TheTInCook

Aside from what the others said, it could have broken from getting too warm during grinding or mixing. Also you could try adding non fat dry milk or soy protein.

I like using the peeled garlic I get in Styrofoam trays at the Asian market. I assume they break it down from a big jar of the stuff. There doesn't appear to me to be a trade off for the convenience, except I think that garlic in the skin roasts better. As for the jarred minced stuff, I've had to use it in a pinch at work due to necessity. It wasn't as bad as I'd have thought it would be, and it certainly beats no garlic at all. Pickled garlic is kinda popular now, and it's essentially the same thing.

Just put up 2kg of lemons worth of preserved lemons from the Preserved Lemons recipe from 6-174. Is that the right amount of salt and sugar (50% and ~25% respectively)? It's been a long time since I've made preserved lemons, and it seems like an awfull lot.

Tried making pressure cooker carnitas yesterday. It was the first time I've ever used a pressure cooker, so I'm still getting used to the kinks. It seems like I used too much water. I used the jus to make a batch of beans in the pc, instead of reducing it down to add to the pork. 30 minutes at 15psi gave soft meat, but it was drier and less succulent then the carnitas I've made the old fashioned way. Next time, I think I'll let the meat rest in the jus so it can reabsorb some of it. I didn't shred and deep fry per the instructions. I just crisped them up in my cast iron skillet with a little oil. I liked the ratio of crispy to tender meaty I got that way. One odd thing I noticed, is that when I went to crisp up a batch tonight for dinner, the pork sucked up the oil. Almost like it was eggplant! All in all, I think it's winner. I just need to tweak it a bit for my taste, and get more practice in with the pressure cooker.

Tarts of any kind. Spiced things. Meat pies or pasties.

Get a pizza screen. They help get the crust crisper.

I bought a 23qt Presto pressure canner from Amazon for the flexibility the size gives me. Its a jiggle top though. My understanding from looking at a some of the pressure cooking stuff is that most of it can be cooked in a container inside a pressure cooker. I hope that's true. There might have to be some adjustments for moisture, like in the peanut sauce recipe.

I second tamales, but then I'm a tamale freak. I'm going to try some of the modernist techniques on wings this year.

I agree with you that it's supposed to be a thick drink. Here in Los Angeles, we have this bakery/tortillaria/restaurant chain El Gallo Giro. I think it's Michocaon style. Their champurrado is thick, and even has little chunks of corn in it from their masa. When I make it at home, I just make a slurry of Maseca and use it to thicken the chocolate.

Thanks for the info and your blog, Liuzhou. I didn't notice any in the fresh, dried, or paste form at the market. They only had the dry split kernels for sale, kind of looking like split blanched almonds.

How do I use these? Just like any other nut in chinese cooking? I've seen two types in the market, labeled as north and south. I've no idea what the difference is.

Thanks for the info guys!

Thomas Keller is pretty definite about excluding many green vegetables from sous vide, though his concern is in part preserving color. He prefers "big pot boiling" where one cooks just to the point of tenderness in a gigantic, very salty pot of boiling water, then plunges into ice water to arrest the cooking. This was one of the better home cooking lessons from The French Laundry Cookbook, reprised in Under Pressure. Greens like collards and kale aren't usually cooked like that. They're pretty tough, so they are generally braised for a long time. They certainly don't keep their vibrant color.

Regarding the stuff cooked in the pressure cooker in the mason jars;, garlic confit, onions, etc. Do you have to use a mason jar? Can you just do it in a sv bag or a ziploc, or even just a foil covered bowl?

Made some good short/medium grain brown rice using 1.5 water to 1 rice on the brown rice setting of my cooker. I also agree with washing white rice. Cleanliness issues aside, the texture of the unwashed rice is unpleasant to me. Anybody wash their rice if they are going to fry it for a pilaf? I usually don't.