Duvel

Breakfast of lazy champions, Sunday “hangover”* edition … Couple of extras … Spicy 🌶️ ___ * of course I wasn’t hung over. But my former self, that occasionally was, would have enjoyed this tremendously, too …

Pica pica (the Catalan version of tapas) … Everything from the fridge/freezer/cans, so just some deep frying and heating up to do: Jamon, chorizo, longaniza with cheese (bread not pictured), croquetes (jamon, chicken, salted cod), salmon pâtè, olives, meatballs in tomato sauce, shrimps with garlic & parsley, berberechos (cockles), goat cheese, fried chorizo. Enjoyed with the classic Blackbeards Ghost and a glass of red … No complaints 🤗

This is what I do as well - usually for 30 min. I got this from a ChefSteps tutorial and somehow it got stuck (mainly because it’s easy and gives good results) …

I agree. Plenty of fat, plenty of connective tissue - same success factors as for a good braise. Temperature renders connective tissue into gelatin, and tightens muscle fibers. The equilibrium between both determines your final product. Tenderness can be achieved at any temperature depending on time - and the question of covering the braise ultimately affects the liquid part more than the solids …

Yeah … How do you explain the surprisingly successful pressure cooker stews ?!

It does not. Beside the marginal effect of evaporation, the pot and its content is in equilibrium with the oven environment. No build up. It will not magically heat up above the boiling point of water. The volume above the liquid may have a different temperature, as the saturation of steam will depend on how much you let escape. But that’s not your point. The chart given by Kenji is worthless without the external temperature. It’s all about the rate of evaporation.

I’d like to know what “overheat” means … Keeping the lid on or using foil, a cartouche etc. simply controls the rate of evaporation. Of course the rate of evaporation affects thermal equilibrium in your braise, but the thermal mass of your cooking vessel the temperature of your oven controls the heat transfer and thus the temperature above the water. As long as there is water in your braise, the temperature under the liquid level remains at 100oC. And without pressure it cannot exceed that, “tight” lid or not … I usually caramelize veggies, reduce wine, etc. and keep liquids below what is recommended, but evaporation at the minimum. Temp at 110-120 oC, 3-4h …

With DW (quite successfully) doing low carb at the moment, little one and me opted to forego pizza & movie night for some hot dogs (and a movie) … We got this Feuerwurst from the supermarket, a rather spicy beef sausage native to the state of Hessia, bordering to our community in the north. Of course there are no suitable sized brioche buns available, so we had to make our own (including the egg wash, masterfully applied by LO) … Nice result ! Filled with the works and a self made, mustard forward sauce … One happy camper 🥳 And DW didn’t starve either with a cauliflower bake and some bacon/cheese add-ons … plus a Duvel for yours truly … All enjoyed while watching Venom. Can you tell little one had a great afternoon !? 🤗

We certainly do here (albeit we are much closer to Italy, to be fair) …

You mean like deep-frying, open flame grilling, broiling, serving stuff raw, ..?

Are you making a pitch for Modernist Pasta ?!

I do like the Prima Taste laksa a lot - for a convenience product it’s really really tasty. When living in HK I had their Singapore curry paste (pretty much the one from the instant noddles) as a staple in my pantry - for me the best available commercial SE asian curry paste available (and in HK everything is available 😉) …

The epi shape is very forgiving. I made it from a plethora of doughs, e.g. this one from left-over pizza dough. Due to the shape the sharp „ears“ brown faster than the bulky parts, which - at least in my experience - makes epis a bit unevenly crunchy.

Normally I find my weekly (and slightly diet-y) food to boring to share. But this was pretty good: rabbit hind legs, sous vide for 4h @ 62oC with a healthy amount of hoisin sauce & mirin in the bag. Scored and air fried for 8 min @ 240 oC. Very, very tasty. Quick smacked cucumber salad with sesame dressing on the side. No complaints 🤗.

