tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22073434341087545172024-03-02T20:46:05.497-05:00Food LabTesting Taste, Texture and TechniqueElizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-71155693871651385072023-07-06T14:41:00.005-04:002023-07-06T14:42:38.187-04:00Food Lab: VeloutéWe're back!<div><br /></div><div>Your intrepid Food Labbers have still been cooking, of course, both together and individually - gotta eat! - we just haven't been doing much labbing lately.</div><div><br /></div><div>We have, however, been planning our three-years-delayed (Thanks a lot, coronavirus!) Ten (now 13) Years of Food Lab trip to....France! No, we're not there yet, but we're headed there this fall. It will be a third return for Chef Spouse and me, but Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee have never been, so we're looking forward to sharing some of our favorite sights in Paris with them and then heading to a lovely villa in Provence for a week of farmers markets, bakeries, vineyards, cooking, eating, and drinking together with some additional friends. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our pending trip to France and Chef Spouse's shiny new account with <a href="https://profish.com/home">ProFish</a> (acquired in support of the Summer of Poke, which is a story for another time) did inspire our most recent Lab though: velouté.</div><div><br /></div><div>Velouté, for those who don't know, is one of Escoffier's "mother" sauces and is a simple combination of a blond roux and a light stock, generally chicken or fish, that is then served over poached chicken or fish (or as a base for a sauce for veg or pasta).</div><div><br /></div><div>The ratio we were using was 1 Tbsp each flour and butter to 1 cup of stock, finish with salt and WHITE pepper to taste (no black pepper spots in your pristine velouté, s'il vous plaît!)</div><div><br /></div><div>We set our plan over oysters and bubbly: </div><div><br /></div><div>Test one would be: Should you start with fish stock or with water, wine and aromatics?</div><div><br /></div><div>Test two would be: If you wish to enhance your velouté, should you use cream or an egg yolk?</div><div><br /></div><div>Chef Spouse had procured snapper for the poaching that would give us the stock in the first place and branzino filets for the actual poached fish over which to serve the finished sauce. We also had some adorable little cabbages from our CSA that we poached and then seared on the Green Egg (which was at the ready because Mad Kitchen Scientist was also smoking some salmon, aka "Bacon of the Sea") because we figured, correctly, that we were going to have more velouté as a result of our tests than needed to sauce branzino filets for four. (That Bacon of the Sea got turned into snackies for hungry cooks spread on individual endive leaves with cream cheese enhanced with The Executive Committee's fresh-snipped chives.)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyoGwbD6CnIxlj38e4asAE8_FnYp1yETIN4fME3dTPcTZUjIEv_RyTnThhVejCt1-erv6b8q4DIUN1JYGMSNl2u4i__moVcmkAjsWsSSkQMKFaIzeMdLVfOvrXBn7FCDC2jAwhqJXDkTVVxc-4-SI0g8RHOb8mCiBHVnTRaGRvCvwuyB8oe8IlJOB3Ob4/s4032/IMG_0224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyoGwbD6CnIxlj38e4asAE8_FnYp1yETIN4fME3dTPcTZUjIEv_RyTnThhVejCt1-erv6b8q4DIUN1JYGMSNl2u4i__moVcmkAjsWsSSkQMKFaIzeMdLVfOvrXBn7FCDC2jAwhqJXDkTVVxc-4-SI0g8RHOb8mCiBHVnTRaGRvCvwuyB8oe8IlJOB3Ob4/s320/IMG_0224.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">That is some good-looking fish.</div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJh0Y9Fexr9aM6NcFZcx3S96ccXd9K6VS4We4q0_LnsZi8kUz4NhfI00bvC0a_N8z8qseBnb-3KEkNN0AC4zzolcUanlDiH-D9VzcQWrfmD22WNNBrWTEay4vWbysHsqsC2Et-b4usfeF7aAfjsi5RAdc0AJd1CqlDQSRu1YH2d12B9AYDdqSHt7Y5bzE/s4032/IMG_0225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJh0Y9Fexr9aM6NcFZcx3S96ccXd9K6VS4We4q0_LnsZi8kUz4NhfI00bvC0a_N8z8qseBnb-3KEkNN0AC4zzolcUanlDiH-D9VzcQWrfmD22WNNBrWTEay4vWbysHsqsC2Et-b4usfeF7aAfjsi5RAdc0AJd1CqlDQSRu1YH2d12B9AYDdqSHt7Y5bzE/s320/IMG_0225.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Seriously, that is some GOOD-LOOKING fish.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fortunately, Mad Kitchen Scientist had fish stock already waiting, so we pulled together a pot with water, white wine, fennel, carrot, celery, green onion, and thyme, cut the snapper in two, and poached.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Dgv8ErwwI_d2AAMX2GThixUpAkXZZH_7qZKGMrYCtJbJRrOa1HFpLYrABoZvT0kd_0B5Z7h-10XJFwo3RmO8UyZSDcPEWJdLoOVj5b-NUpbSHt7M6o3YIP8yK3ztmaCdqLCjLMHSCFnMvcs4kjVdxrPFfhzEizyRgWCAYpEmdAwp_FQV9Uu1JH2Ed7s/s4032/IMG_0227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Dgv8ErwwI_d2AAMX2GThixUpAkXZZH_7qZKGMrYCtJbJRrOa1HFpLYrABoZvT0kd_0B5Z7h-10XJFwo3RmO8UyZSDcPEWJdLoOVj5b-NUpbSHt7M6o3YIP8yK3ztmaCdqLCjLMHSCFnMvcs4kjVdxrPFfhzEizyRgWCAYpEmdAwp_FQV9Uu1JH2Ed7s/s320/IMG_0227.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The water/wine/aromatics combo was the CLEAR winner, both as a base for the sauce and as a cooking liquid for the snapper. Starting with a fish stock and then adding MORE fish, even as mild a fish as snapper, was...too fishy. (Although we did eat ALL the snapper regardless.) <div><br /></div><div>So that was easy, and we had our sauce for our poached branzino at the ready.</div><div><br /></div><div>But what about an enhancement? To cut to the chase: Save the cream for something else, use an egg yolk, and, per Food Lab tradition, make cocktails (or something else) with the white. Even after reducing the sauce, the cream still left it thin and didn't add much by way of richness or mouthfeel. The egg yolk, on the other hand, turned what is a mildly flavored sauce into something with the richness to stand up to our wee cabbages. </div><div><br /></div><div>Did you notice I said "cocktails or something else" with the egg white? Turns out, The Executive Committee had gotten a soufflé mould for her birthday that had, as yet, not been christened. She decided she would very much like a late birthday / early July 4th soufflé for dessert, so while the boys were playing with the fish, I followed Julia's recipe for orange soufflé from Mastering. </div><div><br /></div><div>A few notes:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Definitely bother with the "rub two sugar cubes over the surface of the orange before zesting" thing - it sounds silly, but it adds depth.</li><li>If you don't have Grand Marnier handy, Cointreau makes a perfectly acceptable substitute (I wouldn't do a regular triple sec though - I suspect the sugar content is too low).</li><li>You can prep the entire thing up to the point of whipping the egg whites and incorporating them! This is clearly how restaurants manage soufflé for service with only a LITTLE extra time required to prepare it, rather than diners having to sit there for an extra hour to wait for their dessert.</li><li>It's better to slightly *under* do the folding in of the whipped whites than to overdo.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>How did it turn out?</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuSftPRwTfE1ceRqd0znOFTwzRqX2KyHTpTYLM-tssBGrKQlIyYzQQepozdjhOJzTd2KdlRHgnIQI_bMFL8wCRSkU513jRj0pqdFpb7JmKC_LuABRpS0yBTp3Dg1KQb-6QLMBc2zM7T_i7Ak09gD9ZoGGOR07RTuEVLVo1OPSlf1VKEYzI72e0xb2vmU/s4032/IMG_0232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuSftPRwTfE1ceRqd0znOFTwzRqX2KyHTpTYLM-tssBGrKQlIyYzQQepozdjhOJzTd2KdlRHgnIQI_bMFL8wCRSkU513jRj0pqdFpb7JmKC_LuABRpS0yBTp3Dg1KQb-6QLMBc2zM7T_i7Ak09gD9ZoGGOR07RTuEVLVo1OPSlf1VKEYzI72e0xb2vmU/s320/IMG_0232.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Also, the kitchen smelled DIVINE, and I can report that there was not a CRUMB left over.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Yes, I *will* be making more of these when we're in France this fall. Although since we'll be eight, I will probably need to make TWO at a time. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-1114326888174390442022-03-23T14:27:00.003-04:002022-03-23T14:27:43.193-04:00Food Lab: Chocolate<!--AddThis Button BEGIN--><div>Seeing as our last Food Lab was last summer, have your intrepid Food Labbers been subsisting on nothing but carry out and boxed mac & cheese since then?</div><div><br /></div><div>Fear not! </div><div><br /></div><div>We've been cooking and eating together QUITE well and QUITE frequently, just not Labbing much, partially because we've all been suffering from a bit of topic-block. Given everything we've taken on since we first launched this crazy project in 2010, what remains?</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll tell you what remains: <b>CHOCOLATE</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Mad Kitchen Scientist was the one who started the whole thing off, observing that "chocolate is something that WE do not know, and knowing about tempering and all such things is becoming something fashionable among foodies." </div><div><br /></div><div>How did it take us more than ten years to take on chocolate? How did we not notice we hadn't taken on chocolate? That I do not know, and yet, here we are.</div><div><br /></div><div>Will it surprise you to learn that our initial plan turned out to be a bit ambitious?</div><div><br /></div>We did manage to head one excess off at the pass: we decided NOT to revisit <a href="https://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2014/01/food-lab-26-mole.html">mole lab</a> in making dinner. Chef Spouse gently observed that that might be a bridge too far for a Sunday afternoon. <br /><br />Our initial list included:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Taste test various % cacao </li><li>Make chocolate from cacao beans </li><li>Differences between Dutch process & natural process cocoa powder</li><li>Different methods of melting chocolate</li><li>Fixing seized chocolate</li><li>Tempering chocolate</li></ul><div>Chef Spouse regularly makes me homemade truffles, and we were currently out, so we had our base already chosen for the tempered chocolate (my other idea was coconut and/or peanut butter Easter eggs, but I was overruled). Because the ganache base needs time to cool before it can be formed into truffles and dipped, Chef Spouse prepared it before everyone arrived. He favors alcohol as a flavoring agent, so we went with my two favorites: absinthe and añjeo tequila. (He used to use sweet liqueurs like Amaretto and Chambord, but we both realized they tend to be cloying.) </div><div><br /></div><div>We had seen chocolate made by hand from cacao beans on a recent trip to Mexico, so Chef Spouse was eager to give it a shot and ordered 1 kg of organic cacao beans. They arrived fermented - the first processing step - but not roasted, so after tasting the pre-roasted beans (pleasantly fruity and bitter), we went on to roast about 10 oz. immediately following the simple 5 minutes at 400 - 5 minutes at 350 - 5 minutes at 325 - then 300 until done (~10 minutes) recommended pattern. </div><div><br /></div><div>(I should point out that eating the fermented but not roasted beans can be a little dangerous - similar to eating raw eggs or meat, both of which you already know we do - so roasting not only allows you to remove the beans' husks, it also kills any pathogens on the beans. Anyway, we each tried a bean, we didn't chow down on handfuls. But do so at your own risk.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Sooooo....getting the inner beans out of the husks turned out to be a bit of a production and put the whammy on most of the rest of our plans, including the plans to turn those beans into chocolate. We now each have a container of nibs waiting to be chocolatized in the hopefully near future. Fortunately, if you store them carefully, they have a pretty substantial shelf-life of up to two years. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hvwVQ2GFLSYYv45WfYJyHnHdWS0ivVcoL_7Wgaow9cERTbb28fakr1I0tXQhUx5wTm38umS2hI0vaBARKnEib_2KLWhQetI5VM9Bu-fh30hPPTPBj9OKLszujrKYRa68C4h4JA_1El60Sdu_0inIzqQYRziuD_hCvXgh4nHLFIogpvs1SoMTFo8l/s4032/IMG_6927.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3hvwVQ2GFLSYYv45WfYJyHnHdWS0ivVcoL_7Wgaow9cERTbb28fakr1I0tXQhUx5wTm38umS2hI0vaBARKnEib_2KLWhQetI5VM9Bu-fh30hPPTPBj9OKLszujrKYRa68C4h4JA_1El60Sdu_0inIzqQYRziuD_hCvXgh4nHLFIogpvs1SoMTFo8l/s320/IMG_6927.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>However, while everyone else was fooling around with the hot beans, I decided to get onto the cocoa powder tests. I had done a bit of advance research at <a href="https://www.seriouseats.com/difference-dutch-process-natural-cocoa-powder-substitute">Serious Eats</a> and <a href="https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baking-basics-dutch-process-natural-cocoa-powder/">Sally's Baking Addiction</a>, where I learned that in addition to slight taste differences (Dutch process, to my taste buds, is more chocolatey, while natural is "brighter"), it comes down to acidity. Dutch process produces a neutral pH of 7, while natural process is more acidic, coming in at a pH of 6 or even 5. </div><div><br /></div><div>Why does that matter?</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, what are you making? If it's a baked good that depends on baking soda for its leavening, it may matter quite a bit, as alkaline baking soda requires an acid environment to be activated. </div><div><br /></div><div>So I pulled out my mom's simple chocolate eggless cake recipe, which I remembered relying on baking soda, and got to work. I measured out all the dry ingredients into two bowls, one with natural and one with Dutch process cocoa powder.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then I turned to the wet ingredients: canola oil, water, vanilla....damn it. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that the recipe also includes a small amount of vinegar. FOR ACIDITY. </div><div><br /></div><div>So much for that test. Both layers rose just fine. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixolA2BcRviP5uHJGVzAbmL_kVapIcjQH0CGUztvQ6D-jFLVg2ycsZyJBNdzfMRqXRhD1PR3hlQ5bZkKgMTkJp7bc3SOAvKeVjo1sAdudoUPhdpHe7BbeTbd9n09c9sjQX99qwRXEz0IlbeYxci8gW19XlwDQY2gCDJgiFW-AL4X4zKucvjTTpxCB/s4032/IMG_6930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixolA2BcRviP5uHJGVzAbmL_kVapIcjQH0CGUztvQ6D-jFLVg2ycsZyJBNdzfMRqXRhD1PR3hlQ5bZkKgMTkJp7bc3SOAvKeVjo1sAdudoUPhdpHe7BbeTbd9n09c9sjQX99qwRXEz0IlbeYxci8gW19XlwDQY2gCDJgiFW-AL4X4zKucvjTTpxCB/s320/IMG_6930.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWtwR_dLEo5guKRlIcHGJ8U3evqY1jPxhKFmnARSiQuwBpcI4b2rO6H5bwIvKaBOXIBRRN7-6-NSj5ZFxJ-8dobxyZ_W9NRbjNYnGyZdrTDJ7yNBtq5b9_64fpb34Uk9P7W5nPmwXzrRibjdSWRliu2tHXNpWR9GrZGIlH7o31i6PKSZdvcXKCGv5/s4032/IMG_6932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWtwR_dLEo5guKRlIcHGJ8U3evqY1jPxhKFmnARSiQuwBpcI4b2rO6H5bwIvKaBOXIBRRN7-6-NSj5ZFxJ-8dobxyZ_W9NRbjNYnGyZdrTDJ7yNBtq5b9_64fpb34Uk9P7W5nPmwXzrRibjdSWRliu2tHXNpWR9GrZGIlH7o31i6PKSZdvcXKCGv5/s320/IMG_6932.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>So I said screw it, made some cherry icing, and turned them into a cake. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3GS7QuVvVGowJIpkkG4N199DfK3d30fLe1ziO6Ga43pN3r64zZ5vsqWLq5bVC-Vnn4SqEqgpKvk3L2DfvUglJHS_Pvwpbdg71R2OLntenowD3hCGgn4JH9RU7tJa-MAUyTx7TtsKQyQfGBMUAbNtSxM-MK9TkK_2ynpA4sS2QDqPzvY3lzM8lFtO/s591/Screen Shot 2022-03-23 at 2.06.28 PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="591" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3GS7QuVvVGowJIpkkG4N199DfK3d30fLe1ziO6Ga43pN3r64zZ5vsqWLq5bVC-Vnn4SqEqgpKvk3L2DfvUglJHS_Pvwpbdg71R2OLntenowD3hCGgn4JH9RU7tJa-MAUyTx7TtsKQyQfGBMUAbNtSxM-MK9TkK_2ynpA4sS2QDqPzvY3lzM8lFtO/s320/Screen Shot 2022-03-23 at 2.06.28 PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, the hullers were still at work.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwno2CHoLX44tv0x5kYaF5zXipDkJUYzAwDLX5_KweRoDd9v8uItX7vJSWhhYrzR21s5eKj5YxUKA89OWtmlhLW7z-AGg_EiJiDxojAlMJmRPk_rn_Z-m6Ew3iX7JceLhfFSBZbEyWlrTGxU4hEBaFKKiqaHh3enT9XiQoJoJGmHRbWVwTFxubrrJf/s4032/IMG_6928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwno2CHoLX44tv0x5kYaF5zXipDkJUYzAwDLX5_KweRoDd9v8uItX7vJSWhhYrzR21s5eKj5YxUKA89OWtmlhLW7z-AGg_EiJiDxojAlMJmRPk_rn_Z-m6Ew3iX7JceLhfFSBZbEyWlrTGxU4hEBaFKKiqaHh3enT9XiQoJoJGmHRbWVwTFxubrrJf/s320/IMG_6928.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Eventually, they finished and were able to return to the ganache and form the truffle centers.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3mvl6RRzPP_buh2w8ZzRgMwUyMCF__xdB0AFGdnuvRTl168B3LueyB0hN1jw5oFNnl5lTix2PHcokk4hRC0sAAs2j89XAgcC1xq6i_dH4mrwT9ZptBBOX0c21sguFyx0FwoOIrbkGzuXOdBs7JKjC9k95VfeqLaLgYiS1YmEkThnH0Vuje-wQj3q8/s4032/IMG_6935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3mvl6RRzPP_buh2w8ZzRgMwUyMCF__xdB0AFGdnuvRTl168B3LueyB0hN1jw5oFNnl5lTix2PHcokk4hRC0sAAs2j89XAgcC1xq6i_dH4mrwT9ZptBBOX0c21sguFyx0FwoOIrbkGzuXOdBs7JKjC9k95VfeqLaLgYiS1YmEkThnH0Vuje-wQj3q8/s320/IMG_6935.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>At this point we broke for dinner: cacao-crusted hangar steaks and roasted cauliflower and steamed green beans with Mad Kitchen Scientist's take on a Cacao Picada Sauce</div><div><br /></div><div>----------</div>Cacao Picada Sauce (loosely adapted from Saveur)<br /><br />3/4 c olive oil<br />8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped<br />1/2 c almonds<br />1 c fresh parsley<br />~3 T of dark chocolate (baking chocolate at least 60% cacao)<br />~2 T sherry<br />salt, freshly ground white & black pepper<br /><br />Toast almonds. Simmer garlic in olive oil until just getting some golden color.<br /><br />Put almonds, chocolate, parsley in food processor or blender. Process in chunky salsa. Add sherry and garlic & oil. Blend to desired consistency. Season with salt & peppers and adjust other flavors as desired.<div><br /></div><div>After eating, it was on to the idea that started this whole thing: tempering chocolate and, more specifically, covering the truffles in the tempered chocolate.</div><div>----------</div><div><br /></div><div>After diner, it was back to the truffles. </div><div><br /></div><div>(Due to a promise to an old friend, I am forbidden from taking part in the making of truffles, so I was merely an observer at this point.) </div><div><br /></div><div>So I asked Chef Spouse what he learned about working with tempered chocolate, and he replied that it gets hotter than you think it will faster than you think it will, it keeps rising in temperature longer than you think it will, it's harder to get it to working temperature than you would think it would be, it's harder to hold it at optimum working temperature that you would think it would be....and having three pairs of hands to dip the truffles was a MAJOR improvement over his usual solo process.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1U7Lou9UNqD5-MjiBuj2sbn8x-rk-6T0kRqM5_dbyEbWzh-hArQQprNHf7vKHrGyOaHBDqPO038Lrc4EzI4PlpQCdZ2E8Um7FEbbWaU12cZYP9opFSA-h09_V70aMc3JV55OOEWGAR-sS7DmZyHHC5Seg2OaEOXybHmFhHwXRbIubxfMG-Bpycjw/s4032/IMG_6938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1U7Lou9UNqD5-MjiBuj2sbn8x-rk-6T0kRqM5_dbyEbWzh-hArQQprNHf7vKHrGyOaHBDqPO038Lrc4EzI4PlpQCdZ2E8Um7FEbbWaU12cZYP9opFSA-h09_V70aMc3JV55OOEWGAR-sS7DmZyHHC5Seg2OaEOXybHmFhHwXRbIubxfMG-Bpycjw/s320/IMG_6938.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><div>I'm sure that's all true, but the finished product is so delicious, who cares about your troubles, Chef Spouse? ;) </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Drinks to accompany? A take on a Oaxacan old fashioned (reposado tequila, mezcal, agave nectar) that we tested with both mole and chocolate bitters, universally agreeing that the chocolate bitters win. (I think we should rename it a Mayan old fashioned.) </div><div><br /></div><div>We never got to playing around with seized chocolate or the chocolate tasting or, of course, making chocolate by hand. As I said, overly ambitious. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-66419330009339764442021-07-06T12:18:00.000-04:002021-07-06T12:18:12.514-04:00Food Lab: BrewingConfession time: this wasn't really a Food Lab. Mad Kitchen Scientist has been home brewing for more than 30 years and is, truly, expert at it. But I've never brewed beer, and wanted to at least learn what the process is, so this was more like a tutorial or demonstration than an actual lab.<div><br /></div><div>Beer-brewing is conceptually simple:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Crack the grain </li><li>Combine with warm water to form the "mash" </li><li>Cook the mash at a low temperature</li><li>Strain the grain out of the mash water</li><li>Add the "sparge" water to form the "wort"</li><li>Add your other flavoring ingredients (hops, malt)</li><li>Boil the wort</li><li>Chill the wort QUICKLY </li><li>Strain the wort into your VERY VERY CLEAN fermentation container</li><li>Add the yeast and a little more clean, cool water </li><li>Let the yeast do its job (aka ferment the beer)</li><li>Bottle the beer</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>As Mad Kitchen Scientist is fond of reminding us, no known human pathogens can survive the brewing process (as long as you're careful not to introduce them in the fermentation and bottling), so beer is not only, per Ben Franklin, proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy, it's also proof that She doesn't want us to die from drinking bad water, a major concern throughout much of human history. </div><div><br /></div><div>In fact, historically, beer tended to feature at every meal, even for children, due to the aforementioned water quality problem. Of course, those beers were not juiced to the high alcohol levels of today's imperial stouts (the beer we brewed this weekend), Belgian IPAs, and Scotch ales (or the even higher levels of speciality beers than can start to approach the proof of distilled spirits). Still, our forefathers - and foremothers - were likely rarely sober as judges. Of course, while alcohol abuse is very serious, it turns out <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/america-drinking-alone-problem/619017/">the communities of tipsy apes do better than the communities of sober apes</a>, and beer can be an excellent way to induce that cooperation and sense of bonding. So on to the brewing! For the good of our community of tool-using apes! </div><div><br /></div><div>If brewing is conceptually so simple, what's the deal with good versus bad homebrew, and the dizzying variety of beer options available? </div><div><br /></div><div>Recipes (and temperature control). And Mad Kitchen Scientist has been refining his for decades. </div><div><br /></div><div>The grain is primarily barley, but there are all different types of barleys for brewing at all different levels of roast.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJxdfp1CyJzUrC0Rj3Xm-m6a64EccD_zkp7pFRxDUhGC1uXyvCycw1SpVr_96UCSy61h6HIVXOUqlkXHnyqnj6JSgNawVEmgSXn5QgL11Ix8Li-RhXA1HJQwT98-jW3wDmh3J4tec2ChY/s2048/EBA57C04-6E00-43FF-B0D2-023AC8402D63.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJxdfp1CyJzUrC0Rj3Xm-m6a64EccD_zkp7pFRxDUhGC1uXyvCycw1SpVr_96UCSy61h6HIVXOUqlkXHnyqnj6JSgNawVEmgSXn5QgL11Ix8Li-RhXA1HJQwT98-jW3wDmh3J4tec2ChY/s320/EBA57C04-6E00-43FF-B0D2-023AC8402D63.heic" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mad Kitchen Scientist's super-secret</div><div style="text-align: center;">Imperial Stout blend</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Cracking the grain is cracking the grain - and it's a delightfully analog process.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhYWyx1wgHupJa546IrNc5LQL-ukiilPtslNYknXxrY1v9rBJXUqOCPhYlroO8rn_CF74-NuzPlxuJjtjIJPge1j3zHn2HzgkmJ5CummTj_ACte7lEmzHI5f9yTDUFOihWMpqaW3v-Uas/s722/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+11.54.30+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhYWyx1wgHupJa546IrNc5LQL-ukiilPtslNYknXxrY1v9rBJXUqOCPhYlroO8rn_CF74-NuzPlxuJjtjIJPge1j3zHn2HzgkmJ5CummTj_ACte7lEmzHI5f9yTDUFOihWMpqaW3v-Uas/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+11.54.30+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The next stage at which the brewer really influences the product is in what you choose to add to the wort by way of hops (type, quantity) and malt or other sugars (same). This is also when you can get into experimenting with things like fruit beers or other flavors. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGJz_tbPkpJ1mdbnAEFD0yVv1mKlxjNi-hTsbbYNPClyeoRquTFixBRHQXS5njywkEl5WW-tYlxZTuwSrKm5C4YJ5kMAb8DECS01KafkJJu0hq9K9IFaZXI66jG2dWYkBAQDPdnnbC-M/s813/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+11.57.23+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="813" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGJz_tbPkpJ1mdbnAEFD0yVv1mKlxjNi-hTsbbYNPClyeoRquTFixBRHQXS5njywkEl5WW-tYlxZTuwSrKm5C4YJ5kMAb8DECS01KafkJJu0hq9K9IFaZXI66jG2dWYkBAQDPdnnbC-M/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+11.57.23+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Look at those pretty hops!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Once the wort is ready for fermentation, two things are VERY important:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>You need to chill your wort FAST</li><li>Your carboy needs to be CLEAN (so does your filter and your airlock)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Mad Kitchen Scientist created a clever gizmo from copper tubing to cool the wort by plunging the coil of copper tubing into the wort, attaching one end to tubing that runs from the cold water tap and letting the water run out the other end back into the sink.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjLlwRlK60x5CJqrxqXjHOA-ICUwAgc-OWyYVWM03EkOOm4p4p2ygQnCrruBflEv40iFr6yx3vPR6r7CFm-54rKOyZTwTjiw0RdyRhbRwxz1GHDmvpMxB5n2H1EqR3e5TjB1aAYvvaNc/s586/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+12.03.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="532" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjLlwRlK60x5CJqrxqXjHOA-ICUwAgc-OWyYVWM03EkOOm4p4p2ygQnCrruBflEv40iFr6yx3vPR6r7CFm-54rKOyZTwTjiw0RdyRhbRwxz1GHDmvpMxB5n2H1EqR3e5TjB1aAYvvaNc/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+12.03.49+PM.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Clean carboy? Bleach solution, scrub scrub, rinse rinse rinse.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxP_PTSMfguXeTqgPhh3rzC8vgyFOG73nWGQC931j54KEwi10uoXTzJIeNVy5ZfrB1ZLuS_2N887v2-CjH673Fq_ntmPi3jSnsE05oSRj23vVOmJpQIDMYWv2vx9Ln_StJQOhu3WpuDg/s565/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+12.04.43+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="541" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxP_PTSMfguXeTqgPhh3rzC8vgyFOG73nWGQC931j54KEwi10uoXTzJIeNVy5ZfrB1ZLuS_2N887v2-CjH673Fq_ntmPi3jSnsE05oSRj23vVOmJpQIDMYWv2vx9Ln_StJQOhu3WpuDg/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+12.04.43+PM.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then you filter the wort into the carboy, add the yeast and cool, clean water to fill, insert the airlock, and let those little guys get to work eating, digesting, and, per Alton Brown, farting, which is what creates the fermentation and, ultimately, the fizz.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3Jzq0u0MmJZp9btmfRcAPW8Tmai1kQ_BlxCvuueL7oRsen3cIfodqyG7Ypm-XB6woqkHzxKFT2Fi9IoMsUVQ-kJSoroZqOpcd4e2ZUK_BlNoabsfAYtzEz6FKSca0Ed5fYttqoidmLA/s468/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+12.06.39+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="462" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3Jzq0u0MmJZp9btmfRcAPW8Tmai1kQ_BlxCvuueL7oRsen3cIfodqyG7Ypm-XB6woqkHzxKFT2Fi9IoMsUVQ-kJSoroZqOpcd4e2ZUK_BlNoabsfAYtzEz6FKSca0Ed5fYttqoidmLA/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+12.06.39+PM.png" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Saturday was glorious, so we also smoked (and ate) a brisket and played with the dog. To drink? Homebrew that was already aged and ready to go, duh. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LlXAgYE-EEa32VCWZyEIZmM9Fyibbg2e4PGw7vFVfZ9zze2MtCCwArVtz1jPJ0CByRGM1wlVJtXE7hcRmXFVCFL0Z2y2782N2QwbrYcFSS1JCvQ7uxlCVojmwYWx_dbSj89JOtGXQUM/s676/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+12.06.51+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="521" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LlXAgYE-EEa32VCWZyEIZmM9Fyibbg2e4PGw7vFVfZ9zze2MtCCwArVtz1jPJ0CByRGM1wlVJtXE7hcRmXFVCFL0Z2y2782N2QwbrYcFSS1JCvQ7uxlCVojmwYWx_dbSj89JOtGXQUM/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-07-06+at+12.06.51+PM.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Get to work, Yeast! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">How did Mad Kitchen Scientist's brewing expertise come to be? Well, it turns out, a little more than 30 years ago, he was housemates with his "Brew Daddy." Both of them were also competitive Ultimate Frisbee players, and their house was definitely the hip hangout for that crowd. Brew Daddy was already an accomplished brewer, he showed Mad Kitchen Scientist how to brew, and then it became a situation of iron sharpening iron as they inspired each other to up their game. It's been many years since they shared a living space, but, unsurprisingly, Mad Kitchen Scientist has continued down the path set all those years ago.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I will likely not start down that path - Chef Spouse doesn't drink beer, so I'd just be brewing for myself, and I already have a good source of homebrew at the ready - but I am glad to understand, conceptually, how to do it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm also looking forward to cracking one of these babies at Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee's resumed New Year's Eve house party later this year....</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-47776216358012342212021-04-11T12:35:00.000-04:002021-04-11T12:35:03.700-04:00Food Lab: Under PressureIn at least one way, Chef Spouse and I have had an unusual pandemic experience: We haven't bought much stuff for the house. We already both worked from home full time prior to the pandemic, so we didn't need any office set up items, and we had the athleisure wardrobe thing covered. We redid our yard a few years ago - new porch, new patio, nice yard furniture, landscaping - and it's too small to ensure six foot spacing between groups, so we weren't part of the run on outdoor heaters and electric lap blankets in the fall.