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Richard Kilgore

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Posts posted by Richard Kilgore

    Pressure Cooking Class: Ideas?

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Thanks everyone. Here's a revised rough outline including everyone's points.

    Anything else I can add?

    Intro: advantages of PCs

    The Pressure Cooker

    how it works, parts, safety, maintenance

    basic operation, temperature control, cooling, effects of altitude

    Cooking with PCs

    * Stocks

    * Vegetables: steaming

    * Legumes

    * Rice and grains

    * Braises

    * Stews and Chili

    * Desserts, eg. flan

    * Canning

    Oolong Teas: a complex world between green & black

    in Coffee & Tea

    Posted

    This is the first of three Aged TGY Oolongs. This one is from The Cultured Cup, and the others are from Norbutea.com and jingteashop.com. Brewing is gong fu cha style in a 90 ml fang gu shape (more flat than tall) Yixing teapot made of qing shu ni clay, made some time in the last ten years. The pot with limited seasoning tends to smooth and round off the edge of roasty flavors, and may enhance other flavors slightly -- too soon to say for sure.

    The dry aroma is roast with a hint of cocoa; the wet aroma is similar with the addition of a whif of stone fruit.

    flash rinse

    1:30 sec - stone fruit aroma; medium body; golden tea liqupr; creamy mouthfeel, roast stone fruit flavor.

    2:30 - aroma is more roasty; honey, roasty flavor.

    3:60 - floral aroma emerging; roasty, hint of floral flavor.

    4:90 - less aroma, but floral flavor predominate.

    5:120 - (after a rest of a few hours and a 10 second rinse) similar to 4th infusion. Tea liquor is still quite golden and the flavor seems likely to stand up to at least 2 - 3 more infusions.

    All in all this is an elegant, somewhat delicate, aged TGY brewed in this manner.

    More on the next two aged TGYs over the next week.

    Cooking Class for Seniors

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Lots of good ideas here. This may be a bit of a challenge since it sounds like you will have experienced cooks, as well as not-so-experienced cooks. Do you know about how many to expect?

    By the time they are 60, most people have well established food likes and dislikes. In order to not be creating unnecessary resistance to what you have to offer, it may be helpful to take your lead by asking each of them at the start to tell you what dishes they like and what they avoid. You could also then ask them if they are interested in learning some new tricks, and go from there.

    My experience has been that older peoples' tastes vary widely. Some like spicy; some don't...and that may have changed since they were younger. Some like spicy, but their digestive systems don't; so some tips on how to get more flavor with herbs they don't react to, might be welcome. Mrs. Dash to the rescue for many.

    Good luck and let us know how it goes.

    Pressure Cooking Class: Ideas?

    in Cooking

    Posted

    How about a brief section on how the pressure cooker works? You may also want to comment on the effects of different altitudes on the instrument.

    I'd add temperature control (the principle of cooking just at pressure vs with steam blasting everywhere).

    You should probably also cover the effects of different methods of cooling (eg. via ambient temperature vs plunging under cold water).

    You've also missed stock making.

    Lastly, how about adding caring for your pressure cooker (maintaining and replacing seals, etc)?

    Thanks, nickrey. All good points to include.

    Pressure Cooking Class: Ideas?

    in Cooking

    Posted

    I am not sure I can answer that, but maybe someone here can. The best I can tell, some people find it less and some more flavorful with a PC...and some about the same. But I have not been able to nail down why. Anyone?

    Yes, thanks thayes1c, I meant to include stocks, since that is a large part of why I was drawn to K-R. Although I think this audience is going to be less interested in stocks than I am.

    Pressure Cooking Class: Ideas?

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Looks like I'll be doing a class on pressure cooking using Kuhn Rikon PCs at Design & Grace, owned by my friend and eGullet member Tony Boulton. The format likely will be a talk, a little demo and time for Q&A, packed into a half hour or an hour.

    So I would appreciate some help with the content from all you pressure cookers, as well as those who don't yet PC, but are considering it. What would you have liked to have known before you started using a PC? What do you think is important for people to know?

    For starters, here's an outline of what I am considering:

    * Intro: advantages of PCs

    * The Pressure Cooker: parts, operation, safety

    * Vegetables: steaming

    * Legumes

    * Rice

    * Braises

    * Stews and Chili

    * Desserts, eg. flan

    * Canning

    Anything I should add? Anything I should make sure to cover in the above?

