steamed dark meat chicken with bean curds

1. soften bean curd - into cold water pot..turn off heat when almost boiling...let curd sit til al dente and strain

2. season chicken - salt, msg, sugar, soy sauce, olive oil, corn starch...and into steamable bowl

3. steam chicken on high heat (weak burner) for 15 minutes

4. transfer softened bean curd to bottom of bigger bowl...then add the chicken on top

5. steam on high for 10 more minutes...

done.

black bean sauce noodles w/ dried shrimp (A-)

spaghetti broken in half
dried fish...very small ones
oyster sauce
black bean sauce (smooth, not chunky)
garlic
corn starch

1. garlic + dried fish (2T) olive oil saute
2. add black bean sauce (3/4T) + oyster sauce (1/2 T) + water
3. add corn starch slurry (2tsp) til thick
4. add cooked spagetti...
5. toss and saute til slight color...

Baby Back Ribs in Rice Cooker

14 pieces of cut baby back ribs, salted + browned on all sides on frypan
1.5 onions - big chop, salted + browned on frypan til translucent and slight brown
1/2 kabucha - big chop, skin on

Drop everything into  rice cooker with liquids


1/4 cup soy sauce
1 T of brown sugar
2 cups water

water goes to about 3/4 way up stuff...stuff about 3/4 up rice cooker

rice cooker set to "white rice" and it got error message after about 3 hrs of cooking...

turned it off and the meat was fall off the bone tender....maybe slightly too overcooked as it started to dry out a bit...good flavor but the the pumpkin was too salty because of it sitting in the soy sauce for so long...all the liquid was gone...just few drops left

next time:
- put the pumpkin in later or not at all
- try "wellbeing" or "steam" setting instead as i think the "white rice" setting basically just cooks until the liquid is all gone

Cabbage, Kimchi, Canned Tuna

in a small pot:

1. olive oil, garlic minced, canned tuna, salt....

2. kimchi (10 pieces), 1/4 head of cabbage big pieces, 1/8 cup water

3. samjang - 1T, black pepper, salt...

Done...very tasty...perfect balance of so many flavors...

Korean - salt, sesame oil marinade

much - sesame oil
tiny bit - soy sauce
few heavy pinches - salt
small spoon - sugar
potato starch - big tablespoon
large shakes - sesame seed

marinated skinless chicken for 3 hrs...then panfried....wonderful! with a beautiful, crispy crust..didn't burn either...quite nice..took approx 8 minutes, flipped every few minutes to hit all sides..sauteed semi-firm tofu pieces with leftover oil (weird thing is the sesame seed was lost in the eating of it..maybe need to toast first)

ALSO...used the same recipe but steamed it...using the same tofu as as base with the chicken topped over...dropped in steamer for about 15 minutes after rolling boil of the water...not as good as panfried but healthier and still pretty good...liked the tofu taste but too much water left over in the bowl...think if i drained the tofu better but squashing it, the flavors would have been stronger

homemade shrimp paste veggie

2 tsp salted shrimp (korean ingredient)

1 tsp sugar

5 peppercorns

pestle + mortar it...

place in pan with 1.5tbsp oil + fry a lil...

add napa cabbage...and lil water

Tasted great! if i had garlic i would added that too..a much cleaner and better taste than the store bought shrimp paste

Homemade green tea "latte"

• 3 pours of maccha
• 3/4 full cup of water
• 3-4 teaspoons of sugar
• 2 tbsp of vanilla sweetened soy milk

1. with frother, froth up the cold soy milk
2. incorporate water with maccha and sugar with frother
3. slowly add in the soy milk.

VERY TASTY! could use more maccha and more milk, but tasted like a healthy version of outside stuff...enjoyed it a lot! and its cheap to make

*probably taste way better with half and half...or whole milk

The Curry Method

http://www.curryfrenzy.com/curry/html/curry-method.html

Finally we get to pulling all of the above together to create a curry. Some of the following steps are optional and depend on the curry being made or your preference.

• Step 1. Optional. Crackle some whole spice seeds in a hot pan for 1-2 minutes util they crackle.
• Step 2. Put some oil (more is better) into a frying pan on a medium heat, add finely chopped onions and cook until translucent or slightly brown. Each gives a different flavour and texture which you can try to see which you prefer.
• Step 3. Now add the main curry powder or paste and stir in. Then add grated ginger, crushed garlic and any fresh chopped chillies.
• Step 4. Now add the main ingredient. If this is meat you should try and brown it well on all sides to add lovely caramelised browning flavours. Add some stock or water to prevent burning if needed.
• Step 5. Add stock or water to cover the ingredients and simmer until main ingredient is cooked.
• Step 6. Add the sauce body to thicken and/or flavour as required and bring back to a simmer.
• Step 7. Stir in some garam massalla powder thoroughly. Optionally add 1 crushed clove garlic for extra strong garlic taste.
• Step 8. Taste and season.
• Step 9. Optional. Garnish the finished dish with coriander leaves or a dash of yogurt or twirl of cream or some ground or sliced nuts.

