Culinary Discussion, We could call it our House of Earthly Delights... Options

[Thomas Kaira]

...but that would be naughty, now, wouldn't it?

This is a thread for any food-related discussion. Found a nice recipe? Please share it! Is there any particular cultural cuisine you wish to discuss? Perhaps you need some help with us pesky Yanks still not adopting the metric system?

I thought our forums were missing something in the way of real down-to-earth discussion and sharing of our culinary experiences. Sure, we see them a lot in Fan-fics, but we never really get to dig into them (bad pun intended) in the same way as actually discussing this world-within-our-world can. I am seeing more and more food segments in the fan-fics that I read, so I think the time has come for us to have an honest-to-goodness culinary discussion thread.

To kick things off, I would like to share a recipe of my own concoction... Veal Osso Bucco, a Northern Italian classic.

Veal Osso Bucco & Sauce Accompaniment

Yield: 4 Portions

Ingredients
Veal Shank w/ marrow bone: 1lb
AP Flour: As Needed
Olive Oil: 2Tbsp
Butter, Clarified: 2Tbsp
Mirepoix, Standard Ratio: 1Lb
Garlic Clove: 2Ea
Red Wine: 1/2Cup
Tomatoes: 12oz
Veal Stock: 1qt
Lemon Zest: 1Tbsp
S&P: TT
Marjoram: 1tsp
*Gremolata: 1oz
-Gremolata
-Parsley: 3tsp
-Lemon Zest: 1tsp
-Garlic Clove: 1Ea

Mise en Place
-Clean, Sanitize workspace
-Gather utensils, pots, pans
-Gather ingredients
-Small Dice Mirepoix, Tomatoes
-Zest Lemons
-Mince Garlic
-Fine-Chop Parsley

Method
1. Preheat Oven 350*, add Oil, Butter to heated pot.
2. Season, brown Veal.
3. Remove Veal, add Mirepoix, Garlic, sweat.
4. Deglaze pot, Red Wine.
5. Add Tomatoes, Veal Stock, bring to simmer.
6. Return Beef to pot, add Lemon Zest, place in oven.
7. Braise, 3 to 4 hours, or until tender.
8. Remove Veal, degrease sauce
9. Reduce Sauce; thicken as needed, strain.
10. Rub Veal w/ Gremolata, return to sauce to reheat.
11. Finish w/ fresh Marjoram.
12. Garnish with Gremolata on the marrow bone.

Believe me, don't skip the marrow bone, it's really that important to this dish.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Feb 13 2011, 07:43 PM

[haute ecole rider]

Sounds interesting! You might want to further clarify what is mirepoix, for those of us whose idea of haute cuisine is adding cream of mushroom soup to ground beef and Hamburger Helper.

[Thomas Kaira]

Yes, most of my recipes are in professional format, which means you might occasionally see some chef-speak in here from time to time.

Mirepoix:

25% Carrots, 25% Celery, 50% Onion. Therefore one pound would contain 4 ounces of the orange and green, and 8 ounces of the white. Probably the most popular braising/stewing vegetable combination in the world.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Feb 13 2011, 01:51 AM

[Grits]

Quick question about number 11. Sprinkle the fresh marjoram over everything off the heat, or while reheating? And part 2 of the question, if I can't find fresh marjoram, should I use something else or wait until spring?

I like this thread!!

[Thomas Kaira]

The veal is removed from the pot so you can finish the sauce, the sauce stays on the stove. You then add the marjoram once the beef is returned to the sauce. Fresh herbs are delicate, you only want to add them at the very end of the cooking process. That is also why we add the gremolata to the veal at the very end, so we don't ruin the flavor of the parsley by cooking it to death.

As for the lack of marjoram, you could always look for "Oregano" in the grocery store. "Oregano" is actually not an herb, like most people believe, but a family of herbs. Marjoram is part of the Oregano family, so I would say anything that is also part of that family would work in a pinch.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Feb 13 2011, 07:44 PM

[haute ecole rider]

While not as good or as authentic, you can also use dried herbs (like oregano, as TK said). They are much more potent than the fresh stuff, though, so use far less. But because they're dried, they can go into the sauce at an earlier stage and cook for a little longer. I agree with TK about waiting until you're almost ready to plate the food before throwing in fresh herbs. The same is true of any green leafy stuff - spinach is one example. I like to throw in chopped broccoli into my tomato sauce at the end of cooking, and just cook until they get that lovely bright green color but still have a bit of crunch.

The idea of using fresh herbs and putting them in at the end is that you want to just barely wilt them, but you don't want to make them dark green stringy snot. Now that's an unappetizing idea!

