haresfur

Yeah, I should have measured but I would estimate about a half cup of liquid goodness. Then again, I'm cheap and only used 1/2 kilo of meat and the recipe calls for frying up 1.3 kilos. Obviously I didn't get the browning. You are correct that fat can carry flavours and one thing I wonder about is if you could use something like liquid-liquid extraction to get some flavours to go into the oil and from there into the aqueous phase.

The cooking with Modernist Cuisine at Home topic seems to have mostly run its course as many of us have had the book for quite a while. One thing I like a lot about the book is that it presents ideas for variations along with the recipes and presents many variations of ways of achieving similar results. So my motivation for this topic is to have a place to talk about our experiments in modifying the recipes - successful or not. You see I have difficulty following instructions... To start, is serendipity with this post in the sous vide thread asking about using bag juice that came out right as I finished up an experiment with the red wine glaze. The experiment was motivated by a mistake where I made SV short ribs at too high a temperature a while back. The meat was not very good but juice was wonderful. So instead of frying up a bunch of ground beef, I took a half kilo of relatively lean stewing beef and bunged it in the SV at 88 C for an hour. At the end of that time the meat was dry and the bag full of meat juice. The juice was very clear and light in colour with little in the way of 'gunk'. I added it to the wine and veg, started reducing, then strained the veg out and reduced the rest of the way. I skipped pressure cooking the knucklebones (I'm not sure why the recipe has you reduce the wine, then add water to pressure cook the bones, why not cook the bones in the wine then reduce?) To cut to the chase, I was quite happy with the result. I don't agree with the 'fat is flavour' mantra and the only fat in this was the little that rendered out of the meat in the SV. I might try adding a little gelatin for mouth feel and to make the glaze with less reduction. ... and the dog was happy with the dried out meat for his tea-time.

Thank you to Steve for enriching my life. Not only have I learned much here, but I have made friends and I am grateful to him. My thoughts are with his family and with his friends.

Pre-revolution Bacardi, aka Havana Club?

Gage Roads Wahoo Kolsch. It's decent although the beer web sites seem to give poor reviews. Certainly better than your average Australian lager if you are after a lightish beer.

You do make me feel better about the cost of drinking here. But I'm sure your mai tai still costs much less than making them with our highly taxed liquor.

I like Senica Drums Not too much juniper IMO

Colour has some complicating factors like oxidation (that's why they pack some meat under nitrogen, IIR). Within the same muscle I think it might also be related to how fast the blood drained, how fast it cooled (interior or near surface of the carcass) or how close to the surface or how much tension during hanging. Some of those may be related to the flavour but some may not be. I'd just use some caution on assuming colour = flavour.

Mainly M&R and Cinzano. I don't think my Dan Murphy's has Punt e Mes anymore and I've never seen Dolin. I can get Nolly Prat but it is about twice as expensive and I wasn't impressed when I was first getting into cocktails. Since I can only get large bottles and am reluctant to buy a bottle to have it go bad, I figured I will hold on revisiting dry vermouth drinks for trips to bars. I didn't think Dubonnet was considered vermouth. I used to drink it on the rocks as a kid (ok, my parents used to drink it on the rocks and I sampled).

I have come to the conclusion that I just don't like vermouth much - at least the ones I've tried. So I made a Negroni substituting Dubonnet and was happier. It is sweeter so you may want to dial back but what I found interesting was a spicy note and the Gin coming forward more. No picture - it looks like a Negroni.

I suppose I'm one of the few around here who likes the flavour of tender meat cuts. I think it brings out more subtle aspects of the taste not as being bland.

My suggestion is not to worry about the amounts when you are mixing sours - go by flavour. You can adjust and keep track of the amount to find what you like, but even then, your citrus will vary and could need adjustment. I aim to be compulsive about taste, not round numbers.

It may need more chips, but I don't (and I would eat them if they were there. There were a few more before I took the picture).

Flathead and chips at a Greek cafe in Hastings, Victoria. The best batter I've had here. Lovely.

F the rum, just add molasses to cheap vodka and you are about there. From the above, you can probably figure out I avoid Cruzan Blackstrap like the black death. I usually use Captain Morgan Dark for my darkest rum, if only to remember my youth. I really don't think it is bad at all but I suppose I'll try Coruba sometime.

