Ask a chef

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

With the holidays upon us, more people staying home than usual,, and my restaurant basically shut down from my states latest covid restrictions (so I've got time on my hands); I figured I'd offer my knowledge to playgrounders, in case anyone has any questions, wants any tips, etc.

So go ahead and pick my brain. No question too big or small.

I'll start it up with the best turkey recipe I've ever tried, not one of my own, but def a go to since I saw it 10 years ago; the marinade makes AMAZING chicken wings as well. Recipe originally from Weber's cookbook "The art of the grill"; posting link to the cooking blog i originally saw it on. A rotisserie is not necessary, but highly recommended if you like ridiculously crispy skin.

https://cookingdude.com bbq-turkey (https://cookingdude.com/food/main-courses/poultry/rotisserie-bbq-turkey/)

[farothel]

I'm always in the market for easy to make desserts where you don't need special equipment to make. I already have a very good chocolate mousse, but more stuff is always welcome.

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Baking is not my strong suit, but one I've made a few times over the years and enjoyed is Hersheys truffle bottom pie (https://www.hersheys.com/kitchens/en_us/recipes/decadent-truffle-bottom-chocolate-cream-pie.html).

I've also been taking the filling recipe from that pie, substituting peanut butter chips for the chocolate and layering that in mason jars with brownie chunks, whipped cream and crushed peanut butter cups for individual trifles.

Another quick tip, turn any store bought cake mix into a bakery style cake by adding an egg, and substituting melted butter for the vegetable oil the recipe calls for.

If I come up with anything else I'll add it

[Cygnia]

This (https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pumpkin-chiffon-pie-with-gingersnap-pecan-crust-10807) is my favorite pie recipe.

HOWEVER, there's a part where after I mix and dissolve the bloomed gelatin where I'm supposed whisk in over the iced bowl until it's the consistency of "raw egg whites". Even after seeing raw egg white (I did separate the yolks after all), I still never know just exactly how far I should be whisking until and I always worry that the filling might not set up enough when chilling.

[Civis Mundi]

Dear Chef,

I have a question about tomatoes.

I often like to preach against the terrible sin of refrigerating tomatoes. (For those who don't know, once the core of the tomato dips below 50 degree Fahrenheit, an irreversible change occurs that makes the tomato bland and grainy.) Someone asked me recently if the same goes for smaller tomatoes, like cherry tomatoes. I'd assume you still want to keep those in the pantry, but is that necessary? Or is it just tomato-paranoia?

[tyckspoon]

This (https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pumpkin-chiffon-pie-with-gingersnap-pecan-crust-10807) is my favorite pie recipe.

HOWEVER, there's a part where after I mix and dissolve the bloomed gelatin where I'm supposed whisk in over the iced bowl until it's the consistency of "raw egg whites". Even after seeing raw egg white (I did separate the yolks after all), I still never know just exactly how far I should be whisking until and I always worry that the filling might not set up enough when chilling.

It should set up regardless, assuming the recipe has the correct proportion of gelatin - once you get it mixed into the hot mix and fully dissolved/distributed it's in there, and when it gets fully chilled it'll set. This step appears to be there mainly to get the hot mix quickly cooled to the point where it will not cook, curdle, or deflate the whipped cream when you combine it at the next step. The recipe should probably call for a recommended temperature for the hot mix at this point rather than a consistency - the next time you do the recipe, take note of the hot mix's temperature at the point where you think it's right and make a note of that on the recipe, then you can try going higher or lower from there and see what difference it makes to the finished product. (That said, I would interpret 'raw egg white' as 'thick enough to cling to things and pours away slowly, but does not offer notable resistance to being stirred' - the gelatin should be partially set and notably thickened the mixture, but not so set that it is actually stiffening it.)

[Cygnia]

Well, the recipe says to get it off the heat and mix in the gelatin when the filling hits 160F (which I did get to) before the iced bowl step.

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Dear Chef,

I have a question about tomatoes.

I often like to preach against the terrible sin of refrigerating tomatoes. (For those who don't know, once the core of the tomato dips below 50 degree Fahrenheit, an irreversible change occurs that makes the tomato bland and grainy.) Someone asked me recently if the same goes for smaller tomatoes, like cherry tomatoes. I'd assume you still want to keep those in the pantry, but is that necessary? Or is it just tomato-paranoia?

