Duvel

The Maillard reaction is at least a bimolecular reaction (sugar, amino acids), in reality probably of an even higher order. Therefore, the speed of the reaction is proportional to the concentration of each of the reactants (“the more often they meet each other, the faster they can react”). So, the smart way is to employ your reactive mixture without additional dilution. Have you ever tried to brown a steak in a wet pan !? Faster than ..? Faster than dry heat at the same heat transfer coefficient ? How do you compare and to what ? First, I’d call that anecdotal evidence. Second, the bark on pastrami is comprised of herbs, spices and smoke. There is surely some Maillard going on, but as you have dismissed other ways to create a browned exterior upthread, I would not use that example here.

I’d reckon you’ll get better results with a mixture of icing sugar & baking soda as a rub/dusting. To achieve a decent Maillard reaction you’ll need to get rid of the water in your spritz, and at low temperatures this takes some time. Better employ dry ingredients; the baking soda with partially dissolve the surface proteins, delivering the amino acids to react with the sugar.

No, I haven’t. Sounds like an idea, though … I’ll give it a try next time - thanks 🤗

Din Tai Fung ?

Weekday dinner: oven-roasted chicken, Greek salad and rosemary garlic potatoes …

Room temperature … sorry, old laboratory lingo 🤭

Salt will penetrate the olives. The brine and the olives will equilibrate over the course of time, and having commercial olives in a jar this process has been completed. You can check the salt content of the jar - 2% will be adequate. If you are lacking flavor you can add things to adhere to the olives, like a marinade. Oil & spices will flavor the surface at maximum, but most likely only modify the initial taste, not the olive itself. What works for me is a mixture of olive oil, smashed dried tomatoes, “some” garlic (if yours aren’t saturated already), some chili, pinch of MSG and a pinch of sugar. 30 min at RT and you are good to serve …

I am a bit confused: aren’t thise olives already brined/pickled, when you get them ? And then you desalinated them only to brine them again ? What am I missing ?

Legit 🤗

Gesundheit 🤗

Yeap - even worse: not only the urge to eat, but the urge to think of, prepare and finally ace the preparation of … it’s rough 😱

Lazy Friday: picked up some boxes of sushi … It’s ok-ish. Some of the big rolls are not too popular in my family, so I started to top them with kewpie, broil/torch them and add a bit furikake. Adds moisture & umami and makes them pretty quickly disappear 🤗 Plus some soba in cold mentsuyu, with an 4 min egg and sesame/spring onion topping … No complaints 😉

I think nutritional yeast is more related to good skin condition than overall energy. It does, however, comes with a few side effects, e.g. sometimes turns your hair into unusual colors and promotes affinity to frozen foods …

The breakfast of champions …

“Indian” themed dinner … Raita, yellow lentil dhal, palak paneer, pickled chili cukes, lamb curry and freshly made garlic naan … Enjoyed with an IPA (see what I did there 😝 ?) Little one had different plans and got onigiri, topped with smoked salmon & kewpie, torched, and some furikake … No complaints 🤗

Really ? Including that picture-perfect playdoo egg ?! I challenge you to conduct a field study (with pictures of you and the KFC egg 😝)

Smart.

Could you elaborate on that, please ?

Glorious 🤗

Sous vide veal brisket (7h @ 55oC), sliced, seared and served with peas & carrots.

Normally, I’d say it would. But he/she/them is discarding already the NOMA recipe for lactofermented food as “too salty”. As these - just as your - recipes are the result of a complete & successful fermentation, and the amount of water released during said fermentation is factored into the salt employed, it is not smart to judge it before fermentation has been concluded (and needless to say the development of acid and related flavor components have been complete). The irony of our time is that the more knowledge is available, the less (certain) people are open to it.

Either that or he is just messing with his health. In either case, he/she/them is messing 🙄 In the meantime one might consider having a look at this: Safety of Fermented Fruits and Vegetables - ScienceDirect

Meatless Monday ! Just kidding: I had planned for a chicken curry, but my wife went rogue and made some chicken breast for lunch (unbelievable) and obviously this family doesn’t do the same protein twice per day (a rule I just learned today). Sooo … Palak Paneer 🤗 Served al fresco - no complaints 🥳

Yes, pretty much. Enriched dough: bulk ferment, stretch out and add tomato sauce, toppings (sweet ham and bacon), grated cheese and some mayo. Roll up, oil lightly the roll and slice into 2" slices. Prove again to make them more fluffy. You'll need to condense the tomato sauce a bit to keep it from leaching out during the second rise. Bake at 180 oC for 25 min ...

TL;DR: You are venturing into fermentation. You are concerned about salt being "poisoneous" if used in excess amounts, so you use a little and justifiy this by citing some TV documentary you saw, probably unrelated to fermentation. You discard two recipe sources (NOMA's guide to fermentation, some recipe for making fermented hot sauce), because their salt content will produce an inedible result (even though you haven't tried it, and you have zero reference to any own sucessful fermentations). Instead you are eyeballing it, and hope for the best. So, please go ahead and support Darwin's "survival of the fittest" (or smartest).