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Don't forget the bell pepper confetti or the mesclun haircut.
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Oct 11, 2012 15:39
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I'm a big fan of the carrot rose and parsley sprigs, myself. But then I'm traditional.
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Oct 11, 2012 15:54
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By the way, on the pasta water topic... This is a pretty  tip, but I was dumb about it at first: if your recipe actually relies on the starch in pasta water to make things adhere properly/get the right texture, don't cook your pasta in too much water or it might end up too diluted to work properly.If you're really into getting the starch you can also cook it like a risotto (just adding liquid bit by bit and getting it all absorbed). Works well for some stuff like mac and cheese.
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Oct 11, 2012 16:08
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I'm a fan of the ultratex thickened sauce spoon swoop and the contrasted color sauce drop dots around the plate. And gelee veils.
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Oct 11, 2012 17:41
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Protip: Never do a smear with a brown sauce.
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Oct 11, 2012 17:45
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Mr. Wiggles posted:I'm a big fan of the carrot rose and parsley sprigs, myself. But then I'm traditional. I already said lemon crown, those are just a given. Also: a single mint leaf with every dessert.
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Oct 11, 2012 17:46
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EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:I already said lemon crown, those are just a given. The problem with the lemon crown is that lemon is pretty tangy and it can offend the taste of some diners. It's better to play it safe unless they order something really out there and dangerous like salmon.
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Oct 11, 2012 18:08
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Everything scooped with a 3/8 ounce disher. Everything. 
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Oct 11, 2012 18:08
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I like my foods served with a shroud so I can eat them properly. That is, away from the sight of god. Edit: Deep fried and served on a stick is also an acceptable serving method.
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Oct 11, 2012 18:27
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Casu Marzu posted:I like my foods served with a shroud so I can eat them properly. That is, away from the sight of god.
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Oct 11, 2012 20:29
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therattle posted:Or in a bucket. I prefer feedbags, even if they're a little difficult to clean without ruining the rest of my laundry.
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Oct 11, 2012 21:13
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Zuhzuhzombie!! posted:Anyone recommend a good hors d’œuvre/finger food that could survive an hour long trip? Boomp. I'm having plantains at a dinner tonight so I think that might be out. Thinking maybe some good delta grind grits in cheese, maybe a nice roux to top it off with. ed Or maybe not. Dunno. That would require more re heating than the host would like maybe.
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Oct 11, 2012 22:14
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Zuhzuhzombie!! posted:Boomp.
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Oct 11, 2012 22:26
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Hookay, so I have me here a meat grinder that I found in my grandpa's attic. Far as I can tell it isn't worth much, but I haven't tried grinding any meat out of it. It's badass, I wanna grind some meat, but before I ruin a nice steak or two I'm wondering if anyone here's used anything similar. Ha, cute read here about the manufacturer: http://www.toaster.org/landers.html scuz fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Oct 12, 2012 |
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Oct 12, 2012 01:09
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Last night, I made steak. I baked it in a Gibson's Whiskey/Butter/Peppercorn Sauce that I thought of off the top of my head. It was really tasty, but was also really rich. Is there any way I could reduce the sauce a little bit? Or something of the sort? Maybe instead of butter, I could use something else? I'd like some suggestions.
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Oct 12, 2012 07:25
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Is there a book you guys would recommend that specializes on making pasta sauce? I know I could probably google most of it, but I'd like to have it pre-organized in a book.
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Oct 12, 2012 11:14
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Um. Look, I think what you're lookin for is a good Italian cookbook. Pasta dishes are more than just [starchy product, sauce] tuples. Italians talk about "seasoning" pasta (condire), with whatever one has prepared beforehand, be it just plain olive oil or a big, heavy ragù stuffed with meat. Seeing as how pasta products form a backbone of Italian cuisine from the Alps to the South I think a good, concise Italian cookbook would serve you well. There's several to choose from, I don't really have any that cover all of Italy myself. Shop around a bit.
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Oct 12, 2012 12:21
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Hey guys, I made the slow cooker pork (the usual stupid easy one), but I had to use a 7.7 lb piece, so I let it go for nearly double the time to be safe. However some of the meat is still a little pink. I don't know if it's underdone or if it's as a smoker does, so what should I do? Slap the shredded product in an oven for 10 minutes? edit: I would be surprised if it wasn't thorughly cooked. I pulled on the bone slightly to reposition the meat so I could take out and the whole thing just collapsed into a pile of delicious dead animal. I just want to be sure. Adult Sword Owner fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Oct 12, 2012 |
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Oct 12, 2012 16:13
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Its fine, pork just tends to have a pink hue.
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Oct 12, 2012 16:38
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Here's another quick food safety question from me, but I'm 99% sure I know the answer already, just want to check: If I make a three layer cake and one of those layers is a baked cheesecake, it still needs to be stored in the fridge, right? Thanks!