Depending on the main ingredient, most curries are quite tolerant of longer cooking and will keep on a low simmer while other cooking catches up. Alternatively remove from the heat then reheat through just before serving.

Water Content of Ingredients

Water content in foods varies widely. A large number of foods are more than half water by weight, including boiled oatmeal (84.5%), cooked macaroni (78.4%), boiled eggs (73.2%), boiled rice (72.5%), white meat chicken (70.3%) and sirloin steak (61.9%).^[2] Fruits and vegetables are 70 to 95% water. Most meats are on average about 70% water. Breads are approximately 36% water.^[3] Some foods have a water content of less than 5%, e.g., peanut butter,^[3] crackers, and chocolate cake.^[4] Water content of dairy products is quite variable. Butter is 15% water. Milk is 87% water. Swiss cheese is 37% percent water.[3

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_matter

meats - 70% water
bread - 36% water
butter - 15% water
milk - 87% water

No Knead Baguette (Stecca) Recipe (Jim Lahey)

No Knead Baguette (Stecca) Recipe

Recipe from My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method by Jim Lahey. If you want to keep the baguettes plain, just skip the step of embedding the garlic, olives and cherry tomatoes.

3 cups (400 grams) bread flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant or other active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups (350 grams) cool 55-65F water
additional flour for dusting
20 pieces of the any combination of following: whole garlic cloves, whole olives, halved cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, table salt, sugar and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 10 to 18 hours (24 hours if you have a cold cold home.)

2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Fold the dough over itself to her three times and gently shape it into a somewhat flattened ball. Brush the surface of the dough with some of the olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the coarse salt (which will gradually dissolve on the surface).

3. Grab a large bowl (large enough to hold the dough when it doubles in size. you could also use a large pot) and brush the insides of the bowl with olive oil. Gently place the dough, seam side down into the bowl. Cover bowl with a towel. Place in a warm draft free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, pre-heat the oven to 500F, with a rack in the center. Oil a 13″ x 18″ x 1″ baking sheet.

5. Cut the dough into quarters. Gently stretch each piece evenly into a long, thin, baguette shape approximately the length of the pan. Place on the pan, leaving about 1 inch between the loaves. Embed the garlic cloves, olives or cherry tomatoes into the loaves, about five pieces per loaf. Drizzle, tab or brush olive oil on each loaf. Sprinkle sea salt or kosher salt over each loaf, remember to go light on the olive loaf since the olives are salty.

6. Bake For 15 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Cool on a pan for five minutes, then use a spatula to transfer the baguette to a rack to cool thoroughly.

Note: The baguette may become a bit soggy in just a few hours because of the salt on the surface. If that happens, reheat the loaves in a hot oven until crisp.

Italian Meringue - No Weeping!

Info:

Italian meringue is made with boiling sugar syrup, instead of caster sugar. This leads to a much more stable soft meringue which can be used in various pastries without collapsing. In an Italian meringue, a hot sugar syrup is whipped into softly whipped egg whites till stiff. This type of meringue is safe to use without cooking. It will not deflate for a long while and can be either used on pies and Baked Alaska, or spread on a sheet and baked for meringues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meringue

Ingredients

• 1 cup superfine sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 5 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

In a small pot over low heat, combine sugar and water. Swirl the pot over the burner to dissolve the sugar completely. Do not stir. Increase the heat and boil to soft-ball stage (235 to 240 degrees). Use a candy thermometer for accuracy. Wash down the inside wall of the pot with a wet pastry brush. This will help prevent sugar crystals from forming around the sides, falling in and causing a chain reaction. Prepare your meringue.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the eggs whites on low speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed to medium, and beat until soft peaks form.

With the mixer running, pour the hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over fluffed egg whites. Beat until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Spread the meringue over a hot cake or pie, and bake as directed.

For Meringue Cloud Cookies: Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Dollop spoonfuls of meringue onto baking pans, alternatively you may use a pastry bag with a star tip. Bake for 2 hours until crisp. Turn off the oven and allow meringues to cool and completely dry out.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/italian-meringue-recipe/index.html

No Weep Merigne

Never Fail Meringue
This makes a tender meringue, and it will not weep!

2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup boiling water
3 egg whites
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix cornstarch and water. Stir into boiling water. Cook until thick and clear. Let cool completely.