<!--AddThis Button END--><div><br /></div><div>We've been doing our damndest to keep a few small vineyards we love in business, buying every time an allocation is released (SO MANY BOXES OF WINE IN THE BASEMENT right now), but other than that, there just really wasn't anything much we needed to comfortably hibernate. </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, almost. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of our ongoing Food Lab jokes is "no uni-taskers!" (with much love to Alton Brown)</div><div><br /></div><div>We have exceptions, of course, and we give each other unending shit about them (Mad Kitchen Scientist's rice cooker, Chef Spouse's asparagus pot, etc.). </div><div><br /></div><div>It's all part of the fun, along with jokes about ramekins, exploding shrubs, flying chocolate, cleaning lobster off the ceiling, Mad Kitchen Scientist and me not being allowed to shop unsupervised, and me laying on the floor with Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee's dog after our <a href="https://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2010/05/food-lab-2-deglazing.html">second Food Lab</a> moaning: "ATE. TOO. MUCH. STEAK."</div><div><br /></div><div>At Christmas 2018, Mad Kitchen Scientist turned in his rice cooker in favor of an Instant Pot. Out: one uni-tasker. In: one Instant Pot convert.</div><div><br /></div><div>Chef Spouse, who never met a decision he couldn't research to the nth degree, has been pondering getting one ever since. Yes, that means he's spent more than two years dithering over a device that costs about $75. </div><div><br /></div><div>So we finally decided to test it out.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are many potential uses of an Instant Pot, but it's really best suited to pressure cooker or steamer type applications. Mad Kitchen Scientist has mostly used it for beans and grains (rice, oatmeal), and making homemade yogurt.</div><div><br /></div><div>We decided to test it with beans, kidney beans to be precise.</div><div><br /></div><div>One batch, we prepared the traditional way: Soak overnight, stovetop cook.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCE4r67GToEc-QrXUXwxzFF0gw6FXnnJkI3kwRyjAENnz9zPLrPHM164aq2mqm1NEhdV7t1Ajh-JHiQ_u5yfDcmL4Ip-ZAc-EVEFUB5P2-3oqx38cA1UqUc0203Q9dM41CP8PPUOSfy5E/s2048/3FF5B8A5-0794-473A-B094-B0FA67ADE524.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCE4r67GToEc-QrXUXwxzFF0gw6FXnnJkI3kwRyjAENnz9zPLrPHM164aq2mqm1NEhdV7t1Ajh-JHiQ_u5yfDcmL4Ip-ZAc-EVEFUB5P2-3oqx38cA1UqUc0203Q9dM41CP8PPUOSfy5E/s320/3FF5B8A5-0794-473A-B094-B0FA67ADE524.heic" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The other batch went into the Instant Pot, no prior prep required.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTOtmMbycoJs5mcHRZJIsNni2EWvYSxb_9zikpin3wluDr29gE4D9z9vu6mEkJbtGQFBVm7BGbwLrJhVGmSeTmF8SCXKV9En0DMKAiJ4DugzUyzcS3KEdXkPBKNxCwXEXyE4XcAfIF8k/s2048/946809E1-0173-4FC8-845A-24EE0BBEB3D5.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTOtmMbycoJs5mcHRZJIsNni2EWvYSxb_9zikpin3wluDr29gE4D9z9vu6mEkJbtGQFBVm7BGbwLrJhVGmSeTmF8SCXKV9En0DMKAiJ4DugzUyzcS3KEdXkPBKNxCwXEXyE4XcAfIF8k/s320/946809E1-0173-4FC8-845A-24EE0BBEB3D5.heic" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>One of the advantages touted for the Instant Pot is that it's faster. In this case, it wasn't - the stovetop beans were ready first. Then again, we had done a FULL 12 hour soak, and stovetop didn't beat the Pot by much.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the real question is: Which were better?</div><div><br /></div><div>There, it was the Pot, by a nose. Slightly creamier, and definitely much more consistent texture. Which you can see in the photo below - the stovetop beans are on the right, the Pot beans are on the left.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixp30tCPZTkT0mEpaRtrMqV42LblPvJtJzxFBCsRbnr6Qv4EhIQC5QpRb2HNX3C2gymqu-44VKwf99y2ecdIcE4WIxqhyphenhyphenUj_s2SD4Ok1ism9fTQUr4nXAJalZxIZo4PT7FEuyVDP_QAE/s2048/IMG_6640.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixp30tCPZTkT0mEpaRtrMqV42LblPvJtJzxFBCsRbnr6Qv4EhIQC5QpRb2HNX3C2gymqu-44VKwf99y2ecdIcE4WIxqhyphenhyphenUj_s2SD4Ok1ism9fTQUr4nXAJalZxIZo4PT7FEuyVDP_QAE/s320/IMG_6640.heic" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>The other thing, of course, is that we ALL do the thing of planning to have a bean dish for dinner, forgetting to start soaking the beans the night before, and then either bagging it in favor of carry out or eating at 10 pm because it took that long for the beans to soften in whatever the planned dish was. In that, the Instant Pot is the CLEAR winner.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now that we had all these beans, what were we going to do with them? Red beans & rice of course! </div><div><br /></div><div>We cooked the rice in the Instant Pot, with no stovetop comparison.</div><div><br /></div><div>Per Mad Kitchen Scientist, the big rice cookery advantage of the Pot is seen in brown rice that takes half a lifetime on the stovetop and about 30 minutes in the Pot (including time to come up to and off pressure). The other big advantage is that, like a rice cooker, it can hold cooked rice at temperature without getting gluey for an extended period of time. </div><div><br /></div><div>We also made some mango sticky rice for dessert.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cOTkXiAwiXWzbb68ziQpP-FB5Nmg1su0Hx7066Atp-nFunwFARGjBxtgoF9SvyXaFyMU_0ON1HMqdv3_qEpcy_LJqR2RvP26ZdcdyHk5kjhRLisCx68s4nNthw35B06HCDOWLPlgIXY/s2048/IMG_6643.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-cOTkXiAwiXWzbb68ziQpP-FB5Nmg1su0Hx7066Atp-nFunwFARGjBxtgoF9SvyXaFyMU_0ON1HMqdv3_qEpcy_LJqR2RvP26ZdcdyHk5kjhRLisCx68s4nNthw35B06HCDOWLPlgIXY/s320/IMG_6643.HEIC" /></a></div><div><br /></div>That is traditional sweet rice - the reason it's light brown is that we cooked it in coconut milk with a little palm sugar (rather than white sugar).<div><br /></div><div>We had talked about Labbing stock making, stovetop versus traditional pressure cooker versus Instant Pot, but we quickly realized that was pointless: Why would one ever make only 3-4 quarts of stock? That's just silly.</div><div><br /></div><div>Verdict? Pretty sure Chef Spouse is going to be getting an Instant Pot, as soon as he decides whether he's OK with a "regular" Instant Pot or if he wants to pay extra for this bad boy:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUae0_6B9an-KZar_pvN0ccEMhMadxKG__GjF0y1ebBXr7XjYNedXbgCUv0Orna618-LH79CMMlzBp2nNKu32G2Io1SjQVC_BgdgUMaXjtfP38AZrIbEijerd4xf9ipPuIRkTp1O47HxU/s518/Screen+Shot+2021-04-11+at+12.22.56+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUae0_6B9an-KZar_pvN0ccEMhMadxKG__GjF0y1ebBXr7XjYNedXbgCUv0Orna618-LH79CMMlzBp2nNKu32G2Io1SjQVC_BgdgUMaXjtfP38AZrIbEijerd4xf9ipPuIRkTp1O47HxU/s320/Screen+Shot+2021-04-11+at+12.22.56+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>What about drinks? I had ordered something special for Chef Spouse a while ago that took some time to come in, but arrived just prior to our Lab and inspired our libations.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let me preface this by saying there are a few kitchen tools I've been leery of getting. A mandoline and a kitchen torch top the list. Chef Spouse has had a mandoline for some time, and had cut himself, badly, on it. Never using it - always setting it up or cleaning it. Still, my caution was justified, and I'd sworn he was not getting a kitchen torch because I was afraid he'd burn the house down.</div><div><br /></div><div>Call it pandemic insanity, but I broke my rule to buy him a drink smoker that was recommended by a friend of mine who's a licensed bartender and swears by <a href="https://middletonmixology.com">this particular brand</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6eNCV4cBjDsoVfHXp3IbSAS_ameV9N6tkkcNRbk17jK1qycTb7hTBgK5a0q1v8o_xuui214CPZFcp0YBFtzH3lLkHzgJEd_o9dlTTSi4ty0KS_mp3W4HgAcDTxFSpO7KwIY1OcTw4Vik/s2048/E0B6611D-B771-432B-939E-0C472521C38A.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6eNCV4cBjDsoVfHXp3IbSAS_ameV9N6tkkcNRbk17jK1qycTb7hTBgK5a0q1v8o_xuui214CPZFcp0YBFtzH3lLkHzgJEd_o9dlTTSi4ty0KS_mp3W4HgAcDTxFSpO7KwIY1OcTw4Vik/s320/E0B6611D-B771-432B-939E-0C472521C38A.heic" /></a></div><br /><div>I gotta say: a smoked whiskey drink is truly special - and delicious - and, as of yet, Chef Spouse has NOT burned down the house. Fingers crossed. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-155649529240203102021-01-30T16:15:00.002-05:002021-01-30T16:15:35.740-05:00Food Lab: Celebration of AmericaWe had another plan for a Food Lab for Saturday, January 23, but Mad Kitchen Scientist pointed out that it felt like it should be more of a celebratory thing, drawing from the heritage and background of our new President Joe Biden (Delaware, Ireland) and Vice President Kamala Harris (California, Jamaica, India).<div><br /></div><div>We decided on the following menu:</div><div><br /></div><div>Kerala hurricanes<br /></div><div>Crab cakes with cilantro chutney and champagne</div><div>Fried plantains with mambo sauce (tostones because they weren't ripe enough to be maduros) </div><div>Oxtail stew</div><div>Curried collard greens</div><div>Naan</div><div>California cabernet</div><div>"I cannot tell a lie" cherry pie</div><div>Irish whiskey</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBzVpeGfWD-27US7J87GrK2d1wl3uGvTKRd9wcxLzrGJnY9V8D2plNAH2kwX6Ret-AB-ciB2e4yA_4JJUY09Khh2dtSBkg-JJ7myS75gsl1pofrroSrfQ0XO6NHlO_ufugRUXWDzf6yg/s2048/Table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBzVpeGfWD-27US7J87GrK2d1wl3uGvTKRd9wcxLzrGJnY9V8D2plNAH2kwX6Ret-AB-ciB2e4yA_4JJUY09Khh2dtSBkg-JJ7myS75gsl1pofrroSrfQ0XO6NHlO_ufugRUXWDzf6yg/w240-h320/Table.jpg" title="The table, decorated for Mardi Gras bien sur" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The table, decorated for Mardi Gras bien sur!</div><div><br /></div><div>Although we didn't plan on it, we did end up doing a little labbing in the process.</div><div><br /></div><div>The hurricane is a much-maligned drink, in part because too many people have only experienced it as red kool aid plus cheap rum. That is NOT a hurricane. A real hurricane is a sophisticated tiki drink that requires a variety of fresh juices, including passion fruit. What made it a "Kerala" hurricane? The addition of local DC <a href="https://www.prattstandard.com/products/true-ginger-syrup-8oz">Pratt Standard True Ginger Syrup</a>, Kerala being the region of India where ginger was first grown commercially.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5eBi5Fv4YqWpjmjcSf7DX7qkxNK35yEcjTm42CVVduLf_kTC6ohEGn7yeNPioMRYOsggt_XBzBt_wLGljyiBlcf0Zpa8KCm1zApFCaBIsSw7FwP91cwO636gILx8uaCUYAXbiF8Mhyw/s2048/CrabCake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF5eBi5Fv4YqWpjmjcSf7DX7qkxNK35yEcjTm42CVVduLf_kTC6ohEGn7yeNPioMRYOsggt_XBzBt_wLGljyiBlcf0Zpa8KCm1zApFCaBIsSw7FwP91cwO636gILx8uaCUYAXbiF8Mhyw/s320/CrabCake.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The crab cakes were a nod to Joe's Delaware roots. The key to a good crab cake is to have as little non-crab binder as possible. Chef Spouse generally goes with the minimum amount of panko bread crumbs and mayo that will allow him to form the cakes. Mad Kitchen Scientist had brought along some shrimp, which is another direction you can go: shrimp puree. We had a few extra, so we fried them up as a topper.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN23jcEdf-PKjcX54Oa9EFflZUWmXWd8UBLwuuHdoKLXN-LlY92TPSbERoURNDxnW0JPOAxgcQnehkR-je9Zq4aL1RGZ4m_dnD4dhVuUFfXIGOqNCC8hBaXFEvToHihOjFEE_b2_NovM4/s2048/Tostones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN23jcEdf-PKjcX54Oa9EFflZUWmXWd8UBLwuuHdoKLXN-LlY92TPSbERoURNDxnW0JPOAxgcQnehkR-je9Zq4aL1RGZ4m_dnD4dhVuUFfXIGOqNCC8hBaXFEvToHihOjFEE_b2_NovM4/s320/Tostones.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div>The plantains are a staple across the Caribbean, with the addition of Mambo sauce as a shout-out to Kamala's years at HU (You Know!). We ordered them from <a href="https://www.baldorfood.com">Baldor Foods</a>, so of course the minimum </div><div>order was 10 pounds. The only difference between tostones and maduros is the level of ripeness of the plantains, and with a 10 pound order, you would THINK that would be plenty for us to wait until some were completely ripe so we could try both kinds, and you'd be right, but we've had to intentionally restrain ourselves from frying up the last two. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRPc96Gwdpmf6YSQjq6DNJAKe0CGQogMomRi5uxy6nK3jrcwdSm7MdGUXagamD7xKAn5Ac8MD4zqoOp_Egi-lBEE1hg4IQbV0xfm8ZyXocwZ6N-JftApU2TJe2D_ZvWb6w3dxynbfCDM4/s2048/Oxtails.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRPc96Gwdpmf6YSQjq6DNJAKe0CGQogMomRi5uxy6nK3jrcwdSm7MdGUXagamD7xKAn5Ac8MD4zqoOp_Egi-lBEE1hg4IQbV0xfm8ZyXocwZ6N-JftApU2TJe2D_ZvWb6w3dxynbfCDM4/s320/Oxtails.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The oxtail stew was where we got into the labbing. Speaking of Baldor, that's also where we got the oxtails: 15 POUNDS of oxtails, and they did NOT come sectioned. Chef Spouse started with the cleaver, and quickly realized that was not going to cut it (see what I did there?). Fortunately, we remembered our <a href="https://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2012/12/food-lab-19-butchering-part-1.html">Food Lab: Butchering</a> lessons and immediately reached for the hack saw. </div><div><br /></div><div>Chef Spouse started with the <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013460-jamaican-oxtail-stew">Jamaican oxtail stew recipe</a> from the NYT Cooking column, and it mostly worked well, although we did have a few notes. </div><div><br /></div><div>One, it takes MUCH longer than the three hours they list as a cooking time. Two, it should really be made over two days. On day one, take it up to the place in step five BEFORE you thicken the sauce. At that point, take it off the heat, remove the oxtails, let them cool, remove the meat from the bones, and chill the whole thing overnight. On day two, DEGREASE, reheat, and THEN make the water (or stock) based slurry to thicken the sauce. DO NOT DO IT AS A ROUX - which we did - because, trust me, it does not need any more fat added. </div><div><br /></div><div>Even day of, it was delicious - although greasy - and we were able to degrease some the next day before having the leftovers, although since we'd done a roux as a thickener, a lot of the fat did not separate to allow for degreasing. Oh, and it's DEFINITELY a "better the next day" type dish.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGmO8bOxxtSv4QQUfZPxb6u9A-0MtXnqJAd0GsjPpHIGsAcPsH1qSu93g-y3BR4keXRoj1T6f10JONbOs9lwRJCp6j2v5JwJz6RkTYd63elZEN6lC9YZdf-AvQf8lzyH1rqF6nPo09R0/s2048/Collards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGmO8bOxxtSv4QQUfZPxb6u9A-0MtXnqJAd0GsjPpHIGsAcPsH1qSu93g-y3BR4keXRoj1T6f10JONbOs9lwRJCp6j2v5JwJz6RkTYd63elZEN6lC9YZdf-AvQf8lzyH1rqF6nPo09R0/s320/Collards.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJny1FgMqYi70iJl1Vnny_dNhkCZ-1qwRw5FonrJe41GwJrZ4zO39pIqBhft5pDBxLb-OqT4xRooZX1QGQ37l6fKRm8cKGZntSdTVCxw2VsciP29Rhw-V_rQ1X0Za-616pJQM69ZmxBY/s2048/Naan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJny1FgMqYi70iJl1Vnny_dNhkCZ-1qwRw5FonrJe41GwJrZ4zO39pIqBhft5pDBxLb-OqT4xRooZX1QGQ37l6fKRm8cKGZntSdTVCxw2VsciP29Rhw-V_rQ1X0Za-616pJQM69ZmxBY/s320/Naan.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>On the side, we had curried collards and naan (which was a throwback to our <a href="https://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2020/12/food-lab-47-indian-breads.html">last lab</a>), and accompanied the main meal with a lovely California cabernet. All of this, of course, in tribute to MADAM VICE PRESIDENT. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyRg3Gqy2zj19r3_soCW9N6sxZguw55h65rJLD44hP0RuBpSVuPX4rezPZzEbZBExlB2pJL9T934lzYBaeND6Xw_mEeVtuvzYixasuyn5zdzVY1ULLzKCcJbHPKKVKsEYNVI3t_x1yxs/s2048/Pie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyRg3Gqy2zj19r3_soCW9N6sxZguw55h65rJLD44hP0RuBpSVuPX4rezPZzEbZBExlB2pJL9T934lzYBaeND6Xw_mEeVtuvzYixasuyn5zdzVY1ULLzKCcJbHPKKVKsEYNVI3t_x1yxs/s320/Pie.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, in honor of a return to truth and accuracy to the White House (and to bad ass woman, White House press secretary Jen Psaki), a cherry pie made with a little <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginjinha">Ginja cherry liqueur</a> and MORE of the 40 pounds of sour cherries from our last Baldor order (there's a theme here) and a tot of a lovely gift from Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee (which I think is also now the official house Irish whiskey) Writer's Tears.</div><div><br /></div><div>Welcome, President Biden and Vice President Harris! You have NO idea how happy we are to see you! </div><div><br /></div>Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-19292975613567304072021-01-05T11:44:00.008-05:002021-01-05T11:59:17.784-05:00Holidays and Some News!<!--AddThis Button BEGIN-->Happy New Year, Foodies!<div><br /></div><div>Now that our pandemic pod has met a few times, I think I can safely call it an unqualified success and, as we move into the annual darkest time of the year and what's likely to be the hardest time yet in the pandemic, a total sanity-saver.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, the holidays are normally a time to gather with family and friends to feast and make merry. We normally spend Christmas Eve with a larger group of friends at the home of an Italian-American friend, and if you have any of those or grew up around them, you know what that means: Feast of the Seven Fishes. Then Chef Spouse makes a big meal - traditionally Julia's boeuf bourguignon - and we have some folks over on Christmas Day. Then we sometimes also gather with more friends to celebrate the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day">British Boxing Day holiday</a> with more yummy food and fellowship. The holiday week is then capped off with Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee's annual New Year's Eve party, always imaginatively themed to organize the food and drink.</div><div><br /></div><div>This year, none of that was happening. </div><div><br /></div><div>When we started chatting about this with our pod - MKS and TEC - we were like: "Seven Fishes, Boxing Day, or NYE?" We quickly realized AND was the key. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mad Kitchen Scientist was scheduled to be on call for his office on Christmas Eve and The Executive Committee had planned a virtual family cookie competition, so we pushed Seven Fishes to Christmas Day. And since it was only four of us, we decided to go fancy-schmancy. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><!--AddThis Button END--><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSkIvcuSrb2jL6KTUqB2HEYBovH7TA2QnwKvarnswgonwCoe2osTDIZ7AZlzRw9G72WEdQqWa_8j0z6nVW_n7uM3TP45NsMDwNjxza-6qn6DKu_V_GuXeU1L695yHWfUisM-hK5BBEj0/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlSkIvcuSrb2jL6KTUqB2HEYBovH7TA2QnwKvarnswgonwCoe2osTDIZ7AZlzRw9G72WEdQqWa_8j0z6nVW_n7uM3TP45NsMDwNjxza-6qn6DKu_V_GuXeU1L695yHWfUisM-hK5BBEj0/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Fish 1: Osetra Caviar on MKS's blini with creme fraiche</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIQAUG9_5XTlWLjzZQzQU8-gNHeBdGejwzSS2fhzeQIKwJHaRa1AuE3zfzatu8WDpOrGTEfk69J1Yn7bJYuEx-WDnbzTZdf9PoN54Y8Py4jbcmRRtLZCaNH5gnXwJQ9DA6yqA4FNWPFI/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuIQAUG9_5XTlWLjzZQzQU8-gNHeBdGejwzSS2fhzeQIKwJHaRa1AuE3zfzatu8WDpOrGTEfk69J1Yn7bJYuEx-WDnbzTZdf9PoN54Y8Py4jbcmRRtLZCaNH5gnXwJQ9DA6yqA4FNWPFI/" width="180" /></a></div><br />Fish 2: Oysters on the half shell</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNr4AYNaIv5CS3XMOLdKb5wzYTitwRBn2_HEbTdMDjX3t4TWGkv606JxYbKwU-UWKXJI977s0de8UPuGgKLWNQRwfxrpQHJhJSYQlwkdnmqRGJTYSemPlEZGpyQhqGFdo4eITV8abpC-U/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNr4AYNaIv5CS3XMOLdKb5wzYTitwRBn2_HEbTdMDjX3t4TWGkv606JxYbKwU-UWKXJI977s0de8UPuGgKLWNQRwfxrpQHJhJSYQlwkdnmqRGJTYSemPlEZGpyQhqGFdo4eITV8abpC-U/" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div>Fish 3: Chef Spouse's fresh fettuccini with clams</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4BG4h_QjWCxwZ1mKWokgXpsM6r8TYWiB4AcMVMBtgJklFF6IPZMUUuBdRHECEU6U4VyECNkv6cjdWgmqw2Pm5sc3puTqi-bV7SvCmzvibwTWqEgTMQC1HR8012-3Qk-duD7pCVlvh2rU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4BG4h_QjWCxwZ1mKWokgXpsM6r8TYWiB4AcMVMBtgJklFF6IPZMUUuBdRHECEU6U4VyECNkv6cjdWgmqw2Pm5sc3puTqi-bV7SvCmzvibwTWqEgTMQC1HR8012-3Qk-duD7pCVlvh2rU/" width="320" /></a></div><br />Fish 4: Polpo with romesco sauce</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDWFjhMhHLE9J6umMxLdcsl6gH4OrR-uS-anau57FNWBpBe-0njg-P3bLv66fHRUGf1I2R349deITpojJiJ2ajxlQdy5C9CrTFpX0FJ5eN5GwTNYIi43dbRq-kTgkXZqh1QOc52GNsfk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDWFjhMhHLE9J6umMxLdcsl6gH4OrR-uS-anau57FNWBpBe-0njg-P3bLv66fHRUGf1I2R349deITpojJiJ2ajxlQdy5C9CrTFpX0FJ5eN5GwTNYIi43dbRq-kTgkXZqh1QOc52GNsfk/" width="320" /></a></div><br />Fish 5: Whole salt-baked snapper (pre-oven)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcoU9GWRHqP-MJzDFIWRHktGZHx4Gv7bFcqYwGiCoSVEZux8cF_lKcbNK1OdQOPhp-DklHVbrby4-XzIc3loGsv8RGlRsiGiFg8Ft7VQ4OBLQN4y0Yn2uV1wd8IVU9LRDNOan3nhmCno/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcoU9GWRHqP-MJzDFIWRHktGZHx4Gv7bFcqYwGiCoSVEZux8cF_lKcbNK1OdQOPhp-DklHVbrby4-XzIc3loGsv8RGlRsiGiFg8Ft7VQ4OBLQN4y0Yn2uV1wd8IVU9LRDNOan3nhmCno/" width="320" /></a></div><br />(post-oven)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7jlH9dAkqg4cPInLBovyJ2zz5Fna2kxvhLVjs72PVNqRYdTQ9yKMnfaAggNEOGQ_ozq3u5KvpkgdqpObgutK9vpfO91fbmOhXX2bqbh6SNWV82OsZRqTfTbKjWf3C5WZjnCxnWXFuEY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7jlH9dAkqg4cPInLBovyJ2zz5Fna2kxvhLVjs72PVNqRYdTQ9yKMnfaAggNEOGQ_ozq3u5KvpkgdqpObgutK9vpfO91fbmOhXX2bqbh6SNWV82OsZRqTfTbKjWf3C5WZjnCxnWXFuEY/" width="320" /></a></div><br />Fish 6: caesar salad with white Spanish anchovies</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wRXsbIHQRDz5MV7ZlL-XUD0H1ykPgLChZjjQ9HHIoQ5rZnea_5LbfuauuCVxoydtw0pZz-G6JjnV_HjKWmgnvpjtgdIxm8bL0TRLyfTesapF1OrhjvwZq4Kzc7mLjDEjI0IM7TzR2O0/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wRXsbIHQRDz5MV7ZlL-XUD0H1ykPgLChZjjQ9HHIoQ5rZnea_5LbfuauuCVxoydtw0pZz-G6JjnV_HjKWmgnvpjtgdIxm8bL0TRLyfTesapF1OrhjvwZq4Kzc7mLjDEjI0IM7TzR2O0/" width="320" /></a></div><br />Fish 7: timbales with MKS's home-smoked "bacon of the sea" (salmon)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We finished up with Italian cookies (chocolate almond biscotti, amaretti, anise pizzelles) and amaro in front of the fire.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For Boxing Day, Chef Spouse and Mad Kitchen Scientist decided they wanted to try making a beef wellington, seeing as we were celebrating a British holiday. Beef wellington, for those who haven't yet had the pleasure, is a full tenderloin slathered in yummy stuff, wrapped up in puff pastry, and baked until perfectly medium rare. It takes time to make because you have to allow the components to cool and firm up after each step. In short, they take a fair amount of time, but are, surprisingly, not that complicated to make. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">What yummy stuff? Recipes vary, but we went with mushroom duxelles, prosciutto, and foie gras (because we had some canned that another friend had brought back from a trip to Paris when that was still a thing one could do). You make the duxelles, tie up and sear the tenderloin, chill them both down, and then assemble. Roll out a sufficiently large rectangle of puff pastry to accommodate your tenderloin. Add a layer of prosciutto, making sure to leave a small clear space along one long edge for sealing. On top of that, layer your foie gras (should you be fortunate enough to have some), then your duxelles. Trim the strings off your tenderloin, place it in the middle, wrap up the whole delicious mass, seal it, then wrap TIGHTLY in plastic wrap and chill again. Bake until the meat registers 125 degrees. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One tip on the baking: we had placed the wellington on a rack in the roasting pan so that the bottom wouldn't get soggy. That worked, but the puff pastry puffed through the rack, which made it a little challenging to remove. Next time? Parchment paper between the rack and the beef. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How was it?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcrgOgmKs2CFzE0eG7fx5Yy9agA-PdIIZlnGyIDfPeK36Hv4ZE-ZJ3HI8R2y-KAoa6FRX3MMbNWblyhtvFjOe9jZ-2GDc-65IPibV6Az2zBboZaZu3TXWFW3hJcxehq_t3_Ttl0jwnWc/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcrgOgmKs2CFzE0eG7fx5Yy9agA-PdIIZlnGyIDfPeK36Hv4ZE-ZJ3HI8R2y-KAoa6FRX3MMbNWblyhtvFjOe9jZ-2GDc-65IPibV6Az2zBboZaZu3TXWFW3hJcxehq_t3_Ttl0jwnWc/" width="320" /></a></div><br />I think that picture is worth AT LEAST one thousand words.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">New Year's Eve brought cioppino, champagne, cannoli (this time, we made a <a href="https://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2017/04/food-lab-38-dolce.html">MUCH smaller batch</a>), and Cards Against Humanity (which <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/cah/CAH_Rules.pdf">Rando Cardrissian</a> nearly won, that bastard).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsD_PXIzpAM8wDnOv1x8tguYEaXvm2ZwwiwFo94PWnrITHHjUrJCRXz7fWKte2TOf3b_NHzCNjzGp59gk8BxWid0vGzMJ6d2ztIvHMDSnh99FgeViP4Ukt5L9qpKcU4DsB5D1DQU_fqo8/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsD_PXIzpAM8wDnOv1x8tguYEaXvm2ZwwiwFo94PWnrITHHjUrJCRXz7fWKte2TOf3b_NHzCNjzGp59gk8BxWid0vGzMJ6d2ztIvHMDSnh99FgeViP4Ukt5L9qpKcU4DsB5D1DQU_fqo8/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Had to include a picture of our NYE table just because</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In other Food Lab news, you may have noticed that everyone referenced on this blog has a nickname, aside from me, your correspondent. After TEN YEARS, the rest of the Food Labbers finally noticed my trick, had talked amongst themselves, and planned to choose a name and name me on our ten year celebration trip to Paris and Provence this past fall.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Which did not happen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So they decided to name me anyway. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Many names were proposed, discussed, and discarded, until Mad Kitchen Scientist had the idea to check with Escoffier on kitchen positions. The team decided my role was somewhere between Chef de Brigade and Garde Manger in its more modern interpretation of one of ensures all parts of edibles are used. That morphed into Brigadier Manger, the one-star general who's on the field leading and organizing the troops. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In sum: <b>"Hi, I'm Brigadier Manger. Nice to meet you!"</b> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div></div>Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-53879180611349424522020-12-16T13:58:00.002-05:002020-12-16T13:59:35.757-05:00Food Lab 47: Indian Breads<br />Your Food Labbers enjoyed a fantastic first pod/bubble meal together on Thanksgiving (cream of chestnut soup, Brussels sprouts salad with warm bacon hazelnut dressing, turkey with wild rice stuffing and gravy, Chef Spouse's decadent mashed potatoes, cranberry chutney, steamed green beans, sour cream dinner rolls, FOUR kinds of pie), and then gathered this past weekend for OUR FIRST FOOD LAB SINCE 2019.<div><br /></div><div>Chef Spouse and I have been enjoying a fair amount of Indian cuisine during the pandemic, both due to cooking our way through the several Madhur Jaffrey cookbooks we have and due to the many excellent Indian carry out places walking distance from our house (one of which makes vindaloo so I hot I can't eat it all in one go - and that's saying something - and the other offering so many delicious vegetarian options, ordering without ordering WAY TOO MUCH is nearly impossible). And when we get take away, we always get bread - naan, roti, stuffed paratha - but when we cook at home? Not so much.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, that just cannot stand any longer.</div><div><br /></div><div>We decided to tackle the three classics: roti, paratha, and naan. </div><div><br /></div><div>Roti and paratha are both unleavened breads that start with the same base - flour, water, a little salt (very similar to tortillas). The difference comes from the cooking method.</div><div><br /></div><div>Naan is a leavened bread that generally also includes some animal fat/protein.</div><div><br /></div><div>Seeing as the naan was going to have to rise, we started there. I had found various recipes that included egg, milk, or yogurt. However, <a href="https://www.food.com/recipe/madhur-jaffreys-naan-bread-446809">Madhur Jaffrey's naan recipe</a> included ALL THREE. Winner. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglRQ1i5-xASwZ6iLyFLS2NHaBpRiwFM62dZjVxN33YVBSmDMwk1XxewppwU-aToKRPLmklEp3yn9FI223VI5lgueRFm6YmL3GsUkhTZhfIWqqPeSFM_H82GNO96QSWLAz7BIsZUILl9U/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiglRQ1i5-xASwZ6iLyFLS2NHaBpRiwFM62dZjVxN33YVBSmDMwk1XxewppwU-aToKRPLmklEp3yn9FI223VI5lgueRFm6YmL3GsUkhTZhfIWqqPeSFM_H82GNO96QSWLAz7BIsZUILl9U/" title="Kneading the naan" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kneading the naan</div><br /></div><div>The first challenge I ran into is that the dough was pretty dry. Jaffrey says to knead for ~10 minutes until smooth & satiny. I added about 1/4 c. additional milk as I went, but my dough never got "smooth & satiny" and by ten minutes in, it was developing a pretty firm gluten structure, so I figured I better stop and set it to rise and see what happened.