Many of the flavor compounds in tomatoes "turn themselves off" (to quote Alton brown, don't recall which episode of good eats) when dropped below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the tomatoes will absolutely never taste as good ever again. This is absolutely true of all varieties of tomatoes. Another fact about tomatoes, they contain many compounds that can't be delivered to the human pallette unless first dissolved in alcohol, so whenever you're cooking with tomatoes, white wine is your friend ( red has too many tannins which with kill the natural sweetness.)

As for gelatin, thats one that I still haven't mastered after 20yrs in this business (have had it bite me in the butt many times), all I can say is practice makes perfect.


Edit:
The comment on egg white consistency on the gelatin jogged something else out of my memory.

Any decent cheesecake recipe can be turned up to decadent by separating your eggs, adding the yolks into the recipe at the normal time; then turning the whites into meringues and folding into your batter last thing before baking. Expect to increase your cook time 10% though. Makes your cheesecake extra light and fluffy

[Murk]

Dear Chef,

For several years now I've been trying to eat less and less meat. I'm stuck at meat or fish once a week, now - my discipline fails me to go fully vegetarian.

I know a lot of very nice vegetarian dishes, and I cook and eat these with pleasure. They are quite good. However, the little voice in my head (mouth?) also knows that every single one of them would be even better with a piece of dead animal in it. Like, little bit of bacon, few slices of chicken - no matter how good the vegetarian dish, I'm always left with the nagging sensation that it could still be improved by meat (or fish).

So what I've been looking for - partly as a fun brain teaser - is a vegetarian dish that would taste actively worse by putting in meat.
For example, the thought of adding meat to ice cream or a fruit smoothie makes me go "yuck". I feel like the ultimate vegetarian satisfaction would be eating a dish that would have tasted worse if it'd had meat in it. Are there any dinner dishes like that?

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Dear Chef,

For several years now I've been trying to eat less and less meat. I'm stuck at meat or fish once a week, now - my discipline fails me to go fully vegetarian. ..................

Full disclosure, for the past couple years I've been slinging barbecue for a living; we do try to be locally sourced as much as possible and we do have a couple vegetarian options on our menu and one vegan one.

Not so serious answer: anything with lutefisk in it.

As far as dinner dishes, nothing really comes to mind of the top of my head that is objectively worse when meat is included; I'm well versed in French and Italian cuisine (Cacio e Pepe and a true old world Minestrone are both wonderful vegetarian Italian dinner options), fairly familiar with several Asian cuisine and some south american ones as well, might want to look at other culinary traditions if you want to pursue more options.

There are many options that frankly don't need meat; the aforementioned Cacio e Pepe and Minestrone, Aglio e Olio, Pasta e Fagiol from Italy; Dill pickle soup and Zapiekanka from poland; I like to do a tomato and basil heavy ratatouille and toss that with pasta to make it a meal instead of a side. I'm sure I can come up with more for those interested, gotta start cooking soon though for the family.

One recent story that seems poignant; my friend asked me for my bacon mac and cheese recipe, which I gave him. He went to a grocer that has a slightly odd stock setup, didn't realize there was a large selection of bacon on one end of the store, searched the meat case on the other end of the store and went home with salt pork.......proceeded to make the saltiest dinner he and his guests had ever tasted; so that would have been better without it. Lol

[Trafalgar]

Full disclosure, for the past couple years I've been slinging barbecue for a living; we do try to be locally sourced as much as possible and we do have a couple vegetarian options on our menu and one vegan one.



Since I am only cooking for my nuclear family and not for 10+, I decided not to make a turkey. I am smoking 3 racks baby back ribs instead. Since you are a professional barbeque slinger, What is your recipe for ribs as far as cook time and temperature?

[DeTess]

Would you happen to have some recepees for relatively low effort pasta dishes? I tend to not be really in the mood for cooking after coming home from work and tend to gravitate towards stuff I can make in the oven, which generally ends up being some variation on roast potatoes, bell peppers and meat, so something else for a change of pace would be nice.

[Peelee]

One recent story that seems poignant; my friend asked me for my bacon mac and cheese recipe, which I gave him.

Soooo....what are the chances I can get that bacon mac n cheese recipe?

