Cooking with "Modernist Cuisine at Home" (Part 2)

[Anna N]

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/?p=1942996

Through the kindness of another Society member I was able to take advantage of the ebook version of MC@H and it has re-ignited my interest in trying more of the recipes and techniques. The above link to the dinner thread shows my first dish. (I own the print version but can't seem to log on to the site so another member kindly gave me his code.).

However I may be very limited -- my pressure cooker came tumbling down off my pot rack and is critically injured!

[Kerry Beal]

Made the chocolate pastry cream last night - need to plan a bit better to insure it is smoother next time.

[hattermad]

To anyone who has made the red wine glaze, what size pressure cooker did you need to accomodate the ingredients for the quantity suggested in the recipe?

[Anna N]

To anyone who has made the red wine glaze, what size pressure cooker did you need to accomodate the ingredients for the quantity suggested in the recipe?

In case you don't get an answer here, a member on the Modernist Cuisine blog suggests that it will just fit in a 5 L. (I had the same question so I was doing some googling). Here's the link I found (scroll down):

http://modernistcuisine.com/cooks/forum/n-r/red-wine-glaze-mcah/

[hattermad]

Thank you Anna - my google skills are weak. :-)

Question for UK cooks - any luck in sourcing beef short ribs? Is it the same as the Jacob's ladder cut I've heard referred to over here?

[Anna N]

Attempted the sous-vide wings but was quite disappointed. They are brined, sous-vided and then deep-fried. The sous-vide step leaves the skin very fragile and even getting them dry and into the hot oil resulted in a fair amount of tearing. The skin on mine hardly crisped at all. The accompanying sauce I managed to completely flub by using a very strongly flavoured shallot oil instead of the suggested neutral oil! I would attempt the sauce again but not the wings. (They also splattered badly and my first order of business today will be cleaning my kitchen!)

[Shalmanese]

After Sous Vide, I always dry my wings in the fridge for at least a day, preferably up to 3.

[Anna N]

After Sous Vide, I always dry my wings in the fridge for at least a day, preferably up to 3.

I will certainly give that a try.

[hattermad]

Finally got around to eating the butternut squash soup I had made. I definitely think I messed it up - it was very sweet and overall was overpowered by the coconut milk. I couldn't grasp of a seasoning that would have corrected it to something I would be happy with. I'm guessing an increase in the caramelisation in the initial stage would have added a more savoury flavour to the dish.

I will get back to the carrot soup with my (frozen) carotene butter at some point.

[Anna N]

Made the Kerala curry sauce:

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/?p=1943420

It was tasty but by no means outstanding in my opinion. Will have some leftovers for lunch and see if an overnight rest in the fridge has elevated it above the ordinary. To be fair, I cook a lot of Indian curries so I am not easily impressed.

[Anna N]

Pressure cooked pork adobo.

Edited to add:

This turned out so much better than when I attempted it on Manitoulin Island. Wish I could pin point why. Better pork? Improved pressure cooker? More experience under my belt? Could be any or all of these factors.

Edited November 29, 2013 by Anna N (log)

[rotuts]

Anna N: Ive yet to try the PC pork adobo. would you make it again?

[hattermad]

Anna N: Ive yet to try the PC pork adobo. would you make it again?

I've just made it again. Had all the ingredients this time, so didn't have to improvise. Tastes very good for what is almost a 'bung everything in PC' recipe.

[Anna N]

Anna N: Ive yet to try the PC pork adobo. would you make it again?

No, I don't think so. Simply not flavours that grab me by the collar. I suspect that for fans of adobo this is likely a good example.

[Anna N]

Made the Muslim curry sauce using the portion adjustment function in the e-book version to make 2 1/2 cups. This makes so much sense. If you are going to all the trouble of making it then you might as well make a large portion and freeze some. Like any canned or jarred curry sauce it makes an almost instant meal. Defrost a portion, add a protein and vegetables of your choice, cook up some rice and you have dinner.

[glennbech]

Hi,

I made Marinara, the pressure cooked tomato sauce today; It came out very wet. I guess that canned tomatoes I used contained a lot of juice. Next time, I will throw out some of it out.

This, my first try, will be consumed as a tomato soup with some grilled cheese sandwiches

/g

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I have made the pressure cooked tomato sauce a couple times and have been quite pleased with it. One of only a couple successes from the books. (Another being pressure cooker stock.) I was just thinking of making up another batch of sauce and was wondering about simply adding a few cloves of raw garlic to the jars rather than sauteeing the garlic first. I may have to experiment.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I experimented. A couple of days ago I made up a batch of modernist tomato sauce with raw whole garlic cloves and a raw onion half, I used a quart jar rather than a pint, and pressure cooked for two hours because of the larger vessel. Not exactly the same as sauteeing the onion and garlic first, but very good, and I see no reason, at least for me, to sautee the onion and garlic. And much less mess. I finished the sauce up tonight but cheated and used boxed pasta.