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, I moved onto mixing up my roti/paratha dough. Couldn't be more simple: two parts flour to one part water. Jaffrey did NOT have you include any salt, which we all felt might be a mistake (we were correct). </div><div><br /></div><div>Ah, but WHAT KIND of flour? </div><div><br /></div><div>Traditionally, folks use <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atta_flour">atta flour</a>. We did not have atta flour, but the thing that makes it unique is that it has a high gluten content. King Arthur to the rescue! We decided to lab regular King Arthur whole wheat against King Arthur whole wheat pastry flour. Pasty flour, of course, is *pastry* flour because it has less gluten, so it stays soft and flaky rather than forming a firm structure. Yes, that's sort of counter to what you're ostensibly looking for in trying to make an unleavened bread, but we figured it would be an interesting test.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, you mix it up, knead it a bit, and then then it sit, covered with a damp towel, for ~30 minutes.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIrCs65Cb492oNy5pzc5PhXbPkLRatJNlGlukz1t1e17sErafYjn-z4iiV96w0lAF9s6JKPaPR_SSr4B9r1Bx2duy2vuRgWsX4tUFNSRO6tQ2j2dIVpybi4W6PFgM_T23S_VJHzVaNjYE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIrCs65Cb492oNy5pzc5PhXbPkLRatJNlGlukz1t1e17sErafYjn-z4iiV96w0lAF9s6JKPaPR_SSr4B9r1Bx2duy2vuRgWsX4tUFNSRO6tQ2j2dIVpybi4W6PFgM_T23S_VJHzVaNjYE/" width="180" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Roti/paratha dough in process</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While that was resting, it was time to get ready to cook the naan. It's cooked a lot like pizza - set your rack about 6 inches from your broiler, pop your stones onto it, and then heat them as hot as your oven will go for a good 45+ minutes before baking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Meanwhile, even though it never got smooth & satiny, the naan had doubled in size, so it was time to portion it, roll it out, and bake it. Three minutes on your HOT-HOT-HOT stones in your HOT-HOT-HOT oven so it puffs up, then turn on the broiler for ~30 seconds to brown it on top.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnO0qOHyJEjPg5cjo-lGKrx777NPH4JSVUSexPyUx0gpP94alORu26cW1zEWI0R1OVwAC9O-X2L7I2pxhbgNU_UM4_0isdUC1hyphenhyphenvsckUt3dlZVguecx-bEOltqw7MMv7FDmNBC4wKYrTg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnO0qOHyJEjPg5cjo-lGKrx777NPH4JSVUSexPyUx0gpP94alORu26cW1zEWI0R1OVwAC9O-X2L7I2pxhbgNU_UM4_0isdUC1hyphenhyphenvsckUt3dlZVguecx-bEOltqw7MMv7FDmNBC4wKYrTg/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Patting out the naan dough</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqldTfrYm72B52VosAwZoJMFyclY4h2Gpeu9pS40z9fr3JjM2G9sGvExTrTzj2Aws8CTGB3gEV-YGuEiJh92Is_S-Dyl4xlnMxyL7HDIpk0Z9iJziFItE4_URs-2V9OiRaP4Uns1V2eE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCqldTfrYm72B52VosAwZoJMFyclY4h2Gpeu9pS40z9fr3JjM2G9sGvExTrTzj2Aws8CTGB3gEV-YGuEiJh92Is_S-Dyl4xlnMxyL7HDIpk0Z9iJziFItE4_URs-2V9OiRaP4Uns1V2eE/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Portioning the naan dough</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNaVhDz6qGUKJOVKj4sdO5r3daCP4UBkCz0I2oiFmvikh2ufl_tMfxWShOBvXHfmUIx2ja1QeutNLAmfEsEBzFvNRqeHRWSsUBz4e8lUuKjCTZRGthaXFH5tSzbrbXvlU1u-Xc0ZPPaU/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNaVhDz6qGUKJOVKj4sdO5r3daCP4UBkCz0I2oiFmvikh2ufl_tMfxWShOBvXHfmUIx2ja1QeutNLAmfEsEBzFvNRqeHRWSsUBz4e8lUuKjCTZRGthaXFH5tSzbrbXvlU1u-Xc0ZPPaU/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Rolling out the naan dough</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizAjHk12GOdMv7B941TegofFhfm5ITvfHp3mPgpzVfwrwyxfx3atnlWXPNXkVy8tYcgVvFUO5jQr7JB_-Mwt3cYZTBoIFjrhAXlwjnKEP4YIb9hZzziW8hT28WeyipmrJ3hPpJOmV2vJY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizAjHk12GOdMv7B941TegofFhfm5ITvfHp3mPgpzVfwrwyxfx3atnlWXPNXkVy8tYcgVvFUO5jQr7JB_-Mwt3cYZTBoIFjrhAXlwjnKEP4YIb9hZzziW8hT28WeyipmrJ3hPpJOmV2vJY/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Into the oven</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityFllfPjhFr5Vs4679EHVwJFfFMveg3CW_Iz0Y-q2Xa6K4Cz2bnJkqOHBqkdzpR90w4tQLz5W4oa2UBQSUNFfE0LWQN7x37j2r-vbOdZyHYW3IolFfZJapAPdb8IEgVFQTE8c075Rz1Y/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityFllfPjhFr5Vs4679EHVwJFfFMveg3CW_Iz0Y-q2Xa6K4Cz2bnJkqOHBqkdzpR90w4tQLz5W4oa2UBQSUNFfE0LWQN7x37j2r-vbOdZyHYW3IolFfZJapAPdb8IEgVFQTE8c075Rz1Y/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Out of the oven</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />Easy-peasy, and it was DELICIOUS. It also held up the best the next day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So why didn't the dough ever get "smooth & satiny"? I have a theory: Jaffrey calls for yogurt. I used the yogurt I normally have around - plain, whole milk Greek yogurt. Did you spot the problem? Greek yogurt is just regular yogurt....that's been strained again TO REMOVE EXTRA LIQUID. That straining that makes it so delightfully thick and creamy? Yeah, I think I maybe needed some of that to give the dough the right consistency. Next time, I'll start with more like 1 c. of milk to compensate, because once I was at the kneading stage, I was anxious about trying to add too much milk because I was afraid it wouldn't incorporate properly.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Onto roti and paratha! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As I mentioned, the base is the same - the difference comes from how you cook it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Roti is just portioned out, rolled out, cooked on a hot comal or cast iron skillet, and then finished directly on the flame (gas stove or grill) to make it puff up. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0am2777y2y2NwLS2_sBGZVwrJ6l5vAT1Zrz98i6n8I7lWKxFB9PLlH0BxN3JXzl2FNnmqhNybB9yO7GWv47lMIqrPCi19-Zw4fwyS-24dZ2aLu4PAaVkaJIm6Qv4sgpi8t8sZAMWcTg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0am2777y2y2NwLS2_sBGZVwrJ6l5vAT1Zrz98i6n8I7lWKxFB9PLlH0BxN3JXzl2FNnmqhNybB9yO7GWv47lMIqrPCi19-Zw4fwyS-24dZ2aLu4PAaVkaJIm6Qv4sgpi8t8sZAMWcTg/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Roti puff from the whole wheat pastry flour</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6kn_KAFQyhFjPwHTfZ_jttqLaOIexT-Wc6BI5QzCfSsmboYG-nTrce6EYgcKaV4IkJXtNxY_3AF9N-jwpk9hU1zPFIkaPmPwoaNwZJQcaQUihlXrcDVye1VWoZlpKa1C8DXPBGyr9yA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6kn_KAFQyhFjPwHTfZ_jttqLaOIexT-Wc6BI5QzCfSsmboYG-nTrce6EYgcKaV4IkJXtNxY_3AF9N-jwpk9hU1zPFIkaPmPwoaNwZJQcaQUihlXrcDVye1VWoZlpKa1C8DXPBGyr9yA/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Roti puff from the plain whole wheat flour - now THAT's a puff!</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Everyone else preferred the flavor of the pastry flour, but I like the regular whole wheat best - it was deliciously nutty, and you can't argue with that puff. Sadly, neither really held up the next day - the leftovers got fairly tough. Then again, it mixes up so fast and you can store the mixed up dough in the fridge (no worries about it over-rising because no leavening), so just cook what you're planning to eat right then. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Paratha, on the other hand, is laminated first. Yes, like croissants. Only for paratha, you use ghee rather than cold (or even frozen) sheets of butter.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We found two methods of laminating. Jaffrey's was quite simple - roll out a disk, laminate with ghee, fold in half, laminate again, fold in half again (to give you a quarter), roll *lightly* one final time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4UKanv1QjMg0nog9rgxu9KO0IlLiFdXlurDb5BIdEo1Z88FzQdHt5Eem3oNnwBhQ66xv2XkQ_kGjAAAuQsRk_A9sknUTIXh9nMjyL5UbN36GcYS3yXmB2HRLpxj6bDme2T7z0r5K_q4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4UKanv1QjMg0nog9rgxu9KO0IlLiFdXlurDb5BIdEo1Z88FzQdHt5Eem3oNnwBhQ66xv2XkQ_kGjAAAuQsRk_A9sknUTIXh9nMjyL5UbN36GcYS3yXmB2HRLpxj6bDme2T7z0r5K_q4/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">First lamination</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrvUBT45RU-6RTHXOUpoDqTeUG2kqEFIaFAS4rAn52IapP9lEwk4coghs8W2EkG14zYu_IcztvP0oy16SQVNHl0sIgN0gj8TPFX3rqCbNeJhFO9HN65O8N95X4Y78UNCnW7C9sQHHcd0/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwrvUBT45RU-6RTHXOUpoDqTeUG2kqEFIaFAS4rAn52IapP9lEwk4coghs8W2EkG14zYu_IcztvP0oy16SQVNHl0sIgN0gj8TPFX3rqCbNeJhFO9HN65O8N95X4Y78UNCnW7C9sQHHcd0/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Folding the dough</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Gd29RdNuAgJSX4zeqWoxugKmdUQ4duozjaKDw7i05v3gyid3K9pj74Y2x0QkAN-6OidvC3Ku47tUeevULuBzwYnb3_Cua0CVyoDLueYVcpVzYtqyrNV7lPtKUWORUiXt2uT6dO_PSbc/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Gd29RdNuAgJSX4zeqWoxugKmdUQ4duozjaKDw7i05v3gyid3K9pj74Y2x0QkAN-6OidvC3Ku47tUeevULuBzwYnb3_Cua0CVyoDLueYVcpVzYtqyrNV7lPtKUWORUiXt2uT6dO_PSbc/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Second lamination</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9DM7Ia4Or4jh66AxQLsbIIWKNWFd3ELyGjrAn78ZZMbybiX4IEHcDtPZtstQ2hO-jrKQXAGKH9W3df-hvI8vlC0uo5ypxQ78dtp1l_STyOrwKT3YT8ZZXmswAwl4xF94BgrEwfeWNVY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9DM7Ia4Or4jh66AxQLsbIIWKNWFd3ELyGjrAn78ZZMbybiX4IEHcDtPZtstQ2hO-jrKQXAGKH9W3df-hvI8vlC0uo5ypxQ78dtp1l_STyOrwKT3YT8ZZXmswAwl4xF94BgrEwfeWNVY/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Folding the dough again and dusting with flour to roll out</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBG1FKPsTsGfVQ0Ibr75AcnRuLvtoGeZHv43O6XumNWQeFxI1TJyOKD-rNGLZl1nrvY4IsuQcgCp45kK_VZW1EIzwsedSp0EagfD8C6XctmNtQH1qOWasxlTZjnxjH_O2dMq_Fdt-BcYE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBG1FKPsTsGfVQ0Ibr75AcnRuLvtoGeZHv43O6XumNWQeFxI1TJyOKD-rNGLZl1nrvY4IsuQcgCp45kK_VZW1EIzwsedSp0EagfD8C6XctmNtQH1qOWasxlTZjnxjH_O2dMq_Fdt-BcYE/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Rolling out the dough </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jaffrey's paratha then gets cooked immediately, in a cast iron skillet that's been brushed with ghee.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRoH0FYWDDUEJNmq5Bmatwhwm0St8C-O0FJcAmH6uZPVmlIenXzt2vjnpW-HA-o8_E4er_yrgpGHzl3V3FikI_zEjoEbfrucKefSW11OygrGZR9xmAargDUVBEGHx0G5uSIsZ8RrKxvA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRoH0FYWDDUEJNmq5Bmatwhwm0St8C-O0FJcAmH6uZPVmlIenXzt2vjnpW-HA-o8_E4er_yrgpGHzl3V3FikI_zEjoEbfrucKefSW11OygrGZR9xmAargDUVBEGHx0G5uSIsZ8RrKxvA/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cooking the paratha</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course, while you're doing all that laminating is when you can slip in herbs or spices - the Indian carry out near us with all the amazing veg options does a masala spice paratha that is to die. We didn't mess around with flavors, but I plan to this coming weekend, when Chef Spouse and I will be making paratha again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Serious Eats offered a more complex laminating method. You start with a much larger disk (basically two portions of your dough rather than just the one), roll it out thin again and laminate, but then roll it up like a carpet, stretch it, and roll the ends in like a palmier cookie. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XJ2szBoJJMRXGsAeAzGR_vlsMr8F6yqDFkkon-71Gxy7vR6-2VWLugCC9jpq9uvPb-3Y0RKAfbRymW2FDO_4V_F7IyxAkEgnTuSTZg73_KDpSeIzQPTP3pzTMS-Fs8DB-fsqvGufySE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XJ2szBoJJMRXGsAeAzGR_vlsMr8F6yqDFkkon-71Gxy7vR6-2VWLugCC9jpq9uvPb-3Y0RKAfbRymW2FDO_4V_F7IyxAkEgnTuSTZg73_KDpSeIzQPTP3pzTMS-Fs8DB-fsqvGufySE/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Rolling the laminated paratha up, carpet-style</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpSaL_UEVUXMzOiYoIqysg-Qcc4Bp5douKO21dADA9y6fm32ltdY7rtq3Os7TV8LGVclEWYUl3e4PDlBolSHX9SKmIfeXulc41KxKN2YvqSjDYbAADa-a9572BjyT2FSxxvMkVKSTcTA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpSaL_UEVUXMzOiYoIqysg-Qcc4Bp5douKO21dADA9y6fm32ltdY7rtq3Os7TV8LGVclEWYUl3e4PDlBolSHX9SKmIfeXulc41KxKN2YvqSjDYbAADa-a9572BjyT2FSxxvMkVKSTcTA/" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Stretching the paratha</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBOQuNQQZsRCgd-bjw7YVgo5-Y_YenrIFHw_jEevQVoxyOZk9DngPx-WeCKdKpe2brER1G_oyVB0D5deF-oU4ZwT-ZM79QSfasr91ZQG4rIz6YeTO1XspP6hYJFJN5k3ED-gXpl107_o/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBOQuNQQZsRCgd-bjw7YVgo5-Y_YenrIFHw_jEevQVoxyOZk9DngPx-WeCKdKpe2brER1G_oyVB0D5deF-oU4ZwT-ZM79QSfasr91ZQG4rIz6YeTO1XspP6hYJFJN5k3ED-gXpl107_o/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Aw - isn't that cute?</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then you rest ~45 minutes, roll out again, and cook, first dry frying on your comal and then finishing with a quick fry in ghee in your cast iron. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now remember, we had TWO versions of the dough: one with regular whole wheat flour and one with pastry flour.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I suspected we might be in trouble with the pastry flour when I couldn't stretch it and had to do a single coil as a result, and I was right. Pastry flour lacks the gluten structure to be able to sit at room temperature all buttered up and still be able to work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx21MsqHuGzHdbdbPQJl4JGcpSYLRvwowNyhzEiP8R8jP7PR_OyO5IhpfdBwAsX28RyAAVeigIV5ZRwjoWCCblU5Nqw56OL9FFLy-F32KLHcsZlKpg3bwYvx-b1RguUkoXHZ-v42d9_Gg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx21MsqHuGzHdbdbPQJl4JGcpSYLRvwowNyhzEiP8R8jP7PR_OyO5IhpfdBwAsX28RyAAVeigIV5ZRwjoWCCblU5Nqw56OL9FFLy-F32KLHcsZlKpg3bwYvx-b1RguUkoXHZ-v42d9_Gg/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The rolled out regular flour paratha cooking </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(and yes, it's OK to giggle - it 100% looks like a butt)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwNSvitpdRJXbqzASMSL2IL7EUxxPIPWZ-48OkN_F4R56C_u3CfRMI5C9rcKI0902fB4w5QYpciTV0ChN1bguDLbaWhCpYaYr4SssdDDJLQZcJ5266QdGcuL7W45FL0hDgyJK3oRIDXc/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWwNSvitpdRJXbqzASMSL2IL7EUxxPIPWZ-48OkN_F4R56C_u3CfRMI5C9rcKI0902fB4w5QYpciTV0ChN1bguDLbaWhCpYaYr4SssdDDJLQZcJ5266QdGcuL7W45FL0hDgyJK3oRIDXc/" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Pastry flour = Food Lab FAIL </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">YAY!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once we had all that bread, we needed something to eat it with, so Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee whipped up some butter tofu and palak paneer for us, while Chef Spouse kept us occupied throughout the afternoon with various tamarind-based cocktails: a tequila version, a rum version, and a tiki-style drink that used the extra coconut milk from the butter tofu. No coconut milk left behind! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They were all quite tasty, although Mad Kitchen Scientist observed, accurately, that they would be better served in opaque glasses, since the color was a little...odd. So we went with G&Ts for the meal. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOdSvtLcPwjYZ1TY0_9OF_3ePdlLPGJypodshQvyDSWqOFs3lxezUiS7jfTS3bYaVmMHVByiWqYtqoB8RikDQVOlltWLB72hHKneDkZU6N_B_TzKaxlmLyAh7jtDX6PyCtKmd6Fmc7n4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsOdSvtLcPwjYZ1TY0_9OF_3ePdlLPGJypodshQvyDSWqOFs3lxezUiS7jfTS3bYaVmMHVByiWqYtqoB8RikDQVOlltWLB72hHKneDkZU6N_B_TzKaxlmLyAh7jtDX6PyCtKmd6Fmc7n4/" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Your Food Labbers enjoying a yummy Indian feast</div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In conclusion, there is no reason not to make your own bread when you're making your own paneer or pindi or makhani. Naan requires a little thinking ahead - that rise takes about 60-90 minutes, so the whole thing start to finish is about 2-2.5 hours - but with roti or paratha, you could start the dough when you start work on the rest of the meal and have hot bread ready to go just as your main dish is finishing up. Chef Spouse and I will, in fact, be testing that theory this weekend.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Or, even shorter, homemade Indian meals will, henceforth, feature delicious Indian bread, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><br /></div>Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-62571687931710598142020-11-04T17:46:00.003-05:002020-11-04T17:46:32.201-05:00Food Labbing in a Time of Coronavirus<!--AddThis Button BEGIN-->Was April 2019 really the last time we had a food lab? Apparently it was, because the blog doesn't lie. Well, Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee had a very busy summer, Chef Spouse and I did a ton of travel last fall (sigh.....), and then, of course, coronavirus hit. <!--AddThis Button END--><div><br /></div><div>This has been an odd year for food lovers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Weirdly, there have been some positive outcomes for those who care deeply about the quality and provenance of food. </div><div><br /></div><div>More people are cooking at home. More people are making things from scratch (hello, sourdough starter craze). More people planted vegetable gardens. More people signed up for CSAs (we resumed a CSA share, and I am SO PLEASED to report that I was able to find a local farm owned by a Black woman and operated by a team of women). Commercial suppliers enabled consumer accounts (well, they ALWAYS allowed anyone who wanted one to create an account - they just dramatically reduced the minimum order requirements, and more about that in a minute). </div><div><br /></div><div>It's also been a very hard time for food lovers. </div><div><br /></div><div>There have been shortages, both due to supply chain issues and due to panic buying. A woman in my larger circle, a long-time, serious baker, got savaged on social media for complaining that dilettante bakers were sucking up the entire flour supply. OK, sure, "flour privilege," but I also understood her frustration when MONTHS went by without being able to find flour of ANY type ANY where, when we all know significant amounts of it were sitting unused in the cabinets of people who moved on to learning French the following week and crocheting the week after and Peloton the week after that. </div><div><br /></div><div>Beloved restaurants and bars have struggled mightily. More casual places that always did significant carry out/delivery business mostly pivoted reasonably well and quickly, but the high-end places foodies dream of and plan for eating at had to radically and creatively re-tool their business models. And as cold weather closes in and the pandemic, which in the vast majority of the US was never successfully contained, ramps back up again, many of those beloved places will close, perhaps forever. That will throw a lot of people out of work and result in the hollowing out of a lot of business districts. </div><div><br /></div><div>Food related travel has ceased. And this was going to be a big year of that for your faithful Food Labbers. Chef Spouse and I were headed to Northern California once again in April, for a semi-regular conference speaking engagement I have, and this time we were were extending for a few days and heading to Napa because Chef Spouse had finally figured out the trick to landing a reservation at The French Laundry. He and I were also headed to Maui and the Big Island for a milestone birthday, with stays at a high-end eco resort, and in cottages on a coffee farm and a pineapple farm, with lots of diving (for him), snorkeling, kayaking, hiking, and, of course, eating planned. </div><div><br /></div><div>Most notably, 2020 marks ten years of Food Lab, and the core team - Chef Spouse and I, Mad Kitchen Scientist, and The Executive Committee - were headed to France for two weeks, with a week dining and sight-seeing our way through Paris (which I believe was to be a first for MKS and TEC), then a train hop to Avignon to pick up a rental car and another week at a gorgeous villa in Provence, repeating our Piedmont, Italy trip from a few years ago - farmer's markets, bistro lunches, hiking, and LOTS of cooking and wine drinking in the evenings. </div><div><br /></div><div>And the biggest hardship of all: one of the great joys of cooking seriously is sharing what you've created with people you love, and that's been right out for months. </div><div><br /></div><div>When DC passed into Phase 1 reopening in June, Chef Spouse and I were able to resume seeing friends in person - one household at a time and only one per week (to simplify contract tracing in case anyone did contract COVID-19), outdoors and physically distanced, and with everyone BYO everything. After three months of only interacting with other people via Zoom, it was a relief and major mental health boost.</div><div><br /></div><div>During the past months, we've worked hard to incorporate some special food-related things, like ordering the <a href="https://www.rosesathome.com" target="_blank">most elaborate carry out dinner I've ever had</a> for Chef Spouse's milestone birthday, figuring out how to get oysters direct from a <a href="https://hoopersisland.com" target="_blank">local commercial oyster company</a>, and setting up a consumer account with one of <a href="https://www.baldorfood.com" target="_blank">DC's top food purveyors</a>. At the time, there was literally no other way to find flour and there hadn't been for months. Thankfully, they allowed a minimum order of $250 (rather than the more typical $5,000). On the other hand, you're still mostly buying commercial quantities, so we split our 50 pound bag of King Arthur Sir Galahad with MKS and TEC (of course). We've continued to order from them for access to ingredients generally not available at the local Teeter (40 lb of pitted, frozen sour cherries? Why yes I will, thank you!) and to very high quality meats - and after <a href="https://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2012/12/food-lab-19-butchering-part-1.html" target="_blank">butchering two entire lambs</a>, breaking down an entire tenderloin of beef is really not a big deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>But no Food Labbing, no parties, no dining out, no Supper Club (the brain child of another friend of ours). Sadness. </div><div><br /></div><div>Well, that is about to change.</div><div><br /></div><div>Health experts are recommending that people create small "pods" (or, as Chef Spouse prefers, "<a href="https://medical.mit.edu/covid-19-updates/2020/06/creating-bubbles-families-kids" target="_blank">bubbles</a>") to help us all safely get through the coming dark, cold months, when it will not be feasible to be together outdoors - at least not for very long - and when being locked in for months with just our own households just might make us all go crazy. </div><div><br /></div><div>Last weekend, as we were enjoying a lovely fall afternoon in Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee's backyard and toasting "Next year in Paris!", we proposed creating a pod with them and, after consideration, they accepted. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our first indoor, no masks, shared meal since, I think, our Super Bowl party, will be Thanksgiving - we all liked the symbolism of that, and it will be more than two weeks past MKS and TEC's in person votes on Election Day (Chef Spouse and I voted early by mail) - after which....<b>WE'LL BE RESUMING FOOD LAB!</b></div><div><br /></div><div>So watch this space.....</div><div><br /></div>Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-87183494121012218142019-04-24T15:49:00.001-04:002019-04-24T15:49:40.197-04:00Food Lab 46: Onions (plus a guest star)In spring, a young man's fancy may turn to thoughts of love, but your Food Labbers got thinking about onions. <div>
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Alliums, and onions in particular, are one of the most common ingredients in savory foods of all kinds. Both Mad Kitchen Scientist and Chef Spouse have cutting boards dedicated just to alliums (because the last thing you want to do is cut up strawberries on a board that retains essence of garlic no matter how many times you wash it). Even if you're not sure what you're making for dinner, starting by mincing some garlic, dicing a shallot, or chopping up an onion is rarely going to be a waste of your time.</div>
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The thing is, we rarely pay much attention to our alliums. And there are so many varieties! Chives, garlic, scallions, spring onions, shallots, leeks, pearl onions, cipollini onions, white/yellow/red onions, sweet onions, Spanish onions, Vidalia onions, and of course, that elusive, delicious signifier of the season (and our special guest on Sunday) - ramps. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out the tissues - we came prepared.</td></tr>
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Sure, there are some rough associations: scallions as a finishing element, raw - shallots for French techniques and pan sauces - garlic that features prominently in Italian and Chinese cookery. But most of us just grab a string bag of onions and a bulb of garlic in our weekly run to the grocery store and figure we're good to go for another week's worth of dinners.</div>
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So we started with testing taste: Do they taste different? Yes, that meant tasting them all raw.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's a LOT of raw onions, son. </td></tr>
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Short answer: they definitely all taste different, and the Food Lab crew highly recommends you do your own taste-off, preferably with a group that's also tasting with you, so you're not the only one with dragon breath at the end.</div>
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A few tasting notes:</div>
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Ramp tops are amazing - mildly peppery like really young arugula, but more more tender, and with a freshness that screams "SPRING!" If you get your hands on ramps in the spring, the temptation is to toss them with good olive oil, salt, and pepper and lightly grill them, and I won't judge you if you do. But you might want to consider - just consider - chopping the tops into a salad and then pickling the bulbs. </div>
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Scallions really should never be cooked.</div>
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Cipollini onions are supposed to be sweeter than regular onions. That's a lie - at least with the ones we had. The zing on the palate was wasabi-level WHOA. I believe The Executive Committee may actually have been crying for a moment. </div>
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If you're going for raw applications, you REALLY want to look for Vidalia or sweet onions. If you can't find them, red onions will work, but the Vidalia and sweet were definitely more mild and sweet, delightfully crunchy, and almost a bit creamy.</div>
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There wasn't as much difference in taste between pearl white, yellow, and red and regular sized white, yellow, and red as I would've imagined.</div>
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We then caramelized all the main varieties separately to see if they maintained their taste differences. </div>
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Caramelization is about slowly cooking off all the water in the onions until they're a sweet and savory brown mass of umami goodness while also avoiding generating a <a href="https://www.scienceofcooking.com/maillard_reaction.htm">Maillard Reaction</a>. So low and slow, use cast iron, and salt early (remember, you're trying to cook all the water off). Also, set aside 45 minutes - one hour. No rushing! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHqDgX7rcIiXt4Uqe5Ewvi0mDcm01ut6LlA89NlhBO8PoDgEVk5h_5BPvu4xs-z_46lQMC-eT1CErRgbiK2m7jA0b_Kkzfun2Lakh4sdXnLyPHHlrDU5Fp_p_fyZj3Efv7aJqDFYUJf4/s1600/d0xqeZpIQUaeG9P4ryh7rA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHqDgX7rcIiXt4Uqe5Ewvi0mDcm01ut6LlA89NlhBO8PoDgEVk5h_5BPvu4xs-z_46lQMC-eT1CErRgbiK2m7jA0b_Kkzfun2Lakh4sdXnLyPHHlrDU5Fp_p_fyZj3Efv7aJqDFYUJf4/s320/d0xqeZpIQUaeG9P4ryh7rA.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You cannot IMAGINE how good the kitchen smelled</td></tr>
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One of the surprising differences was how much water the varieties contained. We started with precisely 565 g of each type, cooked in 2 TBSP butter, and identical amounts of salt. Most varieties, when the water was cooked off, ended up around 150 g. Not the Vidalia and the red onions though - they both ended up more like 250 g. Less water in the onion --> higher yield after caramelization. </div>
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The sweet and Vidalia onions retained their distinctive creaminess and were more mild and subtle in flavor overall after caramelization. The rest of the varieties tasted pretty similar, other than the red onions, which were both strong and sweet and retained a little more structural integrity than the other varieties - see above, RE: less water. </div>
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So once we had an absurdity of caramelized onions, then what? </div>
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Caramelized onions freeze really well, in your handy-dandy ice cube trays, and we did plenty of that, for later use in any and all egg applications and grilled cheese and pan sauces and finishing soups. But we needed to make something we could eat - Food Labbers cannot live by raw onions alone (for which everyone else who knows or encounters us is deeply grateful).</div>
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We opted for galettes, which are basically pizzas that you make on pastry dough, or very rustic tarts. One variety was caramelized onions, Gruyere, green garlic and ramp leaves. The other was fig spread, caramelized onions, leeks, and blue cheese.</div>
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Of course, we grilled some ramps, and The Executive Committee made a lovely spring salad of radishes, snow peas, ramp tops, and ricotta salata (she is, after all, the one who makes sure we eat our veggies).</div>
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All this is pretty standard order. You know Mad Kitchen Scientist and I couldn't leave it at that. </div>