[Cygnia]

Would you happen to have some recepees for relatively low effort pasta dishes? I tend to not be really in the mood for cooking after coming home from work and tend to gravitate towards stuff I can make in the oven, which generally ends up being some variation on roast potatoes, bell peppers and meat, so something else for a change of pace would be nice.

Cacio e Pepe! (https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/cacio-e-pepe)

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Trafalgar- we usually smoke for 2 hours, then finish in a 270F oven to an internal temp of about 205F. About 4.5hrs total cook time.
Wont give you specifics on our rub but its brown sugar heavy, and has paprika, kosher salt, black pepper, ground dried guajillos, cayenne, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and coriander.

Cygnia and DeTess,
The ingredients in that cacio recipe look right, use less water to cook the pasta than they call for; you want the water to be REALLY starchy so the sauce comes together properly. America's Test Kitchen has a good version kicking around online.

My absolute favorite pasta dish is super low effort, but does take hours to do properly: Pasta al Amatriciana. Theres an official recipe on the website of the town of Amatrice, Italy; lots of good versions kicking around the net.

Pasta Carbonara (https://discoveritaly.alitalia.com/en/eg/destinations/rome/easy-pasta-carbonara-recipe-for-perfect-sauce) is quick and simple, just a few ingredients, this recipes pretty close to what I've seen in Italian restaurants I've worked in.

Another personal favorite is Pasta al la Norcina- sweet pork sausage and wild mushrooms in a cream sauce. Little more effort than cacio or carbonara, but not too bad.

Peelee,
I'll type it up later on this evening, tomorrow maybe; my laptops slow as hell, but I know it by heart anyway.

[Peelee]

Peelee,
I'll type it up later on this evening, tomorrow maybe; my laptops slow as hell, but I know it by heart anyway.

You're my favorite and I love you.

[DeTess]

Cygnia and DeTess,
The ingredients in that cacio recipe look right, use less water to cook the pasta than they call for; you want the water to be REALLY starchy so the sauce comes together properly. America's Test Kitchen has a good version kicking around online.

My absolute favorite pasta dish is super low effort, but does take hours to do properly: Pasta al Amatriciana. Theres an official recipe on the website of the town of Amatrice, Italy; lots of good versions kicking around the net.

Pasta Carbonara (https://discoveritaly.alitalia.com/en/eg/destinations/rome/easy-pasta-carbonara-recipe-for-perfect-sauce) is quick and simple, just a few ingredients, this recipes pretty close to what I've seen in Italian restaurants I've worked in.

Another personal favorite is Pasta al la Norcina- sweet pork sausage and wild mushrooms in a cream sauce. Little more effort than cacio or carbonara, but not too bad.


Thanks! That Pasta al la Norcina in particular sounds good, I do like a mushroomy sauce.

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Thanks! That Pasta al la Norcina in particular sounds good, I do like a mushroomy sauce.

No prob. Again America's Test Kitchen has a good version online. Other go to's for Italian recipes are Lydia Bastianich and Maryanne Esposito.


I know i refer to other chefs a lot, my culinary education started with pbs in the 80s, I was a latch key kid. Most of the rest of my training has been on the job. Once my turkey day is out of the way, I can type up what I do on any of these dishes.



Bacon Mac & Cheese recipe (may need adjustments, I usually just eyeball everything, adjust seasonings as I go)(here in the north east USA my go to slab bacon at a retail outlet is Toucinho Defoumado from Cortes Provisions, available at Seabra Foods, it’s less than $5 per pound and is absolutely amazing)

6oz smoked slab bacon (honestly any bacon is fine, but the better quality the better the finished product)
1 large shallot, minced
2T butter
1/2t ground mustard
1/4C all purpose flour
1 quart milk
6oz White cheddar, shredded
6oz Colby/jack blend, shredded
1# pasta (I like cavatappi for this)

Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and set aside, don’t rinse or oil - it’s counter productive to your sauce sticking.
Dice the bacon and render it over med/low heat in a large saucepan, when well browned remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon, remove some of the fat from the pan to leave about 2T fat in the pan. Add the butter, shallot and mustard, continue over med/low heat until the shallots are lightly browned.
Add the flour to the pan and whisk over medium heat until you form a tan roux (I use the Prudhome method for cooking a roux, do some reading/get some practice with a roux if you’re not familiar- it’s a good skill to have).
Basically, as you whisk the flour and fat over heat, you’ll watch it go from a loose paste to almost a foam like texture, then it will start to change color and smell like cooked grain; you can’t make a roux too slowly, however the hotter the pan, the easier it is to screw it up, if you get black flecks that you don’t think are bacon leavings or charred shallot you should start over. Any higher than med heat and you risk burning the flour, in general the higher the heat the more frequently you need to stir it (stir constantly if using med/high heat or hotter, I don’t recommend it for this recipe as bacon fat has a fairly low smoke point).

