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With twitter restricting threads for non users, is there any chance you would transpose some recipes you posted to twitter onto substack ?

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I will make this a priority. Thanks for pointing this out

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Do you have any recommendations on a pasta maker? Something that does most of the work...I would like to put all of the ingredients in and have the machine do the mixing and pasta forming.

Thank you!

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I'm not sure I know of anything liek that on a retail level. What pastas specifically are you wanting to make? We cna narrow down from there on less labor intensive methods

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Any type. Whatever is easiest. My primary customers are 6yrs and 8yrs and love all pasta dishes. I would love to make homemade pasta for the nutritional value. But it really isn't going to work if I have to spend a long time and big effort doing it. On Amazon there is a Philips 7000 pasta maker. I was going to try this out but I wanted your opinion first.

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apologies for late response. if you want hands on best would be a ravioli dough they could stuff and form. A handcrank pasta model would work for that. And use a cookie cutter to punch out.

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Hi Octopod,

I've started milling our own grain and making bread in a Zojirushi bread maker. Most of the time my bread collapses in the center. I cannot consistently make nice professional looking bakery bread. The collapsed bread still has a great taste, but it looks homemade. I have tried different brands of yeast and nothing has yielding consistent results. I understand it's difficult to identify the problem without a specific recipe and yeast brand; but do you have any insight into bread making? Is there a specific brand of instant yeast that is more fail proof than others? The recipes I use are not in grams; it's measuring cups and spoons; maybe that's the issue. I've tried red hard wheat berries, white hard wheat berries, soft white wheat berries....everything mostly collapses and sometimes is a beautiful loaf of bread.

Do you have any advice?

Thank you

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Hi Kara, it sounds like you are either underbaking the dough or (more likely) you are under-developing the gluten which is causing lack of structure. Also could be over proofing which means the yeast is spent and the CO2 that causes gthe bread to steam and rise has dissipated.

Give me some clues on the process; one note, never been a fan of breadmakers, prefer by hand. I love their rice cookers tho! Also what are you using to mill and what grains are you milling?

Thx

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I use a Nurtimill grain mill. I completely understand on the bread maker; however in the name of time I need to use the bread maker. I make the bread for my family on a regular basis for the nutritional value of it; then I have no guilt when I send my kids with a sandwich for lunch or when I make them french toast, etc. I know your passion is in not in shortcut cooking; but I need some easy shortcuts for my healthy food supply systems to be effective.

The grains vary. I order from a Bread Beckers coop. However, when I run out of that grain, I order Great River Organic from Amazon. For bread as far as taste, my favorite is the hard red wheat; but I use hard white wheat too and then soft white if I'm out of hard wheat. I use the Sue Becker Home Ground Flour cook book.

I am skipping the "punch" parts of the recipe during the proof because I'm busy and not always home (or I run the machine at nice while we are sleeping) while the bread maker is doing its thing. But I've skipped that consistently and have had both fluffy and collapsed results.

The machine allows for programming my own bread baking setting. I can try a program with less time proofing. I'm also going to try your white bread recipe in the bread maker. I'll post on that recipe in the comments how that turns out. I'll program the proofing to match your recipe.

In any case, I was assuming I was doing something wrong with the instant yeast. It sounds like that is not the case.

Thank you!

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Sounds like the proofing is the issue from what you've said. Haveing a bulk proof then final proof is very important

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How often do you sharpen your knives ?

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Sharpening... 1x a week, maybe. Home cooks probably need once a month.

However I hone my edge multiple times per day. Most of the time your blade doesn't need sharpening, it needs to be realigned. Having a good honing steel and knowing how to de-burr your blade as well as a good stropping technique will keep you from shaving off metal from your blade

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What are some first principles of how to change cooking with the season?

I eat a lot more stews in the winter and grill a lot more in the summer and use fresh ingredients, other than that what am I missing?

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You're on the right track. I primarily look at seasonal ingredients, then go to specific techniques. Most people think of soup as winter... but chilled soups in spring/summer like vichyssoise (chilled potato and leek) or Gazpacho are great warm weather soups that are served chilled.

Also look at regional cuisines. chili con carne and moles from mexico (the deep rich ones) are so comforting in winter. In summer, ceviche and elote corn slap so hard.

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What makes japanese baked goods, confectionaries and sweets less sweet even though I see most of the same sugar content in them?

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Haven't really looked into this. Maybe using different starches that mute the sweetness of the sugar?

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That’s a good point there are a lot of flour types. Technique wise, I don’t see much either. Hope your enjoying Japan!

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Which parts of some common vegetables, meats and cheeses would fly as inputs in a $25 entree restaurant's kitchen that wouldn't be acceptable in a $275 entree restaurant's kitchen?

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Not sure I completely understand the context. Whether a $25 or $275 restaurant you'll find potatoes, chickens, etc. The difference is in the quality and supporting ingredients. Lmk if that didn't answer the question

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I phrased it poorly. I'm trying to figure out what the difference is in how ingredients are prepared. For example, there's a little stem in garlic that I wonder if I can just leave in. Or the little dot at the bottom of a tomato. But this might be majoring in the minor when the big deal is, as you say, the ingredient quality.

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Technique is a huge factor. For home cooking don't major so much in the minors. Example: removing tomato skins for most preparations isnt necessary; running through a food mill is a quick way to do though. Also, the germ in the garlic is very aggressive flavored so I would remove for raw preps like salad dressings etc.

Any other specific ingredients or preps, list them below and I'll fire back

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Do you prefer duck l'orange or HK roast duck?

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HK

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