[Ttvetjanu]

Quote:

either way. yes, it's definitely possible to use them in the oven. I don't know whether people doing that would skip the browning of the meat; I don't because quickly browning your meat seals in a bit more of the flavor and moisture of the meat. right now, I am making the stock fresh from everything on the chicken I won't put into the tagine. once the stock is done, I'll proceed as described above, since my tagine has a cast-iron bottom (and a glazed earthenware top).

Frying meat for "sealing" moisture and flavour is completely incorrect. It will not have any difference, as proven by Harold McGee in the early 90's. Only point of frying meat prior to stewing is to generate flavour through the maillard reaction of browning of the meat. Generally stews in which meats were fried prior; have a slightly darker colour and very little flavour difference.
 
There was also some discussion of cooking stock for longer than a day or two. This was also proven pointless by same person. Generally dark stocks are stewed one day for bones/meat and about 5-10 hours for vegetables, after which herbs are added. This is then steeped for about an hour (no boiling) and carefuly strained. I strongly recommend reading "On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee.

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

Frying meat for "sealing" moisture and flavour is completely incorrect. It will not have any difference, as proven by Harold McGee in the early 90's. Only point of frying meat prior to stewing is to generate flavour through the maillard reaction of browning of the meat. Generally stews in which meats were fried prior; have a slightly darker colour and very little flavour difference.
 
There was also some discussion of cooking stock for longer than a day or two. This was also proven pointless by same person. Generally dark stocks are stewed one day for bones/meat and about 5-10 hours for vegetables, after which herbs are added. This is then steeped for about an hour (no boiling) and carefuly strained. I strongly recommend reading "On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee.

 
Hmm I agree on the stock thing, there's only so much flavor one can extract from bones and you really need to make sure you don't overcook your vegetable stocks or they will get bitter. But on the searing issue, I have had very good luck searing in the meat's juices; whether it's to start a roasted fowl in an extremely hot oven, or pan-searing a beef or pork roast first on a stovetop. It depends on the meat, but for myself searing it prior to cooking makes a definite difference compared to not doing it. The only other thing that seems to help with retaining moisture is dredging the raw meat in some kind of flour first, but this is usually done for serving-size cuts.

 

[melomaniac]

Quote:

Hmm I agree on the stock thing, there's only so much flavor one can extract from bones and you really need to make sure you don't overcook your vegetable stocks or they will get bitter. But on the searing issue, I have had very good luck searing in the meat's juices; whether it's to start a roasted fowl in an extremely hot oven, or pan-searing a beef or pork roast first on a stovetop. It depends on the meat, but for myself searing it prior to cooking makes a definite difference compared to not doing it. The only other thing that seems to help with retaining moisture is dredging the raw meat in some kind of flour first, but this is usually done for serving-size cuts.

 
okay, so McGee on page 115 of his book argues it's not juiciness as such but the creation of a flavor that justifies searing meat. the book Ttvetjanu recommends (thanks!) does not in fact deny that the result is desirable. to which I say, my double-blind tastebuds (they have no retinal neurons 

) detect an improvement that I can also find recognized in centuries of cookbooks and recipes. yes, those recipes are not science, yet they are what we inherit from the laboratories of tasting. so whatever it is exactly that searing your meats can do for your stew, do it. McGee's adversary in that passage is Justus Liebig, the eminent 19th century scientist (whose claims make it into cook books by Escoffier and others) - not the cook who says, this process has proven superior results. were I a chemist, I'd take this a little more seriously; but for cooking, I'd rather go with what works and has worked for many generations. - and yes, the dinner was delicious, most of it is already gone by now (although if you want, you could call Uncle Erik's Mai Tai to have her goons come and pick over the leftovers in a molecular chemistry lab for forensic evidence of chicken browned...)
 
along that trajectory - has anyone here had a meal at El Bulli or any of the other high-end "food chemistry" restaurants yet? I have a colleague who went, and didn't enjoy it much, but it continues to get excited press.