[Olen]

I'll resurect this with a question, well a bit of an explanation then a question.

I've been trying to make a couple of American dishes with a distinct lack of success. Namely grits and cornbread. Having been a porridge eater (before my gluten allergy extended itself to oats...) I thought grits would be a good substitute, so I tried to make it like porridge (pinch of salt and twice the volume of water then boil until it's thick), but the result is foul. It's bitter, musty and generally not pleasant to eat. Now it could be rubbish ingredients (no one really eats maize here) or I could be doing something wrong.

On a similar note my attempt at cornbread (2 parts corn, 1 parts flour replacer, an egg, baking powder and oil) was nasty, though in this case might have made a serviceable club had I needed to smash a troll to smithereens. It was totally solid.

So I thought I'd ask here (google is full of recipes for 'granma's bacon, cheese and [rare ingredient I've never heard of] cornbread/grits'): am I doing something wrong or was it meant to taste like that?

[Thomas Kaira]

Sounds like there wasn't enough moisture in the cornbread. For flavor, you might consider adding some (or all) of these ingredients:

Honey
Sugar
Bacon
*insert obscure oriental ingredient here*

Add whole corn kernels and buttermilk to preserve the moisture, as well. Also, try flip-flopping the flour-cornmeal ratio. What you are aiming for in terms of consistency with the batter is thick pancake-like. While baking, you should also use the toothpick test to check the doneness.

Also, soak the cornmeal in the buttermilk overnight. You'll bring out a lot of extra flavor that way.

[King Coin]

D.Foxy shall be banned from this topic. agree?

[Thomas Kaira]

How cum? Bananas Jubilee sounds pretty good, actually.

[Grits]

Olen, I think you may have come across some old corn meal. Even if your grits were a gross texture, they should still taste like grits. Maybe there’s a polenta product you could use that would be fresh? I like grits with cheddar cheese grated over, or with sausage gravy. Also, sometimes grits are made with hominy, so that could be confusing. Were yours white or yellow? And at the risk of causing a riot, I use half milk/ half water in mine.

Maybe add another egg to your cornbread? I’m wondering about (blaming) the flour substitute.

[mALX]

Sounds like there wasn't enough moisture in the cornbread. For flavor, you might consider adding some (or all) of these ingredients:

Honey
Sugar
Bacon
*insert obscure oriental ingredient here*

Add whole corn kernels and buttermilk to preserve the moisture, as well. Also, try flip-flopping the flour-cornmeal ratio. What you are aiming for in terms of consistency with the batter is thick pancake-like. While baking, you should also use the toothpick test to check the doneness.

Also, soak the cornmeal in the buttermilk overnight. You'll bring out a lot of extra flavor that way.

Jalapeno peppers if you're from the south.



My tips:

Chill glass bowl and knife when making buttermilk biscuits. Add the flour to the chilled bowl - and when When blending the lard in use the chilled knife - only making cuts through the flour with it. Your biscuits will come out PERFECT.

Also, if you absolutely can't get buttermilk - a cheat: squeeze a few drops of fresh lemon into a cup of whole milk, let sit one hour. It will curdle nicely.


2nd tip:

When making mashed potatoes, NEVER USE MILK. Use a raw egg, a touch of real butter (not margerine), and a bit of heavy cream. Your family will go nuts over them. Not for dieters.

Also, when making scalloped potatoes - NO MILK, NO MARGERINE - use heavy cream and real butter.



3rd tip:

Italian dinners - don't buy a can of Parmesan cheese. Buy a wedge of fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano and grate it yourself, same with Romano cheese. - you can't help but taste the difference, and your family will def notice it.

This post has been edited by mALX: Feb 28 2011, 04:59 AM

[Olen]

I think you may have come across some old corn meal

It's certainly possible, I mainly use it for making batter stick to confectionary (a scottish habit which is best left out of any sort of culinary discussion). It might well be ancient, and I have both white and yellow. The white stuff is marginally more foul. Possibly it's just impossible to get fresh stuff here.

To be fair I only tried the cornbread a couple of times, I'll give it a go again when I have time to bake and up the egg and xanthane gum content.

[mALX]

I think you may have come across some old corn meal

It's certainly possible, I mainly use it for making batter stick to confectionary (a scottish habit which is best left out of any sort of culinary discussion). It might well be ancient, and I have both white and yellow. The white stuff is marginally more foul. Possibly it's just impossible to get fresh stuff here.

To be fair I only tried the cornbread a couple of times, I'll give it a go again when I have time to bake and up the egg and xanthane gum content.

