Culinary Agoge

Cooking vessels in baking to me are just as important as the recipe and execution because they affect the overall presentation. I was looking for something new, and after making miniature desserts for my mom’s birthday party (yeah, I have yet to write about that), I decided to make mini-pound cakes as an easy breakfast food for the morning using the lighter cake flour variation I had made previously.

The batter was much more difficult to cleanly get into the mini cups.

Mini Pound Cake Batter

The portion sizes, being much smaller took less time to bake which was a plus.

Baked Mini Pound Cake

After they had cooled a bit, they were taken out of the cups and placed onto a cooling rack so that they did not become soggy.

Baked Mini Pound Cake Cooling

The result of these smaller pound cakes was about the same as a full sized loaf. An interesting taste difference was created by the higher crust to inside ratio. Having these pre-portioned instead of having to cut slices for breakfast was really nice. As a breakfast food these are highly recommended, easy to make and delicious.

Consommé. One word evokes thoughts of an impossible culinary challenge. I first read about it in Michael Ruhlman’s book The Making of a Chef. Subsequent books also made mention of it and proper technique. I recently saw it made on an episode of Iron Chef on the Food Network and here it was as the next food item to make. Was Ruhlman serious? He expected the average home cook to attempt consommé, something so delicate and refined that it is a frequent cause of a bad practicum grade in culinary school? I haven’t shied away from a challenge yet. It was time to get moving.

The chapter starts with “Clear soups are among the easiest, most satisfying, and nutritious dishes you can make. If you have good stock. Good stock is critical. If you don’t have a flavorful stock, you have to spend all your effort hiding bad flavor of canned or boxed stock by adding all kinds of good ingredients. Any why would you want to put good ingredients into a bad one?” (pg. 105). I wasn’t using boxed or canned stock, but my own that I had made previously. Still the question remained…did I make a good stock? Would the effort result in a good dish?

The ratio for consommé is 12 parts stock, 3 parts meat, 1 part mirepoix and 1 part egg white. As it turned out, I would be using the entire batch of stock that I had made previously. Not only that, but 12 ounces of ground lean meat. Given the delicate process and expense, it’s no wonder why restaurants don’t feature it on menus very often.

I established my mise en place not only to ensure that I did not find myself scrambling for a missing ingredient during a critical stage, but in actuality because it has become part of my cooking process now.

Consommé: Ingredients

I filled my stock pot with all of the ingredients save for the stock as it was frozen.

Consommé: Meat, Mirepoix, Egg Whites

I turned up the heat at placed the stock on top to melt over the ingredients.

Consommé: Added Frozen Beef Stock

Once the stock had melted, I used a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom and move the egg white away from the sides. I could see that what is known as the “raft” was starting to form.

Consommé: Raft forming

When the mixture was at a simmer, I lowered the heat to keep it there. I didn’t want to boil which would cause the raft to break.

Consommé: Raft growing

The raft is made up of the meat and vegetables along with the egg whites that collect any impurities as they rise to the surface through the cooking process.

Consommé: Raft formed

After about an hour the cooking was done. The raft had really come together, but perhaps most shocking was how much of the liquid had actually evaporated over time.

Consommé: Ready

Using a ladle, I carefully moved the liquid from the stock pot to a large glass bowl being extra careful so as not to break the raft or capture any impurities. The liquid was poured through a coffee filter and metal strainer.

Consommé: First Try

It was amazing how much the liquid had transformed. It was perfectly clear. I opted to refrigerate it over night and save it for tonight’s dinner. When I pulled it out tonight I was also surprised by how much gelatin there was in the consommé as was evidenced by the gelatinous globs that had formed in the bowl.

Consommé: After A Night In The Fridge

As suggested, I blanched some carrots as garnished, a process I had never performed before and heated up a portion.

It definitely was a light start to dinner and I could clearly see (sorry for the pun) why it is often served as a first course. This was no hearty stew. The subtle flavor was very enjoyable.

Consommé: With Blanched Carrots

With another challenge under my belt I definitely feel like I am learning a lot. Consommé is not likely to be something that I’ll make on a regular basis. Truth be told it was actually fairly easy although expensive when you consider what goes into it with respect to time and ingredients. It’s another great example of culinary lore being more than culinary reality. Stay tuned for the challenges ahead.

