So, yesterday I attempted for the first time to get to Acme Smoked Fish company's "Fish Friday", in which the factory / warehouse opens a sales counter to the public (smoked fish at a wholesale price) on Friday mornings from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. This trip is a challenge both for cars (parking in Brooklyn is scarce at all times, this neighborhood is more challenging than many) and pedestrians (the closest train has many many stairs). From my neighborhood the ride took two hours yesterday--I think a drawbridge over Jamaica Bay held up the A train. This is not frequent but it is frustrating. When I tried to get to the western corners of Nassau Street getting off the G train I found a warren of stairs and iron fencing leading over the tracks, I think (seven or eight stairs up, over, seven or eight stairs back down before reaching the exit steps). Walk towards / past Lorimer Street on Nassau, a few blocks later bear right on N. 15th Street. A few blocks after that, bear right on Gem Street and there you are. I think the warehouse takes up the entire block, but the entrance is near the western end of the block (from Gem Street you can see Manhattan--that's west), where they have placed a helpful sandwich board sign proclaiming simply "Welcome To Fish Friday". I arrived by the skin of my teeth and was grateful to find the door still unlocked. It really is a warehouse. There's a roped-off walkway leading to a large doorway with thick, clear plastic streamers where the counters are. It's cold in there.
*CASH ONLY* This will be your only warning 8)
By the time I got there, much of what might otherwise be on offer was being put away for closing. The chief attraction for me was their kippered (baked) salmon. I can get perfectly good lox (for my taste) at Costco for an acceptable price. I could buy the kippered salmon at !Localmarket for approximately an arm and a leg, and Costco no longer carries the baked smoked salmon upon which it got me hooked many years ago. I scored a pound and a half for about a dollar an ounce. ZOMG SO FRESH OM NOM NOM. They also carry a variety of types / flavors of lox (yesterday there was a sign promoting "spicy jalapeno", reviewers have mentioned lemon pepper), trout, herring and whitefish/chubs. According to the Yelp reviews I've read, the average price for the lox is about $18 / lb.
http://www.acmesmokedfish.com/
It was warm, so I stashed the fish in a lunch cooler with several freezer packs and looked for a place to eat lunch (I had no way to open the salmon nor any way to wash my hands if I did). My wanderings took me past a place (turned out to be a popup) within a rescue mission called Holy Ground BBQ (they looked not ready to open for business although the smell was divine). A little websearching revealed a story of a barbecue chef on a mission and plans to open a restaurant in TriBeCa this fall:
http://www.ahotellife.com/holy-ground/
I also passed a chocolatier (Cacao Market, associated with Mariebelle chocolates) I may want to revisit. Their website is currently under construction, but I found both a Gothamist article and a Yelp page, which mention offering light meals in addition to the confections, gelatos / sorbets and hot chocolate drinks. The "menu" in the window didn't list either any food offerings or any prices for what they were promoting. Reviews call the place "a little pricey". The New World-inspired chocolate drinks look interesting.
http://gothamist.com/2015/04/22/cacao_market.php#photo-1
https://www.yelp.com/biz/cacao-market-by-mariebelle-brooklyn
I also passed by another restaurant with no visible menu (perhaps Manhattan has spoiled me) called Pretty Southern of which I made a note to research. Definitely want to revisit here--$5 for a biscuit is kind of a lot, but they offer gluten free and it wouldn't be bad to try, once. Apparently the owner was a Top Chef semi-finalist.
http://prettysouthernbk.com/
Finally, I chose Frankel's Delicatessen partly because they had a window menu and mostly because they offered potato latkes. I had mine (they were substantial) with a portion of (what else?) kippered salmon, and listened to a resonant conversation from two improvisation comics / actors down the counter. Apparently People's Improv Theater is still going strong and offers drop-in classes as well as "adjacent" type shows with clowning or scripted pieces.
https://frankelsdelicatessen.com/
https://thepit-nyc.com/
This is why I put up with the other stuff 8)
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Friday, August 18, 2017
FOOD LAB--GF POT STICKERS, CATCH-UP
I've been making these for a while, but hadn't made either a Food Lab post or a link here to the recipe that inspired me, so I'm catching up now.
I fell in love with the convenient, inexpensive (pork) pot stickers from Trader Joe's last year, and wanted to be able to make a GF version so that I wouldn't be risking eventual indigestion on a regular basis. (Sooner or later, if I consume "normal" amounts of wheat, I get stomachaches. Pasta accelerates this, but more than trace amounts of dough or bread do the same thing more gradually.)