With the yellow cornbread you can add a pinch of sugar to it, and don't mix in the amount of plain white flour it calls for - cut that in half. (the white flour adds a bitter taste)

Old cornmeal won't do well, GRITS is right about that. (sorry Grits, chalk it up to me being blind as a bat, lol)

This post has been edited by mALX: Feb 28 2011, 01:44 AM

[Thomas Kaira]

Old cornmeal won't do well, TK is right about that.

Umm, I think you mean Grits is right about that, I said nothing about old cornmeal.

When making mashed potatoes, NEVER USE MILK. Use a raw egg, a touch of real butter (not margerine), and a bit of heavy cream. Your family will go nuts over them. Not for dieters.

I never really thought about putting egg into my mashed potatoes. I will take heavy cream over milk any day, but sometimes you just have to work with what you have (and being a professional-in-training, that is a required skill). Heavy cream is just not something you find in huge amounts at the grocery store. I usually buy little tiny half-pinters. If you do things right, there's nothing wrong with using milk in mashed potatoes. I do not compromise on the butter, though. Margarine is just... ugh. Still, never thought of adding an egg. I'll give it a try tonight and tell you how it turns out.

Italian dinners - don't buy a can of Parmesan cheese. Buy a wedge of fresh Parmesan and grate it yourself, same with Romano cheese. - you can't help but taste the difference, and your family will def notice it.

Don't buy anything pre-grated labeled "Parmesan," period if you want true Italian. Parmesan is code-speak for horrible fake Italian hard cheese. What you really want is called Parmigiano-Reggiano, which costs a fortune because it can only be imported from Italy here in North America. Why? Parmigiano-Reggiano is what is known in the EU as a Protected Designation of Origin cheese. This means that in order for the cheese to be named what it is, it has to be made in a very specific location by a very specific method. If either of the requirements are not met, it is illegal to name the cheese with a name that is PDO-protected. In this case, Parmigiano-Reggiano can only be manufactured in Lombardy.

Want to know how expensive this cheese is? One wheel is worth about 500 Euros... domestic (that's $1000 American!).

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Feb 27 2011, 11:55 PM

[mALX]

Old cornmeal won't do well, TK is right about that.

Umm, I think you mean Grits is right about that, I said nothing about old cornmeal.

When making mashed potatoes, NEVER USE MILK. Use a raw egg, a touch of real butter (not margerine), and a bit of heavy cream. Your family will go nuts over them. Not for dieters.

I never really thought about putting egg into my mashed potatoes. I will take heavy cream over milk any day, but sometimes you just have to work with what you have (and being a professional-in-training, that is a required skill). Heavy cream is just not something you find in huge amounts at the grocery store. I usually buy little tiny half-pinters. If you do things right, there's nothing wrong with using milk in mashed potatoes. I do not compromise on the butter, though. Margarine is just... ugh. Still, never thought of adding an egg. I'll give it a try tonight and tell you how it turns out.

Italian dinners - don't buy a can of Parmesan cheese. Buy a wedge of fresh Parmesan and grate it yourself, same with Romano cheese. - you can't help but taste the difference, and your family will def notice it.

Don't buy anything pre-grated labeled "Parmesan," period if you want true Italian. Parmesan is code-speak for horrible fake Italian hard cheese. What you really want is called Parmigiano-Reggiano, which costs a fortune because it can only be imported from Italy here in North America. Why? Parmigiano-Reggiano is what is known in the EU as a Protected Designation of Origin cheese. This means that in order for the cheese to be named what it is, it has to be made in a very specific location by a very specific method. If either of the requirements are not met, it is illegal to name the cheese with a name that is PDO-protected. In this case, Parmigiano-Reggiano can only be manufactured in Lombardy.

Want to know how expensive this cheese is? One wheel is worth about 500 Euros... domestic (that's $1000 American!).

Heavy Cream:
I can only find the half-pints too, at Thanksgiving you sometimes can find them in a pint. I use it a lot in soups, to make whipped cream, (not for banana jubilee, lol), etc.

The egg adds a nuance of rich texture to the mashed potatoes. If you have to use milk - absolutely go with the egg and butter. It is not quite as good as with the heavy cream (which brings your mashed potatoes to a whole new realm of flavor).

On the cheese: Yes, get the imported wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano and grate it yourself - sorry about the laziness in spelling on that.


Another Tip: If you are making homemade potato soup - use heavy cream not milk to thicken, and only use real butter (not margerine). Add fresh celery and onions when you add the potatoes, add fresh mushrooms a little over halfway through the cooking. - these extras bring it out of the realm of potato soup and make it a taste sensation. If you like you can garnish with crumbled bacon and hand grated chedder (that's a matter of personal taste).