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What's missing? </div>
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Dessert. </div>
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Oh yes we did make caramelized onion ice cream - vanilla custard base, the Vidalias, and toasted pecans. It was un-fucking-believable. So very, very good. This should definitely become a food trend, and if it does, make sure you point out that we discovered it first. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4ENc7ZdxDfdCDHYZnEFC03AzLRtfVb0Wb6rkNuZ9DAPV0Q8ijkYsnQymC7P272Ty8nlIvriqf_Kip1cM1j669-o9YXmFfcjIJ3Jdm05fhS2TIZST0fF5nMTffEM3K4uAHrD7x6QJlxA/s1600/rLwCAFWRSU6cPHM92OJlpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4ENc7ZdxDfdCDHYZnEFC03AzLRtfVb0Wb6rkNuZ9DAPV0Q8ijkYsnQymC7P272Ty8nlIvriqf_Kip1cM1j669-o9YXmFfcjIJ3Jdm05fhS2TIZST0fF5nMTffEM3K4uAHrD7x6QJlxA/s320/rLwCAFWRSU6cPHM92OJlpg.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Onion ice cream. It's a thing (or should be).</td></tr>
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What did we drink? Gin, of course, first blind-tasting Bombay Sapphire, Hendricks, The Botanist, and the FEW barrel aged gins against each other in gibsons with home-pickled pearl onions (my favorite, and still the reigning champ, is Hendricks), then Chef Spouse used some saffron gin he'd picked up for me on a whim that has turned out to be VERY difficult to mix in a light cocktail featuring Cointreau, blanco vermouth, and orange bitters.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7ijtTEdJk6TD-wZiXA3VRHxJJng4Ni9VGTsU24M1vUL3Cg9k4o7wHRmBrgkvi4n21tyyuVwKl5ZYY3CD4HQi46bA8TY2oTLZ2DB34qe9A5oJZ4klDHXIScvG8PiQTivRmY1EWvOLlj0/s1600/ZfR82zbaTyyEbcs0F50ujg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL7ijtTEdJk6TD-wZiXA3VRHxJJng4Ni9VGTsU24M1vUL3Cg9k4o7wHRmBrgkvi4n21tyyuVwKl5ZYY3CD4HQi46bA8TY2oTLZ2DB34qe9A5oJZ4klDHXIScvG8PiQTivRmY1EWvOLlj0/s320/ZfR82zbaTyyEbcs0F50ujg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our gin game is strong.</td></tr>
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<div>
We did one other test, caramelizing onions in the Dutch oven on the Green Egg. As of 8 pm, when Chef Spouse and I had to get home to feed all our beasties, they were nowhere near done. I assume they finished in time for Mad Kitchen Scientist to go to work Monday, but I haven't confirmed yet. For all I know, he's still sitting there by the Green Egg watching the onions cook down and contemplating the universe. At least the weather's been delightful the past three days. </div>
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Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-62640011549826921072019-02-25T15:16:00.001-05:002019-02-25T15:16:34.796-05:00Food Lab 45: Almond-Flour CookiesI grew up outside of Philadelphia, in southeastern Pennsylvania. As such, I had a lot of Italian-American friends growing up. When I was in elementary school, one of my close friends came from a large Italian family that owned a local bakery. One of the first times I went over to her house, her mom made spaghetti with red gravy for dinner. When I was served, I proceeded to cut up my spaghetti into bite-sized lengths. My friend's dad took one look at my mutilated pasta, picked up my plate, scraped the sad little chunks into the trash, refilled my plate, and taught me how to eat my pasta properly, deftly twirling the long strands around the tines of my fork. Thus began my life-long love affair with Italian cuisine.<br />
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My neighborhood in DC has undergone significant transitions over the years, one of which was the loss of an outpost of <a href="https://vaccarospastry.com/">Baltimore's famous Vaccaro's</a>. When that shop shut down, I lost my local connect for <a href="https://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2017/04/food-lab-38-dolce.html">cannoli</a>, coconut macaroons, and, most distressing, amaretti.<br />
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For those who've never had them, amaretti are the MOST delicious cookie in the world. Crisp on the outside, soft in the middle, with a delicate but pronounced almond flavor and just the right level of sweetness, they cannot be beat.<br />
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I've been up in Baltimore twice in the past six months, once for business, once for fun, BOTH times in walking distance of Vaccaro's. So both times, I brought home two dozen amaretti. As I was savoring the last one, I realized: these cannot be that difficult to make. Looking up recipes confirmed it. Clearly, Food Lab: Amaretti was too small a topic.<br />
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Ah, but there is another famous cookie made with almond flour and egg whites: French macarons. Conveniently, my bestie is downsizing and recently gave me an <a href="https://madaboutmacarons.com/mad-macarons/">all-macaron cookbook</a> she'd picked up on a whim a few years ago. Now we have a worthy Food Lab topic!<br />
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The macaron concept is simple (what follows is adapted from <a href="https://entertainingwithbeth.com/foolproof-french-macaron-recipe/">Entertaining With Beth</a>).<br />
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You will need the following special equipment: a highly accurate digital scale, a fine-mesh sieve, an electric mixer, a pastry bag with a plain round tip, rimless cookie sheet(s) and silpat(s)<br />
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Sift 120g very finely ground almond flour + 200g powdered sugar through a fine sieve into a bowl and set aside.<br />
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Whip the whites from three ROOM TEMPERATURE eggs until they start to foam, then add a pinch of salt, 50g of granulated sugar (that you can omit if you're finding your macarons too sweet), and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (do NOT omit this - it's the secret ingredient to REALLY FLUFFY egg whites), and continue to whip them HARD for 8-10 minutes. You basically want the egg whites to end up the consistency of whipped cream, so you're going to need to use an electric mixer or a LOT of elbow grease - I recommend the mixer.<br />
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Combine the whipped egg white mixture with the dry ingredients mixture (I found it easier to pour the dry into the whipped eggs), stirring ~70 times with a rubber spatula, then pipe onto silpat-lined rimless cookie sheets. As Beth explains well in the link above, it's important to neither under- nor over-mix your batter. Flaws - cracked cookies, no "feet," cookies that spread out too far - are usually a result of mixing errors.<br />
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You can really pipe any size you choose. We went with piping roughly 1 inch diameter rounds, which gave us approximately 60 cookies per batch (so 30 once paired). I would think making them much smaller would be difficult, but you can certainly make them larger if you like.<br />
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Bang them on the counter hard a few times to settle any air bubbles, let them rest and set for 30-60 minutes (at which point you can pat down any little peaks you may have created in piping them out), then bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees. The resting time is also important for the formation of their distinctive "feet." Don't short it.<br />
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Once the cookies are cool, take them off the silpat and make little sandwiches by piping on buttercream filling.<br />
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We tested the silpat versus a single-tasker macaron mat versus parchment paper. Go with the silpat. The single-tasker is now in the garbage where it belongs, and even the parchment paper sometimes didn't want to release the little buggers.<br />
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Basic buttercream: beat 1/2 stick (1/4 c.) room temperature unsalted butter, then slowly add in ~3/4 c. powdered sugar<br />
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Now, that all is going to give you a macaron, but it will be kind of dull. How do they make all those pretty colors and flavors you see at bakeries?<br />
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Well, the cookie colors are a result of adding food coloring to the eggs while you're whipping them (except in the case of chocolate cookies, which are the result of adding 10g of cocoa powder to the dry mix).<br />
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The cookie flavors (again, aside from chocolate) are a result of adding 1/2 tsp of the extract of your choice to the eggs while you're whipping them.<br />
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We chose to make vanilla (with extract), chocolate (with 10g cocoa powder), lemon (with extract and food coloring), rose (with rose flower water and food coloring), and coconut (with extract) cookies. We decorated the coconut cookies with a little sprinkle of flake coconut on top before baking (also so we could visually differentiate them from the vanilla cookies).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7-9cNZq2Nr16taPE_QPoQlMH3hqvX14QJqNr6tJyRDrPklTvnQYOXDWmAkcduvyStG6uyVfkBrl_NBW9OdLsJcEnH72psYe94qUo6d1MjP3rMdr7meIVk8jNPNkJsoUHMBtP924Qqpk/s1600/9Y82dxWQQp6W7sdgwUfltg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7-9cNZq2Nr16taPE_QPoQlMH3hqvX14QJqNr6tJyRDrPklTvnQYOXDWmAkcduvyStG6uyVfkBrl_NBW9OdLsJcEnH72psYe94qUo6d1MjP3rMdr7meIVk8jNPNkJsoUHMBtP924Qqpk/s320/9Y82dxWQQp6W7sdgwUfltg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chocolate, on parchment paper</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rose (color from red food coloring), on my beloved silpat</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanilla, on the damn single-tasker, to which several of the cookies stuck</td></tr>
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All the cookie batter came out quite consistent OTHER than the lemon. It's possible we whipped the eggs a little less, or it may have been that lemon extract includes some lemon oil. As you can see from the pictures above of the chocolate, rose, and vanilla cookies just out of the oven, the other batters were quite firm and stayed exactly where and as piped, including lumps, bumps, and ridges. The lemon, as you can see in the picture below, was definitely smoother, but it was much harder to pipe (as The Executive Committee discovered to her dismay, having drawn the "pipe" straw for that batch).<br />
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You can, of course, also flavor and color your buttercream. In fact, if you flavor your buttercream, you *should* color it so you can identify what's what.<br />
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We made the following icings:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Hazelnut (adding about 1/8 c. very finely ground nuts)</li>
<li>Macadamia (same)</li>
<li>Orange (adding about a tsp. of orange extract and food coloring)</li>
<li>Cherry (adding 1 oz. Ginja Licor - a Portuguese sour cherry brandy - and food coloring)</li>
<li>Coffee whiskey (adding 1 oz. bourbon and espresso powder to taste)</li>
<li>Passionfruit (adding about 2 oz. passionfruit puree and food coloring)</li>
<li>Rose (adding about 1 oz. rose flower water and food coloring)</li>
<li>Chocolate (adding about 2 tsp. cocoa powder)</li>
</ul>
<br />
(We went a little nuts)<br />
<br />
We were able to incorporate the nut pastes and cocoa powder without having to put the buttercream back in the mixer. Any time you're trying to incorporate any sort of liquid, don't try to do it by hand - it's a pain in the ass and takes forever. Also, if you add liquid, you're going to need to add a bit more powdered sugar as well. I can't tell you how much - you just have to watch the consistency and add until it's right.<br />
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We ended up with the following combinations<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Chocolate hazelnut</li>
<li>Chocolate orange</li>
<li>Vanilla cherry</li>
<li>Vanilla coffee whiskey</li>
<li>Rose rose</li>
<li>Rose chocolate</li>
<li>Rose cherry</li>
<li>Lemon passionfruit</li>
<li>Coconut macadamia</li>
<li>Coconut chocolate </li>
</ul>
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We ended up with a total of about 150 macarons. Which, I'll admit, is a lot. </div>
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The universally esteemed winning combinations were:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Lemon passionfruit</li>
<li>Rose cherry</li>
<li>Coconut macadamia</li>
<li>Chocolate hazelnut </li>
</ul>
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You can eat them right away, but they're better if you give them a little time for the filling to meld with the cookie. Store them in the fridge to keep your buttercream firm (but remember to let them warm up before you eat them), or, if you'll be storing them for more than a few days, freeze them.<br />
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The sky is really the limit on colorings and flavorings. The cookbook my friend gave me has all sorts of options - savory varieties using ingredients like beets, carrots, and herbs, various sorts of sweet and savory tea-infused varieties, ganache fillings, jam fillings, caramel fillings, cream cheese fillings, berry fillings, lemon curd...really, once you have the basic technique down, you're only limited by what flavor combinations you find appealing. We all realized we'd missed an opportunity for chocolate mint (either chocolate cookies with mint filling or vice versa). Next time.<br />
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What about the cookies that inspired this whole thing in the first place? Did I even make amaretti?<br />
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I did, right at the end. As I mentioned, they are dead simple to make (adapted from the recipe at <a href="https://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2018/12/soft-amaretti-cookies.html">Love & Olive Oil</a>):<br />
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Combine 2 1/4 c. almond flour, 1 c. granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl<br />
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Whip the whites from two ROOM TEMPERATURE eggs until they start to foam, then add a pinch of salt, 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar, and 1/2 tsp. almond extract and continue whipping the mixture to soft peak stage (4-5 minutes)<br />
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Mix the whipped egg whites into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula. No need to be gentle - in fact, I ended up basically kneading the dough at the end.<br />
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Roll dough into 1 inch balls, roll the dough balls in powdered sugar, space about 1 inch apart on a silpat-lined cookie sheet, bake at 300 for 30-35 minutes. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.<br />
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These are really good cookies. Are they as good as Vaccaro's? No. The consistency is perfect, but I think the almond flavor needs to be stronger. The thing is, almond extract is pretty powerful stuff, so some initial caution is warranted.<br />
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All three recipes I found used 1/2 tsp. of almond extract, but one recipe used that for 3 1/2 c. almond flour, and the other used it for 1 c. almond flour, so I chose the midpoint of the three. And since we'd already made FIVE full batches of macaron batter and had to go back to the store TWICE for more powdered sugar, and I used the last of the almond flour for the one batch of amaretti I made, I wasn't about to put the rest of the crew through multiple rounds of amaretti as well. Also by this point, it was after 8 pm, we hadn't had dinner yet, and everyone was starting to get cranky.<br />
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Other options I've seen that I'll try in future test runs include:<br />
<br />
1. Add the zest of one lemon to the dry ingredients (which I would think might enhance the almondyness of the almond extract)<br />
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2. Increase the almond extract to 1 tsp.<br />
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3. Keep the almond extract at 1/2 tsp. but also add 1/2 tsp. of Amaretto liqueur (this is probably where I'll start)<br />
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4. Use *bitter* almond extract (if you can find it)<br />
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Regardless, it looks like I'll be adding a new pantry staple: almond flour.<br />
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<br />Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-30218361496792093622018-11-11T10:03:00.002-05:002018-11-11T10:04:47.478-05:00Food Lab 44: The Perfect ReubenHaving on hand a 4 pound chunk of brisket, curing salt (aka “pink salt”), and a Big Green Egg, one’s mind drifts to pastrami. Upon learning than pastrami starts from corned beef (was I the last person to learn this?), Reuben Lab seemed obvious.<br />
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It goes without saying that the Reuben is one of the best sandwiches known to humankind, and, sure, we know that corned beef is the typical foundation of a Reuben. But in the spirit of Food Lab, why not try a pastrami Reuben to compare? Plus, a fully homemade Reuben brings together other fermentation activities that warrant regular practice as well.<br />
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To prepare the meats and to ferment as needed, this Food Lab had to start well before the actual day of Food Lab.<br />
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First off, the sauerkraut. Or more specifically, the sauerkrauts. Would a Reuben be better with a red cabbage kraut? How would a sweet pickled red cabbage fare on a Reuben? I started with the regular kraut: thinly sliced half a cabbage, layered into a ceramic crock with sea salt, celery seed, allspice, juniper berry, and caraway seed. I used the perfect amounts of each, good luck getting those data out of me. After about three weeks, the kraut was sufficiently sour but still a bit crunchy. A couple weeks later, I followed the exact same recipe with a small red cabbage.<br />
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Next was making a corned beef from scratch. From the Interwebs, I decided to largely follow <a href="https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/homemade-pastrami/">Tori Avey’s recipe</a>, although I made a homemade variant of “pickling spice.” The brine for the corned beef used was:<br />
<ul>
<li>3 quarts of water</li>
<li>1 cup kosher salt</li>
<li>1/4 cup pink curing salt</li>
<li>1 cup sugar</li>
<li>1/4 cup honey</li>
<li>2 cinnamon sticks</li>
<li>~3/4 inch ginger root</li>
<li>2 Tbsp mustard seed</li>
<li>1 tsp whole allspice</li>
<li>1 tsp whole black peppercorns</li>
<li>1 tsp whole cloves</li>
<li>2 tsp fennel seed</li>
<li>1 tsp dill seed</li>
<li>4 tsp whole coriander</li>
<li>1 tsp ground mace</li>
<li>4 bay leaves, crumbled</li>
<li>4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped</li>
<li>1 whole dried red pepper</li>
</ul>
After heating the brine until all the sugar and salt dissolved, I cooled it back down, dropped the chunk o’ brisket in and put it in the fridge. Five days later (yes, flipping the beef daily as recommended), I removed the now-corned beef, drained it for a few minutes, then into a Ziploc and into the freezer.<br />
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Fast forward to Food Lab eve morning, we soaked the defrosted corned beef to desalinate it. In the evening, after cutting off a chunk of corned beef (to compare to commercial corned beef), we gave the beef a good rub (below) to rest overnight.<br />
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Into the spice mill and grind:<br />
<ul>
<li>4 Tbsp whole black pepper</li>
<li>1 Tbsp whole coriander</li>
<li>2 tsp minced, toasted onion</li>
</ul>
Then add:<br />
<ul>
<li>1 Tbsp brown sugar</li>
<li>1 Tbsp paprika</li>
<li>2 tsp garlic powder</li>
<li>1 tsp mustard powder</li>
</ul>
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Then we proceeded to day-of meat preparation:</div>
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For the home-corned beef, I boiled the small chunk of meat for about an hour and 45 minutes (thinking the boiling time should be somewhat scaled to size). The commercial-corned beef was boiled for three hours. Upon tasting, the flavor of the home-corned beef seemed richer, but the fat didn’t seem to fully infuse all the meat. So perhaps the shortened boiling time was an error (albeit not so severe as to lead to ordering pizza).<br />
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For the pastrami, it was smoked for about four hours in the Egg at ~225 °F, until the meat reached an internal temperature of 165 °F. After about an hour’s rest for the meat, we steamed the pastrami for about two hours. About all I can say is “yum.”</div>
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The next variable to prepare for: regular caraway rye or pumpernickel? So I made two “torpedo” loaves of sourdough pumpernickel bread and two regular-style loaves of milk-based (soft crumb) caraway rye.<br />
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Pumpernickel Sourdough Rye<br />
<ul>
<li>About 3 cups of freshly fed sourdough starter</li>
<li>2 cups of pumpernickel flour</li>
<li>1 cups of whole wheat flour</li>
<li>1+ Tbsp salt</li>
<li>~2 Tbsp caraway seed</li>
<li>About 2 cups of all-purpose flour</li>
</ul>
With those ingredients, I made a sponge the weight of a thick batter and left for an overnight rise. For each of two halves of the sponge, we kneaded in about about 1/2 cup of flour to form the torpedo loaves. After a second rise of about three hours, the loaves were baked at 425 °F directly on a stone, spritzing some water into the oven at the beginning of the bake. For these loaves, I might have added a bit more flour and kneaded each loaf a bit longer before the second rise, because the loaves as baked flattened out a bit. They still had a decent lightness, but made for skinny sandwiches.<br />
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Caraway Rye Bread<br />
<ul>
<li>1 1/2 cups of milk</li>
<li>1 1/2 cups of water</li>
<li>2 Tbsp yeast</li>
<li>3 cups rye flour</li>
<li>1 cup whole wheat flour</li>
<li>1 Tbsp salt</li>
<li>1/4 c caraway seeds</li>
<li>Enough all-purpose flour to make a decent dough (about 2 cups)</li>
</ul>
After the first rise of almost two hours, I kneaded a bit more flour into the dough and placed in two 9” loaf pans. After a second rise of a bit over an hour, the loaves were baked at 375 °F for roughly 40 minutes.</div>
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Finally, with all the elements assembled (thinly sliced Bavarian Swiss cheese and homemade Thousand Island dressing, based on <a href="https://www.kitchentreaty.com/homemade-thousand-island-dressing/">this recipe</a> but using homemade mayo, and with more garlic, shallot in place of the onion, and added Worcestershire sauce and sriracha, filled out the basic ingredients), we were ready to assemble our Reubens and test our variables...<br />
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First test: griddled vs ungriddled Reubens, classic ingredients (caraway rye, corned beef, regular kraut, cheese, and Thousand Island). Quick and simple outcome: griddled wins.<br />
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Second test: corned beef vs pastrami on caraway rye. Though we all loved the pastrami eaten out of hand, the Reuben was actually better served by the corned beef rather than the pastrami. Across the board, we all favored the traditional.<br />
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As we started thinking about additional testing, some other friends piled in and we started making different variations and serving ‘em without formal tasting and comparison. It did seem that the red kraut was well received, and the pastrami Reuben on the pumpernickel seemed popular. The pumpernickel maintained better structural integrity for the sandwiches as well. Our guests brought some excellent potato salad and cucumber salad, to join the green salad with pomegranate arils and walnuts and various and sundry pickled yummies.<br />
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Meanwhile, Chef Spouse plied us all with tiki drinks, details of which I’ll have to leave to another correspondent...<br />
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Mad Kitchen Scientisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14940834285931828486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-15814100810389117212018-07-10T16:23:00.001-04:002018-07-10T16:23:43.318-04:00Food Lab 43: Hawaiian Cuisine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last winter, Chef Spouse and I celebrated a milestone anniversary with a trip to Hawaii. We spent our first week on Kauai, and our second week on Oahu. I don't have enough time to tell you all the things that were wonderful about the trip (although perhaps the above photo, of what was functionally our private waterfall, beside which we drank our coffee every morning we were in Kapa'a might provide a clue), but one thing we loved in particular was our <a href="http://www.hawaiifoodtours.com/hole-in-the-wall-tour/">Hole In the Wall food tour</a> of Honolulu's Chinatown (and thanks to one of my good foodie friends for recommending it).<br />
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After consuming kalua pork and manapuas and saimin and a zillion varieties of poke and shave ice and Leonard's famous malasadas and Liliha's equally famous coco puffs and fresh-made chow fun noodles and discovering the wonder that is li hing powder (and buying a GIANT bag of it to bring home), Chef Spouse and I knew we'd want to try to recreate some of these dishes at home.<br />
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Obviously, that full list is a little too, well, <i>full</i>, and this time (for once) we exercised some restraint BEFORE we committed ourselves to making 4,365 dishes in one day. From that list, Chef Spouse selected manapuas (which involved making regular kalua pork and char siu style pork) and poke (four varieties - tuna and salmon, traditional soy-based and spicy). I also wanted to make malasadas with guava and lilikoi (passionfruit) filling, but I got over-ruled, not least of which because Mad Kitchen Scientist has already made <a href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018812-ice-cream-sandwiches">from-scratch ice cream sandwiches</a> with from-scratch hazelnut ice cream (verdict: the Good Humor version can suck it).<br />
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Mad Kitchen Scientist took over prepping the kalua pork, and Chef Spouse and I took on sourcing the fish for the poke.<br />
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Kalua pork recipes are interesting. They don't tend to start in a smoker, but rather recommend liquid smoke, Hawaiian alaea salt, and a slow cooker. And it *is* supposed to be quite soft. But Mad Kitchen Scientist has a Green Egg, so we decided to do the salt sub as prescribed, skip the liquid smoke, and smoke the pork, THEN put it in the slow cooker overnight. That turned out to be a good plan. The pork was resting in the slow cooker in its cooking liquid (aka FAT) when we arrived, and when we pulled it out shortly thereafter to sample, it was DELICIOUS.<br />
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You can put all sorts of things in manapua, but we opted for some of the kalua pork just as it was and some turned into more of a chai siu (Chinese barbecue) style pork. Inspired by the recipe at <a href="http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/classic-manapua-steamed-buns-hawaiian-style-519074">Genius Kitchen</a>, we made Chinese barbecue sauce and dressed a pile of the shredded kalua pork with it.<br />
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That was all pretty straightforward.<br />
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The manapua dough, on the other hand, was not. Actually, making the dough was quite simple. We followed the recipe at Genius Kitchen and did two risings (each about an hour outside the fridge, although I would be interested in trying it again with the slower cold rise). The place we ran into trouble was with the "divide dough into 12 pieces" instructions. The dough uses six cups of flour.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjebtM0SGhKMvG3RYLxT040aX2qQ7o2aFpd9pcLX27H94vlHb56ltjot5uhMqzub5y_1KX1WZP1NH25i0qhZ_7SfKbxmwZPK12CNumU0F738Qcm_1fjEjukOl_e26CG1vG2keXIPqS88/s1600/QOk40%252BafQaSghCnxqDq5aw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBjebtM0SGhKMvG3RYLxT040aX2qQ7o2aFpd9pcLX27H94vlHb56ltjot5uhMqzub5y_1KX1WZP1NH25i0qhZ_7SfKbxmwZPK12CNumU0F738Qcm_1fjEjukOl_e26CG1vG2keXIPqS88/s320/QOk40%252BafQaSghCnxqDq5aw.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG0g-H5-SEWBjdoP15iD3-uRvLHb6xv4o2ujIFRTB8bOKBzqtOazwlx5I7pE4Dmw-6ACVkUKVsTToCkwjplO2av6DIvt9x3q9QOAJDJTtJPKc0xiEhslE_p-_yVuzHeeZlH7pU3uXxgJo/s1600/Q%2525YAPk39R8yEtJ2oHXYl2w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG0g-H5-SEWBjdoP15iD3-uRvLHb6xv4o2ujIFRTB8bOKBzqtOazwlx5I7pE4Dmw-6ACVkUKVsTToCkwjplO2av6DIvt9x3q9QOAJDJTtJPKc0xiEhslE_p-_yVuzHeeZlH7pU3uXxgJo/s320/Q%2525YAPk39R8yEtJ2oHXYl2w.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Those look reasonable, right? I'm really kicking myself that I didn't get pictures of the manapuas post-steaming because they were ENORMOUS. Manapuas are supposed to be a palm-sized snack (or breakfast). Because they were so large, the ~15 minute steaming time instruction was not enough, either - several of the first batch came out unpleasantly raw doughy, so those went BACK in the steamer with the second batch.</div>
