Shel_B
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Posts posted by Shel_B
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I must be the only one who does not like regular Tabasco.
No - I find it decidely lacking in flavor and character.
Shel
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Yesterday I bought some Boar's Head hot dogs that have an expiration (sell by) date of Sept 01. Does the flavor or texture of the dogs change much from a fresh pkg to one that is closer to the sell by date?
Shel
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Heirloom varieties tend to fall victim to weather more than hybrids as well. This year has been a super tomato year in California and it's just hitting its stride. The two previous years were dismal.
But side by side, a good hybrid next to a good black russian? The heirloom wins hands down.
I've been getting some great "heirlooms" and other tomatoes at the local farmers markets in Berkeley and Oakland. However, there have been some that were mediocre. I'm learning which growers consistently produce the better tomatoes, and of which varieties. Fortunately, all the growers offer a taste of their product, unlike many supermarkets, so it's fairly easy to get tomatoes that satisfy one's preferences.
Shel
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I'm curious, do you have any more specific details in mind? They are hundreds of different kinds of chiles: fresh, dried, smoked, roasted, etc. A chile sauce could range anywhere from a hot sauce to give heat, to a fully bodied smoky garlic sauce to serve with roast pork. I've made a lot of chile sauces and would love to suggest some of the ones I like, but it would help if you gave a little more direction. Fresh and green, smoky, hot and sour, sweet at all, what do you want to use it for?
Oh and I also make a lovely version of my own Sriacha at home based off a david thompson recipe, I much prefer it to the commerical kind.
I don't want to use it for anything specific. I make my own chile sauce, and what I make depends on what I'm using it for - barbeque, grilled meat (beef, por, chicken), fish, veggie or egg dishes, etc. What I am looking for are suggestions based on what you like, and the foods you like to use the sauce with. In other words, ideas that I can use to check out various sauces.
Today I tried the Sriacha sauce for the first time - nice, and I can see numerous uses for it, so that will be one that I'll ultimatel buy. I understand that there are several commercial versions of the sauce, so that may lead to more experimentation.
Have you the recipe or a URL for the sauce you make? I'll Google for the David Thompson recipe.
Thanks!
Shel
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Thanks John .... very helpful.
Shel
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What would you like to do with it?
ps: what is your recipe for homemade chile sauce?
I'd like to use it in many applications, so one particular sauce my not be best for my needs. I was hoping to get some recommendations and then look 'em up somewhere fore ingredients, etc.
I don't have a set recipe for chile sauce. I just put ingredients together depending on mood and application.
Shel
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I've never used a prepared chile sauce. Have always made my own. I'm getting lazy in my dotage. What brands do you recommend or use? I'd like something hot and flavorful, regular and chipotle. Other styles are fine as well - I just don't know what's out there.
Shel
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Some time ago I saw an Alton Brown episode in which he posted a recipe/technique for making a baked russet potato. He suggested coating the skin with oil and salt before baking, AB claimed, IIRC, that it would result in a nice, crispy skin. This morning I saw an episode of Sarah's Secrets, and she said that coating the skin with oil would prevent getting a nice crispy skin, and suggested baking the 'tater dry. Now, truth be told, I've not baked a russet potato in the oven since 1991, and at that I didn't actually bake the potatoes, but a house guest did, so, in essense, I have no experience in this regard. Anyone care to comment on these techniques and which gives the crispiest skin?
Shel
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Last night I watched Dinner: Impossible and the chef gave instructions for cleaning Portobellos. Apart from ridding the 'shrooms of the gills, he wanted the crowns peeled to show the white of the 'shroom under the skin, saying that he wanted a "cleaner" taste (iirc). I'd never seen that done before. Is this a usual practice? Does it result in a cleaner, or different, taste than an unoeeled Portobello? Any suggestions on how to do implement this technique efficiently? Are there specific situations where this is a preferred treatment of the 'shrooms? When might it not be appropriate?
Thanks for any comments ...
Shel
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well here is the recipe.. i believe most if not all of his recipes are very basic... will have to play with it from there on.. but here it is...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_36271,00.html
Thanks!
