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 Author Thread: smashed taters
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 14 (view)
 
smashed taters
Posted: 11/20/2009 1:39:08 PM
p.s. don't make the common mistake of discounting the coffee maker as a viable cooking surface :p
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 13 (view)
 
smashed taters
Posted: 11/20/2009 1:38:02 PM
another vote for- cook potatoes, transport, then mash/finish them à la minute on the stove once you get there. it will make all the difference between them being gluey/jet-lagged and you going home with an empty crock pot because of how good they were
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 58 (view)
 
Okay...How many cookbooks do you have?
Posted: 11/20/2009 1:30:13 PM
professional cooking (gisslen), the professional chef (CIA), le répertoire and escoffier for reference

imagination and internet for everything else
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 11 (view)
 
help : leeks
Posted: 11/10/2009 5:53:54 AM
braised leeks also make a pretty formidable side

julienne, braise in stock (finish in the oven with some panko and gruyere on top for some extra punch)
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 206 (view)
 
Is philosophy an art or a science, and what is its importance?
Posted: 2/19/2009 9:05:02 AM
if all philosophers are scientists then all non-philosophers are non-scientists.

imo (and in keeping with the derrida reference i made earlier which nobody acknowledged, tough crowd!!)i don't think this thread can never move past the semiotic aporia of trying to drill down the "signs" of art/science. if we go chasing after the notions of verification/falsification as demarcation rubrics, we're not going to run up against the same problems as the vienna school did with treatment of probabilities in quantum mechanics, etc.

while it's undeniable that philosophy and science are bedfellows, to assert that "philosophy is a science" is circular and mistakenly assumes a transcendental signified that doesn't exist
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 192 (view)
 
Is philosophy an art or a science, and what is its importance?
Posted: 2/9/2009 5:53:54 PM

I am surprised in this forum that nobody went to the logical beginning in this arguement.... discussion ....

What makes something an Art?

What makes something a Science?


"art"/"science"- what's the différance?
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 17 (view)
 
new to cooking, help anyone?
Posted: 2/6/2009 2:09:01 PM
if you're thinking of cooking something, somebody else has probably done it already....and caught on fire in the process with a video camera running- youtube is a great resource for cooks!
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 156 (view)
 
Which Philospher, if any has influenced you the most, why?
Posted: 2/6/2009 10:27:19 AM
yes imo nihilism is a misreading of nietzsche. he denounced the ascetic ideal as a false idol(and a convenient cloak for the will to power). existence is not futile but it is folly to exist blindly in the pursuit of the ascetic ideal as a teleological exercise(ie "god/morals = virtue" is in conflict with the natural truths of nature[transcendental signifier notwithstanding]).

like FDR, he's not saying "there's no point, jump out a window", he's saying "if you abide by the old system, don't expect to do any better(the depression). it's time for a NEW (i)deal"
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 32 (view)
 
Very Old or Antique Kitchen Gadgets you still use or refuse to part with...
Posted: 2/5/2009 7:31:41 PM
the only equipment i get sentimental over are my knives
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 5 (view)
 
creamed potatoes and peas
Posted: 2/4/2009 7:35:20 PM
the biggest pifall with mashed po is ending up with a heavy/gluey hunk of starch.
you want to work the potatoes AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE(same principle as pie crust) so you don't activate the glutens inside the starch(which would be the first step down the road to ending up with dough[gnocchi, anyone?]). this means "stirring" or "any verb-ing" them as little as possible.

fast method:
1) - peel/eye potatoes and quarter them so they cook faster
2) - boil them starting in room temp water until fork tender: this will waterlog the hell out of them(IT WILL BE OKAY!) but is the quickest method to cook them through
3) - drain and run the potatoes through a RICER or FOOD MILL (this is the best way to break them down evenly[no lumps] and it only "works" them once so the gluten stays dormant as opposed to using a masher, etc) into a pot
4) - put the riced potatoes back on the stove and use the heat to dry the hell out of them(removing the moisture they absorbed during boiling- water has NO taste so get it out of there! we will replace the moisture with something better in the next step!)
5) - now the potatoes are light, fluffy and ready to absorb any liquid that's introduced to them so hit them with cream and butter to taste(and wasabi or roasted garlic, etc, etc) and stirr gently to combine (won't take much)

slow method:
1) - peel/eye potatoes
2) - BAKE potatoes in foil until fork tender: this prevents them from getting waterlogged keeping them fluffy and light but takes about twice as long for them to cook
skip to step 3) and 5) from above

i'll guarantee that you will not get better results than with this method. they will be SILK!
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 152 (view)
 
