Cooking with "Modernist Cuisine at Home" (Part 1)

[ChrisTaylor]

http://modernistcuisine.com/2010/11/a-modernist-thanksgiving/

I'm thinking of attempting this. Well, the wing component at least. Anyone, it's all very clear 'cept for the curing stage. I'm assuming that equal parts of sugar and salt at, say, 10% of the the weight of the wing (i.e. 100 grams of meat and 10 grams of cure in the bag). That'd be the way to go, yeah? Altho' given it's curing for two days, couldn't I just dump several wings plus a whole lot of cure in a plastic tub?

[ElsieD]

I made the carrot soup as my first recipe and was very happy with it. It sure is rich though, and best ingested in small amounts.

Last night I made recipe no. 2, the garlic confit. I followed the instructions including turning the lid back to loosen it a bit after sealing the jar. After about the first hour my previously perfectly quiet pressure cooker sounded as though something was rocking inside. After the two hour cooking period was up, and I opened it, I discovered that a good inch of the olive oil had escaped from the jar. Does anyone know why this happened? Did I loosen the jar too much? The two rings on the guage were just visible and my (induction) stove was set at 2.8.

[HowardLi]

I made the carrot soup as my first recipe and was very happy with it. It sure is rich though, and best ingested in small amounts.

Last night I made recipe no. 2, the garlic confit. I followed the instructions including turning the lid back to loosen it a bit after sealing the jar. After about the first hour my previously perfectly quiet pressure cooker sounded as though something was rocking inside. After the two hour cooking period was up, and I opened it, I discovered that a good inch of the olive oil had escaped from the jar. Does anyone know why this happened? Did I loosen the jar too much? The two rings on the guage were just visible and my (induction) stove was set at 2.8.

How full were the jars?

[ElsieD]

I used one of the my older 1 pint jars that is sort of square in shape. The olive oil covered the "shoulders" of the jar but stopped before the neck of the jar, if that makes sense.

[MelissaH]

I also tried the microwave fried herbs technique, but the plastic wrap started melting almost immediately. Used Saran Wrap, which explicitly states that it's microwave safe (with the proviso that it should not be in contact with hot fats, as is the case here), and from background reading appears not to be the PVC type. I wonder what type specifically the MC folks use that works. Also will try this just on a plate. Not sure why the plastic wrap should even be necessary, and it's not explained in the book.

Has anyone figured this out yet? Is there a brand of plastic wrap that has successfully been used to fry herbs without melting?

MelissaH

[nickrey]

I cooked my first Modernist cuisine at home recipe last night. I made the pressure caramelized onions and then did the French onion soup variation. My wife is a French onion soup lover and she gave it 5 stars!

The recipe is really quite simple if you have some really good beef stock on hand. I used some beef stock from the Heston Blumenthal at home book that was in the freezer. Other than not having any perfectly melting cheese (my sodium citrate has not been delivered yet, so I just went with a slice of provolone that was in the fridge) I followed the recipe to the letter. Making the caramelized onions was a snap and they came out insanely rich. The rest of the recipe was just dump and stir (and put under the broiler).

The soup came out amazingly savory. It was on the edge of too rich for me but my wife practically turned up her bowl to get the last drops out. Great first go from the book.

+1 on this. I was given 2.5 kilos of chopped onions and was seeking something to do with it. The pressure caramelized onions was an ideal candidate.

I was also given some garilc so this became the pressure cooked garlic confit.

Not having time to make a beef stock, I purchased some packaged beef consomme. I combined the contents of one mason jar full of onion (400g of confit; I repackaged so this was the equivalent of two mason jars full of raw onions) with 500ml of consomme, heated it. Added some salt, pepper, and a dash of sherry vinegar.

To serve each, I toasted a slice of baguette, drizzled some olive oil over it, spread half a confit garlic clove and then grated some parmesan over it with a micro plane. After a brief period under the salamander/griller/broiler, I ladled the soup into a bowl and topped with the garlic crouton.

The result was quite simply the best French onion soup that I have had in a very long time.

