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Judy Wilson

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Posts posted by Judy Wilson

    [Modernist Cuisine at Home] Sandwich Bread

    in Cooking

    Posted

    hi mrestko,

    I'm not sure about the toasting issue, but as far as salt goes, did you use kosher salt or a fine table salt, and did you weigh it out or did you use the volumetric measurements? We tested the recipes with kosher salt, so if you used a finer-grained salt, and used volumetric measurements, that might have affected the saltiness.

    Hope that helps!

    Judy

    Cooking with "Modernist Cuisine at Home" (Part 1)

    in Cooking

    Posted · Edited by Judy Wilson (log)

    Part of my disappointment is that I don't have the tools for many of the recipes. I'd love to make the caramelized carrot soup (pp 178-179), but I don't have a blender or a (working) pressure cooker -- part of my love/hate relationship with Cuisinart who don't sell replacement parts. Can the soup be made without the pressure cooking step?

    I also don't have a digital scale, pacojet, blowtorch, combi oven, microplane, microwave, nor sous vide setup.

    You have to have the pressure cooker to achieve a higher temperature for the caramelization. The PC is a worthwhile purchase.

    Digital scales are cheap, but you can use cups/tbsp/etc.

    I wing the SV setup at this point by using digital probes. Pacojets aren't for the home cook.

    I really would like to have a pressure cooker again. Maybe if there is enough left over from my tax refund.

    While I don't have a digital scale, I have a nice analog scale. It's just not very good for micrograms. The smallest division is 5 grams. To make the peanut butter gelato I first weighed out three tablespoons of xanthan gum, then calculated that 0.3 grams was approximately a third of a quarter teaspoon. Fortunately the recipe worked. I've been looking at some digital scales that will measure milligrams. Does anyone have thoughts or recommendations?

    I mentioned not having a pacoject only because MC@H devotes a full page to it! Not sure why I never got a microplane. Perhaps because they come in so many shapes and sizes.

    [Modernist Cuisine at Home] Sous vide vegetables

    in Cooking

    Posted

    There are a lot of sous vide vegetable recipes in MC. In MCAH, it's true that there aren't quite as many, but there are some.

    Some that come to mind:

    Vegetable stock

    Vichyssoise

    Potato Puree (and variations)

    Grilled Applesauce

    You might be interested in showing off what sous vide can do for eggs, too. Not just in egg dishes, but in pastry creams, etc. Sous vide is also great for infusions and we have several such recipes for those, too.

    Hope that helps!

    Judy

    Using natural pH indicators in cooking

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Hi trey_rowzie,

    We go over pH quite a bit in Modernist Cuisine. You might check out the sections on using a pH meter (page 2·316), the chemistry of pH (3·194), and color change (3·274-275) (plus many other sections). Like maztec, we also recommend using a pH meter.

    Pressure Cooker: Questions for the home cook

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Hi Architeuthis,

    I personally have this model, which suits me as a home cook:

    http://www.amazon.com/Kuhn-Rikon-3916-Duromatic-Pressure/dp/B0000Y73UQ?ie=UTF8&tag=modercuisi-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0982761007

    The two settings are usually for 8 psi and 15 psi respectively. You just want to make sure that you get one that goes to 15 psi.

    Kuhn Rikon is our favorite brand of pressure cooker, but we realize that for someone just trying out pressure-cooking, they may not want to spend that much money. So we recommend Fagor as our favorite brand in the lower price range.

    Cooking with "Modernist Cuisine at Home" (Part 2)

    in Cooking

    Posted

    After weeks of having the book, and not having the time to cook, I spent most of Sunday doing just that...only to get much less done than I expected. I could really use 3 more pressure cookers.

    1. Carnitas set my timing back, since I could not find achiote paste.
    2. I had to make PC garlic confit for the paste, which was on my list to do anyway, but that took the first two hours of cooking. I finished the paste up at night, and it smells great (as did the garlic, of course).
    3. Meanwhile, I made the carotene butter, which is simpler (not PC or SV needed). Used bottled carrot juice from Whole Foods.
    4. I had to make use of my rigged SV set up, so I moved on to another infused butter -- Porcini Butter. This was a failure, and I wonder if the directions are murky. It calls for "crumbled dry porcini", so I used dried shiitakes, which I pulverized in the food processor. There wasn't close to enough liquid from the butter to mix with the dry mushrooms, so I ended up with something more like mushrooms poached in butter, not the other way around. Should the recipe call for fresh mushrooms? When I read "dry", I think "dried".
    5. Next in the PC -- veg confit. Definitely a success, but I would like to add more herbs next time (and find a way to make a larger batch). That's great; I have a technique to play with. I used one jar since two of the ones that I have would not fit (either due to height or the small trivet included with the PC), and it was fine.
    6. PC brown pork stock, which didn't finish to almost midnight, for the carnitas. I realllly wish I had doubled or tripled (if room allowed) the recipe, since 2/3 of it will be used in the carnitas. If the yields are so low, even though the effort is low (vs.traditional stockmaking) is it really worth it? I want to be able to stock my freezer with these building blocks.
    7. Tuna confit brined; will make that and the PC chickpeas tonight or tomorrow.
    8. Soups postponed until sometime this week -- PC caramelized carrot, and apple-turnip (instead of parsnips) -- I just have tons of turnips from my CSA that I need to do something with. I plan on doubling or tripling these since the yield seems low.
    9. Made an orange oil using the lemon oil ratio as a template on Saturday, but it came out bitter; I was trying to use up some old oranges, so that is probably the issue.

    I'm finding that I wish there were more non-PC recipes.

    Hi Reignking,

    Sounds like quite the undertaking!

    I buy achiote paste at a local Mexican market in Seattle. I'd recommend checking for such markets in your area, or using the recipe in MCAH.

    Judy

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