IndyRob
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Yesterday the LA times published a mixed review of Modernist Cuisine at Home written by Russ Parsons (here).
I saw this review a couple of days ago and part of one paragraph struck me as odd....
My kitchen is pretty fully stocked (just ask my wife). In fact, I even have an immersion circulator. But to really get into this book, I probably also should have bought a vacuum sealer,...Um, isn't an immersion circulator without a vacuum sealer (be it a chamber vac or a Foodsaver) kind of like having a 2 ton floor jack and no lug wrench?
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...And he wants to be able to touch and handle pots and pans so the internet, which he does use, is not an option.
To me, this seems the central point. So I wonder if, for his sake, we're not better off warning him off any bad products one might find at BB&B.
I'm imagining myself handling a skillet admiringly and someone I might respect coming up and saying "That surface is going to scratch something horrible."
Despite the fact that he asked for a recommendation, it appears that he wants to make up his mind with his own hands. So perhaps he's really asking for some education.
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I haven't tried this yet, but if you're willing to experiment, you might try adding a goodly amount of cornstarch to the dough. I've been thinking about this in relation to getting a crispy outer crust on a thick crust Sicilian pizza. I was inspired by an experiment I did with using a dough starter in a waffle iron. With a straight starter (100% hydration, 2% salt and a pinch of yeast left at room temp overnight) I got waffle shaped bread (very interesting, but without any practical application that I could see). When I added cornstarch and some sugar for added browning (among some other things) I ended up with quite a nice crunch on the outside.
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I don't think I've ever seen a potluck I'd consider successful from a culinary standpoint. However, occasionally one does find a gem or an interesting idea. I recall a potato salad that resulted in the creator being backed into a corner and nearly forced to recite the recipe to a note-taking throng (it involved bacon - with ALL the grease - along with mayo...if the FDA had agents there I'm betting they would have an entirely new regulatory regime). More recently I sampled a breakfast casserole that I didn't find particularly successful but opened my mind to the possibilities of such a thing.
But I think potlucks are more of a social than culinary event with the primary goal being to spend time with other people for whatever reason. Putting too much emphasis on the food would detract from team/family/general social nature. Trying to bring a standout dish might actually work against the equality/comraderie angle.
That said, I think the model for an eGullet potluck event would follow closely along the lines of Daniel Boulud's After Hours.
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I'm not finding an existing topic on coolers so I thought I'd start one. I'm about to embark upon a new opportunity that will require that I travel 2 hours on Monday morning, work a full day (say, 9 hours) and then check into a hotel on Monday night and stay through the work week. I'm not sure about my accommodations, but a small fridge and microwave are becoming fairly common (which I could supplement with toys of my own).
So my basic question is whether I could reasonably expect to keep food at a safe temp for 11 hours in a standard cooler with ice stored in a car. Or, if not, do there exist any higher end 'super coolers' that could accomplish this?
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What is the flavor like? I do not like shiitakes, but I love buttons, portabellos, maitakes, oyster, and shimejis.
I think they're very meaty (as in beef) tasting. Very different than oysters, more towards portabellos - actually, beyond portabellos.
The first time I got some I made mushroom soup. It was really different than I expected as it tasted more like a beef stew than mushroom soup.
On a few occasions I think I've posted here saying that they seem a really good option for veggie burgers or any other sort of vegetarian misdirection.
Their shape is also notable as a 'shroom that begs to be stuffed. Stuffing, battering and frying appears to be the thing to do in these parts, but I've never sampled that preparation.
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Ive never had Morels, are they ever in grocery stores?
Our local grocerys usually carry them (we're in a morel region), but I haven't seen any yet this year.
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That article contains a sentence I've seen in several others...
Though tiger shrimp are edible, Fuller said they are not currently farmed in the United States.I don't understand what that means. What does one have to do with the other?
I must be missing something here...
“I’ve had fishermen tell me they have quit bringing them in. They are seeing large numbers in their catch — multiples per night,”
Why would you not bring 12" edible shrimp in?
