DebL's Profile
Cooking Top Round roast
Salt generously, wrap in plastic and let sit in fridge for at least a few hours, up to 24. Sear in a hot pan, then roast at 225 for as much time as it takes to get to about 130 degrees. Let rest for 20 minutes, tented with foil
Best Cinnamon Roll Recipe?
Have you tried this one from Cook's Country? It uses a modified brioche dough.
http://www.cookscountrytv.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=17864 (requires free registration)
We love this recipe, although it makes cinnamon buns almost as big as a child's head.
Need Palo Alto recs for 9000 cal/day Chowpuppy
9000 cal/day? Whoa!
Some of the biggest (and reasonably tasty and affordable) portions I think I've ever seen are at Max's Opera Cafe in the Stanford Shopping Center.
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Max's Opera Cafe
601 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA
Pastry bags for dough help
You could also use a coupler, which keeps the bag from blowing out around the tip: http://www.amazon.com/Ateco-Coupler-Set-Medium-Large/dp/B0000VLE40/ref=pd_sim_k_5
The inside plastic piece holds the tip and goes into the bag. The bigger piece goes around the outside of the bag and tip, and screws into the inside plastic piece. No blowouts.
Cooks Illustrated Chewy Brownies
I made them yesterday. Last night they were so-so and not very chewy, but this morning they were much, much better! My personal taste is for not so much chocolate, so I would leave out the bittersweet chunks/shavings and add roasted and salted macadamia nuts instead.
Your tried and true Cook's illustrated Best recipes.
I just made the Indoor Pulled Pork from the Jan/Feb 2010 issue, and it's wonderful! My husband, who after a bad case of stomach flu has been feeling nauseated at most everything, took one bite, and said, "I want this for dinner."
Ginger Grater
I have one of those (inscribed Made in Occupied Japan) and it works better for ginger than any other I've ever used.
Looks basically like this: http://fantes.com/images/3399graters.jpg
Toaster oven/convection taoster oven suggestions
I have the Krups FBC2 six-slice toaster oven. Works great for two people. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=krups+toaster+oven&x=0&y=0
Chinese Sticky Ribs
2 racks either St. Louis style or baby back ribs (2-1/2 to 3-1/2 lbs each)
1 c hoisin
1 c sugar
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c dry sherry
1 6-in piece ginger, peeled and sliced into rounds
1-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
30 sprigs fresh cilantro stems (reserve leaves for glaze), chopped
8 scallions white parts, cut into 1-in pieces (reserve green part)
Glaze:
1 10-oz jar hot red pepper jelly
1/2 c cider vinegar
1/4 c minced fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
the reserve scallion greens, minced
Adjust oven rack to middle, and heat to 350. Remove the silver skin from the back of the ribs. Combine the rib marinade in a large roasting pan. Add the spareribs and coat well. Cover with heavy foil and cook meat side down 2-1/2 to 3 hours, until just tender. Remove ribs to a plate.
Strain the cooking liquid, put 3 cups into a large nonstick skillet. Skim the fat. Add the jelly and vinegar. Simmer over medium high heat until reduced to 2 cups. Off the heat, stir in the cilantro and cayenne.
Heat the broiler (don't raise the oven rack!). Pour enough water into the roasting pan to cover the bottom. Fit pan with roasting rack, arrange ribs on rack, and brush with glaze, reserving 1/2 c. Broil until beginning to brown, flip over, and brush with more glaze. Flip back to meat side up and brush with more glaze every 2-4 min until ribs are deep mahogany. Move to a cutting board, tent with foil, let rest 10 min. Slice, glaze again, and serve with scallion greens.
how to light brandy on fire? - having trouble making coq au vin
Actually, flambeing creates more flavor compounds than just cooking off the alcohol does. From Cooks Illustrated:
"A flambé looks impressive and is easy enough to execute, but we wondered if it really improves the flavor of a sauce and, if so, why. Blind taste tests quickly revealed that flambéing the sauce for steak Diane did indeed improve its flavor; a flamed sauce was richer and sweeter than a sauce that had not been ignited. To get a handle on why it was better, we looked into the scientific principles involved. ..."
CI goes on to explain that essentially the temperature of the flaming brandy gets really high, about 500 deg, which is sufficient for caramelization and the Maillard reaction, while simmering, of course, never gets much above the boiling point of the sauce, about the same as the boiling point of water.
Chinese Sticky Ribs
It's an entire jar, which is 10 oz, I think.
I've made them, and they're yummy.
Source for French garlic sausage, South Bay
Since I have nothing to compare it with, I'll be shooting blind--the last time I had cassoulet must have been 30 years ago! I remember it tasted heavenly, though.