Once your tan roux is ready, slowly whisk in room temperature milk over medium heat, if you drop the temp too quickly the roux will make little clumps instead of dissolving into your sauce. Continue to cook over med heat while whisking until you feel the sauce begin to thicken, then slowly incorporate the cheese a little at a time while whisking constantly, if you drop the temp to much at this stage the fat from the cheese may separate and make an oil slick, just add small handfuls while stirring constantly and you should be fine.

Once your cheese is incorporated, remove from the heat and toss with pasta and bacon. I like to top it with ritz cracker crumbs that were toasted in a skillet with butter and a little barbecue rub.

[Peelee]

My usual go-to homemade mac n cheese is to just make my mom's kaesespaetzle, but I'm dang excited to try this!

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Thanks! That Pasta al la Norcina in particular sounds good, I do like a mushroomy sauce.

Pasta Norcina (4 to 6 servings)

1/2# sweet Italian sausage (the ATK version of this recipe has a homemade sausage recipe attached, reason being that traditionally this dish doesn’t have fennel in it and most Italian sausage in US stores has fennel seed. I don’t think it detracts too much to use store bought)
4oz dried mixed wild mushrooms, or 1/2# fresh crimini mushrooms, large dice
(If using dried, rehydrate them in simmering water with a little chicken base in it, but save the water)


1C heavy cream
3/4 C weak chicken stock or mushroom water
1/2C dry white wine
4 tablespoons butter, med dice, cold (cut it first then put it back in the fridge til the end)
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2t minced fresh rosemary
Pinch nutmeg
1/2C pecorino romano or locatelli, grated
10oz fresh pasta, I like fusilli for this one, or about 1/2# dried pasta
1/2C or so starchy pasta cooking water, as needed.

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, add a couple tablespoons of EVOO, then crumble raw sausage (with the casing removed) into the pan and cook until lightly browned. When the sausage is almost cooked through, add the mushrooms, garlic and rosemary to the pan. Sauté for a few minutes, add salt and paper to taste while the mushrooms are raw (they can take lots of salt, but remember you can always add more, can’t take it out).

Deglaze the pan with the white wine, cook a few minutes to reduce, then add cream, stock and nutmeg, stir to combine, simmer lightly until reduced by about half, then add the butter, simmer and stir until emulsified (will happen pretty quickly). Remove from heat, toss with pasta and cheese, top with more cheese to serve.

[Rogan]

One thing I'd like to know is:
If you work all day in the restaurant, preparing food, do you still like to make your own meals when at home?

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

I used to before my spouse micromanaged me to death.

[Peelee]

I love NE clam chowder (well, I also love Manhattan, but prefer NE). What other chowder like it are there?

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Rhode Island chowder is like new England, but instead of the cream being cooked in the broth, you make a clear chowder, then pour a little heavy cream on top before you serve it.

Another favorite of mine Ciopino is a spicy tomato based seafood chowder.

[Cygnia]

There's also cullen skink (https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cullen-skink) -- which uses smoked haddock.

[GrayDeath]

And I was successfully eating less this late.

But I jsut HAD to open the thread....sigh.

My Pasta Aglio e Olio sends its regards.

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Had aglio e olio once this week myself.

I'm officially quarantined, covid positive. Cooking with tons of garlic, fresh ginger and lemon oil every day.

[GrayDeath]

I wish you the best of Health, as far as that is possible!

[Peelee]

My Pasta Aglio e Olio sends its regards.
My wife loves that dish! I call it "oily spaghetti" when I make it. She likes my joke name significantly less.

I'm officially quarantined, covid positive. Cooking with tons of garlic, fresh ginger and lemon oil every day.