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Oct 12, 2012 17:48
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Sjurygg posted:Um. Look, I think what you're lookin for is a good Italian cookbook. Pasta dishes are more than just [starchy product, sauce] tuples. Italians talk about "seasoning" pasta (condire), with whatever one has prepared beforehand, be it just plain olive oil or a big, heavy ragù stuffed with meat. Seeing as how pasta products form a backbone of Italian cuisine from the Alps to the South I think a good, concise Italian cookbook would serve you well. There's several to choose from, I don't really have any that cover all of Italy myself. Shop around a bit. Yeah, guilty as charged. Making Pasta for me is basically combining bland stuff with good stuff. I figured sauce is the one thing I can improve on, since making dough is a bit too  Italian cookbook it is, I guess.
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Oct 12, 2012 17:52
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midnightclimax posted:Yeah, guilty as charged. Making Pasta for me is basically combining bland stuff with good stuff. I figured sauce is the one thing I can improve on, since making dough is a bit too Silver spoon
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Oct 12, 2012 17:52
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HookShot posted:Here's another quick food safety question from me, but I'm 99% sure I know the answer already, just want to check: Yes.
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Oct 12, 2012 17:58
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Saint Darwin posted:Hey guys, I made the slow cooker pork (the usual stupid easy one), but I had to use a 7.7 lb piece, so I let it go for nearly double the time to be safe. However some of the meat is still a little pink. I don't know if it's underdone or if it's as a smoker does, so what should I do? Slap the shredded product in an oven for 10 minutes? Braised meat can keep colour, if it was easy to pull you're fine. You can always check with a thermometer to be sure.
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Oct 12, 2012 18:07
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Hey GWS, quick question: can I cook multiple things in an oven, and of so, how do I accommodate different times and temps? Like, since I only have one oven, but would like to have pizza, pigs in a blanket, and cheesecake soapapillas (some Pilsbury bastardization), all come out at once, or close to it, how would/could I do it?
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Oct 12, 2012 18:22
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EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:Also: a single mint leaf with every dessert. re: the rest of plating convo: there are some good posts in the dinners thread, and a lot of ICSAs have some good stuff in them too. Nicer restaurants will have some pictures of plated food online. I actually asked the same question a while ago and never really found any resources specifically dedicated to food plating aesthetics. Some more general stuff I've picked up (although I do consider my plating the thing I need to work on the most still) -negative space. super important. don't fill up the plate, and if the plate has a rim, dont squeezebottle sauce or sprinkle herbs all over it. just like a painting or a photograph empty space helps focus you in on the thing, and makes it stand out from the rest of the world. this is also why 99% of places use white plates. -don't put things on the plate that you can't/shouldn't eat, and like the convo above, don't put something on the plate that has nothing to do with the dish jut because it looks pretty. -this is probably more of a "trend" type thing than a hard rule but tall food is visually striking. Making your plate tall by stacking elements also helps preserve some of the negative space mentioned above. I don't mean literally stacking everything like a jenga tower, but in the classic goon dinner of steak mashed potato and asparagus you can put the mound of mashed potato just off center of the plate, lean the asparagus on the potato diagonally across the plate and drape the steak over the whole thing leaving the heads of the asparagus exposed. you can see all the food, the steak is lifted towards the diner and showing off your awesome crust/grill marks, there's room to dribble sauce around if youre into that, but the food is highlighted by a ring of clean white plate. Hellfire99 posted:Last night, I made steak. I baked it in a Gibson's Whiskey/Butter/Peppercorn Sauce that I thought of off the top of my head. It was really tasty, but was also really rich. Is there any way I could reduce the sauce a little bit? Or something of the sort? Maybe instead of butter, I could use something else? I'd like some suggestions. In general, "reducing" a sauce makes it more rich, by evaporating water. If it was overall too fatty, try subbing cream for the butter next time. If that's still too fatty for you swap the cream for whole milk. If you just wanted to lighten up the flavor of the sauce a bit try a splash of white or red wine vinegar or maybe a squeeze of lemon juice EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:Braised meat can keep colour, if it was easy to pull you're fine. You can always check with a thermometer to be sure. I've had someone send back 14-hour braised beef shortribs because "they were medium and he wanted them well done" pile of brown fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Oct 12, 2012 |
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Oct 12, 2012 18:28
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pile of brown posted:I've had someone send back 14-hour braised beef shortribs because "they were medium rare and he wanted them well done" I've had that happen lots of times. 
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Oct 12, 2012 18:52
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Getting a proper thermometer was a big revelation for me. I never have to poke or squeeze or cut open or compare colours or whatever to tell if something is finished cooking - I just get the temp and I know instantly. The only tough part was getting used to finding the 'right spot' (the coolest spot) to measure. I also had some fun seeing in real time (yay Thermapen) how fast a pot of water or oil goes down in temperature when you add food. It really made me think about how much food I was adding at a time and the impact it was having on the cooking process. I cook things in smaller batches now and have much better results.
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Oct 12, 2012 18:53
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I've noticed that too with a pot of boiling water. Putting in some pasta will make the water stop boiling. or putting a lot of liquid into a pan will cool off the pan. Would that apply to baking in an oven as well?
