cteavin

I was in Yamada the other day. I looked carefully at both. The Hitachi's tray is longer by a bit and there is a bit more work room within. Why did you like the Heasio at the time? For me, the water over seemed really useful, but I killed nikuman yesterday when I used it -- hit and miss. It's a hit when you follow the recipe book which comes with the oven, but it's "case by case" when you do your own thing. It's not a bad oven. I'm pretty happy with it. I just wish the temperature were accurate at high levels. After 200 it really fluctuates. Is yours the type which can bake bread? It's not a feature I'm looking for, but it looked fun.

Actually, the holy grail for me is a savory cake. If you have your notes, I would be extremely grateful if you would share.

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post, if not and the moderators would like to move, feel free. The other day I took out the methylcellulose F50 and proceeded with the following: 120 grams egg white60 grams methylcellulose F50 hydrated overnight (3 grams F50, 1 gram Xanthan, 150 grams water)150 grams white sugar100 grams AP flourMethod: Whipped the whites and F50 until they started to foam, added sugar and whipped util they still (about 10 minutes). Folded in the flour and baked in floured cake pan 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Five minutes after taking out, inverted the cake pan with the cake inside. The next morning the center collapsed a bit. Cutting, the center fell further. There were lots of air pockets which when collapsed form layers. There's nothing gummy about it. The taste and mouthfeel remind me of a sweat bread than a cake. Taste, moist and wonderful. Aside from a savory cake another goal is to make a genoise with reduced sugar and no fat. My thinking was that since the F50 holds 40 times its weight in water then the cake should be moist without syrup and fat. Yes. After 24 out without a cover, it's still moist and the flavor is good. I'm thinking the weight of the water has caused the cake to collapse. Does anyone know a formula for how much sugar stabilizes x grams of egg white? In other words, do you think an increase in sugar would help stabilize the cake? Also, do you think that using a bread flour would give the cake the structure it needs? Ideas on preventing it from deflating are appreciated. Thanks

Like you, I have issues with the temperature inside the oven. 250 is not 250. Still, considering all it does, it's pretty good. I think it's Hitachi that makes a 33 liter oven, 3 liters larger than what i'm using. I'm only renting, so gas isn't an option.

Well, follow up on stock made only from chicken feet: I used two kilos in a 12 liter pot with two changes of mirepoix (I put the mirepoix in a metal colander which I can remove and replace the vegetables. I've never experienced that much body in a soup before. I was able to quickly teach my kids what "body" mean in food. The volume of chicken feed did add chicken flavor. What I ended up doing to put more chicken flavor into the soups I've so far made is add quenelle made from chicken breast. Here an example. . . . or not. I don't know how to add a pic here. Well, until I figure this out you can see a pic here: http://madebyyouandi.com/2014/02/06/waste-not-mushroom-soup-with-chicken-mousseline/

As a follow up, I made two custards with the "White Chocolate Milk". Both were very good. My kids were surprised because they expected vanilla and got chocolate. I like foods that present a surprise like that.

The last major purchase I want to make before taxes go up is a new oven. I have a Helsio and it's wonderful. I'm considering replacing it with another but I'd like to know what you all are using, what you like, and why. I'm pretty professional in the kitchen and need an oven that has lots of functionality. Any thoughts?

Thank you. I'll give it a try.

Borrowing a page from Modernist Cuisine, I put 500ml of whole milk and 70 grams cocoa nibs in an ISI container with two charges of NO2. Eight to twelve hours later I strained. The milk is white with a grains of cocoa (which fall out on their own), but tastes strongly of chocolate -- it's white chocolate milk. As a drink, with sweetener it's delicious. But baking with it the flavour evaporates. Why, and does anyone have a suggestion on how to keep the chocolate flavour? To be more specific, I used the white chocolate milk in place of milk in drop cookies and white cake batter. In the batter the flavour is noticeable, after baking, it's gone. Baking times were between 10 and 40 minutes. The only thing I can think to do is try the experiment again with heavy cream and see if the fat preserves the flavour. Any thoughts on this?

