jmcgrath
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Posts posted by jmcgrath
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Halon is a fire extinguisher material that is usually used around electronics equipment. No residues, and no liquid. It's a non-flammable (obviously) gas that is heavier than air, and displaces oxygen at the bottom of a fire.
Works kind of the same way that CO2 does, but without the mess.
Perhaps you are thinking of a dry powder extinguisher. CO2 does not leave any residue.
This reminds me of a barbecue contest I was running. The fire chief complained that Ansul would make a lot more mess than water. It took me a while to convince him that a grease fire was much more likely than a problem with the wood the teams were burning.
Jim
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Cigarettes
Living in the burbs, I guess I'm spoiled. The nearest supermarket is five minutes away. Trader Joes is a 15 minute drive, so is Super Stop & Shop. I buy perishables is small quantities and replenish when needed. Idlewild Farms is at most a 20 minute drive and I can't think of anything I couldn't find there. I guess that it is unlikely that I would run out of butter, salt, sugar and pepper. Running out of something is not a problem and I don't worry about it.
Jim
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My vote is for the Weber 22 1/2". I know a lot of people who swear by the ceramic cookers, and I don't doubt them. Their big problems are portability and cooking surface area. Depending on where you live, shipping cost for a ceramic can be painful. You can break down the Weber and take it anywhere.
Another possibility is the Weber Smoky Mountain water smoker. It is a great smoker, and you can do a fair approximation of grilling by removing the water pan.
Jim
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For a totally different approach, I have heard of someone who saves his stems/seeds/dust to add smoke flavor to grilled fish. I have heard that for best results, the flavoring agent is put into a foil pouch with a single small hole punched into it. Put the pouch on top of hot coals, and grill the fish offset, with grill cover in place. I think the result is called doobie fish. A good oily fish absorbs the smoke flavor best.
Jim
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Meat like this is, in effect, pre-brined. As Dave explains in his great eGCI course on brining, you're paying for extra water when you buy meat like this. But having tried it, I have to say that it does what it claims to -- that is, meat treated this way did cook up very moist and flavorful. I'd still rather brine meat myself, but for cooks who don't know how or don't have the time, I don't think it's a bad idea.
This is a pain for those of us who use spice rubs on our barbecue. A typical rub contains a lot of salt and the brining puts things over the top. I make most of my own rubs and can adjust the salt content to compensate for brining. Anyone using a commercial rub is out of luck. The problem is at its worst with pork ribs which have a large surface area to volume ratio.
Jim
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My wife makes peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches. Now that is wrong.
That is so wrong. Bleah. Where's the puke smiley when you need it?
Here ya go.
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I had a similar experience, but unfortunately it was at a restaurant with which I had fallen in love. The setting was a now extinct restaurant which I will not name in Cambridge, MA. It was fairly upscale, with prices to match, but not out of line. I dined there frequently, but not often enough to be known to the owners.
One evening, I met for dinner with friends. They had an outdoor dining area which we requested and where we were seated. Service was extremely slow, however the food was excellent and the waitress apologized for the service because of understaffing. It was not a problem. The companionship and the weather distracted us from the wait between courses.
Things came to a horrible conclusion when we were about half way through our coffees. The owner came out and said we were taking too long and that there were people waiting for our table. We got up and followed him inside where I explained it a very loud voice how he had ruined our meals, and that the fault of our lengthy meal was his and not ours.
I also called friends to whom I had recommended the restaurant and related my experience. I'm sure they called others. I wish I could claim responsibility for the fact they are no longer in business, but doubt that is the case.
Jim
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Sometimes, I cut in half lengthwise, cross hatch about 1/4" deep, butter heavily, and bake. Cross hatch up, of course.
Jim
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Jim, not sure what a "boiled dinner is." would you mind elaborating?
Pot au feu. I Googled "New England Boiled Dinner" and most of the recipes called for corned beef and cabbage. I would have called that corned beef and cabbage.
Jim
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Whatever choice you make, get something with oven safe handles. Have you considered a crock pot instead?
Jim
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Wow 215 F internal temp, most other stuff I see says 180-195F, well I'll give it a go.
Each brisket is different and each brisket is done when it's done. Minutes per pound and internal temperature should only be used a guidelines. I barbecue packer cut briskets and find they are usually done somewhere in the range of 195F to 205F. When you can stick a fork into the flat and easily twist it, the flat is done. At that time, I remove the point and put it back in the pit for additional rendering. The point and the flat will never get done at the same time. If you don't want to use a two step process, buy untrimmed flats.
