Shel_B
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Posts posted by Shel_B
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Hi, I'll post these questions here as well:
Hello, David ...
Thanks for jumping in. Your post was very helpful but it does give me a few more questions.
How much difference in hardness is there between hard maple at 1450 and purpler heart at 2000-something? How close on the scale is considered similar hardness, or, how close is close enough.
Based on your comments, I may not want to use the "interwoven" pattern similar to the one I first saw in this clip:
Cutting Board Video but I do want something more than just a broad expanse of solid maple. My current thinking would be to use a darker wood as a border around the main work surface. Would that eliminate the warping/waviness you described? How would such a design effect the longevity of the board?
If the dark wood border was not done in end grain, but the long way (I forget what that's called) and framed the working space of the cutting board, would that result in a strogner or less strong board?
I once had a dark walnut block and liked the way it flt to the knife and also liked the dark color. However, it seems that walnut is softer than hard maple. Would walnut be a good material choice fo a board? What about using it as the border material? Considering that the border would see very little use, if any, does it matter much what the border material would be?
I think that's it for now. Thanks!
Great question. Here is the reply I posted at Chef Talk.
There is a general rule for choosing the wood for a cutting board: Any wood from a tree with running sap, hard maple - maple syrup, or a tree with an edible nut, walnut, pecan oak, etc... Good woods - Hard maple, black cherry, black walnut, oak(?), pecan/hickory, alder, beech plus others.
Soft woods like pine, poplar, cedar or cypress should be avoided. Too soft and will not last long. Woods like cedar or cypress contain natural oils which keep the insects away. If the insects don't eat it, neither should you.
Some of the exotics do look terrific but should be avoided. Great for furniture but not necessarily great for a cutting surface. Some contain oils which can be toxic to humans. (Just because your friend down the street has a brother-in-law whos third cousins neighbor may have a board made from an exotic and hasn't had any ill effects doesn't mean that you won't. Some are downright dangerous.) I have seen boards made from black locust. Black locust will kill a mule if eaten. To be safe, stick with the rule of thumb as stated above.
Thickness; the thicker the better. Thin boards tend to warp, crack and split. Thicker boards are more stable although a little harder to wash in the sink. Be careful of how you pair the woods together. Softer woods wear quicker than harder woods and the resulting cutting surface can be uneven making it tough to cut on. That "handsome" match today might look like a wavy surface in the near future. Also, soft and hard woods absorb moisture at different rates which might cause some cracking in the future. You can research the hardness rating of woods using the Janka scale available on line. Look for woods that closely match each other in hardness.
David The BoardSMITH
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A friend, who is a skilled woodworker, has offered to make an end grain cutting board for me. Wow! That's exciting.
How thick should the board be - I've seen good quality boards from 1 1/4-inch all the way to 2 1/4-inch? What factors enter ito deciding the thickness.
The board will have a pattern, and one thought is to use hard maple with purple heart. Besides purple heart, what other wood might work well? What about walnut?
Thanks!
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Yes, yes it is that good. Deliciously soft.
Uhhh, no. They're not. They're the Wonder Bread of the doughnut world.
Bingo!That's a good description. But then, I like my donuts firm and heavy, with a tall glass of cold milk. -
I don't much like them -- they're too sweet, kind of greasy, and way too small
I don't find them too small, although they are smaller than the donuts at my favorite donut joint, but I don't like them for the same reasons quoted above. In addition, they have a flacid texture. They are greatly overrated.
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What is the best way to store safflower and sunflower oil. They are in covered glass containers that have been recently opened.
Both are refined, organic oils produced by Spectrum. Is either one "healthier" than the other - different fat profiles, for example?
Tks!
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Where else do folks use pepper that you might not expect it? Cake? Biscuits? Cookies? Or in/on a dish in a way that you might not expect it to be used?
Ice cream. Vanilla ice cream. Some years ago I was in a Napa restaurant and was served a dish of vanilla ice cream in which a small amount of black papper was incorporated. Yummy! Now I'll sometimes grind a little pepper on good vanilla ace cream. Not quite as good as having the pepper incorporated into home made ice cream, but very good nonetheless.
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The best pork I've eaten came from a farmer who raised Tamworths. Whether the exceptional flavor was the breed or how the pigs were raised, I don't know.
