Wheatberry Pancakes Master Recipe

Wheatberry Pancakes (Cook's Illustrated 2015 Annual)

270g wheat berries (1 1/2c)
50g sugar (2T)
3/4tsp salt
60g buttermilk powder (1 1/2c buttermilk)
60-65g oil (5T)
2 eggs
1 1/2tsp powder
1/2tsp soda
(1 1/4c water)*

Process berries, sugar, salt, and buttermilk powder in blender on high until as fine as possible (2-3 min). Remove to a bowl. Place 1c water (buttermilk) in blender and pour wheatberry mixture on top. Blend on high, adding water (buttermilk) and/or adjusting speed as needed to maintain the vortex, until mixture is thick and only small lumps remain (about 3 minutes). Add oil, eggs, and any remaining water (buttermilk) and blend til fully mixed, about 30 seconds. Add powder and soda** while blender is running; blend until incorporated, about 15 sec.

Heat 1tsp oil in nonstick skillet. Wipe out excess oil with paper towel. Using 2oz ladle (1/4c), gently spread batter into 4" circle. Cook until bubbles are just beginning to break--edges should be set. Flip & cook til golden, 1-2 minutes more. Makes about 15.

Notes:
*This water is only needed if using buttermilk powder.
**Adding the soda first has caused issues with incorporation. Add the together, or powder first.
Using an 1/8c ladle. we get 22-24 pancakes.

Orange Ginger Beef Master Recipe

Orange Ginger Beef (Martin Yan, A Wok For All Seasons, modified)

Marinade:
2T soy sauce
1T Shao Hsing wine (or dry sherry)
2tsp cornstarch
2tsp oil (we like sesame)

3/4# beef sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced

Orange Sauce:
1/4c orange juice concentrate
1T sugar
1T soy sauce

5 thin slices ginger
1tsp cormstarch
2tsp water
2T oil

Marinate beef for 30 minutes.

Combine sauce ingredients, set aside. Combine cornstarch and water, set aside.

Heat wok. Add oil. Add ginger slices and stir fry until fragrant, 5-10 seconds. Add beef and stir fry until barely pink, 2-3 minutes. Add sauce and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add cornstartch solution and cook, stirring, til thickened and bubbly.

Serve with steamed broccoli that's been sprinkled with sesame oil and oyster sauce.

Pommes de terre a l'etouffée Master Recipe

"Take some potatoes of a not too floury kind, peel them and cut them in pieces the size of half a matchbox. Melt some butter in a saucepan, put in your potatoes and the lid on the saucepan, and cook on a moderate fire, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Do not be afraid in stirring to break the potatoes, and add more butter if necessary; there must be lots of butter which sinks in the potatoes. At the end of the process, which must be finished on a quicker fire, sprinkle with salt your potatoes, which will be at the same time neither sautées nor roasted, but crisp and golden and deliciously soft and buttery inside."

X. Marcel Boulestin

What Shall We Have Today?

1931

We don't peel the potatoes, generally.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara Master Recipe

Spaghetti alla Carbonara (Cook's Illustrated, modified from two recipes)

8 slices thick bacon or salt pork, sliced into 1/2" pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
15g pecorino Romano, grated (1/4c)
50g Parmesan, grated (3/4c)
3 eggs
1# spaghetti
salt & pepper

Bring bacon & 1/2c water to simmer in 10" skillet over medium heat; cook til water evaporates* bacon begins to sizzle, 8-10 minutes. Reduce heat & cook til bacon browns and fat has rendered, 5-8 minutes longer. Add garlic & cook til fragrant, 15-30 seconds. Drain, measuring out 1T fat into medium bowl. Whisk in cheeses, eggs, & pepper.

Meanwhile, cook 1# spaghetti in salted water. Drain, reserving 1c cooking water. Return to pot.

Whisk 1/2c reserved pasta water into egg/cheese mixture and pour over pasta, tossing to coat. Add bacon & toss. Let pasta rest 2-4 minutes, tossing frequently, until sauce has thickened & coats pasta. Adjust consistency with remaining reserved pasta water if needed.

