Mjx

I've heard of, but don't think I've ever seen them, and from the silly name I thought they were already for kids... no? And I could look at the company's web site, but it's more fun for me to think that rather than water, Lunchables previously included little bottles of Four Roses or Thunderbird.

Hm, that seems pretty close to what you can find in the US too. The particoloured mayhem that you find is in some places is just gimmick (to my mind, like ice cream shops that feature bubble gum and Smarties flavours), but doesn't define US doughnuts; in their basic forms, they're what you describe.

Leaving aside the spellings (which I thought was one of those advert-y things, like 'lite'), isn't there at least signficant overlap (unlike 'biscuits' or 'muffins')? I've never had a do[ugh]nut in the UK, but I didn't think that two very different things were involved, and so far, I no one has said 'Krispy Kreme? That's not a doughnut... THIS is a doughnut!' (imagine images here).

The could have been made via spherification, but (depending on how big these things actually are), they might just be a water-based liquid that beaded up on the surface.

Why do you even discuss this stuff with him ? Deeply conditioned democratic reflex? Grotesque delusions regarding my persuasive abilities? We're looking at stainless 1/6 pans, and he has this eager gleam in his eye. I'm searching for a ready-made knock box that closely resembles an insert.

Following a conversation with my boyfriend (which anyone seeing from a distance would have interpreted as my giving him the bad news that he had a day and a half to live, and would feel queasy and itchy the entire time), it seems like a designated knock box is not going to happen, but at the mention of a stainless steel insert, he perked up again. Clearly, a metal drill and carpentry need to be involved. Edward J, would you mind having a go at posting an image of yours?

I'm on the lookout for a knock box (or something that will work as one), since the pretty little wooden box my boyfriend made for this purpose has succumbed to a combination of violent blows and pesistent humidity (I was not surprised). Given the fairly hefty pounding these things are subjected to, sturdy construction seems like a must, but since I'm having a lot of trouble finding these in shops, I've been looking online, and am a little concerned, since you can't tell from images whether or not they're well made; the couple I've actually seen in person looked a litttle flimsy/prone to tipping over. So, I'd love to hear about any units you particularly recommend (or would warn against, for that matter). Also, anyone using something that is not a dedicated knock box, which has turned out to be a great solution? Thanks! M.

I've made experiments with cooking down milk or adding powdered milk to regular milk, and liked the results, although I've never done this with any degree of precision (I have some recolleciton of reduging the lik to half its original volume), so I can't offer a recipe. The mouthfeel is less unctous, but the consistency and flavour release seem similar. Of course, it isn't panna cotta any longer, but 'latte cotto'doesn't have the same ring. I also tried making a panna cotta using coconut cream. Not sure where it went wrong, but it was vile.

We ate at several places when we were in Berlin last July, but the one I remember best is Peking Ente. I don't know whether we just happened to be there when they were having a good night, but the food was really good. The route there will make you feel like you're in the middle of a Monty Python sketch, and it gets crowded pretty quickly, so if you do eat there, I recommend going early.

I figure that part of being a geek is being willing, able, and tending to become unhealthily excited about MacGyvering equipment, from, you know, a pair of pantyhose and some duct tape or something, so I'd say being a food geek doesn't mean you need equipment, but it makes it fairly likely that you'll have it, whether you've made it yourself, or purchased it ready-made. My fondness for minimalism is constantly at war with my appreciation of really well-made objects and beautifully functioning tools. When I've lived on my own, I've been able to keep my 'equipment' down to a small pot, cup, bowl, dagger, spoon, and chopsticks. Now, we have a good sized collection of equipment sitting in storage boxes, awaiting our having a kitchen again. Inevitably, some was unpacked, since life just sucked without it (the Silvia, the grinder), but things seem to have added themselves to the collection, despite the fact that there's almost no place to put them: a vacuum sealer, couple of silicone baking mats, an iSi whipper, an oval Dutch oven, chocolate moulds. My boyfriend has had a fondness for tools/things with buttons and switches of every description since before he was able to talk, and in the face of that, my ascetic half didn't stand a chance. Not sure whether I'm a geek. Although 'geek' has pretty much lost any stigma it had a couple decades back, I wouldn't describe myself as a geek, since that's what the kids who also enjoyed punching me during recess called me, but pretty much everyone I know seems to describe me that way, so I guess..? I just do things. Then wipe/scrape up the mess

Airbrush.