Shel
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Fresh garlic and lots of it, coriander(lots) ceylon cassia stick, bay leaves, brown mustard seed, little clove, star anise, fenugreek and cardamon. All subject to my whim of the day. Kosher salt with a little saltpeter to preserve the color. Use a choice cut of brisket at the minimum( a Waygu works great) and put all into a two gal freezer zip lock bag in a Pyrex pan for 2-3 weeks in the fridge. That's about as close as i have come but more importantly, I like it and everyone that has had this mixture likes it also.-Dick
Thanks for jumping in and for your suggestion.
Kind regards,
Shel
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There might be some recipes in NYC or Deli Cookbooks:
I used to have this cookbook but gave it away. Almost all of the recipes were mostly meat and soups and from Jewish Delis (Both Kosher and non-Kosher) Not terribly useful for a vegetarian like me and I wasn't ambitious enough for many of the meat recipes.
America's Great Delis: Recipes And Traditions from Coast to Coast (Hardcover)
by Sheryll Bellman
Sheryll Bellman page about the book
jayne
Thanks - following up, that link ultimately led me to some other books with which I was unfamiliar.
Kind regards,
Shel
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I suppose that for me anyhow, Katz's is in a league of its own. It doesn't taste like anything else in NYC. Same for Carnegie, though I prefer Katz's. I meant to infer that I don't think they really conform to anything typical. But if what you're looking for is a more solid and straightforward rub that tastes less muddled and more refined, than my recipe might be what you're after. I've tried to recreate Katz's flavour and its pretty close, but as I suggest above, still distinguishable from Katz's. Personally, I don't believe ginger belongs, and I feel the absence of allspice generally lends to a more "NYC" style as well.
5 tablespoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon white peppercorns
8 cloves garlic, minced
Combine coriander seeds, peppercorns and mustard seeds in a spice grinder. Grind coarsely. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well. Rub is now ready to use. It may be stored refrigerated in an airtight container.
One of the key points, I've found, is to REALLY rub the mixture into the meat. I mean really go hardcore. I find this contributes more than anything to getting the flavour I'm pretty sure you're after.
Thanks - that's a lot closer to what I'd have thought a NYC type spice mixture would be. IAC, I agree wholeheartedly about ginger and allspice, just as I felt that juniper berries and a few other ingredients were "too much."
Bueno, Bueno ..
Shel
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have no experience in corned beef making at all but i do have the brisket brining in the fridge right now. i am using the alton brown recipe and will go from there. ohh i need to post pics too hehehe Shel B which of the place in SF are you talking bout..?? Dave's..? or is it some other smaller deli's..??
AB has the right idea about brining and the time the beef needs to "age." I don't recall if he has a specific spice recipe though. I'll have to double check. Thanks!
I'n not familiar with Dave's. These are the two I was referring to:
http://www.themonthly.com/food-02-07.html
I've been to Saul's and, as of the last time I was there, I was not impressed. However, that was more than a year ago and perhaps things have changed, so I plan to check them out again.
Shel
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Thanks for the info on the taste differences. I learned a lot. Here's a group you may want to contact, if you haven't already:
LOL - they've been on the list for a couple of days. Thanks!
Shel
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Shel_B, since you've made corned beef with the Penzy's blend, perhaps you can tell us *how* it differs from what you are looking for. That might make it easier for us to help you out.
A lot of the spice blends seem to result in something "sweeter" than traditional NYC corned beef, and lack a certain "depth" of flavor. While I can't say for sure, Penzeys seems to have too many ingredients, or maybe the "wrong" proportions of some ingredients, such as cloves. While I know that cloves are used in some NYC recipes, their effect is far more subtle than what I've experienced in some other spice blends. I'm not convinced that ginger or cassia (if that's cinnamon) are traditional. The sense I get is that NYC-style has fewer ingredients in the spice mixture, and that the meat ages for a longer time in the mixture. There may be certain techniques in addition to the ingredients that give the NYC style it's unique character, and I'm looking to see if I can isolate some of those techniques. I've contacted a few people on the east coast to see what they have to say, but have not heard back from any of them yet.
What surprises me is that you can find "copycat" recipes for so many things, but finding a corned beef (or pastrami) recipe that is comparable to the NYC stuff thus far seems to be more difficult. These recipes and techniques seem to be closely guarded, which is understandable but quite frustrating. I've tracked down a guy in Atlanta who is supposed to serve up a very good NYC style corned beef, but, according to sources, it took him years to come up with a succesful rercipe and technique.
