jackal10

Sourdough is a complex system with many different processes happening simultaneously, each of which changes rate with temperature differently. 1. Extraction (dissolving) of flavour compounds from the flour, especially whole wheat and the like. Tends to increase with temperature. Presoaking the flour with some of the water helps. 2. Ratio of lacto-bacillus (and its side products) to yeast. Although there is some more at 57F, the optimum is around 85F-90F 3. Ratio of lactic to acetic acid produced by the lacto-bacillus. This alters the "tang". Many factors here, such as the exact composition of the sourdough culture, the amount of oxygen present, and the stiffness of the dough (stiffer is more flavoursome, but smaller holes) 4. Decomposition of the starch and the gluten by the acid. In many cases this is the limiting factor during proof, and is only marginally affected by temperature. You might consider a two stage process: ferment a stiff sponge starter warm for a long time to give you the flavour compounds, and then mix and prove a dough at the normal temperature and time (4 hours at 85F from mixing) to give the desired texture.

Leave out the yeast I'd allow 12 hours, but its not critical. Let the dough tell you. The dough will become much more liquid. Why do you think the long proof will develop more flavour?

I think i means analog in advertising speak. Normal logic is binary: yes/no or true/false. Fuzzy logic has more states: true, don't know, false, for 3 value or true maybe, don't know, maybe not, false for five state, The limit is an infinite number of states or probability, typical of Baysian combinatorics Further complications are belief systems, where you have multile values: a probability that a proposition is true, and the probablilty of the belief that your estimate of the probability is correct and so on... I think for rice cookers it means more like analog temperature control than on/off

Reverse baked alaska is done in a microwave: freeze the outside, such as ice cream inject liquid such as jam or a coulis in the centre. The microwave preferentially heats liquid. Beware, can be very hot! The ice cream should not be too thick, or the microwaves can't penetrate. Prof Kurti demonstrated this, together with other wonders on the same principle, such as inside-out toast, in a lecture at the Royal Institution in 1969 entitled "The Physicist in the Kitchen". I was present. For seared butter I would use a blowtorch, but aren't you making a sort of chicken Kiev? It would be easier to make beurre noisette, then adjust the texture.

Heston Blumenthal on Oxtail: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1084124,00.html AS it happens I am making this for dinner tomorrow, except that I will cook it 12 hours, cool, skim, reheat. Served with Onion and parsley dumplings Red cabbage Sprouts and chestnuts Glazed carrots A starch: maybe horseradish mash, or rice or quinoa to sop up the juice Walsingham treacle tart to follow I think...

Sounds to me that he is making a quite different sort of pickle: fermented pickles. The pickles in this lesson are not fermented, but just flavoured with the vinegar etc. and preserved either by being kept cold in the fridge (upto a week or three), or for a longer time by being canned and sterilised by heat treatment. Fermented pickles, such as half and full sour hamesha cucumbers are preserved in salt in an environment that encourages lactic and acetic acid fermentation - they make their own vinegar, until the vinegar concentration is sufficiently high to act as a preservative. See for example http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=89890 but many cultures have their own versions, such as sauerkraut or kimchi, some rather an acquired taste. You do have to get the environment and temperatures right, to grow the right bugs, and I've never been that successful. I'm not a microbiologist, but I believe that if the environment is acid (thus avoiding botulism and the like), the food reasonably clean to begin with, and its not growing obvious fur or strange colours, you won't come to a lot of harm, but it might not taste good. The recipe you quote seems to be a halfway house: he ferments "until sufficiently sour" then refrigerates. I guess you could can them at that point. The two tablespoons of vinegar makes the liquid slightly acid to begin with, and the rice washings provide fermentable starch. The warm place (about 90F) gives the optimum conditions for lacto-bacilli grow, like sourdough.

For winter teas there is a whole tradition of toasted things: tea cakes, crumpets and the like. Ideally toasted by the fire. Served hot with lashings of butter melting into them. Maybe Marmite or Gentleman's Relish for the crumpets...

I really think what you are proposing is too substantial. Afternoon tea is not a meal, its an interlude before drinks or cocktails and dinner. Anything more than some light sandwiches, such as cucumber, and maybe a scone, or other light cake or biscuit would be too much. Your original menu without the savoury items, except for some cucumber sandwiches would do fine.

Care to share the recipe? How did you leach the tannin? Swan is still served, rarely, today. It is only served by Royal Prerogative, but St John's College has the right and privilege, and serves it at feasts, usually as a galantine, since its tough. Tastes like tough fishy duck.

Acorn meal, and many food plants

Recipes, we need recipes and pictures, we need pictures...

