Meringue Tips

• blend 1 tsp cornstarch with the sugar before beating it with egg whites
  
• add 1/2 tsp baking power to sugar before adding to egg whites for high rise meringue
• adding sugar to egg whites before soft peaks will elongate amount of time it takes to flush and possibly decrease the height
• acid helps stabilize the egg whites by solidifying it...
• most books call for cream of tartar as the stabilizing agent...but can substitute with lemon juice or vinegar (1/8 tsp per egg white)
• eggs easier to substitute when cold, but egg white easier to whip when at room temp...therefore, after separating, place at room temp for 30min before whipping
• egg whites in meringue is usually raw when eaten...problem is just that it weeps

idea:

• what if i solidify the meringue after its been whipped in the refrigerator before putting onto cold pies...therefore it will be same temp as cold pie filling and won't weep???
  

cream of tartar substitute:

Substitute the cream of tartar for an equal amount of lemon juice or vinegar. The amount for substitution should measure about 1/8 teaspoon per egg white.

(http://www.wikihow.com/Substitute-Cream-of-Tartar)

steamed egg

tips:

• mix hot water to eggs before popping into steamer
• use some oil to get better texture
• should not need to cook too long
• cook similar to creme brulee but with steam...same as dun dan
• about 1 cup water to 1 egg...seemed little runny so maybe 2/3 cup water to 1 egg?
  

roasted yams

problem:

• too wet
• doesn't have the same texture as mom's

solution from mom:

• blanching golf ball size yams in cold water til it boils and is slightly soft...
• drain and place onto a baking sheet sprayed with butter spray
  
• put knobs of butter with brown sugar all over the yams and cover with foil.
  
• then roast in 400 degree oven til it dries out a big and gets soft.
  
• when its soft enough to be poked with a chopstick, take off the foil and cook til no liquid on the botton and edges darken and firm up

tips:

• yams never dry out so don't worry to roast longer
• roasting takes about an hour so allow time for it
• can cook at any temperture if u need to share space with other items in oven
• if blanch longer, don't need to cover and just roast til firms up and dries
• mom suggests butter and brown sugar early
• i think better to boil til soft, then brush on butter, then add brown sugar and roast for 30min til dry (350-400 degree oven)
  

11/28 - gelantinous rice balls (sweet)

ingredients:

• sugar
• peanut butter
• brown sugar
• gelatinous rice flour
  

steps:

• boil small pot of water with brown sugar (atleast 3 inches of water) til lightly sweet
  
• mix peanut butter with sugar til sweet (optional, add some coconut milk)
• mix rice flour together with cold water (1/2 lb of flour to 1 cup of water)
• form a 30g ball with the flour mixture and make an indentation with thumb to start to make a small pot of the dough
• place 1 tsp peanut butter mixture into the dough and close up the top
• roll on hands to form a smooth ball
• toss balls into sugar water mixture
• when it floats, serve hot

tips:

• balls taste better with less peanut butter
• sugar water should not be very sweet
• dough is perfect when it can be kneaded but breaks apart when you rip out a piece
  

11/28 - gelantinous rice balls (salty)

ingredients:

• napa cabbage (1 inch wide pieces)
  
• rice cake (sliced width-wise, then in half length-wise)
  
• chinese sausage (sliced)
  
• dried shrimp (handful soaked in hot water)
  
• gelatinous rice flour (sold in 1 lb bags)
• broth (today used turkey broth)
  

steps:

• heat up broth mixture
• boil a pot of water for the balls
  
• saute garlic (forgot to use this time), chinese sausage, and dried shrimp together in a pan with some oil
• pour meat mixture, fish cake, and napa cabbage into boiling broth and cook til cabbage is cooked
• mix water with gelatinous rice flour and form into 12g balls (10g if want them smaller like mom's)
• toss rice balls into pot of boiling water
• when cooked, balls will float to surface
• toss cooked balls into flavorful broth and serve
  

proportions:

• 1 cup water to 1/2 lb of flour
• dinner serving size of 2 people is about 3/4 lb of flour

tips:

• dough is perfect when it can be kneaded but breaks apart when you rip out a piece
• 12g balls is slightly bigger than mom's so 10g might be more like mom's
• adding garlic to saute with chinese sausage might give broth more flavor
• cutting fish cakes length-wise, then in half length-wise might be better size than only length-wise...seemed slightly big
  

custard tips

• rule of thumb: 2 egg yolks or 1 whole egg for every 1 cup of liquid
• custards start off slow, but there's a thin line between good thick custard and scrambled eggs
• highest heat should be med-high
• when small bubbles on surface, u can turn off heat
  

11/28 - Gravy (for turkey, mash, etc)

keypoints:

• first saute aromatics (onion, celery, mushroom, etc), then add flour, then add alcohol, and finish off with broth
• if too thin, add hot water to a tablespoon of flour in a bowl and whisk til smooth, then add to gravy mixture
• to get more flavor, add onion powder and / or garlic powder

usage:

• great when add turkey to it and mix up to serve for leftover open faced turkey sandwich
  

11/27 - Thanksgiving Turkey

Problem:

• breast little dry and joints are bloody

Procedure:

• brined in rosemary, garlic, bay leaf, salt, sugar, and pepper for 1 day in bucket with ice
• washed off turkey from brine and air-dried in fridge for 10 hrs, flipping once then another 1 hr in fridge
  
• took out of fridge 1 hr before roast
• iced the breasts at same time roast was taken out of fridge
• oiled up bird but no salt at all
  
• roasted at v-rack in high edge baking pan
• roasted breast side down 45min at 425 (til slight dark)
• flipped to breast side up and cooked 1 hr 1 min at 325, and checked temp and 140 at the thigh and breast
• roasted additional 20min at 350...
• rested about 1 hr then sliced
  

Next time: (solution?)

• don't use the high edge pan as it is doesn't allow heat to get to the bottomside of the bird
• if need to use high edge pan, place on lower rack to get more heat
• using normal bake sheet with v=rack is best
• take out bird and ice it about 2 hrs prior to roast....1 hr too short
• roast at 425 for 45 min with breast side down, then turn down to 350 for 15 minutes before flip and cook at 325 (or 350 for better color) for 1 hour, 15 minutes (as i feel the bottom side needs more time to cook thighs better)...then broil the top skin for 5 min if needed at end.
  
• need to highly salt the bird before roasting...put salt under the skin too...good also to add sauteed garlic too under the skin...
• saute garlic with olive oil and butter...cool...then rub under the skin of turkey
• for brine, taste it to make sure salty enough...needs atleast 1/2 of the bucket to to be full...measure the amount of water to salt to get an accurate reading for next time...
• don't add garlic to brine...flavor better when in sauteed mixture...
• for brine, use only rosemary, bay leaves, and salt and sugar
• stuff with garlic mixture and salt the bird's exterior atleast 8 hrs before roasting to get max flavor and crisper skin
  

Temperature:

• ideal is 160 in breast meat 175 for thighs
  

11/27 - Banana Cream Meringue Pie

problem: meringue started to "weep" after an 30min of cooling at room temp, then 30min cooling in the fridge

steps i took:

• banana cream pie made 6 hours before...was cool in the fridge before i added the meringue to the top
• 1/2 sugar that recipe called for (jamie oliver's book)
  
• baked at 400 degrees for about 5 min til browned on tips (j.o. book)
• when it started to weep, i decided to recook it...took it out of fridge and cooked at 375 for 10 min, then 300 for about 30 min, then 325 til total was about 1 hour...sides with egg whites stopped dripping so i took it out of heat...brown all around and hollow sound when tapped and med / rare center when tested with skewer.

tips i found from tiptionary:

• blend 1 tsp cornstarch with the sugar before beating it with egg whites
  
• add 1/2 tsp baking power to sugar before adding to egg whites for high rise meringue
• adding sugar to egg whites before soft peaks will elongate amount of time it takes to flush and possibly decrease the height
• acid helps stabilize the egg whites by solidifying it...
• most books call for cream of tartar as the stabilizing agent...but can substitute with lemon juice or vinegar (1/8 tsp per egg white)
  

from website:

http://www.stambaughfamily.com/lemonmeringuepie.html

• Weeping - When water seeps between the filling and the meringue, the pie is weeping. This is caused by spreading the meringue over a cool filling, which prevents the meringue from baking completely. Solution: Make sure the filling is hot, even boiling, before pouring it into the pie shell. Immediately spread the meringue over the filling. The hot filling will begin to cook the meringue from the bottom, ensuring even cooking throughout.

http://www.ochef.com/904.htm

• An option many people take is to add a teaspoon of cornstarch to the sugar before beating it into the meringue. The cornstarch absorbs extra moisture, and has the added bonus of keeping the whites from becoming overbeaten. Shirley Corriher, author of Cookwise (Canada, UK), uses a slightly different method. She blends a tablespoon of cornstarch with 1/3 cup of water, heats it until it forms a thick gel, and then adds it to the meringue a tablespoon at a time after all the sugar has been added. She says this keeps the meringue from shrinking, lowers the chance that beads will form on the surface, and makes a meringue that is tender and easy to cut smoothly.

next time:

• make pie crust and blind bake it...then add hot custard on top of pie crust, and immediately put the meringue on top and bake for 10-15 min on 375 degrees.
  
• if need to make a cold filling, then add corn starch to the sugar before adding to egg white mixture
• mix on egg whites first til soft peaks, then add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time til shiny
• don't make custard too thick...better thinner