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Verdict: I want to try these again, but I either need to make a LOT less dough or cut it into a LOT more pieces.</div>
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The poke was pretty straightforward, particularly given our previous runs at raw meat. Buy good quality fish, cut it carefully, dress it yummily. Traditional poke uses a soy base. What else you add is pretty much up to you: furikake, fresh ginger, lime, onions or scallions (or both), avocado (or not), maybe a little sugar (for sweetness) or crushed red pepper (for spice), maybe top with a little fresh cilantro, or some fried shallots or garlic for crispiness, maybe serve with some sushi rice (for a poke bowl) or in nori (for a hand roll). We made tuna and salmon, and I thought the salmon was better, but they were both quite tasty.</div>
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However, I insisted that we had to make Foodland-style spicy poke, too. If you're never been to Hawaii, Foodland is a local grocery chain. "Wait! You're getting RAW FISH from the deli counter of a restaurant?" Damn right - Foodland has about a dozen varieties (or more) at any time, and they're all fresh and delicious. When we were on Kauai, we were staying in a cottage, so we made ourselves dinner many nights. We'd have our coffee by our waterfall, climb back up to the cottage where, coming through the yard, we'd pick fresh organic oranges and tangerines to squeeze for breakfast (and feed some deadfalls to the owners' pet pig Lucy), go out and hike or snorkel or kayak, and swing into Foodland in Kapa'a on the way home to pick up some poke to nosh on while we grilled our fish and cooked our veg, accompanied by daiquiris made with fresh organic limes from the yard and local Koloa rum. Yeah, you right.</div>
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The main difference is that you still marinate your fish in a soy base, but then you add a Sriracha and mayo combo sauce and, if you're feeling ritzy (which we were this weekend), some tobiko. It was SO GOOD.</div>
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(The poke was actually all so good that I neglected to take photos. Oops.)</div>
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This summer, I also challenged Chef Spouse to up his tiki drink game. Tiki gets kind of a bad rap, due to too many crap, processed, high-alcohol-and-not-much-else-to-recommend-it "tiki" drinks. Having had the opportunity to visit several authentic tiki bars in the past few years, I've learned that REAL tiki drinks are works of art that showcase an incredible range of rums, matched with complex combinations of freshly squeezed juices, accent alcohols, bitters, spices, and (ideally) from-scratch syrups (like homemade grenadine and orgeat). To get a sense of the potential of tiki, I highly recommend checking out the <a href="http://www.smugglerscovesf.com/book/">Smuggler's Cove book</a>. Chef Spouse used it as a guide to make us Dr. Funk, Planter's Punch, chartreuse swizzle, and hibiscus punch (using the homemade hibiscus liquor Mad Kitchen Scientist made with some of the MASSES of dried hibiscus flowers we had leftover from our homemade bitters lab). Incidentally, Dr. Funk may be my new favorite cocktail. Don't let the list of ingredients in tiki drinks intimidate you - most are relatively easy to come by (although you almost definitely WILL have to augment your rum holdings), and even the "make it yourself" stuff isn't too challenging (well, other than the orgeat - that's a bit of work, but it really is better than the bottled stuff).</div>
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I guess I'll have to do malasadas another time.</div>
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Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-20607949523251854202018-06-08T09:32:00.001-04:002018-06-08T09:32:13.002-04:00RIP Anthony BourdainYour gonzo approach to food and life was a major inspiration to the Food Labbers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLWAO_Yv9c_Y8k4zP5HFt_bViqkndcKCWYMOks655ZfilnYYdwFt5z_Hf2NwbcqY_PmnnL_SZQWHli-u5EqpYTVTaxYeNpcB606K9lt4PGTNsxJ6buEI4BkUaHCSnaQmkj2S6gSKcMRM/s1600/bourdain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="727" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLWAO_Yv9c_Y8k4zP5HFt_bViqkndcKCWYMOks655ZfilnYYdwFt5z_Hf2NwbcqY_PmnnL_SZQWHli-u5EqpYTVTaxYeNpcB606K9lt4PGTNsxJ6buEI4BkUaHCSnaQmkj2S6gSKcMRM/s320/bourdain.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>
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A few personal favorite quotes:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Good food and good eating are about risk. Every once in a while an oyster, for instance, will make you sick to your stomach. Does this mean you should stop eating oysters? No way. The more exotic the food, the more adventurous the serious eater, the higher the likelihood of later discomfort. I’m not going to deny myself the pleasures of morcilla sausage, or sashimi, or even ropa vieja at the local Cuban joint just because sometimes I feel bad a few hours after I’ve eaten them.</li>
<li>Margarine? That’s not food. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter? I can. If you’re planning on using margarine in anything, you can stop reading now, because I won’t be able to help you.</li>
<li>I do think the idea that basic cooking skills are a virtue, that the ability to feed yourself and a few others with proficiency should be taught to every young man and woman as a fundamental skill, should become as vital to growing up as learning to wipe one's own ass, cross the street by oneself, or be trusted with money.</li>
</ul>
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You had more impact than you knew.Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-22260955024475483662018-02-13T15:58:00.000-05:002018-02-13T15:59:39.320-05:00Food Lab 42: Alkaline NoodlesIt's been quiet on the blog, but that's because your intrepid Food Labbers have been quite busy.<br />
<br />
Mad Kitchen Scientist has changed jobs.<br />
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Chef Spouse and I spent two weeks in Hawaii celebrating a milestone anniversary.<br />
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I've been on several business trips (including two outside the US - fancy!).<br />
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We shared a peaceful Friendsgiving together at which we had the same number of desserts as we had guests, and a unique desert tipple to pair with each. (Apparently, Mad Kitchen Scientist and I are trouble together at the liquor store AND the fish market.)<br />
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We prepared our usual themed New Year's Eve feast with Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee for their annual party (this year: nouvelle Russian, to prepare us for our new overlords, comrade).<br />
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We put on the annual Super Bowl party, and this year, winning their FIRST Super Bowl ever and ending a 57 year conference championship drought, celebrated the victorious Philadelphia Eagles! But we did not have as good a day as Jason Kelce, who truly was living his best life.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFtbrb_bJieCbI8hsi2zVcwJ-uGEwKj6DrO7d1nFmH_kSnD9EijlSFhlFRatcWVKhhYoMPTTwVGZkE4OldXIUSKAiKXyTo6N1jpISttLmoY9OXSmdcwCFgtBEhg-dO93Q9UE2Nn9EAJ8/s1600/fullsizeoutput_1b87.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="356" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFtbrb_bJieCbI8hsi2zVcwJ-uGEwKj6DrO7d1nFmH_kSnD9EijlSFhlFRatcWVKhhYoMPTTwVGZkE4OldXIUSKAiKXyTo6N1jpISttLmoY9OXSmdcwCFgtBEhg-dO93Q9UE2Nn9EAJ8/s320/fullsizeoutput_1b87.jpeg" width="202" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The man is wearing an authentic Avalon String Band<br />
Mummers costume WHILE RIDING A BIKE</td></tr>
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We also had the opportunity to use our cooking skills to benefit some members of our local community here in DC, and Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee visited and re-created Chinese banquet for International Dilettante and Dr. Fruit Bat.<br />
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But after all that cooking and eating and drinking and serving and celebrating and traveling fun, we decided it was time to get back to labbing this past weekend.<br />
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Several years ago, a <a href="https://www.tokiunderground.com/">tiny ramen joint</a> opened in our neighborhood. Turns out, it's outstanding - some say, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/momofuku-review-for-the-shrimp-buns-and-servers-the-wait-is-worth-it/2016/01/12/17c5fef2-ad79-11e5-b820-eea4d64be2a1_story.html?utm_term=.cd68e7c6d024">better than Momofuku</a> (I would be one of those). Chef Spouse has been obsessed by ramen ever since.<br />
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Here's the thing: it's always a long wait for a table there (it is TINY, no joke), but they do carry out, and you can easily order <i>kaedama</i> (extra noddles) for your leftovers for lunch the next day.<br />
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But he wants to make his own anyway, because that's how we do. (Hey, if you're a regular reader, you already know that.)<br />
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Ramen has <a href="http://www.pepper.ph/the-four-parts-of-a-ramen-bowl/">four basic components</a>:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Broth</li>
<li>Tare</li>
<li>Noodles</li>
<li>Guts/goodies</li>
</ol>
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Chef Spouse has made some progress on a rich pork stock to form the basis of the broth. And he's messed around with pork belly (and Mad Kitchen Scientist's homemade kimchi and <i>nori</i> and soft-boiled eggs and kale and homemade pickles) for the guts/goodies on top. But he hasn't really worked on the tare or the noodles yet.<br />
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Here's the thing, though: I can't remember the last time I had pasta from a box. Chef Spouse makes fresh pasta ALL THE TIME. In fact, he's so fast at making it now that he puts the water on before he starts and he has the noodles ready to go before the water boils.<br />
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But you start reading recipes that call for <i>kan sui</i> (lye water), sodium carbonate, or potassium carbonate, and you get scared off. LYE IS DANGEROUS STUFF, YO.<br />
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We resolved to overcome our fears and give it a go.<br />
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In theory, you can get <i>kan sui</i> at an Asian market, but we have several VERY well stocked examples nearby and struck out at all. Potassium carbonate is something you have to order online.<br />
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But sodium carbonate is another story. All that is is baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) that's been baked in a 200 degree oven for about an hour, which bakes off water and carbon dioxide. Voila! <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/make-sodium-carbonate-from-sodium-bicarbonate-608266">Sodium carbonate</a>!<br />
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Interestingly, Chef Spouse had baked up a batch probably two years ago, and it's been sitting in the pantry patiently waiting ever since. We also had about two quarts of pork stock hanging in the freezer.<br />
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For our Lab test, we tried the following:<br />
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Test 1 - old sodium carbonate<br />
2 3/4 c. all purpose flour<br />
3/4 c. water<br />
1 tsp. sodium carbonate<br />
1 tsp. salt<br />
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Test 2- new sodium carbonate (baked fresh that day)<br />
2 3/4 c. all purpose flour<br />
3/4 c. water<br />
1 tsp. sodium carbonate<br />
1 tsp. salt<br />
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Test 3 - MORE sodium carbonate (new stuff)<br />
2 3/4 c. all purpose flour<br />
3/4 c. water<br />
1 1/2 tsp. sodium carbonate<br />
1 tsp. salt<br />
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Test 4 - commercial ramen<br />
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Yep, this stuff:<br />
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Noodles only! Not the "flavor" packet. Anyone else flashing back to college?<br />
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All the sites we checked warned that the dough is dry and hard going in the kneading, and they were right. Start it in your Kitchen Aid with the dough hook and let horsepower do the job as long as you can. We took dough out when the dough hook stopped making any progress on forming it into a whole, and then had to knead each by hand for another ~5 minutes, which doesn't sound long, but this is TOUGH dough. As one site we read noted, "If you're not sweating, it's not ready yet."<br />
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We then rested them for ~20 minutes each, wrapped in plastic wrap.<br />
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When the dough came out of the plastic wrap, it was significantly more supple.<br />
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We also tested making two thicknesses of noodles. In the first test, we rolled the dough to the "five" setting on the Kitchen Aid before cutting. For the second test, we rolled it only to the "three" setting.<br />
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In handling the dough, there wasn't much difference between the old and new sodium carbonate batches. The MORE sodium carbonate batch was different, though - much less smooth.<br />
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Then we cooked them all - including the Top Ramen - in batches in the pork stock. We didn't mess around with tare or guts because we were trying to assess the noodles <i>qua</i> noodles.<br />
<br />
We all agreed that the fresh sodium carbonate noodles had the best texture. The MORE sodium carbonate noodles had a slight off flavor. The Top Ramen had the customary curly texture (how DO you do that with fresh noodles? we couldn't figure it out), and were lighter but less flavorful than fresh, and oddly sweet. Opinions differed on preferring thin to thick (I thought the thick seemed a little gelatinous, but not everyone agreed). All stood up well to the broth over time - they didn't get mushy at all.<br />
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To go with? Mad Kitchen Scientist had gone pig-crazy (in fairness, we started it by tasking him with picking up and smoking a pork shoulder for a fundraiser we're hosting this coming weekend), so we had Chinese red pork and roasted pork belly to nosh on the side.<br />
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We experimented with making seaweed salad from scratch, too. Since the packages were mostly not labeled in English, we just picked up a variety. First step is to reconstitute the seaweed with hot water - and man, did the dining room smell like the ocean when we did - and then drain it and squeeze out as much water as possible.<br />
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Then you just create a basic dressing of Asian flavors - sesame oil, soy sauce, etc. (we also used rice vinegar, ponzu, honey, and some grated ginger), dress it, add sliced green onions and sesame seeds, done. We had picked up some prepared seaweed salad to compare it against. We hadn't lucked on grabbing the same type of seaweed you usually find in ready-made seaweed salad, and I do love the texture of that type, so that was a bummer. But the flavor of the homemade, by comparison, was much better. Once we had it to compare, we realized that the stuff you normally get at sushi joints is REALLY REALLY sweet.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Commercial on the left - homemade on the right</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-xT0ChvKUQFujfYyi9OjehXSB9KJU7G4BQUz95sVhIFIGCWxzEEJGE7CMX91gCsdEmm61h6mcXmeGViEzZ_SU2asFliLu0SnguAgf2sfZtLd4TT1rNy0-1m5jH3jdo1GhLpWJAGpyaWM/s1600/fullsizeoutput_1b93.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-xT0ChvKUQFujfYyi9OjehXSB9KJU7G4BQUz95sVhIFIGCWxzEEJGE7CMX91gCsdEmm61h6mcXmeGViEzZ_SU2asFliLu0SnguAgf2sfZtLd4TT1rNy0-1m5jH3jdo1GhLpWJAGpyaWM/s320/fullsizeoutput_1b93.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the delicious nibblies (including some tiny pickled octopus <br />
we picked up and a quick spicy Napa slaw with sriracha pickled radishes)</td></tr>
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What did we drink? Chef Spouse started us out with a rum-based cocktail with ponzu and pimento bitters, garnished with lychee. Mad Kitchen Scientist had taken some of the absurdity of dried hibiscus flowers we were left with from making homemade bitters (which I never wrote about, because there really isn't much to say - you buy a bunch of odd ingredients from places like <a href="https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/">Mountain Rose Herbs</a>, put really small quantities of them in Everclear, and wait) and turned them into a hibiscus liquor (rum based, with some "warm" spices and a little honey), and Chef Spouse was messing around with rum and rye and bitters and citrus, and what we eventually realized is: just put the hibiscus liquor in a glass with some silver tequila. Simplicity on the other side of complexity, my friends.<br />
<br />
What we learned is that it takes a little longer to make fresh alkaline noodles than fresh pasta - but not much. They taste a lot better than Top Ramen. And you can do it with ingredients you already have in your kitchen, so don't be afraid of the mad chemist-sounding names.<br />
<br />
(But Chef Spouse ordered some potassium carbonate and <i>kan sui</i> from Amazon anyway.)<br />
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<br />Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-51927553488630102512017-11-07T13:45:00.002-05:002017-11-07T13:45:32.639-05:00Food Lab 41: Dim SumAs you might have guessed from my previous Lab post, the Chinese Banquet lab was a bit of a blur. The Pathological Entertainer had the full picture of where we were, where we were going, and how we were going to get there in her head, but the rest of us were merely the <i>sous</i>, following her instructions as we moved from task to task. And we brought it off - 8 courses totaling 15 different dishes, all prepared in about 6 hours, and none of us too exhausted to enjoy eating the meal.<br />
<br />
We figured we better hit some of these again pretty soon to solidify our techniques. And it turned out to be a good thing we did, because we still need some work on a few.<br />
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Our Dim Sum menu consisted of:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Red stewed eggs</li>
<li>Roast pork loin (which Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee prepared in advance)</li>
<li>Sichuan eggplant</li>
<li>Momofuku-style pork buns (with two different pork belly preparations to fill them)</li>
<li>Salt and pepper squid (that ended up being salt and pepper octopus, because I bought the wrong cephalopods at the fish market)</li>
<li>Potstickers (shrimp, veg, and pork)</li>
<li>Shao mai (shrimp, veg, and pork)</li>
<li>Rambutan for dessert </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd7VjAPR4Ytw9Rwym62apmnHsuI-_r1Pe_vG5JgLVf44WeaacJWxTqZwrPHvychQ8Go5042SM8GbY6VYL_dXm6SrMiQz9pnbNkMWMmXu7vKUfF1xL3vj-GQHVHgKCQkdZ7Jj_q00y94jM/s1600/IMG_4993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd7VjAPR4Ytw9Rwym62apmnHsuI-_r1Pe_vG5JgLVf44WeaacJWxTqZwrPHvychQ8Go5042SM8GbY6VYL_dXm6SrMiQz9pnbNkMWMmXu7vKUfF1xL3vj-GQHVHgKCQkdZ7Jj_q00y94jM/s320/IMG_4993.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think the rambutan look kind of like sea urchins.</td></tr>
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Following The Pathological Entertainer's lead, we did this in three major courses: eggs, pork loin, and eggplant; buns and octopus; dumplings.<br />
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As I mentioned, the pork loin arrived ready to eat, so our first course prep was fairly simple: red stewed eggs and the eggplant (provided by a volunteer plant in The Executive Committee's garden).<br />
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Red stewing is a simple technique. For eggs, you hard boil them, peel them, and them simmer them in enough liquid to cover in roughly the following proportions<br />
<br />
1/3 c. soy sauce<br />
1 1/2 c. water<br />
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar<br />
1 Tbsp. dry sherry (or, in our case, shaoxing wine)<br />
Seasonings (in our case, a little sugar, star anise, pink and white pepper corns, quite a bit of sliced ginger)<br />
<br />
How long? A while. Once the eggs color up, take one out to taste. If you like it, you're done. If not, let them simmer a while longer. (Oh - and save the liquid when you take the eggs out, because you can use it again.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5YZkP5NQDm82xGyHrsSzGqLjwpLDTbUXfMRHF40pr2y2ICh3IOyWGREZUc0VD38wfyHmRBbGtGlN2U3tICQlNxdt04E5XIbdilXvziv4szlX4C4tOJtU0LSuQGUfFAwCWbJG9-tgfcNM/s1600/IMG_4986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5YZkP5NQDm82xGyHrsSzGqLjwpLDTbUXfMRHF40pr2y2ICh3IOyWGREZUc0VD38wfyHmRBbGtGlN2U3tICQlNxdt04E5XIbdilXvziv4szlX4C4tOJtU0LSuQGUfFAwCWbJG9-tgfcNM/s320/IMG_4986.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red stewed eggs, stewing</td></tr>
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For the Sichuan eggplant, Mad Kitchen Scientist sauted the chopped eggplant with appropriate seasonings (garlic, ginger, jalapeños), then sauted ground pork, them combined them with a "combo of Chinese flavors" sauce (I know soy and vinegar went into it, but I'm not sure what else he grabbed - hot bean paste is traditional, sherry or shaoxing wine can go in, chili sauce works, too, as does sesame oil - it's up to you how you like it flavored and how spicy you want it), then cooked it down and topped it with a blizzard of chopped scallions before serving.<br />
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Then it was on to the buns. <a href="https://food52.com/recipes/28063-momofuku-s-pork-buns">Momofuku-style pork buns</a> are like little steamed bun tacos, rather than being a solid bun with the pork completely encased inside, so the buns and the pork are cooked separately and then combined before eating.<br />
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The buns are a yeast dough that has multiple types of leavening (yeast, baking soda, and baking powder), and quite a bit of fat (milk powder or, as we did it, milk and rendered bacon fat), so it's lovely to work with.<br />
<br />
We pretty much followed the bun recipe as written, other than when it came time to roll the buns out, rather than painting the middle with plain vegetable oil, I used sesame oil for more flavor. Warning: it makes A LOT. We had 50 total before one of our cats got bored waiting for her dinner and swatted a few off the tray where they were rising to play with/attract our attention (she is DEFINITELY the cat who is willing to be naughty to get attention).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHJ8jPZHM3fQEyO5eQOU2c6T2HkxZsPoi7cYVjASLk_Ut7qg_wMfForvcoiEjWHJNpKBNHb5GRSUXieL0OxkDA1uz2qQNYpe7dW5KYfk50KYfmVvmtCHxJYAD7OymSWZ-U3OyfqzdLXk/s1600/IMG_4987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHJ8jPZHM3fQEyO5eQOU2c6T2HkxZsPoi7cYVjASLk_Ut7qg_wMfForvcoiEjWHJNpKBNHb5GRSUXieL0OxkDA1uz2qQNYpe7dW5KYfk50KYfmVvmtCHxJYAD7OymSWZ-U3OyfqzdLXk/s320/IMG_4987.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rising</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Into the steamer</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLgky6LSCJWLQJjWTfI5Sajcg4_HoFJjl_R1g_k4FWnHozdLkRmiax9cGl5QIV9XR1ud2AHxOrStWgD_exJhXIRYAcBj2SNSrlhoiB8Ji5hfjYu9pI7YtrdyZCt5O1P9Pzl092tAlDyQ/s1600/fullsizeoutput_1af1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLgky6LSCJWLQJjWTfI5Sajcg4_HoFJjl_R1g_k4FWnHozdLkRmiax9cGl5QIV9XR1ud2AHxOrStWgD_exJhXIRYAcBj2SNSrlhoiB8Ji5hfjYu9pI7YtrdyZCt5O1P9Pzl092tAlDyQ/s320/fullsizeoutput_1af1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out of the steamer</td></tr>
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For the pork belly, we tried two options: the simpler <a href="https://food52.com/recipes/28063-momofuku-s-pork-buns">Food 52</a> preparation and the more complex <a href="http://thewoksoflife.com/2015/03/cantonese-roast-pork-belly/">Woks of Life</a> preparation. Chef Spouse was not fully pleased with either one. The Food 52 texture was better, although we quickly discovered that starting it at 450 degrees was much too hot. The Woks of Life flavor was better (not surprising, considering it calls for adding more flavors to the meat). But neither developed nice cracklings. On both, the skin ended up so hard as to be totally inedible and mostly even uncuttable. So that was disappointing, because pork cracklings are DELICIOUS.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ViQlTmbfazwppKUUgZGXAGe8iAa7iQ0J5P9FjgnNkdSyUwIoTKAmjK1hzFAibzi2ZiO9aLm5-v7LVdzYsoK4KbgfsRxA6Hf1h3HElSgfrS_AcGtv5eY80PMuPShB1MdaKkA5zEVuVWA/s1600/IMG_4989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ViQlTmbfazwppKUUgZGXAGe8iAa7iQ0J5P9FjgnNkdSyUwIoTKAmjK1hzFAibzi2ZiO9aLm5-v7LVdzYsoK4KbgfsRxA6Hf1h3HElSgfrS_AcGtv5eY80PMuPShB1MdaKkA5zEVuVWA/s320/IMG_4989.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woks of Life pork belly (sorry about the steamy-ness)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Food 52 pork belly (as I said, starting it at 450 was too hot)</td></tr>
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We then stuffed the buns and added hoisin sauce and homemade pickles. The buns were tasty, no doubt, but I think we could up our pork belly game with a little more experimentation.<br />
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Salt and pepper squid is a favorite dim sum dish of mine. Actually, I pretty much love anything with tentacles. Unfortunately, at the fish market, I wasn't paying close enough attention, and got small octopus rather than squid. They tasted just fine, and we were able to use the same prep method, but they were a little less tender than the squid would have been.<br />
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It's a pretty simple technique: rinse, drain, chop, and marinate your tentacles (we used a combo of sesame oil and more shaoxing wine). Dredge in a combo of regular wheat flour, semolina flour, corn meal, salt, and white pepper. Deep fry. Drain. Sprinkle while hot with more salt and pepper. Stir fry with garlic, ginger, and jalapeños. YUM.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGejFyI9UZDZbPku_sgEfKf9yQCsQElfldUCsJj8_7spMJqckBG22ckyFzUFnJyrxbDiRO5Eh1F2PlL6byCBsntW6NaoBtNlDlxIXFbG2ItvsJ44xualKt4VGSJxhdtIvfQwrv7O_NTq0/s1600/fullsizeoutput_1af2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGejFyI9UZDZbPku_sgEfKf9yQCsQElfldUCsJj8_7spMJqckBG22ckyFzUFnJyrxbDiRO5Eh1F2PlL6byCBsntW6NaoBtNlDlxIXFbG2ItvsJ44xualKt4VGSJxhdtIvfQwrv7O_NTq0/s320/fullsizeoutput_1af2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TENTACLES!</td></tr>
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Then it was on to the dumplings. We'd prepared three fillings: shrimp, ground pork, and veg (well, really mushroom) to use with two techniques (shao mai and potsticker). The fillings were pretty simple: the main ingredient chopped fine, plus ginger, garlic, napa cabbage, green onion and some soy and sesame oil.<br />
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For potstickers, you fill your wrappers (not too full), seal them, sear them in as little oil as possible, then finish them with a short steam. In the first round - the shrimp - we added a little too much water to pan for the final steam, and they sort of fell apart on us. The pork and mushroom were more successful. But we did notice that the wrappers we had purchased seemed to be on the thin side.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbCLJXKEgV6bKNHVaepk21Qcw-HSjLWw56QvpvyBjZZ4pC7Gc3ZcZ9c1yYnyQb5xL0-bZYd6IrR_1qwsALFdlF6f__6rIf1nNK-SjWNbsCSLIYuMqrnSNmu-13F8KFthE937Ss3HOYBM/s1600/IMG_4999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDbCLJXKEgV6bKNHVaepk21Qcw-HSjLWw56QvpvyBjZZ4pC7Gc3ZcZ9c1yYnyQb5xL0-bZYd6IrR_1qwsALFdlF6f__6rIf1nNK-SjWNbsCSLIYuMqrnSNmu-13F8KFthE937Ss3HOYBM/s320/IMG_4999.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shrimp - see how the ones at the bottom are kind of falling apart?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zaVY3IgwPMObhgG9pO4OIzHXadAB875-Na7vhwLQSzW2zJc49i6jIe_uVBjYBj5pXHXtxnXpWcGmG5q7uvUgeQ8VBLU-wm-jIHhHSJP-WfS1JOOPSYPsj25QC1dV003eD3r5qjEsCT4/s1600/IMG_5001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3zaVY3IgwPMObhgG9pO4OIzHXadAB875-Na7vhwLQSzW2zJc49i6jIe_uVBjYBj5pXHXtxnXpWcGmG5q7uvUgeQ8VBLU-wm-jIHhHSJP-WfS1JOOPSYPsj25QC1dV003eD3r5qjEsCT4/s320/IMG_5001.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mushroom - more successful</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yj_7NPRnoOGs8V-yDx5Mb8m_iVp55E6ZiImY-V4ZoKDLx1HAHsUa-ojQEtQl2xKjxQ5Xu3dgaQNkZviO5nvW1lB7p1GJ1v70Bec_2coF4psnrY3qLwqANcIjzDQzAgcZ1j_HLo-8eog/s1600/IMG_5003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yj_7NPRnoOGs8V-yDx5Mb8m_iVp55E6ZiImY-V4ZoKDLx1HAHsUa-ojQEtQl2xKjxQ5Xu3dgaQNkZviO5nvW1lB7p1GJ1v70Bec_2coF4psnrY3qLwqANcIjzDQzAgcZ1j_HLo-8eog/s320/IMG_5003.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pork - also more successful</td></tr>
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Yeah, that thing with the thin wrappers totally bit us in the ass for the shao mai. For shao mai, you fill your wrappers more full and gather up the sides into a little bag, leaving the top open, pack them into a single layer, and steam.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwD8aopMtfWwRl-CrqMW0Cs4l0uhxBrFQFrSiAhnNKZgc3FDhSBKe6J1hmdwiHMgQWACBJKGYTch7r3nvSiHYOD7-vjAQKb-bwe70pkM6OO3yGOLiDT2ZXBDeO_eyTmxUX8nkpHVy3o8/s1600/IMG_5002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwD8aopMtfWwRl-CrqMW0Cs4l0uhxBrFQFrSiAhnNKZgc3FDhSBKe6J1hmdwiHMgQWACBJKGYTch7r3nvSiHYOD7-vjAQKb-bwe70pkM6OO3yGOLiDT2ZXBDeO_eyTmxUX8nkpHVy3o8/s320/IMG_5002.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks good, but don't be deceived</td></tr>