This is so deserving of a name: 1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin (Traders) 1 tsp Nocino (Miho's homemade) several dashes Chris Taylor' Suburban Asian Bitters Medicinal, complex, bitter, boozy.

As Chris said, I think pretty much anything goes. I wouldn't be surprised if some places use short-cut bacon.

I like small bits of salty ham flavour-bombs to accent the chicken, not to overwhelm it rather than massive amounts of ham. Bonus points for a bit of crunch in the meat to compliment the crunch in the breading. But I'm an FOB immigrant so don't take my word as gospel. Getting the right amount of sauce is the next thing I'll work on, but I'm not sure it is possible to have too much cheese. The cheese needs to be melted and browning a bit IMO.

The results from Parmageddon are in. 2 overseas guests who had never had a parma before. My cousin was skeptical about red sauce ruining the crispy crust so it was a perfect chance to try ChrisZ' method of putting the ham under the sauce. So we did variations 1) SV at 58.5 C with sage in the bag and Serrano under the sauce 2) same but no SV 3) SV with slices of Serrano on top of the sauce and cheese - kind of curled up so it would crisp some 4) same but no SV and no sage. Cheese was a mix of Jarlesberg and Colby (no parmisan because I got lazy) One of the SV had oil in the bag and the other did not but I think it didn't make too much difference. All were good but the unanimous result was that we preferred the Sous Vide with the Serrano on top of the cheese. The Serrano was really better than the prosciutto I used previously IMO. Lovely stuff. Although the sauce does seep into the breading some, the underneath side remains crispy. The SV variation is moist and that contrasts with the breadding (Also easier to cook IMO, especially doing multiples since you can just whack it on highest heat until crisp rather than figuring out when the meat is cooked). Your taste may vary. I think I'm very close to what I'm after. I need to figure out the best type of bread and texture for the crumbs - I think this was too coarse but I liked the seedy whole meal. The crumbs were very dry and that helped them stick. I also need to work on fried sage for garnish I think microwave is going to work if I can get the right amount of oil on the leaves. ETA: Oh judging from the pictures I have used Serrano previously. Maybe this was just a better variety. Whatever, I liked it.

This is good news for the land of overpriced spirits where anything not brought in by the majors is even more overpriced. Maybe Dan Murphy will start stocking Wray & Nephew.

Sure, a haresfur-related drink that contains mostly ingredients that I can't get my hands on. I could probably handle 1/4 oz of Cruzan Blackstrap though (not very fond of it in general and at that rate a bottle would last as long as my absinthe.

I was looking for a recipe for siphon batter and came across this thread and several pages from ISI. On one they compare using CO2 and N2O cartridges and came to the conclusion that CO2 was marginally lighter. p.s. my fusion Hungarian sweet capsicum peppers stuffed with herb-oil marinated feta and beer-batter deep fried rellenos turned out pretty well except I had trouble getting the batter to stick to them and to the prawns I was doing.

An interesting experiment tonight. I'm not quite sure what to think. Not without it's charms, though. Splash and dash so measurements are approximate. 1.5 oz Bianco tequila 2 tsp pimento dram That gave an strong sense of something like maybe gym socks or maybe a dead squirrel dropped down an outhouse as I brought the glass to my lips. But I persevered and the taste wasn't as bad. I added 2 tsp Benedictine. Much better on the taste and aroma but still with a certain je ne sais quois. I have a feeling it is something that either those who enjoy challenging flavours could grow to love or maybe it will be like hitting your head against the wall. With an ice cube it evolved into something much mellower by the bottom of the glass. Maybe I'll have another. ETA: my pimento dram has a fair bit of Inner Circle so it is pretty funky.

I sent the link to Andrea but there is probably still time to sneak in a drink or two.

Looks pretty exhaustive already. Missing silver tequila and mezcal maybe. What is your typical formula for Ti Punch? I suppose pisco should go on the list, too (but would you dare order a pi' punch?-). My typical formula is to free pour a small puddle of syrup in the bottom of the glass, drop in a single ice cube, pour the spirit, lightly squeeze the citrus over and drop in. Stir with a finger. If it's too sweet add more booze. Great suggestion. The only Genever I have access to is Bols old. Maybe a trip to Europe is in order.