I'll look into the breed and the quality of their meat. I can never remember the breed names and their general qualities. I appreciate your help. Thanks!
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The wild boar meat should work fine. I've had it before and it's quite good in a stew or braised, it's a meat that from my experience needs to be cooked for quite a while to become tender. Its flavor is a little stronger than pork but really it should be quite good in chili. I might have to try it sometime myself.
Broken Arrow Ranch in TX has some boar recipes and cooking suggestions. I've only skimmed the information, so your comments are most welcome. Thanks!
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Hi,
I'm looking to make some chile verde using pork, and would like to know the group's suggestions for a rich, flavorful pork. I've tried Niman Ranch but am not that satisfied with it. It's OK, but the depth of flavor is not as good as some other pork I've tried at some restaurants and foodie places. Unfortunately, I didn't ask what they were serving and it's going to be hard recalling just which places had the tasty pork.
Also, what about using wild boar? I can get boar meat in several forms and was thinking that, if boar is acceptable, perhaps the stew meat would be a good choice. Comments.
Thanks for any help,
Shel
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Black is the only color of that comes with stainless steel knobs for the lids [...]
I didn't know that black came standard with the SS knobs. Nice to know ... Thanks!
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Yesterday I picked up my new LC, the 5 1/2 quart French oven in Black Onyx
What a nice looking piece. It has an almond interior which was something of a surprise as I was expecting white. The almond looks good with the black exterior and is still light enough to be able to see food brown and see any stuck on bits. But the biggest surprise is that the pot came with the stainless steel knob on the lid instead of the expected phenolic one. Has LC changed to SS or did I somehow get lucky?Can't wait to clean it up and start using it. There are a few dishes I want to try real soon.
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A note about long pepper. Naturally, being the shape that it is, it cannot go into a regular pepper grinder. I don't like to grind it in one of the spice grinders because I don't want pepper dust.
I tried a grater - similar to a nutmeg grater but grated more of my fingers than the pepper.
I bought one of these- a Toenail Clipper for small dogs/cats and the long pepper, being a similar size, fits nicely into the opening and the guillotine blade shears off pieces that are the exact size I want, i.e. about the same size as a peppercorn and can then be placed in my Magnum grinder which produces exactly the size grind I want.
Previously I used a mortar and pestle to break them up but was never quite satisfied. I got the idea from a friend who uses the same clipper to chop long hard calcium/potassium/magnesium tablets in half so they are easier to swallow.
Bingo! I thought. That will work on the long pepper.
Being a cat owner, I'm quite familiar with the clipper and have a few in the house. I'm sure my cat won't mind if one of his clippers gets "lost>" Good tip. I generally just break 'em up with something heavy and grind the (coarsely) in one of those cheap grinders that pepper comes in at the supermarket or Trader Joe's.
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While it's a small thing, it's probably useful to many people who eat in their car and while driving and talking on their cell phone. They are not doing enough to get into an accident.
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I like long pepper also. I have found that it is especially complementary to dishes that contain coconut and ginger - I add it to my badjak sambal, along with the small capsicums because it adds an additional level of complexity that I notice if I omit it.
It is also very good sprinkled on papaya and mango and pineapple. I make a pineapple sorbet on which I sprinkle a little long pepper just before serving.
I ordered the Australian Mountain Pepper from Salt Traders
It is one of the "Bush foods" and I think actually is wild-harvested in Tasmania.
Interesting ideas for using the pepper. Tks!
I found Salt Traders last night but haven't ordered yet. Want to see their full line first. Looks like a nice site in any case.
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Shel_B, first is your grinder capable of producing that type of grind. Not all are. My Maestro Plus has a FP setting and I would say the grind is similar to a fine couscous. This is what I use when using my FP.
There are many preferences when preparing coffee. I know some who steep for 3 min, some use a stop watch and it has to be 3' 30", yet others who grind finer and steep shorter. Let your palate be your guide
Thanks. I'm pretty content with the results I'm getting. I'm mostly interested in seeing if they can be improved and what others are doing and think about the CI method. While in some ways I'm pretty fussy about my first cup of the day, after that I can be pretty cavalier about how the coffee is brewed.
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There are a lot of different grinds of couscous. When I make French press, I generally just go a bit coarser than for drip.
But it's always going to be a heavier bodied coffee than drip, and there will always be grounds in the bottom of your cup.
