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Grand Fromage posted:I am looking for some books to read. I realized my knowledge of food is broad but not deep enough, and want to get into real detail on a few cuisines and learn more. I'm specifically looking for Japanese, Greek, Italian, and Mexican. I don't know where to start with this. I want to learn about regional foods and why things are done rather than just what to do. Like for Japanese food, I make a lot of everyday stuff and am good at it but I want to be able to put together stuff nobody's ever heard of unless they lived there or are giant nerds like me. For Italian, the standard reference is The Silver Spoon. Do we still have a cookbook thread? We used to have a cookbook thread. It seems like we ought to have a cookbook thread.
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Aug 6, 2017 07:36
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It fell to archives, but feel free to make a new one happen!
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Aug 6, 2017 16:53
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I just tried to make Chicken Tikka Masala for the first time, and didn't come away very impressed with myself. I based it off of a composite of recipes and followed all of the shared rules of thumb, with some added twists. I marinated chicken thighs for a while in yogurt, lemon juice, salt, turmeric, coriander, cumin, chili powder, etc. Then I sautéed all the aromatics, added all of those same spices (plus some paprika, asafetida, fenugreek leaves) to the pan, let that toast a bit in the pan, then added my tomato sauce, cooked chicken, and cream. What was left was a dish that tasted like it had all of the constituent parts to CTM, but they didn't really cohere. Mainly the tomato sauce stuck out like a sore thumb, and gave the dish an odd sense that this was just tomato sauce with Indian spices added in- it didn't rise to that next-level poo poo you get at even halfway decent Indian restaurants. What am I doing wrong? How do I get that inherent tomato-ness to blend in a bit more into the background? Is it a matter of picking the right kind of canned tomatoes (I used a 28 ounce can of fake San Marzanos and a raw roma)? It just ended up tasting like some weird Italian dish where someone accidentally spilled some yummy Indian stuff into it.
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Aug 6, 2017 23:36
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How much salt should you put in water for boiling potatoes?
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Aug 7, 2017 00:51
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Also do boiled potatoes have less flavor or nutrients than steamed because of what's lost in the water?
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Aug 7, 2017 01:37
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Jeb! Repetition posted:How much salt should you put in water for boiling potatoes? Potatoes are black holes for seasoning. I treat them like pasta; seawater levels of salt is too much, but not by a whole lot. The water should just noticeably taste of salt. Use just enough water to cover them and cook at a simmer, not a full boil. Also, add a splash of acid to the cooking water. White vinegar is fine, I use rice wine vinegar. Losing nutrients to boiling is a thing that doesn't realistically matter at all ever.
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Aug 7, 2017 02:15
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Jeb! Repetition posted:Also do boiled potatoes have less flavor or nutrients than steamed because of what's lost in the water? As a practical matter the flavour differences are going to be negligible compared to other factors involved in preparation. I don't know anything about the specific dish you're preparing or how sensitive you are to slight flavour variations but this is going to be true in general. If you're worried about losing things like vitamin C, ascorbic acid, and thiamine (the `fragile' poo poo in potatoes that are most affected by handling) your best approaches are (more or less in order, in terms of impact on the content of the prepared potatoes): eating them as soon as possible (even if your storage conditions are ideal); preparing the potatoes unpeeled instead of with their skins removed; and using a cooking method involving shorter cook times like shallow frying instead of a slower process like either steaming or boiling. Unless you're relying on potatoes as one of your principle dietary staples this is going to end up being rounding error and you really shouldn't fret over any of it. How much salt you want to use depends on application. Tendales posted:Also, add a splash of acid to the cooking water. White vinegar is fine, I use rice wine vinegar.
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Aug 7, 2017 02:43
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Jeb! Repetition posted:How much salt should you put in water for boiling potatoes? It depends a lot on how they are cut and whether you leave the skin on or not, more surface area means more water and salt absorbed, the type of potato matters a lot too, waxy potatoes tend to absorb a bit less salt and a lot less water. Luckily you can season afterwards with table salt if they are too bland.
