Chelseabun

I have a question regarding Dashi and wondering if anyone could help me please? I made Miso soup yesterday and i think it came out ok but i had a few issues with my Dashi. I wanted the Dashi to be vegetarian, so deliberately left out the Bonito flakes but my main problem was obtaining kelp or kanbu locally. For my Dashi, i replaced the kelp with Nori. I think this was ok but this was the first time i have tried Miso soup so have nothing to reference the taste against. Strangely enough, my local supermarket sells fresh Samphire (another type of seaweed), would i have been better to substitute that for the Kelp. Here is the video i made of my (vegan) Miso Soup: http://youtu.be/KnF0DNXa3Jk

Many thanks CatPoet, I found the Quorn vegetarian bacon product in my local Asda. I had to look for it because it was not in a section of the freezer where I could easily find it. You also commented on using Marmite and liquid smoke. I have adapted this to use as a marinate for the store purchased Quorn bacon so as to 'upgrade' the flavour. http://youtu.be/PoPuviK266U Please let me know what you think?

In Britain, we love our tea. Drinking tea is very popular here. I don't think too many people drink de-caf tea though. However, de-caf coffee is relatively common. Back in the 1990's I used to drink de-caf tea regularly. I liked it a lot and found it to be a good drink (with milk). I used to buy it in loose leaf form not teabags. So, for me de-caf tea is legit. However de-caf tea disappeared from the supermarkets for a while and I never went back to it.

Many thanks. I have tried this and it has a lot of promise. I used Shitaki mushrooms sliced very thinly and toasted sesame oil. Mine came out too salty and slightly over cooked but it is amazing how much like bacon they taste!

I believe there are a few Trader Joes in the UK. None are near me though (that I have noticed). Its always the same that our favourite lines get discontinued. I wish they would stick with the lines that work. I seem to be lucky with meat free sausages stock in my local supermarkets. I even make 'toad in the hole' with them. I don't know if you are familiar with that recipe, but it is basically sausages cooked in batter (not cake batter LoL)

Yep I totally agree. Celebrating vegetables in all their diversity is better than fooling around with meat imitations (meatations?). Only, I just want to see where I can go with a fake bacon. Surprisingly, as well as meat free sausages there is also a meat free Haggis (that I definitely prefer to the meat original). yes, I've not gone down the beans or nuts route yet. I seem to be eating a lot more eggs though. Its not that I don't like them, in fact I love beans and nuts (and pulses too) - its just that I havn't especially gone out of my way to cook with them (more than I would normally have done). Maybe I'm wrong. Should I be going out of my way to eat certain foods since I no longer eat meat (even if it was mainly lots of processed and fast foods)?

I've never seen it. I'm going to search for it though. Thanks for letting me know.

Does anyone have a recipe for Fake Bacon please? I have been vegetarian now for about 3 months. So far it is going very well and I am looking to widen my range of recipes without meat. I am not sure that going down the path of making imitation meets is the best approach but I do enjoy vegetarian soy based sausages and mince (ground beef) - So perhaps an imitation bacon will be good too. If you have any favourite recipes for fake bacon that you wish to share, that would be appreciated. Regards

The additives used in China and elsewhere are not readily available here in the West. They are also corrosive and it may be preferable to omit them from your food (some of the chemicals added are effective drain cleaners). It may not be possible to produce hand pulled noodles easily without the additives but that does not mean anybody should try. I have largely given up making hand pulled noodles - but I had a lot of fun experimenting.

In the past, I always used my National rice cooker. However nowadays I cook it in a pan on the stove top. There doesn't seem to be any difference except you have to manually judge the heat control, switch it off when done and it does not have a keep warm function. Apart from that the rice tastes pretty much the same. I did try to use a pressure cooker but found I over cooked the rice very easily. When cooking rice I use a small amount of salt and oil for flavour. You can add spices at this stage too for biryani.

