nickrey

Double cooked Chocolate souffle I've had this clipping for a while and been meaning to try it. The process should just as easily be applied to savoury souffles. Yes, I am assured that souffles do really rise twice! The recipe is one by Damien Pignolet. He runs a restaurant in Sydney called Bistro Moncur and the recipe comes from his book http://www.amazon.com/French-Damien-Pignol...24969792&sr=8-1. 120 g caster sugar 40g Valrhona cocoa or fine-quality substitute 240ml milk 30g cornflour or custard flour 60ml cognac 4 egg yolks, well beaten 6 egg whites 2 tbsp caster sugar 200g Valrhona bittersweet chocolate, chopped pure icing sugar for dusting For the cream sauce: 2 tsp instant coffee 1 tsp cognac or brancy 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Preheat over to 180 degree Celsius (350 degree F). Grease six chilled and dried souffle dishes (180 ml capacity) with soft unsalted butter, then dust with some caster sugar. In a medium saucepan over low heat, dissolve the 120g caster sugar and 40g cocoa in the milk. Mix the cornflour with enough water to make a paste, then beat in the cocoa mixture off the heat. Return the pan to the heat and slowly bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Add the cognac. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool for 5 minutes before beating in the egg yolks. Beat the egg whites until they form firm peaks, then scatter the 2 tbsp caster sugar over them and keep beating until stiff peaks are formed. Beat a quarter of the egg white mixture into the cocoa base. Scatter the chocolate over the remaining egg white mixture, then pour the cocoa base on top and fold it gently but thoroughly. Fill the souffle dishes almost to the top, wipe the rims clean and bake in a bain marie for about 15 minutes until the souffles have risen well. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the bain-marie. The souffles will deflate but don't be concerned. Once cool, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until required. About 30 minutes before you want to serve the souffles, take them out of the fridge and preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. In a small saucepan, combine the cream sauce ingredients and reduce over a low heat by about a quarter. Dip the souffle dishes into very hot water for 30 seconds then run a paring knife around the inside of each dish and turn out the souffles onto individual gratin or ovenproof dishes. Generously surround with cream sauce, lightly coating the tops and bake until well risen, about 10-12 minutes. Serve immediately, lightly dusted with sieved icing sugar and 1 tsp of praline sprinkled over the top of each souffle. Hazelnut praline 150g hazelnuts 150g sugar 60ml water Preheat over to 180 degrees celsius. Roast the hazelnuts for 4-5 minutes or until the skins are flaking away. Remove from the oven and tip into a tea towel. Rub the nuts to dislodge the skins. Remove and excess skins with a small knife and discard. In a heavy based saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the water and place over a high heat. When the sugar becomes a deep caramel color, add the nuts and carefully stir, coating the nuts evenly with the caramel. Pour the praline into a slightly oiled tray. when cool, break into large chunks and store in an airtight container in the freezer. To serve, pulse in a food processor to a coarse meal, or chop with a large cook's knife.

Sounds tasty. I'd still try the lime air: perhaps given the Thai influence, you could also add a bit of chili or lemon grass?

It's hard to say without knowing what ingredients you use in the dish. The air can be constructed to either complement or contrast with the other flavors. I'd assume if the gazpacho is mango, it may be quite sweet so you may not want more mango in the air. Perhaps the lime air from el Bulli (also in Khymos' hydrocolloid recipe book, p. 34) might provide the contrast you need.

Having eaten at Greg Malouf's restaurant MoMo in Melbourne in its former location, I cannot recommend his food highly enough. The books are great. If you want to try out one of his recipes, go to his web site ( http://gregmalouf.com.au ): it currently has a recipe for Turkish Spoon Salad with Kofte Kebabs.

If you want a more recent book to work through, you could try Stephane Reynaud's new book "Rippailles." His previous cookbook "Pork & Sons" won the Grand Prix de la Gastronomie Francaise. In this book, he delves into the roots of French cuisine, which appears to be what you are after. The Amazon link to the book is http://www.amazon.com/Ripailles-Stephane-R...24023750&sr=1-1 On a more traditional front, how about Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking ( http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/037...4198763-7282459 ) or Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking ( http://www.amazon.com/FRENCH-PROVINCIAL-CO...24036178&sr=1-3 )

This clip covers a few pours and gives a good idea of technique. If you read the commentaries after it, there are some good hints. The barista is only 17 years old! One of the key secrets to doing it is getting the milk right. For this you need a decent manual espresso machine. I get good rosettes from micro foam made with my Rancilio Miss Silvia machine which is preferred by many "coffee geeks." As an aside, for great coffee, you also need a good burr grinder. For a review of the coffee machine, see here: http://www.home-barista.com/silvia-flash-review.html

