Keith_W

Here is a nice oven braised lamb shank Ingredients: lamb shanks, lamb stock, white wine, onion, mushrooms, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, sprinkle of parmesan and breadcrumbs - then baked in an oven for 1 hour. Remove the meat then reduce the sauce even further to concentrate it. Make up some vegetables, lay the shank on top, and pour the sauce over.

Hickory smoked beef ribs. Grilled corn in the husk. Sugar snap peas

Foodman everything on the plate has beetroot in it. I was challenged to make a beetroot themed dinner. The short ribs were marinaded in beetroot puree then smoked with beetroot offcuts (leaves, skin, etc), the sauce is a beetroot jus (beetroot + reduced beef stock), there are confit baby beetroots, beetroot chips on top of the crepe, and the breaded items are (you guessed it) beetroot. Here is a better picture: BTW I made a stupid typo!! The eggs were cooked at 71C instead of 72C in the book! I was typing so fast that I did not notice my fingers hit the wrong number! The only difference between these eggs and the MC eggs is the cooking temperature.

This one isn't from Modernist Cuisine, but I am sure that any reader of this book will find the technique to look quite familiar Instead of a mushroom puree, I made a beetroot puree. Instead of eggs, I made a crepe batter. Instead of cooking the omelette filling at 71C, I cooked it at 70C (to better approximate the runny filling I love). I adapted the cooking technique from Maxime Bilet's Youtube video - where he cooks the omelette in a covered frypan in the oven in place of a Combi oven - but this time I cooked the beetroot stripes for 2 minutes before pouring the batter in. This massively improves the integrity of the stripes and stops them from lifting off when the batter is poured. Pouring the crepe batter onto the beetroot stripes. Cubed beetroot with sous-vide eggs forced out of a cream siphon. The whole thing is made pretty ... ... then plated. Here it is as part of a complete dish.

Thanks for the heads up ... something else I need to buy! Some of Perry's recipes from "The Food I Love" have become my staple go-to recipes - e.g. the cream corn without cream, the slow roasted beef, and the creme caramel.

Hi Shalmanese! Good to see another OCAU'er here I have to nominate soy milk. I much prefer it in my cereal to normal milk, which makes me feel heavy. But for cooking - full cream milk all the way!

Scottyboy a beautiful steak beautifully cooked

He's had his time in the sun. These days he is hardly on TV. Oh ... and as for restaurants going out of business, his own restaurant in Melbourne just closed down

Tonight: herbed spring lamb gratin with spring vegetables. Dining service:

Support your local bookshop - I bought mine from Books for Cooks in Fitzroy for $650.

Thanks for your reply, Paul. If you can cook 12 omelettes in 15 minutes with two pans ... I take my hat off to you. There is no way I can multitask with two pans going at once - not with something as time sensitive as an omelette! I wonder if the MC omelette might be better if the egg filling were sous-vided at 65C instead of the recommended 72C. Something to try. Also - I neglected to say this in my post - but - it is IMPORTANT to get all the bubbles out of the omelette base mixture before you pour it on the Silpat. If you look closely at my omelette, you will see that it has holes in it from the bubbles. Next time I will place the egg mixture under vacuum to get rid of the bubbles. I might attempt this recipe again tomorrow with the variations in place. Another dinner party ... I am a glutton for punishment!

Here are a couple of pictures from another dinner party last night. Modernist mushroom omelette from Modernist Cuisine. You can read more in the thread Cooking with MC - link here: Applewood smoked chicken, breaded chicken sausage, vegetables. The chicken was brined as per the Thomas Keller recipe, then dried in the fridge for 48 hours. It was smoked as per the "beer can chicken" method. Result was a crisp, flavourful skin, intense smokiness, a tender and juicy breast, and well cooked thighs. This was the first time I tried this innovation - I chilled the breast with ice prior to cooking. Breast needs to be cooked to 65C, the legs need to be cooked to 75C. In the past, I have tried wrapping the breast in foil to stop them from overcooking. But now - I allow the chicken to come to room temperature prior to cooking, but for 20 mins prior to going into the oven, I chill the breast with ice in a zip-lock bag. This method is noticably superior to any other method I have tried - without having to resort to the Cooking Issues Bionic Turkey method. Here is a pic of the chicken breast chilling under some ice:

Hmm, looks as if nobody knows the answer to my last question. Anyway, here is the mushroom omelette from 5.217 of MC. The original recipe calls for cooking the omelette at 100% humidity in a steam oven. Since I don't have one of those, I used Maxime Bilet's method on Youtube - make the stripes on a silpat, then put it in a covered pan in the oven. To make this recipe, I had to spend about $200 in equipment and ingredients. Spreading the stripes on a silpat. This is very difficult to do - if you spread it too thickly, you will not get stripes. See the right of the disc - you get thick lines which are not neat. You have to spread it VERY thin - only then you can comb neat lines. You then place the silpat in a pan, pour the omelette base mixture in, cover the pan, and into the oven she goes. It took 6 minutes to cook in my oven. The omelette releases easily from the silpat. Here are seven omelette bases ready to be filled for my guests. The omelette mixture is first cooked sous-vide, then spooned into a cream siphon. To serve, simply pipe out of the siphon. I served it with a rather ugly looking "quenelle" of truffle and porcini paste, with a baby chive garnish. You can tell I am not a chef from the ugly quenelle and the dirty plate. You can see that some of the mushroom stripes lifted off when the egg was poured on top of it. Not quite the effect intended, but the guests were impressed all the same. So, how does this compare to a traditional omelette? I must say I am a traditionalist when it comes to omelettes - I like a tender blonde skin and a gooey liquid interior. The modernist omelette is different - the skin is very nearly as tender as a traditonal omelette, but it may be even more tender if I cooked it as recommended in the book. The interior tastes of egg flavoured cream - it is INCREDIBLY rich. Personally, I prefer the taste and texture of a traditional omelette. But there is no way I can serve 7 omelettes prepared the traditional way to guests at a dinner party! With the MC omelettes, the skin and fillings can be made in advance, and the omelettes constructed at the last minute. It was fast and risk-free.

