Mendel C-k

Bordier Butter is the thing I miss most...

I am curious as to why people are thinking it is spleen. The spleen is a viscus, its parenchyma is spongy and trabecular and there is no "muscle" like what is on that piece of meat. In regards to the OP, I am not sure of the answer. The caul, from my best guess looks to be omenta. In the human the greater omentum attaches the to the greater curvature of the stomach and the Spleen (as it forms from the dorsal mesogastrium) and in adults, attaches to the anteroinferior aspect of the traverscolon (though I don't know if such an event occurs in bovines). As that piece of meat looks like muscle....I would say it is some part of the abdominal wall or a pre-vertebral muscle. Although that is on the basis that it is greater omentum...which is just a guess Edit: Wow...probably should have zoomed in...guess it is spleen after all. From the thumbnails it looked like Skeletal muscle...my bad

You broke it down into muscular compartments, not individual muscles... There are some muscles in the ovine hindlimb that actually don't do much "work" so perhaps the one you cooked up was one of those. Good job though! It is something I do regularly and I find by not disrupting the myofibrils, I loose way less moisture, while still being able to break it down into manageable pieces

Sorry, but could you please elaborate? This has peaked my interest

This is one of the first recipes I created as a kid...stopped making it ages ago when I learnt I had Celiac Make a stuffing by sautéing onion and celery in copious butter and oil (bread soaks it up). Once translucent, add stale bread pieces, chives, rosemary, sage and grated parmesan and then allow to cool. Stuff each quail with the stuffing and then wrap in a layer of procuitto. Roast in a 180c over for 20-25m It was enjoyed by all who ate it

why not portion before SV'ing?

You're right. I was talking about the mixture rather than just myoglobin, which is a component of it. Sorry for the thread takeover. In regards to duck brest, is the an optimum method to render after sous vide, and has anyone had any experience removing the skin, removing some of the fat from underneath, then readhering with TG?

Myoglobin is just a protein, very similar to Haemoglobin, that carries oxygen within myocytes. Osmazome is a volatile compound that invokes umami, though it is archaic. The sarcoplasm is the intracellular cytoplasm of myocytes and thus the main contributor to the liquid released during cooking

sarcoplasm I believe it's termed...

Chez Michel by Thierry Breton...every time I've been to Paris I go there

What temp did you SV at?

Did beef cheeks for 60h @ 56c and final 12h at 54, finished in cast iron with ghee and served with puree of cauliflower and double extracted jus with persillade and deep fried jerky crisps. Was good.

That steak is from the more caudal end and thus the "strip" portion has a smaller longissimus portion and more other muscles. Between the muscles will be thin facial membranes (that will be tough) but the larger "lines" you see are still just fat.

Hmm, it would be unlikely that it is a tendon. The strip section represents the epaxial muscles and thus is actually a composition of my different muscles : Splenius, Spinalis, Iliocostalis, Longissimus, Semispinalis, Multifidus and rotatores. Which muscles are present will depend on which vertebral level the steak is taken from. A picture would help, but my guess is that it is a bit a facia between the erector spinae and transversospinalis.

Oysters Asparagus with Yolk, Pancetta, and Marrow Sauce (Marrow, capers, shallot, anchovy, garlic, mustard, butter, verjus) and some picked radishes Serratus ventralis (beef rib) with cauliflower puree, demi glace, 4 hour roast carrot and parsnip, marrow, and persilade (Parsley, shallot, garlic, mustard, anchovy, capers, EVOO) Persimmon and strawberry compote (with vanilla, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, orange and lemon) with gin and tonic granita, candied ginger and caramel and macadamia Sorry about the large photos...my plating could do with some work but it tasted pretty good.

Re above: You are both right. There are vagal afferents to the area Postrema (nerves to the brain) that will cause POMC release in the hypothalamus and a very quick response to ingestion of food (measured by stomach distension). Also, when digesting in the stomach, small amounts of chyme (the stomach contents) will leak into the duodenum (small intestine), and be absorbed by the cells of the duodenal epithelium. These cause the release of CCK and GLP-1 among other peptides (the specific one will depend on what biomacromolecule was absorbed. Obviously, as these are blood born proteins, they will take longer to reach the brain and thus there is a latency between eating and satiation.