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Interesting. What is the reason behind the 20 second dunk at 190F?
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I've just started to experiment with transglutinase (meat glue) and have been able to confirm that fat can be glued to meat. I've been using pork tenderloin filets with salt pork slices glued to the faces. It turns out that while the TG is working while compressed by the cryovac bag, there's a brining effect that equalizes the salt between the salt pork and meat (although that last bit doesn't relate to my point below).
So I think the next place to go is to get some fat (should be less expensive than the round) and slice the round down the grain into 'chopsticks'. Do the same with the fat (maybe toothpick-sized lardons), and layer up a well marbled 'tenderloin'. Compress that and let the TG work, and then slice steaks and cook them conventionally or SV.
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Another factor is focus. I wanted to try a specific spherification and found what I needed at Modernist Pantry. While there, I was happy to find that they had transglutaminase in quantities suitable for the home, so I added that.
My first attempt at spherification failed, but I was already more intrigued by the TG with which I had a promising first result. So the spherification is on an indefinite hold.
I can't imagine what would have happened if I bought a whole bag of tricks. Schizophrenia, probably.
I think all of these techniques involve some trial and error so unless you have the luxury of taking a two week 'modernist vacation', I'd recommend focusing on one thing at a time.
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Fair call, and well said.
Thanks, but in the confines of this thread, it's about getting the best out of a specific, if suspect, cut of meat.
We can add flavor. We can add fat. We can add salt. We can add beef stock. But we can't change the cut of beef.
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I know some will disagree with me (the beauty of the subjectiveness of taste), but I personally find round beef flavourless and almost a pointless cut of beef to cook. This is not for a lack of good supplier/meat quality either... I have simply yet to try round cooked any way that has impressed me that could not be achieved with a more flavourful cut!
First, I'll agree that this cut is flavorless and seems to have limited potential. But to write it off completely based on your past experience discounts values that many cooks hold dear in themselves.
Is there any cut of beef that could not be improved by using a better cut? Only one, I would suggest, and it would probably be the full-on Kobe foodporn-steak at $120 per ounce.
If you have one of those, your biggest challenge is to 'do no harm'.
But if you have a normal cut of beef, the ingenuity in you must come out. We can add flavor and do things to reduce toughness. To stop at "This is not good enough" is not a chefly trait, IMHO.
There're salts and spices, herbs and acids, and meat glues, sous vide, etc. The possibilities are nearly infinite.
I don't mean to seem insulting, but if you say that a certain cut of beef is 'pointless to cook' then, I think, you've run out of ideas.
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I had a promising result with a bare roast done sous vide and sliced very thin. But based on some similar experiments, I think the thing to do is ask your butcher to slice it paper thin and then take it home and portion it out in bags with a bit of salt and some beef stock/base. Then you can sous vide each portion individually as needed.
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I once heard of an April Fool's prank to make your family tiny breakfast using quail eggs and melba toast. Probably not the kind of ideas you were looking for though.
Also good if you have a daughter who professes a desire to be Barbie.
I have not tried these eggs, and am not likely to (for lack of opportunity, not desire), but I would certainly cook a couple straight away (in a simple way) and go from there.
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Well, I think I'll have to take the same general position I took in the Pink Slime thread.
First, in the U.S. we have grades of milk that include 1% milk (which I refer to as White Water). Some greenish cheese 'waste' (or 'by-') product (whose description matches well with my experience of whey) may well be welcome.
Luckily, we can buy 'Whole Milk' in regular or organic varieties.
Buy the product you like with a view towards what you'd like to pay. It doesn't have to be that complicated.
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Update: While I can say I wasn't exactly comfortable at using Larry the Cable Guy as a source, it does appear that he grew up on a pig farm, and did a season 1 episode called Larry & the Superpig about an "heirloom" pig farm in South Carolina (apparently positive).
In season 2 he's hunting down "feral pigs" in Florida.