This post has been edited by mALX: Feb 28 2011, 02:36 AM

[mALX]

Stuffed turkey/chicken/ or game hens:

Rinse the bird with cold water inside and out, dry with a clean (lint free) towel - salt inside cavity lightly and sprinkle lightly with parsley.

Add one whole small diced onion and several fresh celery stalks (depending on the amount of stuffing you are making) to the bread cubes and pour the boiling hot (turkey or chicken broth - seasoned when you make it) over the top of the bread cubes. I place a towel over and let it sit a while.

When your stuffing is completely ready (it should still be plenty hot) fold in fresh WHOLE mushrooms - try not to stir as it will mash up the stuffing and ruin the texture. Don't over-do the sage, it is better off under-used than over-used.

Lift the skin of the bird up and slide a pat of BUTTER (not margerine) under the skin on each quarter, then stuff under the skin. (careful, stuffing will be hot). Any remaining stuffing can be shoved in the body cavity. Tie the legs together so the stuffing stays in. Season outside of bird and roast immediately.

You will never have a dry bird again - the mushrooms, onions, and celery do most of their cooking in the bird as it roasts so their flavor and juices seep into the meat, keeping it very moist and tasty.



***

Homemade meatballs falling apart in the sauce? After you shape them, roll them in parsley They will still absorb the flavor of the sauce but retain their shape.

Tip: For better tasting meatballs - for every pound of ground beef used, add 1/4 pound of ground lean pork loin. Mix well. Moisten the bread crumbs with milk not water.

When making homemade spaghetti sauce - add meatballs, Italian sausage, and chicken breasts. (you can also add pork loin chops and use them later for "mock veal Parmisian").

The chicken breasts makes great chicken cacciatore and it flavors the sauce wonderfully.

Tired of Spaghetti and meatballs/sausage?

Flat slice the meatballs and sausage. Fry up flat-sliced eggplant (season and roll in plain flour before frying) - cook eggplant thoroughly.

Layer it all into a casserole dish: Sauce/eggplant/sauce/sausage/sauce/fresh grated cheeses/sauce/meatballs/sauce/more cheese. Bake in oven just long enough to meld flavors. Don't overcook or sauce will taste burned - Awesome Italian casserole.

This post has been edited by mALX: Feb 28 2011, 05:05 AM

[Acadian]

The late Mrs Acadian always cooked her turkeys upside down so all the dark greasy moist parts basted down into the dry white bits. It doesn't make for a pretty table presentation, but my goodness, it certainly is moist and tender!

(The current Mrs Acadian won't touch a turkey because it looks too much like a bird. Lol)

[Thomas Kaira]

What are the fundamental principles of stock-making?

There are 7 basic principles:

1. Start with cold water
2. Simmer Gently
3. Skim frequently
4. Strain carefully
5. Cool quickly
6. Store properly
7. Degrease before use

If done right, a proper, homemade stock can be the difference between a good soup and a "holy mother-of-pearl, that was awesome!" soup.

----

First I will go over the basic ingredients:

-Bones: be it Beef, Veal, Chicken, or Fish... or any other kind of bone you can think if if you want to make a specialty stock.

-Mirepoix: 25% Carrots, 25% Celery, and 25% Onion. Rough chopped, you don't need to get fancy with stock.

-Water: Because no one sane would make a stock out of lemon juice, right?

-Sachet: This is a neat little seasoning blend consisting of whole peppercorns, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley stems (not leaves). This is all tied together in a cheesecloth before adding it to the stock so it is easy to remove. If you do not have cheesecloth, don't worry, just toss it in freehand because you'll be straining the stock anyways.

-Tomato paste: This is only used for brown stock, but is essential for its purpose.

----

So, to start off with, we need to prepare our ingredients for use. In order to do that, you need to figure out what kind of stock you wish to make: White or Brown?

For white: Rough chop your veg and build your sachet. Use chicken or other mild-flavored bones. End result is light color and neutral umami flavor.

For brown: Your bones and veg need to be roasted beforehand. This process will take about 2 hours on a 400*F oven (200*C for you European folks). Add the mirepoix after 1 hour, and top the bones with a nice generous helping of tomato paste for the last 15 minutes to half hour of roasting. This process caramelizes the natural sugars in the bones and veg and will lend the stock a bolder, more pungent flaver. Use beef or veal bones.

----

Now for the principles explained:

1. ALWAYS start your stock in cold water. If you start in hot water, you will begin the cooking process too early and disturbs the crud that comes off the bones as they simmer away. This results in cloudy stock.

2. You must maintain a gentle simmer. If you boil your stock too hard, the crud that comes off the bones will get mixed into the stock rather than rise gently to the surface. This results in cloudy stock.

