JoNorvelleWalker
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Posts posted by JoNorvelleWalker
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Another reason I like the All American pressure canner/cookers. No gasket.
How do they make their seal?
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What size is the gasket? A lot of asian appliance places sell various sized silicone gaskets and you could probably find one for just about any size.
The diameter is 10". But I'd be a bit afraid to use a non-standard part in a pressure cooker. Is this a realistic fear?
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I noticed today that Cook's Illustrated rated Fissler their favorite, and the only tested model to reach the US standard of 15 PSI. I am not sure exactly which Fissler. From the picture I think perhaps the Vitaquick 8.5 quart.
Since I just purchased an ice cream maker I am not likely to be replacing my broken Cuisinart pressure cooker any time soon. I was quite happy with the Cuisinart but they don't make replacement gaskets. Something to keep in mind when shopping for a pressure cooker.
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Does anyone have experience with the Cuisinart ICE-100?
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By happenstance I made fresh egg pasta last night for the first time in about fifteen years. I dug out my Cuisinart extrusion pasta maker (same unit as sold as Simac). The hard part was locating all the pieces, and then cleaning them. I used 300g semolina and three large eggs. Worked perfectly. I slightly over cooked the pasta though, but I still have more in the refrigerator.
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I have had two wonderful braises since my last update. I cooked some beef chuck well browned in pork fat in my smallest Le Creuset with carrots, fennel, onions, garlic. The last of it I served over fettuccine (not home made, though, I confess) with much fresh parsley.
The second was another batch of Wolfert's chicken with apricots and pine nuts, even better than the first time I prepared it. I have acquired a SimmerMat that I use in conjunction with my ILSA heat diffuser. Both of them together allow me to maintain very low braising temperatures as Paula Wolfert suggests. But with temperatures between 170-175 degrees F, cooking times are many hours. The food can cook all day. Not having to do with braising, but I am pleased that I was able to make some quite good pseudo Moroccan stone baked flatbread on my first attempt.
I have another small piece of chuck and I am wondering what to do with it.
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I realize this is a bit late, but no one mentioned Nigel Slater's Tender, A cook and his vegetable patch.
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jrshaul not sure if you are interested in a ganache for cake or for chocolates but one of these two books should be very useful:
"The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum
"Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner" by Peter Greweling
You should be able to get both from the library and there are discussion threads about these on eGullet too.
The Cake Bible technique is what I use. Not that I've made ganache in a while.
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The polenta I made for the ribs was plain with butter on it, which is how I like my polenta. I don't think the ribs were bad, just that I don't have the right combination of time and temperature yet.
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I did a major double-take at the amount of liquid you used. That's your problem, plain and simple.
If the liquid reply was to me, for the lamb shank I used a level of about an inch in my smallest Dutch oven. For the other recipes that I mentioned I followed the authors' instructions as exactly as I could. Were you thinking I should use less liquid or more liquid?
My latest experiment was pork spareribs braised in balsamic vinegar and red wine. I got the idea from someone named Nemmie in a blog I found from google:
http://scottnemmiefa...onzola-polenta/
I started with a full rack of ribs, parboiled then browned them. After seven hours on the stovetop the ribs were tasty but not tender, After five more hours in the oven at 225F the next day, they were tender but a bit stringy. Good, but not perfect. By education (decades ago) I was a protein chemist, and this is very frustrating. Now I'm wondering if I cook the ribs further if they will just get tougher.
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Here is what I use:
Though it only goes up to 300 degrees F. This probe is a thermistor, not a thermocouple.
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My braising experiments were interrupted by hurricane Sandy. As an update, I received my Le Creuset tagine, and I now have two tagines: the Le Creuset and the unglazed Moroccan one from bramcookware. I have braised in each of them. The lids are the same diameter, and I can use the unglazed earthenware lid on the Le Creuset bottom!
The first recipe I made was the Lamb Tagine with Medjoul Dates that I mentioned above. I braised in the Moroccan tagine, but then I transferred to the Le Creuset bottom as I did not have the courage to place the unglazed earthenware in the very hot oven.
The dish was quite good, however I am still having a problem with braising times and temperatures. In the 2005 tagine thread http://forums.egulle...g/page__st__150 Paula Wolfert suggests 170F for a tagine braising temperature. However, at least in my hands, that low a temperature just does not work for the cooking times given in her recipes.
I next made Spicy Shrimp Tagine, from page 156 of Jeff Koehler's book Morocco. Indeed I have now made it twice. I used the iron Le Creuset as I did not want shrimp flavors in the earthenware. Results were perfect. The finished dish looks better than the pictures and it was easy. The shrimp braises for only 12 minutes however. Leftovers from the second batch should be my dinner tonight, possibly with pasta.
The next experiment was Chicken with Dried Apricots and Pine Nuts, Wolfert's The Food of Morocco page 282. Wonderfully delicious, but again I had to cook way longer than the recipe calls for.
As was suggested I've now read Molly Stevens' All About Braising. There are a couple of recipes that interest me, including Neapolitan Beef Ragu, which sounds similar to a Bolognese but with a whole piece of meat. Now that stores are starting to open after the hurricane, tomorrow I hope to be able to find something to braise, or at least something to eat.
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...made from cubes of veal and pork.
I just noticed "cubes". Do you not grind or mince the meats in this version? That sounds like it could be really good.
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There has been some progress.
First, thanks for the additional comments. Yes, I realize now that my cooking temperature was way too low. I did use a cartouche (not that I knew what it was called) and I had essentially no liquid loss from my braise.
I have not tried making it in years, but I used to cook a Bolognese sauce recipe from The Romagnolis' Table. This was back in the 1970's before I had Le Creuset. I might be tempted to try again this winter. And now I am hungry for lasagne.
