A small victory today. I figured out how to properly temper chocolate, which is something I’ve been screwing up several times. In retrospect I had been heating the chocolate too much (in a water bath), and not agitating it enough to actually temper it properly. This time I chopped it into small pieces, set the micro to 50%, heated for 30 secs, stirred for a couple of minutes, heated for 10 more seconds, stirred for a while longer, and repeated this maybe a couple more times. I then added about a quarter that I had reserved, which act like seed crystals.
Now I just need some decent molds (the damn things are about 50 bucks here). I tried making some kind of a caramel confectionary in an egg glass, but couldn’t get the damn thing loose.
Also made some canelé, a French pastry out of Bordeaux. Pics are coming when I get home and am able to transfer pics from my DSLR. My phone pics aren’t doing them justice.
I don’t know how interesting this is, but I have a question and didn’t want to start a new thread just to ask it: I’m making my first crock pot stew in years and years. I started it last night on “simmer” and cooked it all night, and it probably won’t be ready before I have to leave for work. Can I let it continue to simmer throughout the day, or can you overcook stew in a crock pot?
The vegetables are likely to turn to mush. Luckily you have the time to perform the last and ultimate step in stew improvement. Refrigerate it all day and then reheat it for dinner. I’m not sure of the mechanism, but soups and stews are always better on day two after some time refrigerating. It gives the flavors more time to re-integrate or something.
Slap the bad boy in the fridge and reheat it later.
candide
2904
Interman I see you’ve watched the harvard lecture on chocolate :-). It was quite entertaining. Hope you have a good infrared thermometer!
Waltzer
2905
They’re about fifty bucks everywhere. Don’t skimp - the acrylic molds are worth every penny. Chocolate takes on the characteristics of whatever it cools against, visuals-wise, and if you let it cool against a dull surface it won’t be nearly as glossy as it would’ve been otherwise.
Houngan
2906
I wonder if I can do this in a pressure cooker? Yep:
Season the pork with garlic powder, salt and pepper; place into a 4 to 6 quart pressure cooker. Fill with enough water to cover. Close the lid and bring up to 15 pounds of pressure. Cook for 1 hour. Release the pressure and drain off juices, reserving about 2 cups. Shred the pork and mix with barbeque sauce, adding reserved liquid if needed to reach your desired consistency.
Funny because that’s exactly what I was going to do, take the 45 minutes I use for a roast (vs. 4 hours slow) and increase to an hour based on your cook time. I’m thinking if I sear the bejaysus out of it beforehand it can only help.
H.
Hehe yeah when I saw there was a Harvard lecture on chocolate I just decided it was time to figure out tempering for reals. Previously I was under the impression that I needed quite a lot of chocolate in order to do it properly. Depending on the method this is still true, but being able to practice with 100 gram bars is nice.
I don’t have an infrared thermometer yet, but it’s definitely on my list of kitchen gadgets to pick up.
An airbrush and a compressor are tempting purchases too. I had been wondering about the velvety effect you see in some plated desserts. In some videos I’d seen them use an airbrush, but I didn’t know about the freezing part.
Oh, and a rotoval would be neat.
You’re probably right. I’ve seen cheaper ones, but they look like crap, and are probably just going to piss me off.
RichVR
2908
While you might have a setting on your crock pot that says “keep warm” the best thing is to just turn it off and leave it. Residual heat will keep it warm for a while and eventually it will cool to room temp. Does your crock pot have a small hole in it for a thermometer? If so make a small plug out of foil and stick it in there and then cover the plug with a bit of plastic wrap.
The thing is that it’s hot enough that there will be no bacterial action for one more day that makes any difference. Refrigerating it is acceptable, but it could stay right where it is for another 8 hours without a problem.
When you get home, crack the crock pot. Warm the contents that you will use in your favorite device. Microwave on low for a few seconds or put it in a pot on your stove.
Refrigerate the rest as soon as you can.
Hmmm, sounds like you should reproduce a pot of brown like they make in flea bottom. Let it simmer nonstop for weeks and just add meat and vegetables at the same rate you eat from it.
