Rory Hart

Interesting I will try this asap! Thanks!

Thanks! Yeah I am pretty sure it was a combination of under hydration and under drying. It is a pretty easy recipe all told and I have plenty of flour so I am going to try doing it without the stock so as to not waste effort and good ingredients and see if I can get it right.

I measured and it was the requisite diameter on the wide side. The roll had sunk somewhat so it was more oblong but I gave it the same cooking time as specified since the widest part had the same diameter as required.

What sort of textural differences?

Turned out beautifully! The salmon came out of the bag a touch over seasoned at the tail end and I only cured it for two of the recommended three. The fleshy 2/3s were delicious however and I served it last night as tartare with toast points and creme fraiche as suggested in Charcuterie. Will do the tail for a day less next time. I also stored it after washing in ziploc bags with the air pressed out for 4 or so days and they were just as good as when they went in. No idea about longer. I think I will* do the dice smaller than that next time it was a little hard to manoeuvre on the plates and didn't hold its shape well when formed with a ring. * It was so delicious and simple (apart from the forward planning and skinning) that I have to do this dish again.

Last night I had the first in a series of dinners I am cooking for the group of friends who gave me MC for my birthday last year. I will do a full write up on my blog and share once I recover, two days of shopping and cooking and not a little bit of stress and now I have a cold I thought I would share the main MC dish of the evening now though (the others just used the techniques from the books) the Thai Crab Miang (5-189). The main part of the dish (the salad) worked really well. I played with the ratios of the different components (the paste, syrup etc) slightly when mixing the salad just before serving starting with a touch less of all and adding more by taste. Unfortunately the crackers were unsuccessful for a couple of reasons. Firstly I don't think I got them dry enough, in part because I sliced them by hand so they came out 2mm+ and in part because I was drying them in an oven. This caused them to not puff in the centre and even the edges were a little bit rubbery. Secondly the centre of the cracker roll was not cooked properly, I cooked it for the dictated time but obviously something didn't quite work the same. The centre 3-4mm was still white with another few mm having a gradient of white to the desired red/brown. Both of this issues are eminently fixable obviously. I will have to make some more shellfish stock and have another crack at it (oh no will have to eat more shellfish *what* shall we do?!). Plating the dish attractively I found rather difficult, I hadn't planned too much thinking the betel leaves and crackers would be enough. I found once plated the salad was a bit of an homogeneous lump, not the most attractive dish I am afraid. This is likely in part due to my novice level when it comes to plating and I think I over stirred the salad while playing with the flavours. Anyway I took of photo of the most dressed up one (of course) at an attractive angle with the nicest looking of the crackers to share. Plating really is an art form all to itself! Oh yes and smashing pomelo segments (in my case ruby grape fruit segments) with LN2 (liquid nitrogen) is *a lot* of fun. I did far more than than was required!

We went to Izakaya Den last night, I've been to a few Izakayas in Melbourne and Japan so I thought I know what to expect. It turned out to be a more fusion experience that I had expected, both the food and dining style having Western and Japanese influences. It was a bit of a hassle to find, with no signage on the stairs down and a big black curtain behind the door making it look closed. You wouldn't have a clue it was there if you didn't know about it, my dining companions remarked it is so very Melbourne to do that. The service was decent, they lost an order for a drink then forgot to deliver a bill but it was pretty good apart from that. Of course the most important thing, the food was kick ass with only one disappointing dish (Tofu Cake) and a number of stand out ones (Duck Liver Parfait, Seasame Stir Fried Mushrooms and Apple Millefeuille). Anyone else been? A full run down of what we ate is on my blog: http://www.roryhart.net/food/izakaya-den/

The salmon went into the cure this morning.

It is probably a difference in curing processes. I don't mind Jamie, he is an excellent advocate for people thinking about what they eat. His recipes generally aren't overly exciting but they're solid and straight forward. That said I'd kill (a pig or two) to hang out with Bourdain. Didn't bother getting tickets to his show, I've watched so many of them already I don't think I would get anything out of it. But chatting to him over a beer (or meal) would be freaking awesome.

This different to what Charcuterie says: Pan size is important, because the fish will release a lot of liquid, forming in effect a highly seasoned brine in which it will cure; and you want the brine to cover as much of the fish as possible. Yay! I've seen a couple of us around, not surprising given what a foodie town this is especially atm with the festival on and the likes of Bourdain and Oliver on our streets and in our restaurants.

I am following the directions in Ruhlman and Polcyn's Charcuterie for the fennel cured salmon and am wondering if it is okay to cure the salmon in a ziploc bag. I regularly use ziplocs to cure bacon so I'm thinking there probably isn't any issue. They talk about using foil but that seems less convenient and I can get most of the air out of a ziploc so the cure covers the salmon more evenly. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks

I won't get to cook out of it for a couple of weeks, I am putting on a Modernist Cuisine dinner so all my extra cooking time is going into that at the moment. But once I do I'd love to contribute to a "Cooking with" thread.

Wow that looks fantastic!