Yep! That's one of the things that troubled/puzzled me since couscous comes in several grinds. Considering how "detailed and precise" CI tries to be, this instruction seems somewhat vague. It seems that no matter how coarse I make the grind, there's always some residue or grounds to be found.
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Trader Joe's coffees are a ridiculous bargain, especially for the French Roast, Bay Blend and Volcano dark roasts, and their new whole bean "Joe" line, which makes a fabulous cup of coffee, $3.49 for 12 oz of the "Joe" beans. Ridiculous.
I've been buying their Pajaro blend and it's pretty darned good, especially considering price and convenience. It's about $8.00/lb and Peets (at the Peet's stores) is quite a bit more.
The Pajaro blend is organic, fair trade, and one of the darkest, richest blends TJ's carries.
http://www.viewpoints.com/Trader-Joes-Winter-Blend-Coffee-reviews
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The Cook's Illustrated web site has a video and instructions on how to make coffee using the French press method, which is how I've been making coffee for quite some time. They say that the proper grind should be a little coarser than the size of couscous. That seems awfully coarse to me. What do the coffee and French press mavens say? Too coarse? What coarseness do you suggest?
Time for my morning cawfee ...
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I followed the link that andiesenji posted to the Cornmeal, Black Pepper & Rosemary Butter Cookies recipe and saw the jar of smoked black pepper in the photo of the ingredients. Wow! A new pepper to try. I ordered some just a few minutes ago. And while at the site where I ordered the smoked pepper, I discovered a small jar of long peppers, so I prdered that, too. I'm always on the lookout for interesting pepper, so it was quite exciting to find the smoked pepper. I've used long pepper before, and ordered this small jar to compare with the long pepper I'd been using. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piper_longum.jpg
Thanks for posting your photo, andiesenji.
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One item you might want to consider is banana bread. Everyone seems to love it and it is very easy to make. Plus, you can save on the bananas by asking the produce person if they have any old bananas in the back that they are going to throw out.
John
I've never made banana bread and don't do a good job with baked goods. However, I could distribute some recipes and provide information on where to get free bananas, which are easy for me to get.
Thanks!
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I sincerely want to thank everyone for their contributions. There are definitely some good, and applicable, ideas in this thread.
The class will probably start some time next month, so there's ample time for more ideas and suggestions and to implement those that will be used. Keep the ideas coming ...
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Are you teaching a series of classes to the same group of seniors, or will they be stand-alone classes to various groups?
If you've got the same group for several classes, a good way to start would be to ask them what they're looking for, and then tailor subsequent classes to their needs. I do this with a class for beginners, and it's surprising how different their expectations can be.
It will probably be a series of classes for a group. Your suggestion is similar to what I do when teaching a Photoshop class.
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Last week I had some corned beef at a neighbor's house and decided that it's about time I make my own, and would like to start the learning process by purchasing a prepared package to cook up myself. I did this once about 25 years ago and the results were terrible, which may be the reason I've not tried it again. So, perhaps someone can give me some pointers on how to best prepare a package prepared beef.
What cut should I be looking for? Brisket or something else - round? Is the meat already "cured" and all that I'd need to do is boil or simmer it, or does the meat need to be marinated a while? The packages I've seen have small packets of spices included. Do I use those spices to marinate the meat or just dump them into the cooking liquid? Is there anything else that might be added, or needs to be added, to the cooking water besides the spice packet? Does the meat get cooked in plain water, or would adding some broth be helpful? Apart from rinsing the meat, should it be soaked to remove excess salt, etc.? Does the meat get boiled or is it simmered? On the stove top or in the oven? If in the oven, at what temperature and for how long?
Once I've done this a time or two I'll try making it myself, and will start looking for a spice recipe beginning with the information David posted earlier in this thread.
Thanks for any help. This Jewish boy is missing good corned beef.
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Do you eat fish sticks? Or do you view them as an abomination? What brands do you like?
I don't eat fish sticks per se, but once or twice a year, maybe less often, I'll buy a package of TJ's frozen, battered fish and cook 'em in the oven nice and crisp. Does TJ's have sticks?
Le Creuset
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted · Edited by Shel_B (log)
I thought someone here might be interested in this color Dutch oven. It's on eBay.
Le Creuset Purple Lilac Mist Dutch Oven Link to Auction
Link to Picture