Chris Hennes

The thinnest tortillas I've been able to make were made using a heavy cast iron dutch oven. I put the ball of masa between two sheets of plastic (I like to cut apart freezer bags for this since they're thicker) and smash the dutch oven down on it. It makes a heck of a lot of noise, and a really thin tortilla . It's a good way to release some pent-up aggression, too!

The most obvious that comes to mind is sautéing: if you don't hear a good hiss when the food hits the pan, the pan is too cold. Too much popping of oil can tell you the food was still wet and isn't going to brown correctly, and when it gets too quiet it's probably time to toss the pan. You're using all your senses all the time, but some are more conscious than others. Sight, taste and touch are going to be deliberate actions, but hearing and smell blend into the background and can give you almost subconscious clues.

Those parodies are spot on, I love the boiling water one! Tonight I made the Stir-Fried Sichuan Green Beans from the January 2007 issue of Cook's Illustrated (recipe here if you have online access). This is another one of my favorites: the sauce is pretty simple, mostly soy sauce and dry sherry. I get asked on occasion if you can omit the sherry, since there is only one tablespoon, but alas, as far as I am concerned the answer is "no." It lends a very distinctive and pleasant flavor to the dish: I use a "bottom-shelf" sherry that I think was about $8 for 750mL and it has lasted me for years, so my recommendation is to just buy some sherry. The other great thing about this dish is that even though it calls for 1/4 pound of ground pork (I just chop a boneless pork chop up in the food processor), you can easily make it a vegetarian dish by swapping in some mushrooms in place of the ground pork, with no loss of flavor. I sometimes make it that way just to change things up. All in all, including prep time on the green beans, this recipe takes me about thirty minutes to make, so it's good for weeknights when I'm in a hurry:

Really, if I had considered this simple fact I would have switched to reusable bags eons ago. I just picked up two a couple weeks ago at the Wegmans, and they really do hold vastly more than the plastic bags, and the handles are more comfortable to boot. I went from needing maybe 10 plastic bags on an average trip to filling just the two re-usable bags. Now I just need to come up with a solution for produce. At Wegmans you weigh stuff and print out labels yourself, so it needs to be something I can stick a label on, and then peel off easily later. What do you all do?

Definitely a reasonable point. One of the things I have done in the past is to make the marinade/sauce ahead of time and put it in the fridge. There's no getting around the deep-frying being a pain in the butt, though. Of course, I take a sort of perverse delight in my kitchen being declared a Superfund site following cooking projects... Which reminds me: the recipe doesn't actually call for the chicken to be deep-fried, just pan-fried with a lot of oil, but I prefer the simplicity and texture of deep-frying, since you don't have to attend it, turning the pieces over, etc.

Yeah, actually what you see there is breast, not thigh, since my wife also doesn't care for dark meat. It works fine, but I usually fry at a slightly higher temperature for less time, and make sure to marinate for a full hour to keep everything nice and juicy. It still tastes great.

NOTE: I figured this would be a better place than in the generic dinner thread, so if someone was looking for a CI recipe they didn't have to search 700 pages! Tonight for dinner I made the Orange Flavored Chicken from the March 2005 issue of Cook's Illustrated (if you have online access, the recipe is here). I like this recipe because I think it has a great balance between sour and sweet, typical of the best of Chinese-American food. In particular, the use of fresh orange juice and a ton of orange zest really cranks up the orange flavor. I like to add a lot more cayenne than the recipe calls for, and a little less corn starch (as a thickening agent). In 2005 this recipe was my first exposure the idea of dredging chicken in something other than flour before frying (in this case, corn starch). Anyone else make this one?

I have been playing around with this for the last month or so, and the answer seems to be a definite yes, though of course it takes time and effort. This morning I was curious as to how much coffee I was wasting by pre-sifting the grounds, so I set up a scale to find out. Using my "trusty" burr grinder, I dispense one cups' worth of grounds (actually, this thing claims it's six cups worth. Hah!): Before sifting I had 38.0 grams of grounds, and after sifting I had 35.2 grams remaining: Here is the final brew and the sifter I used: The sieve is a bit coarser than the screen in the press, so in theory it should get most of the dust out. Of course, this isn't quite how it works, but it does get a good quantity out. Some dust still clings to the grounds and results in sludge, but nowhere near as much as if I didn't sift it. I lose about 7% of the grounds through this procedure, which is considerable less than I was expecting. Edited to add: Here is the remaining sludge... enough? Too much? You be the judge...