Satiation, satisfaction and ability to sense the presence of fat is VERY different to taste. Also - "too thin to have texture", I think if you put a knob of ghee and the same amount of water in your mouth you'd be able to sense the difference

BTW, I think it's more to do with saturated/unsaturated than length for TAG viscosity. but the dispersion/VDW forces related to the MW of the hrdocarbon chain is a significant factor. To the OP, I think that from a culinary standpoint the article focuses on the sensation of fatty acids, not TAGs which are what we are commonly exposed to in the kitchen. Futhermore, the "taste" of fat the many would associate with cooking in fat, eating fatty foods, is due to the myriad of other substances ( L-Amino acids, H+, Na+, Cyclohexamides basic sugars and maillard products) that are contained either with the fat in question (the volatiles in EVOO or the proteins and sugars as well as everything else you can think of that is in lard (remember that adipose tissue is still cellular)) and not the TAG itself. For one thing, TAGs are inherently insoluble, which means they are far less likely to be adsorbed and thus register as a "taste". Yes, there are GPCRs and other receptors that can pick up Fatty acids (not TAGs) but they are in such low concentration and the receptors relatively sparse for them to have any effect. GlorifiedRice's "fat taste" is the result of perhaps a couple of things. Firstly, tasting the many other dissolved substances present in the "fat". The other is due to classical conditioning. The human brain is an amazing thing. If it receives a certain mouthfeel it will sometimes register a taste that is has learned to associate with said mouthfeel. Add to this the fact that the brain knows it is eating something fatty and is possibly receiving olfactory stimulation from the cooking process and you get the perception of taste when its not really there.

Scrambled Eggs with White Truffle oil. A labour of love, but one of my all time favourite things to make when I have the time on my hands. https://flic.kr/p/qYUFrU

Hi, Glad I could be of help. Yeah, if you've got a dash stock on hand, then you'd probably like sepia - Quay too for that matter at there's a few asian inspired dishes in there. What do you think of Elbulli? I have access to all the books and really must say they are an inspiration....but at $800 probably not the best use of ones hard earned. I haven't seen the Gelato Messina guys book, but I'm sure it's a nice piece. They're shop(s) are always packed. If you're an ice-cream guy I'd recommend 'Ice-Cream without Secrets' by Corvitto, it used to be available free online and I'm sure you'd be able to track it down. "Faviken" and (I think it's called) "J" by Joachim Wissler should also be put on the list of to buy - they are certainly on mine. Sorry, I should have seen your post count before I made a reference like this. MM... (I can't remember his username) is a private chef named Max. (I'm pretty sure he used to post here). He uses Alleno recipes a lot. Here's photo stream of some of his reproductions of Alleno dishes: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjCY1ZVf Anyway the Alleno book is my next purchase, but it'll have to be in french as the English version is 1500 EUR (I know, WTF)