I demand you come out of this safe and healthy so you can share more tasty recipes. And also probably still be around for loved ones, I guess.

[jdizzlean]

tonight i made us jerk chicken on the bbq with coconut/black bean rice, and bacon green beans for dinner. I haven't been a professional chef for about 10 years now, but it's fun to go all out once in awhile :)

[Eldan]

Any ideas on what to do with tons of fresh milk? I was given several bottles by a local farmer that would have gone to waste otherwise. I'm not much of a milk drinker, and I can't get the ingredients to make my own cheese under the current circumstances, so maybe some kind of soup? Sauce? Desert?

[Cygnia]

I'm partial to milk bread (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016275-japanese-milk-bread)

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Any ideas on what to do with tons of fresh milk? I was given several bottles by a local farmer that would have gone to waste otherwise. I'm not much of a milk drinker, and I can't get the ingredients to make my own cheese under the current circumstances, so maybe some kind of soup? Sauce? Desert?

Fresh Ricotta cheese should be doable with household ingredients (whole milk, salt, lemon juice or vinegar). Fanciest equipment you need is a thermometer and a fine sieve (or cheesecloth). Fresh mozzarella only needs milk, salt and rennet; dunno how hard rennet is to get where you're at.

Check out the mac and cheese recipe I posted.
Its basically a Mornay sauce - a bechamel w/cheese, theres lots of French dishes (and americanized Italian ones) that use a bechamel.
Old school Italians use cubes of stale bread, dipped in milk, in their meatballs instead of breadcrumbs.


As far as desserts, Pot de Creme, Creme Brulee, handmade ice cream (if you have a way to churn while it starts to freeze), Arroz Dulce (Portuguese rice pudding). Ille Flotante is an old school fancy French dessert that’s a baked meringue floating in a bowl of creme anglais (cooked milk thickened with eggs yolks and sugar).
I'm assuming whole milk since you said its from a local farmer, most creme recipes are probably going to call for a combo of milk and cream, but thats assuming store bought processed milk. Can use just milk in recipes calling for milk and cream, just need to add corn starch or more eggs depending on what you’re doing.

Anything else comes to mind ill edit it in. Haven't had my coffee yet today, my sleep schedules all messed up.

Edit: Cream of broccoli soup!! One of my favorites, I like to toss roughly cubed broccoli with olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic then roast it until it starts to brown. Meanwhile on the stove sauté a roughly puréed mirepoix and some more minced garlic until browned, deglaze with white wine, then build a light roux in the same pan with more olive oil, butter and flour. Add veggie stock and milk and simmer until thickened; then add your broccoli and finish with shredded cheddar cheese. I can try to give actual portions on ingredients, I’d have to break it down, don’t have it written, usually make 3 gallons at a time.......

For those wishing me well, thank you. I haven't had it that bad, but the duration is the worst part, honestly. Had a week of intense sinus congestion; followed by total loss of sense of smell, extreme fatigue and muscle aches (felt like a lead xray apron on my chest for a week), now I'm coughing and sneezing. Going on about 3 weeks of feeling like garbage, no end in sight. Local board of health said to quarantine through Monday or 72 hours symptom free, whichever takes longer. Doubt ill be symptom free tomorrow.

Thankfully I have family in the area dropping supplies off when I need them.

[H_H_F_F]

Get well soon, DwarvenWarCorgi! I have a somewhat weird question.

I live in a small apartment, and my kitchen is really tiny. For that reason, I don't have an oven. I do have a microwave with an "Oven" setting, but it kind of sucks - it doesn't really get hot enough, and feels like it's drying the food more than anything - which is why I don't really use it, and opt to only use the stove for cooking 99% of the time.

Do you have any suggestions for vegetables (or other vegan options) that would work with a low-quality oven?

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm definitely feeling better, hopefully past the worst of it.

I had a job a couple years ago where it was standard practice to toss vegetables in a light coat of olive oil, add a dash of kosher salt +pepper, arrange them in an even layer in a sautee pan, let them sit on low heat until browned, flip them and brown them again. Don't stir, don't toss, just let them sit and brown. I still love it for green beans, Brussels sprouts, broccolini and other hearty vegetables if I'm looking to take it easy on myself in the kitchen.

