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Syzygies

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Everything posted by Syzygies

  1. I live in two places, and I like to tape recipes to the cupboard over my butcher block, to scribble on and mark off ingredients as I work. Before eBooks, I scanned any recipe I cooked, to have either location and to print for marking up. Certainly, the quality of eBooks is variable, and the price is set by publishers oblivious to these subtleties. And when the eBook price is so close to the physical book price that I sense gouging, I resist buying the book unless it is indispensable. Even if one accepts blind greed, there is a computation they should be making: If I buy three times as many $10 books as $20 books, don't they make more money pricing eBooks at $10? I'd like to own pretty much every cookbook written. I show restraint on physical books because of space limitations, and I show restraint on eBooks because of pricing. (And, the Kindle's inability to create nested folders for organizing many books reminds me of the early days of personal computers; they're limiting their customers who collect, and I hope they come to their senses.)
  2. Legend has it that more than one person has bought the farm after dropping a hair dryer into the bath they were taking. At least some lawyers are convinced this is more than legend, as hair dryers now come with built-in GFCI circuit trippers, even though modern bathroom outlets should themselves be GFCI. I'm thinking that one should plug the Anova into a GFCI circuit. Anything that can happen, will happen. In my NYC apartment, alas, I balked at swapping in such an outlet after seeing the in-wall wiring. But there's also the option of putting in GFCI circuit breakers at the circuit breaker box. Working on a circuit breaker box is roughly as easy as changing a light bulb, actually easier than working on wall outlets (they're beautifully designed, unlike walls), though many people who have swapped wall outlets view the circuit box as off-limits. Worth rethinking...
  3. In Madhur Jaffrey's "Invitation to Indian Cooking", she imagines on p6 a British officer in full uniform, about to leave India for the voyage home, tearfully asking his cook "Why don't you mix me a box of those wonderful spices that you have been using..." [hastily throwing spices into box] "Here is the box, sa'ab, if you friend also like, for a sum of two rupees each, I can make more boxes for them as well..." Of course, I can see both sides to this. As a freshman in college, I only made pumpkin bread, as a late night snack. Various women on my dorm hall were aghast to see my tin of "pumpkin pie spice", and patiently explained to me how I could in fact buy the individual spices. "Are you kidding?! Do you know how much those tins would cost? Do you know how much pot that would buy?!"
  4. The modern German language is said to have been standardized by Martin Luther's translation of the bible, while holed up in Wartburg Castle, Eisenach. While I was standing in his "study", the barest of possible stone rooms with an astonishing view, an Italian communist politician explained to me the back story. Very amusing to hear it that way, his supporters were all about keeping the tithe in Germany that was going to the Vatican. Hey, follow the money. So what book standardized the Italian language? La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiare bene by Pellegrino Artusi. Reading the original Fanny Farmer cookbook, I was struck by exactly how much molasses my ancestors used. Here, I'm struck by the vast amounts of nutmeg used in this book. And I thought I had a problem with reflexively using black pepper (and Spanish red peppers).
  5. The stale-by-the-time-you-get-it-home, wheat and yeast baguette is anything but traditional. Like so many things made from white flour, it's a textural parlor trick at the expense of flavor. This is France's contribution to fast food. At least in that light it's classier than what passes for fast food in the United States. Give me Pain Poilâne any day.
  6. Your link didn't work for me, but I believe that you mean this unit: Apogee Single Counter Top Cooktop It does look great.
  7. Thanks for taking the time, and welcome! Many of us here have had our eyes on the Anova, awaiting its release.
  8. I've also taken a number of week-long Thai cooking classes from Kasma Loha-unchit. Highly recommended: Thai Food and Travel. She did keep around tubs of Spectrum Organic Shortening, which I've been buying ever since. This is also derived from coconut (palm), but it is softer, more like Crisco or lard. Kasma would use this for desserts, but we experimented with substituting it for peanut oil in savory courses. For desserts one got a higher quality and more flavorful crust when frying. The effect on savory stir-frying was judged to be an expensive improvement, but not transparent if one were used to peanut oil. And arguably the "right" oil for stir-fries would be lard rendered at home from scraps from one's precious meat supply. As in the old days, before corporate soy oil invaded Asia. I've used all of the above, and I'd recommend the palm shortening over coconut oil, for the OP's purpose. Not traditional, but a worthy experiment. I'll also plead guilty to a breach of tradition: While I love to pound pastes from scratch, a Vita-Prep commercial blender can do that hour's work in five minutes. However, it needs a bit of liquid to work. I pour coconut cream from the can into the blender, ending up with both the paste and the initial oil for cooking the paste. This works, as I suspected with reasoning similar to the OP's. (Try this with an ordinary home blender, and you'll quickly realize why people are willing to pay $500 for a Vita-Prep.)
  9. Syzygies

    Fennel

    Agreed. However, Chinese celery is immensely better than "western" celery, one is already making a substitution. (Like bananas, where the one found in supermarkets is the least interesting of hundreds of alternatives.)
  10. Syzygies

