Excellent Adventures on Manitoulin ...continued

[Kerry Beal]

That is maddening on the herbs.

So the cauliflower was chewy?

Cauliflower was really underdone - we may need to experiment further.

Anyone in the market for Dittany of Crete - let me know - I used 6 grams I think.

[FrogPrincesse]

Thanks for the plum cake recipe link, Anna.

Kerry - Are you going to reveal your 19 vermouth ingredients?

Also, are you improvising or following a specific recipe? It's fascinating to follow you along (as usual)!

[Kerry Beal]

Following a recipe - here. In other readings I came to the conclusion that Muscatel was the best base - I guess the colour comes from the caramelized sugar you add at the end - and I think if it isn't rich and raisiny enough when I'm done I'll add a little of the Lusteau Moscatel sherry to round it out.

[Kerry Beal]

A batch of dark chocolate bark - toasted coconut, lemongrass essential oil and a few leftover roasted almonds. This will be for Max's wife Joanna - who much prefers dark.

Chewy Molasses Spice cookies for work at the Manor tomorrow.

[mkayahara]

That plum cake really does look nice.

On the topic of the Dillon's white rye, I tried a Brooklyn with it the other night. Not the best cocktail I've ever had. Then, last night, I made an Improved Old Fashioned with Boker's bitters (that you gave me, Kerry), Luxardo, and some cane syrup (forgot the absinthe - oops), and it was pretty stellar. My half-bottle of white rye is almost used up!

[Kerry Beal]

Think I could make that up here. I've even got the absinthe.

Remind me and I'll drop a little bottle of the Candy Cap bitters in your mailbox on my way back down from the island - I think you'll enjoy playing with them.

[gfweb]

Cauliflower is mostly air, which is a lousy conductor. Perhaps if the SV bag was filled with water the heat would be better transmitted.

Or maybe if the thing was cut into "steaks" for SV..

[MelissaH]

That plum cake is the recipe my MIL stumbled upon and made, because we had plums to use. It was delicious. And, lucky me: we have plum halves, pitted and frozen and waiting for winter, when otherwise there wouldn't be plums for plum cake.

Kerry, you and Anna always find the most fascinating things to do on Manitoulin. What do people who live there full-time do?

[Anna N]

Cauliflower is mostly air, which is a lousy conductor. Perhaps if the SV bag was filled with water the heat would be better transmitted.

Or maybe if the thing was cut into "steaks" for SV..

Hmmm.... But the whole point was to cook it whole!

[rotuts]

Ill try this soon. looking forward to Exp. #2. thanks for that internal temp measurement.

Im very weak with SV Veg. im guessing the point is to keep the veg flavor in the veg, not in the boiling water. I also will stick with my SV plan to make a whole bunch at one shot and re-heat later.

I guess a Veg. Connoisseur would have to chime in on SV vs Steamed. Id guess the SV bag might hold some enhancers: butter, brown sugar etc.

Edited October 10, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[Anna N]

Another great idea that got lost in translation! I wandered into the kitchen this morning determined to deal with a tray of chicken breasts before they passed their safely edible date. Sitting on the counter was a large bag of French's fried onion rings. I offer no excuse for what my elderly brain thought might quell my breakfast hunger. Why not combine a chicken breast with onion rings?

Here's why:

Tomorrow I will be sure my brain is fully operative before I decide on breakfast!

[Anna N]

Ill try this soon. looking forward to Exp. #2. thanks for that internal temp measurement.

Im very weak with SV Veg. im guessing the point is to keep the veg flavor in the veg, not in the boiling water. I also will stick with my SV plan to make a whole bunch at one shot and re-heat later.

I guess a Veg. Connoisseur would have to chime in on SV vs Steamed. Id guess the SV bag might hold some enhancers: butter, brown sugar etc.

I have tried a few vegetables sous-vide and I have found them to be much more challenging than proteins. Size, age and quality can vary so much that what I consider the reason for sous-vide -- consistent and predictable results -- simply does not hold. I am getting closer and closer to thinking that just because you can doesn't mean you should! I'd love to be convinced otherwise. Tamar Adler's method in An Everlasting Meal suits me better. She roasts two or three trays of vegetables on the weekend then incorporates these into meals throughout the week.

[rotuts]

in the past Im a roaster too. Im betting Age is a key factor in reproducible results. those roasting surfaces cover up a lot of veg's age.

