JoNorvelleWalker

I think we have been through this before. A premise of today's WSJ article is that American prejudice against MSG is racial and xenophobic. Evidence for which is lacking. I can't believe it was Dr. Kwok's intent to deprecate Asian cuisine or Asians when he published his warning of MSG. Speaking for myself, back in the '60's I was a devotee of the little red container. Or sometimes not so little red container. But a couple experiences have made me cautious. Once in the 1980's a friend and I had lunch at a local Hunan restaurant. Within an hour we were both incapacitated by a headache, an unusual form of headache: it is as if your mind turns off. The sensation is exceedingly unpleasant. The rest of the day is ruined. By happenstance I noticed an empty hundred pound drum of MSG behind the restaurant. Another time I dined with my family at a Thai restaurant they favor. My dish was delicious but within an hour I had the same reaction. Quite horrible. Next day my son ate the leftovers of my dinner with the same result. He is convinced the problem could not have been MSG. Perhaps, but then what is it? The symptoms do not correspond to any known food poisoning. At least known by me. And I affirm the unpleasantness is real. And if not MSG, what then is the cause? I spoke once with a local Chinese restaurant owner who said there was no need to use MSG in Chinese cuisine and he did not use it. Had no adverse reaction to his food. If the cause of Chinese Restaurant Syndrome is indeed not MSG it would be best to identify the cause and exonerate MSG, rather than deny the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome symptoms exist.

I wouldn't assume out of the bag that the seed chocolate was in proper temper.

Sorry, carry on. I was hoping what I saw was something more or less like this: https://pleasanthillgrain.com/haussler-alpha-mixer-heavy-duty-kitchen-dough-stand-mixer I was distracted by the chef.

Our library sells used books of course, and the cookbooks fly off the shelves. (Some don't make it as far as the shelves.)

@Duvel more information on the spiral mixer please.

...and you had?

Beautiful golf tees but it looks like something is about to get broken.

Well, yes, that's what I was getting at.

Something different. Thick crust four minute pizza. Tasty enough till the Duvel ran out.

My granddaughter is a Mandarin student and has had three trips to China. It didn't help. At least when I'm with her we don't have to order from the Caucasian menu. But I suspect dim sum does not have much to do with Mandarin.

Curiouser and curiouser. Tonight I cut into the boule. It looked like something @Ann_T might have posted, with the open and pearlescent crumb. I'm thinking my pale crust was due to lack of sugar after the long fermentation necessary to build strength. I still have no idea why this batch of dough failed to mix, and I can't even blame it on rum.

I started this thread about sourcing Vacche Rosse from parmashop.it. Oddly tonight amazon was recommending Vacche Rosse for me. Turns out Parmashop now has an amazon storefront for the convenience of those interested in such delicacies.

Though I will put in a plug for Eat Your Books. Not all recipes have made it to the internet.

I clicked on the Phillips book. Though I have never had Dim Sum. The one time when my family and I went for Dim Sum we all ordered other stuff.

This week's bread... was weird. It wouldn't mix. In my defense I had just come home from the doctor and I was a little out of it. Not sure where I went wrong. I had to do several folds by hand to build the necessary strength. Note the bread never got very brown, even with additional time in the oven. Some things I do not understand. Tasted OK though.

No, I am not stalking my friend @chefmd For one thing amazon sold this to me as a ribeye.* Contrary to the label it didn't even taste dry aged. For another, contrary to @chefmd I cooked mine before serving: Bearnaise: Satisfactory, but I don't care for possibly-dry aged strip steak being pawned off as dry-aged ribeye. *Amazon awarded me a $5.00 credit.

Wonderful article by George Mahe, Rob! The Post-Dispatch piece is blocked...says I am using an ad blocker. I am not.* One less rag I would ever wish to read. *I do use an ad blocker on my iPad. But this is not my iPad.

Shoprite had limes. Not many, but a few nice ones.

I noticed today that my strawberry plants are flowering.

Thank you @teonzo for the idea. The proportions would be off because I have been enjoying my pistachio pudding. I still have pistachio paste left so I may try again. But not today.

@jbates the chocolate is Felchlin Maracaibo Creole 49%. https://www.felchlin.com/en/product/cacao-maracaibo I spun it for as long as my old arms could stand, outside in the snow. (Crass hyperbole -- I was outside under a covered breezeway.) About 15 minutes. @teonzo remember I was using less chocolate than Brunner recommends. I double checked this with my contact at Brunner.

Another failure. The chilled mix was about as viscous as the last batch. I didn't bother to try to spin. As consolation the stuff tastes pretty good. I shall call it pistachio pudding and be done. Teo, I like fat. Fat and eggs. For example, this. And, you know, that pistachio pudding is good stuff. (Not that I mind enjoying pistachio butter right out of the melanger.)

I'm guessing liquid nitrogen.

I failed: 3.40C. The nice thing about a thermometer that reads hundredths is you can watch the temperature rise and call it wherever you like. Oh, and the Duvel was good.

By popular demand --- pictures of the inside of the egg... Comments welcome. No reports of taste.