Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[AlaMoi]

3 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

will they work with any heat-sealable bag?

 

 

that's a "maybe" - vacuum heat seal bags are typically a co-extrusion film.

high density polyethylene on the outside, low density poly on the inside.

the low density melts/aka "seals" at a lower temp, the high density poly / polyester outside prevents the heat sealing strip from simply cutting the bag into pieces....

 

the temps will depend on your make&model - also how new/tired&worn out the heat sealing mechanism/temp control is.

[pastrygirl]

@TdeV  This is a pretty sturdy product but an adjustable vacuum would be ideal. 80% or something.

[DesertTinker]

@pastrygirl Have you considered an impulse sealer (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)? No vacuum, but a better seal than folded and taped.

Edited October 21 by DesertTinker
Fixed link (log)

[rotuts]

@pastrygirl

 

I\thank you for that pic.  I had the idea that was the bag you were talking g about.

 

especially w a bit of the textured bag ( vacuum sealer bags ) in that middle

 

or maybe not : depends on the pressure at the seal point.

 

as this is more plastic than a FRoodSaver default time and temp seal might

 

it might be helpful to be able to adjust the sealing time.

 

got a friend w a FoodSaver ?

 

a visit w Treats would workout for everybody.

 

 

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, DesertTinker said:

@pastrygirl Have you considered an impulse sealer (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)? No vacuum, but a better seal than folded and taped.

 

I do have an impulse sealer.  Sounds like manually squishing the air out and sealing that way is my best bet at this stage. 

 

thanks, all

 

[rotuts]

@pastrygirl

 

that impulse seal might be just the thing for you.

 

as a tweak , get a straw , ( plastic soon to be extinct )   

 

put it in the corner of your bag , remove air via ' personal suction '

 

then seal the bag. 

 

[haresfur]

On 10/22/2024 at 2:26 AM, pastrygirl said:

For people with Food Savers or other non-chamber vacuum sealers:  will they work with any heat-sealable bag?

 

I'm not doing sous vide or anything, just want a fast way to seal products & reduce air in bags that I already have.

 

I've done it with the bags my beef comes in. It can work but not very well. Sometimes still have a little air left but it can help for a few days.

[ElsieD]

Instead of blanching food using the traditional water method, has anyone used steam to blanch them?  I have the Anova and would like to steam blanch my vegetables prior to dehydration them.  Thank you.

[DesertTinker]

3 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Instead of blanching food using the traditional water method, has anyone used steam to blanch them?  I have the Anova and would like to steam blanch my vegetables prior to dehydration them.  Thank you.

I’ve done it before. It’s a bit less messy than the boiling water method, but it is a bit slower. Here’s what the National Center for Food Preservation recommends for method and times. It seems like it would be adaptable to the steam oven.

[liuzhou]

I don't know if this is really a stupid question or not, but I can't find any other suitable area to post it, so...

 

A few days ago, I read an article which mentioned a London restaurant that sounded interesting so I found its website and its menu. The menu is here.

 

I'm intrigued by what seems to be a hors d'oeuvre called "Romeo & Juliets". I've Googled the name and nothing relevant comes up. I've even contacted the restaurant but had no response so far.

 

Anyone know?

 

 

Edited November 3 by liuzhou (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

A few days ago, I read an article which mentioned a London restaurant that sounded interesting so I found its website and its menu. The menu is here.

 

I'm intrigued by what seems to be a hors d'oeuvre called "Romeo & Juliets". I've Googled the name and nothing relevant comes up. I've even contacted the restaurant but had no response so far.

 

Anyone know?

 

 

Quince jelly and cheese according to this review. 

[liuzhou]

24 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Quince jelly and cheese according to this review. 

 

Thank you!

[Shel_B]

Just came across this thread as I was about to post what may be considered a somewhat naive and ignorant question elsewhere. This thread title reminded me of a question I asked many years ago, and which may have been the very first cooking question I ever asked outside of a question or two asked of my mom or grandma.

 

It was 1965 and I was living in Missouri at the time.  I wasn't particularly interested in cooking, yet for some reason I was reading a food/cooking article in a now unremembered publication and came across a reference to a Waldorf salad.  There was no recipe for the salad in the article, so I wrote a letter to "The Chef" at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC asking for the recipe. This was my very first inquiry in what later became a long-term, off-and-on again, interest and curiosity about food and cooking.  I was so ignorant then that I was unaware of cooking magazines, recipe books, and the like.  Cooking shows on television, of which there were a fair number, the first having been produced and aired almost three decades prior, were still obscure and often confined to local markets. In any case, I was unaware of them. So, a letter to the hotel seemed like a good idea. I never received a response, which with hindsight is not surprising. "Marcel, regarde ça. Quel idiot!"

Edited November 3 by Shel_B (log)

[Pete Fred]

38 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

...so I wrote a letter to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC asking for the recipe.

 

You might've had more luck writing to the Fawlty Towers Hotel in Torquay. Or maybe not.

[pastameshugana]

Ok, here's my question, but it comes from an experience:

A week or so ago, while in an experimental mood, I thought it would be nice to try poaching chicken with milk. We had some thighs that needed to be used up, and I had been browsing some vaguely middle-eastern sounding recipes and thought I would create something. (Actually, I'm a huge fan of Ottolenghi's Jerusalem, but didn't have the ingredients to make one of my favorite recipe's, so I was just making stuff up.)