    Fennel

    Yes. This is one of our standard substitutions. For me this is a simple preference, while my wife shares your dislike for celery. Fennel is quite mild, cooked, and improves any dish with a vegetable base that includes celery. Risotto would be our most frequent use. (I make risotto rarely enough that I always ask my wife for the recipe, then she reminds me that I never follow it.) I do use some celery in stock. Fennel would get expensive.
  11. Welsh rarebit is surprisingly hard to find eating out, at least in London. It's now pub food, and not every night or every pub. I grew up with a very rough approximation as home cooking through the Irish-American side of my family. It seems that those who could most easily be authentic also have the license to freely play fast and loose with recipes; perhaps that is authentic. As a child I also thought it was pronounced rabbit. The recipe I know prefers double Gloucester cheese, but I always make do: Heat butter and flour, then milk and beer (a few tablespoons of each), to form a thick sauce. Add English mustard, black or cayenne pepper and salt. Then stir in finely grated cheese. Spoon onto hot buttered toast. Grill till brown and bubbling. I've found this is a dish that doesn't respond well to an over-eager approach. Using the fanciest bread and cheese actually makes it come out worse. Welsh rarebit is comfort food, and it is what it is, best honored by recognizing its spirit rather than attempting to "fix" it. To pick something more elaborate, go with pot pie. Steak and kidney was the classic, while beef was in favor. Tarts With Tops On by Tamasin Day-Lewis (the actor Daniel's sister) is a great book admittedly written to support one stellar recipe, chicken pot pie. Her version takes hours but it was the best thing I cooked all year, the first time we made it. Welsh rarebit is nevertheless my favorite British dish, the only one I'll make in the wee hours of the morning.
  12. The only rounding that bothers me is "0 grams trans fat" which cost some serious lobbying dollars to manage in the U.S. Then look at the serving size, computed to be the fewest number of servings that succeeds in rounding to 0 per serving. This is generally a substantial multiple of the number of servings in practice. (For example, my very athletic graduate student considered any cylindrical container of ice cream to be one serving.)
  13. zucchini olive oil red onion garlic pancetta black pepper Maras red pepper olive oil tomatoes capers marjoram polenta Pecorino Romano mozzarella Slice zucchini, toss with oil, bake 30 minutes or more on jelly roll pan. Sauté onion mixture. Add tomato mixture and simmer; taste for salt. Make stiff polenta, fold in grated Pecorino Romano. Layer polenta, zucchini, sauce, and mozzarella in casserole. Bake 30 minutes or more at 350 F. (We use partially dried tomatoes.)
  14. Pretty much everything listed here, I suspect not the best version has graced the plate. Fermented tofu I simply can't get down without gagging, and I'm sure I've had a stellar version. (Spicy & Tasty)
  15. I actually gave away a similar unit. I much prefer separates with dead simple ergonomics. One wants to use either as a reflex gesture without thinking (frequently) and see on the display what one wants, with no input or selection required. Plug in a probe? One will use it a tenth as often.
  16. Kasma's Favorite Brands Many flavors are fat-soluble, so yes, sauté first. There are tremendous differences in the fat content of coconuts. Aside from the spoilage risk, one cannot buy coconuts in the United States with adequate fat for making milk. At markets in Thailand one sees stands for buying freshly pressed coconut milk. One adds water (so unwise to sample uncooked) and applies tremendous pressure using a burst-proof sack. The Norwalk juicer is the same idea, and there are inexpensive presses based on automotive jacks (!). I've made coconut milk on and off most of my life; my first uninformed efforts in the 1970's used dried coconut flakes and boiling water, which did actually work. More recently, I've done best by buying frozen Thai coconut meat, with Philipine packages a close second. One can do a decent job of making a boiling water puree with a commercial blender such as the Vita-Prep, then wringing through cheese cloth with some waste. Recall that Indian sources speak of a first extraction, second extraction; the thinner second extraction can still be useful. One would get better extraction with a burst-proof sack such as intended for the Norwalk juice or hydraulic press, and a woodworker's bench vise. (I used my vise the other day to wring dry Preboggion for ravioli; use a freezer ziplock bag to keep food and shop from mixing.) Or just accept the waste. At Peter Kump cooking school decades ago our first class taught us to "peel" a potato with six quick slices to produce a rectangular block. I was horrified, but time is money.
  17. Bringing wine glasses wide enough for a small swim meet, and topping everyone off whether they're drinking or not. Pouring is supposed to be a courtesy, a sign of good service. When a full bottle of good wine is left abandoned in glasses around the table, I've been fracked with, and I never want to return to the place again in my life. Rule #1: You can shear a sheep many times, but you can only skin it once. This kind of aggression invariably leads to the stank of a restaurant circling the drain, and boy do they deserve it.
  18. Yes, no question. They do have periodic sales if one can wait. Anything else is a toy.
  19. Syzygies

