Mjx

My immediate family is vegetarian, so when I was growing up, the Thanksgiving Day centrepiece was always nut loaf, of which it is best to not speak. Thanksgivings that I was fortunate enough to spend on my own always involved venison, which is not only tasty (and holiday-appropriate), but relatively easy to find at this time of year, and offers a really wide array of possibilities in terms of cuts and preparation.

Thanks, guys. This is what went down: By midnight last night, the pot was full of a blend of melted fat and small, unmelted lumps, and I was a wreck. With no defined end in sight, it seemed likely that I'd melt down before the rest of the fat did, so I decided to just work with what was there, and with a combination of a retired tea towel, the colander insert to that pasta pot, and a food mill, ran the whole load into various containers. I ended up with 3210g/7lbs of rendered suet, and a lot of mess and waste (clumps of blood vessels and connective tissue; I'd picked out the adrenal glands earlier on): (The small portion in baking paper is 200g, the amount I wanted when I marched myself into the slaughterhouse the other day; if I were to use all this suet for the annual plum pudding only, I'd be set for the next 16 years.) I don't have a sous vide cooker, since there are too few things it'd be used for to make it worh while, but in the small hours of this morning, I really felt I could've used one. Freezing this first was a tactical error; I should have just put it in the refrigerator, so I could've carved it up into smaller portions, and perhaps even not rendered it all in one go.

How do you get rid of the water, when you render suet in it? I've rendered suet on several occasions, and have always simply tossed it into a pan over very low heat, and let it do its thing. Yesterday, I got a fresh clump from the slaughterhouse. When they asked how much I wanted, I said about 200g would do nicely. The butcher strolled in from the lot with a roughly 5kg/10lb bag (no idea how much, because it was too heavy to weigh). Apart from the thrill of lugging home a gigantic bag of warm, bloody fat on public transit (because of course I did), I kind of wondered what the hell I'd render this in. When I got home, I chucked the bag in the freezer, because I just didn't want to handle that much slithering gloop, and a firm clump would be easier to work with. I hauled the fat out this morning (and attempted to weigh it, but it was too heavy for the scale to register). It had set up kind of pointily, settling into the corners of the plastic bag. I managed to cram it into the largest pot here, but between the size, the shape, and the fact that it was rock hard so I couldn't really trim it, only one pointed bit ended up in contact with the bottom of the pot. A couple of years back there was a discussion of rendering suet in boiling water, so I boiled some water, and poured that in, to speed things up a little. After six hours of this, the fat has reached this stage: Now I'm wondering, how do you dry the fat completely? Do you just boil off the water?

In Indiana, Chinese restaurants may be havens of peace, but in NYC, some of the most spectacularly noisy restaurants are the authentically Chinese ones, and they know not serenity of any sort. They're packed, so clearly, this is at least accepted, and for all I know, the noise level is a deliberate aspect of the business model.

Keep in mind that smoking and infusing will give two different flavours (which may be perfect for what you have in mind). For whatever it's worth, I take worrying to spectacular levels, which was the reason I researched the safety of a tobacco infusion; if the results had indicated that there was any risk, I wouldn't have touched it.

I'd really like to master rye bread. My wheat/wheat hybrid loaves are always good, no matter how experimental I get with them, but my rye bread is tragic. I made a rye loaf the other day that I was certain would not fail, since it was only half rye, but it was the same gummy, poorly-structured disaster I generally produce. I do have a recipe from a frined whose rye loaves are routinely gorgeous, and I'm gearing up to try that.

You're welcome. I've made these for friends, not customers (I don't do this professionally), and they went over incredibly well. The inital reaction has been 'What?! You put WHAT in the truffles?', then a tiny, cautious bite, then a bigger bite, then reaching for a lot more. There are never any left over. I think the postive reaction is due to the fact that there is often a tobacco-y note in chocolate, and adding a little tobacco amplifies this, resulting in something that is more complex, without there being a distinct, separate note.

I've done this on several occasions, and posted about it in another discussion (http://forums.egullet.org/topic/135873-christmas-2010-sweets/?p=1774604). Just a pinch of tobacco gives a lovely scent, without risks to flavour or health (well below levels that are toxic, you get an unpalatable bitterness). The monograph I linked to in that post was extremely helpful, and as you can see in the monograph, the amount of tobacco required to give a distinct and pleasant scent is way, way below what would be toxic, even for an extremely small human (and of course, mention the presence of tobacco, so those who should not, or prefer to not consume even a trace of tobacco can do so). Make sure to use fresh tobacco, so you get maximum scent from the smallest possible quantity, and if you use pipe tobacco, make sure that the ingredients don't include something that should not be ingested, even at low doses; if there's no clear ingredient list, I'd recommend using plain, organically-grown tobacco, instead.

If the pots are glazed inside, that's glass, and should be fine; unglazed pots would probably accumulate off-odours over time.