 

What I think my first mistake was is taking the skin off the thighs. I reasoned that it would get 'squigly' and unappealing while poaching, so I removed it with the idea I would fry it separately and add crunchy bits back. The frying didn't turn out, so I had naked chicken.

 

I added aromatics, salt & pepper, some seasoning to the milk, and poached low and slow until I got the internal temp where I wanted it. Removed the thighs and covered, then strained the milk and used it to cook the rice I was serving with the chicken.

 

The results: the rice was really quite amazing. Had a velvety texture close to a risotto, but not quite. The interior of the chicken was also incredible. Really moist and pleasant. However, the outside-most of the chicken dried out pretty badly. I presume this was from off-steaming after I removed it from the poaching liquid. Also, the flavor imparted from the poaching liquid was negligible. I think I would have to both increase the amounts, and also do something like sweat or soften the onion/garlic, and maybe toast the spices before adding the milk to get more of that flavor into it.

 

So - am I on a fool's errand? Is it worth pursuing the milk-poaching method further, any experience with this? As for the texture of the chicken: Would leaving the skin on have helped avoid the off-steaming and drying of the outermost layer?

 

Any other words of wisdom to send my way?

[AlaMoi]

the  flavor of some herbs/spices are soluble in water, some in oil, some in alcohol, and some in one or more . . .

 

I wish I had a a listing of which was which, but altho all the "experts" acknowledge the water/oil/alcohol bit, I have never found an actual list....

it's apparently a top secret thing . . .

 

so depending on what you used to season the poaching liquid (milk) - it may not have had any effect - "flavors non-soluble in water aka milk"

ps:  you were right about poaching 'skin on' - not visionally appealing....

 

also right on the drying out - might use more than necessary poaching liquid, reserving some to keep the chick 'under liquid' while doing the rest of the prep.  slightly under cook the chicken temp wise, as it will finish while "resting"

[alienodr]

years and years ago we were living in ithaca, ny and a new restaurant opened to great reviews. i went there several times. it was very informal serving good mostly vegetarian food.  one dish i really liked  "move over joyce chen".   after leaving the area, i wrote (before computers)and asked them for the recipe. they sent me a hand written recipe which now rests in their first moosewood cookbook which was written several years later.  no harm in trying....

[Shel_B]

5 minutes ago, alienodr said:

years and years ago we were living in ithaca, ny and a new restaurant opened to great reviews. i went there several times. it was very informal serving good mostly vegetarian food.  one dish i really liked  "move over joyce chen".   after leaving the area, i wrote (before computers)and asked them for the recipe. they sent me a hand written recipe which now rests in their first moosewood cookbook which was written several years later.  no harm in trying....

That reminds me of a simiar story involving Joyce Goldstein who, at the time, was operating Square One in San Francisco.  Friends and I loved the place and we visited several times a year.

 

My friend, Cathy, loved a roasted duck dish that Joyce made. Joyce told Cathy that, if we gave her some notice of when we were coming, she'd be sure to make the dish for us, which she did a couple of times.  After a while, I called the restaurant and spoke with Joyce, and asked if she could send me the recipe. She said she would, and she did. And what she sent was a typed, final draft of the recipe with handwritten notes that was going into her next-to-be-released book. A special treat.

 

Joyce is a warm, accommodating, and friendly person, and our memories and stories of our meals and experiences at Square One are many and pleasant.

[TdeV]

What is the difference between adding a "rub" and/or adding a teaspoon/tablespoon of mixed spicce to a dish?

 

(I'm looking for a description of what defines a rub).

 

Thanks.

 

 

Edited November 9 by TdeV
Clarity (log)

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, TdeV said:

What is the difference between adding a "rub" and/or adding a teaspoon/tablespoon of mixed spicce to a dish?

 

(I'm looking for a description of what defines a rub).

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

I think of a "rub" as a spice mixture intended to be rubbed on something (usually meat) before cooking. Some spice mixtures are labeled as rubs (e.g. So-and-so's Cajun Rub) but there's no reason they couldn't be added to the dish instead of rubbed onto something. It sounds like a simple shortcut that some recipes may adopt; it also sounds like a marketing ploy.

[TdeV]

Some pork bones (roasted) went into some cool water. This morning there's 3 patches of frothy white stuff. What's in it? Should I remove it before I take out stock water?

[Alex]

Protein that leached into the water?

[ElsieD]

I found this today in my vinegar cupboard.  What is it?  I'm hoping maybe @liuzhou can tell me.

[Okanagancook]

On 11/15/2024 at 6:58 AM, TdeV said:

Some pork bones (roasted) went into some cool water. This morning there's 3 patches of frothy white stuff. What's in it? Should I remove it before I take out stock water?

Likely denatured proteins out of the bones.  Definitely skim off and any more that comes out when simmering.

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

I found this today in my vinegar cupboard.  What is it?  I'm hoping maybe @liuzhou can tell me.

 

 

 

 

Yes. It's Cantonese rice wine of cooking quality, rather than for drinking. The Chinese on the front label reads 廣東米酒 (guǎng dōng mǐ jiǔ) in Traditional Chinese characters as still used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and much of the Chinese diaspora. The reverse label repeats this, but in the simplified characters used in the Chinese mainland.  

 

This refers to Guangdong, the Cantonese speaking mainland province opposite Hong Kong. Kwangtung is the Cantonese pronunciation for Guangdong (the Mandarin name). Mijiu is literally rice wine.  It is not vinegar (unless it's been there a very long time).

 

The wine is mainly used in marinades and sauces with some Cantonese dishes.

 

 

Edited November 18 by liuzhou (log)