I paid about £1500 ($3000) fitted for it 10 years ago. Doing a quick web search ther is a similar one on Ebay (buyer removes) for about £1000. Conversion to oil or gas would be about another £1000. AGAs are solid metal, with very little to go wrong, so there is no disadvantage to buying an old one. Indeed the older ones had more metal and I prefer the styling. Real experts can tell the age from the detailing on the lids. http://www.agafixspares.com/html/help_identify_my_aga.html Fully reconditioned and fitted ones run about £5000, new about £7500

http://www.aga-ranges.com/ I have a 4 oven AGA. You either love them or hate them. I love mine. Always there ready, warm and welcoming. Not so much a range, more a friend.

Whisky Mac Whisky hot lemon and honey (sovereign for colds) but mostly what goes with good whisky is more good whisky...

The season turns, and today in sowed (in heat) Chilli peppers (Thai Dragon, Pacific Fire, Numex Twilight) Tomatos (Sungold, Black Cherry, Brandywine, Gardeners Delight) Greenhouse cucumber (Flamingo organic F1)

What flour are you using? Me, I just whack it all in the robo and whizz until it forms a ball. Seems to work.

Not the standard set traditional names, that cause merriment among our transatlantic friends such as Toad in the Hole, or Spotted Dick, or even Pasta Puttanesca. Many dishes are named after famous demi-mondes of their day. The strangest name I have seen recently was "Freedom Fries". Fried freedom, perhaps.

POP! Just a reminder tonight is Burns Night http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_supper The Immortal Memory!

In the UK Tesco have this one for £9.97 which is an incredible bargain. http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-6895.aspx Works well too. Seems to work with citrus, but the feed chute is quite small so you need to cut them up first.

Is that cheese under the wurst and eggs? Oy vey! I saute the wursht in discs then put the eggs round them, usually sunny side up, not scrambled.

The starter will evolve over time depending ob your local flour and conditions. The sourness is also quite temperature sensitive For sour, here are some things you can try a) ferment hotter (30C) b) ferment cooler (10C for longer or overnight in the fridge) c) ferment out the sponge step more (probably the easiest) d) Refresh the starter, letting it ferment out more between feedings

A geneologist friend writes, and I am also baffled: I wonder if any of you could help to solve a culinary mystery that has been baffling interpretation for a few years. Although I've asked quite a few people nationwide, and perused Milward's glossary it's always been in vain. From the will of Roger Copestake of Bradenbrinke, Derbyshire dated 1605 : "Alsoe I geve to my sone Richarde ottes to make his sidnes at lent & the sidnes beinge made the reste of the vestrie to be devided betwixte my sone Richarde & my towe daughters Jhone & Jane ... " I'm told that 'vestrie' is some kind of colloquialism for a store of a variety of grains [which are not mixed up together like dredge corn,] and that 'ottes' is oats. My family comes from north Staffordshire and hence I've grown up being completely fluent in 'pottery talk' which seems to resemble the Olde English tongue. (My father always talked in 'thees' and 'thou's', which made Shakespeare so easy to follow.) So I particularly enjoyed seeing' two' written as 'towe' and in another part' towels' for' tools' , phonetically perfect! The mystery surrounds that meaning of 'sidnes'. What was/is it? It sounds as if it is some kind of food specialty associated with Lent, such as simmnel cake but that is a rich plum cake so it's unlikely to have oats in it. I have had my transcription checked ndependently and it is correct. It would be fun to try to make it for myself. I wonder if you could shed any light on this for me please? JL: Sidnes might be sidney or sydney. Lent being meatless it may be some kind of oat pudding, but I can find no reference in Hartley or any of the usual references.