Which Philospher, if any has influenced you the most, why?
Posted: 2/2/2009 12:51:19 PM
"Of course all of us in capitalist societies have been overwhelmingly influenced by Adam Smith and, to some degree, his antithesis in Karl Marx."

and arguably we've have had just about as much success deploying the former as the latter in a truly authentic fashion
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 147 (view)
 
Which Philospher, if any has influenced you the most, why?
Posted: 2/1/2009 12:58:31 PM
i have to give huuuge credit to kant's critiques for synthesizing rationalism and empiricism. nietzsche(i'd like to shoehorn camus, sartre and kierkegaard in here as well) obviously cannot go unmentioned but i can't help but think we've painted ourselves into a corner with post-ontological theory (the hall of mirrors of [post]structuralism/po-mo'ism, etc). deconstruction is like a pressure washer that's fun to aim at existing narratives to see what it will do to them but in the end, doesn't prove all that constructive (baudrillard's simulcra & simulation, derrida's aporia, etc. i used to think that the frankfurt school's discourse might be the sort of dialectical proving ground that will shape the future of theory but i'm not confident habermas can carry the narrative on his own(without anyone to derive/expand/extrapolate from the work of adorno/horkheimer/benjamin/marcuse/etc). foucault is a fun read but derrida, deleuze/guattari, negri/hardt leave me with a sense of "so what?" and i find zizek entertaining at best but problematic.

russell is nicely accessible(and funny to read) but i don't think he ever really rose to the meet (post-tractatus)wittgenstein head on(anxiety of influence at work here?) and arguably he staked the wrong horse in popper(who floundered in witty's shadow).

to be honest the drama between philosophers is ten times more entertaining than the theories themselves (sartre-camus, derrida-habermas, wittgenstein-popper, fukuyama-huntington, etc).


for the op- kafka?
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 60 (view)
 
Unbelievably tasty chicken soup
Posted: 1/29/2009 10:39:46 AM
^^^and with a boned out chicken, you're halfway to a galantine! escoffier would be proud.

with the number of youtube videos out there, nobody has an excuse for not being able to bone out a bird. i'm sort of old fashioned with my chicken soup and believe in the stock(bones/mirepoix)-then-soup process. to give the soup a bit more depth you can also roast the bones lightly before you make the stock....and if you flour them while they're roasting you get the roux out of the way early on in the process and don't have to bother with a slurry later on. making consommé is a fun culinary project too!

also just an aside: water never gets "hotter" than boiling which is to say if the water starts to boil, it's as hot as it's going to get and won't get any hotter if you turn the heat up/leave it on the heat for a long time.
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 34 (view)
 
T-bone steak..
Posted: 12/28/2008 10:02:10 AM
this thread is making me hungry! the t-bone is a fantastic steak. it's two for the price of one- filet mignon/tenderloin on one side of the bone and the strip/ny on the other (the t-bone is also the little brother of the porterhouse which comes from the same primal cut but is just cut from the other end). *nerd alert* i prefer the t-bone over the porterhouse end because the muscle fibre in the strip is a lot more even throughout in the smaller t-bone rather than the big porterhouse end. some are under the impression that the porterhouse is a better steak because it's bigger and more flinstoney but the muscle groups in the strip divulge into three separate heads making it kind of ungainly and unrefined. the marbling/fat distribution in the tail/t-bone end is a lot more even and cooks better as a result.

if it's nicely marbled imo there's no need to busy it up with a lot of seasoning, etc but to each their own(if you insist on a marinade save any sweet elements for glazing at the end of cooking otherwise it will burn). i like mine simple with some kosher salt and fresh black pepper before going on the heat.

if you're doing it in a pan i would highly recommend a well seasoned cast iron pan/skillet. i would use a bit of grapeseed or similar oil with a high smoke point because you want to get the pan as HOT as possible to get a good sear/crust on the steak (olive oil smokes/flashes at a relatively low temperature).
- season the steak just before you're going to drop it (any earlier and the salt will pull moisture out of the meat)
- get the pan ripping hot and place the steak in and DON'T TOUCH IT for 2 mins
- flip once and let it cook for another 2 mins
- now the sear is done, transfer it into the oven to finish cooking under gentler heat until desired doneness (touch test, timings vary depending on the thickness)
- pull it from the oven, wrap it in foil and let it sit for at least 5 mins so the juices redistribute (otherwise if you cut into it right away you'll just end up with a puddle of bloody juices on your plate instead of a juicy steak)

the coatings of many non-stick pans "gas off" at higher temps which is why i don't like to use them for this application.
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 17 (view)
 