My SOP: Assemble and prep. all the stuff that's going into the pot (meat, vegetables, herbs, spices, booze, etc.) Preheat the oven to 125C/255F, and briefly heat a Dutch oven or other heavy, lidded pot/pan (I sometimes use a big heavy saute pan) over medium. Brown any root vegetables and onions, adding garlic (if you're using it) right at the end, so it gets about a minute; remove to a bowl. Turn the temperature up to medium high, and brown the meat. Kill heat, and add the vegetable back to the pot, then add herbs and spices. Mix this a bit, then add broth to about halfway up the meat; I add booze at this point, a splash of rum, vodka or akvavit, or a glass of sherry or port. Scrape the fond from the bottom, put the lid on, and put the the pot in the oven. I check every hour or so, to see that the liquid level hasn't dropped significantly. Depending on the thickness of the meat, it may be ready at any time between 1.5 and 5 hours. Something like pork shoulder I'd give at least 3 hours. I don't use a thermometer, since the temperature won't tell you how tender the meat is (and my sister still hasn't got around to sending over my Thermapen). Once the meat has reached the consistency you want, you can finish it in the oven, removing the lid and letting the heat and dry air reduce the cooking liquid and brown the meat (turn the heat up, and keep a close eye on progress). You can also take the meat out of the oven, and do your reduction on the stovetop. Once you get the hang of it, you can figure on half an hour of preliminary work, then the oven does the rest.

Just apropos point 1: I don't know whether I once saw somebody do this (and forgot), or it just makes sense, but I flick my knife over, and use the spine to move what I've cut. Dragging the blade that way would have to dull it.

I found one recipe without condensed milk on epicurious: http://www.epicuriou...rfect-Flan-1902. I've never tried it, so I've no idea of how reliable it is. I searched for [flan recipe] (also [flan receitas], to see what the Spanish-language offerings included), and although there are some recipes without condensed milk, most do use it. According to the Cook's Illustrated web site (originally published July 2006), it is possible to make a substitute for condensed milk (397 g); I've converted the measurements to metric weights: * In a saucepan, combine 355 ml (180 g) milk powder and 118 ml (123 g) whole or 2% milk; whisk until very smooth, about 1 minute. * Whisk in 133g sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract (I think this might actually be more useful without the vanilla), and cook over low heat, whisking constantly until the sugar and milk powder dissolve, about 5 minutes. * Cool before using (whisk again just prior to using, to make sure it is perfectly smooth). * This may be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

I have to say I was very pleased with the results of adding rum to bean cooking water, to the extent that when I do a side-by-side, I'm planning on making the no-booze control batch as small as possible, since those have tended to not turn out as well. Jaymes, it sounds like I need to start experimenting with beer in cooking water; that sounds really good.

In a lot of countries (not just France) horse meat is sold openly, and isn't regarded as unusual (e.g. in Italian supermarkets, packets of horse bresaola sit beside the ones made from cows, it's just one more type of sandwich meat). I've eaten it, it's fine, tastes a bit like beef, a little sweeter. Have to say my feelings on horse meat itself are essentially neutral. Horse meat as such shouldn't be much of problem, since over the millennia, people all over the world have cheerfully eaten it (including in the UK, e.g. "They eat horses, don't they?" Susanna Forrest, The Telegraph, 13 January 2013). Mislabelling it – I wish this went without saying – is clearly unethical, as well as illegal. On the other hand, the presence of drugs harmful to humans is a significant problem, and if the animals in question were not raised for consumption, that's a legitimate and reasonable cause for concern (but this is a broad issue that is hardly exclusive to horse meat).

After reading the article, which mentions that Zilmax was originally developed as a drug to treat asthma in humans, I did a search to see what side-effects it has, and there seem to be no current references to this use. Now I'm wondering whether it has been pulled for human use for any reason (I checked for the compound name, zilpaterol hydrochloride, in hopes of getting a broader overview). Anyone else find something in google scholar?