Pound cake has become part of my repertoire and for good reason. It’s delicious, satiating, easy to make and the ratio is easy to memorize. 1 part butter, 1 part sugar, 1 part egg and 1 part flour. I first made pound cake in August, added blueberries as a twist, made it with brown butter as a tribute, and many other times in between. Pound cake is simple and yet versatile and a perfect candidate for variation and yet with all the flavor components that can be added, the basic ingredients matter just as much if not more when it comes to the final product.

Recently the show Good Eats featured pound cake as an American Classic food. Though born in England, the pound cake is equally popular as an American food staple. Alton adamantly believes that the ratio, despite many attempts to class it up or change proportions is a “good eats” as is. One key difference is that he suggests the use of cake flour instead of all purpose flour. Cake flour, according to the box is 27 times finer than all purpose flour. It also has less protein which means less gluten and has been chemically altered to produce better results with cakes. I decided to give this a try and see if my results in fact did yield a softer, smoother final product with the same great taste I enjoy.

The process was the same. Using the creaming method, I combined room temperature butter and sugar together. I then added in the eggs, one at a time as they were incorporated and a teaspoon of vanilla. Lastly, after slowing down the mixer to it’s lowest speed, I added the cake flour, just until it was incorporated, being careful not to over-mix so as to not create any more gluten than necessary which would make the pound cake chewy and tough.

The batter was a lot smoother and easier to scrape and pour than ones made with all purpose flour. The benefit of using cake flour would be evaluated after its baking.

Pound Cake Batter

After about 90 minutes, the baking was done. No difference was visible at first glance. The truth was locked inside.

Baked Pound Cake

Once cooled, I sliced into the bake loaf and discovered the truth behind the wisdom of using cake flour. The inside was certainly smoother while the taste of course was unaltered with a softer mouth-feel.

Pound Cake Slices

This was an interesting experiment and as with most food experiments, I am willing and  happy participant. Not having cake flour on hand will not prevent me from making pound cake in the future, but this was a great lesson on how ingredients can affect the overall results of a food product.

I recently made chicken stock and followed the same process and ratio of  3 parts water and 2 parts bones that I used for making beef stock.

Chickent Stock: Bones

Chicken Stock: 3 parts water

Chicken Stock: Simmering

Chicken Stock: Requires Skimming

Chicken Stock: Mirepoix

Chicken Stock: Tomato Paste

Chicken Stock: Done Cooking

Chicken Stock: Requires Straining

Chicken Stock: Straining

Chicken Stock: Cooled & Requiring Another Skim

Interestingly enough, even though I did not roast the chicken bones and had more meat on them than the beef bones, the end result including consistency and color were about the same as the beef stock. The tomato paste overwhelmingly changed the body and color of the final product. Of course the taste was much different, but labeling is definitely required for storage.

I now have 2 basic stocks under my belt and now look forward to using them to enhance the flavor of my food. This is one of those challenging food lessons that is tough to gauge. While I do in fact have stock in my freezer ready to use, having not made stock before and no good final product to compare it to, it is hard to say if I made a truly good stock. This is another example of being able to learn method in the absence of a teacher while still missing the guidance and evaluation that in class and/or in person training can provide.

Stay tuned for more challenges ahead!

“…the single preparation that might elevate a home cook’s food from decent to spectacular  ” (p. 89) is how Ruhlman describes the importance of making a good stock.  In fact when the idea for the book Ratio was conceived, stock making was its beginning, often considered the foundation of cooking knowledge. Stocks are a key difference between home and restaurant cooking and often are the one thing that makes replicating your favorite dish at home difficult. I have never made stock before, was eager to try and recently had the pleasure of doing just that. That may sound funny but making a stock was actually a fun process combining a simple ratio, quality ingredients, a little method and time.

Prior to my last CSA pickup I made a request of them for bones as part of my share. They generously came through for me with four large beef bones included in my cooler.  Stock, despite it’s overall simplicity is a hotly (sorry about that one) debated topic in the culinary world when it comes to method. A key point of contention is the difference between making a light or dark stock which is primarily affected by the decision to roast the bones or not.