    Thai inspired BBQ

    I second this recommendation. I've taken Kasma's weeklong intensive classes in Oakland, California, and I traveled to Thailand with her. I highly recommend both of these experiences. It is very hard to find Thai food outside Thailand as good as one eats in her intensive classes; she is resolutely authentic, and a very, very good cook and teacher. Reflecting what one finds in Thailand, many days there is a fire for grilling some of the day's dishes. Her class menu web pages include links to photographs of most dishes; elsewhere on her site there are many recipes, and one can track down other recipes online or in books. Here, I'd try to recreate classic Thai grilled food before venturing into improvisation, but that's me: I don't enjoy the inventions of even the best cooks alive as much as the shared expression of millions of people. Improvisation works best when one is channeling what one believes other people do, choosing a point in a continuum, without a recipe. Kasma has worked out many of her recipes from taste memory of food that she has eaten repeatedly in Thailand; she does not believe that she invents. Here is her weeklong class menu page: Thai Cooking Class Menus – Weeklong Classes Here are grilled dishes from those classes: Thai-Style Marinated Grilled Chicken Served with Sweet-and-Sour Chilli Dipping SauceChicken/Pork SatayCharcoal-Roasted Striped Bass in Banana LeafSweet and Savory Grilled Coconut-Rice HotcakesSpiced Twice-Cooked Smoked Eggplant DipCrisped Catfish Salad with Sour Green Mango and Peanuts or CashewsSpicy Mesquite-Grilled Eggplant Salad with Roasted Peppers and ShrimpGrilled Plantain Bananas, Glazed with Sweet & Savory Coconut Cream SauceHot Lime and Garlic Grilled BeefNorthern-Style Roasted Young Green Chilli DipCharcoal-Grilled Catfish, “Sweet Fish Sauce” and Sadao or Neem LeavesThai-Style Charcoal Grilled Corn on the CobNortheastern-Style Charcoal-Grilled Pork SaladAcacia Leaf and Grilled Fish CurryCharcoal Grilled Prawns Topped with Aromatic Thai Herbs Seasoned with Roasted Chilli-Lime SauceLeaf-Wrapped Charcoal-Grilled Mackerel and Herb SaladCharcoal-Grilled Hot Herbed PrawnsSouthern-Style Grilled Chicken on Skewers with Sweet and Tangy Curry SauceCharcoal-Grilled Salt-Encrusted Whole Fish Stuffed with Crushed HerbGrilled Banana Leaf-Wrapped Sticky RiceCharcoal-Grilled Mushroom and Jicama Salad with Shrimp and Fried CashewsNakhon Southern-Style Charcoal-Grilled Pork Belly and Young Tamarind Leaf CurryCharcoal-Grilled Marinated Pork on Skewers, Served with Roasted Chilli Dipping Sauce and Sticky RiceNortheastern-Style Crispy Grilled Sticky RiceCurried Salmon Grilled in Banana Leaf PacketsCharcoal-Grilled Lemon Grass Pork
  20. About twenty years ago I started dating all staples with a Sharpie, and about eighteen years ago I started discarding anything without a date, without apology. It has become a very useful habit.
  21. At one extreme, food pairings come from an unfortunate collision between France's culinary genius and their penchant for bureaucracy. They laid down rules so that even miserable cooks could produce appropriately conventional results. One cannot think clearly about food pairings until one is free from these yokes. The idea that there is a "food pairing" body of knowledge is the unfortunate spawn of this collision. At the other extreme, the new world Three Sisters of corn, beans, and squash were not only a beautiful example of companion planting, but of nutritional complementarity: The corn lacked lysine and tryptophan, which the beans provided. When corn made it's way to Italy, without this pairing, people died from niacin deficiency. Speaking of life and death, the Catholic pairing of wine with wafers made from wheat is an odd one, particularly considering the modern Catholic grip on Latin America. Corn tortillas should be seen as the most religious form of "bread", with corn and lye another survival pairing. Until the invention of masa, new world inhabitants died when their teeth wore out. So what that undercooked masa tastes a bit like wet cement. That flavor pairing used to scream "Dang! It's good to be alive!"
  22. Actually, I like that book. (Ferran Adria signed my copy on his tour, and he put far more into our brief exchange than any politician I've met.) In general, paying someone known best as an author to write yet another book is like paying someone for sex. And having a hack in the middle interpret an actual cook for what their editor imagines to be my circumstances? No thanks. I'd much rather make the interpretation myself. For example, there are also some great ideas for the home cook in Thomas Keller's books, but they are not to be taken literally unless one has a highly trained staff of twenty.
  23. Prep for midweek dinner pasta. Olives, garlic, Tunisian capers, a package of partially dried tomatoes from last year's garden, a tied bunch of marjoram from the herb bed. To the right, some of the fresh pasta from freshly ground flour. Not shown: Black pepper, and olive oil, Romans like to start with these for best flavor, important that the pepper saute in the oil. Hungarians would say the same about the paprika.
  24. Actually, hemming the linen and making the frames is about the same amount of effort as making one batch of bread, if one is an activity omnivore. I'd told some people sit on the couch sometimes and watch TV. I would find that morbidly depressing, while the same half hour spend making something sounds like fun. In any case, I have more of a problem than some bakers with the dough wanting to spread out. This was a solution to enforcing a 3 1/2" width constraint, while the loaves proof. As the photo shows, they manage to spread anyways with oven spring. The above loaves are 6" wide (at 75% hydration), and would have been even wider...
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