Tri2Cook

I made a dessert that included a layer of soft nougat a while back. I froze it between layers while building the dessert and when I thawed it the nougat layer was weeping a bit. Not enough to be a problem in the context I was using it in but it was definitely releasing a bit of liquid that would make dipping difficult. Of course, it's probably not going to actually freeze solid in an hour or so if you're using a regular freezer so you may be fine.

Thanks. I suppose I'll have to add them to the ignore list because my antivirus won't let me access the page at all. It will be the lone inhabitant of my antivirus ignore list and I'll put it there somewhat nervously but I don't want to write them off over something nobody else is experiencing.

Gellan seems to store for a long time. I'm not an expert on the shelf life but I had mine for almost 3 years before going through all of it and it worked fine right up 'til it was gone. Chef Rubber sells gellan in 100 gram packs but it only lists "low acyl gellan" and "gellan". It doesn't specify if the "gellan" is the high acyl or the pre-blended but I assume an email could solve that one. Edit: I shot Chef Rubber an email to find out if the "gellan" listed is the LT-100 or the JJ so we'll see what they say.

Thanks Chris. Le Sanctuaire is one of my main sources of industrial ingredients so I was a bit unhappy. Glad to know there's a chance it's not something to be too worried about.

Is anyone else who shops online at Le Sanctuaire or browses their site having your antivirus block access to the online store due to detection of something called "Blackbox Exploit Kit"? My antivirus steps in and blocks access as soon as I go to the "shop" page. I emailed Le Sanctuaire about it a few days ago but haven't received a reply. I could add it to the antivirus ignore list and shop anyway but that's not something I do unless I know for sure that I'm getting a false detection. If this is something that only I am experiencing then I won't be as concerned so I thought I'd ask.

They're definitely salty but dropping it in a huge pot of water, fresh green beans and potatoes and cooking it half the day seemed to solve most of that problem. Of course that doesn't solve the problem that it tastes like ham and you don't like ham.

Yes-ish.

One of my childhood food memories is grandma cooking a big pot of green beans from her garden with a cottage roll (she called it "cottage ham" but it's the same thing) and a few potatoes in the pot as well. Good stuff. I'd eat 'til I couldn't move when she made it.

Good thing I didn't apply. Not only am I not a top chef, I'm white. Then again, somebody has to be bottom fodder for the early episodes...

I remember that one, Cooking With Master Chefs. Emeril did shrimp etouffee and a crawfish boil... and not a single "bam".

I cook sugar until it's melted and giving up large bubbles but not beginning to color, stir in rice krispies and continue cooking and stirring until the sugar coating them melts again and begins to color evenly throughout. At this point I normally spread them on a silpat and toss them around so that they cool without sticking together. For the discs, I intentionally compact them into a thin sheet, let it cool and cut out discs with a cookie cutter. If I need to be able to assemble the dessert more than a short time ahead, I spray the discs very lightly with cocoa butter. The decoration on top is caramlized rice krispies that I spread on a silpat and then drizzled caramelized sugar randomly over. After cooling, I just broke it into small pieces.

I usually watch Chopped if I'm home when it's on. The judges are what usually annoy me with this show. A few of them have very definite ideas about food that they don't seem to have the ability to think outside of if the person cooking doesn't subscribe to their same food views. It seems like their personal views on how something should be done or what size the portion should be completely shove aside being able to judge the dish for what it is instead of what they think it should be. So what if you think an app should be this size, for me it should be that size... so what if you cook yours by this method, I cook mine by that method... how does it look/how does it taste based on the way I chose to do it? Of course that's regarding the regular Chopped, I'll have to read about the All Stars version.

This is one of those items where I know making it myself will be better but the commercial stuff will store longer and I just don't use it very often. I wonder how well it would hold up to vac packing it in maybe 250ml or less portions and tossing them in the freezer. Or would that defeat the point of making it fresh?

There's a recipe on the Willpowder site for a "gum syrup, modern version". It's 1:1 simple syrup with a small amount of locust bean gum (2 grams in 1 kg of syrup) instead of the arabic. I haven't tried it yet but I think I'm going to. I'm thinking it will be more neutral in flavor than the arabic syrup... whether or not that's a good thing remains to be seen.

Not really relevant. I own many things that cost more than the book but I can't really sneak the book into the budget right now either. I could force it into the budget but I don't generally do my purchasing that way. Of course, I'm not tossing around negative comments about something I haven't seen either. He should know better than that.