[Ozcook]

I also tried the microwave fried herbs technique, but the plastic wrap started melting almost immediately. Used Saran Wrap, which explicitly states that it's microwave safe (with the proviso that it should not be in contact with hot fats, as is the case here), and from background reading appears not to be the PVC type. I wonder what type specifically the MC folks use that works. Also will try this just on a plate. Not sure why the plastic wrap should even be necessary, and it's not explained in the book.

Has anyone figured this out yet? Is there a brand of plastic wrap that has successfully been used to fry herbs without melting?

MelissaH

How about this: http://www.amazon.com/Mastrad-A64501-Top-Chips-Maker/dp/B004Z762VA

I use it to make vegetable chips. I can't see why it wouldn't work for herbs.

[Mountfort]

I made the carrot soup as my first recipe and was very happy with it. It sure is rich though, and best ingested in small amounts.

Last night I made recipe no. 2, the garlic confit. I followed the instructions including turning the lid back to loosen it a bit after sealing the jar. After about the first hour my previously perfectly quiet pressure cooker sounded as though something was rocking inside. After the two hour cooking period was up, and I opened it, I discovered that a good inch of the olive oil had escaped from the jar. Does anyone know why this happened? Did I loosen the jar too much? The two rings on the guage were just visible and my (induction) stove was set at 2.8.

Jar level sounds fine -- enough headspace. Did you let the pressure come down naturally after cooking? Quick release will often lead to a mess inside the pressure cooker as the jar contents maintain their pressure and will boil violently in the lower pressure environment of a rapidly cooling pressure cooker.

[Msk]

I did the technique for the eggplant parm in a microwave. But I only did the eggplant pieces. This was a revelation for me, it is fast and easy and made delicious and tender eggplant with concentrated flavor. This will be my go to method for making eggplant since it is extremely low in fat, and the eggplant is delightfully tender.

Mike

[HowardLi]

Why is the simplified jus gras to be served immediately? Can it not be refrigerated for a day or two and then reheated for service?

[ElsieD]

I made the carrot soup as my first recipe and was very happy with it. It sure is rich though, and best ingested in small amounts.

Last night I made recipe no. 2, the garlic confit. I followed the instructions including turning the lid back to loosen it a bit after sealing the jar. After about the first hour my previously perfectly quiet pressure cooker sounded as though something was rocking inside. After the two hour cooking period was up, and I opened it, I discovered that a good inch of the olive oil had escaped from the jar. Does anyone know why this happened? Did I loosen the jar too much? The two rings on the guage were just visible and my (induction) stove was set at 2.8.

Jar level sounds fine -- enough headspace. Did you let the pressure come down naturally after cooking? Quick release will often lead to a mess inside the pressure cooker as the jar contents maintain their pressure and will boil violently in the lower pressure environment of a rapidly cooling pressure cooker.

I let the pressure come down naturally.

[Junkbot]

Regarding the carrot soup, is it necessary to strain the blended ingrediants if you're using a high power blender?

[Chris Hennes]

No.

[Dexter]

Why is the simplified jus gras to be served immediately? Can it not be refrigerated for a day or two and then reheated for service?

Most likely because the emulsion will break. If there aren't any stabilizers in there, then the fat will simply separate out.

[ChrisTaylor]

My copy landed the other day. Cooking extensively from it this weekend. As I type this the pressure cooked pork adobo is ticking away. Or whistling away, even. I'm also making the home jus gras to serve with turkey tomorrow (turkey done in three different ways, including the cured wing from the original Modernist Cuisine) and the sous vide creme anglaise.

[HowardLi]

Why is the simplified jus gras to be served immediately? Can it not be refrigerated for a day or two and then reheated for service?

Most likely because the emulsion will break. If there aren't any stabilizers in there, then the fat will simply separate out.

It calls for lecithin.

[HowardLi]

I ended up using something like 85% water for the cheese sauce for the M&C, came out pretty well.

