gfweb

I've arrived at a cold-smoker that is dirt simple. A $7 hardware store hotplate, the weber propane grill that I already have, and a roll of aluminum foil. The hotplate goes in a corner of the Weber. A bunch of applewood twigs are wrapped tightly in foil and laid on the hotplate. Put a new packet on after about 15 min so it'll start smoking when the first dies out Figure out the lowest setting that gets the wood smoking after 5 or 10 min. The meat never gets hotter than the ambient temp and get smoked nicely.

Great links! I've ordered the book which looks great too. Thanks, O!

Thanks! Halved sprouts are blanched for about 4 minutes or less if smallish..then put cut side down in a pan with a little hot oil and fried till dark brown. Then I pour a solution of orange marmalade and a little water in (put in enough water to get the marmalade to spread evenly I guess 2:1 orange M to H2o)...just enough to cover the pan about 1/8 to 1/4 " and cook it down with the sprouts sitting in the developing glaze. I do something similar with maple syrup. Whole process takes about 15 minutes, I guess.

I too know nothing about making pasta. Actually less than nothing Basic questions that pasta recipes online don't address... How much do you knead the stuff before putting it in the pasta machine? Does it affect texture? How many passes at each roller setting? Does it matter how long it sits before cooking? What else would a novice need to know?

SV short rib with rosemary jus, garlic mushrooms, orange glazed sprouts

no bark to be sure but SV makes BBQ pork pretty fool-proof i suppose that if you are tuned-up on BBQ/smoking then SV is no improvement But if BBQ is foreign ground, then SV makes it do-able

Beard is great. His "Theory and Practice of Good Cooking" cost me about $2 on a remainder table and has been worth many fold more. He teaches the novice so well.

I posted maple glazed browned sprout halves a couple days ago. but it wasn't leaves. http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/monthly_12_2014/post-50214-0-46736200-1419300323.jpg

I make it immediately. I don't know how well it would store...might lose the action of the baking powder.

In my own crabbed handwriting... Makes a somewhat crumbly cornbread. (Cake-like cornbread is an abomination., but if you like that, increase the flour and egg.) At the bottom are the baking times for my pans and ovens.

True enough re texture. Meat moisture though can be increased by increasing humidity in the oven...eg with a combi (steam) oven. I've seen studies comparing loss of weight during cooking between conventional and steam ovens...steam preserves something like 20% more weight over dry heat. It'd be interesting to compare combi vs braising.

I did more with duck. Goose in 2015!

Christmas lunch Smoked turkey salad with slivered grapes and candied pecans and cornbread madeleines, some with jalapeno

The issue isn't food safety but tenderizing a tough cut. If you want "falling apart" meat it takes time and some temp to gelatinize collagen.

I do mine SV as well. 150 for 24h. I have a 180F crockpot that I used to use ===> a little overcooked result

Could you make a curly french fry with this?

Worth remembering as well that wine-y sauces have been passed-by by many chefs. Lots of ways to deglaze without using wine. Given the variability of different wines, even wines of the same grape, one can probably get more reliable flavors with stock, water or dilute vinegar. Thinking about it, if one chooses red wine it might be logical to go with a big blended brand that wants a consistent product.

I'm not in The Business, but I am in business and have been in a version of your position myself. A title wouldn't cost them anything and would travel well when you leave in a year. It might even pay back the salary you are missing now on your next job. Asking for a raise never hurts but you have to be ready to either accept "no" happily or leave. Thus its best to have your next job lined-up before asking for the raise.

The stuff labeled cooking wine is just as Norm said. No good for anything really. The wine you cook with depends a lot of what the dish is and how you are using it, eg deglazing or adding to a red sauce as it cooks or a beurre blanc etc FWIW I hate to open a whole bottle of good wine just to pour a little of it in a pan, so I keep a bunch of those airplane sized bottles of good-enough wine for cooking.

I do. It can be a little albumin-y, the sort of stuff that would caramelize if the meat was cooked on a saute pan, which can make for a odd texture in the sauce. I tend to boil it off to the point that it caramelizes on the pan, and then deglaze with whatever. I've also just cooked it down a little and added starch or Wondra to make a gravy-like sauce that hides the bits of coagulated protein that appear when it is cooked.

I've noticed that you are a night-poster. The Dr John of eG.

Confit duck, risotto (a little too tight) and maple-glazed sprouts

Cashews peanuts and coffee.... You showed admirable restraint!

Agree with above. When CSB comes out with a bigger model I will get one. Till then, I love my Breville.

I think the orzo could take the 135F or so it would take to reheat the lamb. Starch gelatinizes at >60C, so you have plenty of room before degrading the orzo...assuming that nothing more is involved in mush-ifying the pasta than temp.