jackal10

PAstaurisation became the norm as a protection from Tuberculosis which was endemic in the national herd. Nowdays bovine tuberculosis is rare. Thus the nescessity for pastuarising milk is much less. Unfortunately human tuberculosis is increasing, especially for immuno-compromised people, where it can be an early symptom. Indeed there is no known case of illness caused by raw milk cheese, although plenty of food poisoning can be traced back to poorly kept pastaurised dairy products. I deeply regret that I can't get unpastaurised cream here anymore. The local farm shop used to have it, shipped from Neal's Yard, but they have stopped as they were getting too many batches that had gone off. ANy enterprising dairies that can ship to Cambridge UK?

That is pretty good bread. Did you retard it overnight in the fridge? If not that might help. A slightly hotter oven, and more bottom heat (bricks or a pizza stone) will help as well

The problem is that meat conducts very slowly, and you will only get the centre of a decent size piece up to temperature in 5 hours, so you will need 6 hours+ another 6 hours for the same effect. In the egCI science section http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=40548 refered to above there is a table about meat colour. Oxymyoglobin is bright red; reduced is dark purple/brown, the colour of properly hung meat, since the maturation process uses up the oxygen; nitro-myoglobin, as in nitrite cured or smoked meats is pink; dnatured myoglobin, where thechemical structure has been denatured by cooking, is grey. It denatures around 55C/140F, much lower than the temperature at which the collagen dissolves with any speed. Thus you can have your braised meat pink and tough, or greyish and falling apart. I guess the pink colour you saw may have been from the nitrates, perhaps in the marinade or cooking liquor, for example leached fom some bacon included. Personally I cook my braised meat to an internal temoerature of about 75C/170F, as a compromise between tenderness and still having some structure.

http://www.michelin.co.uk/travel/downloads...20Pack%20GB.pdf Kudos to Daniel Clifford, chef at Midsummer House. I take a modest bow as its original founder...

You can extend the use by making Pease Pudding, and then using it in any of the ways you use cooked polenta.

Great advert from ACLU http://www.adcritic.com/interactive/view.php?id=5927 (Forum Police disclosure: Its about ordering Pizza, so marginally food related)

Turning is easy, and makes much better bread. It is a gentle form of kneading and stretching, and introduces some air of its own. Every hour or so during the bulk fermentation only (the fermentation after mixing but before shaping the loaves), but not during the second proof stage, turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board and fold it in three side to side, then top to bottom, as though you were making a turn (but without the butter) for flaky pastry or croissants: Then put it back into whatever container you are fermenting the dough in.

You have not discussed the vexed question of milk in first or last. Of course I assume you drink tea with milk, not lemon. Milk first is considered lower class, but makes a better cup of tea. Perversely it makes the sugar harder to dissolve. Tea can be divided by social class: Lower class: Strong enough to "stand a spoon in", very sweet, in eathernware or tin mugs. Must be black Indian tea. Milk in first. Upper class: Fine Oolong or Earl Grey, quite weak (a pot of hot water is served with the pot of tea), in fine china cups, milk in last, no sugar. Ethnic (and hence beyond the social pale): Chinese green, Chai, anything with condensed milk or drunk from a glass. Drunk only as a curiosity.

I use the recipe from Florence Lin's wonderful "Complete Book of Chinese Noodles, Dumplings and Breads". I wish someone would reprint it, as the secondhand price is astronomical. Its basically a saltless semi-sweet dough. My adaptation below: STEAMED BAO 3/4 cup warm water 1/2 ounce packaage of instant year 2 tsp sugar ->(I use a sourdough starter sponge instead, and double the fermentation times). Mix and stand for a couple of minutes or until foamy. 2 1/2 cups flour 2 Tbs oil Yeast mixture Whizz in a food processor until a ball forms, then process for another minute Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Roll into a cylinder about an inch and a half or so across. Cut into one inch pieces Turn them on their side and roll into 3 inch rounds. Keep the dough you are not working with covered with a damp cloth. Put 2Tbs of filling in the centre of each round, push and pleat them closed. Put them on individual pieces of baking parchment in a steamer basket. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to double in size in a warm place (about an hour for conventional yeast, maybe 3 hours for sourdough). They will double again when steamed, so allow room. Steam over high heat for 20 mins. Transfer to a dry towel to cool. Warning: Resist the temptation to eat straight away from the steamer as the filling is very hot! BAKED BAO 2 Tbs warm water (100F) 1/2 oz package dry yeast 1 Tbs sugar Mix, let stand until foamy (I use sourdough starter instead) 2/3 cup warm milk 4 tbs melted butter (or corn oil) 2 eggs well beaten 2 1/2 cups flour Whizz altogether with the yeast mixture in a food processor: process as steamed buns, except egg-glaze and bake at 350F for 20 mins. CHAR SHAO BAO XIAN: Roast Pork Filling 2Tbs cornstarch 4Tbs water stir together I Tbs corn oil 1 cup hand chopped onions 2 cups Char Shao (chinese roast pork) 2 Tbs light soy sauce 1 Tbs sugar Pinch salt Pinch white pepper (I like lots) 1.4 cup hand chopped green onion/scallion/spring onion Heat the oil in a wok. Add the onions and cook stirring constantly until soft and translucent - 3 mins. Stir in the pork, 2 Tbs water , the soy, the sugar, salt and pepper. Stir fry until hot. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir fry until it thickens and is translucent. Add the green onion and stir in. Let cool to room temperature before use. Filling will keep in the fridge for a few days. Buns will keep in the fridge for a few days, if allowed to, or for a couple of months frozen. Steam or microwave to reheat.

