Mjx

Excellent, thanks!

In a lot of places in the EU, they still keep eggs on the kitchen counter (for up to a couple of weeks, in some cases), wthout any apparent ill effects (salmonellosis is not one of those easily missed subtle things). In your place, I'd use the raw eggs in cooked recipes, even though I tend to be laughably neurotic about the possibility of food-borne illness. Hard boiled, I don't know; i think they always smell funny.

It's been suggested that gums may also make whipping easier, although I have to admit that regardless of the sort of cream I've had on hand, whipping it has always seemed to be one of the easiest things to accomplish, so... I don't know.

The use of moulds appears all over the place in Modernist Cuisine, but their capacity and shape are often unspecified. I'concluded that this means that the volume and shape don't have a significant effect on the result, but are there any shapes/sizes that you've found particularly useful?

Can anyone pinpoint the diferences between the iSi Gourmet and Gourmet PLUS models? The iSi site only lists the Gourmet PLUS model (in both the US and German versions of the site, I'm guessing the latter model has supplanted the former). I can get either model on amazon, but not from the same seller, and the sellers' descriptions don't make it possible to compare the same points: bullet points listed for the PLUS: High-quality stainless steel bottle and head Etched markings to indicate maximum fill level Fixed stainless steel dispensing valve for precise application and control 3 Decorator tips with durable stainless steel threads Silicone banded head for heat protection during hot applications The description also notes that 'The Gourmet Whip's features for the professional chef also include: -Heat-resistant silicone gasket with removal tab for quick, hygienic cleaning -Ergonomic charger holder with non-slip silicone grip -Dishwasher safe -Closed and sealed system - supports HACCP requirements -2-year warranty'. The seller of the Gourmet (not PLUS) model just uses a lot of nonspecific language to say 'it's cool and pretty, you gotta have it', which deosn't tell me a thing about which of the PLUS features it has/lacks.

Host note: The discussion of sourcing/alternatives to Wondra flour outside the US has been split off into its own topic, Wondra Flour Outside the US: Sources, Alternatives. Michaela (aka Mjx)

I had shark once, and it tasted faintly of ammonia; I was told this was usual and 'special', but regardless, I'd say that if it is usual for shark to taste like that, you might want to think twice about it. Also, what sort of presentation are you going with? Whole, skin and head on? If not, regardless of how 'fun, weird' your fish looks when it's on the slab, when it's served, it's just going to be 'fish', in which case, I'd focus on finding the tastiest reasonably priced fish for your purposes, and if the name isn't 'fun' enough, just find out what it's called in another language (e.g.the one whose cuisine is inflecting the dish as a whole), and use that.

Catfish.

I always add flavourings (oils, water-based infusions, alcohol, etc.) to the cream, and carry on as usual; I've never run into any problems.

The language of the American Northwest is Italian?! News to me In Italy, if you request 'latte' in a coffe shop, they'd probably look at you like you had rocks in your head, but they just might decide to give you what you requested: a glass or cup of milk. I suspect Debenhams of smugly inverted snobbery as a marketing gimmick, not any real concern for clarity. But then again, if the end result is clarity, who cares?

Cook's Illustrated addresses this in their November & December 2012 issue (p. 2). They peeled and sliced some apples one and two days ahead of baking them in an an apple crumble (holding them in the refrigerator in zip-lock bags), and compared the results to those using freshly prepped apples. They found that after they were baked, the apples showed no discernible differences in their flavour, texture, or colour, regardless of how recently (or not) they were prepped. This being the case, putting the apple slices in acidulated water seems like an unnecessary step (no idea whether flavour would be leached, but it does make sense).

If you have some way of covering a lot of space around the dessert, you might try making the mixture as described, then using a brush to shake/spatter it on. It would be coarser than a spray, but beats clogging your oil mister. You could test the technique on a plate, first, to see how it goes/how much the effect can be controlled.

Andie's advice about keeping the plants pinched back is important for another reason: If the plant grows a lot, you'll probably decide to repot it, in a pot that gives it 'enough room to grow'. And, it will grow. And, while it's growing, it will temporarily but entirely call it quits, with regard to producing flowers. Our two chili plants are about three years old, now, and one has been producing heavily since early summer (the other, inadvertently repotted in a really large pot, only started flowering about a month ago). I pick the fruit at all different stages, and mostly just string them on thick thread to dry.

That's a lovely dessert! How did you dehydrate the pumpkin wafer? Low oven, microwave, something else?

Not questioning the value of the sv setup (although reading through the books, I'm fairly certain that in a number of instances, other methods would yield at least very similar results), but as I noted in the OP, it's just out of the question, at this time: I've no room to set it up, which is the reason I'm focusing on the smaller items (e.g. measuring devices, tools that produce interesting shapes/textures). I have some gelling agents (xanthan gum, agar), and I definitely appreciate your short list.

Thanks, that's precisely what I wanted to know!

