takadi

Dcarch posted about this in another thread. It had really changed my view on something that I thought was an irrefutable fact of cuisine - that bones simply made things taste better. After much experimenting, I'd have to say that bones *do* have flavor, but little on its own, and when over-extracted, does not taste very pleasant. The delicious flavor we associate with bones has mostly to do with the marrow and fat inside of it (particularly from the "spongy" bone areas associated with joints and knuckle bones), and the connective tissue and meat surrounding it

I've been taking off the disc diffuser on my burner for the last year since with the disc most of the heat goes to the sides. But I always stir-fry in my Lodge cast iron wok. There is practically no point in stir-frying indoors with a regular wok, you might as well use a regular skillet.

Torolover That's why I never bother adding any veggies to a stock unless it's a quick stock or if I add it near the end. Most veggies, particularly celery and carrots develop into undesirable flavors after an hour or two in my experience. Some people probably enjoy that "cooked vegetable" flavor, I think it just tastes overcooked, muddy and swampy. The only thing I add, if anything at all, are alliums like onions and garlic, as long cooking times can add a sweetness and depth. I believe I also read somewhere that alliums contain a significant amount of umami compounds. I like to add browned/roasted onions for stock and for later recipes I add raw onions for flavor.

Long cooking times of vegetables and aromatics are pointless since the flavors tend to disappear at best and can really turn into some nasty garbagey flavors in my opinion. If the simmer time is over two hours, I leave them out. Onions are the only aromatics that can stand up to longer cooking times and add sweetness and depth but once they start disintegrating into mush, that's when it takes away from the stock. Instead of adding aromatics I add things that accentuate the meatiness of the bones and meat with umami dense ingredients like dried seafood, mushrooms, tomato paste. This provides a much better base than aromatics. The aromatics added to a later recipe is a much better use of the ingredients

According to what I've read, long grain rice more readily forms resistant starch than short or medium grain rice. Here's a great article I found on this topic http://www.montignac.com/en/the-factors-that-modify-glycemic-indexes/

Yes it does work for rice, particularly sushi rice. The cooling effect forms that resistant starch layer. But this only works when it's cooled.

Damn, which Wegmans? I called the one in Fairfax and they said they didn't have them...

Coriander roots seem ubiquitous in thai curry pastes and they are exceedingly difficult to find around my area. How do you guys go about procuring them? Do you just grow coriander and harvest the roots?

I've been using the original Italian food saver for the last 6 months. Bought it on ebay for 75 bucks, though I'm sure you can get it cheaper. What's expensive are the bags. I buy vacustrip bags because they tend to be a little more sturdy. I've never had any other vacuum sealing instrument before so I have nothing to compare it to, but it works decently, although there is a learning curve. It's by no means professional or restaurant quality. You also need to make sure all the parts on it like the gaskets and seals are replaced. I tried sealing everything in the freezer with a Waring Pro vacuum gun but the bags often lost their seal in the freezer and they often got punctured in the process of vacuuming. Overall though, it was money well spent. I had to trash over half my freezer stock due to freezer burn and nasty off flavors. Everything is now safely vacuum sealed and no reports of weird flavors or freezer burn yet Btw don't want to derail too much but what program are you doing cow-shares under?

Has anyone tried using a combination of bechamel and sodium citrate? I think the most common complaint about any bechamel or flour based thickener is that it kills flavor.

Thanks Hassouni, I'll be checking it out. I'm heading over there for the farmer's market so I'll stop by.

I am having trouble with avocado oil mayo. It hardens in the fridge and tends to split because of that. The texture is also strange after hardening. Is there any way I can prevent hardening? I use whole eggs.

Grace hot sauce is my *favorite* hot sauce, and it is dirt cheap. Absolutely love it. For some reason it has become increasingly rare in my area. I can't say I've ever seen the green one before but if I ever find it...let the hoarding begin Do you mind linking the article? I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right one

Just cracked open a Schilling and Company "Oak Aged" Cider. I randomly found it at Whole Foods - it's made in Seattle. I expected it to be just a little better than the god awful "oak aged" woodchuck ciders but it surprised me. Really good, has some lager on the nose, not too sweet, and the oak is very balanced.