I was running out space in my freezer, so I took the chicken feet I'd purchased for a Chinese Dim Sum dish and turned them into stock. The results are really good. There's not much flavour on their own but the texture is rich, thick, and full on the pallet. I found just a couple of recipes online for, or using, such a stock. I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a region or cuisine that does use stock from chicken feet? Lastly, every recipe I found said you must cut the nails off the feet, but I can't see why. Also, one recipe said we should skin the feet before proceeding to the stock. Does anyone have a good guess as to why? Thank you much,

Thanks. I took my ISI out the other week and have been playing with it -- a lot. I just carbonated grapes in cognac and water. I really want to make white chocolate ganache, but the cocoa liquor here a poor quality. Using vodka might give the end product more kick than I want. The other option is charging it with the cream, but in my experience the cream takes on the cocoa colour. With vodka the particles settle.

Actually, that should read NO2, Nitrous Oxide.

Hi, I've used my Isi whip cream dispenser to infuse vodka with chocolate essence by adding nibs and two charges of CO2. I can't get a good chocolate liquor in Japan, so I thought I'd infuse. Does anyone have a suggestion on spirits which would go with chocolate and perhaps a liqueur? Also, does anyone know if the oils in the nibs will diffuse in a fat like cream or milk, or plain water?

Hi, This summer I made a huge batch of candied pineapple ending with 70% sugar saturation. I had a bit more than I needed, so I brought the last container down to 80% saturation. After a few days in the container the batch at 80% crystallised. I remelted it twice, but always, after a few days, it crystallised. I dislike wasting. I put the crystallised syrup and pineapples into a 4 litter container and poured 2 litres of Myer's Rum over it. To help it dissolve I closed the container and put it in a hot water bath for an hour. The next day I tasted it and it was perfect. A week later, today, I opened up the cupboard where that batch of pineapple rum is stored and all of the crystals fell out of the rum in a thick layer on the bottom with the pineapple on top. The rum tastes of pineapple, but it's no longer sweet. What happened? I'm curious about the science of what's gone on. I'd also like to know if there's a way to permanently keep it in suspension without adding water. Any suggestions on what to do with it (filter it, remelt it before serving, etc)? Thanks,

Thank you for the reply and all the trouble. I'm starting to think my father might have been an experimenter. :-) Do you (or does anyone) have a favourite crab recipe, perhaps one that uses white wine or some other alcohol?

Hi, My father's from the Azores and when he was in the kitchen, I ate well. One of the dishes I remember most fondly was his crab. I wasn't into cooking when I was younger, so I didn't pay enough attention to be able to recall a recipe. What I do remember is that he boiled it with red wine. I recall onions and parsley in the pot, and perhaps allspice and bay leaf in the mix. I have no idea what such a dish could be called but I recently had crab (prepared in the Japanese way) and I got nostalgic. Does anyone have an idea of the kind of recipe I'm looking for? Can anyone name a dish or point me in the right direction? Thank you,

Thank you all very much. It's a good start. Happy cutting!

Thanks guys. But can either of you recommend a brand? If I start with reputable companies I can hone down my choices much more easily.

Hi, I live in Japan and would like to purchase high quality knives, specifically boning, vegetable, and paring knives. I went to kappabashi a few years ago and was sold shoddy knives at an inflated price. I'm back in the market and would prefer customer recommendations instead of some shop staff with stock to peddle. Cheers,

I'm going back to Europe for my summer holiday and wanted to know if there were any cooking or food museums on the continent. I'll be in France, Belgium, Holland, and Spain. I've done several searches I couldn't find anything on my own. Cheers, Oh, one thing I'd love to see is ANYTHING about Julia Child's time in France while I'm there a close second is Escoffier.

Thanks for the suggestion. It was just the kind of advice I was looking for. The water here is really hard. I will ask my local baker. Cheers,

I like playing around. I have The Bread Bakers Apprentice and a few others. ATM I have a biga going for Pain de Mie for tomorrow. Do you have any recommendations?

Hi, Any of you who live in Japan and have gone shopping for flour have seen the multitudinous types. I'm always lost. (I tend to chose Super King and Super Violet from Tomizawa-san.) For convenience I want to purchase flour in bulk, a 25kg bag for bread and the many multiply when you look online. I like to support local agriculture whenever possible and after a lot of reading chose http://item.rakuten.co.jp/natural-coco/usuyume25/#usuyume25 for whole wheat. For white flour there are far more types and instead of reading through each one, I thought I'd ask if anyone has a favorite for bread, a company they like, any suggestions when choosing. よろしくお願いします

Thanks. I did a search there (best site on the Net for bread), didn't see anything and thought I'd try my luck here. I did search through Google but thought if there was a name in one of the many languages in India for this kind of bread, someone here might know.

That looks great Heidih. Post pics of your finished Sarson Ka Sagg, a kind of before and after pic. ;-)