard directly on the bread can leave you with a soggy sandwich come lunch time, so apply condiments on the other side of some sort of impermeable layer.
-
just want to add my two cents: I bought a polyscience unit off ebay for 175 (8L or so), although a little small, for a college student living with roommates its a perfect additition to my kitchen. It does not circulate, but for long cooked items, or individual servings, the temperature stays very uniform when the lid is closed, never dropping below 1 degree divergent from the set temperature. It definitely saves time to prep and freeze a portion of my dinners before hand, then drop stuff in before I go to class in the mornings. This is also by far the easiest and most economical way to confit meats. It may seem a little prohibitive when you first jump in, but the savings (at least as I see it) are well worth it, and the quality of food is great.
-
San Francisco - late night eats and the nasty bits
s_sevilla replied to a topic in California: Dining
go to incanto for the nasty bits, although I am sure you can find them elsewhere, they probably do the most refined and best preparations of nasty bits in the area (if not the country). -
Young raw milk cheeses, they definitely beat out anything here. (Minimum ageing per USDA for "legal" raw cheeses is aged 60 days)......Amsterdam, uhh, I think that one is pretty obvious, although that's not really something I would eat per se........Dave Lebovitz's blog had a posting about horse milk recently. All over Europe I would go for the cured meats, because many of the varieties and styles cannot be made or found in the States. The Yogurt over there also seems to taste better too.
-
Some chemicals can be had from Chefrubber.com, which is a good place for the calcium chloride, alginate, Agar Agar, and vitamin C, get your Transglutaminase from Activa (search, you'll have to talk to someone and convince them to send you a sample), and call DOW chemicals to get a sample of methylcellulose. Usually, recipes use HPMC E4M
-
I literally smother the bird in salt 24 hours before cooking, stuff some aromatic something inside.....I like orange leaves, then roast at 375 until done. I used to stuff under the skin a lot, but this led to a lack of crispy skin, so now I just KISS.
-
global knives for your "important knife" which is all you really need, and then for the "sacrificial" knives go with Victorinox Forschner. You really only need 2-3 knives at the most, so I would go for a Global Chef's knife, 8-10 inches depending on preference, a sharpening steel, and then a serrated bread knife, paring knife, and boning/fileting knife from Victorinox. That will handle 100% of anyone's needs.
-
read upthread, but I've heard of people showing up at the door the instant they open the day they want to go, and snagging a last minute cancellation.....I can't speak from experience, but I'm sure it's here somewhere...
-
Brian--- You're a student.....stay in a hostel, that's what they're for. If you're really adventourous and have a friend that can recommend you, try the couchsurfing.net thing, since you can cook I'm sure you could trade a spot on someone's floor with a good dinner.
-
why buy a starter? If I accidently kill mine I just pick up some more for free from my local bakery. Starters are also very dependant on place and local, so if you want something unique to your house, take the time to make it yourself (be aware that it takes 2-3 weeks for it to get to a respectable strength and robust enough to be very useful)
-
I have seen a few recipes that created a sturdy version of the custard to cut into sheets for use in napoleans and as components of composed desserts. I believe the recipes included cornstarch. If you have a background in food chemicals, I would suggest experimenting with Methylcellulose food gums, which will set at higher temperatures, and at lower temperatures, they will allow your product to have a looser and creamier mouth-feel.
-
get a popcorn maker with some sort of paddle inside, like the back to basics model. Only add your sugar and salt after the popcorn has stopped popping, and then turn the paddle very fast over high heat for about 20 seconds. The residual heat in the kernals and from the fire will just melt and carmelize the sugar. If you add sugar before popping or during popping it will burn, and your popcorn won't pop all the way.
-
And if you really wanted to know, it is bound with a cool enzyme called transglutaminase, which you can read all about in the "meat glue bandwagon" thread.
-
Try gelling an entire drawer of cooking utensils....make sure you use extra gellan and let the thing set in the fridge overnight....if you use the flavored kind you can throw it out on the table and eat it as part of your lunch.
-
on the studio kitchen thread shola did them at exactly 63.8 Celsius for about an hour. See here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...0entry1152300
-
there's all kinds of bean pastes, curds, etc that you can use or produce on your own. Do the rules allow the use of products derived from legumes, like tofu?
-
I've tried it with almonds to make almond milk before.......clogged my machine in the process, but the liquid that did make it through was a nice thick foamy almond milk. It takes some experimentation, and I'm sure that there are some bonefied applications out there. I would love to try throwing something like the ginger salts from "Ideas in Food" in there to see what comes out.w
-
Does anyone have any experience with the Oregon black and white truffles, or the California truffles.....I'm sure they are not the same as their European counterparts, but at 45$ for 3 ounces, they are certainly cheaper. Anyone have any tasting notes they could contribute?
-
The Supreme eGullet Pastry and Baking Challenge (Round 12)
s_sevilla replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
parmesan water would be perfect for this challenge. -
Consider poaching the shrimp very gently in some aromatic EVOO of your choice. You'll want to retain the texture and sweetness of the shrimp, with just a hint of the olive oil in the background.
-
The Supreme eGullet Pastry and Baking Challenge (Round 12)
s_sevilla replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Dessert Mac n Cheese anyone? Cheese souffle reminds me there was a restaurant in SF that did an amazing quark cheese souffle....no sugar was used except to coat the ramekin and that added just the right amount of textural and flavor counterpoint to the souffle. -
Scharffenberger (of Berkeley, CA) is also now a subsidiary of Hershey's. They still make their chocolates the same way they always have, with the same chocolatiers, but they're using Hershey's in order to distribute to a wider consumer base.