I've given up on trying to find Scotch Bonnets. I might get lucky one day and randomly find them, but I've scoured and called every farmers market and grocery store I could find and none of them have it.

I'm pretty much using the Habaneros I can find at any grocery store. The ones I've been using have been ranging from orange to red. While I do get a similar aroma when I'm cutting into them, they develop into something a little different when I cooked them out

I'm reading differing opinions all over the place. Some say that there is little discernible difference between them while others say that scotch bonnets are irreplaceable. I made some beef patties using Habeneros the other day and while they were very good, it just didn't have that Caribbean "flavor", or at least it wasn't as pronounced. I don't know if that had to do with the fact that I used Habeneros or if there was some flaw in my cooking.

I'm starting to watch some subtitled versions on youtube, so excited!

I bought Maekrua a few weeks ago based on this thread and I have to agree with you, it is pretty awful. A very bad syrupy consistency with a sickly sweet taste. There was also a taste of oxidized soy sauce. Explains why it was dirt cheap

Don't hurt yourself Sambuckens!

The phrase on the package label "Cai lam dua" translates to "greens for pickling" in Vietnamese. Eaten unfermented they have a very nice mustardy bite and a cabbage/radish flavor. Pickled, the bite mellows out and it is very tasty. I eat them like popcorn.

Quickly blanched watercress for 30 seconds and dunked in icebath. Liquid consisted of a thin bechamel base and chicken broth. I used this recipe : http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jun/06/how-to-make-perfect-watercress-soup It purees cooked foods like tomatoes, potatoes, squashes, etc just fine. When it comes to fibrous vegetables, especially the stems of said vegetables, like parsley, in this case, watercress, and even spinach the blades have a hard time. At best it ends up like a pesto, not really a fine puree. Dcarch How sharp should the blades be? Should they be able to break skin? I got my unit used so I really hope that's the case. I hope it's not a motor issue, and I especially hope it's not just Bamix or the model in general.

I have a Bamix G200 and I tried to make watercress soup the other night. I absolutely could not get the watercress to puree. I was blending for 10 minutes straight until the motor got super hot with both the all purpose blade and the "mincing" blade on low and high speed and the best it could do was a fine chop, not an actual puree. What am I doing wrong?

That is exactly the reason why bamboo brushes are impractical as a cast iron cleaner for home cooks. Woks see so much use in Chinese restaurants that they build up perfect patinas and virtually everything slides away. The super high heat from their rocket powered stoves I'm sure also contributes to preventing things from sticking. The woks they use are probably cheap enough that if they become warped or charred they'll end up just throwing it away and getting a new one. Not a very practical thing for a home cook. Bamboo brushes are more suited to the rounded shape of the wok anyway than the flat surface of most american cast iron cookware. In the video, it looks like he uses the bamboo brush for the exactly the same purpose and exactly the same way I mentioned. Hot pan, "deglaze" with water, sweep away the bits. The action of the brush is a sweeping motion, not an aggressive abrasive action that is required to get really charred and stuck food. The food gets mostly unstuck by flash boiling of water and temperature differential by adding water to a hot pan, not solely by the action of the bamboo brush itself. I do it all the time with my cast iron - heat it up until smoking, "deglaze", wipe out with paper towel. I'd like to see him use that brush to get out a sugary cornstarch sauce that a homecook accidentally left on a stove and burnt to to a crisp 9 times out of 10 that's what it is. A seasoning that is relatively new, one that hasn't been fully polymerized, or an uneven seasoning due to flaking or scratching. Luckily as long as you get the charred parts out, the seasoning will repair itself over time with good and proper use.

Sorry to say but those bamboo brushes might be good for a routine rinse after cooking by washing down a hot pan with hot water and giving the inside a good swirl and scrape, but for really charred and stuck on messes, it is useless and gimmicky. At most it scrapes off the top of charred bits but never really removes them. Its effectiveness is mostly placebo.. what it removes could be removed easily by any light abrasive, like a paper towel or a plastic pot scrubber. Not to mention it will fall apart with regular use in a couple months. I've gone through a dozen of them before I gave up. There's a reason why they are dirt cheap. I keep one by my decorative wok for hipster value