Mjx
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Posts posted by Mjx
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Until one of the chocolate experts weighs in, take a look at this discussion of water ganache, another on white chocolate ganache, and the general ganache tips and techniques discussion, at least one of which may have something helpful to offer.
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The link goes to a half recipe version of the original (which I'm looking at now, for comparison), and it occurred to me that if you measured the flour by volume instead of weight, you may have ended up with less than you actually need, and since this is a half recipe, the smaller starting amount would have less tolerance for error.
As Lisa Shock suggested, I've always added the vodka first, then cautiously added water as needed. Also, since I don't have a food processor, or a huge amount of patience, I don't get the smallest fat-saturated-flour bits as small, even though I go for the described consistency, so I think there is more free flour to take up the liquid.
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Have you checked this, http://forums.egullet.org/topic/94540-water-ganache/?
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I don't know a thing about this particular unit, so it may be an exception to the general trend, but I've had mediocre to unsatisfactory performance from every OBH appliance (kitchen and other) that I've used, and there have been quite a few because the local kitchen shops (e.g. Imerco, Inspiration) feature this brand heavily. Have you come across any reviews of this online?
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Vasco, do you know about 'Buñuelos de Bacalao' (codfish fritters)?
http://cocinandoentreolivos.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/bunuelos-de-bacalao-receta-paso-paso.html
Maybe you can play with this idea . . . .
This sounds really tasty, and it could be paired with figs and chestnuts (dried ones, cooked in both until it reduces to form a glaze, are amazing), which should be just about in season now (I'm a good bit further north, so I'm not 100% certain, since eeverything is later here).
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. . . . The only choice we have left to make are the 2 kitchen faucets...which IMHO are a huge deal...
I hear you. My other half couldn't see what the fuss was about, and if he'd had his way we'd have grabbed the cheapest thing and gotten out in the shortest checkout line. (It's a good thing we both drive, so we didn't quite drive each other around the bend.) What are your faucet criteria?
!00% agree. Whichever faucets you get, check first that are sized to release the water into the middle of the basin when you open the tap, instead of closer to the front or back wall, and if you get the kind that has the tap incorporated into it, make sure that simply turning on the water doesn't release a tidal wave. The faucet we have in our new kitchen looks great, and is solidly made, but the arc is too small for the basin, so when I wash up, I end up having to hold out my arms at nearly full length, which plays hell with my neck and shoulders, and the tap opens too hard, so even though we have a deep basin, they water splashes about a foot around, unless the tap is opened very carefully.
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. . . What was the interior like, and how did it all taste?
I'd intended to spare everyone the sight, although I did take a shot of the interior, which looked like this:
It tasted sugary, strawberry-adjacent and crazy unmodified sweet with a hint of synthetic red, and had that mouthfeel that makes you think, 'Mmmm...Crisco'. The overarching effect was, 'My teeth itch, and now feel vaguely Simonized'
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Coffee (out of frame), and this:
That's an 'Andreakage'. I couldn't recall seeing one of these before, although I must have done, at some point: the 'Kajkage' is a longstanding tradition (and not just in Denmark, although here, they represent Kaj and Andrea, characters from a popular chidren's programme). Anyway, the mild novelty of it meant I definitely needed to eat this thing, after which I left the bake shop slightly lightheaded, and happy-queasy
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Pineapple and coffee (esp. bitters, which cut through the sometimes excessive sweetness of pineapple)
Fernet and chocolate
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I'm not sure if we're looking at the same Nathan Myhrvold post, but in the one I was referencing, he states that the Gastrovac is 'just a vacuum chamber'. It sounds like since then, the Gastrovac has been redesigned into something rather different (and actually, sous vide is, literally 'under vacuum' (not necessarily a complete vacuum, since that's not so easy to reach/hold in most kitchens), so the intent of the term is going to depend on the context (e.g. cooking sous vide, infusing sous vide)).