Fortunately for me, Trader Joe's also regularly sells ground pork 8)
The first recipe I found was on a website called BrokeAss Gourmet.
http://brokeassgourmet.com/articles/gluten-free-potstickers
There are ingredients I don't use in their recipe (corn starch and vinegar), and it's possible to substitute finely chopped kale or even Brussels sprouts for the Napa cabbage. Because I don't always have either the time or the energy to both produce the filling and manufacture the dumplings at the same time, I have experimented with frying up the filling ingredients ahead of time (and even freezing them) and found the results equally good. Meat, cruciferous goodness, onion, sesame oil, tamari, ginger, what's not to like? (Don't answer that. I have friends with allergies to soy and / or cabbage and all its relatives)
Gluten Free Proto-Potstickers
1 lb. ground pork (the packaged version from TJ's is an 80/20 lean /fat mix)
2 cups finely chopped or shredded Napa cabbage OR kale OR Brussels sprouts
1 bunch green onions, chopped
4 tsp.minced ginger (I'm working my way through a proportionately large bottle of ginger paste)
6 cloves garlic, minced (can also be shredded on a box grater)
6 T. soy sauce or tamari (check labels, as many soy sauces contain wheat)
4 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. black pepper
Rice paper wrappers / pasta (large rounds)
1-2 T. Whichever kind of oil you prefer to use for frying
The original recipe calls for salting and letting the cabbage sit for a while, then wringing moisture out of it. I omitted this step because I didn't see it when I first read the recipe. Since I often pre-cook the filling, I continue to omit this step.
I mix everything but the wrappers together in a large bowl and cook it, semi-crumbled, over medium heat. I cover the pan for a few minutes until the cabbagey goodness has cooked down to its final size. Since it's a filling, the meat needs to be cooked but doesn't need to be browned, and this also gives me a chance to cook down some of the moisture which would otherwise make the dumplings leak. The original recipe called for corn starch in the filling as (I imagine) a sponge for that moisture. You can use a potato masher to break up larger chunks of the cooked filling if needed (thank you Rachael Ray for the tip). When the moisture in the pan looks like more / mostly oil / fat and not much water / juice, it's ready to come off the heat. If you're freezing the filling for later, spoon the cooled filling into your storage container / bag of choice with all the pan liquid--it keeps the meat moist. You need to thaw the filling before making the dumplings so that you can scoop it into the wrappers.
MAKING THE DUMPLINGS:
If you've never worked with rice paper wrappers before, they come out of the package dry and stiff, and you run them (ONE AT A TIME--don't ask me how I know that) under water until the whole thing has had contact with the water. The original recipe talks about doubling them and cutting out circles by tracing a small bowl, which will make them look like traditional pot stickers. I am somewhat lazier. I fold each wrapper in half right after wetting them, and let them soften like that. Then I spoon the filling (no more than two tablespoons) onto half of that half-circle, then fold in half again for a rather larger, but very efficient, 90-degree quarter-circle shape. You will need a plate or other surface to put the wrapper down while it softens, and then again after you fill the dumpling and press the edges together. Fry the pot stickers on one side until a little brown / crispy-chewy, then turn over, add water, and steam for a few minutes. The original recipe I linked above has good instructions about the fry-then-steam process, with photographs.
Serve with condiments as desired.
I fell in love with the convenient, inexpensive (pork) pot stickers from Trader Joe's last year, and wanted to be able to make a GF version so that I wouldn't be risking eventual indigestion on a regular basis. (Sooner or later, if I consume "normal" amounts of wheat, I get stomachaches. Pasta accelerates this, but more than trace amounts of dough or bread do the same thing more gradually.)