Beat egg whites; gradually beat in sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Beat into cooled, cooked mixture; continue beating until mixture stands in peaks. Spread on pie. Brown in preheated 375 degree F oven.

http://www.theingredientstore.com/joesplace/swap1.pl?noframes;read=7270

Turkey Brine

http://www.the-perfect-turkey.com/turkey-brining-recipe.html

2 gallons (256 oz) water
1 cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt*
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 bay leaves
1 Tablespoon peppercorns
1 bunch sage
1 bunch thyme

Chips - Salt Flavor

the older i get, the more i feel that the plain old Salt Flavored ones are the best

• when younger, bbq was my fave!
• then i moved onto funyuns and started to like the complex adult flavors of sour cream and onion
• now, i find myself most interested in salt only or if available, salt and pepper
• sounds like i am either turning white or old
  

Eggs in Bread

Eggs

Whole eggs are about 75% water, so, as with milk, bakers must be careful not to
simply substitute one for the other. Whole eggs are net tougheners, which means
that, although the yolk contains fat, enough proteins are present in eggs to more than
compensate for any tenderizing effects in the yolk.

ADD STRENGTH

Whole eggs typically are included in a bread formula to add strength to dough,
together with a bit of color and flavor. If strength is all you want, then egg whites
may be added alone, or you can use separated egg yolks to add richness and color
to the bread crumb. Whole eggs and egg yolks are also useful in another way—as
emulsifiers. Lecithin is a natural emulsifier in egg yolks that holds added fat in suspension
with the moisture in dough. This is especially important in high-fat breads
like brioche.

(from "Bread Baking: an artisan's perspective")

Tangzhong Starter Reasoning

• weakens the gluten structure in the flour
• same reasoning as roux as the longer it cooks, the less thickening power it has, which means its gluten strength is weakened...
• so if i want to really weaken the gluten power of flour, i should add more water and cook longer...
• as the soft chinese bread usually asks for pastry flour which has less gluten, this roux idea totally makes sense...
• i wonder if 1 or 2 minutes on the stovetop is enough to weaken it.
  

Sub Cake Flour with A/P Flour + Corn Starch

To substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour. Make your own - one cup sifted cake flour can be substituted with 3/4 cup (84 grams) sifted bleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch.

A/P Flour - 84 grams (3/4 cup)
Corn Starch - 15 grams (2 tbsp)

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/flour.html#ixzz18mYpllq7

Flour Weight

All-Purpose Flour:

1 cup = 140 grams

1 cup sifted = 115 grams

Cake Flour:

1 cup = 130 grams

1 cup sifted = 100 grams

Whole Wheat Flour:

1 cup = 150 grams

1 cup sifted = 130 grams

Bread Flour:

1 cup = 160 grams

1 cup sifted = 130 grams

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/flour.html#ixzz18mYdBikU

How to Make Your Own Cake Flour

Cake flour is something most of us don't keep around because - well - we use boxed mixes! Besides cake flour is pretty expensive. Did you know it's actually pretty easy to make a substitute that works really well? Here is the recipe - quick and easy!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 3/4 cups Flour
• 1/4 cup Cornstarch

1. Mix the flour and cornstarch together, using light whisking movements with a fork or whisk. That's all you really need to do.

2. You could simply substitute all purpose flour for cake flour by taking two tablespoons of regular flour from each cup of all purpose flour. The reason for adding cornstarch instead of just using less flour is to lower the gluten content in the flour to make it lighter and to reduce the chance of your baked goods becoming tough.

3. Flour that is produced as cake flour is actually bleached to make it white and to break down the protein that produces gluten in the flour. It's also higher in starch, so adding the cornstarch is exactly what all-purpose flour needs to work as cake flour. The finer texture of cake flour is produced by longer milling so you can run the flour/cornstarch mixture in a food processor if you want that finer texture.

Read more: How to Make Your Own Cake Flour | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4532763_own-cake-flour.html#ixzz18mYBRV00

Keys to Prime Rib

• let the rib stand outside overnight to make the inside more to room temp. several hours is not enough, not even 4....in the summer ok, but in the winter, useless
• most important is that it gets enough time to rest, more so than the meat staying hot...leave lots of time for the meat to be done prior
• took about 15 minutes to rise 1 degree
• after 6 hours at 200 degrees, my meat was only at 90 degrees
• low and slow is the best method...meat was tender and no outer ring of dark
• torch is great
• score the skin to make it not shrink
• no need to cut off bone from meat prior...it is very easy to do later if i cut the huge cooked prime rib in half and use a boning knife
• salt the meat up to 24 hrs in advance or else the salt does not penetrate the skin...
• salting it lightly after the meat comes out of the oven might give that nice crunch that i love in steak.