tonnes of good options out there. When I use a cookbook I use it for either inspiration or a component. I only cook my own recipes now and love designing my own recipes and dishes. For some dishes, I'll look to cookbooks for flavour pairing inspiration and component recipes. This is the way I use cookbooks - so my opinions may not be as useful as someone who wants to recreate the dishes verbatim. The peter Gilmore books are very interesting, the food is stunning and there's nothing "too techno". His philosophy is based around local and quality ingredients so there is rarely anything too "out there". The dishes are very laborious though, and have many components. I have used some of the components in many of my self-designed dishes and they always work. I would get Quay before I got organum. Organum is focused entirely on the Australian producers of the ingredients he uses (think NOMA like stories about each of them) so it may be difficult to recreate some of the dishes. Quay on the other hand is more easily adaptable to other regions and their ingredients. FWIW - Gilmore uses a few asian inspired flavours in some of his dishes - so if that's really not your thing, maybe look elsewhere first. (but its only some of the dishes) If you like asian flavours - specifically Japanese and Korean - that have been adapted to create modern dishes - Get Sepia. It's really amazing. Really. I just opened to a random page now and got - “SCARLET PRAWNS WITH SHELLFISH JELLY, WHITE CUCUMBER, CRÈME FRAICHE, TEMPURA BATTER AND MATCHA TEA OIL” I recently acquired RELAE. This is more of a think piece than a recipe book. Really inspiring though with fantastic ideas of how to construct dishes that reflects what I guess would be considered the "nordic" food style. NOMA is good, many of the dishes are really not that tricky at all - thus they rely on interesting ingredients that are impossible to source. A good read though and although I am not sure where you are located, if you come from a country rich in local suppliers and a variety of indigenous ingredients, then this book and organum (Gilmore) would be very inspiring. Bentley is good too. Nothing too techno at all, apart from some SV and hydrocolloids - which I suspect you'd already have if your interested in modern cooking. The dishes are less complex than those in Quay or Sepia with far fewer elements. It's a good gateway book. Alinea is a masterpiece. The flavour combinations, the elements, its really stunning. Ok, so you might not make all 8 components of a dish. But the ideas you get and some of the components can be utilised in many other dishes. Under pressure is really SV orientated (who'd of thought?) but contains a few modern dishes. Like the French Laundry, it is really more a case of using classical flavour combinations like you'd find in Escoffier and jazzing them up with SV or other techniques. It's not that they're not tasty recipes - I'm sure they are - they just don't excite or inspire (me, at least). EMP is great. Lots of recipes, lots of good flavour combos. Pretty and all the recipes are straight forward and nothing too outlandish with flavours or proceedures. Fat duck is more like Alinea but with a more classical 'flavour spectrum'. The notes on food science are also worth a read at the back of the book. I've "stolen" a few components from here, but for me, Alinea is more interesting. But, TBH, these all pale in comparison to one book - El Bulli FWIW my next purchase is the Yannick Alleno book - not the $1500 one, but the recipe one that's written in french. I think his cooking is really amazing - Just ask MM, he uses his dishes a lot. And I can practise my French. I think it is interesting that a lot of these books are Australian - Makes me proud. Finally, I think it really depends on what flavours you like and what you'll use the cookbook for: For a more classical spectrum : The Fat Duck, the Keller Books, EMP are great For a more Modern (think more international) spectrum : Alinea, Quay, Bentley, and Manresa For ingredient based cooking : Organum and NOMA For a good read - Relae For Asian (japanese) inspired modern cooking : Sepia Sorry for the long post.

Really hot pan on high heat, a bit of clarified butter. Keep on one side for as long as you dare, this is your presentation side. the bigger (more accurately - thicker) the scallop the better as this allows for more time on that side. Dry as much as you can before hand, add salt (not pepper - it burns) before searing. Don't overcrowd the pan, do in batches if necessary or concurrent pans. enjoy. Just read above comments - Rane008 got it covered.

I think there's no skin, just shadow

Remove the fat and skin, then separate, keeping about 1cm of fat on skin. poach the skin for 3h or so until gelatinous. Scrape off most of the fat of skin and then blast in very hot oven till you have crackling (you may want to do this in a pan with skin on a rack and a little water underneath to stop burning). For extra good cracking, dehydrate the skin in a dehydrator/cool oven/fridge. With the huge fat cap that you have taken off - either render and use for various things or go with lardo - the latter being much more interesting and probably a better use since you have a nice intact block of fat. with the rest of the rib, you could either leave a bit of fat on it (.5cm) and then either SV or low temp oven, then sear in pan to finish. Serve with the cracking you just made and a nice sauce. I'd probably do the crackling, lardo, the take the main eye and surrounding muscle off the bones, SV that, then with the remaining bones and meat scraps, and make a stock/sauce to serve with the meat and crackling. Good times!

I agree. I am not looking to start a revolution I am just defending my use of the terms when I described what I cooked to other people, so if they want to replicate it or want to compare it to something they've done, they can make a true comparison. Whenever I've posted a muscle name in this and other topics, i usually have a parenthetical explanation of the cut of beef it's from, So I'm not excluding anybody.