And truthfully its a go to in my house to Sautee broccoli, green beans, zuccini, or Brussels sprouts in olive oil with fresh garlic, kosher salt, black pepper and chili flake.

Agra Dolce is Italian sweet and sour, Sautee a mix of green and yellow squash with some sweet onion until just barely cooked, then sprinkle with sugar and quickly deglaze the pan with red wine vinegar.

I really enjoy broccolini and broccoli tempura with a balsamic vinegar reduction drizzle. If rice flour is not in your budget/not available, I've done all purpose flour, soda water and stiffly beaten egg whites as faux tempura, it doesn't brown the same, but the texture is good. In Italy they do Fritto Misto which is basically assorted, lightly battered, fried vegetables.

Fried Zucchini and fried green tomatoes are usually done with a more traditional breading.

Green peas in a sage brown butter are another favorite. If you have powdered milk around, add some to the butter before you brown it, having the extra dairy solids in there adds more flavor.

I don't remember the name off the top of my head, but in Sweden they do potato pancakes by layering thinly sliced potatoes in a skillet and slow cooking until it basically congeals, doesn't sound appealing but its delicious, I've never actually gotten one to stay together and be pretty, but that doesn't matter at home.

I've gotta get some sleep, I have a few more ideas I'll add tomorrow

[zarionofarabel]

What's the trick to making a nice soft thick pizza crust?

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

What's the trick to making a nice soft thick pizza crust?
I have said in the past, not really jokingly, that pizza is my spirit animal.

I have professionally made American style, Greek style, Neapolitan, Chicago, and grilled pizzas.

Thickness is just a factor of pan size, dough weight and rise. Texture is determined by the amount of gluten in your dough.
Being able to control texture is understanding the science of gluten production.

Regardless of anything you’ve ever heard; gluten is an organic protein that is NOT found in nature. Gluten is formed when you rehydrate dried Glutein, Glutenin, and Protease and either allow molecular movement the time to autolyse, or use mechanical agitation (kneading) to build complex gluten chains from the simple proteins found in your flour.

I like a combination of autolyse and kneading personally.
This type of dough production uses what’s called a Poolish; poolish production is simple, and it eliminates an outlying factor in flavor production that most people don’t think about when making dough: oxygen is caustic. The more air you mix into your dough, the less flavor you will have. Before I get into actual dough production, other outlying flavor factors are water, flour and leavening.
Everyone says New York pizza is special because of the water; they’re wrong. All these famous NYC places use a Sourdough starter instead of yeast, this makes a huge difference in your flavor. As far as water, it is absolutely true that it makes a difference, but quite the opposite one from the nyc water is better; municipal water supplies tend to have chlorine and fluorine, 2 caustic gasses that hinder flavor production, just as oxygen does.
(Easiest way to counter this is to either filter your water, or just let it rest for an hour after it comes out of the tap. Some of the gasses will evaporate.)

Flour has 2 qualities we want to be aware of: protein level and production method. Only recently in the US have manufacturers begun putting protein levels on the front of their flour packaging; in general for pizza, higher protein is better, but you can overcome that with more kneading, or a longer autolyse period.
I find it’s more important to use an organically processed, or Unbleached Non-Bromated flour. Potassium Bromate and other bleaching agents began being used in the US in the 1920’s because demand for flour exceeded supply. These chemical agents make flour usable quickly, but it destroys the flavor compared to flour that has been allowed to age naturally for use, also the flour tends to have less protein when chemically aged than when naturally aged. Usually about 20% less protein when chemically aged.


As for method. Quick tips for better rising, have your dough at room temperature before you bake it, preferably starting to rise after being stretched into your pan; and don’t put sauce on your dough unless it’s going in the oven in under a minute, the liquid soaking into your dough is counterproductive to lift. Adding the salt as late as possible in your process also provides more lift by hindering the yeast less early on.

To make a poolish: take a dough recipe you enjoy, divide the flour in half, add all the salt to half of the flour and set it aside. Take all your other ingredients, except for the unsalted flour, and add them to the bowl of a stand mixer. Run the mixer on medium speed for a minute with a dough hook to dissolve your sugar and yeast, then turn the speed to low and slowly add the unsalted flour. Once fully combined, turn the speed up to medium/low and mix for 3 minutes. Remove the dough hook, press plastic wrap against the poolish and allow it to rest. I like about a half hour at room temperature (but this is your autolyse period, longer time=more texture and vice versa). Add the salted flour, about half at a time, and mix on low speed until combined, then turn the mixer up to knead it (5 minutes for really tender, up to 15 minutes of kneading for leathery NYC style crust).

