ElsieD

Don't want to hijack this thread, but.......I will, just a little.HaHaHaHaHa! Where I live, in the province of Ontario, we have what is called the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. It belongs to the Ontario government. That is the only place we can buy booze, beer but no more than a 6 pack and wine. Then we have something called The Beer Store which sells only beer, (they get to sell 12 packs and 24s), they pay a sum of money to the government of Ontario every year and is owned by foreign breweries. Our craft breweries, and there are a fair number of them, have a hard time getting The Beer Store to list their beer. There are a few wine stores that sell wines produced in Ontario. Each province is different. For example, next door to my city lies the province of Quebec. I can go to Costco there and buy beer or wine, neither of which I can buy at the Costco in the city in which I live. Very stoopid. I did look for a miniature bottle of bourbon but alas, found none. They did have a fair assortment but bourbon wasn't among them. Edited to add: I'm pretty sure I won't be around for another 4 decades.

Thanks for the advice re: dextrose. I will look for it tomorrow. Meanwhile, I just tossed my bone-in beef short ribs as I found them floating around in my pot. Extreme sadness as they were really nice ones I bought at While Foods and they had been happily bathing in their 132F water bath for the last 44 hours. But somewhere in those 44 hours the seal broke and I have no idea when so it was bye bye ribs. I come from the better safe than sorry school. I now have sirloin pork chops marinating and plan on cooking those sous vide tomorrow. I know that sirloin is not a particularly good cut and that loin or centre chops would have been better, but I wanted to do sirloin chops sous vide to see what they are like. In checking various sources, I see that the recommended time is anywhere from 2 to 24 hours, and nowhere have I seen sirloin chops specifically mentioned. I plan on doing these at 140F but for how long? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.

Thanks, everybody. I did use calvados and they are now marinating. Rotuts, the calavados I am using is made in the Pays d'Auge region of Normandy if that means anything. It sells for about $50 a bottle so I would guess it is drinkable although I use it mainly for cooking. Since I plan on cooking my chops sous vide I'll post my sous vide question over there.

I bought the stuff I need to make this yesterday and will use it to brine pork chops which I will then cook sous vide. However, I balked at buying bourbon as we don't drink it and I did not feel like paying $28 for something I may never use again. So I am wondering - can I use Calvados? I do have a lot of other booze, such as cognac, brandy, rum, ice wine, etc. if something would work better than Calvados.

Well, dang! I was just in one yesterday. Thanks, Anna, I will check them out.

What kind of a store sells dextrose? I went to a health food store and they do not carry it. She suggested a drug store so I went to Shopper's, a large drug store chain. All they had was fruit flavoured dextrose. I'm doing these ribs at 132 F for 72 hours and they still have 48 hours to go so I have lots of time to get some.

Pardon my ignorance but does the baking powder affect the taste of the meat? I have some beef short ribs on the go right now and wouldn't mind trying this but I worry about my having the ability to not be heavy handed with the baking powder/dextrose mixture.

Rotuts, just lower the baking temperature by 25 degrees F. I do this all the time in the Breville. The time will be a bit quicker so just keep an eye on it. You may also need to turn the pan around halfway through the baking time.

I only ever had reindeer once and that was in Oslo many years ago and that meal remains the best meal I have ever eaten in my life. And that was MANY meals ago.

This is sooooo interesting. Thanks for sharing!

I just made some the other day also following David Lebowitz's recipe. I wasn't able to get the icing sugar/ cornstarch mixture down as evenly as I wanted to and so had some hard bits stuck to the bottoms. Next time I will spray a pan with cooking oil, coat it with the mix and tap the excess out. Should make for tidier bottoms.

Can I change the pre-set temperatures? For fish, for example, I like them cooked sous vide to a higher temperature.

Best laugh I've had in a while. Thanks for posting this.

[quote - and then there was a breadmaker someone gave me - never used - bread was always the ONE thing that I think should always be made by hand - literally (with the exception of the cinnamon rolls I make in the Thermomix) - it was given away pronto. Deryn, any chance you could post or PM me the link to the Thermomic cinnamon rolls?

I'm thinking of putting a couple of bread books on my Christmas "wish list". In reading this and other threads and forums, two names popped up frequently. They would be Ken Forkish and Dan Lepard. Are their books the ones to included? Are there others? I currently have the Bread Bakers Apprentice and Artisan Breads Every Day both by Peter Rheinhart and Jim Lahey's My Bread. I am just a home baker and have recently been making sourdough bread. So, I am not a novice but I'm far from being an expert. Any suggestions?

Shelby, those look amazing. Whose recipe did you use?

I made these baguettes today from The Bread Maker's Apprentice. This is the first time I have made baguettes. We just had some and it is very tasty.

Good reason NOT to buy Flowmaster.

I too would guess mezzaluna. I think chopping stuff would have happened before anyone needed to whisk or grate something.

I think I need to check out a few thrift stores!

For our Thanksgiving (we are in Canada) we always have capon. Same thing at Christmas.

Dang, but this looks good. Not being a huge green bean fan, I 'm going to try this with asparagus.

Anna N and gfweb, how easy is it to control the heat using induction and an enamelled cast iron pot? I have both of those but I can't stand having to diddle around with the heat controls on a stove when I am deep frying.

I am looking for an electric deep fryer and have just read through this thread. I am left with the impression that the Waring is the one to get. However, as my electrical small appliances have needed to be replaced, I have been replacing them with Breville products as I find they work as advertised. To date, this includes their food processor, hand beater, toaster, their grill and the smart oven. Right now our local Costco is selling the Cuisinart deep fryer. This fryer looks to be identical to the Waring, and since Cuisinart owns Waring, that is not surprising. However, I also have my eye on the Breville deep fryer although it is twice the price of the Waring/Cuisinart. Does anyone own the Breville deep fryer and of you do, are you happy with it? Thanks!

Here is something we enjoy from time to time. It is based on a recipe by Rose Reisman for City TV who used black beans in place of ground meat. Tortilla, Beef, Tomato and Cheese Pie 1 cup drained canned corn 2 tsp vegetable oil 1/2 cup chopped onions 2 tsp minced garlic 1 cup chopped sweet red peppers 1/2 cup chopped sweet green peppers 1 1/2 cups tomato pasta sauce 1 1/2 tsp dried basil 1 tsp (each) chili powder / cumin powder 1 pound ground beef, cooked 2 cups shredded light mozzarella cheese 2 cups shredded light cheddar cheese 2 tablespoons Parmesan 5 large flour tortillas 1. Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 9-inch spring form pan with cooking spray. 2. In a nonstick saucepan sprayed with cooking spray, cook corn over medium heat for 8 minutes or until slightly charred. Stir often. Set aside. 3. Add oil to pan and cook onions and garlic for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add red and green peppers, cook for 3 minutes. Then stir in tomato sauce, charred corn, chili powder, cumin powder and meat, cover and cook for 6 – 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. 4. In a small bowl combine mozzarella, cheddar and Parmesan cheese. 5. Place a tortilla in prepared spring form pan. Spread with one-quarter of the vegetable & beef sauce. Sprinkle with one-quarter of the cheese mixture. Then repeat process three times. Top off with the final tortilla and a little extra cheese, then cover pan with foil. 6. Bake for 20 minutes, or until heated through and cheese has melted. Cut into 8 wedges with a sharp knife. Serves 4