3. As the stock simmers, you will see a layer of foam building up on the top. This is garbage that we don't want in the stock. Make sure to check it every hour and remove any foam that has built up on the surface.

4. I cannot stress this enough, BE CAREFUL! This is a perfect opportunity to get the stock cloudy, so be gentle and delicate as you remove the liquid once your stock is done.

5. This is standard good practice. Be out of 135* to 70* in 2 hours and down to 41* in four hours. This keeps bacterial contamination to a minimum.

6. Make sure you store your stock refridgerated, that's all.

7. When your stock cools, all the oil and grease that's in it will rise to the surface and harden. Get rid of this stuff, it's unneeded and gross.

----

That's all there is to it. Now you know the necessities of making stocks.

On a side note for mALX: the egg trick for the potatoes did a good job. Count on me to continue that. By the way, have you tried asparagus sauteed in butter and garlic? It's to die for.

[mALX]

What are the fundamental principles of stock-making?

There are 7 basic principles:

1. Start with cold water
2. Simmer Gently
3. Skim frequently
4. Strain carefully
5. Cool quickly
6. Store properly
7. Degrease before use

If done right, a proper, homemade stock can be the difference between a good soup and a "holy mother-of-pearl, that was awesome!" soup.

----

First I will go over the basic ingredients:

-Bones: be it Beef, Veal, Chicken, or Fish... or any other kind of bone you can think if if you want to make a specialty stock.

-Mirepoix: 25% Carrots, 25% Celery, and 25% Onion. Rough chopped, you don't need to get fancy with stock.

-Water: Because no one sane would make a stock out of lemon juice, right?

-Sachet: This is a neat little seasoning blend consisting of whole peppercorns, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley stems (not leaves). This is all tied together in a cheesecloth before adding it to the stock so it is easy to remove. If you do not have cheesecloth, don't worry, just toss it in freehand because you'll be straining the stock anyways.

-Tomato paste: This is only used for brown stock, but is essential for its purpose.

----

So, to start off with, we need to prepare our ingredients for use. In order to do that, you need to figure out what kind of stock you wish to make: White or Brown?

For white: Rough chop your veg and build your sachet. Use chicken or other mild-flavored bones. End result is light color and neutral umami flavor.

For brown: Your bones and veg need to be roasted beforehand. This process will take about 2 hours on a 400*F oven (200*C for you European folks). Add the mirepoix after 1 hour, and top the bones with a nice generous helping of tomato paste for the last 15 minutes to half hour of roasting. This process caramelizes the natural sugars in the bones and veg and will lend the stock a bolder, more pungent flaver. Use beef or veal bones.

----

Now for the principles explained:

1. ALWAYS start your stock in cold water. If you start in hot water, you will begin the cooking process too early and disturbs the crud that comes off the bones as they simmer away. This results in cloudy stock.

2. You must maintain a gentle simmer. If you boil your stock too hard, the crud that comes off the bones will get mixed into the stock rather than rise gently to the surface. This results in cloudy stock.

3. As the stock simmers, you will see a layer of foam building up on the top. This is garbage that we don't want in the stock. Make sure to check it every hour and remove any foam that has built up on the surface.

4. I cannot stress this enough, BE CAREFUL! This is a perfect opportunity to get the stock cloudy, so be gentle and delicate as you remove the liquid once your stock is done.

5. This is standard good practice. Be out of 135* to 70* in 2 hours and down to 41* in four hours. This keeps bacterial contamination to a minimum.

6. Make sure you store your stock refridgerated, that's all.

7. When your stock cools, all the oil and grease that's in it will rise to the surface and harden. Get rid of this stuff, it's unneeded and gross.

----

That's all there is to it. Now you know the necessities of making stocks.

On a side note for mALX: the egg trick for the potatoes did a good job. Count on me to continue that. By the way, have you tried asparagus sauteed in butter and garlic? It's to die for.

I'm so glad you liked that! I like the texture it gives the potatoes.


Anything with asparagus in it is to die for IMO, lol. - so I will def try it !!!


Tip: Chicken or fish stock: Tired of finding bones in your soup later?

Buy a NEW pair of nylon stockings (not panty hose) - wash and rinse thoroughly. Fill with either chicken bones or fish bones (depending on what stock you want, lol). Tie the stocking at the top. When it is time to remove the bones and begin drawing off the broth cradle a strainer in the top and dump the nylon stocking full of bones in it. When it quits dripping - toss it in the garbage in one swift move - Voila !!! No bones in your soups, and no mess and burned fingers picking bones out of the stock !!

This post has been edited by mALX: Feb 28 2011, 06:24 AM