Fortunately for me, Trader Joe's also regularly sells ground pork 8)
The first recipe I found was on a website called BrokeAss Gourmet.
http://brokeassgourmet.com/articles/gluten-free-potstickers
There are ingredients I don't use in their recipe (corn starch and vinegar), and it's possible to substitute finely chopped kale or even Brussels sprouts for the Napa cabbage. Because I don't always have either the time or the energy to both produce the filling and manufacture the dumplings at the same time, I have experimented with frying up the filling ingredients ahead of time (and even freezing them) and found the results equally good. Meat, cruciferous goodness, onion, sesame oil, tamari, ginger, what's not to like? (Don't answer that. I have friends with allergies to soy and / or cabbage and all its relatives)
Gluten Free Proto-Potstickers
1 lb. ground pork (the packaged version from TJ's is an 80/20 lean /fat mix)
2 cups finely chopped or shredded Napa cabbage OR kale OR Brussels sprouts
1 bunch green onions, chopped
4 tsp.minced ginger (I'm working my way through a proportionately large bottle of ginger paste)
6 cloves garlic, minced (can also be shredded on a box grater)
6 T. soy sauce or tamari (check labels, as many soy sauces contain wheat)
4 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. black pepper
Rice paper wrappers / pasta (large rounds)
1-2 T. Whichever kind of oil you prefer to use for frying
The original recipe calls for salting and letting the cabbage sit for a while, then wringing moisture out of it. I omitted this step because I didn't see it when I first read the recipe. Since I often pre-cook the filling, I continue to omit this step.
I mix everything but the wrappers together in a large bowl and cook it, semi-crumbled, over medium heat. I cover the pan for a few minutes until the cabbagey goodness has cooked down to its final size. Since it's a filling, the meat needs to be cooked but doesn't need to be browned, and this also gives me a chance to cook down some of the moisture which would otherwise make the dumplings leak. The original recipe called for corn starch in the filling as (I imagine) a sponge for that moisture. You can use a potato masher to break up larger chunks of the cooked filling if needed (thank you Rachael Ray for the tip). When the moisture in the pan looks like more / mostly oil / fat and not much water / juice, it's ready to come off the heat. If you're freezing the filling for later, spoon the cooled filling into your storage container / bag of choice with all the pan liquid--it keeps the meat moist. You need to thaw the filling before making the dumplings so that you can scoop it into the wrappers.
MAKING THE DUMPLINGS:
If you've never worked with rice paper wrappers before, they come out of the package dry and stiff, and you run them (ONE AT A TIME--don't ask me how I know that) under water until the whole thing has had contact with the water. The original recipe talks about doubling them and cutting out circles by tracing a small bowl, which will make them look like traditional pot stickers. I am somewhat lazier. I fold each wrapper in half right after wetting them, and let them soften like that. Then I spoon the filling (no more than two tablespoons) onto half of that half-circle, then fold in half again for a rather larger, but very efficient, 90-degree quarter-circle shape. You will need a plate or other surface to put the wrapper down while it softens, and then again after you fill the dumpling and press the edges together. Fry the pot stickers on one side until a little brown / crispy-chewy, then turn over, add water, and steam for a few minutes. The original recipe I linked above has good instructions about the fry-then-steam process, with photographs.
Serve with condiments as desired.
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Food Lab--Cold Sesame Noodle Edition
As promised, here is my experience trying to re-create the remembered-with-love Cold Sesame Noodles from Marnie (Henricksson)'s Noodle Shop, courtesy of Henricksson's book "Everyday Asian" (see last post for link).
Oddly enough, the hardest thing to find on my trip to the (Woodside) Chinese market was the sesame paste. I went up and down four or five aisles before spotting it. I'm not sure where I expected it to be, but it wasn't there. Oh well ::::shrug::::
COLD SESAME NOODLES A LA MARNIE
(For 4 servings)
1/2 cup Chinese sesame paste (or tahini, "if that's all you can find". Henricksson says the Chinese version will have a nuttier flavor). Stir before measuring, to re-mix any separated oil.
6 T. soy sauce (La Choy was what I had on hand. Don't judge me, man.)
2 T. chopped ginger (I used a paste from a squeeze bottle obtained during a warehouse club visit. I will need to make many ginger things to get my money's worth from this purchase. The bottle is about the size of a large-ish mustard bottle)
4 garlic cloves, minced (I used my box grater)
4 t. sugar (I only had turbinado. I cut it down to 1 T. because I find the sugar flavor a little stronger than plain white sugar)
4 T. sesame oil
4 drops chili oil, or more to taste (I only used the four drops because wimpy tongue)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large cucumber
1 pound thin Chinese egg or wheat noodles, or thin spaghetti (I got thin rice noodles. Years ago when I enthused to Henricksson about the thin noodles, she said she used angel hair pasta.)
1 t. sesame seeds (optional. I opted out)
1. In a small bowl, or a medium large bowl if, like me, you fear spillage / overflow, combine the first seven ingredients, mixing with a fork. Add 1/4 cup water and keep stirring until sauce is smooth.
