weinoo

The first time I made the celeriac, I julienned by hand...it worked well. food processor is fine...don’t be afraid.

It's probably been me. But it really is an ingenious device; the output works perfectly for these types of salads. Which make sense, considering both the salads and the device are French. Also great for grating parmesan. I wonder if it'll work for shredding potatoes for latkes?

I would sub by weight.

Joan Nathan, the author of some of my favorite books about "Jewish" cooking, takes on latkes. And undoubtedly makes a friggin' mess... Because, you know... A Genius Method for Making Latkes

I prefer private lessons. But they are both so far away from me.

I actually just had an epiphany. Or I figured out what I screwed up. The biga was right around 70% hydration. So while removing the 100 grams of flour and water in the proper proportions, I actually reversed the proportions and removed 70 grams of flour and 30 grams of water, when I should have removed 70 grams of water and 30 grams of flour. I'm an idiot!

I cooked. A little. Spaghetti all'Amatriciana. Sautéed Belgian endive on the side.

And the bread, baked the following (yesterday) morning... So here's where I tend to get myself in trouble. I did the Forkish overnight white, but with 100 grams of biga substituting for 100 grams of flour and water in the proper proportions. Biga just changes the bread, in my opinion (and as it should, I guess). I like the flavor a lot, and it looks quite light, but it's actually a little dense. Didn't get the oven spring I sometimes see, but I think I just dicked around with the dough a bit too much. I swear I'm gonna take notes. And if I could get @Ann_T to teach me how to make baguettes, when @Franci is done teaching me how to make pizza bianca, I'd be golden!

Ordering in or going out really cuts down on the mess most of all. But doesn't all cooking make a mess?

Yesterday, I rearranged the racks in my oven, in order to make it more amenable to some baking I hope to do. I also reintroduced the baking steel, cleaned it first and re-seasoned it as well. I have one of the big ones - sucker weighs 24 lbs. or so, so I intend to leave it in the oven for the foreseeable future. My first reintro to baking in the real oven, and I started with focaccia...with a biga, from a recipe in one of the first baking books I bought, the Il Fornaio baking book (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). I hope, one day, to make as beautiful a pizza bianco as @Franci, but that will take some time. In the interim... The thicker, sometimes softer version of focaccia (from the Ligurian region, I think). Was good.

The difference being - then you have to go to H Mart!

You mean like this?

Also...sour cream.

Stop with the frozen hash browns.

Sure - but is it truly a vinaigrette once you add the mayo? Or is it a mayogrette?

This works with a regular chicken for sure; certainly with the dark meat and wings. By an hour though, the breast is basically inedible (to my taste) on many birds. Although I guess if for that first hour you're barely poaching a larger bird, it can be ok. I like to remove the breast and bone it out before starting the stock (basically I cut up the whole bird), go forward and make the stock, and then just poach the breast in that stock. That way I end up with perfectly poached breast meat, which makes an awesome chicken salad. Makes Sig Eater super happy.

Of course, to really go French... this helps tons... I do think how nicely the root is shredded/julienned makes a difference in the final taste.

Let's go French. This is the recipe @Shelby was referring to, when she was referring to me referring to Lebovitz in the post she was referring to. No horseradish necessary; just some nice, spicy mustard.

On these old birds, I just toss the whole lot after I've made the stock. True, true. But I can't abide by the meat at this point, no matter what you do to it. Actually, the cat runs away from it too.

You won't be disappointed - just be careful peeling the stuff! Oh - I see you have two - start with one to see if you like the salad. You can always cook the celeriac - goes great with potatoes for a nice mash.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=694359814787590

With the weather cooperating a little bit more (i.e. occasionally normal temps for December 3), I start using the real oven. While I love the steam girl, it just isn't quite the same as cranking up the real thing; gas fired, convection, big so I can cook more than one thing at a time. Sometimes even (almost) whole meal... So I roasted a couple of chicken legs, some sweet potatoes and some baby Yukon golds.The skin on the chicken was absolutely perfect; yes, even better than the CSO. And my new method (new for me) is to slice up the Brussels sprouts, before simply sautéing them in a little butter and olive oil, with only salt and pepper. Wife said: "man, these are so sweet." With zero anything else.

Oy vey!! Chinese food?

Nothing like an old hen for soup. They're usually available, 2 to a bag at the Chinatown groceries here, for around $5. They've been around the block - and they look it! Chicken soup, be it with matzo balls or noodles (never rice with my mishpucha) or both, was a presence at every holiday meal. And I love making chicken soup from scratch...that is, first the stock or brodo, then the soup. I find it quite comforting. I won over my wife by making her chicken matzo ball soup followed by roast chicken etc. etc. the first time I cooked for her. She's still around! (And I'm still doing the cooking).

I got a ration of shit somewhere for telling someone their vegan hotdog (i.e. a carrot on a bun) wasn't, nor should it be called, a hot dog. Nor should things be called meatballs unless they actually contain, you know, meat.