This morning I found out about a place in San Francisco that's supposed to have cracked the code, althoughit was mentioned in the same breath as another place that realloffers a poor imitation of NYC style pastrame (not tried their corned beef). Joyce Goldstein has some connection to this San Francisco place, so I'll try to contact her.
Thanks for jumping in.
Shel
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Carnegie, Katz's, etc. have proprietary blends. That's what makes them stand out. If everyone's corned beef tasted the same (or in this case, as good as) Katz's, I'd imagine Katz's would be out of business. That's like asking: does anyone have a recipe for Coca Cola?
Many of the NYC delis have their own blends. My old neighborhood deli in Queens had (and still has) their own blend. However, they all have a certain similarity in the way they taste. Your comment suggests that trying to find that elusive commonality, that looking for something more "Jewish" and NYC instead of some gentile-created, one size fits all blend is a waste of time, and that even asking is folly.
There are also a lot of NYC delis that use a "generic" blend for their corned beef, and it tastes quite a bit different than Penzeys or supermarket-purchased CB that has spice packets enclosed with their plastic-wrapped meat. So, I'll keep looking for a NYC-style spice mixture.
Thanks for your thoughts on the matter.
Shel
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spices to make corned beef from Penzeys
brown and yellow mustard seeds, coriander, Jamaican allspice, cracked cassia, dill seed, Turkish bay leaves, Zanzibar cloves, China #1 ginger, Tellicherry peppercorns, star anise, juniper, mace, cardamom, red pepper.
Yes, I've played with the Penzeys blend, and the results have not been close to a NYC corned beef a la Carnagie deli. Thanks for jumping in.
Shel
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Anyone have an "authentic" spice blend for making a NYC Style Kosher corned beef, of the type found at Katz's or the Carnagie Deli and other such NYC institutions?
Shel
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However, the current Melinda's is actually a copy of the original, now sold under the name of Marie Sharp's. It was Marie who made the original Melindas, and then, as I understand it, got ripped off by her US distributor. Based on that, I no longer buy Melinda's and stick to Marie Sharp's. They are quite similar but Sharp's has, imo, a fuller, richer, fresher taste.
No kidding! I'll have to look for it. I can't believe that my love Melinda has been cheating on me.
http://www.belizemagazine.com/edition04/en...05questions.htm
This'll give you a pretty accurate overview of the story, leaving out some of the gory details. Marie's sauce can be found on line if you can't find it in your local markets.
Marie Sharp's sauces are some of my favorites ...
Shel
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Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions ...
Shel
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Does anyone else like Melinda's hot sauce? It's habanero based, in a carrot puree (not vinnegar based, like tabasco). My favorite.
I've been enjoying Melinda's since around 1990. However, the current Melinda's is actually a copy of the original, now sold under the name of Marie Sharp's. It was Marie who made the original Melaindas, and than, as I understand it, got ripped off by her US distributor. Based on that, I no longer buy Melainda's and stick to Marie Sharp's. They are quite similar but Sharp's has, imo, a fuller, richer, fresher taste.
Shel
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Recently I tried buffalo wings for the first time. Pretty good stuff. However, I want to eat a lot of them, and I'd like to find a recipe or technique that will provide something close to the original in taste but with lower fat, calories, and salt.
Playing around with chicken breast meat and tenders seems like a good place to start, and developing a nice, thick sauce shouldn't be too hard. There are numerous recipes available, including the original. So, anyone got some ideas for healthier wings?
I though that the tenders could be breaded, baked, and then given a nice soak in the sauce and heated to caramelize the sauce a bit.
The original sauce recipe supposedly contains cayenne pepper, vinegar, salt, garlic and margarine, although for wings I may want something with a little sweetness in the background. I think the margerine helps the sauce to stick to the breaded meat, but if one is baking the sauce on to the wings, I wonder if the margerine is really needed.
Shel
Making Hot Dog Relish
in Cooking
Posted
Thus far I've not found any commercial hot dog relish that I like. They all tend to be too sweet. To be honest, there areen't too many brands around here that I've seen.
So, two things: first, are there any brands of hot dog relish that you like. Second, and and of greater interest, does anyone have a recipe or some suggestions for making a good hot dog relish? I'm not interested in anything that contains mustard, although mustard seeds might be just fine. I prefer a "pickle" type relish rather than cucumber, but I'm open to suggestions.
I was thinking that something with cornichons might work, maybe with some red pepper as well, but beyond that I haven't a clue.
Thanks,
Shel