[Toliver]

Another great idea that got lost in translation! I wandered into the kitchen this morning determined to deal with a tray of chicken breasts before they passed their safely edible date. Sitting on the counter was a large bag of French's fried onion rings. I offer no excuse for what my elderly brain thought might quell my breakfast hunger. Why not combine a chicken breast with onion rings?

A valiant attempt!

Next time try pulverizing/crushing the onion rings in a blender/Cuisinart until they are more like crumbs. That should make for better breading/coating. You should still get the onion flavor but not so much chunkiness.

[TylerK]

An interesting day at work today. I assumed I was in Wiki - cause the calendar said WIC - turns out I was replacing the nurse practitioner for walk in patients this am. And it turned out that I really only had to work until lunchtime. So more time to play this afternoon.

DSCN2152.jpg

My mess in place for Carpano antica clone. 19 ingredients - I was missing two - one because it showed up at my house today (and I'm not there) and the other because I have it at home and forgot to bring it with me thinking I already had some up here).

DSCN2153.jpg

All weighed out and added to my infusion bottle.

DSCN2154.jpg

4 bottles of Samos muscat sweet wine added along with 50 cc of 95% to bring it up to 16.5% alcohol.

Hi Kerry. That looks very interesting. Do you have a recipe for this, or a link to one? The LCBO doesn't carry Carpano antica, and I don't get down south often enough. I'd love to try it myself.

[lesliec]

Hi Tyler.

Have a look over on the Making Vermouth thread - Kerry's doing a blow-by-blow over there.

[Anna N]

Another great idea that got lost in translation! I wandered into the kitchen this morning determined to deal with a tray of chicken breasts before they passed their safely edible date. Sitting on the counter was a large bag of French's fried onion rings. I offer no excuse for what my elderly brain thought might quell my breakfast hunger. Why not combine a chicken breast with onion rings?

A valiant attempt!

Next time try pulverizing/crushing the onion rings in a blender/Cuisinart until they are more like crumbs. That should make for better breading/coating. You should still get the onion flavor but not so much chunkiness.

Thanks. Might have looked better but the taste is not something I am overly anxious to try again.

[TylerK]

Hi Tyler.

Have a look over on the Making Vermouth thread - Kerry's doing a blow-by-blow over there.

Awesome. Thank-you!

[Kerry Beal]

An interesting day at work today. I assumed I was in Wiki - cause the calendar said WIC - turns out I was replacing the nurse practitioner for walk in patients this am. And it turned out that I really only had to work until lunchtime. So more time to play this afternoon.

DSCN2152.jpg

My mess in place for Carpano antica clone. 19 ingredients - I was missing two - one because it showed up at my house today (and I'm not there) and the other because I have it at home and forgot to bring it with me thinking I already had some up here).

DSCN2153.jpg

All weighed out and added to my infusion bottle.

DSCN2154.jpg

4 bottles of Samos muscat sweet wine added along with 50 cc of 95% to bring it up to 16.5% alcohol.

Hi Kerry. That looks very interesting. Do you have a recipe for this, or a link to one? The LCBO doesn't carry Carpano antica, and I don't get down south often enough. I'd love to try it myself.

Post #78 has a link to the recipe.

[Kerry Beal]

A bit of catching up to do. A long morning at the nursing home - was pretty peckish when I arrived back - couldn't much think about what to cook.

Threw a couple of eggs in with some of the Antipasti we picked up at Costco. A very satisfactory meal.

[Kerry Beal]

Cocktail tonight - Matt's suggestion - and Improved Old Fashioned. Thought I had maraschino - but made do with some kirsh. We are waiting for it to grow on us.

Anna sous v'ed some chicken breast - did the technique with a flour/starch/butter paste for the browning. She roasted up the remains of yesterday's cauliflower (much better this time) and we had a little bit of the antipasti again to go with it.

[Kerry Beal]

Brownies to take to the ER today - just hoping it's a long stretch before they call me in. Anna and I were both woken around 5:45 by a loud bang somewhere outside. So much for sleeping in a bit!

[Kerry Beal]

Vermouth under construction - coming along - developing a red colour - likely due to the rose petals.

[Kerry Beal]

A bit foggy overnight and realized I had to get the garbage out to the curb. Noticed that these spiders won't be catching much prey with their webs as obvious as this.

Anna had cooked up some lovely little bacon ends we picked up at Max's yesterday when we picked up the turkeys. A bit of green onion and some mushroom - perfect with a couple of eggs.

[Anna N]

Breakfast for me is pretty much the same.

Thought I would also show the hole I cut in the lid to my Rubbermaid Sous Vide vessel using only scissors and a paring knife!