2. Poach the chicken breasts. The recipe says to use 3 cups of water in a frying pan. Bring to a boil, add chicken, lower heat and cover. When done (about 10 minutes), remove and cool, then slice into 1/4 inch pieces.
I usually have all or part of a warehouse club rotisserie chicken in my fridge or freezer, so I used the breast meat from that for two servings' worth of chicken. This may be a place where those turkey tenders I failed to cook last year would work, poached.
3. Peel and seed the cucumber, then make 1/4-inch slices.
4. Cook your noodles, drain and rinse in cold water.
5. Plate the noodles with the chicken and cucumber, pour half the sauce over all, and serve the rest of it on the side for people who want a bit more (you will!).
Marnie's was the first cold sesame noodle rendition I ever tasted, and I remember strong notes of the soy sauce with the nutty sesame being a bit more recessive. Sesame noodles from another restaurant years later were a big disappointment because they tasted / smelled so much like peanut butter to me. This version, with the Chinese style (roasted) sesame paste was nuttier than I remember, but it came closer to my remembered taste than anything else I've had. I may experiment with tahini next, since Henricksson mentions that the sesame seeds in tahini are raw and so the flavor is less nutty.
I made this batch, 4 servings, and had two servings before I had to go away for a week. My next Food Lab experiment was to freeze the sauce, and I will see this weekend if it froze well.
Wishing you good findings 8)
Oddly enough, the hardest thing to find on my trip to the (Woodside) Chinese market was the sesame paste. I went up and down four or five aisles before spotting it. I'm not sure where I expected it to be, but it wasn't there. Oh well ::::shrug::::
COLD SESAME NOODLES A LA MARNIE
(For 4 servings)
1/2 cup Chinese sesame paste (or tahini, "if that's all you can find". Henricksson says the Chinese version will have a nuttier flavor). Stir before measuring, to re-mix any separated oil.
6 T. soy sauce (La Choy was what I had on hand. Don't judge me, man.)
2 T. chopped ginger (I used a paste from a squeeze bottle obtained during a warehouse club visit. I will need to make many ginger things to get my money's worth from this purchase. The bottle is about the size of a large-ish mustard bottle)
4 garlic cloves, minced (I used my box grater)
4 t. sugar (I only had turbinado. I cut it down to 1 T. because I find the sugar flavor a little stronger than plain white sugar)
4 T. sesame oil
4 drops chili oil, or more to taste (I only used the four drops because wimpy tongue)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large cucumber
1 pound thin Chinese egg or wheat noodles, or thin spaghetti (I got thin rice noodles. Years ago when I enthused to Henricksson about the thin noodles, she said she used angel hair pasta.)
1 t. sesame seeds (optional. I opted out)
1. In a small bowl, or a medium large bowl if, like me, you fear spillage / overflow, combine the first seven ingredients, mixing with a fork. Add 1/4 cup water and keep stirring until sauce is smooth.
2. Poach the chicken breasts. The recipe says to use 3 cups of water in a frying pan. Bring to a boil, add chicken, lower heat and cover. When done (about 10 minutes), remove and cool, then slice into 1/4 inch pieces.
I usually have all or part of a warehouse club rotisserie chicken in my fridge or freezer, so I used the breast meat from that for two servings' worth of chicken. This may be a place where those turkey tenders I failed to cook last year would work, poached.
3. Peel and seed the cucumber, then make 1/4-inch slices.
4. Cook your noodles, drain and rinse in cold water.
5. Plate the noodles with the chicken and cucumber, pour half the sauce over all, and serve the rest of it on the side for people who want a bit more (you will!).
Marnie's was the first cold sesame noodle rendition I ever tasted, and I remember strong notes of the soy sauce with the nutty sesame being a bit more recessive. Sesame noodles from another restaurant years later were a big disappointment because they tasted / smelled so much like peanut butter to me. This version, with the Chinese style (roasted) sesame paste was nuttier than I remember, but it came closer to my remembered taste than anything else I've had. I may experiment with tahini next, since Henricksson mentions that the sesame seeds in tahini are raw and so the flavor is less nutty.
I made this batch, 4 servings, and had two servings before I had to go away for a week. My next Food Lab experiment was to freeze the sauce, and I will see this weekend if it froze well.