I would agree that the large brewers/distillers would probably rather sell us white dog at $50 a bottle than have a multitude of amateurs distilling it at home for their private consumption. Yes, our economy needs more start ups. That includes distillers and brewers too. Big companies don't provide the employment we need, its the small companies that do that. I would suggest that White dog does not need the maturation and storage time so would be ideal for start up distillers. It seems there is a growing market for it - but maybe not at $50 a bottle. For me, I would be happy if I could just distill it for myself in my own premises. I don't see that being possible for some time though.

I agree with you totally.

I would love that! I have always thought it was an anomaly that I can ferment wine and brew beer but not distil. I have always understood that it is for public health reasons. However there may be a case for competent amateurs to distil their own. Certainly, White Dog should be possible to distil at home.

Many thanks for explaining. I have not seen white dog here in the UK yet. We have many distilleries of course but if it becomes successful in the US, then we might see it marketed here. I would buy it.

Correct me if i am wrong please but does 'white dog' refer to any whisky/whiskey that has not been aged? If so, surely this is basically similar to vodka? Could this not be transformed into a Gin style spirit by infusing with Juniper or other spices (pepper even)? or is that not the point of white dog?

Chopperreed: Have you made any attempts at tempering yet?

I would say it depends upon who has compiled the list. For me, i prefer recommendations from people i know who have visited the restaurant (locally, which i have a possibility of visiting). Otherwise it becomes like a Letterman top ten list.

Here is your very own personal (virtual) tour of the Per Se kitchen: It looks clean and well organized but does it lack hand washing facilities?

I dont work for NYC dept of Health or any form of food hygiene enforcement. It is not something I would consider doing. However, I should declare that I had food poisening during the mid 1980's. I was very seriously ill and although i was very fortunate to make a full recovery, it is not something i have forgotten and would not like anyone else to suffer the same. Although my experience has made me (generally) pro food legislation and pro food law enforcement, it has also made me anti corruption. However, there was nothing in the press report of the original story to indicate corruption in this case. Futhermore, the information published on the NYC webpage would indicate they had a (presumably) unannounced inspection during 2011 where they also had a similarly high score but subsequently (in 2012) improved (presumably on the follow-up inspection). I am 'reading along the lines' (and stand to be corrected) but it looks like they have had previous food hygiene issues raised by the NYC department of health. There is nothing to indicate corruption in either case. I appreciate it is difficult to believe this of Keller. I had a favourite restuarant local to me that I thought was brilliant and the owner was a lovely lady who i thought was fantastic. However, the Local Authority Food Inspectors closed the restuarant down. The shutters were down with locks and notices all over them. It was such a shock. However, with the Keller case, it is very different because it does not sound as serious but (from what i can gather) serious enough as to require Per se to improve.

The hygiene issues that gave them the high score on the (presumably) unannounced inspection sound fairly basic. The NYC department of health inspectors are merely doing their job to ensure public health. It is important that people eating out in NYC have confidence in the food safety of the restaurants as this safeguards the interest of all NYC restaurants and food businesses. Calling into doubt the honesty and integrity of public servants who provide such an important service to NYC isn't fair. Their value should not be underestimated and if they did not exist, everyone would suffer. If you are a professional food business operator, achieving A or B grading should not be difficult. Certainly, if you have a Michelin star, I would expect a very high standard of food hygiene.

Hand washing and food storage temperatures would seem to me to be basic food hygiene issues. For a three star michelin restaurant i would expect excellent food hygiene.

Gordon Ramsay did an episode on Crayfish in the UK:

I stand corrected.

I guess your butcher should have been clearer in how it was described. I wouldn't be too sad though because it looks like a nice rasher. Try frying the loin - you might find you like it!

In the UK, the rasher in your photo is what we call back bacon. It is normal (traditional) here to buy bacon like that. There are different ways to cure bacon too. Normally, it would be brined but can be dry cured in salt. So, yes what you purchased is called Canadian bacon in the US or back bacon in the UK (because it has the loin attached). As for the colour - I am assuming the pancetta is dry cured and the back (Canadian) bacon was brined. This might account for the colour difference. However I stand to be corrected. Either way, that's a very nice looking rasher of bacon - would get the frying pan out and make up a bacon sandwich!