Last night I degreased the broth and used it to make risotto Milanese, with which I served the lamb shank reheated in a splash of wine, on a bed of cilantro. The result was something I would have been pleased to be served in a restaurant.
This afternoon I received my unglazed earthenware tagine and was planning to cook in it tonight. However the seasoning process is long and I ran out of time. It's cooling in the oven now. What I did have for dinner was the rest of the lamb shank. Nothing was left but three pieces of dry bone.
What I plan to fix for the first dish in my new tagine is "lamb tagine with medjoul dates" from page 387 of Wolfert's the Food of Morocco. I have been drooling over this recipe for weeks. I am undecided whether to make it straight or to add a pinch or two of Zamouri's ras el hanout. I wonder whether the tagine will be able to take the heat of a 400 deg F oven, even though the company I purchased the tagine from assured me it would be OK, as long as the tagine was already hot when it was placed in the oven. We shall see.
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Thanks! Molly Stevens All About Braising is now on its way to me from the library. To join the following, which have been living on my dining table:
Ghillie Basan, Tagines & Couscous
Madame Guinaudeau, Traditional Moroccan Cooking
Meera Freeman, A Season in Morocco
Jeff Koehler, Morocco
Mourad Lahlou, Mourad New Moroccan
Paula Wolfert, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco
Paula Wolfert, The Food of Morocco
Koehler and Wolfert's books are the ones I would cook from. The other works were interesting, but the recipes are impractical (i.e. a Guinaudeau recipe calls for six pints of honey) or don't particularly speak to me.
Also on my dining table is Molly Stevens, All About Roasting, which I just realized (duh) is by the same author.
As to my poor lamb shank, last night I removed the meat from the pot and strained the broth. I reheated the beans for my dinner. Not sure yet what I want to do with the lamb and broth.
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I think Mjx is right.
Do everything as you did, but submerge the lamb shank or at least nearly so.
From reading the braising seminar, the participants concluded (I think) that braising with less liquid turned out better.
http://forums.egullet.org/topic/61979-braising-lab-%232-discussion/
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Finally. After about fourteen hours the lamb shank was tender and just right. The rest of the dish was quite edible, but not as good as I had hoped. Nothing had cooked down. Except for a slightly darker color everything looked as I had originally put it in the pot. The garlic cloves were whole, the tomato quarters were intact. The liquid had not reduced. I had been hoping for a nice thick sauce.
I couldn't degrease as the liquid did not come up to the level of the beans. All I could think of was to strain the solids, chill, and then degrease, but I did not feel up to doing that tonight. On the plus side, the bottle of malbec after having been open for a day was much improved! I would love to have ideas how I could improve the sauce for leftovers. For one thing I intend to bake some bread this weekend.
As for tagines, I looked at those from surlatable, thanks. I already have two tagines on order, but it was interesting to see what surlatable offered. The Le Creuset they have is tiny. It is only 8 inches. I live by myself but that seems too small even for one person. And I don't like the red color. The earthenware tagines they have are glazed, which is not what I would want.
I have an unglazed Moroccan tagine on order from bramcookware. And because I am not at all sure I can cook with unglazed earthenware, I ordered a Le Creuset. But a 12 inch Le Creuset, not one of the smaller ones, and not red! Probably any Berber woman could cook a tagine in unglazed clay, and maybe Paula Wolfert. But I am not they. Two of my friends have told me of disasters when their clay has cracked. But I'm going to give it a try.
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Thanks, everyone for the answers. I gave up for the night and had leftover fava beans for dinner. The lamb is still in the oven. Last I checked it was much more tender, but it has a ways to go. I will resume tomorrow. In one of my cookbooks I found a suggestion of 250 deg F for seven hours.
Heidi, the cannellini were not added dry, they were canned.
For the past couple months I have been on a Moroccan food kick, and want to be able to do braising on the stovetop, but I do not yet have a tagine. I've had very good results with spit roasted chicken mechoui and various other things.
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Braising has never been something I've done well. But I have studied the braising seminar and I am working on trying to improve my methods. Tonight has not been a good night.
I started with a good size white onion, a nice lamb shank, some home grown tomatoes, garlic (lots of garlic), cannellini beans, rosemary, bay leaves, chicken stock and an inexpensive tannic malbec. Not really a recipe.
In a Le Creuset dutch oven I browned the lamb shank in olive oil, removed it, sauteed the onion, added the cannellini, garlic, tomato, rosemary, and bay leaves. I put the browned lamb shank on top and poured in roughly equal amounts of stock and malbec to the level of about an inch. Then I inserted a temperature probe in the shank (maybe too close to the bone) and covered the ingredients with parchment paper. I put more parchment at the top so that hopefully the full weight of the lid was not resting on the cable for the temperature probe. Finally I placed the pot in a 200 deg F oven.
After two and a half hours the temperature of the meat was not quite 172 deg F. I turned off the oven, cracked the door, and allowed the temperature to slowly fall over the next hour. When I went to eat, after three and a half hours in the oven, the lamb was pink and hard, and the beans were soupy.
Figuring I could not make matters any worse, I put the pot back in a hotter oven, 250 deg F this time, and brought the temperature of the meat up to just over 181 deg F. I reduced the oven temperature to 225 deg F, and that's where I am now.
I believe I have undercooked the meat, but I may have overcooked it. Any advice would be most welcome.
Edit: I hope I have done the right thing in starting a new thread, rather than posting in an old one.
Pressure Cookers: 2011 and beyond
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
Sadly those parts are all for the Cuisinart electric models, not for the stovetop ones like my C86-24. Thanks for trying however.