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You'll find a lot of discussion of cooking under vacuum in the forums, just look for the discussions of cooking 'sous vide' (for whatever reason, the French term for 'under vacuum' caught on early). There isn't much that is specific to the Gastrovac, apart from this, in the Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 1) topic, but I'm fairly certain that the information on various other vacuum chambers is applicable.
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The Kenmore double oven with ceramic cooktop that I have at the cottage, came with a retractable razor blade which is handy for quickly removing stuff that is stuck. . .
The single edge razor blade in a retractable holder is perfect for any burned on nasty bits. . .
I start with my razor blade, follow with the Weiman's pads, then polish (when I'm motivated to do it). That's with light commercial use.
This (I know this is old, but I just came across this now). A blade is the most efficient at removing almost all the muck.
I use a scraper that's designed for this purpose (Gaggenau thoughtfully included one with our cooktop, but at least in Denmark, you can find these in any supermarket, and they're also great for removing polymerized fat from the inside of oven doors, so they're not single-use-only gadgets), which is essentially a holder for a razor blade. It loosens pretty much everything except hard water stains, and the mildly abrasive cleaner for glass ceramic cooktops takes care of the rest. This appies toinduction cooktops, too, by the way, since the surfaces are identical. With the icreased popularity of induction cooktops in the US, the cleaner may be more readily available than it was, last I looked.
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Seems like an excellent time to exhume this discussion, and [once again] wax nostalgic over the atrocities that were foisted on you under the loose category of 'school lunch'.
The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that my mum made during the years I went to school in the US were pretty bad: Arnold's whole wheat bread (which was weird to me, since I was used to firmer, entirely unsweetened bread, in Italy) with home-made peanut butter and whatever jam was deemed appropriate for a child raised on health foods. The oil from the peanut butter would separate out and soak into the bread, so by the time it was unwrapped from its cling film, it was in a state resembling rigor mortis, and there was a whiff evocative of wet dog fur to season it. I don't think I ever ate one, I couldn't gag them down. Sometimes, the canteen offerings were more attractive, other times, not so much, but I seldom had a chance to eat the school food, because my parents dissaproved of it (looking back, I can't blame them).
So, what have the rest of you got?
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I'm sure when I was in junior and high school, many of the dishes served up in the rather dire school canteen has pseudonyms. These weren't designed to make the food more appealing. It would haeve taken a lot more than a bit of wordplay to make these in any way appealing.
These names were bestowed by the pupils and were intended to make things even worse.
The only one I can recall (it was in the middle of the last century!) is the current cake which was served with custard once a week. Universally known as 'fly cemetery'.
At the US school I attended, I recall the 'Chicken a la King' regularly served in the canteen being referred to by the kids as 'runover chicken on a roll'. This was still pretty generous, in my opinion, since It was atrocious, looked like cat sick.
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I've used unsweetened berries and bay leaf to make a sort of compote to serve with game, including duck. I don't have a hard and fast recipe, but just add a little gin, whisky, or rum to the pan to deglaze, bring down the temperature, if necessary add a little boiling water to cover the bay leaf I simmer in the now-deglazed pan for two or three minutes, reduce out any excess liquid, add the berries and a pinch of salt, and cook until they start to ooze juice (I don't like my berries very cooked). I sometimes add a pinch of cinnamon or a small clove. Sometimes (generally, with store-bought berries in the winter), a small amount of acid adds some dimension.
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This topic has been locked before it turned into a bloodbath, and because it was contributing nothing, and going nowhere useful.
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. . . . Can aluminum even be successfully mixed with stainless steel? What would happen to the properties of a stainless bowl mixed with aluminum?
There are many forms of stainless steel, and some of them contain aluminium. Apparently, these alloys are designed with increased the strength in mind, which seems to have minimal utility in your average kitchen. I'm sure your local library has works that can fill in the details.
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Leonidas, I just sent you the recipe
This morning I baked a Torta paradiso. It's a rich cake with clarified butter, eggs plus egg yolks, flour cut with potato starch. It was a bit sweet for my liking but not for my parents or my son.