Wishing you good findings 8)
Friday, July 21, 2017
Book Review and Noodle Shop Memories
When I first moved to NYC, I discovered a lovely place with simple Asian food called Marnie's Noodle Shop in Greenwich Village. I fell in love with Marnie Henricksson's Cold Noodle Sampler and never looked back. It paired a serving of cold sesame noodles (topped with cucumber and white chicken meat) and noodles with Indonesian peanut sauce (topped with green apple). I went downtown some time after moving up to Yonkers, and was heartbroken to discover the shop had closed. (Woe!)
I have never been able to find either a sesame noodle sauce or a peanut sauce I liked as much as Marnie's, although I have found many delicious examples of both, since then.
Fast-forward a number of years. I had idly searched online in the past to see if anyone else remembered the noodle shop in Greenwich Village. My search proved fruitless until today, when I discovered that for several of the intervening years, Ms Henricksson had operated a restuarant ("Marnie's Asian Kitchen") in Putnam Valley, since closed, and a pop-up takeout restaurant ("Marnie's Asian Kitchen To Go") in Beacon, both in the Hudson Valley. While today Henricksson operates a mattress and home goods store called Hudson Natural in Beacon, she has also published a cookbook called "Everyday Asian". I bought the Kindle edition.
I have found the recipes for both sauces, and I am over the moon 8)
I've read elsewhere that Henricksson had traveled through a number of Asian countries and, upon settling in America, integrated her knowledge of different types of Asian cooking with ingredients which were readily available in American supermarkets. The result is probably not a pure Chinese, Thai, or Indonesian taste, but a synthesis which nevertheless respects the use of the freshest ingredients possible.
I'm looking forward to exploring my old favorites, and intriguing new dishes, with such an experienced guide.
https://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Asian-Noodles-Barbecues-Favorite/dp/0060084669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500693167&sr=8-1&keywords=Everyday+Asian
I have never been able to find either a sesame noodle sauce or a peanut sauce I liked as much as Marnie's, although I have found many delicious examples of both, since then.
Fast-forward a number of years. I had idly searched online in the past to see if anyone else remembered the noodle shop in Greenwich Village. My search proved fruitless until today, when I discovered that for several of the intervening years, Ms Henricksson had operated a restuarant ("Marnie's Asian Kitchen") in Putnam Valley, since closed, and a pop-up takeout restaurant ("Marnie's Asian Kitchen To Go") in Beacon, both in the Hudson Valley. While today Henricksson operates a mattress and home goods store called Hudson Natural in Beacon, she has also published a cookbook called "Everyday Asian". I bought the Kindle edition.
I have found the recipes for both sauces, and I am over the moon 8)
I've read elsewhere that Henricksson had traveled through a number of Asian countries and, upon settling in America, integrated her knowledge of different types of Asian cooking with ingredients which were readily available in American supermarkets. The result is probably not a pure Chinese, Thai, or Indonesian taste, but a synthesis which nevertheless respects the use of the freshest ingredients possible.
I'm looking forward to exploring my old favorites, and intriguing new dishes, with such an experienced guide.
https://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Asian-Noodles-Barbecues-Favorite/dp/0060084669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500693167&sr=8-1&keywords=Everyday+Asian
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Food Lab: Today's Good, Bad, and Ugly
THE GOOD:
Crustless muffin quiches are a hit. I like spinach and cheddar with seasoned salt and black pepper. They actually came away from the sides with minimal fuss. I had no idea how much I hate picking quiche filling items out of my teeth before I pureed everything today.
Would nom again. I have cooked breakfasts for the work week. Now experimenting with freezing finished product. This can become a substitute for the Stouffer's spinach souffle which I adore but cannot always find.
My interpretation of a crustless quiche recipe from George Stella's first cookbook, "Living Low Carb". I do not follow any dietary restrictions other than "That made me feel oogy", but I do feel less oogy with measured carbs.
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sharp cheddar
1 bag of washed fresh baby spinach
Seasoned salt and black pepper to taste
Saute spinach until completely wilted. Remove pan from heat and tilt to drain. Squeeze spinach with spatula, large spoon or wok paddle periodically. I give it about 15 minutes to cool and drain.
Mix eggs, cream, cheddar and seasonings until blended and eggs are beaten. Add cooled, drained spinach. Puree using immersion blender until smooth. Grease and fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees until fork comes out clean when tested in the center. There will be some puffing up and then some deflation. I waited about five minutes after taking them out of the oven to loosen the sides and remove them from the pan. I got twelve quiche muffins.