The ratio for stock is 3 parts water and 2 parts bones. It is a forgiving ratio that can be judged by sight with experience, but I weight everything out to be sure I got it right. I also opted to roast the bones with the hope of adding more flavor and body to my stock. They were placed on an oiled  sheet pan while I cranked up the oven heat to 425 degrees F.

Beef Stock: Raw Bones

As the bones roasted for the required 45 minutes with rotation half way through, smoke started coming through the stove top. The high heat was cooking the fat and filling my apartment with smoke. It didn’t take long for the smoke detectors to start going off. I was glad that I chose to do this on a weekend afternoon.

Beef Stock: Roasted Bones

I put the bones into my stock pot, trying to get them in there efficiently so that the did not require any more water than the ratio required.

Beef Stock: Bones in Water

The measured water was  added which was the perfect amount to just cover the bones. With the water in the stock pot, the stove heat was turned on. Using my thermometer I let the temperature of the water rise to just below simmering at 180 degrees F which turned out to be just below medium on my small stove top coil.

Beef Stock: Simmered Bones

At that temperature, the good stuff started happening. The flavor was extracted from the bones while the gelatin, the key component that adds body to a stock, was released as well.

Once everything was to temperature, I skimmed the the top to get rid of the fat and impurities. The water and bones simmered for 5 hours. With an hour left to go I created mirepoix, carefully dicing carrots, onions and celery. I chose not to sweat them prior to cooking and threw into the pot.

Beef Stock: Mirepoix

I also added pepper and tomato paste to add additional taste and color.

Beef Stock: With Tomatoes and Pepper

After an hour had passed I removed the pot from the heat to cool briefly.

Beef Stock: Cooked Mirepoix

After removing the aromatics, the stock was poured through a cheesecloth lined strainer to take out the impurities.

Beef Stock: Straining

Everything was strained into a glass bowl to be chilled overnight. This would allow the stock to cool down and the fat to coagulate for easy removal.

Beef Stock: Strained

The next day a light film of fat had developed on the top which I skimmed before dividing into plastic bags for freezing.

Beef Stock: Coagulated Fat

While having a ratio for making stock was not entirely needed, following a simple guide through the process made the first time around fool proof and easy. Having one batch under my belt will make future ones a lot easier and hopefully as time goes on the process will become second nature. Hopefully as I get comfortable and stock making becomes more routine I won’t have to use the wretched pre-made “broth” found in the grocery store. My stock alone may not elevate me to a great home cook right now, but it’s a step in the right direction and a satisfying one at that.

The final quick cake in the Cooking Through Ratio series involved making crepes. Crepes have always had a mystique about them for me. They seemed fussy and delicate and of course are oh so French. They are fun because they can be eaten at any time of day and are a great vehicle for flavor. Depending on the ingredients they are made of they can be used as part of savory dishes, desserts or as they are commonly eaten, breakfast food.

Ruhlman states that a basic crepe ratio consists of 1 part liquid, 1 part egg and 1/2 part flour. They have a higher liquid / egg ratio to flour than pancakes which result in a thinner batter and flatter food.

Last night I went on a run after work with a co-worker that left me winded and utterly tired. My cardio-fitness level has become a sad state of affairs. I needed a dinner that would involve simple preparation while balancing protein and carbohydrates. The crepe was perfect and happened to be next in line for this series. Timing really is everything.

I combined the ingredients which included a bit of salt, sugar and vanilla extract for flavoring and blended them together with a whisk. I chose milk as my liquid for extra flavor over water.

Whisked Crepe Batter

Crepes call for resting the batter for at least 30 minutes. This allows the flour to hydrate, resulting in a smoother batter without lumps of dry flour.

Hydrated Crepe Batter

So far so good. The moment of truth was upon me. With a hot buttered pan ready to go I poured the batter into the pan. Everything cooked well, but the end result was a crepe that was too thick.

Thick Crepe

I added more water to the batter, whisked and after a few attempts with varying amounts of batter ended up with the thin crepe I was looking for.

Thin Crepe

After cooling on a rack, I plated the crepes and covered them with butter and maple syrup for another delicious breakfast for dinner meal.