A trimmed flat is better used for a boiled dinner. Is the term "boiled dinner" something that people outside of New England understand?
Jim
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I doubt it's the best roasting pan ever, but for the price ($10 down from $30), this Wearever roasting pan set (12-by-16-inch roasting pan with rack and baster) can't be beat. It would make a nice housewarming present for the recent graduate with a new apartment or a great bridal shower or engagement gift.
It sounds like a great deal except for the non-stick exterior. Do anyone think that would hold up when making gravy on the stove-top?
Jim
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I have two 30" electric, non-convection GE ovens located side by side. I went non-convection because of the loss of oven depth with the convection fan. I only use both ovens at the same time perhaps a dozen times a year, but when I'm using both, I need all the space I can get. The only thing I miss with the electric ovens is an infrared broiler. An electric broiler is the pale cousin of an infrared.
One thing I discoverd when the ovens were being installed was that the manufacturer's spec called for a 6 inch separation between the ovens. The sales droid had never mentioned this, and the cabinetry was already installed. I made a paniced call to the GE hotline and was told that there was a fire danger if both ovens were run on self-clean at the same time. I decided I could remember not to do that and went ahead with a no separation installation.
I have a 36" 5 burner Jenn-Air gas cooktop centered above the ovens.
I do a lot of cooking, but in most cases my setup is overkill. When I'm really cranking out a lot of food, it is a real joy.
Jim
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I love the two ways to exit Customs in Charles de Gaulle and Zaventem: Something to declare. Nothing to declare. Of course I always take the Nothing to declare exit.
They just keep on smoking their Gauloise cigs and give you a nod........
I find the "something to declare" lines much easier at US ports of entry. The lines are usually empty and I make sure I have a legal "agricultural product" such as roasted coffee beans to declare.
Jim
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which I guess others would call the "next day chili" sensation
No, we call it Ring of Fire.
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I love Country Captain. You often see it with raisins as part of the mix.
The recipe I used called for currants. Yes, You can find them in the US. I intentionally didn't copy the recipe because I think the book is well both buying, and very much recommend it.
Jim
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I'm very much a Yankee and have never had a CFS that I enjoyed, probably because no one in New England knows how to make it. I recently ran across "The Gift of Southern Cooking" by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. This is my new favorite cookbook. I had friends over for dinner last night and made "Country Captain". It is roast chicken baked with a curried mirepoix. It was absolutely delicious, and a far cry from what ever I had considered southern cooking. I accompanied it with coconut rice and buttermilk biscuits from recipies also in the book.
For the record, my first experience with grits occurred some forty years ago at a diner in Fort Lauderdale while on spring break. I didn't quite know what to do with them and added some catsup for seasoning. My seasoning was not well received by the diner staff.
Jim
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Let me chime in from a different perspective. I have spent extended periods of confinement in a submarine and mealtime was always the highpoint of our day. The food budget for submariners is higher than for any other military group. A submarine in many ways is at least as confining as a prison, an all male population; no daylight or fresh air for 60 day intervals; no radio or TV; very limited communications from family or friends. The meals were the only thing that kept us sane. That and practical jokes. One day the XO got into a snit because we stole the door to his stateroom and he secured the soda machine. That almost caused a mutiny. A crew member
secured the water supply to his state room, he ended the nightly movie, his mattress disappeared. He gave up. In close confinement of any sort, food is one of the few aspects of humanity that remains.
Jim
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I laughed so hard at this because I saw myself in this. Growing up, mom only used mayo with milchig (dairy). It wasn't until I was in my twenties that I realized that it was parve.
I always wondored about Woody Allen's fixation with mayonnaise. Now I understand.
Jim
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Great stuff. I discovered it through a December 20, 2000 NY Times article by Denise Landis. I just noticed that we can now order online. That makes life a little simpler.
Jim
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Mincemeat the Hard Way
I must have way time on my hands to have gotten involved in this. A post by tjaehnigen asked about the absence of meat in mincemeat. I went back through some old cookbooks and found a few recipes. The one that intrigued me the most was one from Fannie Farmer’s “Boston Cooking-School Cookbook”. I think what was most interesting to me is that it called for a quart of brandy. Any recipe that calls for a quart of brandy is interesting. My adaptation of “Mince Pie Meat I” follows. The recipe makes a lot of mincemeat and takes a lot of time. I used my largest stockpot, which I also use for making beer. I can easily boil 5 gallons of wort in it
I started with 4 pounds of the cheapest lean beef I could find. It cost about $13. Also, 2 pounds of suet for about $2. $15 already. This is starting to add up I covered with water and simmered until the beef was tender. I should have cut the beef into chunks and chopped the suet. I did neither. The beef took about 4 hours to become tender, but only about half the suet had rendered. I transferred the unrendered suet to a saucepan, and moved the stockpot containing broth, beef and rendered suet to a cold porch. I carefully rendered the remaining suet in a covered pan over low heat and added it to the stockpot. This took about an additional half hour. After the stock had chilled and the rendered suet had solidified, I removed the suet and beef. I reduced the broth to one and a half cups of stock.