You could try "The Essential Pasta Cookbook" by Wendy Stephen. This book is extremely approachable with lots of color pictures and step-by-step instructions. Amazon has this with a look inside function http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Pasta-Cook...23890925&sr=1-3 The following books are most likely only available second hand but are very good in their own ways. The first is "Perfect Pasta" by Valentina Harris. She has a very homely approach to writing and is very strong in her technique and knowledge of Italian food. Buy this one if your friend likes a good read with easily made (and very edible) sauces. The link to her book is http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Pasta-Valent...3891304&sr=1-24 If your friend is a foodie who would value a "pasta bible", try Vincenzo Buonassisi's book "The Classic Book of Pasta" which has been translated from Italian into English. It has all of the sauces in it but categorized by pasta type rather than sauce. This is because in Italian cooking the pasta is king and the sauce is there to get the best out of it. The link to this one is http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Book-Pasta-V...23891241&sr=1-2

Reading the last post and not having made hummus for a while, I had a play. I used all the liquid in the can plus a particularly juicy lemon and the resultant mixture was too moist. Basically it came out as a thin cream type consistency and then thickened up with the tahini. It got to the stage where I didn't want to add more tahini because that would have moved too much away from the desired taste. So back to get some more chick peas (I used about another third of a can) and I used a bit more lemon juice to get the right balance. This mixture gave a pronounced chick pea taste like what you stated you were after in your first post. Someone earlier mentioned about the effect of different types of tahini and I'd concur wholeheartedly. My one poor outcome making hummus occurred when I couldn't get my regular brand and substituted (the tahini didn't taste appealing, so I'm not surprised). I use an Australian tahini so that doesn't help you much but do experiment with different ones. The other key variable is the lemon. When you are choosing lemons for the hummus, go for those that have dimples close together and are somewhat soft to the touch. These will be more juicy than others and less likely to have a bitter edge. I don't use cumin but do use a pinch of cayenne pepper. Like FoodMan, I like a more smooth hummus and process it thoroughly until it's the consistency of thick cream. Good luck.

After a particularly memorable fish curry in Bombay many years ago, I was moved to ask about the spices used. The Indian waiter duly reported back with the word "garam." In those pre-Internet days I duly researched the word and found it meant "spice mix." Despite being let down at not finding out the secrets of the dish, I took from this that Indian cooks blend spices according to taste and the dishes. As people have noted above, the mixtures vary from recipe to recipe and I'd add to this that they vary from region to region and cook to cook. It is worthwhile mastering the procedures for making a curry and then adapting recipes according to taste. This allows you, for example, to remove fenugreek from a mix as many people of non-Indian extraction do not particularly like this spice. It also allows you to find out that substances like astofeida (hing) powder are used to make the spice mixture a bit more gentle on the stomach. I suspect this is a cool food like those that you use in Chinese cooking to balance the dishes. For a history of Indian curry, I'd second TheFuzzy's recommendation of Curry, A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors Apart from being a very good read, it also has some nice recipes. What is apparent from the book is that Indian food has evolved and incorporated many influences from all the peoples that have invaded it over the years. In the world of vegetarian curry cooking, you cannot go past Sumana Ray's "Indian Vegetarian Cooking." She also has a very good book called "Indian Regional Cooking." Also you could search through eGullet for posts by wazza, he is a font of information about Indian curries. Acknowledging the very valid point that "curry" doesn't necessarily imply Indian food or even one dish, I'd also like to recommend David Thompson's book "Thai Food." As a counterpoint to the Indian curry recipe I gave earlier I'd like to include a Thai curry recipe to give an idea of the processes used. This one comes from a book by Somi Miller and Patricia Lake called "Thai Cooking Class" http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Class-Books-...n/dp/1863781439 and is one of the best Thai green chicken curry recipes I've come across. The book is excellent and easy to use. Note the similarities (ground cumin and coriander seeds) as well as some markedly different ingredients from the Indian curries. Thai preparations add local ingredients such as galangal (a type of fragrant rhizome, from the same family as ginger and turmeric), blachan (very smelly prawn paste), lemon grass, coriander leaves and stems, and cloves. It is of paramount important that the final dish is tasted and balanced across sweet (use palm sugar to adjust), sour (use lime juice), salty (use fish sauce), and hot (chili). You'll know when you get the balance correct for you. Green Sweet Chicken Curry (GAENG KEOW WAN GAI) Ingredients 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 ½ tbsp green curry paste (bought or homemade [see below]) 1 fresh green chilli, finely sliced 4 Kaffir leaves, sliced (if using dried, soak for 10 minutes in water, then slice) 3 cups (750 ml) coconut milk 1 tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp palm sugar 500g raw chicken meat, cut into bite sized pieces (I use thigh) 30 g sliced zucchini or eggplant 30g fresh or frozen peas or pea aubergines 1 tbsp fresh basil leaves Method In a large saucepan, briefly stir-fry in oil over a medium heat curry paste, chilli and lime leaves. Then add sugar, coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar. When coconut milk begins to bubble, add chicken turn down heat and simmer to reduce sauce. If it becomes too thick, add a little water or coconut milk. When chicken is cooked and sauce is desired consistency, add peas and zucchini or eggplant, cooking briefly to retain their firmness. Remove from heat and stir in basil leaves, retaining a few for garnishing. Serve with rice. Quantity serves four Homemade Green Curry Paste (KRUANG GAENG KEOW WAN) 4 tbsp roughly chopped lemon grass 1 tbsp galangal, pre-soaked for 30 minutes 2 tbsp chopped garlic 1 medium-sized onion, chopped 2 whole coriander plants, including roots and stems, chopped 1 tsp chopped line or lemon zest 15 fresh green chillies 10 black peppercorns, cracked 2 tsp ground coriander 2 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp shrimp paste (blachan) 1 tsp salt 3 cloves 3 bay leaves 2 tbsp vegetable oil, for blending Blend or process all the ingredients, using extra oil if necessary to achieve a smooth paste. This recipe makes about 1 cup (250 ml) of paste. It will keep for several weeks in a clear container in the refrigerator. Freeze what you do not use in pre-measured amounts for later use [most recipes use about 1-2 tbsp of paste]

