ElsieD

Rotuts, that sounds interesting. Let me see if I correctly understand your process. You flatten the breast, slather with Dijon, wrap completely? in bacon, then SV? Wouldn't the bacon come out flabby or am I missing something here? Bacon = yuminess, flabby bacon not so much.

Daveb and KennethT, thanks for your response. I did the steak at 132F for 3 hours and 40 minutes and it was lovely. I had taken the fat cap off and rendered it and used that fat to brown the steak. I have the Sous Vide Dash but when I plugged in size, temp. etc. I kept getting a cooking time of 5 hours and 32 minutes which I was pretty sure wasn't right, so I'm glad I asked.

How big were the cubes? Standard stew size? I assume you browned the meat afterwards? Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question. I have never cooked lamb for stew this way and I happen to have some in the freezer so would like to try it.

So tonight I thought I'd whip up some corn cookies from the Momofuke Milk Bar Cookbook. I beat the sugar and butter together, added the egg and beat that for 8 more minutes. Added the dry ingredients, mixed, portioned out the dough, rolled them, flattened the balls, put 1 sheet pan in the fridge to rest for the obligatory hour prior to baking, and the rest on their pans went into the freezer. At this point, my sciatica nerve starting acting up so I left the kitchen in it's mess and sat down in the living room. A little while later hubby decides to clean up the kitchen. I hear "what is on the scale"? Turns out the baking powder, baking soda and salt were in the little bowl and did not make it into the dough. Big oops. Out came the dough from the freezer which had started to freeze and out came the tray from the fridge. My husband worked the rest of the ingredients into the dough, brought it out to me and I, in my chair, reshaped, rerolled and reflattened the cookie dough. The trays are now back where they were. I don't know if you can overwork cookie dough but I am about to find out. Must be something about this recipe - the last time I left out the corn flour!

Today I took leave of my senses and I bought a 2" thick strip loin steak that had been dry aged for 80 long days. I plan on cooking it sous vide at 132F and then pan searing it. However, never having had anything quite like it I was wondering if it required any special treatment? I'd hate to screw this up.

Anyone?

We are thinking of going down this way the weekend of May 2 and wondered if anyone knows if this is a worthwhile event to attend? We have in the past attended Food and Wine Fests in Ottawa but eventually gave up on them because the crowds were horrendous. If not this event, is there another event in the general area that we should consider going to instead? As far as timing goes, it could be any time this summer, not just that weekend. Thank you.

Yesterday I decided to make the Paulpegg recipe for easy focaccia. I do believe it is the least fussiest bread I have ever made. Total hands on time was maybe 5 minutes. I cut the recipe in half and baked it in a quarter sheet pan. Paul, thanks for sharing. It went nicely with the chili we had for supper.

I think I'll try this. Is that a half sheet pan you used?

We have the Breville die-cast 2 slice Smart Toaster and are very happy with it. It toasts evenly and has a bagel setting, "lift and look" feature and a "just a little more" feature, all of which I have used. I don't know how it rates in terms of speed, but it is quick enough for us. Also, I don't know the wattage.

Looks terrific. I assume you mix this in a stand mixer?

Thanks, kayb. If I make it again I will skip that step as well unless someone chimes in with a reason why it should be done. We haven't had any yet. Once the buns cooled, I wrapped them and froze them.

Btbyrd, thanks for the info. I'll skip that boullion stuff. Thanks too for the link to More Than Gourmet. They sure have a lot of good sounding things. I am about to place an order for some of their items including their concentrated mushroom stock. Thanks again.

Thank you but if I had wanted to know about MSG content I would have asked. I am specifically interested in the salt content.

I see that the powdered mushrooms you refer to is labeled as boullion. What is the salt content like?

I made the Cubano rolls today, as shown. I had trouble shaping them and I think one of the reasons is because the instructions say to do a stretch and fold 30 minutes into the first rising. The dough is made with 4 cups (482grams) of flour, 1/4 cup butter and 1 1/4 cups water. I am used to the stretch and fold method as I do it with bread I have made using recipes from The Baker's Apprentice. However, this dough has a much lower hydration than what I am used to and in this instance, the stretch and fold turned my nice smooth ball of dough into a lumpy one that made shaping tricky. Or, perhaps more accurately, tricky for me. Any comments?

Kayb, thanks for the link. I shall give these a go. We were at the Columbia just the one time for lunch and there were no dancers of any description. At night maybe?

Rotuts, that just sounds so sad. That said, I only ever found one item at a thrift store but it was a pretty good find, a really nice leather jacket for $10. I've probably had it for about 15 years now and it's still in great shape.

Yes, Flammekuchen is good stuff. I have never made it with anything other than creme fraiche. Maybe I should try to. Speaking of which, I have some in my refrigerator and I think I'll make it for dinner tonight. Thanks for the reminder!

Btbyrd, I've never heard of smoked lard. Is this something you can buy?

Kayb, I'd like to try making the Cubano rolls. We had Cuban sandwiches at the Columbia Restauranr in Tampa a couple of years ago and loved them so much we have been making them ever since as per the recipe on their web site. It would be nice to have a roll better suited to the sandwich. Besides which, I love making bread and trying new bread recipes.

Speklap is pork belly.

I just signed up for one of these. I'll let you know in a year's time what I think of it.

I realize SV is in the title and my question is not about SV but rather, the appliance in general so I hope it is okay to ask this question. (If not, mods please remove.). Given the temperature range, I wonder if one could successfully temper chocolate with it? I can also see it being useful for deep frying.

I wonder if the SAQ in Quebec carries it? I did a search on their web site but didn't come up with anything but then my French is pretty much nonexistent. I'll maybe check them out unless someone already knows.