I haven't made it, but it seems to me reading the recipe that it's got to be the oil for frying the crab crackers, right? The recipe makes 400g of oil, and in the sidebar they refer the the oil as "the frying oil" which is what they call for in the "Puffed Crab Crackers" recipe. That was my guess for the same reasons, I am curious to see how much flavour it will impart given the crackers are fried very quickly and already have a fair bit of shell fish flavouring. Perhaps a double blind study on my guests is in order! Perhaps it is a colour thing as the bottom right of 5-191 talks about the crab pigment's solubility in fat. Yeah I assumed you steamed the roll in the plastic wrap, I've seen something similar done somewhere else. Yeah dungeness makes no sense in the pomelo context, not being a North American I haven't got Dungeness Crab as an option, will be using whatever picked crab the fishmonger has available next weekend. Makrud lime leaves threw me as well but Google/Wiki says they're the same as Kaffir lime leaves. I've even been able to find Betel leaves which is *really* exciting as I've not found them before.

Has anyone done the Thai Crab Miang recipe(5-189)? I cannot see for the life of me where the Crab Oil is used!

I just got Odd Bits the other day, I have heard about Jennifer's previous books in the past but this is the first one I have purchased. Overall impressions are great, well presented and well written with lots of interesting recipes! Looking forward to trying many of them. Will report back when I have done so! Has anyone else who has gotten the book tried any of the recipes yet? I also blogged on the book: http://www.roryhart.net/books/odd-bits-jennifer-mclagan/

Mussels in beer broth I blogged this one as it turned out so well: http://www.roryhart.net/food/mussels-in-beer-broth/

I just got a fresh meal solutions sous vide so of course everything is cooked sous vide right now. Sous vide Lamb Shoulder Chops Marinated in smoked paprika, lemon juice and olive oil for 30 mins. Cooked sous vide in a zip lock bag for 23 mins at 61°C, then smacked on the grill for 30 secs a side to colour. They were perfectly cooked but I've cooked chops on the grill to almost as good as this. Likely leaving them to cook for a couple of hours will tenderise them somewhat. Served with minted yoghurt, leafy greens and some couscous. Sous vide rolled Lamb loin Cooked sous vide for 40mins at . . . I forget now and can't check Modernist Cuisine as I am at work. It was quite high however. The loin unrolled as I seared the fat but didn't hurt the flavour. Served with a red wine jus and roast vegies (roast potato cooked in goose fat FTW). The plates I served it on were cold however so what warmth there was in the meat was gone very quickly, newbie mistake not made with the chops above.

Well it would seem that my partner is getting me a fresh meal solutions PID for Xmas! So I shall put my arduino to good use in my charcoal webber for smoking. Thanks for the advice! I made the MC Mac & Cheese this evening. Just as fantastic and easy as others have reported. Scaled it up slightly and didn't have a 0.1gm increment scales for the Iota but it worked fine. Tempted to make some sachets of the dry mix for friends to try. Served with a chicken schnitzel, roast cherry tomatoes and peas. I am still working my way through this thread, has anyone played with the recipe? Was thinking of adding a pinch or two of cayenne pepper when I use the left over cheese. A little garlic wouldn't go astray either (but I am a garlic nut I must admit).

Pan Roasted Quail in thyme and butter. First time out cooking quail and I was blessed with some beautifully moist birds. Quick (20 mins in total inc prep!) and simple. I will be cooking quail again for sure.

Will use a slow cooker to begin with so won't be worrying about the heaters and such. I don't trust my electronic skills to the point of ensuring I don't burn the house down. I am building my own as I would like to hook it up to the network and monitor it from work and such. Rory

Hi, So I found egullet after reading about it in Modernist Cuisine. I doubt I am the first either huh? I've had MC for about a month but I haven't actually cooked any of the recipes from it yet. I have used many of the techniques though as well as messing around with xanthan gum in various things such as sorbet and ice cream. I have yet to invest in a sous vide, I am dithering over making my own with an arduino PID ala http://www.over-engineered.com/projects/sous-vide-pid-controller/ or picking up either the Magic or Polyscience professional. I really like the idea of making my own as I am a bit of a hacker and a PID isn't that complex. I am also scoring an old centrifuge of a friend of mine who works in science communication. I am enjoying reading all your exploits, I am at page 15 of this thread so far. Will catch up eventually! Looking forward to sharing my own! Rory

Sorry didn't mean that, they're diced up finely in the mix. Rory

Hey, First post on egullet, been lurking since I got a copy of Modernist Cuisine which mentions this place in the introduction. So I cooked this two nights ago: Sticky Soy and Garlic Meatballs. An original creation of a local Melbourne, Australia blogger 3 Hungry Tummies. There are water chestnuts in the meatballs which add a fantastic crunch. I got a new bottle of Chinese cooking wine for the recipe and it was worth shelling out for the "expensive" stuff (AU$6) as it was a noticeably pungent addition. The sauce was splendid, sweet, salty and so strongly garlicy. The vegies I stir fried with a tiny bit of oil and salt. I did a double batch and we all took it to work for lunch the next day and it was just as tasty! Will defiantly be doing it again for week night meals and might test out how well the raw balls freeze. Recipe: http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.com/2011/12/sticky-soy-and-garlic-meatballs.html Rory