Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[andiesenji]

Here's a square one I just now found on ebay - there are also round ones.  

Edited January 28, 2017 by andiesenji
remove picture, wrong one (log)

[Porthos]

If fat is flavor, and a roux has fat in it, why defat the liquid your dish was cooked in before making your sauce?

[heidih]

I don't think fat = flavor just that it carrries flavor so one tempers the amount to maximuze the effect overall

[rotuts]

I think a roux  ( fat + flour ) is useful as a way of preventing lumping if properly used.

 

you also might want a different fat's flavor profile in you sauce than the fat in the cooked liquid.

 

you also might want to control the total fat in the sauce , which might be easier w a roux

 

but if you are happy with the fat's flavor in you cooking liquid , just use a fine flour when making your sauce

 

ie Wondra.

 

with the Advent of home stick blenders , lumpy sauce / gravy is a think of the past anyway.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I think I have come to the right place.  I am not very experienced grilling fish fillets.  I can find remarkably little information in my hundreds of books, in the library, or on the web.

 

My question:  if started with the skin side toward the grill, should the fillet be turned to finish cooking with the skin side up?

 

 

[rotuts]

yes.   

 

otherwise , to cook the flesh side up to your liking  ( the ' up- ' side initially )

 

you would over cook the skin side for sure

 

over cooked fish is a tragedy IMO

 

although some fish need to be cooked  ' through '   :   swordfish , SeaBass    i.e. very firm fish

 

others can be very lightly cooked : salmon , tuna  or not cooked at all !

[chromedome]

10 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I think I have come to the right place.  I am not very experienced grilling fish fillets.  I can find remarkably little information in my hundreds of books, in the library, or on the web.

 

My question:  if started with the skin side toward the grill, should the fillet be turned to finish cooking with the skin side up?

 

 

That's how I generally do it. I crisp the skin side, then finish the "presentation" side.

 

If you have a relatively thick piece, and want pretty grill marks, you can grill the presentation side first and then finish it on the skin side. I'm a huge aficionado of well-crisped skin (that's basically *why* I grill the fish) and care not one whit for grill marks, so I don't do it that way. There's a risk of the fillet being overcooked before the skin crisps properly.  YMMV

Do you get fresh mackerel in season on your part of the coast? They're a particular favorite of mine for grilling.

[pastrygirl]

If serving the fish with crispy skin still on, I’d serve it skin side up so the skin stays crispy and doesn’t steam or get wet from sauce.  I like a nice bit of crispy salmon skin but I may be in the minority. 

Edited March 10, 2019 by pastrygirl (log)

[dcarch]

Depends on what kind of fish. I cook the  flesh side first.

Some fish fillet will curl up if you crisp the skin first.

 

dcarch

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Thanks, everyone.  I particularly had in mind bluefish but I wanted to know about grilling fish fillets in general.  I should think less oily types of fish would be more difficult to turn.

 

I have another piece of the bluefish that I showed grilled skin side down in the dinner thread the other night:

 

 

[heidih]

"red fish, blue fish" - sorry

 

As @pastrygirl notes you want the skin up at serving if you enjoy it. Honestly with thin fish I broil with the rack lower down. Achieves the result I like- moist fish, crispy skin. if that is in your taste equation. 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, heidih said:

"red fish, blue fish" - sorry

 

As @pastrygirl notes you want the skin up at serving if you enjoy it. Honestly with thin fish I broil with the rack lower down. Achieves the result I like- moist fish, crispy skin. if that is in your taste equation. 

 

 

 

I work in a library.  Not sure I can forgive you...

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/157787-dinner-2019/?do=findComment&comment=2192921

 

Right now I'm finishing up the last of my white mai tai and a generous peanut course.  Then I'm off to grill the last bit of bluefish before it begins turning on its own.  I plan to start skin down (towards the heat) and flip after about five minutes.  I'm worried that if I start flesh side down the fillet might stick to the rack.  I plan to plate skin side down.  To do otherwise seems just wrong.

 

Or I might start flesh side down and see what happens.  I can't decide but I am running out of peanuts.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I started flesh side down.  I am amazed how non stick the Philips seems to be:

 

 

 

My only complaint is the fish was a little overdone,  Easy enough to fix in the future.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

When adding a precise amount of polysorbate 80 to a dish how does one do it?  My best thought so far is to buy a $2000 scale and weigh it into the cooking vessel directly.