THE BAD: The finished product faded from the bright green of my imagination to a bit more of a dullish, almost pea-soup green. Oddly, this may be less of an issue if I use thawed, chopped frozen spinach.
THE UGLY: The kitchen looked a bit post-Apocolyptic when I was done.
Oh well. Not every meal can be a one-pot soup...
Crustless muffin quiches are a hit. I like spinach and cheddar with seasoned salt and black pepper. They actually came away from the sides with minimal fuss. I had no idea how much I hate picking quiche filling items out of my teeth before I pureed everything today.
Would nom again. I have cooked breakfasts for the work week. Now experimenting with freezing finished product. This can become a substitute for the Stouffer's spinach souffle which I adore but cannot always find.
My interpretation of a crustless quiche recipe from George Stella's first cookbook, "Living Low Carb". I do not follow any dietary restrictions other than "That made me feel oogy", but I do feel less oogy with measured carbs.
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sharp cheddar
1 bag of washed fresh baby spinach
Seasoned salt and black pepper to taste
Saute spinach until completely wilted. Remove pan from heat and tilt to drain. Squeeze spinach with spatula, large spoon or wok paddle periodically. I give it about 15 minutes to cool and drain.
Mix eggs, cream, cheddar and seasonings until blended and eggs are beaten. Add cooled, drained spinach. Puree using immersion blender until smooth. Grease and fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees until fork comes out clean when tested in the center. There will be some puffing up and then some deflation. I waited about five minutes after taking them out of the oven to loosen the sides and remove them from the pan. I got twelve quiche muffins.
THE BAD: The finished product faded from the bright green of my imagination to a bit more of a dullish, almost pea-soup green. Oddly, this may be less of an issue if I use thawed, chopped frozen spinach.
THE UGLY: The kitchen looked a bit post-Apocolyptic when I was done.
Oh well. Not every meal can be a one-pot soup...
Friday, March 31, 2017
Food Lab: Christmas Eve Edition
Pots de creme is one of my all time favorite desserts. I discovered the chocolate, "classic" version thanks to a now-defunct gourmet take out place on Long Island. I wanted chocolate mousse and this is what they had, in a wee cup for a high price. The chocolate craving was strong so I purchased, grumbling about both cost and size.
Until I tried the first spoonful.
My first thought was, "ZOMG WONDERFULNESS", and my second thought was "Oog, I won't be able to finish this." I saved half of that wee cup for later.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=6867435
I learned how to make it at the first opportunity (a friend shared a pointer to the recipe above), and have made it since, using regular sugar, Splenda (it doesn't really sweeten properly) and sugar alcohol (with the tummy risks which always go along with sugar alcohol). I discovered this variant when I was replacing my lost copy of the classic recipe, and since I love eggnog, it was a natural temptation. I may have substituted vanilla for the omitted booze, or I may have used nothing.
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/recipes/detail/eggnog-pots-de-creme
I made up a batch on Christmas Eve for the following day's dinner.
It took nearly three hours to cook and another hour to cool enough to go in the fridge.
The cooling hour was expected, the three hours was not. I suspect the bain marie may have had too much water in it. Sigh.
The bit I tasted off a testing knife was pretty good. People nommed it. I'm calling it a win.
Merry Christmas, everybody 8)
Until I tried the first spoonful.
My first thought was, "ZOMG WONDERFULNESS", and my second thought was "Oog, I won't be able to finish this." I saved half of that wee cup for later.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=6867435
I learned how to make it at the first opportunity (a friend shared a pointer to the recipe above), and have made it since, using regular sugar, Splenda (it doesn't really sweeten properly) and sugar alcohol (with the tummy risks which always go along with sugar alcohol). I discovered this variant when I was replacing my lost copy of the classic recipe, and since I love eggnog, it was a natural temptation. I may have substituted vanilla for the omitted booze, or I may have used nothing.
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/recipes/detail/eggnog-pots-de-creme
I made up a batch on Christmas Eve for the following day's dinner.
It took nearly three hours to cook and another hour to cool enough to go in the fridge.
The cooling hour was expected, the three hours was not. I suspect the bain marie may have had too much water in it. Sigh.
The bit I tasted off a testing knife was pretty good. People nommed it. I'm calling it a win.