I’ve said it before, but to reiterate, the lengths of your autolyse period and kneading times are your texture factors if you don’t change anything else. Change one at a time to get your desired texture. If you expirement enough to get your perfect texture, then you can change the size of your dough ball to get your perfect thickness. In general I start with 1.25oz of dough for each inch of pan diameter and go up or down from there.

[tyckspoon]

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm definitely feeling better, hopefully past the worst of it.

I had a job a couple years ago where it was standard practice to toss vegetables in a light coat of olive oil, add a dash of kosher salt +pepper, arrange them in an even layer in a sautee pan, let them sit on low heat until browned, flip them and brown them again. Don't stir, don't toss, just let them sit and brown. I still love it for green beans, Brussels sprouts, broccolini and other hearty vegetables if I'm looking to take it easy on myself in the kitchen.


Reminds me of an America's Test Kitchen treatment I like for green beans. It would probably work for most other vegetables that have a similar texture - I haven't tried it on anything else but it should just involve modifying the cook times to tenderize stuff like broccoli if you have stems in, or I would bet it works pretty much the same for florets only.

Heat a pan with a very light amount of oil. Saute your vegetable until the color brightens and it just begins to show browning. Throw a small amount of water in (it should immediately boil into steam) and clap a lid over it as fast as you can - the idea is to basically flash-steam the contents of the pan. Modify the amount of water here to control how thoroughly cooked the end product is.

Once all the water is converted to steam/after a couple minutes letting the steam run around the lidded pan, carefully take the lid off. Add some oil or butter into the hot pan and saute for another minute or so/until the vegetable is browned to your liking. Add your desired seasonings or a sauce/dressing/marinade instead of the fat during this step, and it will pretty much absorb directly into the beans for sauces or adhere very well as your cooking fat is taken up. Works wonderfully with things like soy sauce or teriyaki.

(Works best on fresh vegetables, can be done with good frozen ones as well - thaw them/deliberately undercook them from the bag first, then finish in the pan.)

[Peelee]

So, as I mentioned earlier, I love making kaesespaetzle the way my mom used to. However, in Austrian restaurants, they top it with fried onions, and it's amazing. I've never been able to figure out the trick to that. Pre-made fried onions don't do it for me. The restaurants always seemed like they were made in-house that day. How can I create this dish topper?

[Cygnia]

So, as I mentioned earlier, I love making kaesespaetzle the way my mom used to. However, in Austrian restaurants, they top it with fried onions, and it's amazing. I've never been able to figure out the trick to that. Pre-made fried onions don't do it for me. The restaurants always seemed like they were made in-house that day. How can I create this dish topper?

2nding this, but I need to know how in order to make mujadara.

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

We do fried onions daily where I work. Couldn't be easier.

Thinly sliced your onions, then toss them in salt and whatever other seasonings you like. Let them rest for at least a half hour; the salt will draw some water out of the onions. Drain the excess water and toss them with all purpose flour, cornflour, or a mix of the 2 and deep fry at about 330F until golden brown.
I recommend a seive over a bowl to mix the onions and flour. Keep breaking them up and reapplying flour until they look dry.

[Peelee]

We do fried onions daily where I work. Couldn't be easier.

Thinly sliced your onions, then toss them in salt and whatever other seasonings you like. Let them rest for at least a half hour; the salt will draw some water out of the onions. Drain the excess water and toss them with all purpose flour, cornflour, or a mix of the 2 and deep fry at about 330F until golden brown.
I recommend a seive over a bowl to mix the onions and flour. Keep breaking them up and reapplying flour until they look dry.

You rock. Also, i got a meat slicer. Believe you me, I can slice some onions thin. :smallamused:

[DwarvenWarCorgi]

You rock. Also, i got a meat slicer. Believe you me, I can slice some onions thin. :smallamused:

Thanks.
And thats exactly how we do it in the restaurant. At home I use a Mandoline slicer. Benriner Super is my go to, have had a few over the years, like them better than all the commercial ones.