Sunday, September 01, 2002

Finally, food to eat. The lamb is chillin' in the fridge. A few bites of plain focaccia, then some beef stroganoff with the eggy noodles (after hanging all afternoon, they turned out pleasantly al dente for a homemade variety). Liz wanted to smear the roasted tomatoes on the focaccia and one taste of that made me certain she's brilliant. A little Sauvignon Blanc in the sour cream sauce of the stroganoff put a nice edge on that. Just a little nutmeg and white pepper to season it. No salt at all; mushrooms, scallions, and tournedos of beef. Topsy Turvy on IFC freed us once again from a genius tutelary and we're never goin' back. 8:36:42 PM    comment []

A little period of intensity. Noodles made: 3 yolks, 1 whole egg, enough flour (about a cup, a little more) so it rolled around the Cuisinart around in a ball. Rolled out to "5" thickness in the motorized Marcato, then cut into fettuccine-sized strips and hung from a ceiling hook on plastic coathangers to dry. A batch of focaccia ready for the oven and the lamb sirloin is at 152F, almost done. Some tomatoes, sliced horizontally, seeded, put in a glass dish, olive oil below, a little dried basil and kosher salt atop - they've been in the oven since 11:30am at 300F. Now off so google some pictures of the clock at Rothenburg ob derTauber to viddy as The Bridge At Remagen spews forth 1969-style images of war on the telly. Haven't watched much of that, but it appears German tailors were more fastidious than American ones, especially for officers' uniforms... 2:14:48 PM    comment []

Liz and I opened a bottle of Duplin Scuppernong Blush early this morning and watched Turtle Beach on cable channel number infinity. We were both impressed by Greta Scacchi. Liz, with her infinite knowledge of performers said she remembered her from Presumed Innocent. with Harrison Ford and "that woman whose name sounds like an onion". A little bit of work on IMDb and I realized she meant Bonnie Bedelia, which sounds like Vidalia. I am amazed because I didn't even have a clue who that was. Normally, I don't like scuppernong wines, but the flavot they used to called "foxy" is so subtle it's like a forgotten dream in the Duplin. Nice stuff, and they claim to have the highest anti-oxidant content of any wine. Period. The lamb sirloin is going into hour 21 now and will be finished around noon. I'm bringing the air temperature in the smoker up to about 175F and then inserting the probe into the lamb to watch it come up to 155F. Then it's done. The skinny on diastatic malt from here. Diastatic malt contains active enzymes which help break starch down into sugar.  The extra sugar feeds the yeast in the dough, helping the bread to rise, and also gives the bread a browner crust.  It's often used to make crusty breads.  One other thing I've noticed that it does for homemade breads - makes them last longer. I'm not sure why that is, maybe it has to do with the converted starch. I've never seen it documented anywhere, but Liz and I have both noticed. The bread will still be good in 4 days, even unwrapped. Still crusty outside, soft inside. The two loaves I made yesterday would still be good Tuesday, but they'll probably be gone by then.   9:53:02 AM    comment []

"Elizabeth" has asked me to at least call "Liz" or "Beth" if I have use that gawdawful name. Liz and I had BLTs after watching the Artificial Intelligence DVD. The movie skipped and the mayonnaise didn't completely emulsify. But it wasn't all that bad and we got through both - although the part at the end of AI, where Spielberg want you to be crying, we were going through a series of crisis/resolution dramatic peaks from the DVD freezing, then chugging along a few frames, then freezing again, chugging, freezing, etc. until we were all worn out from worrying and crying. Whew. For mayonnaise, like hollandaise, the secret is to add the oil/butter a little at a time, especially at first. But I got in a hurry. The lamb sirloin has now been in the smoker just a little over 12 hours. It's gotten as warm as 175F in there (the air), but not for long. Mostly around 145F. I just dropped about 6 alder bisquettes down the chute of the Bradley Smoker. Only 4 will be really used since the feeder mechanism needs to be "primed" with 2. At the end, maybe I catch catch #5 before it gets burned into a crescent moon shape. Number 6, like on The Prisoner, will escape unscathed. To truly cold smoke (below 90F), you need a real smokehouse. Bradley says this thing will cold smoke and maybe it does in wintry Minnesota, but here in tropical Carolina (apparently in monsoon season right now) it just can't be done - though I haven't really checked what temperatures it registers when it's below freezing outside. You do have a lot of control over temperature, right up into the baking zone if you want, so there's nothing wrong with the Bradley. The tenderloin is all cut up and mostly in FoodSaver bags in the freezer. It yielded 11 approximately 6.5 ounce filets, including bacon wrap. There was about a pound and a half of miscellaneous suet and fat. A couple filets stayed out for Labor Day, and there were enough lean trimmings for Beef Stroganoff tomorrow. If you get one of those motors to soup-up your pasta machine, beware - it only works on the machines designed for it. They have to have the slot for the gear driver. Next thing, you'll be buying a new pasta machine or returning the motor if don't know that. No one seems to do a very good job of letting you know that (except, perhaps, me...modestly buffing the brass buttons on the chest portion of my T-shirt, using only the edge of my thumb). No one tells you that there are also a very limited number of extrusion dies for it either. The only one I've found is the fettuccine+spaghetti one that comes with the machine. Still, caveats aside, it's really great to knead and roll pasta dough right in the center of the tablet with no clamp - and the fettuccine die will make perfect stroganoff noodles. 1:40:03 AM    comment []