gfweb

BKeats...a word on the shrimp oil please?

I'd love to see pix of your rooftop garden.

Same deal happened with apples a while ago. Crooks!

Natto was a breakfast food last time I was in Tokyo. Kind of horrifying at that hour.

I'll SV in spiced but unsalted water to get out some of the salt. Works nicely.

Ham, some electric green or orange jello thing with pineapple, potato salad, deviled eggs made w Miracle Whip and French's mustard, hot cross buns from Hanscom's Bakery.

I'm thinking that it would be eventually dessicated in a vacuum, but if you leave it in the fridge long enough it would do that too. So I bet that if drying is the only factor in making duck prosciutto then its just a matter of timing.Vacuum would speed the process.

For me sv corned beef lets me use top round which in my hands would overcook if simmered. Texture is great. Like delicase meat but seasoned how I like it.

Yes. But I never quite trust his view on food safety issues. In the past he has been hard-headedly cavalier with the basics. Probably ok with enough salt.

I do SV 60 C for two days for both brisket and top round roast corned beef. Cure/spice rub for a week in the fridge...rinse well then into the SV. For pastrami my order is rub...cold smoke...SV. Top round done this way is really tender and slices thinner than brisket. Less fatty too if t hat is a goal.

Good discussion here re corned beef http://forums.egullet.org/topic/113064-corned-beef-at-home-recipes-tips-etc/page-3?hl=corned+beef#entry1993852 Some use a brine, I like a rub...less messy

BKE, I'd love to hear details of the restaurant start-up as it evolves.

Water is a solvent in that things will dissolve in it. For example, water is the solvent and sugar is the solute. A generation or two back referred to water as the Universal Solvent. Clearly incorrect as anything fatty won't dissolve in water; emulsifying is required. A mixture of alcohol and water, eg. vodka, is closer to being a Universal Solvent.

Yes. Me too. Not hard at all to make your own. I keep some frozen for when I need a reuben or an Irish stir fry for breakfast.

Irish stir fry for St. Patrick Corned beef, potatoes, onions with a sriracha/ketchup glaze

Its all about the lines. Good for them. Bad for me.

The idea of drying out the meat is a complicated one. There's actual water loss that occurs but there's also a texture change that makes overcooked meat seem dry when chewed. One of the points of a steam oven is to minimize the water loss, but you can still overcook in one of them. The base of your meat sitting on veg will only be exposed to 212F (boiling) until the veg have all their water cooked out, so it won't overcook too easily. But it won't cook at the rate of the 350F air-exposed meat up top. In essence the bottom will be braised and the top roasted.

Exactly my method, Anna.

Interesting link and theory of barking. Might be true. Only weakness is that he presents it as though it is a truth, unless I missed it there is no actual experiment or testing to see if the idea is correct.

BKE-great stuff! Smokers Deli has a PA Dutch sound to it. Bet that scrapple is the real thing.

I suspect bark is more Maillard than dessication.

Salmon steamed over onions, diced baked tomato and shaved carrot in white wine sauce, butternut squash, mashed yukons. Tasted way better than it photographed

Say over the past month, what books have you turned to repeatedly? With the exception of Bittman which I use for cooking times mostly, they all are more for inspiration and interest than specific recipes, although I use them for that too. Mine are: How To Cook Everything- in which I usually don't quite like the recipes and have to tweak them. Flour and Water (thanks Okanagancook) for its great stuff on pasta. Think Like a Chef- which has helpful discussions as well as great recipes. Top Chef contestants would do well to memorize it. It predicts what Tom will love and hate. Rustic Italian Food- Marc Vetri's really excellent thoughts on food in general, pasta, and salumi. Jacques Pepin's Table- No explanation needed. Great recipes.

Oh please. BBQ is the opposite of sous vide insofar as it is hard to reproduce BBQ results without lots of experience. Its all cooking. One is well-worked out and teachable and one is more soul than science. Which is more admirable, Grasshopper?

The dog got some of the eggs because he always does.