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Oct 12, 2012 20:13
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Hellfire99 posted:I've noticed that too with a pot of boiling water. Putting in some pasta will make the water stop boiling. or putting a lot of liquid into a pan will cool off the pan. Would that apply to baking in an oven as well? Just opening the oven does it. Hot air comes out, cold air goes in. That's why you're not supposed to open the oven frequently to check on things cooking within. It's also why the simple act of basting your turkey can add an hour or more to roasting time. On my oven, you can actually see the temperature change by turning the oven off and then back on immediately, at which point the digital display will show the current oven temp as it heats up again.
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Oct 12, 2012 20:19
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pile of brown posted:
Thanks for the info. I'm definitely going to try with a light cream next time; and some lemon. Also, do you think it would make a good marinade? Or would it be better as a sauce baked on?
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Oct 12, 2012 20:22
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Hellfire99 posted:I've noticed that too with a pot of boiling water. Putting in some pasta will make the water stop boiling. or putting a lot of liquid into a pan will cool off the pan. quote:Would that apply to baking in an oven as well? The food takes up some of the space that you previously had to heat though, whereas in the water, the medium that was being heated doesn't decrease -it just gets displaced. If you could teleport food into the oven, I bet it would be almost a push. If it was a completely airtight space, actually I bet the temperature would go up slightly because of the increase in pressure. I don't even preheat my oven any more *, except for the incidental time from when I turn the oven on while I'm finishing prep. I have a light in there, and a thermometer that gets closed in the door, so between those two things I only ever will open the door if I have to move or rotate something. *Except heating my pizza stone. There are other exceptions, like baking, of which I don't do much. I'm talking about roasting.
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Oct 12, 2012 20:31
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EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:Braised meat can keep colour, if it was easy to pull you're fine. You can always check with a thermometer to be sure. Yeh, once I pulled it apart I totally figured things out. I did actually reach for my thermometer at first, but it's gone to the big kitchen in the sky and stuck in some kind of selection mode (which is odd since it only has an on-off switch). Guess it's time to get a new one that isn't $5!
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Oct 12, 2012 20:34
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Hellfire99 posted:Thanks for the info. I'm definitely going to try with a light cream next time; and some lemon. Also, do you think it would make a good marinade? Or would it be better as a sauce baked on? If you find the sauce too rich, just use less of it. A tiny amount goes a long way. It doesn't really have many of the components that make a good marinade, I wouldn't bother, something acidic or something that provides an enzymatic breakdown will do better. What cut of beef are you using? Most things that you would call steak don't need to be marinated. Why are you baking a steak in a creamy stock reduction sauce? You could try cooking it by broiling or by searing it in a stainless steel pan to get a good crust on it and then just finishing it with a very small amount of sauce on the plate.
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Oct 12, 2012 20:39
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ChetReckless posted:Getting a proper thermometer was a big revelation for me. I never have to poke or squeeze or cut open or compare colours or whatever to tell if something is finished cooking - I just get the temp and I know instantly. The only tough part was getting used to finding the 'right spot' (the coolest spot) to measure. This is the exact opposite of how I feel you should tell if something is cooked. Am I a hopeless Luddite?
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Oct 12, 2012 20:44
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Scientastic posted:This is the exact opposite of how I feel you should tell if something is cooked. Am I a hopeless Luddite? You're just a more confident cook than I am. Also, I cook for my girlfriend and our son and neither one of them will look at meat they think has even a remote possibility of being undercooked. I think there is something satisfying about being familiar enough with what you're cooking to know when its cooked exactly how you want by engaging with it. I still appreciate being able to know (and just as importantly in my house, prove) the food is safe, however. edit - I make espresso with a digital scale and a timer and thermometer a lot, so I also just like nerding out over things sometimes. ChetReckless fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Oct 12, 2012 |
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Oct 12, 2012 20:49
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It was just something I tried on-the-spot. It started with the steak, which was kind of cheap. So I decided that I would bake it rather than fry it in a pan (My condo association doesn't allow BBQ's) Second, was the Gibson's. I seen it up there on the shelf and wanted to somehow make a whisky sauce to bake my steak in. I needed something to mix with the Gibson's, so I used a tablespoon of butter. I enjoy creating new things, even if its a fail or disgusting. lol
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Oct 12, 2012 21:17
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ChetReckless posted:
When I was younger, working in restaurants, I used to be able to tell when a steak was done by how plump and juicy it was; with a margin for error of course. Now... is a little bit different. I've been trying to get back into cooking. Eating out has dulled my proper ability to cook well.
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Oct 12, 2012 21:30
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Thanks!! Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Just opening the oven does it. Hot air comes out, cold air goes in. That's why you're not supposed to open the oven frequently to check on things cooking within. It's also why the simple act of basting your turkey can add an hour or more to roasting time. Yup, absolutely. This is totally obvious if you ever cook a batch of naan bread on your pizza stone. The first one will finish with 30 seconds on each side, by the time you get to the 6th one, the door has been opened and closed so many times it takes 2 minutes a side (I totally should have thought that through and cooked the naan 10 minutes earlier, and let the stone re-heat in between breads)
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Oct 12, 2012 21:47
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EAT THE EGGS RICOLA posted:I've had that happen lots of times. I realise its an unusual question but how do you deal with this? Just throw it in the microwave for a while?
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Oct 12, 2012 22:32
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