That's one thing I always thought it was a mistake but indeed some recipes mention to put lots of lemon juice. My tries never ended in a good results for my taste, it was to lemony. As for tahini, I did try a few brands. thanks for the input. ← Try the following proportions, they came originally from Claudia Roden's Complete Middle Eastern food and have been modified by experimentation since. One can chickpeas (including water from can) Juice of 2-2.5 lemons, or to taste 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed Salt I usually put all these ingredients in a blender and process until it is very smooth then drizzle in Tahini gradually until it gets a texture like thick cream.

One of the best curry recipes I ever found was one by Colonel Arthur Kenney-Herbert, aka Wyvern. He was an English Army officer posted to India who had a strong interest in food, eventually writing a number of different cookbooks, including the one from which this curry powder recipe came: "Culinary Jottings for Madras" The subtitle of the book was "A treatise in thirty chapters on reformed cookery based on modern English and continental principles with thirty menus for little dinners worked out in detail and an essay on our kitchens in India." No self-respecting woman accompanying her husband to India would be without it. The base curry powder was made up with: 4 Lbs. of turmeric 8 Lbs. of coriander-seed 2 Lbs. of cummin-seed 1 Lb. of poppy-seed 2 Lbs. of fenugreek 1 Lb. of dry-ginger 1/2 Lb. of mustard-seed 1 Lb. of dried chillies 1 Lb. of black pepper corns The quantities given are quite alarming so feel free to vary them but make sure the proportions are maintained and that you use weight rather than spoon type measures for the quantities. The quantities also refer to the dry weight of the powders rather than the spices themselves. As spices such as coriander yield less powder than chilies or mustard, you will need greater amounts of this spice. The spice mixture is made up by dry frying each of the spices individually and then grinding them together in a mortar and pestle. Sieve the final mixture to obtain the spice powder. Weigh them at this stage to get your proportions right. You can also use an electric coffee grinder to grind the spices but be warned, if you do this you will never be able to use it for grinding coffee again. Store the powder in a glass jar (or in the case of the original recipe, many glass jars). Spices accompanying this base powder when cooking a curry could include any of the following: cloves, mace, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and allspice. A beef curry I often make up uses a pound of stewing beef (chuck or blade cut into 1 inch cubes), two tablespoons of the curry powder, 1 cup of chicken stock (I find beef makes it all too strong); 1 cup of coconut milk; 1 small onion; finely sliced; 1 tbsp crushed ginger; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 2 tsp mango chutney; 2 tsp tamarind concentrate; 2 tsp almond powder; 1 bay leaf. Salt and brown the beef in some (clarified butter) over high heat, remove beef and place on a plate. Add more ghee and reduce heat to medium. Cook the onion until golden, add the curry powder, stir and fry it until it becomes aromatic. Add the garlic towards the end of this process so it become aromatic but doesn’t burn. Deglaze the pan with some of the stock. Add the beef, the remainder of the stock and turn up the heat to bring to the boil, add the coconut milk towards the end of this time. I then add the browned beef and all the other ingredients, bring it back to the boil and then turn it down low to slow cook for an hour or so. Stir occasionally. When the beef is cooked, you can turn up the heat and reduce the sauce to your desired consistency. Serve with rice and accompaniments. A low fat version of this can be made by substituting a can of chopped tomatoes and their juice for the coconut milk. If anyone wants to look at an original copy of the book, it has been digitised and can be found at this web address: http://www.archive.org/details/culinaryjottings00kenn

I've done it at that temperature without brining for 24 hours. They were fork tender but the fat, while cooked, still had not turned fully buttery. 30 hours may give an even better product. Let us know how it goes.