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Aug 7, 2017 02:44
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SubG posted:For Italian, the standard reference is The Silver Spoon. Is there another good one? No Kindle edition for this and I'm not in the US so can't really do physical books. 
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Aug 7, 2017 05:59
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Jewmanji posted:I just tried to make Chicken Tikka Masala for the first time, and didn't come away very impressed with myself. I based it off of a composite of recipes and followed all of the shared rules of thumb, with some added twists. I marinated chicken thighs for a while in yogurt, lemon juice, salt, turmeric, coriander, cumin, chili powder, etc. Then I sautéed all the aromatics, added all of those same spices (plus some paprika, asafetida, fenugreek leaves) to the pan, let that toast a bit in the pan, then added my tomato sauce, cooked chicken, and cream. What was left was a dish that tasted like it had all of the constituent parts to CTM, but they didn't really cohere. Mainly the tomato sauce stuck out like a sore thumb, and gave the dish an odd sense that this was just tomato sauce with Indian spices added in- it didn't rise to that next-level poo poo you get at even halfway decent Indian restaurants. I don't see any mention of onions in there? You probably want onions.
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Aug 7, 2017 14:27
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feedmegin posted:I don't see any mention of onions in there? Sorry, that's what I meant by aromatics- I used a yellow onion, one shallot, one minced jalapeno and grated garlic and ginger to start off the sautee
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Aug 7, 2017 14:33
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feedmegin posted:I don't see any mention of onions in there? I imagine that comes under "all the aromatics" I'm interested in what people have to say about this because the same thing has happened to me before when making curry, it tastes a bit too much of the tomatoes and not so much like a proper curry sauce you'd find in restaurants. I haven't really tried this out but I suspect that the amount of tomatoes in it should be decreased and the amount of onions sharply increased. Also I dunno if you did this as it wasn't mentioned, but adding ground cashews or almonds is very good
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Aug 7, 2017 14:38
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Jewmanji posted:I just tried to make Chicken Tikka Masala for the first time, and didn't come away very impressed with myself. I based it off of a composite of recipes and followed all of the shared rules of thumb, with some added twists. I marinated chicken thighs for a while in yogurt, lemon juice, salt, turmeric, coriander, cumin, chili powder, etc. Then I sautéed all the aromatics, added all of those same spices (plus some paprika, asafetida, fenugreek leaves) to the pan, let that toast a bit in the pan, then added my tomato sauce, cooked chicken, and cream. What was left was a dish that tasted like it had all of the constituent parts to CTM, but they didn't really cohere. Mainly the tomato sauce stuck out like a sore thumb, and gave the dish an odd sense that this was just tomato sauce with Indian spices added in- it didn't rise to that next-level poo poo you get at even halfway decent Indian restaurants. It sounds like you used way too much tomato, when I use tomato in a curry I generally go with some tomato paste, it gives you a nice tomato flavor without taking over the dish. Jewmanji posted:Sorry, that's what I meant by aromatics- I used a yellow onion, one shallot, one minced jalapeno and grated garlic and ginger to start off the sautee Ok, that is definitely not enough onion, especially in proportion to the 28oz of tomatoes. I would use a small can of tomato paste and 3-4 medium onions, the onions should cook down a lot and basically dissolve into the sauce and act as a thickener.
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Aug 7, 2017 14:40
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Tikka masala is not the best curry to complain about tasting like tomatoes: it's supposed to. Apocryphally, it was originally devised by someone chucking a tin of tomato soup over chicken tikka, when a Glaswegian requested gravy.