Crepe with Buter and Maple Syrup

These weren’t nearly as hard as I had expected. Each one that I made was better and easier than the one before it. There were a few things that I did note. I’m sure that while the milk aided with the flavor, it also added to the overall thickness of the batter. Trying out different combinations and ratios liquids to get the right thickness will help next time around and overall with success.  Simply adding water might be all that is needed. Also using a measured ladle to get a consistent pour into the pan is something I’ll have to try next time around. Dropping the batter in by sight and spreading it out over the entire pan was tough to do.Overall the results were pretty good and didn’t require to much effort, the perfect simple recipe to cook after a hard workout.

Popovers

The Cooking Through Ratio series continues with a final quick cake, popovers. While popovers may fall under the umbrella of quick cakes, they are distinctively different than their brethren and have characteristics more familiar with pâte à choux. The reason I say this and as Ruhlman points out is that through the baking process they undergo a dramatic transformation. High heat causes causes the batter to steam and balloon the final product into a wonderful column with a delicate balance of texture and flavor.

In general, popovers are 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg and 1 part flour. Again the order here is important. To make what are described as “Basic (but amazing) Popovers”, I measured out the liquid (milk), eggs and flour while also measuring out a bit of butter and salt. I also preheated the oven to 450 degrees F; the high heat was necessary to quickly raise the temperature of the batter which would create the rise. An interesting twist was that while the oven was pre-heating I also placed the muffin tin (I don’t have a popover pan) inside to warm up to help things along even more. The rest was easy.

The milk and egg were whisked together so that they were combined well.

Popovers: Milk & Eggs

Next, the salt and flour were added and thoroughly combined.

Popovers: Batter

The mixture was left to sit for 30 minutes so that the flour could absorb the liquid, reducing the lumps that were present. After 30 minutes I gave everything a quick whisk.

Popovers: Hydrated Flour

I then pulled the muffin tin out of the oven and placed some butter, which was melted in the microwave into three open cups.

Popovers: Melted Butter in Muffin Tin Cup

My understanding was that the hot butter and muffin tin / popover pan were supposed to help quickly raise the temperature of the batter. When I placed the batter into the muffin tin the laws of physics prevailed and the heavier batter fell to the bottom causing the butter to rise.

Popover: Batter and Butter in Muffin Tin Cup

I quickly moved the muffin tin to the oven to prevent any heat loss. After ten minutes, the heat was reduced to 375 degrees F. 30 minutes later the baking and the transformation were complete. What came out of the oven was wholly different than what went into it a mere 40 minutes earlier.

Popovers

Wow oh wow. Yum. The crispy texture and buttery flavor were exceptional and reminiscent of Yorkshire Pudding, something I enjoyed eating while working in London. Indeed not all English cooking is bad.

These were easy to make, although the sitting time for the batter and baking time were longer than my stomach could bear after coming back from the gym. Needless to say I ate them all along with my “merguez pattie” dinner. I saved half of the batter for later and definitely will enjoy making these again to accompany a more elaborate meal.

It has been a while since I’ve made a post and it feels good to make another one again. Amazingly I am only about a third of the way through the book and my series, Cooking Through Ratio. Today’s delectable challenge was to make fritters and would be the first time that the book calls for cooking through the use of a liquid by frying using vegetable oil.

The chapter starts with Michael Ruhlman stating, “Every time I make fritters, I ask  myself why I don’t make them more often. Crisp and tender, sweet and spicy. A fritter batter, which is a muffin batter without the butter is a vehicle, like a crepe or dumpling, for a tasty main garnish or seasoning…” (pg. 74). That about sums up everything you can expect and enjoy with a fritter. I have had them before, but have never made them myself. Another great learning experience was about to take place.

Being a vehicle for taste, fritters are nice because they can be custom tailored to fit with the main dish that will be eaten or made to be eaten on their own. The ratio is easy, and the method for combining the ingredients is also. 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, a bit of salt and baking powder and you are good to go. Consider the garnishes and the possibilities are infinite.

Tonight I had some leftover pasta in the fridge along with some ground lamb meat from my CSA. I made the fritter batter by combining the wet and dry ingredients individually and the gradually added the flour mixture to the liquid mix of egg and milk. I then   added some fresh basil and black pepper as a garnish. Pasta, lamb and basil fritters are an unlikely duo, I know, but I had to keep moving forward. While heating the pasta, I fried the fritters. I don’t fry often so getting them to come out right was a bit hard but after one overcooked one I produced passable results.

