What did you have for dinner? - Page 46

Quote:

Originally Posted by petalsandcoco 

Yes, your right.

 

 

The full episode is here http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xs1uv5_s1e7-heston-blumenthal-in-search-of-perfection-spaghetti-bolognese_lifestyle

What an ambitious bolognese. He threw everything but the kitchen sink in it. I can't say I'd ever make it, but I'd love to taste it. I'm definitely going to use some of his ideas in my own bolognese to see how it tastes.

One thing though....heating the pan for ten minutes on high...??? and then pouring olive oil in it? I'm not sure about that. What about the toxicity that occurs during the smoking point?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pollopicu 

One thing though....heating the pan for ten minutes on high...??? and then pouring olive oil in it? I'm not sure about that. What about the toxicity that occurs during the smoking point?

Yeah I had the same reaction you had, especially as he takes his sweet time talking about his pork shoulder while the olive oil is smoking... 

But oxtail and pork shoulder? I just HAVE to try that next time. 

Really? Do you worry about that? Its news to me.  

Surely its the same as getting your grill ready for a steak, of your wok ready for a stir fry

Quote:

Originally Posted by bughut 

Really? Do you worry about that? Its news to me.  

 

Surely its the same as getting your grill ready for a steak, of your wok ready for a stir fry

Try it next time: set your wok for 10mn on full heat, then pour oil and let it smoke for a little while. Then cook anything in that oil. It will smell and taste like bad fish. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bughut 

Really? Do you worry about that? Its news to me.  

 

Surely its the same as getting your grill ready for a steak, of your wok ready for a stir fry

Yeah but the grill doesn't have oil in it. It's the toxicity that is created by the burning oil that is seriously dangerous... like cancerous.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935198938762

Quote:

Originally Posted by French Fries 

Try it next time: set your wok for 10mn on full heat, then pour oil and let it smoke for a little while. Then cook anything in that oil. It will smell and taste like bad fish. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by bughut 

Really? Do you worry about that? Its news to me.  

 

Surely its the same as getting your grill ready for a steak, of your wok ready for a stir fry

The wok needs to be hot FF. Like a grill or a frying pan. You don't heat the oil for any time attall. That would be silly.

Have ingredients ready. Wok blisteringly hot. Add oil, let it smoke, swirl add first ingredients quickly. Timing is everything.

Heston heated the pan and just as you would with a wok, as soon as the oil STARTS to smoke you slam the ingredients in there and they brown and instantly cool the pan down

Quote:

Originally Posted by bughut 

The wok needs to be hot FF. Like a grill or a frying pan. You don't heat the oil for any time attall. That would be silly.

 

Have ingredients ready. Wok blisteringly hot. Add oil, let it smoke, swirl add first ingredients quickly. Timing is everything.

 

Heston heated the pan and just as you would with a wok, as soon as the oil STARTS to smoke you slam the ingredients in there and they brown and instantly cool the pan down

I actually don't use woks, but I have a carbon steel pan I use all the time. 10mn on full heat would mean the pan would be SCORCHING hot. I usually start heating on low, continue on medium, for a total time of maybe 5mn, and when I add the oil it smokes immediately upon contact - and for me that means the pan is hot enough. 

So the 10mn on FULL HEAT comment surprised me, especially when he then takes his sweet time before adding the ingredients (hence my comment about letting the oil smoke for a while). But that could be because of the video editing I guess...

I also noticed that pre-heating a pan on full heat, especially a stainless steel pan (which he's using in the video), develops hot spots, which are not as severe when pre-heating on medium heat. 

It's still white asparagus season over here. Warm asparagus, cold roast beef, Hollandaise-ish sauce flavoured with fresh lemon verbena. I'm not using clarified butter in the sauce but raw butter in a ratio of 1 heaped tbsp per used eggyolk... you should try this if you like a deep buttery flavour. Trust me, it's delicious.

Looks great Chris, that roast beef is cooked to perfection. Nice twist with the lemon verbena.

 A  farmer drops these off every other morning. Asparagus season right now. I will be grilling them next time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by French Fries 

I actually don't use woks, but I have a carbon steel pan I use all the time. 10mn on full heat would mean the pan would be SCORCHING hot. I usually start heating on low, continue on medium, for a total time of maybe 5mn, and when I add the oil it smokes immediately upon contact - and for me that means the pan is hot enough. 

 

So the 10mn on FULL HEAT comment surprised me, especially when he then takes his sweet time before adding the ingredients (hence my comment about letting the oil smoke for a while). But that could be because of the video editing I guess...

 

I also noticed that pre-heating a pan on full heat, especially a stainless steel pan (which he's using in the video), develops hot spots, which are not as severe when pre-heating on medium heat. 

You make a good point FF. What i should have said was that i have the pan on a gentle heat for 10 minutes, sometimes longer. Cast iron griddle and steel wok.just before i actually need it the heat is turned right up. oil added, rapidly followed by the food to be cooked. Apologies for the error and thanks for pointing it out

Quote:

Originally Posted by bughut 

Well i guess theres naked and just showing enough to be seductive eh? ; }

 

Linguine with just a touch of evoo and butter tossed through and a couple of sage leaves cut to the finest Chiffonade you can get is the perfect foil for Bolognese in Bugs hut.