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Aug 7, 2017 16:31
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AVeryLargeRadish posted:It sounds like you used way too much tomato, when I use tomato in a curry I generally go with some tomato paste, it gives you a nice tomato flavor without taking over the dish. Hm ok good to know. So do you offset the absence of the tomato liquid by with a nearly proportional amount of water, and then go heavy on the cream/coconut milk/yogurt? Scientastic posted:Tikka masala is not the best curry to complain about tasting like tomatoes: it's supposed to. I know it sounds a little silly, but just trust me that this doesn't take like it does in a restaurant. For years, as a little kid, I didn't even realize it was a tomato-based sauce because of how much work the onions and spices apparently do to transform it into something otherworldly (I wasn't that bright as a kid, but still). Jewmanji fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Aug 7, 2017 |
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Aug 7, 2017 18:14
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I'd recommend starting with just one recipe and following it, then working back from there to figure it out. When you make something for the first time I tend to feel this is the best way to get a feel for what you want from the dish vs other people's tastes. With that in mind, have a read of this Guardian article - I can't vouch for the recipe personally as we don't cook tikka masala, but I like this column's style of running through a few trains of thought to arrive at the 'perfect' recipe. You could also explore some other related recipes, like butter chicken, to see if tweaking that yourself gives you the flavour profile you're after.
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Aug 7, 2017 18:34
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I've got an incredibly dumb question What part of a green onion should I be using? Like, I know you cook the bulb like a normal onion, but I don't know where I harvest the green part for maximum flavor? Is the part near the bulb? Or is on the other end of the stalk? Or do I just use the whole thing? Additionally, if you guys have good suggestions for how to get good fresh green herbs to use, I'd be all ears.
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Aug 7, 2017 18:54
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Not sure if you're referring to a proper green onion or what Americans call scallions. If the latter, you can basically consider the natural color gradient a key to where in the cooking process it should be added. Closer to the bulb should avoid being served raw (though it is sometimes, and to great effect). By the time you're at the dark green stem, you should be considering that garnish (though again, this is widely preferential, dark green bits can be folded into whatever you're serving a minute before completion if you want to cook the rawness out a bit). In short: there's no hard and fast rule or right or wrong, it just depends on how much rawness you're interested in. Bollock Monkey posted:I'd recommend starting with just one recipe and following it, then working back from there to figure it out. When you make something for the first time I tend to feel this is the best way to get a feel for what you want from the dish vs other people's tastes. With that in mind, have a read of this Guardian article - I can't vouch for the recipe personally as we don't cook tikka masala, but I like this column's style of running through a few trains of thought to arrive at the 'perfect' recipe. You could also explore some other related recipes, like butter chicken, to see if tweaking that yourself gives you the flavour profile you're after. Thanks! And yeah, depending on the dish sometimes I do a bit of a survey of recipes when I know the end result can vary quite a bit (as in CTM or Pad Thai). Jewmanji fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Aug 7, 2017 |
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Aug 7, 2017 19:09
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I would argue the white/bulb part is the best part. I mostly use it for garnishing stirfries and noodle soups
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Aug 7, 2017 19:28
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For sure, I think it's just a preference thing. And if you are gonna garnish with white parts, it's a good idea to use a vegetable peeler, or cut on a bias very very thinly.
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Aug 7, 2017 19:37
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Jewmanji posted:I know it sounds a little silly, but just trust me that this doesn't take like it does in a restaurant. For years, as a little kid, I didn't even realize it was a tomato-based sauce because of how much work the onions and spices apparently do to transform it into something otherworldly (I wasn't that bright as a kid, but still). I know how tikka masala tastes, thanks, I am British! And I make it fairly regularly. It definitely is tomatoey, maybe I'm exaggerating how much, but it's definitely more tomatoey than a madras.
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Aug 7, 2017 19:41
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Anyone got any good ideas/recipes for bison? Just treat like lean beef?
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Aug 7, 2017 19:44
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Jay Carney posted:Anyone got any good ideas/recipes for bison? Just treat like lean beef? I had bison tartare served with quail egg once. Do that.