Unfortunately, clips, pics or more details are not to be found. But it would appear that Larry does know his swine.
ETA: Season 2 episode is called "American Invasion".
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Detroit Free Press article.
When I read 'heritage breed pigs', I thought of the old style American fatty hogs. But it doesn't appear that that is what these are. In fact, I'd be surprised if they're very good to eat. I think it's being presented as a harm to farmers, while they're actually being brought in for 'hunting preserves' and 'game ranches'.
Larry the Cable Guy in his series Only in America just aired an episode where he went along as some guys in another state were hunting these beasts down with dogs. Apparently, they do do a lot of damage.
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Another option occured to me and I'll mention it, not because it's something I would do (I definitely wouldn't), but because - to me at least - it's entertainingly devious and over the top.
So they've been losing customers and are likely having financial issues. So a one time catering gig could be attractive, right? Something like "I'd like you to cater a breakfast for my used car sales people as a reward for the increase in last month's increase in sales".
If they bite, now you're in control. At that point you can clearly outline your expectations and hold them to their word. If you want, you can instruct every cook and server. Afterwards, if they come through, you can say "Man, you need to put this on your menu!"
And then you can go back and if that dish isn't up to snuff, you can say, "Hey, this isn't like it was at the sales breakfast". With the prospect of losing potential future catering gigs, it would carry a lot of weight.
And while I present this as devious diversion, quite honestly, it's a way of focusing the owner on a single customer and learning from that experience.
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It sounds as though this place may be beyond help. However, if the town has few other options and it's a matter of more than just the owners (and employees) being hurt if it closes, I might consider an anonymous letter.
Up front I would explain my that my motivation was for the welfare of the town, and that I knew of many people who would like to be regular patrons if some things were fixed. Then on with the specific constructive criticisms - which I might consider limiting to the essentials at first.
It might wind up being binned, or stuck in the owner's head. But it might also be taped to a wall or even prompt proper action. In any event, you tried.
And if you can find any positives to compliment them on (if only the fact that the business they chose to start, is in fact, desired by the community), it might make the pill easier to swallow.
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This was a case involving libel. Libel applies not only to journalists, but to bloggers and even message board posters (or anyone that shouts on a street corner).
We can't justify libel by claiming that it's a new world.
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I'm am not a lawyer, but I'd like to be a Supreme Court Justice (Are you kidding me? A lifetime appointment, for good money, lots of time off, and I only have to offer my opinion...?)
But in these cases, I think it's important to note exactly what distinctions are being made and for what purposes. In this case, the judge threw out all of the complaints as freely expressed opinions, save one where she called the subject a 'thug' and a 'liar' based, she claimed, on an inside source.
If she would have been able to produce the inside source this last claim probably would have been thrown out as well. But that's where she invoked the shield law - bringing the journalism aspect into question.
I imagine that the judge's decision had to turn on weighing the damage to an allegedly libeled individual with interests the public good. He found that congress had addressed the issue and afforded protection to 'journalists'. And that's where the finding becomes relevant.
I suspect that if she were able to demonstrate a plausible interest in the public good, as opposed to a track record of harassing blog posts, she might have been more successful in securing a favorable result.
But whether you're a journalist or blogger, if you post something like "I have it on good authority from an inside source that the Acme Restaurant regularly serves rat meat.", well, then prepare to circle the legal wagons.
And perhaps that's the true distinction. Real journalists typically work for companies that employ lawyers to keep them out of jams like this.
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Well, as it turns out, after my wife got home I found out I had it backwards. The one recommended was in fact the higher rated one.
My bad, but it does provide an anecdotal correlation. In this case, the reviews may have steered me to the correct choice.
Having two sources that differed wouldn't have said as much (without visiting both restaurants).
What to do with unleavened biscuit dough?
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
That might not be a good idea since mixing it really well will develop gluten and that wouldn't be a good thing. Well, at least not for biscuits. Perhaps add some yeast instead and go for a Chicago style pizza dough.