Basil Garnished Fritters

With a pat of butter, these actually went well with my meal. More basil or any other garnish is desirable so that the taste is more perceptible. These were a lot easier to make than I was expecting and quite tasty. I wouldn’t say that pairing fritters with pasta resulted in a bad combination, but they would be better paired with a protein or depending on what type you make a sauce for added flavor and texture.

Pasta and Fritters, an Unusual Combo

After a long day at work and a killer workout, my cooking and plating left a lot to be desired, but since tonight I was not only the consumer, but the chief cook and bottle washer I had to let it slide.

The Cooking through Ratio series continues with breakfast for dinner. I often enjoy a good omelette, fried or scrambled eggs or sometimes cereal for dinner, but pancakes are not really my favorite. Making pancakes was not something which I was really looking forward to, but the ratio was next so I pursued. I have made pancakes from scratch before, but like many things never considered the balance of ingredients that go into them and how they interact to produce the final result.

As the name implies, these are another form of cake made on a pan instead of an oven.  The ratio consists of 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, 1/2 part fat (butter), 2 parts flour along with sugar, salt, vanilla extract and baking powder.  This produces a thick batter and a cakey pancake once cooked. Pretty simple stuff.

Ironically as I worked on yet another carb laden food ratio, I watched the season premiere of  The Biggest Loser on NBC. It was like a sick joke, but I was able to keep at it reminding myself that the past few weeks of carb overload have a purpose; I am learning.

I combined the ingredients together in a pint measuring cup with the aid of my scale for weighing the dry ingredients. This is probably the thickest batter I have worked with so far. It was much different than the buttermilk pancakes I made previously.

Pancake Batter

Pancake Batter

The batter was mixed until it was smooth and ladled onto a hot pan with butter. It didn’t spread out at all and cooked fairly quickly.

The result was a flavorful, soft and fluffy pancake. The baking powder proportion did its job here. As mentioned, I usually don’t like pancakes, and especially at restaurants I simply won’t order them. They tend to be flavorless or made up of a texture that I don’t enjoy. Besides, they aren’t mom’s and like most things food related, mom’s are simply the best. These were some of the best I have ever had with respect to flavor and texture. To my surprise, they were actually enjoyable and paired well with maple syrup and butter, standard garnish in the northeast.

Fluffy Pancakes

It’s amazing how your taste can change for something can change when it’s prepared in a new and better way. The ratio here was key. The pancake ratio is fast and easy to make, making them well suited breakfast food or in this case dinner. I’ll have to experiment with the liquid part to see if a thinner batter produces results that are better or worse but overall I am happy with the results despite my lack of enthusiasm at the outset.

Last night I opened up a new chapter in Ratio on quick cakes. The chapter begins with quick breads and muffins which are essentially the same thing. The key difference is that muffins are cooked in cups.

Quick cakes are described as custards cooked at high heat with some flour thrown in for structure. They are all pretty much the same, differing in the ratio of the ingredients.

I am very confident with Alton Brown’s Old School Muffins and can practically make them with my eyes clothes. They have been thoroughly taste tested at work and with family and friends. I wondered how these muffins would compare.

The ratio is pretty straight forward, 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, 1 part fat (butter). The basic muffin batter recipe also contained salt and baking powder. I added dried cherries to the batter for extra flavor and texture.

Interestingly enough, Ruhlman describes pancakes as thin muffins, which is clearly evident when looking at the batter. It had a lot more liquid and was a lot more pourable than Alton’s. It was clear that the end result was definitely going to be a lot more moist.

Cherry Muffin Batter

The muffin batter was baked in the oven pre-heated to 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes. That might have been too long. They were crisp and most, but considerably more browned than I expected. The cherries all sank to the bottom of each muffin which was not entirely unexpected given how loose it was. The end result was quite tasty indeed.

Cherry Muffins

For me, these muffins would work best as an accompanying side to breakfast better than Alton’s, but don’t scream anytime snack choice. Another one down, many more to go.