    Questions I should anticipate?

    Thanks,

    Richard

    What to do with a pressure cooker

    in Cooking

    Posted

    I am trying to decide between buying an 8 qt. and a 12 qt. K-R pressure cooker. For stock making I would prefer the larger, but I also need to know how small a quantity of anything can you braise or steam in a PC. Is there a standard ratio? Does it matter whether the PC is the tall or wide style?

    What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 2)

    in Coffee & Tea

    Posted

    I'm drinking some Mauna Kea premium green tea. http://www.maunakeatea.com/our-teas/14/105.

    It reminds me of gyokuro green tea, but the instructions suggest 5g of leaf for 1 cup of water. Does that sound a little bit insane to anyone? Especially since it's $1/g and $2.5/g for the first picked.

    Interesting, JWangSDC. Do you mean that it looks like and tastes like gyokuro? The ratio of leaf to water (5g:8ounces) is about that for not-organic sencha - and less than for other organic senchas, so it does not seem unusual. But the prices are 4X or more than organic gyokuro. Is it good enough that you find it worthwhile?

    Tea Tasting: 2009 Japanese Organic Kumamato Sencha Yabe Supreme

    in Coffee & Tea

    Posted

    The brewing suggestions for sencha on yuuki-cha.com may look like a strong leaf:water ratio at first glance. While non-organic senchas typically use a 0.6 g per ounce ratio, for organics it's usually 1.0 g.

    Here's some of the detail on this sencha, including brewing suggestions, from the yuuki-cha.com site and used with permission.

    First Harvest? - Yes (100%)

    Harvest Year - 2009

    Steaming Process - Mid Steamed

    Tea Bush Varietal(s) - Saemidori & Okumidori

    Brewing Suggestion - • 1 gram of leaves per 1oz of water at 70°C for 1 min.

    • Second & third infusions at 70°C for 10-30 seconds.

    Origin - Kumamoto, Kyushu, Japan

    Certified Organic By - JAS

    Tea Tasting: Three Wuyi Rock Oolong Teas

    in Coffee & Tea

    Posted

    Thanks to Greg Glancy at Norbutea.com for providing the three Wuyi "cliff" Oolongs for this first comparative Tea Tasting & Discussion. And thanks to baroness, cdh and Wholemeal Crank for doing such indepth, detailed tasting notes. And also LuckyGirl for participating.

    Greg promises more teas this year for single as well as multi-tea TT&Ds. In the meantime, there are two new TT&Ds in progress here in the Coffee & Tea forum. If you subscribe to the forum, you'll be among the first to know when a new TT&D is posted.

    Of course, if you have a comment or question about this Wuyi Oolong TT&D, post here.

    What Tea Are You Drinking Today? (Part 2)

    in Coffee & Tea

    Posted

    Started the day with the Mariage Freres Queen Victoria - second flush Darjeeling from The Cultured Cup. Later had a few infusions of the Organic Kumamoto Sencha Yabe Supreme from yuuki-cha.com that is featured in the current Tea Tasting & Discussion. I had ordered this once before, which is one of the reasons I selected this smooth, sweet, creamy sencha for the TT&D.

    More of the Organic Kumamoto Sencha Yabe Supreme this morning. And I have not decided what's next. Have missed my matcha for several days, so....

    What teas are you all drinking in your part of the eG tea world today?

    Let's See Your Teaware!

    in Coffee & Tea

    Posted

    Yes, it is the travel set I was referring to...very nice.

    I'll be interested to hear about how the celadon mug works out as a substitute chawan. My hunch is it may be awkward to use due to the small capacity and the shape that curves inward from the side to the rim. I just measured my smallest chawan and it holds 13+ ounces to the rim, and I have not seen one smaller. But you may find a way to make it work.

    Tea/Tisane Tasting: Lemon Myrtle Rooibos

    in Coffee & Tea

    Posted

    The free samples of this Lemon Myrtle Rooibos from The Cultured Cup are now available to all members of the eGullet Society whether or not you have received a sample in the past or are receiving one currently. There are up to three samples available to members. Please PM me now, after reviewing the first post, if you are interested in receiving one of these samples.

    Two samples left!

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