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genarog

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Posts posted by genarog

  1. I used regular muffin cups - albeit, jumbo size paper liners to get the largest base. I used 1/4 cup of batter per liner. The recipe made 16 for me. I think a larger diameter and less height would result in more of a brownie experience... well, sort of... It's just that the texture is soooooooo soft.

    Yes, it's gotta be wide and shallow. Still, I haven't bought the tart rings yet so I don't know whether this recipe is close to what the bakery makes. I usually make this non-related brownie recipe minus the walnuts and plus cocoa; it's very soft in texture and tastes like an explosion of butter and chocolate that sometimes is too much.

  2. Cooked ham is very, very softcore Charcuterie.

    Agree. While I'm experimenting with other recipes from the thread and the book, I feel like I'm entitled to find good cooked ham at the the store. It's not that easy, but Cotto is available at many Italian stores for about $10 per lb. So when I can plan ahead that's what I get, and when I cannot I just skip the ham.

  3. It depends on what the meaning of the word skill is… but whatever the meaning I likely don’t posses many. For my food to come out well all the stars need to be aligned. Most of the time they are as that’s the only way I can eat the food I like at a price I can afford.

    But mental mistakes often conspire against the stars. Like when I forget to pat dry the salmon and the skin sticks to the grill pan, or when I take the eggs out of the water too early, or when I over salt the lettuce.

  4. Most of the time on the stovetop; I would say at 200 - 220F. A few times in the oven, same temp. Yesterday, after rekindling the love affair with the pressure cooker, I used the PC and got the same results.

    Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't do this so often if I didn't love this dish; but I just wish it was a little lighter.

  5. You want to tell me that AB is unpretentious?  Explain to me how roasted bone marrow spread on French bread with crushed sea salt comes across as unpretentious, because I don't follow.

    While I don't necessarily find AB or I unpretentious, what's pretentious about roasted bone marrow or french bread or sea salt? I wouldn't want to waste the marrow, and if I don't want to use it to enhance a dish, why wouldn't I roast it and serve it on bread? In fact I can't think of a better way to eat bone marrow, especially beef marrow.

    French bread? Sure, I wouldn't use sliced bread; it could be any bread made in a decent bakery. I pay 30 cents for very decent crusty rolls.

    Sea salt? I would use the best sea salt I had for this dish, but $2 per lb sea salt would be good enough for me. How much does table salt cost?

  6. Has anyone tested side by side braising with pressure cooking?

    Yesterday I was short on time but needed to braise some oxtail. I recovered my pressure cooker from the basement and put it to work at a low steam for about 1 hour. The results were much better than all my previous braising attempts including those where I tried to replicate the methods discussed in the Brasing Labs series. Nothing scientific here for sure, but maybe worth exploring.

  7. I may be wrong but I would think that the difference between a Prosciutto Cotto and say Boar's Head Ham cannot be explained only by the use of differnet types of pigs. So I assume a different method must be used in their elaboration.

    I find "regular" ham to be too sweet and moist. I must be in the minority here but I always ask myself why isn't every ham made like cotto. And of course, where does the white layer of fat go in regular ham? Does it go to heaven?

  8. I've used it with fresh pasta (where the inclusion of butter makes it work much better than oil-based tomato sauces).

    After years of mixing fresh pasta with tomato-bases sauces, latetly I've been eating the stuffed fresh pasta in bianco and the non-stuffed with other sauces. I'm thinking of trying your receipe with pappardelle and chunks of braised chuck for a light ragu. It should also match polenta very well.

  9. My best advice:  Forget all the herbs and spices and multi-stage preparation.  You want a brilliant tomato sauce that is inexpensive and mind-blowingly delicious?  Get a can of high-quality tomatoes, an onion, and a nice big lump of butter.  Skin the onion and cut it in half.  Crush or mill the tomatoes to whatever consistency you would like.  Put the onion, butter, tomato and some salt into a cold saucepan.  Turn the heat on low.  Allow the sauce to come up to a gentle simmer over around 20 minutes, by which time the butter will emulsify into the sauce and the onion will have contributed its flavor.  Discard the onion and use the sweet, tomatoey sauce.  Add a little crushed red pepper or some minced fresh parsley off the heat, if you like.  But nothing further is necessary.

    I typically use the same ingredients other than olive oil instead of butter unless I'm making a dish from the north, and I like how it tastes. However, the process you're describing is so simple and makes so much sense I'm going to have to adopt it from now on.

  10. I was very impressed with the Falafel at Humus Place on Amstedam Ave. It tasted and smelled so fresh. I also appreciated the limited menu.

    The hummus tahini was just ok for me. The prices are a bargain.

    Opera and falafel... what a great combination!

  11. That looks really good. The only suggestion I would make is to add the mozarella after the pizza is cooked. Thinly sliced Polly-O mozzarella should work well. One note about Polly-O: it does need salt to bring out the taste. I usually sprinkle salt over the cheese.

    For whatever reason I've never tried to use store-bought dough for a thin crust. I've used it a few times for quick focaccia with so-so results.

    I too like the idea of retarding the dough; I'll give it a try.

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