Falling Back on Island Time

[Smithy]

Apparently it grows near fresh flowing water - so we put it close to the sink.

[andiesenji]

Steamed eggs are much easier to peel, even very fresh eggs.  I've hard "steamed" eggs that my egg man said were laid the day prior and they peeled just fine.

 

There is also less chance of getting the dark ring around the yolk. 

[Kerry Beal]

I tend to find the steamed eggs peel better too - but the last batch I steamed in the Thermomix just shredded to bits!

 

Ones I did this morning were fine - albeit overcooked I think.

[Kerry Beal]

Decided today was the day to cook the freeze dried chuck eye.  This had been previously sous vided at 54.5 for about 12 hours - then freeze dried along with it's boiled and strained osmosome.

 

I added back the amount of water that I calculated it had lost.  It didn't absorb all the water - but it did become moist.

 

 

 

With the addition of about 300cc of water.  

 

 

Vacuum marinated in an attempt to draw the water into the meat.  

 

 

After a quick browning on the BGE.  

 

 

Looks kind of funny in the middle but doesn't really have a taste or texture too different than fresh.  

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

 

Got distracted posting pictures - left the lid up on the BGE which was a little low on charcoal to start - hence I decided to add more charcoal.  Needed to wait until the VOCs burned off - so decided we NEEDED another cocktail.

 

Eeyore's Requiem.  I'm not as drunk as theople pink I am.  

[Kerry Beal]

 

Rib roast repurposed as steak - who could eat this as a roast - it's too thin for a roast - but perfect for a sous vide steak.

 

 

 

 

 

Green bean casserole - real green beans, can of cream of mushroom soup, French's onion bits - nothing wrong with that in our opinion.  

 

 

Notice the little sprig of parsley - trying to convince you that we eat green stuff on occasion.  

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

 

Methode Rotuts - look at those tiny little bubbles.   Anna's so pissed she can barely stand.  

[Tri2Cook]

I'm starting to feel like my liquor cabinet was a complete waste of money, I need to take inspiration and be a little less collector and a little more indulger.

[Kerry Beal]

At home I'm more collector than indulger.  Here I don't have to lug a 75 lb child around after I've had a cocktail - much easier.  Amazing how weak I get with a bit of ETOH on board.

 

 

Got a little lazy tonight and just tempered up some chocolate for tomorrow's offerings.

 

 

Sour Watermelon Peeps - they are pink under their florescent green sugar.

 

 

Freeze dried coffee, coconut (Hippie Snacks) and freeze dried ganache.  

 

 

Coconut, freeze dried meyer lemon, freeze dried lime.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

I want a gosh dang watermelon peep.  Right freaking now.  *googling*

[rotuts]

"""   Methode Rotuts - look at those tiny little bubbles.   Anna's so pissed she can barely stand.  """

 

 

Im thinking of busting the Wine budget, and might try a M.R. Chablis.  from FR  the Chab. not the M.R.

 

if you liked it try a 'better and better' white.

[MelissaH]

Anna, could you give a little more detail about the chicken stock? What else went into the pressure cooker? Did you do anything to the bird other than unwrap it, check for a giblet pack hiding where the sun don't shine, and toss it in the pot?

[Kerry Beal]

Melissa - that was me making the chicken stock.  I unwrapped the bird, took the ties off, checked for the giblet pack (there was none), rinsed it off and put it in the pressure cooker.  Added enough water to just cover the bird (around 3 1/2 to 4 quarts I'd estimate) and cooked for about an hour.  

[Kerry Beal]

 

Death and Company showed up today!  So in the spirit of D&C (rather than the actuality) I made the Flor de Jerez.  Amontillado replaced with half oloroso and half fino, Appleton replaced with Plantation (because they both end in 'n'), Aprey replaced with Luxardo, cane syrup made with cane sugar and water, lemon as directed, angostura as directed - damn fine drink in spite of us!

 

[Shelby]

DSCN3422.jpg

 

Death and Company showed up today!  So in the spirit of D&C (rather than the actuality) I made the Flor de Jerez.  Amontillado replaced with half oloroso and half fino, Appleton replaced with Plantation (because they both end in 'n'), Aprey replaced with Luxardo, cane syrup made with cane sugar and water, lemon as directed, angostura as directed - damn fine drink in spite of us!

 

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No wonder we haven't heard from Anna today!

[Kerry Beal]

Ivan Ramen Ramen.  

 

 

Pork fat, chicken fat, katsuobushi salt, shiso tare 

 

 

Anna's bowl - using the non Ivan noodles.  

