gfweb

The Canary Islands have fascinated me for years. I'd love to hear more about the place

Is Vanilla Coke still coke?

It wasn't as though NYT claimed it was the proper way to make carbonara. It was a variation. Like a turkey reuben. Not a reuben, but a variation. I admit, turkey reubens make my blood boil; so I sympathize with the carbonara militants, but really...

I've always thought that the yaupon holly was a good for nothing weed tree that you run into if you hit it too far off the fairway. An out of bounds tree.

Yeah, but I still have trouble watching Tony.

I think Facebook can be excused on this one.

Fried chicken, cole slaw, potatoes. Felt like summer!

All four of them are on my "active" shelf

Vintage Anova 1.0.

Love to see photos.

@weinoo How much heat can that cazuela take? I've always been afraid to cook in them

@dcarch What are those hearts made-of?

Let me know before you go. I'll give a list of the good places.

Flat iron steak, mushrooms, rutabaga gratin. Rutabaga was the last of the Misfit experiment. It was actually pretty darn good. I'd do it again.

Only on Diners Drive-ins and Dives

You'd have to use a shitload of soy or fish sauce to add enough salt to effectively brine something bigger than a shrimp or two.

I use Poupon ( Ina Garten's fav) and Maille. I can't say that either are all that strong. It wouldn't surprise me if the French place made up their own from powder. I put a little dijon in a lot of sauces....too add a depth of flavor on the back of the tongue. You can't taste the moutard, but would know if it were missing.

Brining pulls water into meat. Soy, MSG, and fish sauce add umami but don't change meat texture or juiciness

Interesting and I like it, but seems like it has to be expensive with all the schlepping and cleaning involved. One company it says charges a $5 deposit. Big price to enter if that's the norm. The old milk delivery guy would pick up the empties and did fine until the supermarket started selling milk in cartons. What has changed to give the old model a financial advantage?

@rotuts I agree braising is an imperfect way to cook tough meats.They still dry out to a degree. Same with BBQ, an imperfect method to tenderize that still requires a sauce to be palatable. For me sous vide solves all the problems but a sauce for the meat. I still love the braised veg on my short ribs. Re tasting better on day 2. I think I've noticed it, but you are right it's probably do to juice distribution, I think.

@Bernie Are you proposing to have the braising liquid be the same saltiness as the brine so that no water is drawn out of the meat? Meat drying has a couple of mechanisms that I'm not sure how to factor-in. There's the effect of heat that denatures protein and squeezes water out when the protein contracts. Sous vide and braising minimize this There's also the effect of evaporation that makes meat lose water. Steam ovens and sous vide minimize this I can't predict what happens to the water brought into the meat by brining. Probably the same thing.

Interesting stuff. Even without gas you'll need a hood to get cooking fumes out. Paradoxically, without the heat updraft of gas you may need a more powerful hood to get smoke out. and then there's the issue of makeup air, particularly in a tight house. Is there enough sun in winter to give a day's worth of power?

Thanks!

If it were me, I'd render that fat and save it in my bacon fat jar. Great for adding goodness to sauteed veg or making bacon caramel to put on/coat things like bacon.

@TdeV "When disassembled, some of the meat -- particularly the black bits -- was hard and seemed dry, and needed cutting with a knife. Some of the meat was very soft and could be squished between my fingers. Would there be a reliable way to get all the meat done to the same degree of doneness?"' I cannot open the recipe Sounds like you ran out of water which dried the meat and/or the caramel got to a much higher temp than 212F and cooked it badly. I suspect the caramel is partially at fault. A partially submerged oxtail ought to cook evenly and well in three hours braising.