They definitely need to be slow cooked. I've done them Sous vide for 30 hours and they just fall apart.

Second hand seems a bad choice. You can get it new from Angus and Robertson. They have it for $54.95 Australian plus postage. http://search.angusrobertson.com.au/search...Search&booksby= Might be worth buying a few and putting them on Amazon for what appears to be an obscene profit. Of course I may get an email back from my order saying it's unavailable.

How about that old English favorite ham and eggs? You could mash hard boiled eggs with mayonnaise as the base and serve a slice of ham on top. As someone said above, curry (especially Chicken Tikka Masala) is practically a national dish. Small portions of this may be a good source of variety. Some form of smoked fish dish could echo kippers or kedgeree (flaked smoked fish, boiled rice, eggs and butter). Slices of black pudding or english breakfast sausages would also fit the bill. On a desert front, how about small scones with jam and thickened cream?

This thread has got me wondering why is the process of putting things in a jar called "canning?" To anticipate at least one response, it may be something to do with the word "jarring" not sounding right.

I have only done the bacon with the sodium nitrite, which tastes exactly like what I think bacon should be, only many times better than the store bought product. A lot of people (see above) use less sodium nitrite than the recipes call for but removing it completely means that you will get salted, smoked pork belly with a few flavorings. To my mind, this would not really be bacon.

Be careful when using it as it can hijack the dish. Anthony Bourdain refers to it as the ketchup of the middle classes, which gives some idea of the effect it can have on food and how it can be overused. In addition to the dishes you have mentioned, I use it in mushroom dishes (particularly porcini) as it complements and intensifies the earthy flavours. Try it with asparagus dishes, goat's cheese, in mashed potato, as a contrast to the sweetness of scallops, or in a flavoured butter for steak (serve it with mushrooms to give the complement). It also goes well with eggs poached, fried and omelettes.

Syllabub is rich milk (heavy cream content) curdled in bubbling wine (something like champagne would be appropriate and a perfect match for the slender glasses and small spoons mentioned by racheld). Add some lemon to give a sour flavor, sugar for the sweet and nutmeg as an exotic spice (this was the 17th to 18th century after all) and you'd certainly have some bodice ripping or at least Bronte like sexual tension.

Try the forum link below: "making bacon" The taste of home made bacon is hard to describe but once tried, you'll never go back to shop bought. Have fun http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...115638&hl=bacon

Australian cups are 250 ml. As for many others replying to this question, I'd much rather go by weight. 250ml of water = 250 g, it's an easy conversion. The cup measurement are extremely inaccurate because of the empty spaces created by the composition of the material you are using. As a consequence, weight is going to be closer to the original intention in virtually all cases. Milk is a little more dense so at 20 degrees celsius, 100 mls = 103g but it's not a huge difference, particularly if you are judging your dough by feel (which can vary by temperature, flour, etc as much as that anyway).

These sounded wonderful. That source of all things British in food, the BBC had these and, yes it does use paprika: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...stie_1330.shtml Think I'll try them myself.

Reading through this thread brought back some pleasant memories for me. Visiting a colleague in Paris, he took me out to dinner at a wonderful Moroccan restaurant (it was while ago and I can't remember the name, sorry). He explained that this style of food represented the most typical "ethnic" food in Paris and enjoyed most of its popularity after French colonization in that part of the world. The way that it was served was with some cooked couscous on plate in front of you with the meat and vegetables on a separate plate and the liquid in a soup tureen. You ate the dish by putting some of the meat and vegetable dish on the couscous, spooning over the broth and adding liberal amounts of harissa. The taste was superb and quite unlike any couscous I had eaten to that time. The way of eating is something I try to replicate as much as possible when cooking Couscous at home and it always takes me back to a time in Paris and a North African restaurant experience that I did not expect but thoroughly enjoyed.

Agreed, if this is the only reason for joining. I go regularly to the whisky tastings which are fun social events and allow you to taste a wide range of malts that you might not buy. If you are just interested in the whisky without the joining and ongoing expense, why not ask a local member to buy for you? ps. the joining fee actually includes a bottle of whisky so it's not as expensive as you might think

Still not sure of how you want to use it but have you considered cheese knives, which use cutouts in the place of the dimples? An example is http://www.amazon.com/Swissmar-Cheese-Knif...20425758&sr=8-4