 

[pastrygirl]

5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

When adding a precise amount of polysorbate 80 to a dish how does one do it?  My best thought so far is to buy a $2000 scale and weigh it into the cooking vessel directly.

 

If you have money to burn ... otherwise I’m sure you can find a jeweler’s or postage scale to weigh small amounts for much less.

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

there are lots of small , portable scales that fit into a pocket on Amazon ;

 

https://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-AWS-100-Digital-Resolution/dp/B0012LOQUQ?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1

 

they measure the weight of small amounts of " powder '

 

I have one I used for a while in measuring the weight of ground coffee for a " shot " of espresso.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Weighing the polysorbate 80 is not at all the problem.  Please reread my question.

 

[blue_dolphin]

13 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

When adding a precise amount of polysorbate 80 to a dish how does one do it? 

 

With precision.

🙃

[JoNorvelleWalker]

For lack of more helpful suggestions I added the polysorbate 80 by rinsing the weighing boat in the contents of the pot.

 

[nickrey]

On 3/10/2019 at 11:17 PM, chromedome said:

That's how I generally do it. I crisp the skin side, then finish the "presentation" side.

 

If you have a relatively thick piece, and want pretty grill marks, you can grill the presentation side first and then finish it on the skin side. I'm a huge aficionado of well-crisped skin (that's basically *why* I grill the fish) and care not one whit for grill marks, so I don't do it that way. There's a risk of the fillet being overcooked before the skin crisps properly.  YMMV

Do you get fresh mackerel in season on your part of the coast? They're a particular favorite of mine for grilling.

One of our top seafood restaurants in Australia (and I suspect, the world), Saint Peter, uses a fish weight to enable fish to be cooked with crispy skin without being flipped or finished in the oven. You could always use a steak weight/bacon press/burger press instead to achieve the same effect.

 

[gfweb]

On 3/15/2019 at 6:05 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

For lack of more helpful suggestions I added the polysorbate 80 by rinsing the weighing boat in the contents of the pot.

 

 

Tween 80 is a PITA to work with. I think your solution was a good one. When I worked with it I'd add it to a beaker of liquid sitting on a scale and then just stir it in.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

Tween 80 is a PITA to work with. I think your solution was a good one. When I worked with it I'd add it to a beaker of liquid sitting on a scale and then just stir it in.

 

My problem exactly, thank you.  Now if I just had that $2000 scale.

 

I do apologize for my short tempered reply to those who misunderstood the question.

 

[lemniscate]

I think I accidentally made pita bread.

 

       I have a slightly unique situation.  I built a wood fired pizza oven, but not at my house.  It's on a different property.  I have romantic ideas of evenings with hot pizza out of the oven and cold beers watching the sunset on the side of the mountain.  I am doing my learning curve on how the oven behaves and how to make pizza dough.  I've never done homemade pizza.  The first try was make the dough and take it to the site and stretch/roll onsite, and cook.  Well, that's a pain in the wild I found.  Second experiment is make the pizza dough at home, roll/stretch, PAR BAKE, freeze and then take to the oven for ease.   When I par baked the pizza rounds, they puffed up exactly like pita breads. (I also have never tried to make pitas before.)

 

Is pizza dough and pita bread dough the same?   This is my absurdly simple question.

 

Edited April 6, 2019 by lemniscate (log)

[blue_dolphin]

Hopefully you will get some replies from more knowledgable bakers but in the meantime, here's my 2 cents: I believe that while some doughs are more suited to particular purpose, a single bread dough can often be used in multiple ways.  Alon Shaya's cookbook, Shaya, uses the same dough for both pita breads and pizza and I have used it for both purposes with excellent results.   Several members often post delicious looking pizzas made from the same bread dough that they also bake up into baguettes or other loaves.

[pastrygirl]

Here's one ... how to burn milk?

 

I was looking for inspiration in Francisco Migoya's Frozen Desserts and found a recipe for burnt milk gelato with a story so charming I had to try it.  I feel like I've scorched milk plenty of times in the past making pastry cream or ice cream, but this time all I achieved was a non-burnt milk reduction.  Was my nice heavy bottomed pot too heavy and I need a thinner or cheaper one?  I guess I only had a medium flame, maybe full power or pre-heat the pot then add milk?