Also en croute (as in Salmon en croute( is spectacular and easy

Good to see you Andy; but where are the pictures of Brighton Rocks (both the sweet and the seashore kind)? Also the obligatory pix of the pier and of the banquetting rooms and kitchen in the Pavilion. And the pubs! I have fond memories of Brighton having spent a year at the University of Sussex there

1. Buy a digital themometer, it will pay dividend, and make your cooking accurate. Cook fish to 45C/115F. Anymore and it will start to dry. Two methods: a) en Papillotte. Take a whole fish (for example salmon or sea bass), gut, stuff with fresh herbs and maybe some green onion, season, wrap in oiled foil, add some white wine and put in a hot oven for half an hour (or check temperature) , remove and let rest. Serve with boiled potatoes and hollandaise, or for salmon let cool, then skin and decorate, serve with cucumber salad... b) Steam. Buy a chinese bamboo steamer and lid, and balance over a pot of boiling water or over a wok with boiling water. Line with lettuce leaves or herbs, add fish (you may need to curve it round) put on lid, steam for half an hour. Serve with asian sauces...

Muscadet A decent Chablis Maybe an Alsace Pinot Gris A halbtrocken Riesling

Longer proof at the right temperature - 85F plus or minus only a couple of degrees. Proof temperature is fairly critical. The dough should feel light and alive, and if you make a cut you shoud seee the bubbles. You are cooking to short and hot. Try 420F and 45 mins.

220C/430F or ovens most ovens hot as you can get it. Preheat for an hour if you can Sure use a cookie sheet. I sometimes use a pan, upside down as it is flatter. A thin sheet might warp a bit in the heat, but that just means the loaf looks a bit rustic.

Brief report on Bouchon. where I dined with Ms Foodie on Thurday night. Wendy is even nicer in reality than on the page and was an excellent dining companion. My perhaps biased overall impression of the restaurant is that it was competant rather than amazing. In Paris it would not be anything special. Like all Las Vegas hotel restaurants, its hard to find, and involves much trekking through the kitsch glitz of the Venetian hotel and casino before taking the lift in the new tower (not the old tower). Once there the room is nice - stainless steel bar, and bistro style tables and chairs. However all the hard surfaces make the noise level very high, and I found it quite hard to hear normal conversation. I was late, not allowing for convention traffic. Wendy was kindly forgiving Wine is overpriced, modest patchy selection. Started with a glass of Rose champagne (Duval Leroy NV $23/glass! - that is about a 6x markup on retail), went on to an excellent but slightly too sweet Alsace Gewurtztraminer (Kassler 00 by the glass), than an Alsace Pinot Gris (Josmeyer 01).Both growers new to me. Despite the eulogisings of the Sommelier, (bio-dynamic, fresh, fruity, rising winemaker etc) I found it thin and dull, and more like a Muscadet, which was not what I was expecting. If only they had some Rully Gassmann - I have some Pinot Gris the same year from him, and it is amazing. This is not French Laundry food or experience, and perhaps my expectations were too high. It is basic bistro, plainly served. No amuse, or other twiddles. Bread was an epi (wheat ear shape), Ok, but just bread, slightly oversalted. We started with Duck Foie Gras. Served in a small Epicure preserving jar. Nice, again too salt (I guess the chef smokes, as I find this often leads to oversalting). Portion too big for the two of us. Some toast fingers, but otherwise plain. Nada nothing. No wine gelee, no fig puree, no raisins... We also had snails, Good snails, but no shells, just cutsy little puff pastry hats. The puff pastry plain, and not at all buttery, which surprised me. Surely they can't be using commercial pastry or shortening in a kitchen of this class? Big fat snails, and lovely garlic butter. We then had the Grand Plateau de Fruit de Mer, which had been recommended in some reviews. So big, in two layers that we could not see each other accross the table, and had to lean around the side to talk. The wonder is to get good squeaky fresh seafood in the high desert. Good Washington state oysters, sweet pallourdes (clams), and a two halves of a whole lobster - a bit tough and overcooked. Straighforward shallot vinegar, cut lemons etc, but I had to ask for Tabasco, which came in mini bottles, like on an airline. We were too full for desert (blame the Foie), so had coffee - expresso, just ordinary. Pre-wrapped commercial chocolate mints straws came with the bill. Certainly OK, and better than many, but the French Laundry it aint. Not even on the same page. In fact I'm surprised Keller allows his name to be so prominent. Could improve on the details.

