stuartlikesstrudel

I have heard respected chefs/bakers differ on the importance of sifting for aeration purposes... hard to know if it really is redundant, or whether the difference it makes is small, so they assume people won't want to do it. I agree with you that the little details really matter, but i guess it's a question of HOW LITTLE the difference is, if at all. I typically don't bother sift for regular cakes/muffins etc but if i'm doing something complex or from a chef I really respect, I will obey their instructions carefully.

Anything really Mexican. My sister-in-law is from the U.S so has so many stories of the great mexican restaurants and food available, but here in Australia we seem to only get the real Tex-Mex stuff. There are one or two specialty shops that are starting to have more stuff but they cost a lot and aren't really convenient. Dried chiles are definitely in the suitcase home from anyone's trips to the U.S.

Is there much room for this kind of pan sauce in vegetarian cooking? I often don't "need" a sauce with my meals because i'm not doing the lump-of-protein style dish that goes well with a sauce, but having said that, there's always room for sauce I wonder about using crispy bits left in the pan after roasting veges, or something like that...? But i'm having trouble thinking of much outside of that, and even what you would do in those cases to make something compelling. (note that i'm talking really about this "pan sauce" idea, i know there's all the other sorts of sauces from other cooking styles, as well as hollandaise and all those kinds).

Just to add another idea for baked onion rings, I read about these ones a while back (perhaps even somewhere on eG) and liked the idea of them... I still haven't actually gotten around to making them but I will one day They use crushed potato chips as the crumbing, which would add an interesting flavour but also a bit of oilyness. Recipe here.

I made Compost Cookies recently (google them, the recipe has been going around recently) and froze some of the dough. I couldn't really tell the difference between those that I froze before baking and those that I baked off straight away (though you need to chill the dough anyway, so i guess it's not that different). They're pretty similar to the classic Toll House cookie recipe, but with a whole bunch of add-ins, so I guess that would work well too.

Sounds like a great time coming up for you, Stu! Don't know if you've looked into legumes and beans much, but when i became vegetarian a few years ago I found a whole world of experimentation opening up and there's a LOT there, looking at different cuisines and types of preparation. Nice and cheap when you use dried beans, they're very healthy and I think a lot of people haven't really had good beans in the past, so it can be a bit of a revelation!

I will almost certainly again inadequately flour my pasta sheets that I'm making. You'd think I would have learnt after doing it a few times but apparently not Luckily it doesn't involve pain or permanent consequences, but it's disappointing after spending the time making fresh pasta to try and lift the strips (which I had cut into small 'rags' about an inch wide) and find half of them pretty well stuck to the bench.

Well I am very happy to be able to bump this thread up again... I think it's a great idea and so I hope more people will notice and get involved even though we're almost halfway through the year (what?!!? yipes, how did that happen?!). I have ticked off the first dish from my list - ravioli/stuffed pasta. I ended up doing tortellini with a ricotta and parsley filling, served in a cream/butter sauce. All from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking. I was happy with the end result but not blown away. I think I like more assertive fillings. The pasta was really enjoyable to work with, nice and silky, but I was surprised at the final texture - even after boiling for over 7 minutes the pasta was quite toothy. I thought that homemade pasta cooked really quickly, and often became too soft if one wasn't careful, but here I couldn't get it quite as soft as I liked, even with longer cooking times. Anyone know what's going on there? The pasta also wrinkled quite a bit when boiling, which I don't remember happening in the past. Perhaps I have overkneaded the dough, or got the proportions a bit wrong? I started out with a few nicely shaped tortellini, but quickly declined The different shapes of pasta coming out of the machine meant that some were bigger, some were a bit lopsided, some were bulgey or bloated, haha. But all pretty in their own homemade way. I think with someone else around to help and chat to it would be more enjoyable. I served them with some salad and braised carrots (also from the book) which were simply intensely carrot-y carrots, cooked for a long time with water and a bit of butter, till all the flavour concentrates. A nice, rustic side.

Thanks for the replies... some good sense coming through here. I hadn't really thought about using the technique for things like roast potatoes, Alcuin, but i like the sound of it. I recently made a risotto from a well-regarded chef's recipe, which involved flavouring the oil with onion at the start and then discarding it, but I can't really see why it would be necessary, even with these explanations given. The onion wasn't going to burn, even though it was added at the start, and the long cooking time would have mellowed the flavour well. Don't know if I would have noticed the difference had it been left in (or perhaps even omitted entirely). I should probably do an experiment with each different option to test, that's a lot of risotto though

Hey all, I've recently been coming across more recipes that call for ingredients such as onion or garlic to be cooked for a few minutes in oil at the start, then discarded before the recipe continues. I understand this concept, to get some of the flavour into the oil without being too strong or having chunks in the final dish, but I would love to hear some thoughts on when you choose to do this, why, etc. I think it's a more 'sophisticated' technique, aiming for subtlety in the dish. Usually I have some onion and garlic in pretty much every savoury dish I make, as a starting base for flavours, so the idea of not using them, or infusing then discarding, makes me wonder how much it would affect the taste of the dish. For example, my tomato-based pasta sauces inevitably have finely diced onion and garlic, but Marcella Hazan recommends this oil-infusing technique. I feel like a "regular" amount of onion adds to the dish without being obviously onion-y so to me, discarding the onion would take nearly all of that flavour away, leaving only a hint of it at best in the oil. Which of course may be the whole point - I guess top chefs are looking for nuance and subtlety, and can pick that just a hint of onion would help the overall dish without being noticeable. Perhaps I've been clumsy and overzealous all this time, and my dishes are often too brazen with the flavours? Thoughts?