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Aug 7, 2017 20:11
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not sure if this is the right thread This stuff. This stuff right here. I can't get enough of the stuff, it's delicious. Only problem is, I can't find out how or where to get a proper sausage of this stuff instead of it being presliced. Googling Wiejska just comes up with a wiki article saying it's a farmhouse-style kielbasa, but there's like a million types of kielbasa and every butcher's I've gone to say they don't deal with polish stuff. So if I want this in a traditional polish style, what can I do to get hold of some (other than flying to Poland)? I'm in the UK and I don't know how to find out what neighbourhoods in my city are Polish, Google doesn't turn up anything. --------------- Qubee fucked around with this message at 20:28 on Aug 7, 2017 |
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Aug 7, 2017 20:24
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Jewmanji posted:Hm ok good to know. So do you offset the absence of the tomato liquid by with a nearly proportional amount of water, and then go heavy on the cream/coconut milk/yogurt? I generally go heavy on the coconut milk, I would only add water/chicken broth or stock if I thought the sauce was too thick, remember, onions contain a lot of water on their own, so you might not need to add much extra liquid at all. Another thing I recommend is adding your peppers during the last 10-15 minutes of simmering, it makes them much brighter and the flavor pops a lot more.
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Aug 7, 2017 21:36
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Q8ee posted:Googling Wiejska just comes up with a wiki article saying it's a farmhouse-style kielbasa https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_n_0?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A340834031%2Ck%3Awiejska&keywords=wiejska&ie=UTF8&qid=1502142870&rnid=1642204031 https://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/default.aspx?id=264773694
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Aug 7, 2017 22:55
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Q8ee posted:not sure if this is the right thread Find a polish deli near you. they should carry it. When I used to frequent brookhaven national lab in long island there was this amazing polish deli in riverhead. Such an amazing selection. Domowa is another great kielbasa with heavy smoking. Fresh kaszanka is also great, if you're down with blood. Here's a shot of the amazing selection they had, but I imagine other eastern european delis have comparable.  There's a local german deli near here that has a fairly amazing selection as well. ETA shots of the german place near me:   tl;dr go find local specialty delis they loving own. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Aug 7, 2017 |
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Aug 7, 2017 23:13
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GrAviTy84 posted:I would argue the white/bulb part is the best part. I mostly use it for garnishing stirfries and noodle soups When I'm using the greens I usually just bunch them together, one cut to take off the very end of the green part (which is what usually gets limp/wilty first), another cut to above the fork (most but not all green onions split somewhere above the white part, and with them in a bunch just cut them so you get the most green you can get out of all of them with one cut), and then mince/chiffonade/bias cut/whatever what's left. The main advantage to scallion greens is that you can throw them in raw and they won't be overpowering, so they an easy way to garnish with something vibrantly green, which can really help the other colours in the dish pop. The Glumslinger posted:Additionally, if you guys have good suggestions for how to get good fresh green herbs to use, I'd be all ears. SubG fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Aug 7, 2017 |
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Aug 7, 2017 23:21
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what kind of sauce to put on goat cheese and sun dried tomato tortellini?
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Aug 7, 2017 23:47
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GrAviTy84 posted:Find a polish deli near you. they should carry it. When I used to frequent brookhaven national lab in long island there was this amazing polish deli in riverhead. Such an amazing selection. Domowa is another great kielbasa with heavy smoking. Fresh kaszanka is also great, if you're down with blood. Fuuuuuuuck. That looks soooooo god. I used to frequent the German deli in Reno until it came out that the owners are Holocaust deniers. 
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Aug 7, 2017 23:53
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How the hell do you make rice in a pan without burning it?
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Aug 8, 2017 00:13
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Jeb! Repetition posted:Also do boiled potatoes have less flavor or nutrients than steamed because of what's lost in the water? Late to the potato party, but when I do boiled (new) potatoes, I toss in a bag of Zataran's extra spicy crab boil.
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Aug 8, 2017 00:43
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Doorknob Slobber posted:what kind of sauce to put on goat cheese and sun dried tomato tortellini?