I chopped the beef and measured its volume. I had ten cups. I needed double that volume of peeled, cored and chopped apples. I just happened to have 9 Macintoshes, which were about 8 cups when chopped. I picked up some Granny Smiths to provide the additional 12 cups, about $5.00 more. The original recipe called for Baldwin apples, but I used what I had available. I added 3 quinces at $5.37, peeled, cored and chopped, and the rendered suet.
All of this went back into the big stockpot. I added the stock, 3 pounds of sugar, a pint of molasses at $2.49, a half-gallon of apple cider for which I lost track of the cost, 4 pounds of raisins at about $8.00 and 3 pounds of currants at $7.50. I had never used currents before. Googling it taught me that there are two kinds of currents. I used Zante currants, which are the dried form of Zante grapes. Also added was a half-pound of Citron at about $4.00. For those interested, Citron is a citrus fruit similar to a lemon. All of this got simmered for two hours.
Finally I added the last ingredients, a quart of brandy. I bought a 1.75 liter bottle of E&J brandy for around $21, a half tablespoon each of cinnamon and mace, two grated nutmegs, about a tablespoon and a half in total, and a teaspoon of pepper and a teaspoon of salt.
Side notes: The quinces did a number on my carbon steel chef’s knife. I recommend using a stainless steel knife to chop them. My total cost was around $50 and most of a day devoted to mincemeat.
Jim
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What's the difference between sushi that is merely good (i.e., made from fresh, quality ingredients) and top-echelon sushi? Why does everyone say that sushi-making takes years, if not decades, to master? I've been eating for years, but still can't seem to tell.
Any insights would be helpful -- I'd love to learn how to appreciate "great" sushi.
As an American, that is an almost impossible question for me to answer. I worked for a Japanese company for about 10 years. During all of that time, I became socially close to only three Japanese. There are serious barriers between our cultures and it takes a long time to develop the level of trust to form a real friendship. Dealing with colleagues wives was always a trial. English majors from Tokyo University "forgot" how to speak English when their husbands were present.
I think you can only come to appreciate "great" sushi from schooling by a good Japanese friend. "Great sushi" is the totality of the dining experience and something I never completely grasped, only something to which I was provided glimpses by my friends.
That said, my Japanese friends so totally despised the Koreans that they would never go with me to a restaurant run by Koreans. I never received useful commentary about Korean sushi. My thoughts were that Korean sushi was good sushi, but not the total experience of great sushi.
I have rewritten this several times, and it always comes across as racist to some degree. I apologize to anyone who is offended. I think that it is difficult and perhaps impossible to discuss sushi without at least alluding to cultural divisions,
Jim
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I made crab apple jelly tonight, following the course directions. It was my first time ever making jelly. Needless to say, the crab apples were well past their prime. We've been through a few freezes, and the apples although still attached to the tree were prettty much mush. I wish the class had been published a month ago. I decided that at most, I would be out the cost of a few pounds of sugar and decided to go for it. I used generic supermarket sugar, so it is most likely beet rather than cane sugar. I'll leave comments on the politics of this for some other forum.
I picked what I guessed was about six pounds of apples, left them whole, added the water, boiled for an hour and strained the juice. I ended up with two pints of juice. I added two pints of sugar which is about two pounds and started boiling again. I reached a good boil quickly at about 213F but the temperature just hung in at around 215F for what seemed like a long time. It took about a half hour of boiling to reach 221F. I canned the result in half pint Ball jars.
I'm very happy with the end product. I've never had crab apple jelly before. It is quite tart and has a lovely redish hue.
BTW, what are apple pips?
Jim
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The biggest cause of dried out breast meat is over cooking. Do not depend on the popup. Get a Polder or clone and monitor the temperature. Rachel said 160F. I cook to 165F, but something in that range will be a lot better than the 180F mentioned in a lot of recipes.
If the turkey has not been injected or koshered, brining will help.
Jim
Backyard Iron Chef
in Cooking
Posted
I can host a Boston area Iron Chef. We started off our BBQ season with a grilling contest in my back yard on February 28.
Jim
Snowshoe Challenge