Also, I made the grog and it turned out excellent for my new years party. Everyone agreed that it apparently tasted like apple pie, alcoholic apple pie.
Houngan
2910
Pulled Pork accomplished! I saw varying times on the internets so I settled on 1:15 at full pressure. I seared it well with a rub of salt, pepper, mustard, cumin, allspice, and onion powder. The meat was half of a Boston Butt, a volleyball-sized chunk went $15 at the store. The liquid was about 3 cups of wine, a can of chicken broth, and maybe a cup of water just to hit the level. I threw in a couple of garlic cloves and bay leaves and cooked that sumbitch. A question!
Now I need a BBQ sauce. I have roughly a liter of delicious, salty pork broth. I need to add the sweetness and acid that makes a good BBQ, what do you folks recommend? Right now it would make a phenomenal gravy for mashed potatoes but it lacks the other characteristics of a BBQ sauce. I’m thinking tomato paste might do both tricks along with a liberal amount of mustard, but I’m not sure.
Manresa
2911
Smoked Trout Deviled Eggs, for a slightly late holiday potluck at work:
Don’t skimp on the mayo!
Manresa
2912
No no no no no no no no no no no.
Storing Leftovers
One of the most common causes of foodborne illness is improper cooling of cooked foods. Because bacteria are everywhere, even after food is cooked to a safe internal temperature, they can be reintroduced to the food and then reproduce. For this reason leftovers must be put in shallow containers for quick cooling and refrigerated within 2 hours.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/how_temperatures_affect_food/index.asp
I swear I’ve seen FDA time & temperature charts for food safety & bacterial growth, but Google is failing me.
Norfair
2913
I got some venison loin steaks last month from a coworker that hunts and was looking to clean out his freezer. We decided to finally cook them New Year’s Day. We pan fried them for about a minute or two a side and then made a mushroom and red wine sauce.
Houngan
2914
Thanks you slack-jawed jackanapes, I made my own BBQ sauce without you. Tomato paste, mustard, molasses, chipotle sauce, and an alarming amount of cider vinegar added to my awesome pork stock. See if I give you a sandwich.
H.
Sorry, dude. Thought someone with stronger views on bbq would reply. Most sauces tend to have a ketchup base, with mustard, cider vinegar and spices. I like honey and cumin, garlic, chili powder, etc, to taste. But is sounds like you muddle through just fine!
Finally managed to transfer the pics from my DSLR.
“Canelé”, a French pastry from Bordeaux, which is crunchy on the outside and Grand Marnier custardy on the inside.
Black and red currants with toasted almonds & wallnuts and a sabayon sauce, which is basically egg yolks, white wine and sugar heated in a water bath and whipped up to a sauce / foam.
“Consommé”, a classic French soup where you start by making a dark stock, reduce it, clarify it, and serve. It takes time.
“Mille feuille”, puff pastry with various creams and berries.
Mushroom soup with bacon and cilantro.
“Coq au vin”, a hen in red wine & cognac stew.
Venison tenderloin cooked in a vacuum bag at 55c for an hour and then quickly browned in a pan. Sitting on a bed of (not so wild) mushroom risotto, rocket salad and parsley.
Manresa
2918
Interman: those look fantastic. An hour was long enough for the sous vide venison? Can you recommend a reference for time/temperature guidelines?
Thanks! The texture was awesome, and this was my first attempt at anything sous vide. I basically just filled up my stock pot with water, put in the metal thing used for steaming potatoes (so that the meat would be more towards the center of pot, put in a thermometer, heated to 55C, dropped in the meat, and stirring and flipping the bag occasionally. I’ll probably buy a sous vide supreme eventually, but this way worked very well for me.
As for time/temp I basically just asked a woman with far more sous vide experience than me. The cooking issues blog has some good info, and books like http://www.amazon.com/Under-Pressure-Cooking-Sous-Vide/dp/1579653510 should be useful.
Houngan
2920
Seems like someone should make a slow cooker with a sous vide capability, maybe a thin mesh grille on the bottom to keep the bag away and a magnetic stirrer. Add a temperature control and you’ve got something.