Thanks for the explanation. I am also curious why they recommend two brine steps. Why not brine with the NaHCO3 + vodka at the same time as the brine with salt?

I was looking at the recipe for Modernist Fried Chicken (3.337). I noticed that the brine step consists of two steps - the first with salt, and the second with vodka and baking soda. I do not understand the purpose of the second brine step? What does the vodka and baking soda do to the chicken?

kayb ... OH MY GOD!!! Suddenly this ham and cheese sandwich made with supermarket bread I have in my hands seems so unappetizing

Having owned a couple of Wusthofs and a couple of Shuns, I stand by my assertion NOT to use Shuns for chopping. It will chip if you accidentally hit a bone.

SamC my knowledge of proteins comes from my medical background. A protein is a chain of amino acids held together by peptide bonds. The peptide bond is pretty strong, and will not break down unless in high heat or under enzymatic action. However, the 3D structure of proteins is held together by hydrogen bonds (and a number of other types of bonds). A hydrogen bond is charge dependent - if the pH of the surrounding environment changes, the hydrogen bond will fail and the protein will unravel. It will still be a chain of amino acids, but it loses its 3D shape and thus its function. In the case of calamari, both acid and enzymes will tenderize it. Some fruits contain protein digesting enzymes - such as papaya, kiwifruit, and pineapples. A protein digesting enzyme actually breaks down the peptide bonds into individual shorter chains of amino acids, rather than merely causing protein unfolding! Try marinading your calamari in kiwifruit juice, but beware - the enzyme is VERY powerful and can ruin your calamari if you leave it to marinade for too long - i.e. more than 10 minutes! You will find that acid by itself will have a tenderizing effect, but it is not as powerful. As a comparison, you could marinade your calamari in vinegar side by side with the kiwifruit. Salt can also alter the charge in the protein molecule and cause it to unfold. But if you cure calamari in salt, it also draws out water. The resulting texture is tender (i.e. it is easy to bite through) but not juicy or succulent. Using enzymes vs. acid to marinade calamari is a bit like comparing high heat to low heat methods for cooking steak. If you apply more power (and in this case, digestive power) - the outside will be overcooked and mealy whilst the inside remains unaffected. I find the digestive enzymes of kiwifruit to be too powerful, so I rarely use it as a marinade. If I include kiwifruit in the ceviche (and it is delicious in a ceviche!) I add it just before serving.

With a chef's knife, you have two basic choices: European (mostly German) or Japanese. Here are a few generalizations about both. European knives are generally made with softer steel, Japanese knives with harder steel. If the knife encounters something hard (e.g. a bone), soft steel is more likely to bend. Hard steel is more likely to chip. Hard steel stays sharper for longer, soft steel needs more frequent steeling. Once the knives go blunt, soft steel is easier to sharpen. Japanese knives are also more "sharpened" than European knives. Japanese knives have a blade angle of 17deg, most Euro knives are 23deg. Again, this means that Japanese knives are sharper - they slice through veggies like butter. Look also for differences in construction. European knives tend to be heavier, Japanese knives tend to be lighter. You want a knife which feels balanced in your hand - both Euro and Jap knives can be unbalanced, but this depends on how you grip your knife. Euro knives tend to have a heel guard, so your fingers aren't pressing against the naked blade as it would in a Japanese knife. Sum up: Japanese knives are sharper but require more care with day to day use, and more maintenance. European knives are not as sharp but tolerate more abuse, and are easier to maintain.

I have been making Perigord Sauce for years - beef stock, madeira, truffles, and foie gras. On one occasion, I could not find Madeira in my local liquor store. The owner suggested an Amontillado instead. I was somewhat skeptical, but bought the Amontillado anyway. It did not taste very interesting, but once it went into the sauce it was dynamite! Incredible, incredible perfume and luscious mouthfeel. UNFORTUNATELY ... when I went back to get some more, I was told that this particular brand of Amontillado is no longer imported to Australia. Every other Amontillado I have tried since has not come close.

I would have to go for pale and blonde on the outside, and runny on the inside. Brown = tough. Have an omelette done the proper way, and you will never go back. Hmm, right now I am hankering for an omelette ...

Good luck with it, Todd. I tried the smoked + SV beef brisket from MC some time ago and was not too pleased with the results.

It is my understanding that the former believed you seal in the juices by searing the steaks, (wrong wrong wrong) and the latter say nothing of the sort. Perhaps I'm wrong though, which new scientists are you referring to? Surely Modernist Cuisine has an answer for us. Would someone open their book to the "grilling" chapter and let us know? 1. The "Osmosis" interaction will apply in this situation. 2. The salted meat will be cooked at a slightly higher temperature because of the salt water has a higher boiling point. I am away from home at the moment so I can't post quotes from McGee or MC. However, it is my understanding that salting tenderizes the meat because it changes the charge of the protein molecules on the myofibrils. This is why dry brines for chicken works. I have also experimented with dry brining my beef. As for the higher boiling point of salted water - yes it is correct that salted water has a higher boiling point, but it is a fraction of a degree hotter - i.e. not enough to have much of an effect.

Attractive plating for all your dishes, dcarch ... if it was me, I would just dump them all in the center. Thanks for the inspiration.

Kim - nice looking lentils I really have a thing for them now ... they are a lovely comfort food. percyn - those ribs look delish! You said they are BBQ? Seem to be missing a smoke ring