[johnder]

Not sure if this question belongs here, or in the Sous vide topic, but I am hedging my bets and placing it here. I just purchased the sper scientific 2 channel type K thermometer and looking for a needle probe that can be submerged, at least partly while in the bath. Everything I am finding that specifically says waterproof is over 200 bucks. Does anyone know which one was used in the book or a good one they have worked with?

John

[HowardLi]

What type of connector does it have?

You can do a little research on McMaster-Carr.

[johnder]

What type of connector does it have?

You can do a little research on McMaster-Carr.

Its the type K/J connector. I will have looked around, but seems as I mentioned, anything that can be submersed is super $.

[Martin Fisher]

Not sure if this question belongs here, or in the Sous vide topic, but I am hedging my bets and placing it here. I just purchased the sper scientific 2 channel type K thermometer and looking for a needle probe that can be submerged, at least partly while in the bath. Everything I am finding that specifically says waterproof is over 200 bucks. Does anyone know which one was used in the book or a good one they have worked with?

John

How about this?

http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?product_id=3108_1

~Martin

[rotuts]

and these:

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/probe/tc_penetration.html

the 'needle' is indeed $ 50

[Baselerd]

You would probably have better luck getting one meant for kitchen use, they're a lot more affordable (and usually use thermistors instead of thermocouples). $50 is pretty standard for a lab grade thermocouple.

I got this and it works fine.

Edited December 18, 2012 by Baselerd (log)

[patmatrix]

Hi all,

I am very happy to have found this forum.

I recently purchase the book MC@H and yesterday I tried the Turkey leg confit at 140F (60c) for 24hrs. I buy mostly all my meat from a local organic farm and he said he only as a new bread and it is wild turkey the color of the legs were very brownish kind of like duck. The were smaller About 800g total, so instead of using 40g of salts I used 30g and 3g of sugar.

The result was way too salty and the meat wasn’t tender at all, even hard to cut with a knife. I have done the regular confit with duck in the oven and it was very tender so I was very disappointed to finally open the sous vide bag and see the result after 24hrs.

I only put the duck fat on one side of the bag, maybe I should have rubbed it all over the legs beforehand. I packed both legs in one bag.

Was the meat suppose to be tender, I heard that sous vide confit is not as tender than normal tradition.

If someone can help me, maybe I have done something wrong.

Thank you.

[Johnny Zhu]

Hi all,

I am very happy to have found this forum.

I recently purchase the book MC@H and yesterday I tried the Turkey leg confit at 140F (60c) for 24hrs. I buy mostly all my meat from a local organic farm and he said he only as a new bread and it is wild turkey the color of the legs were very brownish kind of like duck. The were smaller About 800g total, so instead of using 40g of salts I used 30g and 3g of sugar.

The result was way too salty and the meat wasn’t tender at all, even hard to cut with a knife. I have done the regular confit with duck in the oven and it was very tender so I was very disappointed to finally open the sous vide bag and see the result after 24hrs.

I only put the duck fat on one side of the bag, maybe I should have rubbed it all over the legs beforehand. I packed both legs in one bag.

Was the meat suppose to be tender, I heard that sous vide confit is not as tender than normal tradition.

If someone can help me, maybe I have done something wrong.

Thank you.

Patmatrix,

I think the main problem would be the kind of turkey that you are using. The salt and sugar ratio that you used is actually less than what is called for in the recipe, so that shouldn't have been a problem. It is, however, important that the salt and sugar is sprinkled evenly over the legs. And indeed, as you said, the fat does need to be evenly distributed around the meat, in the bag. But, mainly I think that your wild turkey legs have two main differences with the legs that we used for testing. First, they probably have less fat content. And second, they probably have less water content. The lack of fat and water would throw off the cure ratio and result in a dryer and tougher texture. This is because the leg is becoming, essentially, overcured. If you would like to try to make the wild turkey work, might I suggest that you decrease the cure to 800g legs :: 20g salt :: 2g sugar, and also try cooling the meat in the bag before eating it. This should keep the legs moist. Let me know if I can help you further.

Johnny