Oreganought
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Posts posted by Oreganought
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Mmmmmm Carbonara....now I have to make some,soon.
Guanciale or pancetta large dice sauteed in a little olive oil and I let it
brown enough that when I take a ladle of the spagetti water and add
it to the pan it looses a little colour and doing this also deeply flavours the
water.When added to the finished dish it adds a depth of flavour I prefer.
And I would like to think that might have been done to extract all the possible
flavour considering the origin of the dish.Whole eggs and a combo of parm/pecorino and lots of large cracked black pepper....nothing else otherwise
it morphs into other villages cuisines......just look what Rome did to the dish.
Anyway,I like to heat up a large serving bowl,and at this point I would add the pasta water to the renderings giving some ceremony with the steam rising to the ceiling as I add it to the bowl,then the spagetti,a few tosses,then the egg/cheese
combo,pepper a few more tosses.......a little more cheese.....craving satisfied.
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And I don't believe that the line cooks at The French Laundry have much of anything that a talented and experienced home cook does not.
Sums up this thread perfectly.
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I believe the intention was not to use the commercial wines with salt added.Any
other wine will do.....from the very cheap to the most expensive,depends on
the individual.Personally I use the wine that I would normally serve with that particular dish.
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I'm thinking about making a career change and love cooking so much I want to try it professionally. But I love many aspects of my profession, and am weary of some of the down-sides of being a chef (e.g. bad hours for a family man). I am thinking about doing 2 things simultanesously, i.e. continuing in my present profession part-time and starting cooking part-time. My question (especially for you professional cooks/restauranteurs) is whether you've run into this before and/or whether you have strong feelings about it. Is it the absolute stupidest thing an otherwise-fairly-intelligent person could do?
This topic may be better placed in another forum, but I'll be damned if I can figure out where. Everytime I search for relevant discussion about culinary careers I strike out. Certainly the interviews with batali, etc. help out but I'm talking something more grass-roots for members. Shouldn't there be a forum specifically on careers? And one on cooking schools, perhaps?
What are your expectations? Someone with no experience in a professional
upscale kitchen will be relegated to peeling potatoes and onions for a year
working on a part-time basis.....maybe not,but close.
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From these posts I can't tell if the method I learned is old hat or new to the crowd:
I've made it this way for 35 years. I have been known to use some tobasco.
I'm on my 2nd wooden bowl,but my original fork and spoon that is curved past
the factory specs,by me,on purpose still survives.
I take 2 large garlic clove,2 anchovi fillets and a few pinches of sea salt and
grind to a paste with my fork and spoon....one handed operation....one crushes
the other cuts, works well.Add an egg yolk,dry mustard and work into the mass.Equal parts lemon and red wine vinegar,some worchestershire and drizzle
in the olive oil and grated parm.Tumble in some romaine hearts,homemade
croutons,more parm......for 2 people.
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Sounds like a temperature/cooking time problem.....too low a heat and
too long cooking.The meat is steaming and causing the coating to release.
Try frying under a high heat in enough oil,this should remedy that problem.
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When the mother has converted all the alcohol to vinegar,and that time can vary,
remove about 3/4 and bottle it for consumption.Replace with more wine.
You need not add wine at various times for the first batch.
A crock with a spigot really is ideal for long term vinegar making,and the glass
container should really be covered up not to allow any light.
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* Olives. Chopped up or kind of hidden in things, fine, but blatant olivism still kind of bugs me.
* Gin. I'm trying really hard with gin, but it's not going well.
* Offal. I haven't had really any exposure to offal, so I don't know if I like them or not. Seems like a special case of the acquired taste: If you don't do it right the first time, it could be ruined forever. See also: raw shellfish, sushi (I love sushi, but it seems to be one of those categories of food).
I think the thing with acquired tastes is that they are things you think you CAN like but currently DON'T, or else you wouldn't be subjecting yourself to the acquisition process. Like gin and I; I can see liking gin, but at the moment, I'm not a huge fan. Maybe I just haven't had the right gin for me in an actually well made martini, so for now, I'm working on it!
-- C.S.
"Not A Fan Of Blatant Olivism, And Gin. Olives In His Martini Are Right Out"
Edited for spelling; reserves right to add more stuff later!
It takes all kinds,doesn't it? A friend of ours will never try mashed potatoes
again....ever.But loves scotch....go figure.It's all in the mind,not the mouth.
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Most of the bases have been covered here.I'm a bit of a collector
when it comes to pots and pans but I don't think anyone mention
any steel fry pans......I have ones just for crepes another just for eggs
and I couldn't saute mushrooms in anything else.
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THAI STICKS
basically a forcemeat of ground pork and chicken with minced garlic,
softened vermicelli noodles cut to 2" lengths,fish sauce,nam pla,spring
onion.Par cook shrimp and skewer lenghtwise take the forcemeat
and wrap around the shrimp,caot in a batter of coconut milk and
cornstarch....deepfry. I serve with a chilli dipping sauce,everyone
devours these.
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That's basically my point carswell.
One might conclude that wonton wrappers are far too chewy/rubbery
for that application,certainly not mushy.Is it possible the filling was intended to be of a mousse consistancy?If the sauce tasted like 10 ingredients,sublime as it might
have been,a few of the ingredients should have been fairly obvious.How much more foie % wise would have made the dish even more delicious,or would too
much foie and less cream take away from the "brulee" mouthfeel,and actually
be a deterent.Just a couple of points I liked to make,is all.