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Aug 8, 2017 00:50
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Uncle w Benefits posted:How the hell do you make rice in a pan without burning it? Less heat, a thicker pan, and experimentation. My specific method depends on the rice that I'm cooking, but for basmati (my go-to) I rinse the rice until water runs clear, soak it for half an hour, drain it, bring 1.5x as much salted water or stock as I used rice (dry, by volume) to a boil, add the rice, lower the heat to 1.5 (on my stove of course; yours will probably differ), seal the lid, crimp foil around the edges to make a near-perfect seal, let it cook for 15 minutes, move the pot to a cold burner or a trivet and let it sit 5-10 minutes longer. Fluff it, dress it with whatever you like (tarka, lemon juice, whatever) and you're done.
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Aug 8, 2017 01:16
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I wonder if one of those instant pot pressure cookers would make this a lot easier. Even with one of these purpose-built rice cookers I have the rice on the bottom of the pot still manages to get crispy and burnt
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Aug 8, 2017 01:36
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Uncle w Benefits posted:I wonder if one of those instant pot pressure cookers would make this a lot easier. Even with one of these purpose-built rice cookers I have the rice on the bottom of the pot still manages to get crispy and burnt Are you rinsing the rice thoroughly? And yes, pressure cooker rice is wonderful. It doesn't save any time, but it gives you an amazing texture. It's not really worth pulling out the pressure cooker most of the time, though, and it's often being used elsewhere anyway.
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Aug 8, 2017 01:42
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I use an Aroma brand rice cooker, I never rinse rice because i love the starch and I love my short/medium grain rice sticking together and I never get burnt bottoms I should note that Koreans generally eat higher starch short/medium grains and the rice browning and crisping on the bottom that you want to avoid is something old-school Koreans actually looked forward to cracking off the bottom of their pots and eating like crackers Out of curiosity... are rice cookers in Korea no longer toasting the bottoms anymore? I haven't seen it in a long time and I wonder if the toasted rice crust on the bottom of the pot is becoming extinct
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Aug 8, 2017 02:35
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Uncle w Benefits posted:How the hell do you make rice in a pan without burning it? Uncle w Benefits posted:I wonder if one of those instant pot pressure cookers would make this a lot easier. Even with one of these purpose-built rice cookers I have the rice on the bottom of the pot still manages to get crispy and burnt It seems like most rice-staple cuisines have a dish or dishes based on the crunchy rice at the bottom of the pot - Persian tahdig, Korean nurungji, Vietnamese com chay, Spanish socarrat. Other dishes take steamed rice and intentionally dry out and caramelize it, like dol sot. So it seems like the layer of more-browned rice on the bottom has been with us since the beginning, and different people/cultures regard it as anything from a delicacy to a nuisance. I bought a zojirushi like a decade ago so I've never dealt with it though. So, uh, buy a rice cooker, deal with it, or learn to like it.
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Aug 8, 2017 02:43
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The issue of Cooks' Illustrated that came out literally today has a whole section on basic rice, different kinds, different methods, different amounts of water, you name it. Definitely recommend it if you're having rice issues. The crispy bottom is the best part though
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Aug 8, 2017 03:34
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i like nice words
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Looking for a good savory marinade/dipping sauce for beef. I don't want anything sweet, and abhor tomato-based things (maybe I had a traumatic experience with a tomato as a child) so Heinz 57/A1 or teriyaki are right out, and BBQ sauce doubly so. For a starting point, my current go-to marinade is a mix of soy and/or Worchestershire sauce, Cholula hot sauce, lime juice, and whisky (proportions: just whatever looks good, I don't measure), plus a liberal sprinkling of salt/pepper/garlic before and after soaking, then making an au jus (or thicker gravy, depending on the dish) with the drippings. Or make steak fingers by marinating in that, dredging in flour, and deep-frying -- it's almost like chicken-fried, but with the marinade instead of the mikegg, so super-flavorful. Edit: tangentially, my doctor says I have low potassium levels and high-ish blood pressure. Anybody tried the various salt substitutes? Do they taste THAT bad? Chillbro Baggins fucked around with this message at 07:11 on Aug 8, 2017 |
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Aug 8, 2017 07:04
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Bad Angus! Bad!