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Simple, right? Looks pretty, right?<br />
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Yeah, those thin wrappers completely stuck to each other. We ended up with a solid mass shao mai cake. A shao make, if you will.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNA3-yaPA-mWKVL02k9SOgusOx3EpzyJidb-bWhPQQppIT1PkDRVc1GtRRVnowIyUQQrw9U4KYK9wiyOp9pYz8mOt1dBEpiaRttYeNVGQZFavXnEUolbOekkFsj15HinO0_L0v5VZh7U/s1600/fullsizeoutput_1af5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNA3-yaPA-mWKVL02k9SOgusOx3EpzyJidb-bWhPQQppIT1PkDRVc1GtRRVnowIyUQQrw9U4KYK9wiyOp9pYz8mOt1dBEpiaRttYeNVGQZFavXnEUolbOekkFsj15HinO0_L0v5VZh7U/s320/fullsizeoutput_1af5.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oops. </td></tr>
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Clearly, dumplings are going to require further investigation. And probably using a different brand of won ton wrappers.<br />
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To drink, Chef Spouse made us Mai Tais with his latest bar ingredient addition: <a href="http://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1013430">velvet falernum</a>. We also made a round of <a href="https://www.thekitchn.com/what-is-ponzu-96554">ponzu</a>-based drinks: gimlets and last words, where we replaced half the fresh lime juice with ponzu. The last words were good, but the gimlets were outstanding. I think the green chartreuse kind of muted the ponzu, where it really shone in the simpler drink.<br />
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As Mad Kitchen Scientist pointed out, this is the second time we've been defeated by Asian cuisine (remember our disastrous attempt to <a href="http://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2013/02/food-lab-21-dumpllings.html">make our own rice paper</a>?), which clearly means another lab is in order.<br />
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<br />Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-34877057174745051792017-09-05T15:22:00.003-04:002017-09-05T15:23:45.224-04:00Food Lab 40: Chinese BanquetWith the holiday weekend upon us, your Food Lab crew decided a Food Lab Field Trip might be in order. So the Executive Committee and Mad Kitchen Scientist secured the gracious hosting services of undergrad/grad school professors/mentor/friends, Pathological Entertainer and The Wine Steward for a weekend of Chinese Banquet, Pathological Entertainer being a long time student of and expert in Chinese cookery.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZwVHRQj52J6fqAjyRUIdf7ndtLrgYqeV5YGElPuWPANkHCBvYY8arlXjgZXWWi1JGg1AxJHyGlYlApO5Zh7PHfao0bI_pg5vQwCue3nfol2Ocg9dQNEkPHEz2i1tZGaYuUHtUY28XTg/s1600/IMG_4905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZwVHRQj52J6fqAjyRUIdf7ndtLrgYqeV5YGElPuWPANkHCBvYY8arlXjgZXWWi1JGg1AxJHyGlYlApO5Zh7PHfao0bI_pg5vQwCue3nfol2Ocg9dQNEkPHEz2i1tZGaYuUHtUY28XTg/s320/IMG_4905.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The appetizer course on the table awaiting the guests </td></tr>
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Mad Kitchen Scientist started from the idea of the Chinese mother sauces, but Pathological Entertainer suggested that an all-saucey evening would make for a boring and inauthentic banquet, and suggested that we instead focus on classic Chinese flavors.<br />
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To back up: What is Chinese Banquet? If you've ever seen <i>The Wedding Banquet</i> or <i>Eat, Drink, Man, Woman</i> (and if you haven't, what are you waiting for?), you've seen Chinese Banquet in action. It's a celebratory multi-course meal created from a mix of tastes, textures, and techniques (making it a perfect Food Lab subject!), where (to quote the extensive Chowhound thread on the subject), the hosts aim to "provide his/her guests with a wide range of dishes, often including rare, fancy, or expensive ingredients or preparations that would not generally be seen at a family dinner."
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Having agree on a "classic flavors" theme, we began work on our menu about a month ago. As Pathological Entertainer explained: "When I plan a banquet, I try to alternate types of flavors; saucy vs. dry textures; type of cooking (steamed, stir-fried, deep-fried, etc); type of protein (meat, fish, shellfish, tofu, eggs) and so on as we move through the courses."<br />
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As our plan developed, we realized that we wanted to include:<br />
<ul>
<li>Technique: red stewing</li>
<li>Technique: dumplings (both shao mai and "crystal" dumplings, a new item for Pathological Entertainer)</li>
<li>Ingredient: roast pork (despite the fact that roasting is not terribly common in Chinese cookery, as not all kitchens come equipped with ovens) </li>
<li>A soup course (which is traditional, and Pathological Entertainer pointed out that she has an EXCELLENT hot and sour soup recipe and she was not joking)</li>
<li>Two "wow" dishes: diamond shrimp and Shanghai duck with handmade sesame pancakes</li>
</ul>
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Our final menu ended up being an auspicious eight courses (which is considered lucky because the Chinese word for "eight" sounds like the word for "wealth"):</div>
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<ul>
<li>Appetizers (considered one course): Sichuan eggplant, seafood shao mai, Sichuan dry fried long beans, Chinese roast pork, red stewed eggs, marinated cucumbers, chive crystal dumplings</li>
<li>Hot and Sour soup</li>
<li>Diamond shrimp</li>
<li>Ma Po bean curd, gai lan with garlic and peanuts</li>
<li>Sweet and sour pork, stir fried julienne carrots and zucchini</li>
<li>Shanghai duck with sesame pancakes, scallions, and hoisin sauce</li>
<li>Almond floats with lychees and mandarin oranges </li>
<li>Sesame candies and fresh lychees </li>
</ul>
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The only advance prep Pathological Entertainer had to do, prior to Saturday, was to hard boil the eggs and marinate the pork loin. On the way out of town, Chef Spouse and I hit the fish market to get the shrimp, and The Executive Committee and Mad Kitchen Scientist swung by the local Asian grocery to get gai lan, fresh lychees, and fresh bamboo shoots. </div>
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Saturday morning, we got coffee, got out the knives and aprons, and got to work. </div>
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The first thing to go in was the eggs for red stewing, which is just a simple process of simmering them in water, soy sauce, red wine vinegar, and seasonings to taste (we chose sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, a few thick slices of ginger, and a generous amount of anise seed). </div>
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We also started the duck simmering, in basically the same sauce (it starts out red stewed, then gets brushed with honey and roasted just before serving to crisp the skin). The roast pork also went in the oven. Then we went out to the garden to pick the long beans.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0manvDMslzB_OcQjG2IdB-TCkxNQhXtfBOyffFKFkOe8w_Ks2kwxBPp74sVYy57avqY_8W8_v4remVtQoyzRxL43kJBEt3OphXX4j3zZx9oFwHZPVdEndjeEgeL8KkGWT4984xZwOOpM/s1600/IMG_4894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0manvDMslzB_OcQjG2IdB-TCkxNQhXtfBOyffFKFkOe8w_Ks2kwxBPp74sVYy57avqY_8W8_v4remVtQoyzRxL43kJBEt3OphXX4j3zZx9oFwHZPVdEndjeEgeL8KkGWT4984xZwOOpM/s320/IMG_4894.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQXoOy75an2MMc10tiwqWy-sXnVq8PifsRQdEZ7zuQa2HXq5miTvDofVwlp9c4gPaqtxyjJbtXwMapchhhMF6wF_nqlaKaVdd3A7g1BhOxm1lD9Zqs1L06OEBCEkL-tLBiCawdH-8ukg/s1600/IMG_4895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQXoOy75an2MMc10tiwqWy-sXnVq8PifsRQdEZ7zuQa2HXq5miTvDofVwlp9c4gPaqtxyjJbtXwMapchhhMF6wF_nqlaKaVdd3A7g1BhOxm1lD9Zqs1L06OEBCEkL-tLBiCawdH-8ukg/s320/IMG_4895.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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We didn't really start work until around 11 am, and the other guests were due at 6:30 pm, and I was worried, looking at that list of dishes to prepare that, even with five cooks, we might not make it. One thing I quickly learned from Pathological Entertainer is that THE KEY to Chinese Banquet is ORGANIZATION, and thankfully, it was not her first time at the rodeo. </div>
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The appetizer course is planned around things that can be entirely cooked (eggplant, long beans, eggs, roast pork) or at least fully assembled (the crystal and shao mai dumplings) in advance. So while the eggs and roast pork were doing their thing, The Executive Committee, Chef Spouse, Mad Kitchen Scientists, and I started chopping: the eggplant, bread, the beans, lots of bean curd, chicken, mushrooms, pork, onions, red bell peppers, pineapple, carrots, zucchini, and gai lan. We then staged ingredients in groups by dish. Chef Spouse also made up the almond gelatin for the dessert, as it would need time to set. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTd2AvKPEGbMQrenACkRkIwjyc_7_FEIwBDtYRfPGN-aXmV7cgiu79BpNxTT21PkaCqVwKViYfwldHr5HCJ07YQEELqPy_WZtSE2ZdUSZ_a3JbOq39MDI4bj7U0re8MSFQN0r6GQTMYGc/s1600/IMG_4893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTd2AvKPEGbMQrenACkRkIwjyc_7_FEIwBDtYRfPGN-aXmV7cgiu79BpNxTT21PkaCqVwKViYfwldHr5HCJ07YQEELqPy_WZtSE2ZdUSZ_a3JbOq39MDI4bj7U0re8MSFQN0r6GQTMYGc/s320/IMG_4893.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Staging Area Number One</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Meanwhile, Pathological Entertainer made up the dough for the sesame pancakes so it could rest and got started cooking the eggplant. Mad Kitchen Scientist then started deep frying the long beans. They get deep-fried first and THEN dry fried with ground pork. He got a little over-enthusiastic with putting too many fresh beans (that contained a lot of water) into the oil and nearly set the kitchen on fire, but Pathological Entertainer is highly experienced with that and averted the danger.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bSF3DPapWLaUQeizSiOwzt2zYrXXcqsOiQLVgHpJtAyoV8mGtXV1933I63VoPO2JlIHmZGjBP91lDKu3aApXO71bPb-rupWW6C4ef6ph8vlqKt9JCyzDagLSlCBeWBFHHbBTMQHwR1Q/s1600/IMG_4891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bSF3DPapWLaUQeizSiOwzt2zYrXXcqsOiQLVgHpJtAyoV8mGtXV1933I63VoPO2JlIHmZGjBP91lDKu3aApXO71bPb-rupWW6C4ef6ph8vlqKt9JCyzDagLSlCBeWBFHHbBTMQHwR1Q/s320/IMG_4891.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLgMuwQHkpgNraw62EIXukaTp5cO-pDX6Up0eOsTbTn-hdqLyYItJHCvyWXZMwj30qXGdH1ji3ZHHjD47uOhJUfao-Au7VoQeOHYQmdigjzvWIkW7lBaN2CuaS8EsrHKqsSMEmtD9JWw/s1600/IMG_4889.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLgMuwQHkpgNraw62EIXukaTp5cO-pDX6Up0eOsTbTn-hdqLyYItJHCvyWXZMwj30qXGdH1ji3ZHHjD47uOhJUfao-Au7VoQeOHYQmdigjzvWIkW7lBaN2CuaS8EsrHKqsSMEmtD9JWw/s320/IMG_4889.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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(Come to think of it, The Executive Committee may be the only one of us who HASN'T almost set her kitchen on fire. That may be why SHE's The Executive Committee, and we're not.)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWimiJMtvpZTrHreMChWLIpz2sHcR_zrepIV3bCr-JLjuUfqx6IMA98_ur0RLpqEM8l3kHdRpd8ae1mnKGzdft1ahkfa4E2EtMz2oZC0ajRgcjP5zG2j6BTg7fvReLmgObyKw2YS1OKI/s1600/IMG_4899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWimiJMtvpZTrHreMChWLIpz2sHcR_zrepIV3bCr-JLjuUfqx6IMA98_ur0RLpqEM8l3kHdRpd8ae1mnKGzdft1ahkfa4E2EtMz2oZC0ajRgcjP5zG2j6BTg7fvReLmgObyKw2YS1OKI/s320/IMG_4899.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ma Po bean curd in process</td></tr>
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While the long beans were draining prior to their dry frying, Pathological Entertainer started the Ma Po bean curd and got me rolling on making the sesame pancakes. The process is pretty simple: you make two small disks, brush one side of each with sesame oil, pat them together with the oiled sides facing each other, and roll them out to the desired size. Mad Kitchen Scientist then cooked them up on two comals. The only hard part is that you then peel them apart WHILE they're still hot. The sesame oil gives a nice flavor and lets you roll them out by hand but still get them thin enough, at least after the cooking process helps them separate.<br />
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Pathological Entertainer then made the filling for the shao mai, which also serves as the seafood paste that allows you to stick the bread croutons to the diamond shrimp. She fried some up for taste testing, and then Chef Spouse and I assembled the shrimp and the shao mai, while she started work on the Hot and Sour soup (after a brief digression for me to re-cut the chicken that I had originally julienned too wide).<br />
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The roast pork and eggs had already come out of their respective cooking processes, so The Executive Committee assembled them on the serving plate.<br />
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They were then stored on the top of the chest freezer in the garage, aka Staging Area Number Two, and it's a good thing it was a cool day, because they joined the eggplant, the long beans, the trays of assembled diamond shrimp, the fruit salad that would go with the almond gelatin for dessert, the plates of assembled shao mai dumplings, the platter of the Ma Po bean curd, and the stir-fried carrots and zucchini out there.<br />
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By this point, we were getting down to it: we still needed to make the crystal dumplings (for which Chef Spouse had already made the filling) and the marinated cucumbers, the pork chunks had to be pre-fried for the sweet and sour, and the Shanghai duck needed to be covered in honey to await its final roast and it needed its scallion brushes cut.<br />
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Chef Spouse and Mad Kitchen Scientist took on the crystal dumplings. The dough is an odd mix of wheat (or potato) starch and tapioca flour that, when mixed together, looks a lot like Sculpy modeling clay.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJV508VFPZRxCtpr4slJX2c1suvkk2_Xya_Tm8rh6kVPMSE4Znr98zHnx6orgjDfNs2UXR7719_DbRVrMCXswXZ1ZYl92NbObc9l6J9OfJhu1LQgcJYrDDTxEbkuNXBmu-Zm9T4BTgvE/s1600/IMG_4900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJV508VFPZRxCtpr4slJX2c1suvkk2_Xya_Tm8rh6kVPMSE4Znr98zHnx6orgjDfNs2UXR7719_DbRVrMCXswXZ1ZYl92NbObc9l6J9OfJhu1LQgcJYrDDTxEbkuNXBmu-Zm9T4BTgvE/s320/IMG_4900.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZG2pfgb31J4FrLuiI5qVmgQLqpnS-NcgcPMcTvUrT-JFIau7oj8EOU89PJgR8zzwupGqPSyEtDqnfC3JxB0aTlyASupO67C6ooYFTpCQWjUrdsRkF7TM3PG_AAqcF6FYPI4mjY2od-Y/s1600/IMG_4901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZG2pfgb31J4FrLuiI5qVmgQLqpnS-NcgcPMcTvUrT-JFIau7oj8EOU89PJgR8zzwupGqPSyEtDqnfC3JxB0aTlyASupO67C6ooYFTpCQWjUrdsRkF7TM3PG_AAqcF6FYPI4mjY2od-Y/s320/IMG_4901.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The idea is that when it's steamed, it becomes translucent, so you can see the filling inside the dumplings. We were intrigued but skeptical. So we made up the dumplings and hoped for the best.<br />
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Meanwhile, The Wine Steward was finishing up the menus, checking the compatibility of our various signs of the Chinese zodiac, setting the table, and plying us with cook wine (not to be confused with cooking wine), while The Executive Committee and I prepared the marinated cucumbers. Then Chef Spouse did final prep on the duck and Mad Kitchen Scientist fried up the pork chunks.<br />
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Soon it was time to get changed and get the dumplings steaming. The other guests arrived shortly, and Pathological Entertainer announced that dinner was served.<br />
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Chef Spouse and I had managed NOT to screw up assembling the shao mai, and the crystal dumplings WORKED (and sorry their picture is fuzzy, but they were actually still giving off steam when I took it). They were still opaque when we took them out of the steamer, but when they're exposed to the air, they become translucent. It's like magic.<br />
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We cautioned everyone not to fill up TOO much on the appetizers, because lots of other good things were coming, although the Sichuan eggplant was so good even Chef Spouse liked it, and eggplant is one of the few foods he's not fond of, and we all had a hard time stopping ourselves from consuming ALL the red stewed eggs.<br />
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The soup course followed quickly, and it was seriously the best hot and sour soup I've ever had. It was so good, it's the only recipe I'm reproducing here in full.<br />
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<b>Hot and Sour Soup </b><br />
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½ ounce dried Chinese mushrooms (about ½ cup before soaking)<br />
1 c fresh shiitakes, julienned <br />
1 pound chicken breasts, boned, skinned, julienned<br />
2 tablespoons sesame oil<br />
4 cups homemade chicken broth<br />
½ cup fresh bamboo shoots<br />
¼ cup white vinegar<br />
2 tablespoons soy sauce<br />
1 teaspoon sugar<br />
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger root<br />
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper<br />
¼ teaspoon black pepper<br />
1 tablespoon cornstarch<br />
3 tablespoons water<br />
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten<br />
1 ½ cups firm bean curd cake, cut into julienne strips (about 8 ounces)<br />
Sliced green onions<br />
Sweet and Hot Sauces (recipes follow but this soup is more than sufficient without added sauce)<br />
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1. Place mushrooms in large bowl; cover with warm water. Place plate and water-filled bowl on top to keep mushrooms under water. Let stand 30 minutes: drain, remove and discard stems and cut caps into julienne strips. If there are any dry spots, soak strips for longer.<br />
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2. Parboil the bamboo shoots for about 20 minutes (otherwise they are INTENSELY bitter) and julienne<br />
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2. Stir fry chicken in sesame oil in 3-quart saucepan until chicken is tender, about 5 minutes; stir in chicken broth. Heat to boiling. Stir in mushrooms, bamboo shoots, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, cayenne and black pepper.<br />
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** To hold, cover and refrigerate at this point.<br />
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3. Heat soup over medium heat just until it simmers. Stir together cornstarch and water; stir slowly into soup, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens slightly and all ingredients are hot, about 5 minutes. (the cornstarch thickening is necessary for the egg threads to form when you add the egg yolks).<br />
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4. Remove from heat; add egg yolks gradually, stirring constantly. Stir in bean curd. Serve in small bowls. Garnish with sliced green onions.<br />
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Pass Sweet and Hot Sauces in separate bowls.<br />
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Sweet Sauce<br />
Makes about 1/3 cup<br />
2 tablespoons sugar<br />
2 tablespoons white vinegar<br />
1 tablespoon soy sauce<br />
<br />
Stir together sugar, vinegar and soy sauce until sugar is dissolved. Store at room temperature no longer than 48 hours.<br />
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Hot Sauce<br />
Makes about ¼ cup<br />
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper<br />
1 tablespoon sesame oil<br />
½ teaspoon sesame seeds<br />
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Stir together pepper, oil and sesame seeds. Store at room temperature no longer than 48 hours. Stir just before serving.<br />
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The pace of the evening then slowed down a bit, as the remaining courses all required some last-minute prep. Fortunately, the kitchen was adjacent to the dining area, separated only by wide counter, so Pathological Entertainer could still enjoy the company and conversation while she finished up the mains.<br />
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We started with the Diamond shrimp, and they were a show-stopper. Chef Spouse and I weren't sure that the bread croutons would stay stuck as they fried, but we had forgotten that ground up shrimp is basically fish glue, and it worked like a charm.<br />
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Pathological Entertainer then stir-fried the gai lan <i>a la minute </i>and served it with the Ma Po bean curd.<br />
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Then it was on to the sweet and sour pork, accompanied by the carrots and zucchini.<br />
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Then it was the <i>piece de resistance</i>: the Shanghai duck with sesame pancakes, hoisin, and green onions (and like a dummy I forgot to take a picture, at least in part because I was stuffed and possibly a little drunk by that point).<br />
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Some of the guests had made candied walnuts to accompany dessert, which is also traditional, and which we enjoyed.<br />
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I will say that, giant food babies aside, a good time was agreed to have been had by all when the party broke up well after midnight, and we're already planning our next trip for next spring, likely taking on Moroccan cooking, which is another passion of Pathological Entertainer's and to which I can at least bring the experience of having EATEN my way through Morocco.<br />
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<br />Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-49723811642756012192017-05-29T13:26:00.000-04:002017-05-29T13:26:39.423-04:00Food Lab 39: Burnt SugarBecause Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee have been providing long-term shelter for a homeless Big Green Egg, we've gotten pretty good at making real smoked barbecue. What we haven't done - at least not until this weekend - is played around with sauces.<br />
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According to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue_sauce#United_States">rather informative Wikipedia article</a> on the topic, there are several major types:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>A basic vinegar sauce (East versus West Carolina coming down to: does it include any tomato products or not) - recipe from Garden & Gun's The Southerner's Cookbook</li>
<li>Memphis/Kansas City - tomato products, sugar, vinegar, spices - recipe from same</li>
<li>Texas - still uses tomato products, but thinner, with meat drippings and/or smoked flavors (plus, in our case, bourbon) - recipe from the Reata Cookbook </li>
<li>South Carolina - the famous mustard-based sauce - recipe also from The Southerner's Cookbook</li>
</ul>
<br />
We skipped the Florida sauce, which is similar to Memphis, only with tropical fruit added, and the Alabama sauce, because mayo does NOT belong in barbecue sauce.<br />
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Mad Kitchen Scientist procured the squeals (pork shoulder and ribs), and Chef Spouse and I procured the squawks (chicken and duck).<br />
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The pork shoulder went into the Egg and the ribs went into a low, slow oven early in the morning.<br />
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When Chef Spouse and I arrived, after making us a round of juleps, he spatchcocked the birds while The Executive Committee and I started on the sauces.<br />
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Here's the thing about barbecue sauces: aside from the Texas version, which had to simmer for two hours pre-bourbon and one more hour after, they make up in no time. The vinegar sauces you just mix. The Memphis style sauce cooked for about 20 minutes, and the South Carolina mustard sauce only cooked for 10. In short, there is NO reason to buy that bottled shit from the grocery store.<br />
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The shoulder came off the Egg after several hours to finish in the oven.<br />
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Meanwhile, Mad Kitchen Scientist upped the heat in the Egg and on went the birds. We did make a tactical error: the duck should've gone on before the chicken. Although it was up to temperature on the instant read thermometer at about the same time as the chicken (remembering, of course, that duck doesn't need to get as high), it hadn't really had enough time to break down its tougher connective tissue or render as much of its delicious fat as it needed. (So they kept the legs and we brought home the breasts, which we sliced up and quickly seared in a hot pan to top an entree salad for dinner the following night, which worked great, and the smoke flavor was outstanding.)<br />
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Finally, the ribs came out of the oven, we painted them by thirds with the Texas, Memphis, and South Carolina sauces, and they finished on the Egg, too.<br />
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The vinegar sauces really are just vinegar, salt and pepper, a little ketchup (or not), and hot red pepper flakes. They're intended as dipping sauces, but we all felt that they might make better marinades - and that they'd also benefit from the addition of some fish sauce, which of course, basically turns them into nuoc mam.<br />
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South Carolina mustard sauce:<br />
<br />
1 tsp vegetable oil<br />
1 generous TBSP grated white onion with liquid<br />
2 cloves garlic, minced<br />
1 c. French's yellow mustard<br />
1/2 c cider vinegar<br />
1/4 c honey<br />
2 TBSP brown sugar<br />
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce<br />
1 tsp lemon juice<br />
1 tsp black pepper<br />
1 tsp red pepper flakes<br />
1/2 tsp celery seed<br />
1 tsp hot sauce<br />
<br />
Heat the oil to medium in a medium saucepan. Saute the onion and garlic briefly, add all the other ingredients, raise the heat until bubbles starts breaking the surface, stirring frequently, simmer for 10 minutes.<br />
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Memphis sauce<br />
<br />
1 1/2 c ketchup<br />
1/2 c Sriracha<br />
1/3 c cider vinegar<br />
1 TBSP tomato paste<br />
1 TBSP Ancho chili powder<br />
1 tsp dry yellow mustard<br />
3 garlic cloves pounded to a paste (use your mortar and pestle)<br />
2 generous TBSP grated white onion with liquid<br />
2 TBSP brown sugar<br />
1 TBSP smoked paprika<br />
<br />
Combine everything in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, stirring frequently, simmer for 20 minutes.<br />
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Texas sauce<br />
<br />
1 1/2 c ketchup<br />
1/3 c tomato sauce<br />
3/4 c Worcestershire sauce<br />
1 1/2 TBSP allspice (too much - probably cut to about 2 tsp)<br />
1 TBSP dry yellow mustard<br />
1/2 tsp cayenne (next time, I'd probably go more like 1 tsp)<br />
1/3 c white wine vinegar (I'd probably replace with cider)<br />
1/4 c lemon juice<br />
1 1/2 TBSP garlic powder<br />
3/4 c brown sugar<br />
1/4 c white sugar<br />
2 c water<br />
1/4 tsp salt<br />
1 1/2 TBPS black pepper<br />
<br />
Combine everything in a large saucepan, simmer two hours.<br />
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Bourbon variant<br />
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After the initial two hour cook, add 1 c. bourbon and another 1/2 c. brown sugar, simmer for another hour.<br />
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With regards to the thicker sauces, all of us had low expectations of the mustard sauce, but it turned out to be my favorite. My second favorite was the Memphis style, mostly because we replaced the Heinz chili sauce the recipe called for (which is really not very spicy) with Sriracha. Now we're talking! The Texas sauce was good, but we all felt the recipe used too much allspice and the version we used DIDN'T call for drippings, so we didn't use them, and I think it would've been better with.<br />
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Of course we needed something to eat all this delicious smoked meat on, so I suggested homemade potato rolls. I used to make potato bread all the time, but I've moved more to French bread and rustic loaves that use sourdough, have long rise times, and form their own gluten structure so don't require being cooked in pans. Potato bread - or rolls - basically consists of brioche to which you've added cooked potato. It really is delicious, to the point that Mad Kitchen Scientist thinks he may replace his traditional holiday milk rolls with <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/potato-rolls-recipe-1928395">something like this</a>.<br />
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We did have some veg too - in addition to the home-pickled cabbage (red and white variants) shown above, Chef Spouse has lately been obsessed with crispy (aka deep fried) kale. He keeps trying to do it on the stove top at home, and I keep pointing out that that is highly dangerous because of the amount of water in kale, and that it really needs to be done in the deep fryer. Two problems there, though: one is going through the hassle of getting out and setting up the deep fryer, the other is that you're going to have to change the oil after. We were about due to change the oil, though, so we brought the deep fryer along. I was right, of course, and one of the key things to note is to load the basket with kale, get it into the fryer but not down into the oil, PUT THE LID ON, and then lower the basket. Much safer.<br />