It will come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the Cook's Illustrated thread that I love their recipe for peanut butter cookies. I like the inclusion of both peanut butter and fresh peanuts: it really ups the nuttiness (I'm a big fan of nuttiness!). One thing to watch out for is that they are very hygroscopic: I once left a batch out on the counter overnight, and it rained so was very humid. When I picked one of the cookies up the next morning it practically disintegrated in my hand it had absorbed so much moisture. It still tasted good, though!

I know it's too late to help the original poster (what did you decide to make, WhiteTruffleGirl?), but the topic itself is interesting... somehow chocolates end up being a particularly interesting "dessert" item after a big meal, I think, because you can have just one or two with a cup of coffee, instead of a big pastry or whatnot, and when planing a dinner party, time is always short. I think the untempered-coating for truffles idea is a good one: the March 2008 issue of Fine Cooking has a few pages dedicated to a simple ganache, and one of the things they do with it is make truffles. They talk about a few variations on the theme like adding liqueur, mexican chocolate, mint, etc., and show how to roll them, etc. Of course, nothing so fancy as what Greweling and Shotts are doing, but I bet they would make a pretty impressive dessert layout at a dinner party, and would take a lot less time to make then a complex pastry or plated dessert, or even a cake.

I find that most of the ganaches and giandujas in Greweling's book set up very quickly when made with tempered chocolate. Are you looking for something dipped or molded?

It is a shame so many people seem to be having trouble getting the automated delivery of new volumes stopped. I knew that was they way their books worked when I bought one, so I wasn't surprised that every year I get a new one, but I haven't tried to cancel it. I think anger at their customer service department is completely justified: it's a tactic that book and CD clubs have been using for years. It's one thing to make everything a "subscription," but it's something else entirely to make it nigh-on impossible to cancel. But, alas, recipes like their Beef Tacos from May 2002 are so good that I find it impossible to consider canceling my magazine subscription! Has anyone else tried these? As jsmeeker mentioned in my foodblog, one of the things they recommend is buying soft corn tortillas and frying them yourself. Total pain in the butt, but also makes the best taco shells I've ever had at home, hands down, no question.

Yeah, the real trick is to not be skimpy with the amount you temper: the more mass you have in the bowl, the slower it cools down. I just spread the leftovers out on parchment until it hardens, then break it up into little bits and add it back to the box. Then, be very gentle with the microwaving.

Well, it's the opposite of the advice you're looking for, but I gave up on the heating pad thing. I found that especially when using milk, but even dark chocolate, I always ended up getting it just a little too warm at the edges of the bowl. So, with the PB&Js, once I got into a groove, I was dipping maybe 20-30 chocolates, then I would microwave for 5-6 seconds, stir like mad for 10 seconds, and dip 20-30 more chocolates. The PBJs had a perfect temper except for the one time I used the micro for 10 seconds instead of 5-6. And no extra equipment as long as you have a microwave . I like to use Silpats (actually, generic non-Silpat silicone mats because I'm cheap) instead of parchment, since the bars won't slide around on it. I think that's a tip from John DePaula (sorry if I'm misattributing it, though).

If you're just getting started with Greweling, I would suggest picking up boxes of dark, milk and white wafers (easier to work with than bars, IMO), some cocoa butter, and some glucose. I find that most of the other stuff he calls for is relatively easy to track down, so that's what I started with. You can make a lot of his recipes with just those things and supermarket staples. Maybe add apple pectin to the list if you want to try his jellies.

Oh, yeah! I forgot about those. The technique they use for getting them the perfect texture by shredding the potatoes lengthwise and then squeezing them dry works beautifully. I never would have though of changing the shredding direction.

Along the lines of the lemon bars, I guess there is one "baking" recipe that I just love: the Raspberry Streusel Bars from the September 2005 issue. They have a combination of raspberry preserves and fresh raspberries that is just perfect. They are brilliant, and always a hit at parties. They are also very simple to make.