I recommend Unmentionable Cuisine. This is arguably a bizarre cook book (it does have recipes), but despite its provocative title it's a good read, and I'm fairly certain it's nowhere near as controversial today as it was when it first came out (the gist of it is that one culture's 'weird/gross' is another's bog standard fare).

Shaoxing wine is relatively interchangeable with medium-dry sherry. No idea where you would get a meshuval version of that. Chinkiang black vinegar might be tough. Maybe try a combo of regular white wine vinegar and balsamic. You will get the acid but the taste will definitely be different. . . . . Since both chinkiang vinegar and shaoxing wine are made from rice, not grapes (unlike balsamic vinegar), wouldn't those be kosher (apart from at Passover), unless the rice is likely to have been full of insects when it's processed?

Has anyone come across some indication of the portion sizes involved? I cannot figure out how people managed this sort of thing; if they ate like that on a regular basis, they would have been far heavier as a group than photographs suggest they were, unless these banquets played out like tasting menus. I can't even eat most 3-course meals without feeling at least a little awful afterwards, and there is simply no way one could eat most of any meal in a corset (I've eaten while corseted down to just 20 inches, not the 18 inches upper-class women strived for during that era, and you can manage about a handful of food at a go, that's it).

Well played sir... some how that one slipped my mind. Didn't we already do those in the 90s? I seem to recall seeing this sort of thing on menus around the same time that roughly every other person I knew in NYC had some sort of swing-dance injury.

For whatever it's worth, I made another poorly (read 'un')controlled experiment with cooking beans in rum. This time, I used cannellini, and a dodgy-looking batch they were, with about half looking about a decade older then the rest, and none looking less than 'kind of old'. However, just to see what happened, I only discarded one bean (which looked like something had been living in it, then left because it got too depressing). The rest, regardless of how withered they looked, stayed. I dumped the half kilo of beans into a pot, added the rum (same as before, above), then added a bay leaf and boiling water, just enough to cover (I wanted to dilute the rum as little as possible, to optimize any effect it might be having). I loitered about, topping up the water so the beans stayed covered. About an hour later, things looked pretty bad; about half the beans had picked up water, and were smooth and cream-coloured, while there rest had expanded, but looked withered and chalky. Biting into one of each, the difference was clear: the smooth, newer beans were softening, but still a bit crunchy, while the wrinkled white beans were very hard, and had softened just enough for me to notice that they were a bit rubbery. I gave them another hour, still topping up water, to keep them just covered. At the two-hour mark, the difference among the beans was far less pronounced, in both appearance and texture, and they had reached an 'edible, but barely' stage. I added about a tablespoon of salt, and gave them another half hour. At this point, they were distinctly edible, although some were still slightly crunchy, so I took a chance, and drained them and transferred them to the chicken and sausage mayhem I was braising for dinner, and the beans cooked a couple more hours in broth with a bit of tomato paste, sherry vinegar, and sherry mixed in (no idea of the pH, but it was pleasantly tart, so I'm wildly guessing 'under 5'). At the four-hour mark, the beans had an extremely pleasant texture (I noticed no distinctly crunchy ones), which is not something I can normally say of a batch like the one I started with (also keeping in mind that I usually pick them over and may discard nearly half as being unlikely to ever be pleasant to eat). I have no idea of what (if anything) alcohol does to dry beans when they absorb it, but after two unusually good batches, I'm now feeling inclined to do a controlled test.

I thought that McGee et al established that searing doesn't seal liquid in meat. He's talking about something completely different (cue Monty Python theme): Over high heat, the exterior browns very rapidly, and the inside remains relatively cool during that short time. Over a lower heat, the exterior of the meat takes longer to brown, giving the interior time to also become warmer; as the meat warms, the fibres contract, causing the juices to be squeezed out (the effect you get when you sqeeze a sponge, if you can imagine the sponge self-squeezing). 'Sealing' doesn't enter into it.

That was my thought, too. Regarding the toughness, pre-soaking the strips of meat in a solution of sodium bicarbonate and water (5g in 130g) makes a huge difference, and I wouldn't do a stir-fry without that (I first came across this recommendation in Cook's Illustrated). Also, have you tried velveting?

An eG forum search for 'pressure' brings up a good handful of discussions, including the Pressure Cookers - what's cooking? topic.