Jim, I was thinking the same thing... a friend of mine just got given it (so i wonder if it's not OOP after all?) and I had a look through and was thinking how much I could learn from the in-depth, rigorous exploration of the various topics. Even if you decided to cook 5 or 10 things from each section, you'd learn a lot about Italian flavours and techniques, a wide variety of types of meal. I am trying to hold off buying the book myself, it looks like an excellent resource.

Today I got the day off work, so I felt like making porridge (as it's getting cold now in Melbourne, Aus, and it's something I don't usually have time to make if it's a work day). And I had some leftover salted caramel sauce, which just seemed to call out to me from the fridge A few toasted almonds, a drizzle of cream... felt a bit indulgent but hit the spot this particular morning. (As did the additional spoonfuls of caramel I ate after!).

Chris, thanks for continuing to update us on your progress through this book. I'm finding it very interesting to hear what you are enjoying and learning, and hope to play around with some of these ideas myself soon (though I don't have the book so may need to scour for recipes or similar ones using the flavours and techniques).

I'm also interested to hear about using alcohol in candymaking... i feel like the alcohol might interfere with the setting temperatures or dissolve it or something, but I don't know.

Mmmm, musk sticks. They are a bit weird, aren't they, when you think about it... There is indeed musk essence for baking. My brother used to make experimental "cakes" where he'd mix some flour, sugar, eggs and milk in inappropriate proportions, then add food coloring and flavouring at his whim. His musk cake is one that I remember, not in the good way There are also other flavoured "fruit sticks"... the same shape/texture, but with other very artificial flavours. I can remember orange, yellow, green i think, maybe purple. But the original musk stick is still the classic.

I know you said no time to prep, but if you can get some cream and about 10 minutes one of the earlier nights, you could prepare pana cotta the night before... I did it last week for a family dinner and everyone loved it - almost feels like a fraud because it's so easy, but seems classy! I made vanilla pana cotta and served it with balsamic pepper strawberries (just sliced strawberries, sprinkled with a *little* castor sugar, a few tsp of balsamic and a few grates of black pepper, to taste). Easy!

Heidi, do you have any recommended soups? I've only ever had tofu in miso, but could imagine other good uses... I don't really have the same feeling as you that it's "fiddly" to try and save the rest, I actually find it very handy to have some frozen for use with unplanned dinners. The spongy texture is different but not inferior in my mind. But each to their own

Liz, I have often kept some of a block in the fridge using the methods described (in a container of water, or even without for a day or two) but sometimes forget about it and therefore waste the rest. I have decided that it's a better option to freeze what I don't use. This does change the texture a bit, as others have mentioned, but I find the "spongy" texture quite appealing so I don't mind either way. To freeze it, I tend to slice it before freezing so the defrost will be quicker... so I sometimes cut it into inch-ish cubes, or flat slices, depending on how I'll use it or just how I'm feeling You can defrost it pretty quickly, in about 10 mins, by putting the frozen block in a bowl and pouring over boiling water... the water will seep in the cracks between tofu chunks and start to defrost all through. I'm sure you could microwave it too, which could be good because it wouldn't add moisture.

I can't find the recipe right now, but Dan Lepard wrote about using tapioca flour to replace some of the ordinary flour in a cake recipe to come closer to replicating the moist texture of packet mixes... perhaps this difference in texture is what you're looking for? I also enjoy the texture of packet cakes sometimes, and I think it's what a lot of people are used to, and will often prefer that to the home-baked stuff, which is a bit depressing Dan suggested that you could try replacing up to 25% of the flour in a recipe with tapioca flour, but you will also need to add more moisture... so I guess if you subbed 25% of the flour, you'd need to add 25% of the moisture again (i.e if the recipe asks for 200ml milk, you would add an extra 50mls perhaps).

WORLD PEACE COOKIES (or google for other writeups, but I assume the recipe is the same...?). I actually have a roll of dough in the freezer at the moment, but I didn't get to bake it off when I was making them, so I haven't tried them yet. People seem to rave about them though

I just assumed it was a brand of tamarind paste, so I used some of the wet tamarind i had and soaked that in water... sounds like I made the right choice by accident!

Wow, I haven't seen those recipes before, looks like such a great resource!! (as if i didn't already have enough elaborate pastry recipes that I haven't got time to try out )

Yeah, when i first read the topic I was thinking hydrocolloid kind of stuff... understanding the differences between cornstarch, tapioca, flour, etc in sauces and other "sciencey" things, where an understanding of the chemical properties is important. But reading other peoples suggestions about starchy foods brings up a lot of other good ideas, and probably more relevant in an everyday way to general cooks. I like the suggestion about using different types of food for the same application. I know that different types of potatoes really should be chosen depending on the usage, but i still often just go with whatever I have. If i was part of a comparison and tasted hash browns made with floury vs waxy, or mashed potato, or baked potatoes even, I think the different outcomes would really encourage people to make more deliberate decisions.

I think you're right, Yajna... this really seems like a chocolate mousse with guinness added for richness/deep flavour, much like a hint of coffee is often added to chocolate desserts.

Here's a link... Its just over 7 grams... I thought I had read somewhere that 7g was about 2 and a bit tsp, and that 2tsp was enough to gel 2 cups, but they say a tablespoon here (note that this is U.S Tablespoon which is 3tsp/15ml, whereas in Australia (and maybe NZ?) a tablespoon is 4tsp). Anyway, good luck with it What kind of mousse are you making? Does it need to be firm because you're molding it in some fun way?