Equipment Choices

I am of the opinion when it comes to buying something: if you have no idea if you will enjoy it, borrow or rent it.  If you know you will use it, buy the best.  There are some exceptions, but they are unusual.  I follow Alton Brown and have read some of his books.  He advocates the avoidance of "uni-taskers".  I'm not as extreme as that, but I certainly want to know how often I will use it and what will I do with it when I'm not using it.

For example, I have a nice chocolate tempering machine.  It's very nice, but it only tempers chocolate.  I tend to only use it in the winter and when I am not using it, I keep it boxed up in the garage.  It's a uni-tasker I am glad to have.  I hate pulling out the marble and tempering it the old fashion way.

On the other hand, suggested we make our own Greek yogurt.  It's a great idea, I thought.  It's cheaper and I can have exactly what I want (no sugar or chemicals).  So, what does it take to make yogurt?  A yogurt maker!  In my usual due diligence, I began the process of reviewing all the different types and brands as well as other people's reviews.  I wanted to know how they work and what makes a great one.  Moreover, are there any features that the high-end ones offer?  So what model did I end up with, you ask?  What gadget junkie decision did I make?  I ended up using an extremely expensive one, and I'm not simply talking about a hundred dollars or three.  When I bought it, it was several hundred dollars.  To make great Greek yogurt, you need to subject your milk to a controlled temperature (read: water bath) for extended periods of time.  I own a sous vide machine from Polyscience.  It is more precise than any yogurt maker and can make any quantity of yogurt I want, be it large containers or several individual-sized containers.  After one episode of yogurt making, Weezie decided she would just as soon buy the stuff.  I'm so glad I didn't buy a uni-tasking yogurt maker.

I haven't always been this smart.  I can't tell you how many thermometers I went through before finding one that makes me happy.  Actually, I have three . . . sort of.  My main go to thermometer for meat in the oven is the Thermoworks oven thermometer (looks just like a Polder).  For quick reads of things like bread, I reach for my Thermoworks Thermapen.  It can read an accurate temperature in just a few seconds.  However, when I have meat on the grill/pan, I turn to a hyper-sensitive, super-fine, extremely-fast, needle-sharp Thermoworks meat probe.  Otherwise, I turn to my IR sensor for surface checks.  I've thrown away all my old dial and "instant read" (well, if you call instant some period of time between 20 and 50 seconds.)

I'm needing a new oven.  I like electric ovens (but gas stove tops) and want one with better heat control.  I've just begun my research and my tentative choice will be the DCS WOSU30 30" Single Electric Wall Oven.  I like what I little I have read about it.  There's more research to be done, so stay tuned here for more on this and other ovens.

Chocolate

I finally stopped by TCHO last Saturday.  I love chocolate and have had many blind taste tests of various chocolates.  My favorite, for a long time has been Valrhona.  I usually use the 55% Equatorial Noire Feves because it is very close to the Le Noir Gastronomie 61% I enjoy most and comes in easily melted pieces.  I have compared it with Guittard, Hershey, Ghirardelli, El Rey, Callebaut, and any other brand of dark chocolate I can get my hands on.  I like chocolate with a strong snap and crunch on the first bite developing into a long-lasting chocolaty finish.  All that fluffy citrus/floral/nutty tastes fall off in favor of a deep chocolate flavor.

TCHO has a chocolate flavored chocolate.  It's quite good.  I love TCHOPro Baking Drops 68% as it is a combination of their chocolaty and nutty.  Like the Valrhona, it snaps well and has a long-lasting flavor.  Unlike Valrhona, the chocolate takes on a creaminess like a dove chocolate as it melts.  It's very good and I recommend it highly.

So, you ask, what chocolates do I turn to?  You now know my choices for dark couverture chocolate.  My cocoa powder of choice is Callebaut.  It has the richest cocoa I have tried.  I tend to turn to Sharffen Berger for unsweetened and nothing for milk chocolate.  I think I've lost my interest in milk chocolate.  For simple eating pleasure?  I go for a piece of couverture.

Research in Food

Food, glorious food!  I've decided to blog about what I have learned about food and describe what I am about to discover.

In my earlier years, I attended a high school which required each student, as a portion of their tuition, to work for the school.  My first job was to clean pots and pans after the dinner meal.  The following semester, moved into doing some cooking. It went on from there, until I could get a position in the computer lab as a computer lab assistant.  I'll never forget my days in the kitchen there.  Later, when I worked for a friend in his restaurant or make lunches and soups  at a deli in college, I spent some time taking culinary classes at a local college.  Despite all this, I have found myself realizing I don't know enough about the basics.

So, I decided to start this blog.  My wife and I are spending the year experimenting with food.  She is trying to create a different home-made meal every night (with Fridays off for going out dates.)  She has been trying to make dinners based on the flavor pairings found in The Flavor Bible while I am exploring cooking methods.  My goal is to find the best way to cook various foods.

To start, I suppose I could start with a early recipe I looked forward to on Sunday mornings in school.  We called it "Bishop's Bread" and it was a coffee cake server in large square pieces.

Bishop’s Bread

NMH coffee cake

 Ingredient                                                 

2 cups             Brown Sugar

2.5 cups          Bread Flour

1 cup               Butter (room temp, unsalted)

1                     Egg, beaten

1 tsp               Baking Powder

1 tsp               Baking Soda

1 Tbl               Cinnamon

3/4 cup           Buttermilk

Mix the brown sugar, flour and butter together.  Set aside one cup’s worth to use as a topping.

Add the remaining ingredients to the mixture and mix to combine.  Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan and sprinkle the cup of topping on the batter.  Bake for 30-40 minutes in a 350 degree oven (or until done.)