Chris, would you elaborate a bit on this? I'm wondering whether the pressure cooker is being used in MCaH to cook things that are similar to what is cooked sous vide in MC (e.g. meat, custard [bases], as well as soup), or whether the sorts of things being made are simply quite different to the sou-vide cooked ones in MC.

Nope, no sv rig, and no crock pot or rice cooker, either, although I'm lucky in that I travel quite a bit, so if I can't get something reasonable locally, I can usually get it from Germany at a decent price, or pick it up when I'm in the US. What I didn't mention is that I'm currently using someone else's kitchen, so I'm holding off on larger items for now, since there's no place to store them, and I can't really leave them in the kitchen. I figure that this is a good time to focus on getting my hands on smaller items. Thanks for the heads up on the pH meter (which I was sort of considering) and the whipper v. creamer! I have a Jennings CJ 4000 that I'm very happy with it, so I was thinking of getting one of their jeweller's scales, would you happen to know anything about them? I know companies are not necessarily consistent across all their product lines. Any other measuring devices worth considering?

Thanks, Digijam, that definitely puts this on my book list!

I've been sitting on USD250 of amazon gift certificates for while, debating what to use them for. I was given Modernist Cuisine as a gift for my birthday this year, and despite the fact that USD250 is a tiny amount in the face of the recommended equipment list, I do want some of my purchases to go towards making some of the recipes a possibility. I have no special equipment, unless you count a scale (a good one) and the Adria spherification kit (also a gift, accompanying Modernist Cuisine). I've been considering one or two iSi whippers, a couple of Silpats, some silicone moulds, a jeweller's scale, for really small masses of ingredients, Migoya's The Elements of Dessert, and a Thermapen. I'm most interested in smaller, non-mechanical items, or less-expensive mechanical ones (more expensive items with the potential to conk out, e.g. pressure cookers, I'd rather purchase here, where things come with a two-year money-back guarantee). At this time, my interests in modernist cooking are focused on appetizers, garnishes, and desserts/sweets; I also have a weakness for gels, and I'd like to experiment a with transglutaminase. Given my interests and restricted budget, what would those of you who've been working quite a bit with modernist cooking/Modernist Cuisine advise, in terms of crucial pieces of equipment? Your thoughts/input tremendously appreciated! Thanks in advance, M.

This sounds extremely appealing, but how demanding is it, in terms of necessary equipment? Approach- and aesthetics-wise this kind of sounds like a 'desserts, the missing manual' companion to Modernist Cuisine, but it would depressing if it turned out that making even the simplest recipes would require an outlay of hundreds of dollars (which I haven't got) for specialized equipment/tools.

For Copenhagen, I want to mention Brewpub (which I'll review properly as soon as I have a little free time). It's located at Vestergade 29, easy walking distance from Copenhagen's central train station and Rådhuspladsen. We ate in the restaurant, but there's overlap between the pub and restaurant menus, and there's a single kitchen, so the quality is likely the same for both. We both had the exceptional rabbit fried with pepper bacon & liver mousse as a starter, followed by the very good ribeye (for my boyfriend) and breast & confit of duck (for me), and quite outstanding the porter-chocolate cake with carrot and sea buckthorn sorbet. We left feeling extremely happy with the meal. My only real complaint is with their knives: we struggled a a bit with our main courses, even though the meat was just as tender as it ought to be. I thought about requesting a steak knife, but when I looked about to see whether any other diners had something of the sort, none were in evidence, so I didn't ask. Especially since I haven't had much luck finding places in Denmark with excellent, reasonably priced food, I'd categorize Brewpub as a something of a find.

Shredded pork with microwaved crackling: The pork was a skin-on cut traditionally used here for flæskesteg, braised in a litre of stock plus a beer, seasoned with fresh lovage, garlic, a bit of ground cloves and nutmeg, a chili, a pinch of ground vanilla bean, and a little vinegar and sugar. Since this was braised, the skin was soft and gelatinous by the time the meat was done; I started to finish it a high temperature to crisp it, but everyone was hungry, so that went to the wall. However, I was curious about something I'd read in Modernist Cuisine about making beef jerky in the microwave, and wondered what would happen to the skin if I I cut it away from the meat and just nuked it for a few minutes (folded up in paper towel, to absorb the grease, and because I don't love cleaning microwaves). In about half a minute, it sounded like I was making popcorn. At the two-minute mark, the skin was (as you can sort of see; it was a bit dark when I took this shot), beautifully, deliacately crisp and browned. Since the traditional method of browning the skin in the oven tends to make for rock-hard results without anything special in terms of flavour, I intend to go the microwave route from now on.

Special presentation jar for sweets or some other specialty that doesn't require special preservation measures?

I was equally surprised.. One hour and nutmeg, Mjx you either have a strange taste or are a ground breaker. :-D Maybe i should have made it clear: I'm talking about a pinch of nutmeg. I find that it offsets the 'wet dog hair' smell I sometimes detect in stocks, particularly ones that are bone-heavy, but it draws no attention to itself. Although I will admit that my tastes run a bit medieval, and I really enjoy a faint presence of nutmeg (or cloves) in meat dishes.