Cookin again

[Beleriphon]

That all sounds delicious. Christmas dinner will be beef Wellington, smashed and roasted potates in garlic and rosemary, as well as some broccoli and roast cauliflower. Cheese sauce, gravy, and a wine sauce will accompany the dinner.

Dessert is a cream cheese ice cream (its basically a thin cheese cake batter) served over brownies with bits of crushed candy cane in them.

4) I went to Weinberger’s because he said he might be able to help me with a project. I have the family recipe for hot sausage, but over time, it has evolved from it’s original form to include 2 different commercial spice mixes, which happen to contain some spices that are already in the base recipe as well as overlapping with each other. I want to return it to its roots. But to do that, I need to get precise measurements of the ratios of the spices used. In addition, I’m going to need to be able to include some of those spices in very tiny amounts- at least, if I don’t exclude them. Mr. Weinberger is (hopefully) part of that process, because he mentioned that he knew of food labs that could analyze the samples and break them down.

To use the information, once gathered, I’d need some tiny measuring implements. Well, I now own a set of steel measuring spoon going: 1/4 tsp (tad) => 1/8 tsp (dash) => 1/16 tsp (pinch) => 1/32 tsp (smidgen) => 1/64 tsp (drop).

Soooooooo cute!

What might help is a digital scale that measure in tenths of a gram. Its unlikely you'll ever need less than 1/10th of a gram of anything for spices. 1/16th of a tsp of water is roughly 1 gram, so really anything that can accuratley measure a gram or less is what you're after. I have a kitchen scale that does from as little as 1 g to as much as 5 kg and it works awesome for any recipe that measures by weight.

Edit: math is hard.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Doing a big pot of chicken, sausage & ham gumbo tonight. A big portion of it will be going to my Dad’s office as a holiday gift meal- someone there doesn’t do seafood.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

@Beleriphon

I’ll probably need those mini measuring spoons.

Following the recipe, the commercial spice mixes total approximately 9 tablespoons out of the total. Many of their main ingredients they share both with each other AND the family mix in general. It isn’t until you get towards the bottom of their ingredient lists that you see things like celery seed and the non-informative “spices”.

 

[Beleriphon]

@Beleriphon

I’ll probably need those mini measuring spoons.

Following the recipe, the commercial spice mixes total approximately 9 tablespoons out of the total. Many of their main ingredients they share both with each other AND the family mix in general. It isn’t until you get towards the bottom of their ingredient lists that you see things like celery seed and the non-informative “spices”.

Those are definitely abnormally small amounts then. I suppose a good solid chemanalysis like you're planing would help.

If its a hot sauce though, how much are you expecting to batch up? Because if you need a 1/64th of a teaspoon that would have to be some powerful flavour to even taste. If did that with my preferred kosher salt brand I think it might work out to a half dozen crystals, and as much as I like salt I don't think I could realistically taste that amount in anything.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One entire batch of the mix totals 1.5 cups, and makes 12lbs of hot sausage meat. So a fraction of the 9 tablespoons contributed by the commercial blends might be truly small indeed.

The goal is to get the mix reduced to something resembling its original form, sans the commercial brands used for convenience.

The reasons for doing this is that it removes those brands’ continuing availability as a limiting factor AND it lets me have ultimate control over what I include or eliminate from the recipe to make it my own.

For example, some people have found the mix to be too spicy- knowing the overall mix would let me cool it down a bit, making it more accessible. Similarly, I might tweak some of the lesser ingredients to further customize the flavor while leaving the heat intact.

The analysis will also let me eliminate the commercial preservatives, etc. that don’t really bring flavor to the party.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

BTW, the gumbo came out a carnivore’s delight. I used so much chicken that- when it disintegrated- the ham and sausages seemed to be nested in it. The roux was the color of chocolate brown, and I had a lot of it, so the gumbo is so thick it is almost creamy. The traditional rice isn’t strictly necessary, even.

I did dust off another traditional gumbo additive, or more accurately, a side- slices of buttered french bread. I haven’t done that in a looooong time, but it was a perfect complement to the dish.

Apparently, it went over well at Dad’s office as well. Almost everyone indulged in seconds.

•••••

After a night in the fridge, the gumbo...is THICK.

It’s like a chili consistency. Not my goal, but fun. In fact, it is so thick that some of my Dad’s staff ate theirs with a fork. TBH, I could slice it like lasagna, getting it out of the storage container.

Mom even started putting it ON her slices of French bread. Seeing that, I realized I’d inadvertently created the Sloppy Boudreaux, a.k.a. The Gumbo Boy/GumPoboy. She’s already talking about taking it further and trying to make it into a casserole.

And I know why and how to repeat it if so desired. I was being very controlled and precise in my adding liquid to the pot, but also:

1) because I didn’t use the seafood (by request), I decided to replace it with @50% more chicken AND a 3lb diced ham steak.*

2) I cooked my roux to an almost milk chocolate brown, which is good for flavor, but won’t thicken much...so a nearly doubled my amount of roux. I did this in part because I knew I was only sending a relatively small amount of rice to the office, so I wanted it to have extra thickness to offset that lack if they ran out. Which they did,


* the use of ham also helped eliminate the need for adding salt to the pot,

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Mmmm... Best thing about this thread is that I can read it for dessert.

 

[Beleriphon]

I feel the need to contribute.

Garam Masala Chicken and Lentil "Soup"

Half large onion - fine dice
5 largish carrots - sliced thin (amounts to maybe 2 cups worth)
2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts - cubed (1/2 inch cubes are good here)
1 cup green lentils
6 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon of a garam masala mix (make your own or use pre-made)
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt

Process:

Add oil to a large stock pot. Heat on medium. Sweat your veggies with the salt. Once soft add in spices. Mix thorough and keep stirring to avoid burning the spices. Add chicken to the pot, stir until the sides are browned. Add your stock, increase to high and bring to a boil. Add lentils, cook on high for 5 minutes, reduce heat cover and cook for 30 minutes or until lentils are cooked to your preferred tenderness.

Options I Have Not Tried:

Vegetable stock, omit chicken replace with mushrooms.
Split Red Lentils - this will liely get very, very thick and be more of a stew (did this with harissa).
Use a grain like bulgar or rye instead of lentils.

I'll share my cheese cake ice cream recipe shortly.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I’m not familiar with garam masala- what is it?

 

[Beleriphon]

I’m not familiar with garam masala- what is it?

Indian spice mix. Masala is any spice mix in India. Garam masala literally translate as "hot spice mix" but that has to do with ancient Ayurvedic medicine, not flavour. Garam masala is a warm but not hot spice mix. Tends of focus on spice like cinnamon and cumin rather than chilis or pepper.

A fairly common assortment of spices include fennel, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, mace, cardamom, cumin, ginger, and coriander. Some recipes call for curry or varieties of pepper corn. My preference is to have taste like combination of mild south-west spice rub and gingerbread. There are dozens of commercial blends, I found a Knorr blend that has no preservatives, but darned if I know the ratios.

I've found a least a dozen recipes on the interwebs, but most are usually a teaspoon or a half-teaspoon of the stronger spices all mixed up.