*this keeps bacon tender

Ramen Noodle Coleslaw Master Recipe

Ramen Noodle Coleslaw

2# coleslaw, broccoli coleslaw mix, or cabbage/carrots/broccoli, shredded

Dressing:
2pkgs Oriental Ramen noodle seasoning mix
1/3c cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar
1/2c sugar
1/2c oil

Toppings:
2pkgs Ramen noodles, broken up
4oz almond slivers
4oz sunseeds

Combine dressing ingredients and toss with slaw. Add toppings and toss just before serving.

Sweet & Sour Chicken Master Recipe

Sweet & Sour Chicken

1 fryer chicken, cut up
1c sugar (200g)
1c ketchup
1/2c water
1/2c vinegar
2tsp salt
2tsp Worcestershire
1tsp dry mustard

Mix together & pour over chicken parts in 9x13 pan. Bake at 350*F until juices run clear. Serve over rice.

Tipsy Wieners Master Recipe

Tipsy Wieners

1 pkg Lil Smokies
1 bottle beer (not light) or cider

Tip wieners into saute pan and cover with beer. Bring to a boil and boil until liquid is nearly gone. Stir frequently towards the end. Serve with toothpicks as an appetizer, or over noodles/knöpfle as a lazy supper dish.

Granola Master Recipe

Big Cluster Maple Granola (Smitten Kitchen book)

240g rolled oats (3c)
50g unsweetened coconut (shredded or flaked) (1c)
100g walnuts, chopped (1c)
25g toasted wheat germ (1/4c)
2T olive oil (25g)
1/2tsp coarse salt
1/2c maple syrup (or more to taste) (170g)
1/4tsp cinnamon
1 large egg white
215g dried fruit, diced (1 1/2c)

Toss everything except fruit and egg white in a large bowl. Whisk egg white until frothy and stir into granola mixture. Spread on parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 300*F for 45-55 minutes. About halfways through, use a large spatula to turn over large pieces (if you want smaller clusters, stir frequently instead) and rotate pan. Granola should be evenly browned and dry to the touch. Cool, break into pieces and stir in fruit.

Cream of Mushroom Master Soup Recipe

Cream of Mushroom Soup

1T butter

1/2c chopped mushrooms

1 clove garlic, minced

3 1/2T flour

1/2c broth 

1/2c milk

Saute mushrooms and garlic in butter. Sprinkle flour over shrooms. Slowly add broth & milk and cook until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. Equal to 1 can condensed soup.

Master Egg Pasta Recipe

from Marc Vetri's Mastering Pasta

100g flour per 3 large eggs.
For every three eggs, 1T olive oil & 1T water.

300g flour, 3 eggs, 1T oil, & 1T water make about a pound of dough.

Sweet Chili Sauce Master Recipe

Sweet Chili Sauce (Top Secret Recipes, modified)

40mL vinegar
30mL water
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4c corn syrup
75g sugar
2tsp chili sauce (sambal olek)
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp garlic powder
pinch cayenne

Stir together vinegar and water. Whisk in cornstarch. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat over medium, stirring often to a full boil. Boil one minute, remove from heat and cool. Makes about 1/2c.

10 January 2018

Grapefruit Curd

(scaled)                                                                        (original)
2/3c juice (154g)                                                          45g juice (1 lemon) (22.5%)
Zest of one grapefruit                                                   Zest of said lemon
223g eggs (weighed in the shell)                                 65g egg (1 large, in shell) (32.5%)
189g sugar                                                                    60g sugar (30%)
1 stick butter (salted                                                     30g butter (15%)

How can I have been so stupid??! There is more sugar than juice here; I should have caught that. We'll have to see if it's ok as an ice cream add-in. Or maybe I could do a batch with just a tiny amount of sugar and then blend them together?