That's a dish in its own right in the house of GeneMachine ;)

With a bit more than a touch of butter and added salt and pepper, of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisBelgium 

It's still white asparagus season over here. Warm asparagus, cold roast beef, Hollandaise-ish sauce flavoured with fresh lemon verbena. I'm not using clarified butter in the sauce but raw butter in a ratio of 1 heaped tbsp per used eggyolk... you should try this if you like a deep buttery flavour. Trust me, it's delicious.

 

 I'm salivating.  Truly.

Me too. Very nice plating and surely delicious.

Petals, Koukou, Ordo; thanks guys!

Quote:

Originally Posted by French Fries 

I actually don't use woks, but I have a carbon steel pan I use all the time. 10mn on full heat would mean the pan would be SCORCHING hot. I usually start heating on low, continue on medium, for a total time of maybe 5mn, and when I add the oil it smokes immediately upon contact - and for me that means the pan is hot enough. 

 

So the 10mn on FULL HEAT comment surprised me, especially when he then takes his sweet time before adding the ingredients (hence my comment about letting the oil smoke for a while). But that could be because of the video editing I guess...

 

I also noticed that pre-heating a pan on full heat, especially a stainless steel pan (which he's using in the video), develops hot spots, which are not as severe when pre-heating on medium heat. 

This isn't something new. I preheat all of my pans for searing for 10 minute plus, cast iron even longer. The stainless steel pan was heated long enough that hot spots were minimal regardless of pre-heating on medium heat. He knows his pans as all chefs do. :)

Tonight I had a spicy shrimp, egg and avocado sandwich with, wait for it, Pringles. Because every now and again you just need some Pringles in your life. :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by helloitslucas 

I preheat all of my pans for searing for 10 minute plus

So you preheat your stainless steel pans for 10 minutes on full heat? Meaning, the max gas output your biggest gas burner can produce? 

I usually start preheating my pans on medium-low, sometimes cranking up toward medium-high toward the end of the preheating, and still have never felt the need to preheat my stainless steel pans for more than 3-5 mn. By that time the pan is now VERY hot, no hot spots, oil poured in it smokes instantly and I can sear meat perfectly. I wonder what I would gain from preheating faster AND longer - seems to me like the pan would just end up being too hot?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisBelgium 

Petals, Koukou, Ordo; thanks guys!

Wait, explain "hollandaise-ish"

I confess, I bought asparagus today, planning on making something similar but with bacon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by French Fries 

 

So you preheat your stainless steel pans for 10 minutes on full heat? Meaning, the max gas output your biggest gas burner can produce? 

 

I usually start preheating my pans on medium-low, sometimes cranking up toward medium-high toward the end of the preheating, and still have never felt the need to preheat my stainless steel pans for more than 3-5 mn. By that time the pan is now VERY hot, no hot spots, oil poured in it smokes instantly and I can sear meat perfectly. I wonder what I would gain from preheating faster AND longer - seems to me like the pan would just end up being too hot?

 

 

I live in an old house in Switzerland. It is an electric...something or another stovetop from the mid-1980's, so you should take my post with a very large grain of salt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by helloitslucas 

I live in an old house in Switzerland. It is an electric...something or another stovetop from the mid-1980's, so you should take my post with a very large grain of salt.

I see.... I don't know how you can crank out so many beautiful dishes with an electric stovetop! I hate them with a passion. :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisBelgium 

It's still white asparagus season over here. Warm asparagus, cold roast beef, Hollandaise-ish sauce flavoured with fresh lemon verbena. I'm not using clarified butter in the sauce but raw butter in a ratio of 1 heaped tbsp per used eggyolk... you should try this if you like a deep buttery flavour. Trust me, it's delicious.

 

What a beautiful photograph Chris! Stunning. You've reached perfection with that dish. Well at least visual perfection! Is your "hollandaise-ish" sauce a Sauce Mousseline by any chance? 

Felt like street food really! Made some pretzels (for the first time!) and grilled some boudin blanc with peppers and onions: 

OH MY THAT LOOKS LOVELY. Please link or post the pretzel recipe!

Quote:

Originally Posted by helloitslucas 

OH MY THAT LOOKS LOVELY. Please link or post the pretzel recipe!

Of course. It was honestly much easier than I had planned, and they tasted great!

• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose unbleached or bread flour (I stop adding flour once the dough forms a ball with the stickiness of a post-it)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm milk

I mix everything, let the mixer run for about 5mn, put in a bowl and let rise for about 1 Hr. Punch the dough, form long thin sticks, let them rise for 5-10mn, form them longer and thinner, repeat a few times if necessary, then shape the pretzels. Boil them for 5 seconds, eggwash, coarse sea salt, 15mn in a 425F oven. 

I found that recipe at the following link: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pretzels

French Fries, loving that sausage and stuff!  That cold roast beef and white asparagus looks divine!

Tonight was inspired by another thread here.  Salmon poached in water, white wine, fennel fronds, black peppercorns and bay leaf.   Kale sauteed with bacon, fennel bulb and cherry tomatoes, with a splash of "aged basaltic" to finish.

And this is my portion, Karen's was cooked a bit longer.  She has a different relationship to fish than I do.

mjb.