Source for French garlic sausage, South Bay
Draeger's in Menlo Park carries Fabrique Delices products, including both Saucisson a l'Ail and Duck Leg Confit. The sausage is $12 per pound.
Source for French garlic sausage, South Bay
I'm looking for fresh French garlic sauce in the Palo Alto/Mtn. View area or the Fremont/Union City/Newark area. I want to make cassoulet but don't know where to find the sausage.
Searching for the chocolate chip holy grail!
While, to my taste, CI's Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe really is perfect. It's here: http://www.americastestkitchentv.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=5489&iSeason=10. Registration is required, but free, as usual.
Yields a cookie that is crunchy on the edges, chewy in the middle, and has about the right amount of chocolate chips to my taste (recommended brand: Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet).
Adding chopped roasted and salted macadamia nuts brings it to utter perfection.
Meyer Lemon Rind
I zest it first, portion, wrap tightly, then freeze. If you have a chest freezer, store it there (the refrigerator's freezer cycles through a mini defrost every so often to keep it frost-free, which leads to freezer burn). You could also portion it, add a teaspoon of water, and freeze it that way, which helps keep it from freezer burn, which might be the browning problem you have.
How to give beef stew more punch?
Worcestershire sauce, bacon, red wine, tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, cloves.
Cookbook for novice cook who IS adverturesome, healthy, but relatively poor ;-)
America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (ring binder). Lots of basic stuff and lots of explanations, which I think beginning cooks need/want unless they're naturally gifted. Enough variety to make things interesting, but enough basic stuff that you don't have to run out to the store every time you want to make something.
Need help converting cake recipe from 9" round to 14" round (3 layer)
Thanks for digging that up! Need to bookmark it right away.
Need help converting cake recipe from 9" round to 14" round (3 layer)
Assuming the cakes will be the same thickness, you multiply by the difference in square inches for the size of each pan:
9-inch pan: 3.14 (pi) x radius (4.5 inches) squared = 64 square inches
versus
14-inch pan: 3.14 x 7 squared = 154 square inches
154 divided by 64 = 2.4
Multiply the 9 inch cake by 2.4 to get the 14 inch cake.
easy recipe for cinnamon rolls
The article did address that. I think using all cake flour made a too-soft brioche, but don't have it to check.
easy recipe for cinnamon rolls
It's up for free on the Cooks Country TV web site: http://www.cookscountrytv.com/recipes/login.asp?docid=17864.
You have to register, but it's free.
And, yeah, it's an wonderful cinnamon roll.
mass market red wine vinegar
CI's recommended brand is Spectrum Naturals. I have it and like it.
BEST BISCOTTI RECIPES PRETTY PLEASE
The ones from Maida Heatter's Brand New Book of Great Cookies are all wonderful! You can run a search on them. Many of them have been posted on the internet.
Dried Basil--Are you a fan or not? If yes, how do you use it?
It might be helpful to consider dried basil as a different herb than fresh. You could no more substitute dried basil for fresh basil than you could use dried ginger for fresh ginger, yet each has its place in a cook's repertoire.
How accurate is your Thermapen thermometer?
I guess I would recalibrate it and then try again.
Are you testing the meat at just one place, or in a couple of different places? Meat isn't a perfect sphere with exactly the same conductivity in every section, so it will be different temps in different parts. If you get vastly different temps in different parts, you will know that you'll have to kind of "average" them out. And possibly rotate the pan a couple of times to account for hot or cold spots in your oven.
How accurate is your Thermapen thermometer?
The Thermapen can be recalibrated. Your owner's manual should tell you how, or you can do a search for "Thermapen calibration."
Also, are you resting your meat before cutting into it? The internal temp should continue to rise after you finish cooking it, so that after the rest period it will be the right doneness.
The best way to coarsely chop nuts?
Yes, it's true that the chopper chops more finely than what I would consider "coarse." But I usually just put up with it, because it's so much harder to do it by knife on a flat cutting board and the food processor does a really inconsistent job. I wonder if that alligator chopper I have aging in the cupboard would work? Just think: nuts in a perfect 1/4" grid! I'll have to try it some day.
The best way to coarsely chop nuts?
Frozen cranberries for cranberry bread. Try chopping *those* with a knife!!
The best way to coarsely chop nuts?
I use this: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/nut-grinder
Unlike the cheap versions you find at thrift stores, this one has stainless steel blades. Although it's kind of strangely designed (the bottom is a soft lid that comes off, presumably so you can use it as a shaker), it's sturdy and dishwasher safe. I've also seen it in the Williams Sonoma catalog: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku8200230/?pkey=x%7C4%7C1%7C%7C4%7Cnut%20grinder%7C%7C0&cm_src=SCH
This works even with peanuts and almonds, which don't break as easily as softer nuts with the whack-em-with-a-rolling pin method.