My usual recipe, for comparison purposes (modified from 84th&3rd):

3 eggs (about 170g) (40%)
1/2c juice (from 2-3 small lemons, plus zest from 1 or 2, about 120g) (28%)
80g sugar (18%)
60g butter (14%)
pinch of salt (I just use salted butter)

Whisk together eggs and sugar. Stir in juice, zest, and salt if using. Heat gently, stirring constantly, til thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

Savory Pork Chops Master Recipe

4 bone-in pork chops
2 T all purpose flour
0.25 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt
0.25 tsp dry mustard
2 Tbsp orange marmalade
0.25 cup water
0.25 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp ketchup
1T oil

Mix flour, salt, and mustard in a large zipper bag. Coat chops, and brown in oil (about 5 min each side). Pour off excess fat (if any). Mix water, soy sauce, ketchup, & marmalade and pour over chops. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, turning once.

Basic Dry Cure Master Recipe

225g kosher salt
112.5g sugar
25g pink salt (curing salt #1)

Use 50g/5#

From Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie.

Master Pickled Fish Recipe

Master Pickled Fish Recipe


Per quart jar:
1 T pickling spice
2T pickling salt
1c sugar
1 slice onion


Fill jar with cubed fish and cover with vinegar. Keep in refrigerator, shaking twice a day every day for three days, then let sit for an additional two days.

Slow Roasted Pit Ham Master Recipe

Slow Roasted Pit Ham, from The Founding Farmers Cookbook


2T whole juniper berries
7 1/2c cold water
1/2 c packed dark brown sugar
1/4c honey
2 1/2T pink curing salt
4 1/2T kosher salt
2T caraway seeds
15 cloves garlic, minced
1 (9-10# boneless pork butt)


Smash and toast juniper berries. Place in 3-gallon lidded container that will fit in the fridge. Add water, brown sugar, honey, salts, caraway, and garlic. Whisk til salts dissolve. Submerge pork in the brine, cover, and refrigerate for three days.
Heat oven to 300*F. Remove butt from brine and place in roasting pan. Roast for 3-4 hours (12-15min/pound) until internal temperature registers 145*F. Remove ham from oven and rest (tented) for 30 minutes.

Tomatillo Salsa Master Recipe

Tomatillo Salsa, from a box of Ball canning rings. Also in the Blue Book.


5 1/2c chopped, cored, husked tomatillos (about 2#)
1c chopped onion
1c chopped green chiles
4 cloves garlic, minced
2T minced cilantro
2tsp cumin
1/2tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper
1c vinegar
1/4c lime juice


Combine ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. JSP/RWB/15(8oz).


We haven't ever cored the tomatillos.

Shirley Sauce Master Recipe

Hot Orange Seedless Shirley Sauce, from Pickles to Relish by Beverly Ellen Schoonmaker Alfeld


12 large Lemon Boy or orange tomatoes
2 large onions, diced
12 large jalapeno of Serrano peppers
2c sugar
2c red wine vinegar
2T pickling salt


Skin and seed tomatoes, cook all ingredients until thick. JSP/RWB10(4oz)15(8oz)20(16oz)A*


By using seed catalogs, I have determined the average weights of the tomatoes, peppers, and onions, and have come up with this:

(12) large Lemon Boy tomatoes = 5.25#
(2) large onions = 1.5#
(12) large jalapeno chiles = 6oz
(12) large Serrano chiles = 2.5oz


We usually run the tomatoes through the saucemaster and coarsely chop the peppers. Using paste-type tomatoes definitely results in a more ketchup-y flavor. We have used yellow tomatoes, but think the reds are prettier.


*JSP/RWB10(4oz)15(8oz)20(16oz)A = Jar Seal Process/Rolling Water Bath 10min for 4oz jars, 15 minutes for 8oz jars, and 20 minutes for 16oz jars Adjust for altitude.

• At 1,001 to 3,000 feet above sea level, increase processing time by 5min
• At 3,001 to 6,000 feet above sea level, increase processing time by 10min
• At 6,001 to 8,000 feet above sea level, increase processing time by 15min
• At 8,001 to 10,000 feet above sea level, increase processing time by 20min