[Ryan Imgrund]

Have tried many recipes the past two weeks, having success with all but Gruyere Mac and Cheese. Had no issues when using White Cheddar and Swiss/Old Cheddar. I could only get the cheese to liquefy when I brought the temp above 70 Celsius.

[pbear]

I've done the mac n' cheese with gruyere. As have many others, IIRC. So I'm pretty sure that's not the problem.

What you might try is this. I use a different protocol than the published recipe. (Always have.) Rather than blending in the cheese gradually at the end, I combine the liquid and sodium citrate, stir in the cheese and heat everything at the same time, stirring constantly. When the cheese has mostly melted, generally about 150F, I hit it with the immersion blender. Works for me. Easier too, which is the main reason I do it. But I think it might also have the advantage of more gently transitioning the cheese into emulsion.

If you give this a try, do please report your results.

[lordratner]

I did the risotto (broccoli and gruyere variation) yesterday. It was delicious, and super easy, with, one exception. After cooking the rice it calls for 70g of EVOO to be mixed in with the broccoli purée, but I found that with all the oil that came out of the chorizo, there was no way to incorporate that much additional oil. I poured it in anyways, mixed it up as best I could, and then drained off the excess oil, which amounted to around 100g or so. The risotto was super rich and creamy, I certainly didn't miss the extra oil. Next time I am going to half the amount of chorizo. It adds great flavor, but there was so much it overpowered the rice in both taste and texture. The bites without any chorizo were much more "risotto-y" for lack of a better term.

Going to try the butternut squash variation next. Still an overall thumbs up on the broccoli variation, and using a pressure cooker for risotto is great.

[glennbech]

I made a variation on the pressure cooked clear chicken stock today.... OMG. I used 1,4 kg of upper part wings instead of 700g wings + 700g ground leg meat because I did not have the leg meat.

- A fantastic aroma fills the house right now. Almost like corn. I know it sounds crazy, but Its the best description I can give.

- The stock is vibrant yellow with a thin layer of fat, I have never seen chicken stock that color

- The yield is abut 1 liter, I don't think I will reduce the stock before using it. The taste was very very fresh and appealing

The raw ingredient is silly cheap where I live; around $2 per kilo. This alone will pay for my newly acquired WMF pressure cooker I cant wait to use this in some kind of soup. I am almost reluctant to use it in a dish where it does not shine by itself :-)

The book + the pressure cooker is a very good investment!

Only "wows" and "amazings" right now. I'll post some pics of the dishes .-)

Edited January 7, 2014 by glennbech (log)

[torolover]

I made a variation on the pressure cooked clear chicken stock today.... OMG. I used 1,4 kg of upper part wings instead of 700g wings + 700g ground leg meat because I did not have the leg meat.

- A fantastic aroma fills the house right now. Almost like corn. I know it sounds crazy, but Its the best description I can give.

- The stock is vibrant yellow with a thin layer of fat, I have never seen chicken stock that color

- The yield is abut 1 liter, I don't think I will reduce the stock before using it. The taste was very very fresh and appealing

The raw ingredient is silly cheap where I live; around $2 per kilo. This alone will pay for my newly acquired WMF pressure cooker I cant wait to use this in some kind of soup. I am almost reluctant to use it in a dish where it does not shine by itself :-)

The book + the pressure cooker is a very good investment!

Only "wows" and "amazings" right now. I'll post some pics of the dishes .-)

That stock sounds perfect for Ramen! What else did you put in your stock? Veggies etc? Is it from the MC at home recipe?

[Ryan Imgrund]

I've done the mac n' cheese with gruyere. As have many others, IIRC. So I'm pretty sure that's not the problem.

What you might try is this. I use a different protocol than the published recipe. (Always have.) Rather than blending in the cheese gradually at the end, I combine the liquid and sodium citrate, stir in the cheese and heat everything at the same time, stirring constantly. When the cheese has mostly melted, generally about 150F, I hit it with the immersion blender. Works for me. Easier too, which is the main reason I do it. But I think it might also have the advantage of more gently transitioning the cheese into emulsion.

If you give this a try, do please report your results.

Tried your suggestion last night. Turned out perfect and much easier to do. I'd suggest others making Mac & Cheese to give this slight tweak a whirl.

[pbear]

Glad it went well.