Before I read the description I thought: that looks damn sexy for a giant white beans prep. And I guess I‘ll do exactly that in the near future - swapping your Gnocchi for some giant whites. Thanks 🙏

Relaxing evening with some comfort food: family requested karaage … I made a meal out of it with some (commercial) shrimp gyoza & fries with aonori salt … Plus a variety of rice crackers, seaweed salad, menma and (Korean) yukhoe - marinated beef strips with soy sauce, honey and seamed oil, seeved with nashi pear … All enjoyed with a Bavarian beer from little one school trip location … And a Ghibli classic: Spirited Away … No complaints 🤗

Little one came back yesterday night from a one week school trip to the Chiemsee. Arriving at 21.00h he announced that he had lunch at 12.00h and no snacks since then (which I doubt, but DW agreed he looked famished 😎) … Luckily, I had some sausages in the freezer. Made a quick curry sauce with the help of Japanese curry roux and airfried some fries. And as per request BBQ sauce on the side … Happy and slightly tired kid (and happy parents that he is back) … And a little treat from the mancave, just because … No complaints (at all !) 🥳

Every German school kid gets a Pausenbrot for second breakfast (around 11.00h), that is prepared by the parents between 6.00h and 7.00h. Bread, butter, cold cuts and/or cheeses, sometimes (fresh) cucumber or tomato. All in a Tupperware box, the Brotdose. If they don’t eat it for second breakfast, they‘ll eat it for lunch. If they don’t eat it then, they‘ll have it for afternoon snack. If they bring it home, it‘ll be their dinner.

Straight forward shio koji … Cunning linguist trained in the sino-centric kanji universe often have difficulties recognizing and translating kokuji kanji, that were created in Japan rather than straight imported from the middle kingdom. In any case (and the hiragana transliteration confirms this as well), this is shio koji. The sweet flavor comes from the residual starches present in the shio koji (those „chunky bits“) being broken down during the marination process. That being said, @gfweb, I think a marination period of 24h+ should give you a far better result. I make my shio koji myself, and It is more potent than the ready made stuff, and yet I consider 24h the minimum to impart its specific goodness and flavor profile …

I think @rotuts point is rather to make full use of the vast information provided in this forum by using the search function …

There is an in-depth discussion on browning in various braising vessel here: The truth about braising: assignment 1 The truth about braising: discussion 1 As well as the braising step itself: The truth about braising: assignment 2 The truth about braising: discussion 2 Part 3 & 4 are also worth a read …

Japanese-y dinner … Edamame, bamboo shoots, salt-pickled cucumbers with katsuobushi, (unfortunately closed in the picture) bowls with oden with egg, tofu & daikon, spinach with sesame dressing, roasted miso corn, tuna tataki, karaage (from chicken breast imstead of thigh - it was a spontaneous dinner from the fridges content), dried skate wings and (commercial) gyoza … An icecold chuhai … And spaghetti with (commercial) uni butter - excellent … An umaibo from the mancave for dessert (beef tongue flavor) … Enjoyed while watching Nausicaä from Studio Ghibli … No complaints 🤗

For someone who sources his wasabi greens directly at the farm for making pesto, this is an unacceptable shortcut 🤭

Unlikely. Lack of moisture and salt content (especially on the surface) will not allow mold to grow. If moisture would be present, I would expect the natural sugars in the seeweed to allow fungal growth. Commercial packs of kombu will carry usually a desiccant to reduce moisture within the packaging even further, but I bought two packs of kombu last year during our Japan trip and none had desiccant of vacuum packaging. And none had mold. They had マンニット, though 😎

Out of curiosity - what sort of answer would you have accepted that would have changed your mind on your “unhealthy mold” ? A (factual) description of what is the white deposit ? A “list of credentials” of someone who replies, e.g. PhD in biochemistry w/ a minor in toxicology, have used more kombu than others will ever buy in their whole life, years living in Japan, … Or just a confirmation of what you would have done anyway ?