Merry Christmas, everybody 8)
Food Lab--Pre-Thanksgiving Turkey Tender Experiment
So, Costco had turkey breast tenders, a meat for which my fondness waxes and wanes. Mostly because it's so damn easy to accidently ruin the texture. It appears to have three states of doneness--Salmonella, Still Not Done and Ropy Sawdust With Poultry Seasoning Overtones 8P
I had seen an online recipe for slow-cooker turkey confit and I wanted to see what would happen. This recipe was flexible wrt: type of fat used, so I added a combination of olive oil and butter with a smidge of bacon fat to the seasoned meat and set the slow cooker on low.
I learned that even slow poached in a metric asston of fat, turkey will STILL become Ropy Sawdust With Poultry Seasoning Overtones.
My slow cooker is wee and by no means mighty. I am at a loss to explain how it can overcook with such depressing regularity when set on low.
I will need to experiment further with the cooking time.
I had seen an online recipe for slow-cooker turkey confit and I wanted to see what would happen. This recipe was flexible wrt: type of fat used, so I added a combination of olive oil and butter with a smidge of bacon fat to the seasoned meat and set the slow cooker on low.
I learned that even slow poached in a metric asston of fat, turkey will STILL become Ropy Sawdust With Poultry Seasoning Overtones.
My slow cooker is wee and by no means mighty. I am at a loss to explain how it can overcook with such depressing regularity when set on low.
I will need to experiment further with the cooking time.
Germs Run Screaming Soup
(Migrated from a social media post from 2014)
I've had a number of requests for this the last few years. After scrounging about for a copy, here is the "recipe" for (a semi-homemade) Germs Run Screaming Soup:
I start with Tom Ka Gai ("coconut ginger soup" with chicken), and add garlic and chopped spinach (which are not traditionally used in TKG). I use the commercial paste from A Taste of Thai. The package looks like this:
Fairway Market in NYC carries this, and sometimes you can find it at Wegman's as well as online. One of my SE PA friends said the Giant stores in her area also carry it. The Taste of Thai website has a "Find product in a store" button, but the product doesn't have its own page--you have to click "Products" and then "Soups and Sauces"... http://www.atasteofthai.com/
Package directions state to add water or chicken broth, and one can of coconut milk, along with uncooked white meat chicken, sliced thin. After the chicken is done, I add half a box of frozen spinach, and garlic (or garlic powder) to taste.
NOTE: Taste of Thai's label is misleading in that the critical spice in Tom Kah Gai is not ginger, but galangal, the root of which looks a bit similar but has a very different taste. Once, when I had no soup base, I tried to make the soup from scratch, not knowing about the galangal. It made a perfectly good pot of soup, but not "the right soup", if you understand me. The blogger below also draws a distinction between galangal preserved as part of a paste, and the dried stuff, citing the paste as much superior if fresh is unavailable. I think I may have tried one batch of soup with dried galangal, and that wasn't as efficacious either. This lady has posted both a recipe for Tom Kha Gai from scratch, and reviews of a couple of commercial pastes. Some of these brands might be available in Asian food stores (which, I must say, I miss rather dreadfully sometimes down here in the Rockaways).http://shesimmers.com/2010/11/tom-kha-gai-recipe-tutorial-for.html
The entry with a few words and pix about Tom Kha paste is here: http://shesimmers.com/2012/08/tom-yam-and-tom-kha-mixes-how-and-when-to-use-them.html
As prepared, this soup does contain meat. I haven't tried it with tofu. If one of you does, let me know how it comes out? As prepared, the soup is low-carb / gluten-free and (I think) paleo-friendly. I take the makings with me to Pennsic, in cooler-free form, and canned chicken serves the purpose, although you might want a bit of broth or stock for a deeper flavor.
I am not a Pharmacist. I am not approved by the FDA. This particular brand of chicken soup has no scientifically-vetted proof of efficacy, any more than the colloquial "Jewish Penicillin". It's simply something that makes me feel better when I get sick, often enough for me to want to share, and to keep the makings in my kitchen.
My next experiment will involve the microwave, since I was feverish enough over the weekend to not want to turn on the stove (and perhaps forget having done so)... #GermsRunScreaming
My Favorite Vegetable (and My Brother-in-law's Favorite Broccoli Soup)
Spring, Schming. It's cold, wet and raw outside, and I say the hell with it. I just made a batch of one of my favorite soups, and thought other people might like to see the recipe again.
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