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pbear

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Posts posted by pbear

  1. Not sure whether this will be of interest, but AFAICT no one in the thread has posted a recipe for regular ol’ dijon-style mustard.  Here’s mine.  It’s not nearly as clever or exotic as Andie’s recipe, but it’s very easy and beats the socks off the commercial stuff.

     

    Combine 4 oz dry mustard powder (113 g) and 2 tbsp pulverized brown mustard seeds (24 g).  Gradually stir in 1/2 c each water and dry white wine (120 g each); let stand 15 minutes (45 minutes for a milder mustard).  Stir in 1/4 c white wine vinegar (60 g) and 1 tsp salt (6 g).  Bring just to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring constantly; let cool covered.  Store chilled.  Makes about 2 c.

  2. Serious Eats has a fascinating article on how the current version of hoppin john is debased from the historical version and relatively flavorless, only existing due to tradition. The historical version he provides is apparently much better, now that traditional heirloom varieties are available once again.

     

    Rooting around in the pantry today, I realized I had the makings for a creditable version of the historical dish.  In particular, although I didn't have Sea Island Red Peas, I had half a pound of Rancho Gordo San Franciscano beans, which have a similar color and more importantly a similar texture (based on the description in the article).  For rice, I had only basmati.  (In future, I'd use converted rather than the Carolina Gold, which from the write-up at Anson Mills seems pretty fussy.)  For meat, I had some capicola (cured pork shoulder, not smoked).  That's pretty far from bacon, but I like it for beans, which is why I had it in the freezer in the first place.  If preferred, one could use bacon, of course, or even ham hocks.

     

    Anyhoo, prepared the dish pilau style (all in one pot), using onion, carrot and celery for aromatics.  Just salt, pepper and little bay leaf for seasonings.  Only water (no stock).  Bottom line, this was very good.  Definitely going into the recipe file.  Thanks for the tip.

    • Like 3
  3. Unfortunately, I didn't save the link, but I recall reading in the last year some authoritative source which explained that air isn't an adequate control for botulism because it's able to tolerate a small amount of oxygen.  Anyhoo, there's really no question as to the answer.  Home canned goods are a common cause of the few cases of botulism poisoning we see each year.  In each of those cases, there was air at the top of the jar after processing.

  4. How did it turn out?  I assume you're talking about this recipe (link to Google translation), which they're calling a focaccia.  So, basically you're making a thin cake and the question is whether there's enough chickpea flour to bind the water.

     

    FWIW, I don't agree with that conversion (which I assume you found on the internet).  In the past, I've measured 3 c chickpea flour to come in at 13 oz.  By my math, that means 200 g should be about 1-5/8 c.  Of course, the way to be certain would be to use a scale.

  5. Funny, was thinking about this thread the other day.  Pretty much succeeded in my goal of incorporating low temp into my recipe file (which I maintain in Word).  Main challenge was recasting the braises and stews so the sauce could be readily prepared separately from the protein.

    • Like 1
  6. On review, I realize I should have explained the reasoning behind my suggestion.  it's not just that M-E has plenty of good vegetarian options.  I was thinking of it as a riff on the location of Bethlehem.  And that's how I'd pitch it to my guests.

  7. A third strategy - which is the one I generally use - is to heat by microwave (or on the stove) until the the proteins coagulate, strain them out and stir the liquid into whatever sauce I'm making.

    • Like 5
  8. Here in Phoenix, in the past 5 years two restaurants were cited by the health department for having fresh garlic oil (that is, chopped raw garlic, plus parsley, and olive oil) of indeterminate age in bottles left out on the tables. Employees at one establishment stated that they made the oil about once a month to refill the bottles.

     

    It's not always about how many fall ill, it can be about how many times preventative measures need to be taken to prevent outbreaks.

     

    I wonder whether the officials issuing the citations knew (or care) that there has been only one reported case in the last twelve years.

  9. I am NOT sending that leg back either. Demonstrating the wonders of sous vide cookery....a difference of 22 hours cooking time resulting in essentially the same degree of 'done ness'. Although yours looks a little rarer than my loin. Wonder if that was because of the thickness of the meat.

     

    More likely, it's a difference in the meat.

  10. The other control inherent in your method, andie, is low available water.  Botulism spores are tough, of course, but the vegetative state requires water to get going.  Even ordinary garlic oil is very low in available water, which probably explains why this doesn't come up often.  Indeed, according to the CDC's annual monitoring reports, there has only been one reported case in the U.S. in the last twelve years, in 2012 (the last year for which data are available).  (There also was one, likely of interest to the OP, in Denmark in 2003.)  In the preceding ten, i.e., 1990 to 2000, there were two reported incidents in the U.S. involving four people (see Table 3).  Before that, the outbreaks which started this whole paranoia were two incidents in 1985 and 1989 involving several dozen people where commercially processed garlic in oil had added water.  Your product, and that which most folks are likely to produce at home, is very different for this reason.

     

    I've never understood why, of all the food safety issues, botulism from garlic oil has gotten such traction.  The ordinary kitchen sponge is much more hazardous.

    • Like 2
  11. There are a couple of easy ways to find out:

     

    1. Get an infrared camera $10,000.

     

    or 

     

    2. A sheet of liquid crystal temperature sensing film to put on the surface, to show where the coil is attached. $10.00.

     

    dcarch

     

    Perhaps I'm missing something, but wouldn't a simple infrared thermometer be better than both?  And useful for other things.

     

    Frankly, I don't think the conversion is a good idea, but trying to help.

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