That looks gorgeous. Is the texture like a slightly more robust schiacciata fiorentina?
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This topic has been locked since the blog is now up and running.
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I too find that (once it's drained/the stock is pressed out of it) the meat left on the bones used for stock doesn't have much to offer, in terms of flavour or texture. It's still useful protein, so if there's a significant amount of it, I strip it off the bones, and save it to mince and use as a filler in things like filled pasta, larb, stews, that sort of thing (i.e. dishes where the meat is broken up small anyway, and so seasoned that the flavour of the meat is more or less background). I tend to keep i int the freezer until there's what looks like a useful amount.
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There is a lot of research on the effects of fasting on human health (executed with varying degrees of rigour, as is the case with any field of research), much of which originated in its effects on cancer cells, and then led researchers to explore the possibility of extending the findings to healthy humans. Since you review journals, you probably have access to substantial collections of research articles, so I definitely recommend taking a look (resist the temptation to cherry-pick, just dive into the 'fasting + human [cells]' area, and enjoy the rabbit hole!).
I am aware of the many years of academic research in this field but you mentioned in your post that "preceding it are literally decades of credible studies addressing the effects of fasting on human health. This is no more some new 'food trend' than, say, washing your hands before eating". I am just wondering which credible studies (and credible would mean controlled randomized clinical studies with clearly defined endpoints and enough statistical power) are you refering to ? I might have overlooked some and was hoping you could point to them. I could only find small, badly designed studies from institutes you normally read on "ScienceBasedMed". Cell- or animal based research is interesting but has actually little relevance as i can see in my daily work were we can cure most cancers in cells and mice xenograft models but fail very often in humans as the results don't correlate well.
Transparency is generally preferable, but without hearing the other side of this (and which has to do with an entirely different article), I simply don't believe I have enough information to draw conclusions about this.
It would be lovely if science could work free of commercial interests, but because even simple research comes expensive, it is not at all unusual for research to be funded by a commercial enterprise, or for a researcher to have an interest in the the enterprise. This does not automatically invalidate, or even undermine, the research, just as disclosure of potential conflict of interest (which there is, here) doesn't automatically eliminate the risks associated with them.
I guess at this point we have very different opinions and I think if somebody has very strong conflict of interests it makes his/her research very suspicious
Again, I think it is crucial to step back and see what this study is saying, which comes down to there being indications that spending five days a month eating a reduced amount of food has some health benefits. This is not a drastic suggestion. Even if the major benefit to a given individual ends up being that it makes him or her think more about food, health, and the connection between the two, that's something, since most people in the Western world are so accustomed to taking for granted the regular consumption of large, even excessive amounts of food.
Actually I think this is one of the biggest problems with this type of research and publishing it - this type of research should never be the reason we "step back and see what the study is saying." There are way too many studies like this where people defend it after criticism about details that we should look "at the bigger picture" when they ignore that we can't look at the bigger picture if the details are already flawed. How can you come to the conclusion that "there being indications that spending five days a month eating a reduced amount of food has some health benefits." when the study design exactly doesn't allow it and we don't know if fasting has any health benefits on humans. This is no different than the many "studies" about autism, acupuncture, vaccines etc. where there are no real, hard clinical data and advocates just pick out the "data" they need for their arguments and defend the "bigger picture", e.g. vaccines might have negative effects and can cause autism etc., acupuncture cures anything etc.
I'm up to my eyes in work at the moment (which iwhy I'm still awake at past 1.00), but google scholar should turn up some credible studies if you search for [cancer fasting].
Find me a researcher who does not bring some form of bias to his or her research, and I'll prove to you it is an impressively realistic android. An acknowledgement of potential conflict of interest has the advantage of making a study's audience imore discriminating in its acceptance of the research; we might not even be having this exchange, if the researchers had no connection to the company mentioned.
A lot of the responses to this study seem directed at words associated with the titles of newspaper articles about it, and people tend to have a remarkably visceral reaction to the word 'fasting'. In this case, 'stepping back' is crucial, since it means 'not glaring wildly at that one word, and screaming at it incoherently to go away, because it has scary associations'; there is way too much of that. Keeping in mind that this is a mini, modified fast is absolutely important, under the circimstances.