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We also started something that won't show up for another month or so (not homemade sausage again, and no fair guessing), so you'll have to check back later to find out how that turned out.<br />
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<br />Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-2525891184040729842017-04-04T18:25:00.002-04:002017-04-04T18:25:24.868-04:00Food Lab 38: DolceA few weeks ago, Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee were at their neighborhood trattoria. As the dessert cart rolled by, they were inspired by what they saw (and by a recent article in the Washington Post on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/nobody-doesnt-like-cannoli--unless-theyve-had-a-soggy-one/2017/02/24/bb88f496-f95d-11e6-9845-576c69081518_story.html?utm_term=.283d0a640554">making cannoli from scratch</a>) and proposed Italian desserts, aka "dolce," as our next lab.<br />
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We started out with a pretty extensive list: profiteroles, semolina cake (torta della Nonna), cannoli, biscotti, and tiramisu (with homemade madeleines as the base, natch).<br />
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Day of, we realized we needed to scale back a smidge, so we went with biscotti, torta della Nonna, and cannoli.<br />
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Let me start with the biscotti. I make biscotti all the time. In fact, when Mad Kitchen Scientist proposed it, he was a little sheepish, because he knows I don't really need the practice. But The Executive Committee loves it, and he doesn't regularly make it, so he wanted a quick workshop.<br />
<br />
Base:<br />
2 c. flour<br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened<br />
1 c sugar<br />
2 large eggs<br />
<br />
If you want a chocolate base - and I often do - go with 1 3/4 c. flour, 1/2 c. cocoa powder, and 5 TBSP butter.<br />
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Flavorings<br />
3/4 c. "chunky" flavorings (nuts, dried fruit)<br />
1/2 - 1 tsp appropriate extracts (vanilla, almond, anise, etc.)<br />
1-2 Tbsp appropriate herbs/spices (lemon or orange zest, lavender, thyme, etc.)<br />
<br />
You can flavor the base pretty much any way you like. We went with hazelnuts and blood orange zest. I usually do chocolate with almonds, or plain with pistachios and dried cherries. But really you can use any flavors you like.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You think they look good? You should've SMELLED them!</td></tr>
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I think this recipe, with butter, is superior to those without. It may not be as "traditional," but the dough is much easier to handle than egg-only biscotti.<br />
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You form two "logs" and bake at 350 for 35 minutes, rotating your baking sheet once. Then you cool for ~10 minutes, cut into 1/2 inch slices and bake again at 325 for 15 minutes, flipping your cookies over once.<br />
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The great thing about biscotti is that, since it's pre-stale due to the double baking, it keeps pretty much forever.<br />
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For the torta della Nonna and the cannoli, of course we had to kick it up a notch and use homemade ricotta cheese. Every time we've tried to make cheese prior to this, it's been a disaster. Sounds like an excellent lab project! And this time it worked! I think that's because ricotta is really easy (seriously - <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/homemade-ricotta-cheese-51244020">this is the recipe/process we used</a>, and it could not be more simple) and we weren't trying to do 14 other things at the same time. Also, we were only one cocktail in, which may have helped.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check it out! Cheese!</td></tr>
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Speaking of cocktails, we had done a mini-lab about 6 weeks ago where we informally messed around with making homemade bitters. We had planned to do a full-on bitters lab, and then realized we were missing some key ingredients that you seem to need to order online. So we made simple grapefruit bitters and lavender bitters.<br />
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That second featured prominently in a Chef Spouse-d-up version of an Aviation. I love me an Aviation any time: gin, lemon, maraschino, float of Creme de Violette (which gives it it's lovely color). Keeping to our "no egg white left behind!" motto, Chef Spouse added the extra egg white generated by our other activities and topped it off with a bit of the lavender bitters. 'Cause we're fancy like that.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigT8BX2YptuuTaRptnR4j-W3wc7wEnh1V5wlN7myum4kk8nD-BFxp-_myptg_UV6vlM-GkThGIR9KnH75HsP2bgSgWd1BWaO8Z3s8pHQk-YDXO9bV-5GAAF2K-JmdIGQrvBgijIftzfMg/s1600/IMG_4501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigT8BX2YptuuTaRptnR4j-W3wc7wEnh1V5wlN7myum4kk8nD-BFxp-_myptg_UV6vlM-GkThGIR9KnH75HsP2bgSgWd1BWaO8Z3s8pHQk-YDXO9bV-5GAAF2K-JmdIGQrvBgijIftzfMg/s320/IMG_4501.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First round, side view<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj659Xz8WvbL6NlqUbyDqk5YMsp3XUXPKNZ_gAeKg8Rr5n2cXUvmPCsEfsI6s2YUhf6Fm-ZGQ7Ocm9mlPijbEMS_S2RrzQudMeSWs_WO2_XDT3bPwPnLQ6F2c4v2d5Zw1YEOyYwCO6MVIA/s1600/IMG_4502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj659Xz8WvbL6NlqUbyDqk5YMsp3XUXPKNZ_gAeKg8Rr5n2cXUvmPCsEfsI6s2YUhf6Fm-ZGQ7Ocm9mlPijbEMS_S2RrzQudMeSWs_WO2_XDT3bPwPnLQ6F2c4v2d5Zw1YEOyYwCO6MVIA/s320/IMG_4502.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First round, top view</td></tr>
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For our torta della Nonna, we used <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/littlebakersfprintablerecipes/home/torta-della-nonna-italian-grandmother-s-ricotta-tart">Little Baker SF's recipe</a>, replacing 1/2 c. of the all-purpose flour in the pastry with semolina flour and omitting the raisins in the filling. You probably could make the pastry in a mixer, but super-pasta-maker Chef Spouse followed the instructions and did it by hand:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6Ez7d13G6_-n8RX1KsltsiMUN_XtLF6zUauqB6y6Cm1cZKltAzNTqDv_z8_xf4suTcvEpf6-o0NR7epBJlHXHIQZFHyrPx554DvAeFDBuQTqAp6GXEV9j1-hq9yo-a41pxAyq2BMxwg/s1600/IMG_4511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6Ez7d13G6_-n8RX1KsltsiMUN_XtLF6zUauqB6y6Cm1cZKltAzNTqDv_z8_xf4suTcvEpf6-o0NR7epBJlHXHIQZFHyrPx554DvAeFDBuQTqAp6GXEV9j1-hq9yo-a41pxAyq2BMxwg/s320/IMG_4511.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mad skillz, he has dem</td></tr>
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Meanwhile, I worked on the filling. It's a little bit like making pate au choux, where you're looking for the filling to get smooth and pull away from the sides of the pan and then you get it off the heat quick because it's ready. We *did* push the ricotta through a fine sieve, and I guess if we were REAL Labbers, we'd have made TWO cakes to see if it made a difference, but we didn't have enough homemade ricotta for that.<br />
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The pasty was super easy to handle - lots of fat and we'd replaced some of the regular flour with semolina, as I mentioned above, so no toughening gluten problems, and the tart pan had a sharp enough edge that I was able to get a neat edge just by pressing the dough against the edge of the pan and removing the excess. Of course we added the almonds to the top.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVcUS2ElrvNQo8IsgzQroDmH6wab5OG_1Xm1v5-qYA_6I0-3FfhnBypGkWHlKYdVCOiC4pY2oqDe9QrY_iVgsRkwuzZvExq7TkyDcwRycG7AgKrC6Wke4tR6-kmrf84knpf0J3OhQ5n6k/s1600/fullsizeoutput_1923.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVcUS2ElrvNQo8IsgzQroDmH6wab5OG_1Xm1v5-qYA_6I0-3FfhnBypGkWHlKYdVCOiC4pY2oqDe9QrY_iVgsRkwuzZvExq7TkyDcwRycG7AgKrC6Wke4tR6-kmrf84knpf0J3OhQ5n6k/s320/fullsizeoutput_1923.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty pretty!</td></tr>
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Which brings us to the cannoli. I will tell you, making cannoli by hand is a labor of love (otherwise known as a pain in the ass). The funny thing is, although we were inspired by the Post article, we didn't use their recipe - we used <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/88849/cannoli/">the one at AllRecipes</a>.<br />
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The dough is easy enough to bring together, particularly if you use a food processor to chop in the butter (NOT SHORTENING - why would you NOT use butter in dessert, yo?) before you add the liquids. It didn't need to be kneaded anywhere near 10 minutes, and in fact, you should NOT do that because you're not trying to create a strong gluten structure. Just the opposite, as you'll see in a minute.<br />
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You also ABSOLUTELY do NOT want to run the dough to your thinnest pasta roller setting, at least not if you're using the Kitchen Aid pasta roller. Number 4 of the 7 settings - the midpoint - was correct, and yes, we know because we labbed that. Chef Spouse, the aforementioned pasta master, took care of the pasta rolling duties and found that he did have to handle the dough gently or it would stick and bunch up.<br />
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Then I cut the circles, then he wrapped them on the forms. Two tips there: one, be generous with your flour sprinkles when handling the rolled-out dough. It helps the fried cannoli slide off the forms more easily. Two, do NOT get any of the egg white you're using to seal the cannoli edge on the forms or you will NEVER get the fried cannoli off - well, at least not without shattering them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrlGAlOtaPwRNM6N_OhGaxYz1L1wRK46outjsbseK7ojNXOx8BP7yUAm7UMxIbWmCuIFVaodpbky6sKtJ6EkWzO9X8QBlIwmjVr-p4yHYK2swepeTYab7SQUc3VbibN1ZYPNW_2mnLeE/s1600/IMG_4513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRrlGAlOtaPwRNM6N_OhGaxYz1L1wRK46outjsbseK7ojNXOx8BP7yUAm7UMxIbWmCuIFVaodpbky6sKtJ6EkWzO9X8QBlIwmjVr-p4yHYK2swepeTYab7SQUc3VbibN1ZYPNW_2mnLeE/s320/IMG_4513.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for the fryer</td></tr>
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Mad Kitchen Scientist handled the frying, and worked out a technique using tongs, a chop stick, and an oven mitt to manipulate them in the hot oil and get the cannoli quickly off the forms. Which is another tip: you need to get a hot cannoli off the forms immediately or they start to stick. And then The Executive Committee would wash and dry the forms so we could start over, because you need perfectly clean forms or, once again, the cannoli stick.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMMKItF5MOj0jCJoo00c7XZuoDBZv9iQNWQ6RHPkw1hMR3Q6HYBEhh5-kjRVp8MfjJagRCo5DT8DjdPS1f8UyPhduX4yxIsU2fKizN7OJ9gGzdW1-yj3qO68p87UD2xuiM8-IZ6FqPFs/s1600/IMG_4514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMMKItF5MOj0jCJoo00c7XZuoDBZv9iQNWQ6RHPkw1hMR3Q6HYBEhh5-kjRVp8MfjJagRCo5DT8DjdPS1f8UyPhduX4yxIsU2fKizN7OJ9gGzdW1-yj3qO68p87UD2xuiM8-IZ6FqPFs/s320/IMG_4514.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out of the fryer</td></tr>
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Did I mention you can only fry about 3-4 at a time? And did you notice that we had an assembly line going that involved all of us? Also, once you're rolled out the dough once, the gluten gets activated and you can't roll it again without a fridge rest to get it to relax. Of course, on the first pass with all dough, we ended up making about two dozen cannoli and still had half the dough leftover, so you get plenty from the recipe. By that point, we were tired of rolling and cutting and sealing and frying and draining and washing and drying, so we decided that the rest of the dough could definitely be tightly wrapped and frozen to roll another day. Plus we wanted to EAT the stuff we'd made.<br />
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The rest of the homemade ricotta that was leftover from the torta della Nonna went into the cannoli filling. We skipped the chocolate bits, but we DEFINITELY added the Cointreau (and some heavy cream, because the homemade ricotta was a little drier than commercial).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ1NYvQaSV7Rkv4FAHs0O2gKT45iw4tr59GTq2K9c4dJkuhM6pOpAGrI-niPWjCb9qD7Vsne5SqAlV53m3EzkyQF4lv8O09yYH9SYLV_SGBmmX3lt6I-Z28fBIri-8Y3XdpxTi3tkkf0w/s1600/IMG_4518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ1NYvQaSV7Rkv4FAHs0O2gKT45iw4tr59GTq2K9c4dJkuhM6pOpAGrI-niPWjCb9qD7Vsne5SqAlV53m3EzkyQF4lv8O09yYH9SYLV_SGBmmX3lt6I-Z28fBIri-8Y3XdpxTi3tkkf0w/s320/IMG_4518.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Of course, we accompanied our dolce with grappa and espresso. You can tell we were at a quality joint by the accompanying lemon peel, or so Mad Kitchen Scientist says, and since we were in his house, I wasn't about to dispute him.<br />
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Bella, bella, bella!<br />
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<br />Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-85449853794040631592016-12-07T11:53:00.000-05:002016-12-07T11:53:00.667-05:00Food Lab 37: CrackersMad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee host an annual New Year's Eve party, and it always has a theme, and that theme always informs the heavy hors d'oeuvres menu. Chef Spouse and I traditionally go over early in the day to help with the cooking, followed by dinner with a quality bottle of bubbles, getting ourselves and the kitchen cleaned up, and the party.<br />
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If the food theme is going to be something new, we often try to have a dry run cooking day.<br />
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Our travel schedules over most of the fall had been incompatible, so when we realized we were all available Sunday, we decided we better jump on our test cooking for New Year's Eve, which is less than a month away.</div>
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When I asked about a theme, Mad Kitchen Scientist responded that, given recent current and political events, they were thinking crackers, and *both* definitions of that would be applicable (and provide ample opportunity for tasty dips and spreads to put ON the crackers). So we decided to get together to lab homemade crackers. </div>
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Crackers, it turns out, are surprisingly easy to bake. We chose two base recipes: one with butter and one without. We made the butter-based dough first, because it was going to require a rest in the fridge before rolling out and baking. The recipe was taken from one of The Executive Committee's southern cookbooks (she's originally from Texas, ya'll):<br />
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1 1/4 c flour<br />
2 tsp curry powder<br />
1 stick butter<br />
3/4 c grated cheddar cheese<br />
2 tsp poppy seeds<br />
1 tsp black onion seeds<br />
1 egg yolk<br />
cumin seed to top<br />
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You mix the dry ingredients, cut in the butter, and add the spices, cheese, and egg yolk. We divided the recipe in half to lab cheese versus no cheese. The Executive Committee made her half - with the cheese - totally by hand, while I used the food processor, to which I've become a total convert for recipes that require cutting in butter. It really does do a more consistent job than by hand, I think, and it's certainly quicker. We both found that the dough was WAY to dry to form, so we each added about 1/4 c. of water, at which point we were able to ball them up and stash them in the fridge.<br />
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We then moved on to the non-butter recipes, and they could not be more easy. Mix - roll - cut - bake. That's it. We used the recipe from <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-crackers-at-home-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-186144">The Kitchn</a> as our base, but once again halved the recipe and made semolina rosemary and rye caraway variations. That simply involved replacing 1/3 of the regular flour with semolina or rye, and seasoning the actual crackers (in the cracker, not as a topping) with about 2 tsp. of dried rosemary or caraway seeds.<br />
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Rolling the oil-based no butter doughs to 1/8 in thick was a breeze - all that rye/semolina flour reduces the overall gluten content, so the dough is less likely to shrink back on you. We were initially cutting the crackers too large, and then we went to too small, but that's why we lab - so on New Year's Eve, they'll be just right. I don't have a pizza cutter, but my metal bench scraper worked in a pinch.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nS927vWMBBg3YIxr0ZDj6fr19tiJmIcrlbVlXzbAc3OB3jVhjwblBpzYUEu35JIQ8T5zxWtjCV5biubOjn34yS8pLoJ_TAGWktud4tSeiA-8K5IDsIol3BvRTBZTWh72J2GEj1WPTjA/s1600/IMG_4286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nS927vWMBBg3YIxr0ZDj6fr19tiJmIcrlbVlXzbAc3OB3jVhjwblBpzYUEu35JIQ8T5zxWtjCV5biubOjn34yS8pLoJ_TAGWktud4tSeiA-8K5IDsIol3BvRTBZTWh72J2GEj1WPTjA/s320/IMG_4286.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's the rye dough, and yes, I initially tried cutting the crackers with a knife. Don't do that.</td></tr>
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We brushed the tops of the some of the crackers with water and sprinkled on a little flake salt - for the rye - and regular sea salt - for the rosemary. The flake salt looks cool, but makes the crackers a little too salty. Without anything at all, though, they're not salty enough. I think the ideal thing would be to up the salt in the dough just a little.</div>
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Then you just bake for 6 minutes at 450, rotate the pans and bake for another 6 minutes, and voila: crackers. REALLY REALLY DELICIOUS crackers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBeDdWvSTR0xuMre7fOAcS0Sx1m9Mn56IPCK7sfpKJ3g9kYCQh1Sxph7YDPXl-Vm1lYAc6KAigqGrouUf6WJqpMrF22p-CpHZqENzs0OuvBvUwmTKJa68WGni6LnHBZPzBpGpmF-BWy28/s1600/IMG_4288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBeDdWvSTR0xuMre7fOAcS0Sx1m9Mn56IPCK7sfpKJ3g9kYCQh1Sxph7YDPXl-Vm1lYAc6KAigqGrouUf6WJqpMrF22p-CpHZqENzs0OuvBvUwmTKJa68WGni6LnHBZPzBpGpmF-BWy28/s320/IMG_4288.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rosemary crackers, fresh from the oven</td></tr>
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By the time we'd baked all the no-butter crackers, it was time to bring out the butter-based doughs and roll them out. The recipe recommended cutting in rounds, so we did. We tried sprinkling the tops with cumin seed before baking, but it mostly just fell off when we took them out of the oven, so I would say if you want your curry crackers to taste of cumin, put it in the dough.<br />
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Both types of butter crackers were more flaky than the non-butter ones, of course, but I didn't think there was a significant taste difference between the cheese and non-cheese versions. I think if you wanted your crackers to taste strongly of cheese, you'd need to use more (maybe reducing the butter somewhat to compensate for the extra fat?) or use a MUCH more strongly flavored cheese. Or you could just cut a slice of cheese to put on TOP of the cracker (we were eating pate we'd made from the innards of the chicken we were roasting to have for dinner).<br />
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These recipes make a lot and don't take long. Of course, with no preservatives, I'm not sure what their shelf life will be. We made them Sunday, and while they were still good last night, I'm hoping they're still good now because I'm planning to use them for the cocktail hour for the dinner party we're throwing this evening. But I suspect you could also have the dough made up, divide it, and stash some in the fridge or freezer for a while for on-demand baking.<br />
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<br />Elizabeth Engelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07848955653065119465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-58475846115469296992016-09-18T17:21:00.002-04:002017-04-04T18:33:46.175-04:00Food Lab 36: PaellaChef Spouse is not a huge shellfish fan (other than shrimp), so with him out of town, we decided that it was the perfect time to play with paella. Fortunately, Die Künstlerwranglerin and Eggman (and their offspring) were available to join us.<br />
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We decided to lab stovetop versus Green Egg (since Eggman was there). We realized that in order to lab this properly, we should use the exact same recipe for the two methods, so we were truly comparing the method rather than introducing ingredient variables.<br />
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We went with:<br />
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1/4 c olive oil<br />
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1 lb. marinated boneless chicken thighs, chunk cut about 1-2” in size, marinated in 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. dried oregano, 1 Tbsp olive oil<br />
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1 onion, diced<br />
½ green pepper, diced<br />
1 ancho pepper, diced<br />
4 cloves garlic, minced<br />
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7 oz. Spanish chorizo, sliced into ½ moons<br />
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1 c. bomba rice<br />
1 c. arborio rice (we ran out of bomba rice)<br />
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4 c. poultry stock (1/3 duck, 2/3 chicken)<br />
1 hearty pinch of saffron<br />
1 bay leaf<br />
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1/2 bunch parsley<br />
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1/2 bag of mussels<br />
16 little neck clams<br />
1/2 lb. medium shrimp (about 16)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEY1KC90HA2KanLNFm6fH4_DuH4It6DyfyVPyd4ssfnRL0Yu-RNsPczx69bnMpascqaCgOBSV28dBN5HD5ECegaeBCa2P0miar8nUOp3JE3PQA3MP7gbLJG4cPV_9XNT0Lemw6WcPBF8c/s1600/IMG_4156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEY1KC90HA2KanLNFm6fH4_DuH4It6DyfyVPyd4ssfnRL0Yu-RNsPczx69bnMpascqaCgOBSV28dBN5HD5ECegaeBCa2P0miar8nUOp3JE3PQA3MP7gbLJG4cPV_9XNT0Lemw6WcPBF8c/s320/IMG_4156.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice mise!</td></tr>
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Saute the chicken in the olive oil until it starts to brown and give you a little fond. Then add the veg and saute until the onion gets translucent. Add the chorizo and saute until it is giving up its fat. Add the rice and saute until it's fully coated with the fat, then start adding the stock. It's not risotto - you're not trying to have the rice absorb all the liquid before you put the next bit in, but you don't want your pot to overflow either.<br />
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As you start getting close to the rice being done and the stock all being absorbed, add the parsley and the shellfish. You'll want to position the mussels and clams so that the side that opens is facing down into the rice, with the hinge facing up, so that as they start to cook/open, all that goodness drops into the rice. Cook until shellfish are done (we put them all in at the same time, but the shrimp should've been put in AFTER the clams and mussels, so they got a little over cooked).<br />
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The stovetop (in cast iron, natch) started faster - the Egg was still warming up - but the Egg finished faster. I'm guessing that's because once the Egg is up to temperature, you can't really decrease it.<br />
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The stovetop paella was clearly creamier, and the Grenn Egg paella was notably smokey and crunchy. Eventually, though, we reached the caramelized sofrito that is the epitome of paella. The stovetop’s sofrito was superior, being a bit thicker and more even. But we wouldn't have kicked either to the curb for eating crackers in bed, as the saying goes.<br />
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Mad Kitchen Scientist had procured some Savory and James amontillado sherry for us, that went admirably with both versions.<br />
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Chef Spouse totally missed out.<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-81967837185267409132016-06-05T12:18:00.002-04:002017-04-04T18:36:24.402-04:00Food Lab 35: Soft-Shell CrabsIt had been some time since your faithful Food Labbers had gathered, so we set a date without a plan for the third weekend of May. As date approached, we debated what to lab. Was anything interesting showing up in people's CSA boxes? The <i>Washington Post</i> had just run a story on making bagels - maybe we should revisit that? What about paella? Or the flambe lab that got canceled? Or alliums - aren't ramps coming into season?<br />
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And then your author noticed: that weekend would be the full moon in May. Which means something else would just be coming into season: soft-shell crabs. Assuming the Maine Avenue Fish Market got them in on the first day of season, we had our topic. And they did.<br />
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WARNING: if you're squeamish, you might want to skip this particular Lab report.<br />
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I love soft-shell crabs. I love them fried, sautéed, in Spider Rolls, in sandwiches, you name it. But I'd never tried preparing them, and the rest of the Food Lab crew hadn't even eaten them much. In short, we bought a dozen and had no idea what to do with them.<br />
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Well, it turns out that prep is pretty simple: once they're cleaned and ready to cook, you lightly dredge them in spiced flour, and then deep fry, sauté in butter, or broil. Seeing as we had a dozen, we decided to try all three methods. (Spoiler alert: sauté in butter. Trust.)<br />
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The key there is: "once they're cleaned." I'll let <a href="http://whywecook.com/">Chef Smarty Pants</a> (Erica Wides) explain in more detail:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3hxdHxwPQg0" width="420"></iframe>
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Yes, you heard that right: you cut their faces off with kitchen shears. When we heard that, we kind of looked at each other like: "Um, who's going to do this?"<br />
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If you eat animals - actually, even if you don't - something has to die in order for you to live. But working with creatures you get live, which for most of us extends only to various crustaceans (lobsters, crawfish, crabs, mussels, oysters, etc.), really brings that home. It reminded us of the <a href="http://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2012/12/food-lab-19-butchering-part-1.html">lamb butchering lab</a> in some ways - confronting what it really means to eat animal protein.<br />
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In the end, Chef Spouse plucked up his courage and the kitchen shears, and did the deed. The Executive Committee had to excuse herself, Mad Kitchen Scientist stayed in the kitchen and started the cooking process - because you want to get them on the heat as soon as they're prepped - and I was the sous, helping manipulate the crabs for cleaning and then dredging them to hand over to Mad Kitchen Scientist for cooking. Many inappropriate jokes were told, but it was a sobering reminder to be thankful for creatures who die so we can live.<br />
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On a lighter note, obviously, this was not a lengthy process, so we also decided to make a batch of bagels. We used to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2016/05/10/homemade-bagel-recipe-how-to-make-the-best-bagels-at-home/">Washington Post recipe</a> proportions, but not the process. One, I kneaded the dough by hand, because come on! And we did 1/4 whole wheat flour, 3/4 regular all purpose. The WaPo's fussing about protein content is just silly - use King Arthur flour and don't worry about it. Two, we didn't do an overnight rise, but we did do two rises: one as a full boule, the other a short rise once we'd formed the bagels. Then we did the water bath, top (with combos of poppy seed, sesame seed, and onion salt), and bake as the recommended. They came out great. The barley malt syrup, which you can order from King Arthur really does make a difference. Next time, I think what I'll do is make the dough in the evening, rise the boule in the fridge overnight, then let it come to room temp in the morning, form the bagels, do a second rise, and then water bath and bake. The longer the rise, the more complex the flavor.<br />
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It's getting to the point that no Food Lab out in Falls Church is complete without a trip to the H Mart, and this was no exception. Chef Spouse has been experimenting with ramen, and there were some ingredients he wanted he'd been unable to find in our neighborhood, and we picked up some lovely yellow mangoes to nosh on while we cooked and some artichokes and green beans to eat with the crabs and hollandaise (another lab thrown back). They also had a good deal on some beautiful mirliton (aka chayote squash) that we ended up pickling in rice wine vinegar, with black and white peppercorns, dried hot peppers, coriander seed, bay leaf, garlic, and salt.