Apparently, I'm going to be getting more of the larger quinces, so I think I'll use the two I have in that lamb recipe, which sounds amazing, and see whether I can overcome growing up in Florence, enough to spring that kind of cash for the essential oil of mustard

Excellent, thanks! Just one question: Any ideal substitute for mustard extract? Because I've been hunting for a dill essential oil, I have a an extensive overview of the ones that are available in Denmark, and tht's not one of them. I could get it online, but since I've got whole mustard and ground mustard (nice and fresh, both), I'd like to find a way of using what I've got.

Franci, thanks. The tatin looks so delicious, but I'd end up eating the whole thing, because my boyfriend won't go near anything involving cooked fruit, so... would you tell me a bit about the lamb recipe? Also, have you made any mostarde with quince, that you've particularly liked?

I was just given a whole basket of quinces. Most are the the small Japanese type, but there are also two larger 'pear' type ones, and I'm wondering whether they have any flavour nuances that would tend to be lost in steaming and pureeing to make a paste. They're quite lovely, I feel like they deserve special treatment: Has anyone candied these/sections of them, or do they tend to fall apart?

The extra liquid issue may simply resolve itself if you let the chilis sit for a longer period of time. I used the salt cured chili recipe I found on the Leener's site, and there wasn't any extra liquid in the jar. It's possible that during the first week some liquid was thrown off then reabsorbed (I put the jar in a cool dark place, and resisted the urge to look at it except when I was supposed to stir it), but by the time the first week was up, the texture was a slightly more mash-like, but there was no free liquid.

Leaving aside the fact that there's a good chance of at least one restaurant critic/editor/publication owner reading this topic, I'm not so sure this wouldn't just look like an attempt at bribery.

Could you adapt a recipe for sweetbreads? I've a hunch that cooking organ meats sous vide would turn them to mush, and also concentrate and make the worst of some of the chracteristic odours they have (a bit the way steaming sometimes does), so something like pan frying might be your best bet.

I did see that, but, unless I misunderstood, that's the full slab of bacon, in which case there should still be a decent amount of moisture left behind. When the bacon is mixed into the beef and heated again, it would almost certainly begin to give off some of that residual moisture, and any remaining fat would begin to melt (from the description, there wouldn't be much left, but it still may be enough to have an effect when it melts), and the entire beef patty would begin to lose some of its cohesiveness. What I meant (and definitely should have specified) was to fry the bacon before adding it to the beef, which would concentrate it quite a bit, and get rid of the moisture so that it would behave more stably in the burgers. I've added fried bacon to frikadeller, and the result has been really good, very bacony. I also add a bit of gelatin to the mix, because I can't use bread crumbs (I do use a very small amount of rolled millet), but I think that might give a slightly off texture to a burger.

Have you tried pre-cooking the bacon before mixing it into the ground beef? Mixing cooked bacon into raw beef may sound daft, but it would remove the moisture (and any pathogens you mighte be worried about) from the equation, giving you intensified flavour, and better control over the outcome, since the bacon would not be undergoing significant further changes as the burger cooks (e.g. giving off water, which may loosen the texture); you could focus entirely on the way the beef cooks, since the bacon would be taken care of.

I run hot water over the interior to set the dough a bit so it loses its elasticity, and simply scrape it out; takes about 15 seconds, and there remain just a few light smudges to clear away with a dish scrubber. Also, I use the Goodby Detergent! scrubbers (admittedly, with detergent) which rinse clean much more easily than Brillo, and don't scratch.

That was my thought, too; even a little bit of leaking bile can ruin the flavour. As far as I know, heat (high or low) does not soften the flavour of bile. Once it's in there, that's pretty much it.

Larb. Great quick meal, and it's terrific with a lot of mint.

Better contact Thinkstock: http://www.thinkstockphotos.com/image/stock-photo-chocolate-cake/181696017/popup?sq=chocolate%20cake/f=CPIHVX/p=2/s=DynamicRank

Cook's Illustrated may have some aggravating issues (e.g. discussed here, Cook's Illustrated), but it (and the ATK cookbooks) does provide a solidly accessible and useful point of departure for someone who is 'starting from zero', and many of their recommendations are reliable. Case in point, the Fibrox knives, discussed here; they're good knives, if not the best out there, and have the advantage of tolerating the dishwasher, which is a deal-maker (and relationship-saver) for many. Alhough I loathe what dishwashers can do to many things, my boyfriend tosses everything into the dishwasher, every chance he gets. With a lot of knives, this would set the stage for some gruesome drama; with the Fibrox chef knife we have, I'm just 'Eh, whatever', since I know it will survive the ordeal more or less unscathed.

There were some responses: Water in Boiled Eggs

Should have asked this earlier, but, briefly, what sorts of things would you like to eat/cook? I have a nice array of precision scales and thermomenters, because consistency is important to me, and I bake quite a bit, but those may not be relevant to your plans. By the same token, gadgets that do a bunch of things may be great value for money, but only if you actually plan on making use of most or all the features (e.g. are you actually planning one baking much?). Otherwise, they're just expensive paperweights/doorstops. There aren't any shortcuts, really. Cook's Illustrated's list of kitchen essentials is probably as good a point of departure as any, even if you disagree with their specific preferences for individual items. I think there was a discussion of the microwave/convection/steam oven, and the consensus was that it was relatively useless.