Ahem eGCI Thick Soups unit APPENDIX I: BISQUES APPENDIX II: CREMES APPENDIX III: PUREES APPENDIX IV: VELOUTES On Consommee

I believe that once bonded, the composite behaves like any other protein, that is you can cook it conventionally.

Faggots 1 lb pigs fry (liver, lights, heart, melts etc) 1 pigs caul fat 3 onions 3 oz breadcrumbs or boiled potatoes 1 oz seasoning made of - 5 parts salt - 1 part ground white pepper - 1 part ground ginger - 1 part sage - 1 part ground pimento Soak caul in tepid water Cover pribs fry and the onions with water, and simmer for 1 hour Drain off liquid (keep for gravy), add breadcrumbs, mince or whizz, ad sesonsing to taste, and beat with a fork to smooth. Cut caul into 4 inch squares, form meat into balls and place caul on each. Place in greased tin and brown quickly in a hot oven. Mushy peas Its important to use the big fat marrowfat peas, not the dainty frozen ones. Basically they are boiled to a mush. Chip shop ones have green food colouring added.

The word cogener has many uses meaning similar, for example elements from the same group of the periodic table, or homologues - chemicals with the same structure but differing groups , like methanol and ethanol. In this context it means chemicals made by the same process (your last definition above), in this case fermentation, and maybe distillation. It refers to all the other junk, like fusel oils and other alcohols, ketones aldehydes and esters that come along with the alcohol. Some contribute flavour, most are mild poisons. Low and high refer to the relative amounts of these. Traditionally they are removed by more careful distillation, and by leaviing the booze to mature in barrels for some years. Clear sprits tend to have less, but it critically depends on their quality. Good reasons to drink more expensive and older wines or brandies...

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? Anglo-jewish Ashkenazi Was meal time important? Yes, aren't they always? Was cooking important? It was a kosher household - of course What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? telling off Who cooked in the family? My mother, may she be remembered for good Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? Very rare. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? No When did you get that first sip of wine? Kiddish, before I can remember Was there a pre-meal prayer? On Friday night and Shabbos and high holy days Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? No, excepot Friday night was always cold fried fish How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? None, except the love of food.

The dough will get wetter during the final rise, especially if it is acidic, such as sourdough, as the acid weakens the gluten. I wonder if its the temperature. You could try doing the final rise in a refrigerator, overnight, then bake from cold. I find this helps with some doughs

I am told on good but anonymous authority that the enzyme is called transglutaminase and is produced by a Japanese firm called Ajinomoto, under the trade name Activa http://www.activatg.com/, and many other web articles. It works by binding glutamine residues in proteins together. Its used commercially to improve texture in meat products like hams and chicken rolls, block surimi, and improve texture and reduce syneresis (weeping) in set yogurts. It is derived from microbial fermentation. Wylie was an early adopter, but not the first chef to use it. The enzyme has a lot of really interesting potentials. to give increased water retention, and to give creaminess and high-fat mouthfeel to low fat products.

Recipies are a guide rather than accurate. Different flours adsorb different amounts of water, even with the same protein content. Its governed by mnay factors. They may have different ash contents, or be ground coarser or finer. Wholemeal adsorbs more than white flour, so a higher extraction flour will adsorb more. You need to go by the feel of the dough. The stiffness of the dough changes a lot with only a few percent difference in water, so experiment until its right. WHen you experiment it is much better to change the water amount, rather then add more flour, since you then don't have to alter the other components (eggs, salt etc). Start too stiff and add a little water until its workable.

Your dough is too wet. Keep reducing the water by 10% until it doesn't spread. Traditionally water is only about 32%, with additional liquid from about 25% egg, making quite a stiff dough. These are bakers pecentages, by weight, of the flour, that is the weight of flour is 100%.