From http://www.smh.com.au/news/Big-Questions/T...5582700584.html A for Horses (Hay for Horses) A for ism (aphorism) A for gardener (Ava Gardner, film star) B for mutton (Beef or Mutton) B for my time (Before my time) B for tea (beef tea) B for dinner (beef for dinner) C for islanders (Seaforth Highlanders) C for yourself (See for yourself); C for Sailors (sea for sailors) C for ships, C for miles (see for miles) C for looking (see for looking) D for ential (deferential/differential) D for dumb (deaf or dumb) D for Kate - defecate) D for n' baker (Diefenbaker, Canadian prime minister) D for rent (different) E for brick (heave a brick) E for Adam (Eve or Adam) E for Gabor (Eva Gabor) E for Ning Standard (Evening Standard) E for you or me (either you or me) E for Braun (Eva Braun) E for knocks you rotten (Ether...) or E for Gas (Ether gas) F for vescence (effervescence) F for lump (efferlump) G for police (chief of police), G for get it (Gee, forget it!) G for screepers (Geefers creepers, where d'you get those peepers) G for take (give or take) G for Staff (chief of staff) G for Sis (g-forces) or G for horse (G-force) H for respect (age for respect) H for retirement (age for retirement) H for it (Hate you for it plus other variations on Hate you eg what ya done to me, for your feets too big (popular song of the 1940s) H for weight (Age for weight) H for teen (Age 14) H before beauty; (age before beauty) H for consent (age of consent) H for love (ache for love) H for himself (each for himself) H cheer for the winner(A cheer for the winner) I for Novello (Ivor Novello - actor composer playwright of the 1930s) I for looting (High Faluting) I for an I (eye for an eye) I for get/got (I forget/forgot) I for nate (hyphernate) I for a needle (Eye for a needle) I for no (Ivanhoe) I for the Girls (eye for the girls) I for idea (I've an idea) I for tower (Eiffel Tower) I for idea/nasty cold (I've an idea/a nasty cold) I for a lovely bunch of coconuts I for crush (I've a crush on you) I for pain (I've a pain) J for oranges (jaffa oranges) J for dollar to spare (Do you have a dollar...) K for answers (Kay Francis, American film star of the 1930s and 40s) K for oranges/limes (Kaffir oranges/limes) K for teria (cafeteria) K for a cuppa (Care for a cuppa) K for Kraal (Kaffir Kraal - now politically incorrect) K for warriors (Kaffir warriors - Zulu army) K for coffee (Cafe for coffee) K for butter (Copha butter) K for Corn (Kaffir Corn) K for Restaurant (Cafe or Restaurant) K for the door (key for the door) K for dates (Kaifa) L for leather (Hell for leather) M for sis (emphasis) M for sema (emphysema) M forces (armed forces) N for a dig (Infra dig/ In for a dig - ie. bat at cricket) N for lope (envelope) N for eggs (Hen for eggs) N for mation (information) N for end (end-for-end) N for a penny (In for a penny...) N for it (In for it) N for pasha (Enver Pasha, a Turkish leader) N forcement (enforcement), N for red (infrared) N for terrible (enfant terrible) O for the garden wall (Over the garden wall) O for my dead body/ O for goodness sake//O for the wings of a dove/O for the moon, O for crying out loud! O for there, O for goldmine (Ophir goldmine) O for come (overcome) O for the fence is out (Over the fence...backyard cricket term) O for an Osram; O for a nice cold beer P for relief (Pee for relief) also P for a penny, P for yourself, P for a whistle, P for cake (Piece of Cake) P forty two (An American fighter) Q for rations/the flicks/for fish and chips/for tickets/for a bus (Queue for..) Q for billiards (cue for billiards) Q for ills (Cure for ills) Q for a song (cue for a song) R for mo (Half a mo') R for Bitter (half of bitter) R for Askey/Daley/Murray (Arthur Askey, comedian/Arthur Daley/Arthur Murray) R for loaf (Half a loaf) S for Williams (Esther Williams, aquatic film star) S for you (As for you/it's for you) S for anto (esperanto) S for mation (a flying formation) S for As You Go (As Far As You Go) S we have no bananas (yes, we have no bananas) T for two (Tea for two) T for eating (Teeth for eating) T for Gums (Teeth or Gums) T for dentures (Teeth or dentures) U for me (You for me) U for mism (euphemism) U for ear (euphoria) U for Fox (Uffa Fox, British yachtsman and boat-builder) U for films ( UFA films- a German film company) U for knee (euphony) U for age (youth or age) U for got (You forgot) U for Joyce (Yootha Joyce) U for ram (Ewe for ram) U for nasia (Euthenasia) V for La France (Viva La France) V for l'amore (Vive l' amore) V for Espana! (Viva Espana!) V for Victory W for a bob (I'll double you on a pushbike for a shilling) W for nothing/quits/ two hearts/trumps (Double you for nothing, quits etc - betting, gambling or poker terms) W for tune (Double Your Fortune - an old gameshow) W for cards, Could be updated to W for president X for breakfast (Eggs for breakfast Y for mistress (Wife or mistress) also Y for husband/girlfriend/lover/kids, Y for Christ's sake/God's sake/goodness sake?Y for runts (Y-fronts) Y for thin (wafer thin) Y for and wherefore Z for breeze (Zephyr breeze) Z for motor car (Ford Zephyr); Z for his hat (His head for his hat)Z for the doctor (zend for the doctor)

What about at home, when the guests just won't leave? Start clearing up around them? Get out the Hoover? Fall asleep at the table? Change into pyjamas? Go to bed and leave them to it?

140F/60C for at least 15 mins as per the FDA specification. Hotter, like the 155F quoted above is overcooked and leads to dry tough meat.