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Of course, that left egg whites, and "no egg white left behind!" Having picked up a can of lychee nuts at H Mart, we made <a href="http://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2014/06/food-lab-29-sushi.html">lychee rickies</a> to start with, and, once we had the egg whites, lychee silver fizzes - basically just a regular silver fizz with a little lychee syrup in the mix and lychee nuts as garnish.<br />
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We had also picked up some salmon and cod at the fish market where we started the salting process for <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/04/how-to-make-gravlax-cured-salmon.html">lox, gravlax, and salt cod</a>, and Mad Kitchen Scientist had made lemon lavender sorbet in the morning for us to enjoy after our crabs.<br />
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Even with the somewhat gruesome prep method, would I do soft-shells at home again? Yes. But I'm not going to lie when I say it's definitely less disturbing to order them in a restaurant.<br />
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<!-- AddThis Button END -->Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-29308284290877451042016-03-27T19:09:00.001-04:002017-04-04T18:36:51.074-04:00Food Lab 34: Sugar SyrupsAs any cocktail aficionado knows, many cocktails benefit from the addition of a little something sweet. Whether it's to curb the booziness of an old fashioned or absinthe frappe, to tame the bitterness of a Sazerac, or to take the edge off the citrus tartness of a margarita, a little sweet can nicely balance other flavors. And if you start keeping a container of basic simple syrup (1:1 ratio sugar to water, cooked until the sugar dissolves) in your fridge, you will find additional uses for it: sweetening iced beverages, taking the edge of a vinaigrette that's too sharp, etc.<br />
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So simple syrup makes a good starting point for sweetening your cocktails. But what other options are there? Partially inspired by The Executive Committee having read <a href="http://imbibemagazine.com/how-to-make-simple-syrups/">a piece in Imbibe magazine on the topic</a>, we decided to try to find out.<br />
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Now, there are some classic pairings: agave nectar in a margarita, the sugar cube drip of an absinthe fountain or Sazerac, the bitters-saturated-and-then-pulverized sugar cube of my favorite take on an old fashioned, double syrup in a mint julep. But Imbibe opened all our eyes to other possibilities. So we set up some comparative taste tests.<br />
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Batch 1 - multi-ingredient<br />
Orgeat (commercial Fee Brothers versus homemade, from the Imbibe article)<br />
Grenadine (commercial Rose's versus homemade, similar to <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-grenadine-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-187983">this</a>)<br />
Molasses syrup - 1 c sugar, 1/2 c water, 1 TBSP molasses<br />
Ferrnet syrup - using the Imbibe technique<br />
Barley syrup - using the Imbibe technique<br />
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Batch 2 - simple syrups (1:1 ratio) using various granulated sugars<br />
Brown sugar<br />
Turbinado sugar<br />
Palm sugar<br />
Demerara sugar<br />
Coconut sugar<br />
White sugar - double syrup (two sugar to one water)<br />
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Batch 3 - syrups we could use pretty much as is<br />
Karo (aka corn syrup)<br />
Honey (which we did end up making into a cooked syrup to keep it from getting too thick to emulsify into cocktails)<br />
Agave nectar<br />
Maple syrup<br />
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One thing to be aware of is that different substances have different amounts of sugar per TBSP. We couldn't get precise measurements for all our ingredients, but those we could included:<br />
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Karo: 10g sugar/TBSP<br />
Turbinado: 12g sugar/TBSP<br />
Maple syrup: 13g sugar/TBSP<br />
Molasses: 14g sugar/TBSP<br />
Coconut: 16g sugar/TBSP<br />
Agave nectar: 16g sugar/TBSP<br />
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We then tasted everything straight. Yes, that was a LOT of tasting of sugar. Don't tell my dentist.<br />
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Orgeat: homemade didn't taste enough of almonds and was too thin, but in comparison, the commercial was VERY sweet. The viscosity was nice for cocktail applications, though.<br />
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Grenadine: homemade wins, hands down. Commercial tastes chemical in comparison.<br />
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Molasses syrup *really* tasted like molasses, but it was quite good and did well in cocktails (see below).<br />
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The Fernet syrup was DELICIOUS all by itself AND in cocktails. I've been wanting an excuse to start keeping Fernet in the house, and I think now I have it.<br />
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The barley syrup was light, nutty, and not quite as sweet. That subtleness was somewhat lost in cocktails.<br />
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Of the various granulated sugars, the double syrup is, of course, very sweet, but it also has a really nice viscosity that lends a good mouth-feel to cocktails. It would be good for applications where you want concentrated sweetness without watering things down - so drinks like highballs, that are going to be served over ice (Tom Collins, rickeys, etc.). The turbinado sugar syrup tasted like molasses, while the palm sugar had very caramel-y notes. The demerara was basically identical to the brown sugar.<br />
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Of the ingredients that started as syrups, the Karo/corn syrup was the least sweet and the thickest, so it would be good in applications where you wanted a thicker mouth-feel with less sweetness (say, a vinaigrette). The honey syrup was kind of a bust - you lost the honey-ness of the honey, and it basically just seemed like regular simple syrup. The agave nectar was quite sweet, as you might guess from the table above, and the maple syrup tasted of itself.<br />
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We then tried out some cocktails:<br />
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<a href="http://imbibemagazine.com/milano-sour-recipe/">Milano sour</a> - here's the thing. The recipe includes straight Fernet Branca, so you didn't really taste a difference in different syrups, because the Fernet masked it.<br />
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Vodka sour - 2 vodka, 2 lemon, 1 grenadine (homemade versus commercial) - the homemade won in a landslide<br />
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Rum sour - 2 Mount Gay rum, 2 lime, and then we tested<br />
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Palm sugar<br />
Coconut sugar<br />
Double simple syrup<br />
Molasses syrup<br />
Agave nectar<br />
Fernet syrup<br />
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The molasses was the hands-down winner. The double was the sweetest, of course, and palm versus coconut didn't make much of a difference. Nor did the agave, surprisingly. The Fernet syrup was also outstanding. The "darker" flavors of both the Fernet and molasses syrups seemed to play very well with the rum.<br />
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<a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/01/cold-spring-cocktail-meyer-lemon-cognac-recipe.html">Cold Spring cocktail</a> - we had gotten some Meyer lemons from the CSA, so we decided to make the most of that. Now, this is basically a sidecar, so we decided to go with molasses versus maple. They were both good, although with the molasses syrup, you could tell what the sweetener was, where with the maple syrup, you really couldn't. That is, the cognac masked the distinct flavor of the maple syrup, so all you got was the sweetness.<br />
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Old fashioned - Bullet rye and angostura bitters, then we tested:<br />
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Fernet syrup - CLEAR winner (at least to me)<br />
Double simple syrup - cocktail turned out too sweet<br />
Palm sugar - caramel notes came out<br />
Orgeat (both homemade and commercial) - homemade was too subtle, and while you got the almond from the commercial, it was also WAY too sweet<br />
Barley syrup - very light and well-integrated cocktail<br />
Maple syrup - the distinct taste came through clearly, and it was overly sweet<br />
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One other thing became very apparent through all this cocktail taste-testing. While we were focused on sugars and sweetness, bitters are the key to a great cocktail. But you probably already knew that.<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-19228316683412926482015-08-24T18:29:00.000-04:002017-04-04T18:39:37.330-04:00Food Lab 32: ChorizoNo, I did not get the numbers out of order. As I'd mentioned in my last Food Lab post, we had made something that required aging. Well, the wait is over. We successfully dry aged sausage and didn't kill anyone!<br />
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Some of our out of town friends were visiting and wanted to see how sausage is made. Having successfully made sausage a few times, we decided to up the ante, with fresh Mexican chorizo and dried Spanish chorizo.<br />
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For the Mexican chorizo, we started with the recipe at <a href="http://honestcooking.com/authentic-homemade-mexican-chorizo/">honestcooking.com</a>. What did we lab? The vinegar: cider versus white wine versus red wine versus sherry. Of course, Mexican chorizo is also intended to be fresh sausage style, so we didn't stuff it in casings. When we fried up the patties, we discovered that structural integrity was an issue (the pork shoulder we got from the McLean Organic Butcher may have been higher fat than the recipe stipulated).<br />
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You might think that the sherry would be the winner, and that's actually what The Executive Committee preferred, although the rest of us preferred red wine vinegar. We also pretty quickly realized that we needed to up the red pepper flakes. And we'd forgotten the garlic in the test batch. Oops! We corrected that in the full batches, which we made with red wine vinegar and a Tbsp of crushed red pepper flakes for each pound of meat.<br />
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But that wasn't the real test - the real test was making Spanish style chorizo. We started with the same base recipe, but divided the paprika between sweet and smoked, added cayenne, used sherry vinegar, and DOUBLED the salt.<br />
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And then we stuffed them.<br />
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And then Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee hung them to cure in their basement for about two months. Yes, really. Raw meat.<br />
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When they were finally ready, we decided that we'd have to try eating them together. If we were going to go down to food poisoning and/or botulism, we were going as a group. So we gathered this weekend for an evening of eating raw meat we'd dry cured ourselves, making paella, and planning our upcoming foodie trip to Italy this fall (more about that in a future post).<br />
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The first thing we did was slice up one of the sausages and eat it. And we all survived! And it was DELICIOUS.<br />
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When none of us had dropped over dead immediately, we celebrated with white peach sangria, paella, and flan.<br />
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The sangria was very loosely based on <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/white-peach-sangria-recipe.html">this recipe</a>, although I reduced the pineapple juice by about half, and the simple syrup by about 3/4. I was using berries and mango as the additional fruit, rather than apples and pears, and I thought it would be too sweet otherwise. And instead of goosing it with brandy, I used anjeo tequila. When I served it, I topped it with a little champagne, since I think white sangria benefits from bubbles.<br />
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The paella was loosely based on <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/authentic-spanish-paella-148172">this recipe</a>. We substituted chicken for the rabbit, mostly because we had a chicken and were too lazy to go over to Eastern Market for a rabbit. We didn't like the idea of using green beans, so we used some gorgeous red and green poblano peppers I had from the CSA, and we used far more than a "pinch" of saffron. It was also delicious, but it makes A LOT. We were each left with two quarter containers of paella leftovers. I know what I'll be having for lunch this week. The method is very similar to making risotto, which is logical when you think about it: force a lot of yummy liquid into a short grain rice, add tasty goodness in the form of meat and/or veg, and eat. <br />
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In keeping with the Spanish theme, we decided we needed to make some flan, too, based on this <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spanish-flan/">extremely simple recipe</a>. Interestingly, they have you caramelize the sugar without any water. You have to go slow and keep an eye on it, but it got to a lovely dark brown color without any danger of burning, so I have to say that I recommend it. It didn't call for any salt, which I thought was bogus, so I added about a teaspoon. We baked in individual flan cups rather than one big pan, so we did the water bath method even though the recipe doesn't call for it, and cut the cook time back to about 40 minutes. It was probably about 5 minutes too long, or perhaps the specified temperature is a bit too high (Mad Kitchen Scientist said he's usually done flan at 300 rather than 350), so it was a little more firm that ideal, but still quite tasty.<br />
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I don't know that I would necessarily recommend attempting to dry age your own sausage to everyone. There is a very real risk of serious illness. If you're going to do it, make sure to use top quality meat, don't be shy with the spices or salt, and watch the sausages carefully as they dry. If anything feels, looks, or smells off, don't hesitate to dump them. That said, life is risk and this one was deliciously worth it.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-20882033214836361712015-08-03T16:18:00.002-04:002019-05-05T10:32:37.453-04:00Food Lab 33: ThaiIf it's the case that the motto of Cajun cooking is "first, you make a roux," (and it is), I would say that it's equally true that the motto of Thai cooking is "first, you make a paste."
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This weekend, the Food Lab crew gathered for some experiments in Thai cooking. The idea was inspired by International Dilettante's international travels. Unfortunately, she and Dr. Fruit Bat were unable to join us (although they will be part of a fabulous trip to <a href="http://www.29vsl.com/home">Villa San Lorenzo</a> in the Piedmont region of Italy with us this fall).<br />
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In our previous experiments with regional cooking, we've discovered that, while the techniques may be unfamiliar, they're not generally complicated. The key, as our previous Rick Bayless / Diana Kennedy-inspired <a href="http://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2014/01/food-lab-26-mole.html">mole</a> and Hana Market-inspired <a href="http://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2014/06/food-lab-29-sushi.html">sushi</a> labs have demonstrated, is quality ingredients. But where to find quality for Thai cooking in the DC area?<br />
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Fortunately, Mad Kitchen Scientist and The Executive Committee live in a suburban neighborhood with a large southeast Asian population, near the appropriately-named Grand Mart. We went a little crazy - as we tend to do - and walked out laden with bags full of delicious ingredients we then proceeded to spend all afternoon and part of the evening cooking at a shockingly low price.<br />
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This was more of a "cooking together" experiment than a lab per se. That is, we weren't taking a technique or ingredient and trying to perfect it. We were just trying to learn some of the mechanics of Thai cooking and make food that tasted good.<br />
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We were assisted in this endeavor by David Thompson's encyclopedic tome <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Thai-Food-David-Thompson/dp/1580084621"><i>Thai Food</i></a>, which Mad Kitchen Scientist received as a groomsman's gift from Dr. Fruit Bat many years ago. Seeing as it is a published and copyrighted book, I will not be sharing the specific details of the recipes we made, although if you are interested in Thai cuisine, I can highly recommend it.<br />
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As per usual, when we actually unpacked our haul, we realized we'd purchased too much. There was no way all that veg was going to fit into one curry! So Mad Kitchen Scientist quick stir-fried the lovely Chinese broccoli we'd picked up with some hoisin sauce, ginger, and garlic, for a snack while we planned our attack.<br />
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Course one: Thai cucumber salad<br />
Course two: Green papaya salad<br />
Course three: Pork satay<br />
Course four: larb gai<br />
Course five: veg green curry and steamed sticky rice<br />
Course six: fresh coconut, fresh lychee nuts, sugar plums, jackfruit<br />
Course seven: coconut milk ice cream<br />
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Chef Spouse and I have tried making the Thai cucumber salad before, and it's never turned out right. He thinks the problem is that we've been using white wine vinegar rather than rice vinegar (or ideally coconut - which we couldn't find at Grand Mart and appears to be something we'd have to make ourselves if we want it, and yes, <i>Thai Food</i> does have a recipe). I'd argue that it's because we've been going WAY too wimpy on the chiles. The long-leaf Thai coriander might make a difference, too, and using shallots rather than re onion. Regardless, this was DELICIOUS, even if Chef Spouse and The Executive Committee proclaimed it "too hot!"<br />
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The green papaya salad was my first "make a paste" dish, which is in fact what you start with. Mad Kitchen Scientist had already ground up all the ingredients for the green curry, but he cheated and used a mini food processor. I ground my damn paste with my damn mortar and pestle. He declared that I had more dedication. Damn right. One of the things that was interesting about Thompson's method for the green papaya salad is that he had you grind some snake beans and cherry tomatoes into the paste, and then combine it with the shredded green papaya and lightly mash it all together, with a liquid made of "tamarind water" and fish sauce. We couldn't quite figure out what "tamarind water" was, so we dissolved some tamarind paste in water. Seemed to work, and a gentle hand with the pestle turned out to be perfect for the mashing. Once again, delicious, authentic, and, for our two supertasters, "too hot!"<br />
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Why does anyone ever make satay with chicken? Seriously. My thoughts about chicken are <a href="http://foodlab4t.blogspot.com/2014/11/food-lab-30-chicken.html">well-known</a>, but EVERYONE agreed with me. Once again, this was one of those "we've tried making this before and been disappointed at the results." Not this time. "First, you make a paste..." and the recipe made a ton of the peanut sauce/marinade, which we divvied up, so Chef Spouse and I plan to have MORE satay tonight.<br />
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I feel like the larb gai was our least successful dish. We finely chopped the chicken legs and thighs we used, but I think we should've gotten out the Kitchen Aid and the grinder. Following Thompson's recipe, it was delightfully sour (due to large quantities of lime juice and fish sauce), but not spicy at all. And I think the amount of toasted ground rice was too much - it thickened too much. I'd experiment with this again, but would want to tweak some of the processing and ingredients.<br />
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Even with the mild satay and larb gai, our spicephobics were asking for us to take it easy on the final course (the fact that they both kept eating the delicious but fairly spicy cucumber salad may be to blame). So we did, and went vegetarian too, to The Executive Committee's relief (she's always the voice of trying to be reasonable, not purchase too much, and eat something green. In other words, she's the adult in the room most times). This was another "first you make a paste..." activity, which was very simply combined with coconut milk to make the sauce that went over lightly stir-fried king oyster mushrooms, Thai eggplant, Chinese okra, baby corn, and steamed sticky rice.</div>
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The fruit was interesting. If you ever get the chance to have fresh lychee, take it. Choose pink/red ones that give slightly to a gentle squeeze. Peeling them is a breeze, and they're about a million times better than the ones in the cans - and the ones in the cans are pretty good. </div>
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(We never ate that cute little yellow Chinese melon at the front - TOO FULL. The sugar plums taste like regular plums, but they're smaller, so you can just pop them in your mouth, and they have a slightly firmer texture, even though they tasted fully ripe.) </div>
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Jackfruit was an adventure. Freeing the edible part from the non-edible part is a bit of a challenge. This was the best explanation I was able to find:</div>
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And it is delicious - subtle, lovely flavor and interesting chewy texture. The one thing he neglects to mention is that it is INCREDIBLY sticky. The goo had to wear off my hands, and we had to get out Goo-B-Gone to get it off the handle of the knife.<br />
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The Executive Committee was our coconut huller. She punctured green, young, and aged coconuts to get the coconut water (which we proceeded to use in cocktails) and then bashed the coconuts open with a rock (how Robinson Crusoe of her!) and cut out the flesh. The more "seasoned" the coconut, the tastier the flesh was, so if you're not just after the water, get the dark brown version that's your prototypical image of a coconut (the dude on the left above).<br />
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Speaking of coconut, we finished with a simple coconut milk-egg-palm sugar cooked custard ice cream. And more jackfruit.<br />
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On the cocktail front, we were playing around with lime juice, coconut water, and the tamarind in various applications. Nothing really jumped out at any of us, other than the fact that Thai basil makes an excellent addition to cocktails, and anything with tequila seems to benefit from the addition of a little salt. And sweet white wines go well with spicy food. <br />
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Verdict? Don't be afraid of cuisines that are outside your normal range of cooking. But make sure you visit a Grand Mart first. <br />
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(A note to the observant: food lab 32 *is* missing. That's because some of what we made required aging, and it's not done yet. So we'll be addressing that out of order and at a future date.)<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2207343434108754517.post-44461682719804349372014-12-08T20:26:00.000-05:002017-04-04T18:51:01.402-04:00Food Lab 31: Mexi-TestYour core Food Lab team has an annual swap agreement. The Executive Committee and Mad Kitchen Scientist throw a big annual New Year's Eve party, and Chef Spouse and I go over early in the day to help cook. Chef Spouse and I throw a big annual Super Bowl party, and The Executive Committee and Mad Kitchen Scientists come over early to help cook.<br />
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The Super Bowl party is always Tex-Mex because it seems appropriate, it's easy to make for a crowd that may include some vegetarians and/or gluten-free folks, and because Chef Spouse makes rockin' guacamole and fajitas.<br />
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The New Year's Eve soiree has a different food theme every yea, but the same requirements: finger food that can be served cold or at room temperature.<br />
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This year, Chef Spouse and I will be on vacation until the day before the Super Bowl, so The Executive Committee and Mad Kitchen Scientist have graciously agreed to do the shopping and day before prep work for our Super Bowl party. Given that, the theme for New Year's Eve seemed obvious: Mexican street food. Which we decided to pre-lab this weekend, rather than just jumping in with both feet and hoping for the best day of (I think our biggest risk ever was the sushi New Year's Eve, which happened WELL before our sushi lab this summer).<br />
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So for Food Lab: Mexi-test we chose a variety of dips in preparation for New Year's Eve and chiles rellenos and jalapeno poppers in prep for the Super Bowl. Chef Spouse had to miss due to work commitments, but fortunately we had two more hands in one of Mad Kitchen Scientist's colleagues and her spouse, blog nicknames pending.<br />
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We started with a Mexican cheese taste off:<br />
<ul>
<li>Two types of Queso Blanco</li>
<li>Two types of Queso Fresca</li>
<li><a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuajada">Cuajada Casera</a> (which is fermented)</li>
<li>Queso Seco (which is queso blanco with more water removed)</li>
<li>Two types of crema - Mexican, which was thinner and more subtly flavored, and Guatemalan, which was thicker and funkier</li>
</ul>
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Conclusion: most of the flavors were pretty mild, but they were all VERY salty.<br />
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Our dip plans included:<br />
<ul>
<li>queso with chorizo</li>
<li>pumpkin seed dip (from Diana Kennedy)</li>
<li>duck confit green chile </li>
<li>haute seven-layer dip (which involved making guacamole, refried beans, two varieties of salsa, and two spiced cremas all from scratch)</li>
</ul>
The queso was simple. Pop two sausages out of their skins and brown in a cast iron skillet (that bit's key). Deglaze with a little tequila (flambe optional but recommended), then melt in a combo of queso fresca and blanco, and add a little turkey stock to help the fats from the chorizo and the cheeses emulsify. Simple and delicious.<br />
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The pumpkin seed dip (sikil pak) was a Diana Kennedy recipe.<br />
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1 cup unhulled raw pumpkin seeds<br />
1/4 c hulled raw pumpkin seeds<br />
1.5 tsp salt<br />
<br />
Roast
unhulled in a cast iron skillet until brown and toasty - add hulled and roast for one more minute, then coarse grind them and add the salt.<br />
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(Diana said all coarse grind, but on reflection, we thought it should've been half coarse, half fine - and 1.5 tsp. salt was a little too much)<br />
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Roast two whole tomatoes (skins, seeds, and all) and one jalapeno (same) under the broiler<br />
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Stick blend the tomatoes with1/3 - 2/3 c water<br />
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Fine chop the roasted jalapeno<br />
Rough chop 2 Tbsp cilantro<br />
Fine chop 2 Tbsp chives<br />
<br />
Mix
it all together and eat<br />
<br />
We removed the jalapeno seeds post-roasting, and we
probably should have left some in, because it could've been a little spicier, although it did get more spicy over time. But: delicious, and will definitely repeat for New Year's.<br />
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Duck confit green chile was an adaptation of a pork green chile Mad Kitchen Scientist usually makes.<br />
<br />
In olive oil, saute:<br />
<br />
3 cloves garlic, finely minced<br />
3/4 a small onion, finely chopped<br />
3 oz duck confit<br />
1 tsp cumin seeds<br />
two chopped jalapenos (one seeded and deveined, one whole)<br />
1 1/2 chopped poblanos<br />
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Deglaze with
brandy<br />
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Simmer w 3/4 c duck stock until the peppers are soft<br />
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Add
some cilantro and stick blend<br />
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Then last 1/2 of poblano finely chopped,
1/4 small onion minced fine, 1 seeded and deveined jalapeno minced fine, 3
oz duck confit, two small chopped tomatillos and simmer until cooked through<br />
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It also ended up less spicy than ideal, but fortunately the Nicknames Pending had brought along homemade habanero pepper sauce, so we were able to jazz it up.<br />
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In prep for the seven-layer dip, Mad Kitchen made refried beans, The Executive Committee made guacamole, I made a simple salsa verde and pico de gallo, and Nicknames Pending made two varieties of crema, one based on regular sour cream the other on the Guatemalan crema. <br />
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Both had<br />
<ul>
<li>Cayenne</li>
<li>Smoked paprika</li>
<li>Cumin</li>
<li>Coriander</li>
<li>Onion powder </li>
</ul>
All to taste, and we tested chipotle with more cayenne versus ancho with less. I liked the hotter one (of course), and the ancho was notably more smoky. <br />
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Then we put two varieties together:<br />
<br />
Refried beans<br />
Spicy crema v. smoky crema<br />
Lettuce<br />
Guacamole<br />
Pico de gallo v. salsa verde<br />
Queso fresca<br />
Chopped olives and green onions<br />
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<br />
Again, of course I preferred the spicy.<br />
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The only fail of the day was the poppers and rellenos. We labbed roasting the peppers first versus going raw. Some were filled with just a cheese mix (basically a combo of everything we had left), some were filled with the rest of the chorizo queso dip. Then we egg-washed, breaded with a combo of masa and flour, dried, and deep fried.<br />
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Basically all of them - roasted and raw - turned out too spicy for everyone, and the breading did not adhere AT ALL to the raw peppers. If we're going to do them for the Super Bowl, this is going to require at least one more test, but probably not for New Year's, because you really have to eat both of them hot.<br />
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What did we drink?<br />
<br />
Duh. Margaritas.<br />
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Mad Kitchen Scientist had made a mango shrub with pineapple vinegar and palm sugar, so that featured prominently, as did the Herrandura reposado tequila and habanero sauce Nicknames Pending brought.<br />
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YUM!<br />
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