JoNorvelleWalker

I will never again steam bake my chicken thigh an hour at 300F, but with the CSO actually set at 450F. Sometimes it pays to trust your nose rather than the clock.

I like goulash. I haven't made it in forever. I dug out the recipe. Nope, not going to happen, never be able to masticate that beef. Any young maidens dying to come over and prechew, please PM. Grinding with bacon sounds the best suggestion. Or better, just bacon. But I have no bacon.

I've been only once to Amsterdam and what I desired more than anything else was a vanilla milkshake.

I didn't bake today, but for a test I ran the CSO bread function and timed it. From the audio and visual cues it appears the bread function applies steam for the first eight minutes of the cycle. I question if eight minutes is really long enough to be ideal. Hamelman calls for steam until the bread colors. I'm sure there is a discussion somewhere in Modernist Bread about how long to steam in general, though I am still puzzled why MB calls for baking on the steam-bake function. Not that bread baked on the steam-bake function is bad by any means. Sad that @nathanm never shows up anymore. Anyhow Hamelman's book Bread is a whole lot easier to lift. Another puzzlement: although I wasn't baking I was retrograding the starch of a several day old loaf. I do this often using steam and then convection bake. What I noticed this time was that the bottom burnt. No big deal for my dinner as I can just cut the burnt parts off. But now I question if the bread function is really, really doing the same thing as steam-bake followed by convection bake. I never recall the bottom having burnt before.

Before I posted I already had my refund from amazon. They said I could keep the steak. As much as I'm tempted I'd hate to throw it out.

I had never heard of a chuck eye steak but it sounded interesting. Today amazon had chuck eye steak on offer and I made my purchase. When it arrived with some disappointment I noticed the label read "Beef Round Eye Round Steak". To my knowledge chuck is from the shoulder while round is from the nether end. Can these cuts be marketed the same? Anyhow the meat looks like round and not like chuck. It does not look like the chuck eye steak picture on the prime now website. My teeth are not the greatest and I detest beef round almost as much as kale. Can sous vide redeem chuck eye steak if it's cut from the round? I'd consider grinding the meat but there is essentially no fat except for a small strip on one side. I could pound it, I suppose, but I'm not sure pounding it would really help. It might make me feel better.

Oh, good! I was afraid you would say kale.

Thanks, I may give the bread setting another try. Do you preheat your CSO? I have a half inch steel plate in mine and I preheat for at least an hour.

Tonight: I do repent me I spent most of my existence without good pizza.

You are cruel. It's resting in the trash. I know, as my father used to say: "Willful waste makes woeful want."

I'm thinking next time to try 10 minutes steam, 20 minutes no steam and see what happens. Edit: even so, as I remember, even full 30 minutes steam is preferable to the bread setting. I suspect the bread setting doesn't steam for long enough, at least for a boule.

At the time I found the cashew I was not eGulleting. But by coincidence the last time I was eating cashews at the computer (until, that is, just now) I was indeed eGulleting. Nuts.com has $10 off at the moment and I am desperately trying to work down inventory.

One of the joys of eGulleting in this weather are my cozy fleece-lined moccasins. This afternoon one foot was uncharacteristically uncomfortable. This evening when I went to take my shower I found a cashew.

Jury returned and my boule crust was my finest ever. Once again I must call out Modernist Bread for bad advice. This was 15 minutes steam, 15 minutes no steam. Really, no comparison.

Forgive me that I do like chicken cacciatore. This time (besides Soave) washed down with a goodly glass of Appleton 21. Tomorrow is shaping up to be a snow day. If tomorrow is not a snow day I may regret this. Bread not shown but some of my best loaves ever. Oh, why not -- bread shown.

What is the white stuff?

What new blade??

Baguette at least was excellent. Nice translucent crumb that is doesn't always have. Rest will be my lunch for work in a few hours.

Forgive me, for breakfast it seems odd. According to 23andme I am only 0.1 percent Chinese. Later today I should see a colleague who is a master CSO bao maker and, should I remember, I'll ask her. Edit: @liuzhoumy friend gave me a look like I must be crazy. She added she eats pizza for breakfast as well.

For breakfast?

Tonight's loaves. My back's been out so I've been forced to make haste slowly. As a scientist I am ashamed. I changed at least three variables: For this batch mixing was one minute on speed 1 of the KitchenAid and three minutes on speed 4. But the poolish was beginning to collapse by the time I started so I added half again more yeast to compensate. Normally for the boule I'd steam bake thirty minutes, per Modernist Bread. This time I switched from steam bake to convection bake for the final fifteen minutes. The jury is still out. Though I must say the crust feels lighter and more fragile. When I finish off my Mississippi punch I'll go cut into the baguette.* Cheese and wine are waiting.** *if I can still stand. **as is a little green apple.

Thank you sincerely. I am almost embarrassed.

Stephen Beckett The Science of Chocolate comes in Kindle... http://amzn.com/0854049703

I confess the rosemary is out of a jar. Last spring as I was moving my rosemary plant outside I dropped the pot and broke it. On the dinning room rug. But there is a lot of garlic.

Chicken cacciatore... Sorry if this seems repetitive.