I assume you are using commercial, double-acting baking powder? The "double-acting" bit refers to the fact that you will get some of the rise immediately, when the powder is first mixed with liquid, and another bit later, when it is exposed to the high heat of the oven. So, in delaying the baking you are essentially eliminating, or at least greatly reducing, the effect of the first rise. Baking immediately helps set the bubbles into the batter before they can rise up and out. So you will probably see markedly less well-risen rolls if you delay the baking. A better strategy is to mix together the wet ingredients separately from the dry and then only mix them together when you are ready to bake. Edited for clarity.

Thanks---I just bought my frame (I think that's what you mean by bars) at the local hobby shop: they are used for model railroad construction and that sort of thing. I have also used wooden dowels wrapped in plastic wrap to good effect. As for the dipping tools, I don't recall where I bought them, but you don't really need anything special: a kitchen fork works fine. I like to use an old cheap one that I can bend a bit.

I have it memorized, of course! (Actually, I have a spreadsheet of all my "regular" recipes that I keep relatively up-to-date on my computer.) Chris, what does the T/O/B stand for? "Tomato, onion, and bacon" -- I don't always remember what is in Amatriciana, so I cheat.

Good idea, CaliPoutine: here is my complete list of regular dinner possibilities from the pages of CI: Beef burgundy, 2001, January, pp. 13 Beef Chile, 2003, March, pp. 11 Beef tacos, 2002, May, pp. 9 Braised beef brisket, 2005, January, pp. 15 Braised short ribs, 2000, January, pp. 9 Carbonnada a la Flamande, 2004, November, pp. 7 Hamburgers - garlic chipotle, 2000, July, pp. 8 Nachos, 2002, July, pp. 15 Steak au Poivre, 2001, September, pp. 9 Steak frites, 2007, January, pp. 9 Thai chile beef, 2005, July, pp. 19 Arroz con Pollo, 2006, September, pp. 21 Chicken Biryani, 2004, March, pp. 9 Enchiladas, 2003, May, pp. 11 Moroccan Chicken, 2006, May, pp. 7 Orange chicken, 2005, May, pp. 21 Fish and chips, 2006, May, pp. 9 Fish fillets - Coconut curry, 2005, March, pp. 10 Fish fillets - Grapefruit, 2005, March, pp. 10 Fish fillets - Lemon shallot, 2005, March, pp. 10 Fish fillets - Orange Tarragon, 2005, March, pp. 10 Tuna with avocado orange salsa, 2003, January, pp. 13 Pizza Margherita, 2006, July, pp. 11 Potstickers, 2006, March, pp. 15 Quiche Lorraine, 1997, September, pp. 12 Vegetable torta, 2005, September, pp. 9 Waffles, 1993, November, pp. 28 Lasagne Bolognese, 2004, September, pp. 15 Pasta all' Amatriciana (t/o/b), 2000, November, pp. 20 Pasta Bolognese, 2003, May, pp. 6 Penne alla Vodka, 2006, November, pp. 10 Spaghetti alla Carbonara, 2001, September, pp. 7 Spaghetti Puttanesca, 2002, March, pp. 15 Spinach Lasagne, 2004, March, pp. 19 Glazed pork chops, 2006, March, pp. 19 Pork chops w/ vinegar & peppers, 2005, January, pp. 7 Pork tenderloin medalions w/ bacon, 2006, September, pp. 14 Pulled Pork, 1997, July, pp. 20 I have found all of these recipes to be very good, and in some cases downright fantastic. My personal favorite is the Thai Chile Beef. Man, I love that stuff!

Because that's what you have time for. If you have more time, you go to the "classic Bolognese" recipe from January 1999, which doesn't contain anything "unorthodox." They have been publishing for over a decade and trying to stay within their audience's food comfort zone (i.e. limited Asian cuisine), so it does seem that they are running short on ideas sometimes. I agree that I wish they would branch out more, but trying to make a tasty pseudo-bolognese in 30 minutes doesn't seem that far-fetched to me.

Over here I have an example of one of Greweling's "butter ganache" recipes... is that sort of what you are talking about?

It's a low-end DSLR with an external flash pointed at the ceiling for most of the shots, using various relatively short apertures. That skin is destined for a pot of beans later this week. Believe me, it didn't get thrown away, it is beautiful!

That sounds like what Greweling calls a "butter ganache," right?