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jackal10

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Everything posted by jackal10

  1. Too kind. I've been busy making Raspberry Pi (www.raspberrypi.org )
  2. As has been said the secret to peeling is to use old eggs - at least 2 weeks old Alternately crack the raw egg onto a sheet of cling film, wrap it up and poach that
  3. Tesco had Ox cheeks in the butchery. A revelation when cooked SV. Blanched first (1min in boiling water from kettle) to kill surface bacteria I cooked them at 58C for 72 hours with 1 tbs each of balsamic, soy and red wine (aromatics like bay leaf optional but I didn’t)(need to be slightly acid to guard against botulism) Can sear but not necessary, reduce bag juices serve hot or in thick slices cold
  4. Texture depends critically on the hydration of the flour. Make sure you weigh all ingredients, that the flour has a consistent humidity, and that your first rise is long enough to fully hydrate and develop the gluten
  5. Some people who claim to be allergic to gluten are instead commercial yeast intolerant, and will tolerate sourdough bread. Others its a case of eating too much or bad diet, or an unexpectedly rich retaurant meal and are looking for something to blame for their stomach pain...
  6. I don't think it matters much if you refrigerate before or after adding dairy. If without you can reheat by adding hot milk/cream, if with you can microwave. However make sure they are well covered in the fridge so they dont dehydrate or pick up off flavours Yes you can over cook potatoes for mashing, Boils too long and your left with potato soup. For some varieties the line between soft and disintegrated is quite narrow.
  7. See chart here: http://www.cookingissues.com/primers/sous-vide/purdy-pictures-the-charts/ I like 50C/122F because I like my salmon to look cooked rather than mi-cuit, but note this temperature is too low to pasteurise
  8. jackal10

    Wild Yeast

    I hate to be pedantic, but after a small number of refreshments (say 20*) its no longer the original culture, but now dominated by local species of yeast and lactobacteria present in the flour and water you have been feeding the culture, and even in the air, as no kitchen is aseptic. They will adapt to your feeding regime, ans so it becomes your particular starter. A mature culture is tough stuff, and will withstand a lot of abuse. I keep my mother culture in the fridge - I am an occasional home baker. At fridge temperatures it is effectively dormant. When I want to bake I take out a tablespoon or so, and culture it for 12-24 hours with 100g water and 200g flour to make a preferment (sponge), maybe refreshed once, When the pot in the fridge is looking a bit empty, maybe once every 8-12 weeks, I make a double volume of preferment, and put half back in the cleaned jar. When you do refresh the mother culture its important to culture up from a comparatively small quantity - say 5%, as not only are you providing more food, but you are also diluting and getting rid of the byproducts, such as alcohols that poison the culture (and provide much of the flavour profile. Of course for a restaurant or production bakery, where larger volumes of starter are needed, keeping the mother culture growing at a defined temperature (bucket in a warm room) with regular refreshments is more practical, and you can even get slowly stirred temperature controlled holding tanks designed for bakery use. In very large operations a continuous flow line can be used. *Biological fundamentals of yeast and lactobcilli fermentation in bread dough, Peter Stolz in "Handboook of Dough Fermentations",edited by Karel Kulp and Klaus Lorenz, Dekker 2003 ISBN 0-8247-4264-8
  9. My Mother's kipper paste: Fry a kipper in good butter until the bones separate from the flesh remove ALL the bones carefully Add a tin of chopped tomatoes. Season (pepper, no salt) and cook down on low heat stirring (and removing bones) until desired consistency Serve on hot toast, crackers, in sandwiches etc
  10. Salt them, then use any of the recipes for bacalao/bacalhau etc. My favourite is brandade.
  11. The answer to the last ingredient confirmed owner question is case sensitive - all lower case, unlike the entry in the book
  12. Depends what the contract says. The normal advise (I am not a lawyer) for the US is that the ingredients, being a list, cannot be copyrighted, but the method and exact amounts can. You may be able (but expensive) to get a "business methods" patent as well. You may also have moral rights to be identified as author/inventor. However you can have a contract that explicitly identifies and lists your existing recipes, and has some mechanism for identifying future recipes you claim. Whether you can enforce it or afford to sue in court is a whole other matter. The previous posters are right. Get a real lawyer, preferably one that specialises in this sort of thing.
  13. From my notes Sponge 200g flour 200g water 10g mother starter Ferment overnight warm (12h to 24h)(90F) Dough All the sponge (33% by weight compared to flour in this step) 1Kg flour 600g water 20g salt 1g Vitamin C Total flour: 1200g Total water: 800g Mix intensively (food processor) for 2 mins. (I would now let it rest 15 mins)
  14. This was an intensively mixed sourdough (natural yeast) with 30% ripe preferment. I was experimenting with "no time" (Chorleywood style)doughs at the time, so no bulk fermentation and no rest. You get a slightly more open result with a short bulk fermentation, but for my starter 4 hours from mixer to oven is about right
  15. I think you are being xenophobic, and are more likely to be poisoned from badly prepared or badly stored US food. Most urban US areas are a long way from the source or grower, which means a lot of US food has to be transported long distances and is not as fresh as it could be. Cold chains are not always monitored or reliable. Of course this applies to fresh food from China as well, but a blanket ban is just prejudice.
  16. Plant the root and enjoy the asparagus in three years time?
  17. Its cultural. In many places, such as China and some places in UK a tip is considered an insult, an attempt to bribe to gain unfair advantage and a slur on the establishments hospitality and staff. In the US you just accept the price of the meal is 25% more than the menu and adverts say.
  18. jackal10

    Four banquets

    The meal was after the bullet train, not on it Jack
  19. jackal10

    Four banquets

    No the sliced vegtables were raw. I thought they might be okra, but they were not gummy like okra
  20. jackal10

    Four banquets

    On to Zengzhou by bullet train. Like other countries the coastal and port cities are more ... cosmopolitan. Food not as goood, and interpretation of western cuisine a disaster (tomato and cheese starter, mushroom soup under pastry lid (no truffle))
  21. jackal10

    Four banquets

    On to Nanjing. The cuisine here is more meat based, being further inland. The first food picture was cold sliced red braised pigs ear - excellent For me the star was the long braised pork skin with whole garlic (first iron pot) The eel with pork belly was just boney (second iron pot) What was the sliced green vegetable on ice? Two pictures on shows what were told was tortoise (or turtle?) The steamed sweet buns had been shallow fried on the bottom - delicous
  22. jackal10

    Four banquets

    The corn was shiny black all the way through. Some sort of marinade? Shrew fish:
  23. jackal10

    Four banquets

    Changsu banquet 2. including sharks fin and broccoli soup, pigeon (with plastic glove), "Shrew fish"(? mistranslated?). Not shown is the usual end of meal noodles, soup snd fruit (tomatos and watermelon) How did they cook the shiny black corn?
  24. I have just returned from a business trip to Changshu, Nanjing and Zhengzhou, where our various hosts treated us to splendid banquets. Sucessions of courses and dishes that would put many a western tasting menu to shame. Language difficulties meant it was not always clear what we were eating, and I hope some people here can help. As is customary the host toasts each of the guests individually, for which a full glass of wine or Maotai (sorghum firewater, the good stuff is very old and expensive) must be drained. Guests then toast each other so much is drunk. The table had cigarettes, lighters and ashtrays on it, which is now unusual (or illegal) in the west. 1, Changsu Setting: Cold starter: prawns, melon, chicken wing, yellow vegetable?
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