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But is there any data on correctly organized clinical studies which clearly show the effect of fastening on human health. Just because there are many papers published over a long time doesn't mran there are any studies available which have meaningful results. Food and diets are particukar known have very little relevant data but a lot of "research"
There is a lot of research on the effects of fasting on human health (executed with varying degrees of rigour, as is the case with any field of research), much of which originated in its effects on cancer cells, and then led researchers to explore the possibility of extending the findings to healthy humans. Since you review journals, you probably have access to substantial collections of research articles, so I definitely recommend taking a look (resist the temptation to cherry-pick, just dive into the 'fasting + human [cells]' area, and enjoy the rabbit hole!).
Also just looking for a minute about the journal I found this criticism on handling complains about an other paper in the same journal and its questionable clinical data (and its interpretation) http://www.biolayne.com/news/protein-metabolism-experts-respond-to-recent-anti-protein-claims/
Transparency is generally preferable, but without hearing the other side of this (and which has to do with an entirely different article), I simply don't believe I have enough information to draw conclusions about this.
I review manuscripts for other (not food related) scientific journals and I am very surprised that this paper was allowed to be published with this significant conflict of interest by one of the authors
It would be lovely if science could work free of commercial interests, but because even simple research comes expensive, it is not at all unusual for research to be funded by a commercial enterprise, or for a researcher to have an interest in the the enterprise. This does not automatically invalidate, or even undermine, the research, just as disclosure of potential conflict of interest (which there is, here) doesn't automatically eliminate the risks associated with them.
Again, I think it is crucial to step back and see what this study is saying, which comes down to there being indications that spending five days a month eating a reduced amount of food has some health benefits. This is not a drastic suggestion. Even if the major benefit to a given individual ends up being that it makes him or her think more about food, health, and the connection between the two, that's something, since most people in the Western world are so accustomed to taking for granted the regular consumption of large, even excessive amounts of food.
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things like this have always interested me :
this might not be that new, but the current version interests me. All i could find was Popular Press
if anyone has detail particulars on a way to implement this diet ( not so much perhaps earlier ones )
Id be grateful for particulars.
so much of this, that, and this other
rather than just the calories involed
many thanks
The article was published in Cell Metabolism (a well-respected journal that does not publish 'pseudoscience'), and may be found here: http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/pdfExtended/S1550-4131%2815%2900224-7. The presentation of what is very clearly and honestly described as a pilot study on humans is on p. 9 (right hand column, bottom of page).
It's also important to consider this study in a broader context: preceding it are literally decades of credible studies addressing the effects of fasting on human health. This is no more some new 'food trend' than, say, washing your hands before eating. What makes this study interesting is that it explores an alternative to fasting that appears to yield similar effects.
Eating lightly 5 days a month is extremely unlikely to be difficult or problematic for most adults; it's quite a stretch to describe this as a 'low calorie lifestyle'.
Page 27 gives a clear breakdown of the macronutrient ratios employed, so this is easy to DIY if you have a scale and look up the caloric values of proteins, fats, and a carbohydrates; there's no need for (or claim that) special products must be used (although I'm certain some pople would appreciate the convenience of something of that sort, if it becomes available).
If you step back, and look at this as involving food as such, this kind of eating pattern also offers a great opportunity to amplify flavour in small portions of food, and really appreciate it in a way that only happens when you're truly hungry.
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Does it make sense to rate recipes?
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
I can see ratings being useful only if they reflect objective aspects, such as reliability in terms of delivering what was described as the outcome, and even then, you have assume a certain amount of uncertainty (individual error, inconsistencies owing to use of volume measurements or unreliable equipment). It's so easy to get caught up in subjective reactions (e.g. I've found ATK's recipes consistently reliable, at least when they also include weight measurements, but I haven't always loved the results, sometimes finding savoury things too sweet for my taste).