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I agree with carswell,a one time good/bad opinion must be digested with a little
sodium chloride.
It was decadently delicious, but the pate could use more foie grass and less cream to make the flavor more pronouncedThe lobster ravioli were sad. The filling tasted too processed, the pasta dough was mushy (I think they used wonton wrappers instead of real pasta dough).The lobster sauce lacked clarity of flavor. It tasted as if 10 different ingredients were simmered in a pot until they turned into one big “blah”.As a chef I would need to ask Helen a few more questions to find some
clarity in her meaning.
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I don't mind the talking at all. I kind of enjoy the company and the chatter. What I DON'T like is the "helping". I would rather do it all myself than to watch someone chop clumsily with my precious knife or season something that doesn't need seasoning. You can stand in my kitchen, sip my wine, and talk my ear off... just don't touch anything.
exactamundo
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Heavy cream is in the 35% range.Also called whipping cream in the dairy.
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How do I say this without sounding condescending...If I had to tip toe around a co-worker because they couldn't talk and cook without screwing something up and then get blamed for it.....
On a more positive note.....I would initiate conversation to help overcome that
initial hiccup that apparently is the cause of the problem.
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I find that it goes beyond being vinegar ( Aceto) to being ACETONE.. with a nailpolish smell!
So when that happens you need to hsake the bottle again, give it air.. leave it open again for three days and then recork it.
Very interesting. Can you elaborate, please? Do you mean this happens when you let it ferment for a long time with the mother in the vinegar/wine? Or does it only happen if you cork it and store it with no mohter in it?
Elie
People will use different methods,but it pretty much universal that the container
be open to the air.
I use a large crock style pot with the spigot at the bottom so I can remove
some vinegar when I want and feed with more wine at the top.The mother will grow and you can cut some off and start a new batch,or just give to friends.
If you leave some vinegar out exposed to the air...like a wine vinegar,not
the white stuff it's more than likely it will start to develop a scum and develop into
a mother...not every time though.You might try a few different brands at a time.
Bad vinegar has an acetaldehyde taste, smelling like thinner. This is not wanted for good and high quality vinegar products.
The occurrence of acetaldehyde shows, that the vinegar is not yet ready. It is also an reliable method to determine, if the conversion from alcohol to vinegar was done.
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Is the "mother" the white stuff or the dark stuff. I have a bottle of red wine vinegar that has dark specks in it but I would not call in mucilaginous (thank God). The dark specks/swirls were not there when I bought it. If I can make my own vinegar, I'm all over it though.
That's probably just sediment if it's small specks just floating around.If the mother
is dark and feels stiffer to the touch,that is a sign of failing health and should
be discarded.
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Oreganought-
This keeps getting better and better...raspberry vinegar! Just to be clear, is it absolutly necessary to use the cheese cloth to close the jar? A lid would not do? I am mainly worried about the sttrong smell this might cause in my pantry if left with nothing but a piece of cheese cloth on.
Elie
No lid FoodMan,it's a living organism and needs oxygen to thrive.
Keep it in a dark place....in a cupboard or pantry,and it's really not
going to smell too bad,you would need to get up close and personal
to really smell vinegar....unless it's in a very small space.I keep mine
out in the open.It doesn't need to be a mason jar the opening can be smaller at the
neck.Have some fun with it
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You got it. You can also add to a puree of fruit like raspberries and turn out
some amazing vinegar as well.
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it's all a bit creepy, ain't it.
Because vinegar is sterilized before being offered for sale, the appearance of a mother is a rare and chance event, most likely due to chance "contamination" of an open bottle of vinegar with a helpful acetic acid bacterium that was floating around in your kitchen at an opportune moment.
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The bottle of red wine vinegar (Colavita brand) could not have been more than 6-8 months old, and I know I've kept vinegar longer than that. I was going to use it in some salad dressing and I noticed funky looking white swirls in it as well as thin dark red strands. When I tried pouring some, part of the white swirl came out like as a nasty mucousy substance.
What the hell is that?
I’ve bought red wine vinegar before and this never happened. Maybe I should try and post a picture since the bottle is still sitting on my kitchen counter.
Elie
It's a natural thing called the mother.You can strain the mother out and
put into another container and add some more wine or any alcohol and you'll
end up with a pretty good vinegar.
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Sounds like your using too high of a heat.Even though it's difficult to overcook
catfish 6 minutes sounds about 2 minutes too long.
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I'm doing a dinner and using a little culinary licence here,but was certainly
influenced by the original.
Pan-Seared Quebec Foie Gras with Fig Tarte Tatin
Icewine gelée
The gelee being the pastry,of course.
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I had a friend come visit who insisted that the lobster bodies I make into stock for chowder MUST be roasted first. I disagreed, thinking (but not knowing) this was for beef and veal bones only. We went ahead with his way. It made a killer lobster bisque, but the effect on my chowder was unattractive.
What do you think/know about this?
Anytime someone does something out of the ordinary and gets good results
through experience and works for them,doesn"t mean that it will work for everyone. Experiment with different techniques.The general consensus on
cooking anything will give expected results only,subpar for some.Everytime I hear "this is the only way something is to be prepared"....it's
generally from a cookbook or a googled answer.
10 cooks 10 different results,that will never change,thank God.
Good fish recipes
in Cooking
Posted
That's a tough one....................I'd say stay away from fish.You may want to try
very fresh fish just slow oven roasted until med-rare to med and a splash of lemon,or another juice if lemon is not up your alley,most work.
Do you eat fish and chips?