Baselerd

Good argument, but I believe a lot of people subscribe to paranoia of ingredients they can't pronounce. Same with genetically modified produce. People are uncomfortable with anything they don't understand. I love the hipsters who order farm-to-table whole/vegan/organic food and balk at "processed" foods as they sip on their emulsifier-laced PBR.

You could probably use it as a substitute for any recipe calling for pumpkin puree. A few that come to mind: Pumpkin pie (duh) Pumpkin ice cream Pumpkin panna cotta Baked pumpkin breads/muffins/cakes

I actually like when waiters describe the specials - you're already eating there, it hardly seems like legitimate advertising at that point.

I think it's documented that some people react to certain alcohol-sugar combinations, maybe something to look into... Taking Benadryl before drinking sounds like a surefire way to pass out quickly and fall into a deep slumber... lol

anyone a suggestion about a product this big? thanks! Both Keller's Under Pressure and Humm's Eleven Madison Park Cookbook have sections on suckling pig sous vide. They both recommend breaking it down a bit and individually cooking the various sections at different temperature/time combinations, which makes sense because each type of tissue has different characteristics which lends itself to different cooking conditions. Obviously a lot more work though...

Seems like vaporware to me.. unfortunately

To be honest I've never made pork belly without the brine. My guess would be that it will be less flavorful and less juicy/succulent, since those are the reasons we brine meat.

I'll probably be attempting this soon, I've read through the thread and see some people have problems with crisping the skin, what do you do, if you don't mind me asking? I've tried quite a few ways of crisping the skin, two options that worked well for me: Deep Frying 1. Pat the belly dry 2. Toss to coat in corn starch 3. Deep fry at 375F until well browned (2-3 minutes) 4. Drain off excess oil on towel, and pat off excess oil with paper towels. At this point the meat should be nice and crispy. If you want to really elevate it, here's even more ridiculousness (adapted from Uchi Cookbook): 5. Make a sugar-based reduction (gastrique). My go to glaze is simple: caramelize some sugar, add fish sauce, garlic, onions, ginger, and soy sauce to deglaze. Reduce to a thick syrupy glaze consistency. 6. Brush an even coat of the glaze on the fried belly 7. Throw in the broiler on high for 2-3 minutes, until the glaze is crisp I promise you will not be dissapointed with this deep fried pork belly - its delicious without a glaze as well. Pan Searing 1. Pat belly dry 2. Heat a skillet or pan on med-high with some neutral oil for 2 minutes (until just smoking) 3. Throw on the belly skin side down, turn the heat to medium, and weigh the belly down with a heavy weight (I use a large ceramic bread pan). You need to get good even contact between the skin and the pan surface. Any spot not touching will not be crisped. 4. Cook until skin is fully golden and the fat has rendered from the skin (about 3-4 minutes). Below is a picture of the 2nd method. Even here you can tell the right side of the cut wasn't touching as well as the left. Another note: the liquid exuded from the pork belly in the SV bag is liquid gold - don't dump it! The Momofuku cookbook reccomends using it for ramen broth. I've used it as a base for pork jus and it works wonders.

I made this before somewhat - but transferred to a mason jar instead of cooking directly in the can. There has been a lot of controversy over the plastics used in canning recently - I figure best to just not worry about it and use another container. With that said, my dulce de leche turned out great.

Anyone interested in the Modernist Cuisine should give their Thanksgiving Stew a look-over. I made it earlier this year for a Thanksgiving in July sort of thing and it was - simply put - the best Thanksgiving meal I have eaten, much less cooked. The only special equipment you need is a Sous Vide rig.

If you read the fine print you do actually have to add a small amount of oil, a fact that Philips seems to make obscure (I believe they got into some legal trouble with their "just add air" commercials). It seems akin to something like a rapid high temp dehydrator...

I like to glaze meats with a fish sauce caramel reduction (usually caramelize sugar, then deglaze with fish sauce, add garlic/onions/ginger and reduce), then throw them on the broiler for a few minutes. I don't know if that qualifies as Asian - to me using fish sauce in anything would be bringing some Asian tradition (or ancient Greek) to the mixture. (Got my inspiration for this from the Uchi Cookbook, in which they use a version of fish caramel to glaze some deep fried/sous vide pork belly).

As you suggested beef short ribs are a great meat that can highlight the capabilities of sous vide cooking. My personal favoritie cut to cook sous vide is pork belly (1 day brine/1 day rest + 72 hours/140 F). It really will yield a melt in your mouth texture no other cooking technique can achieve.

Just an interesting thought - why does the MC microwave sponge cake require the batter to rest 2 hours prior to siphoning? I have been trying to get an almond sponge cake to rise well, but the results are denser than I would like...

Lavender honey + Sichuan peppercorn glazed duck has always been a favorite of mine, I'm sure it would be just as good on a chicken?

I recently made the Guinea Fowl dish from Eleven Madison Park, but with Chicken: SV chicken breast with brown butter, dehydrated grapes, poached/glazed grapes, shallot oat crumble, trumpet mushrooms, parsnip puree, and chicken sauce.

That's no way to treat another person regardless of the situation...

Pigs head torchon would be my go to... sounds more or less similar to what you plan on doing. They really should've chosen a different name other than head cheese... On another note, Pork cheeks/jowel are awesome sous vide if you have that capability.

A good technique is to bloom gelatin sheets in cold water, wring out excess water, then dissolve it in warm coconut milk.

Is calibration within .01 F really necessary?

Well put. With that said, though, short ribs are one of my favorite cuts to SV. If cooked right, SV short ribs can have an almost steak-like quality (or the more flaky traditional texture as well).

Should be fine, as long as the meat doesn't get freezer burn. Make sure it doesn't smell rancid after thawing. I would gently urge you to make the SV pork belly (I think in MC@H it's listed in the BLT sandwich recipe) instead of pressure cooked version. Having made both I can say without a doubt the sous vide version is much better, albeit a bit more work (brined, 72-hour sous vide, then pan seared).

I've had a Soda Stream for a while now (got it as a gift). Pretty neat device, but not very versatile. I hear lots of talk here about carbonating wine, how do you clean the system afterwards? I have the penguin model, the bottle interface is really hidden up in there. I use my ISI whip a lot more for carbonation; the combination of the wider container opening, cheaper/non-proprietary CO2 cartridges, and ease of cleaning means I can carbonate virtually any liquid or solid (fruits), unlike the Soda Stream. I agree with the people who mention the Soda Stream brand syrup taste pretty bad, but that's not a huge deal since any other syrup works just as well

Too true...

In general I think contemporary sauces can either refer to puree's and reductions (Nouvelle Cuisine, i.e. no starch/roux thicknerers) or use of modified starches, hydrocolloids, and gels (Modern Cuisine).