Mikels

I have been experimenting with long (18+ hours) cooking times using coq au vin as the dish. It produces incredibly intense flavors. Most of what I have seen focuses in single cuts of meat. Does anyone have experience in this area?

A number of years ago while on a business trip, I went to the fish market in Tokyo. On my way out, I passed a restaurant supply store. It drew me in like a magnet, who could resist? I bought a knife which they assembled on the spot; you choose the blade and handle. There were shelves filled with these food models. I guess common items are mass produced. That is why they all look as if they were made by the same person.

We want to eat happy food . Red, orange and even green (although less so, since blue is a color component) fall into that category. Who wants to eat something that is blue ? Of course, when food turns blue it is past the "best by" date. I hope I will only eat it once in a blue moon.

You can always find either liquid nitrogen or air (2 degrees warmer) at any university chemistry or physics department. They use the stuff like water for high vacuum lines. In the departments I have been in, they made it. I don't know what type of dewar you have, but make sure it can be used to bring it home.

Maybe I can help. What we are doing is removing the air in the bag. This is a true vacuum. Were it in a solid vessel, the same amount of air would remain. Since the walls are flexible the bag conforms to the food inside, creating a surface that comes close the food. As I see it, that is the primary reason for removing the air. Otherwise, the air would cause the bag to float and insulate the food from the water. However, once you put it in the bath, the vapor pressure will increase, thus reducing the vacuum. If you want to further reduce the oxygen, you would need to purge the bag before creating the vacuum with an inert gas. By the way, I was a physical chemist.

Floaters or sinkers? A few years ago I developed a recipe that allows you to choose exactly where on the spectrum you want your matza balls to be. I turns out that you don’t exactly cook them, only heat the water absorbed by the matza meal. When I make them, I do the following each 1/3 cup of matza meal I use one egg (to bind them) and 1 T oil beaten together. Season and spice the meal, then add the egg/oil mixture. Then you add water or stock; the amount determines how hard you wish them to be. For my crowd, I add enough for it to have the consistency of apple sauce. The more water you add, the lighter they are. Add any herbs you wish; let them sit at room temperature for at least five minutes. Refrigerate the mixture, then form balls and drop into a large pot of boiling water. Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes, depending upon the size. I don’t boil them in the soup, since I wish to control their flavor and don’t want to add anything to my soup. You have three opportunities to add flavor: to the dry mixture, with the liquid and after the liquid has been added. Mike