I'm not really comfy with legislating food morality but it's been proven way too many times that people in general are not very good at moderating themselves... so I concede the need at times even if I oppose the concept in general. As for whether or not the need exists in this case, I'm not informed enough on the subject to make a personal judgement.

This isn't a case of the customer being right or wrong, it's a case of the customer being accommodated or not. If the owner is willing to accept the risks that can/will accompany that type of policy, I have no problem with it.

Oh, that sounds excellent and quite up my alley. Was it minced pork or strips, maybe? Haven't found the book yet to check on the recipe. The book is True Thai by Victor Sodsook and I'm 100% sure I have it but I can't find it or remember the name of the dish. I'll keep digging through my books.

Why the kappa carrageenan? I don't have the book handy, but I'm pretty sure the iota and kappa are very different. They are different. Kappa gels are much more brittle. Iota gels are elastic and much less prone to syneresis. The iota is much more freeze/thaw stable as well... but that's not really an issue in this case. I did the Heston Blumenthal version of processed cheese from his second In Search of Perfection book a few years ago. It didn't involve carrageenan, it was just sherry, aromatics, sodium citrate and cheese, but the addition of carrageenan makes sense. I'll have to play around with it.

Yes. You are... ...but that doesn't mean it won't be fun. Little layered things with different flavors/textures in small glasses are quick to assemble, don't take up too much space, don't require last minute work unless there's a garnish you want to add to the top, have always been well received when I've done them and are easy to transport. You can even get plastic glasses so retrieving them at the end becomes unnecessary. I do versions of them fairly often for catering but looking through my galleries, it looks like I only have one picture available as an example of what I'm talking about. This is from a few years ago if I remember correctly but you get the idea... jackfruit gelee, honeydew in vanilla syrup, caramelized rice crispy disc, jackfruit-cardamom mousse Edited because apparently I can't spell things right the first time.

Less is never more. Sometimes less is better... but it's not more. Yes, I understand the point being made. It's just one of those buzz-phrases I don't love. Without going into the Alice Waters "all we are saying is give a peach a chance" zone, I agree that sometimes keeping it simple is the best way to go. Fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt and fresh basil really doesn't need anything else except some pasta and a fork.

I don't think eyeballing carrageenan would be the way to go. Carrageenans don't behave like starches, modified starches or xanthan in hot liquids. Carrageenans won't gel above a range of temps (which varies based on controllable factors) and while shearing is occuring. If you're adding it to a hot liquid and stirring, it's not going to gel. If you add enough that it's physically getting thicker while hot and under shear, it's taking up a significant amount of available water for hydration and you've added way, way, WAY too much. The general rule of hydrocolloids is to use the minimal amount needed to do the job and carrageenans work in very low concentrations, especially in the presence of calcium. Eyeballing the correct amount to add without using a scale would be tough, eyeballing it based on the consistency of a hot liquid would be, in my opinion, impossible.

Tapioca Maltodextrin is available in a wide range of types because it has a wide range of uses. Different types are geared towards performing the intended task optimally. N-Zorbit is usually the recommended type in situations were absorbing fats (creating powders, etc.) is the task at hand because that is what is was specifically formulated to do. As such, it does it very well. Other types will do the job but often require greater amounts to do the same thing which results in not getting the same flavor release or the same return to a creamy texture in the mouth. Most of these industrial ingredients are specific to a task. It's not so much about brands as much as it's about types. Just as there are many types of pectins and you can't just sub in whichever you happen to have on hand for every task, you can't just grab whichever methylcellulose or gellan or tapioca maltodextrin or whatever that happens to be handy. It has to be the one designed for the job you want it to do. I don't have the MC books but I'd be very surprised if that point isn't made and even more surprised if which of each ingredient you need for the job isn't specified in the recipes. That would be a major omission in such a thorough and comprehensive text.

I'll look for the book today, it's been a really long time since I made it. I think garlic figured pretty strongly in the dish as well but it will be easier just to dig out the book than to try to remember it all. I remember it being really simple in terms of number of ingredients, powerful in flavor and, if I remember correctly, it was used to illustrate a point about spicy Thai dishes before chile peppers were introduced... but I could be making that part up.

One of my Thai books has a recipe in it for a black pepper pork dish. I don't remember which book and don't remember the name of the dish but I've done it. It's tasty if you like heavy on the pepper (which I do). I'll have to browse through my books and figure out where I saw it. It's a book I've had for at least 15 years so it's not new. For some reason I'm thinking it was really simple with cracked pepper and fish sauce featuring prominently but I could be wrong, it's been a while.