 

 

My bowl with the Ivan noodles.  

 

Anna's got dumped - she's now eating a piece of dry toast.  She was unable to get by the fishy smell of the dashi - funny cause I'm the one who doesn't eat much fish. 

[Kerry Beal]

 

Chewy Molasses Spice cookies for work tomorrow.

[Shelby]

Ohhhhhh those cookies....yum

[Kerry Beal]

They smell damn good too!

[huiray]

Ivan Ramen Ramen.  

 

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Pork fat, chicken fat, katsuobushi salt, shiso tare 

 

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Anna's bowl - using the non Ivan noodles.  

 

DSCN3427.jpg

 

My bowl with the Ivan noodles.  

 

Anna's got dumped - she's now eating a piece of dry toast.  She was unable to get by the fishy smell of the dashi - funny cause I'm the one who doesn't eat much fish. 

 

I had to take a look again at what "Ivan Ramen" was, even though I knew about it in a general sense - because of the dried fishes (sardines? or anchovies?) you used in that dashi.  

 

Anna, do you like wonton soup?  If you do, be advised that the good ones use "stock fish" in making the broth.

[huiray]

Lunch was very nearly a complete failure. Once again I attempted the Serious Eats ramen in a jar. New noodles but again they were far too al dente. I dumped everything into a bowl and nuked it. The boiled egg was really, really fresh and impossible to peel so I scooped it out with a spoon. Back to the drawing board.

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There are some rice noodles that are nicely cooked/softened (at least to my satisfaction) when soaked in hot water (from boiling, poured from the kettle) in some bowl or container.  They tend to be the skinnier ones, especially those with a certain translucency and pliability to them.  It's hard to describe - let me take a picture of one of the types I have on hand a little later.  The "broader" or thicker ones typically used for pho, for example, or even skinnier ones with a certain denseness or opaqueness to them will NOT soften properly with just a soak in hot water and all will then need to be cooked in boiling water.  In the case of the rice noodles that perform satisfactorily, they also need to be soaked by themselves - the stuff from packages of them alone, that is, not the ones that have been treated/parboiled already in those "instant noodles packages" that are the object of the "getting away from" exercise.  Having a whole bunch of stuff in the same SMALL container with a single pour of hot water will simply suck so much heat away from the noodles that they simply will not soften enough.  There are two noodles that come to mind off the top of my head that may work in your circumstances, with that small container with all the other stuff as well in it.  One is a really fine rice noodle, labeled (in English) as rice vermicelli - I'll take a pic of the one I have on hand in a bit - and the other would be the fine/very thin form of Fuzhou WHEAT noodles (a really skinny form of misua).  Both would, however, also release a lot of starch & some milkiness into the whole shebang as they soak in the (rapidly cooling) hot water.

[huiray]

Here's a pic of a type of rice noodle that works well with a simple soak in hot/was-boiling water.  They're the same brand, really, just bought at different times and have slightly different packagings.

 

 

Again, they don't soften properly if not allowed to soak by themselves with sufficient hot water in a bowl.

 

Another brand which I like and which performs similarly is this one, which I do not have in my pantry at the moment.

 

 

 

Here's a pic of those very thin "rice vermicelli" noodles I thought might work in that one-small-pot composition:

 

 

 

 

Here's a pic of those very thin Fuzhou-type wheat noodles I talked about:

 

 

These are brittle.  They will break into pieces if one tried to bend them into a small bowl.  You could have them "in the same bag" as the rest of the stuff in a glass tub then fold them into the tub as you add the hot/boiling water.

[natasha1270]

Kerry - I'm fascinated by your freeze-drying experiments. Makes you wonder what additional flavors could be infused into your items when you are rehydrating. Interesting stuff.

[Anna N]

I had to take a look again at what "Ivan Ramen" was, even though I knew about it in a general sense - because of the dried fishes (sardines? or anchovies?) you used in that dashi.

Anna, do you like wonton soup? If you do, be advised that the good ones use "stock fish" in making the broth.

Yes, I love wonton soup but doubt that I have had any that used more than a version of Campbell's chicken broth.

Edited to add

I could barely stand to enter the kitchen when Kerry was making the broth. I love fish but the smell of the various dried fish she was using I found truly nauseating.

Edited October 10, 2014 by Anna N (log)

[huiray]

 But see the little waterlily like plant on the right? - wasabi!  Think I can keep it alive?

 

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Did you get any advice about how to grow wasabi?

 

 

 

Apparently it grows near fresh flowing water - so we put it close to the sink.

 

http://www.thewasabistore.com/wasabi-plant-starts/