 

[tiohn]

I do all of the cooking in our household. It is something that I usually look forward to (barring the occasional burnout associated with figuring out what to prepare on any given day) and love the challenge of learning new dishes and new techniques. I recently attempted salt-crusted fish and was exceedingly happy with the results. Caking the salt dough onto the fish is fun and the presentation is very impressive, as people tend to think that it's a much more complicated dish than it actually is. The resulting fish moist almost beyond belief and the filets end up being extremely easy to remove for service.

 

[Proglover]

Greek pasty/pie
 

 

 

[grokit]

Beautiful ProgLover!

 

 

[Ttvetjanu]

Quote:

 
along that trajectory - has anyone here had a meal at El Bulli or any of the other high-end "food chemistry" restaurants yet? I have a colleague who went, and didn't enjoy it much, but it continues to get excited press.

I've had a meal at El Celler de can Roca ( http://www.cellercanroca.com/PORTADA/intro_2.htm ), which is currently 3 michelin starred and rated 4th on st pellogrinos world's top 50 list. The best food I've ever had. Most of the beginning snacks and appertizers were "playing around" with some cool tricks, but in general the meats and warm dishes were more traditional. Not one dish was bad and me and my friend left fully satisfied. I've personally also worked in places ( http://www.chezdominique.fi/home_cd2? , http://www.olo-restaurant.com/index.htm ) where we've used a lot of different el bulliesque chemicals and methods, including liquid nitrogen, making spherifications, etc. I'm fairly sure that the idea of "scientific cooking" for the sake of doing it has died long ago, and that most molecular gastronomy is used for better results, not to impress customers (most of who wont understand anyway).
 
 

 

[Ttvetjanu]

New world's top 50 announced:
 
http://www.theworlds50best.com/
 
Gotta say I'm happy for el Celler de can Roca. My visit there was absolutely fantastic.

 

[melomaniac]

nice aspirational list. I still keep this link handy from a few years ago: also "50 best" and since I am nursing a bit of a fever, I won't tally whether there's any overlap between the two.
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/13/best-foods-in-the-world
 
I'll just note that I've been to a few on this 2009 Guardian list, but that the best restaurant meal I've ever enjoyed was at Stella! in New Orleans...
 
- and just so people who cook don't complain about any thread-jacking, I'll add that I have been cooking at home what I like in restaurants for about a decade now, ever since we had a baby and could not get on the take-out menu of our favorite places what they would willingly serve us if we'd sit down. so a couple of times I'd sit, order, take a few bites, take the rest to go, feed the family, and try to reverse engineer the thing I think this taught me more than my 40-50 cookbooks!

 

[grokit]

I ate at Le Bernardin a couple of times, great seafood. Too bad the worldwide rankings only go back to 2001, the joint I worked at in the early to mid 90's (Bouley, not Bouley Restaurant) always beat that place out in the NYC Michelin Guide but they have been closed since then. I was very surprised to see how far the French Laundry has fallen recently, from #12 just two years ago to #56 now.

 

[Ttvetjanu]

"19. Best place to eat: Nordic food

Olo, Helsinki"

 
I worked there for 10 months

Quote:

nice aspirational list. I still keep this link handy from a few years ago: also "50 best" and since I am nursing a bit of a fever, I won't tally whether there's any overlap between the two.
 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/13/best-foods-in-the-world
 

 

[Zida]

Quote:

"19. Best place to eat: Nordic food

Olo, Helsinki"

 
I worked there for 10 months

That'll spice up the resume!

 

[Old Pa]

 
A little piece of grilled lamb with oregano, garlic and mint sauce and some steamed vegetables with a glass of cab.  And my replacement dishes, silverware and placemats.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

 
A little piece of grilled lamb with oregano, garlic and mint sauce and some steamed vegetables with a glass of cab.  And my replacement dishes, silverware and placemats.

Nice!
 
 

 

[Old Pa]

Thanks, Kevin!  Simple and white and round porcelain, Italian by design and Chinese in execution, but with big mugs for coffee and big bowls for soups and stews.  The new stainless flatware is also simple, but heavy, and balances well in the hand.  Hard to beat grilled protein and steamed veg.  BTW, I'm down 5# since the first of the month.