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United States, North Carolina, Carrboro, English, Paul, Male, 56-60, All Music, All Food.

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Friday, November 08, 2002

Saucisson en Brioche done. The egg wash helped produce some tectonic riffs on the surface. Still no quinces, looks like kiwis will blend with the pomegranates. 7:21:00 PM    comment []

Here is a place you can buy Wondra, but you have to buy a whole case (12 boxes) for $30.36. Anyone, please let me know if you can buy Wondra in stores where you shop. I'm curious. This is a good product "engineered" for the space-age kitchens of the early 60s. There's space for it in my pantry, but none on grocery shelves. That space has become increasingly valuable and products that don't turn disappear. For some reason, there's space here in NC for countless varieties of self-rising flours and seasoned seafood breading, but none for Wondra. I'm hoping that means there are a lot of expert biscuit bakers married to expert fishermen here (there's more breading than fresh fish, ergo the fish are being caught, not purchased), but I suspect there is another cause. 12:33:14 PM    comment []

If you happen to have some Duck Sausage in your fridge, here's an appetizing suggestion from 22News: Farfalle with Duck Sausage and Broccolini. 6:02:57 AM    comment []

Here's another bit from the Saucisson En Brioche recipe: "cover and leave overnight on the lowest shelf of the refrigerator". Why the lowest shelf? All refrigerators do is cool...well, they do dehydrate as well because of lower humidity at lower temperatures - but that's not a factor when you cover the dough. So I put a thermometer on each of the three shelves (two regular, the bottom one is really the top of the isolated vegetable bin). The results were a little surprising. You'd expect the thermodymamic rule of "hot air rises" to make the lowest shelf the coldest one, but here are the results after one hour: Top shelf: 30-40 degrees F Middle shelf: 33-37 degrees F Bottom shelf: 37 degrees, constant Just the opposite of what you'd expect until you remember that the cooling element is at the top with the freezer (someone else will have to do the measurements on a side-by-side fridge). The top shelf went to 30 degrees at one point after I opened the door. First it went to about 40, which triggered the thermostat and the compressor started up. The middle shelf dropped to 35, then back up to 37. The bottom shelf was stable at 37 through it all. The top shelf shows the widest range of fluctuations. Circulation in the fridge is minimal and the mass of the objects being refrigerated act as a thermal buffer - that is, you'd expect temperature variations to occur more quickly  in an empty refrigerator. Bottom line on the bottom shelf: the brioche dough should be kept at 35-40 degrees and fairly stable - "Overnight" means the door won't be opening and closing like it might during the day. Dough rising in the fridge achieves nearly mystical qualities. Yeast struggling to grow in less-than-favorable conditions produces a hearty aroma, some of which will be contained within the dough after baking. 5:17:52 AM    comment []

Here's some contradictory information in the Saucisson En Brioche recipe, the first ingredient - "1 large, fresh or smoked, pure pork sausage, weighing about 1-3/4 pounds (800 g)". The lead-in rants about tripe, justifying the switch to veal in Lyons, then the recipe calls for pork. I guess that means Que Sera Saucisson and a short observation about the French. Isn't it about time to say the Statute Of Limitations has expired on the Jerry Lewis Thing? We don't ridicule the Nobel Committee for giving Henry The K a prize in 1973, oh, and look at some of the Best Picture Oscars as late as the 90s. It has been almost 20 years since Lewis was awarded the Legion Of Honor - chrissakes, Reagan was Prez then. We shouldn't exaggerate French foibles until we've thoroughly examined our own. At least they have provided some opposition to the silly Iraq war meme. "When you rule by fear, laughter is the most frightening sound in the world" Jerry Lewis made his "censored" movie The Day The Clown Cried in 1972, 25 years before Roberto Begnini enchanted Hollywood with La Vita è bella. 4:10:02 AM    comment []