Duck anyone?
Posted: 12/21/2008 11:30:51 AM
the best part of the duck IS the skin/fat. duck confit is something near and dear to my heart (and a handy way to preserve it). you can pan sear the pieces after or use them in ravioli, etc, etc
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 213 (view)
 
How did you learn to cook?
Posted: 12/15/2008 7:52:03 AM
i've always been interested in food and was fortunate enough to get into an unrelated career that affords a lot of time off so i decided to bite the bullet and enrolled in a basic cooking course. after the first class, i got the sense that the instructor was just pandering to dilettantes and figured "if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right" so i signed up for culinary school/chef training during evenings/weekends. the program took just under 2 yrs and i learned as much from my classmates as the instructors since most were already working in restaurants while attending school in order to complete their red seal designation. after completing the program i wanted to prove to myself that i could turn and burn in a restaurant setting so i worked part-time at a couple of different fine dining establishments(while continuing to plug away at my primary career). it's been a fantastic experience but i've realized i'm too much a creature of comforts to get into it as a career. if you've worked double shift and gotten crushed during service, you know what i'm talking about....paradoxically the "rush" of getting slammed during service is also what kept me coming back from more.

in my industry i run into a lot of people who forget what it's like to actually work for a living so i found the (commercial) kitchen to be a very "honest" working environment with tangible metrics for success; without the blatant parlor games of office cronyism(to an extent) and preponderance of people who have failed their way upwards. that is to say- regardless of your background it's possible to excel if you can hustle and are good at your craft (or rather- it's impossible to excel if you're all talk and can't deliver) whereas in many other workplaces that's not the case. another aspect of the nature of the work i find quite satisfying is that your mettle is constantly tested in real-time where the clock is ticking, things are approaching some resolution(for better or worse), and it's up to you to conjure up the acceptable outcome as a result of your own actions. there aren't many times in our day to day lives ("of quiet desperation" to borrow from thoreau) where this is the case.
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 5 (view)
 
White Truffle Gnocchi
Posted: 12/14/2008 10:07:41 AM
"Grate the truffle over..." <--this should be the last step in every recipe!
recipe sounds good.

i like my gnocchi really light and pillowy like clouds so here are a couple of things i do to make them "float of the plate":
- use starchy potatoes(idaho/russets/chef's) since waxy ones turn out too heavy
- roast them in foil so they don't get waterlogged and the only moisture that ends up in the dough is from the egg
- use a food mill to rice the potatoes so you don't inadvertently overwork them and activate the gluten (making them gluey)
- if i'm in a rush(never a good way to make pasta!) i'll cheat by quartering the potatoes, then boil them, rice them and then dry out the hash in a pot on the stove before making the dough
- after boiling, finish them in a pan with duck/bacon fat! (same goes for spatzle...and sweetbreads...and everything else you cook as a matter of fact)

the ratio i use is 4:1 potates to flour by weight. gnocchi is also a good "fridge cleanup" tool so sometimes i add ricotta/sage/dill/etc to the dough itself.
 kitsch in sync
Joined: 11/27/2008
Msg: 9 (view)
 
Cornish Hens
Posted: 12/13/2008 10:50:42 AM
if you're set on roasting them you can always bone them out(extract the carcass and leave the drumette, thigh and leg bones for structure) and stuff them with whatever you come up with (sage bread stuffing with dried fruits, wild rice and chorizo, cassoulet, etc, etc). you can either truss them or wrap them in parchment rings to get them to hold their shape while they roast. this way everyone gets their own mini-turkey and it's a bit less intimidating for your guests if they don't know their way around a bird. they'll cook a lot faster than a turkey/chicken...actually too fast for the skin to get nice and crispy so you might want to sear them off(in bacon fat!!!) on the stove/range before putting them in the oven.

if your guests have sensitive palettes and aren't into the (mild) "gamey-ness" of cornish hens then you can glaze with a mixture of chopped rosemary and honey a couple of mins before you pull them from the oven (works well with lamb too).

mashed po's are a blank canvas so be creative with them too (wasabi, roasted garlic, etc) but i'm sure you probably already have something in mind for them
 
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