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Is your cooking improving in isolation?

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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 7:12 am
  #106  
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Originally Posted by JBord
They are!

I did forget one important tip. Take the wings out of the refrigerator, separate and season them, as you're heating the grill. 20 minutes or so will get them up to room temperature, so the inside cooks more evenly and prevents burning the skins.

I'd love for a few people to try it and let me know how they turn out. I just figured out how to do it on my own, which is pretty much how I do all my cooking. Perhaps someone could improve on it and share back. Good wings should be shared with the world .
I'll have to try it!
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 7:19 am
  #107  
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Originally Posted by JBord
Yes, I prefer non-breaded/floured wings. Even if deep frying, I would just season and drop into the oil without flour. And of course no flour if you grill them. So it's a different type of wing than you usually make. Yours would turn out more like southern fried chicken, and almost certainly juicier than mine. The "crispy" part of mine comes from crisping the skin rather than the flour. I love fried chicken, but my favorite wings aren't breaded. Some day we'll have to have a taste-off! Hopefully those days are allowed again soon.

By the way, Hooters makes the breaded wing, other places like Buffalo Wild Wings either use no flour, at least as far as I can tell since they are similar in texture to mine.
I'll give yours try one of these days. They sound good. The reason I use the flour is more as a way of getting the salt to draw out some of the moisture in the skin so they crisp up more. I shake it off and allow it to rest so that when they go into the pot of oil they are not white anymore but mostly back to their original colour.

As to bar wings, I've really gone off those. In many places (and I'm not a frequent visitor to dive-bars) I can taste inferior quality chicken (or it's been defrosted and hanging around a fridge for a while) and they are usually covered in far too much sauce, so you lose the crisp of the skin.
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 7:43 am
  #108  
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Originally Posted by LondonElite
I'll give yours try one of these days. They sound good. The reason I use the flour is more as a way of getting the salt to draw out some of the moisture in the skin so they crisp up more. I shake it off and allow it to rest so that when they go into the pot of oil they are not white anymore but mostly back to their original colour.
Makes sense, so they're not really of the fried chicken (Hooters) variety. I hadn't thought of doing that when frying, but may have to give it a try.
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 7:51 am
  #109  
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Do you grill yours on direct or indirect heat?
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 8:22 am
  #110  
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I made a London broil last night. It was wonderful. I found a great cut of top round at the Fresh Market.

I marinated it overnight in soy sauce and a sweet spicy chili sauce and some Worcestershire sauce.

I broiled it for about 20 minutes until it got to about 140 to 145. I turned it once. I had the top rack about 4 inches from the broiler.

it was medium to medium rare on the inside and almost caramelized on the outside. I sliced it width wise. It was delicious.
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 8:22 am
  #111  
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Originally Posted by LondonElite
I have a NYT online subscription, but it seems like cooking requires a separate payment. Do you know if thats right or is there a workaround?
From a desktop browser (or a mobile browser in desktop mode) do a google search for the recipe. Click the small down arrow to the right of the URL of the result to view the google cached version.
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 8:27 am
  #112  
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Originally Posted by gaobest
Does anyone have a deep fryer for making french fries? I cant believe that there are several online for $50-150 range. Any suggestions?
i can grill cheeseburgers nicely and French fries would be so great with them :-)
I've had a lot of success buying high quality frozen french fries (usually Alexia brand) and baking them on a rack instead of directly on a pan. It makes them very crispy.
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 10:43 am
  #113  
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Originally Posted by lost_perspicacity
From a desktop browser (or a mobile browser in desktop mode) do a google search for the recipe. Click the small down arrow to the right of the URL of the result to view the google cached version.
Thanks!
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 1:23 pm
  #114  
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Isolation has driven me to improve the variety of my cooking. Previously, we rotated through a lot of the same dishes throughout the week. Now, though, we're trying to get good Instagram food shots to share with friends, and thus don't want to repeat.

I'm also using the extensive cookbook library we have at home a lot more than I used to, for the same reasons. I've always used the cookbooks for inspiration, but now since we're planning grocery trips days in advance instead of just going out to grab something we may have forgotten, we review and select several possible recipes we want to try out and use those to drive our lists (we still improvise a lot, but it helps to have a better idea of the general range of ingredients needed).
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 2:44 pm
  #115  
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Originally Posted by gaobest
Thanks - I still must click your water roux link.
I just never knew that sugar also functioned as a food moisturizer. That’s why I love FT - so many great ideas and lessons, with the big one being our maui ticket refund. Phew.
I didn't know that about sugar either. But I did know that fat does the same thing.

Originally Posted by gaobest
II’m going to just try oven fries tonight. I have a russet and a sweet purple potato so I’ll slice them and bake at 450 or so. Hopefully that crisps them.
Sweet potatoes won't crisp much if at all. You need the starches as found in russet for that. 450 is probably too hot...you might burn the potatoes before they are fully cooked inside. I do it as follows:
  • Oven at 400
  • Cut potatoes relatively thinly, either medallions or wedges like steak fries
  • Toss in a little oil and whatever seasonings you like...I like either Lawry's salt or garlic salt and some pepper
  • Spread in a single layer and bake for about 20-30 mins depending on thickness then take them out, flip 'em all with a spatula, and put back in for another 20-25 min
  • The side of the potato touching the baking sheet will be what gets brown and crispy...that's why you need to flip them
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 3:21 pm
  #116  
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Originally Posted by LondonElite
Do you grill yours on direct or indirect heat?
25 minutes on direct heat would ensure a nice char!

When I do wings I put the charcoal baskets in the centre of the kettle and lay the wings in a circle around it. Works a treat.
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 3:28 pm
  #117  
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Originally Posted by gfunkdave
Sweet potatoes won't crisp much if at all. You need the starches as found in russet for that. 450 is probably too hot...you might burn the potatoes before they are fully cooked inside. I do it as follows:
I've never had a problem taking potatoes up to 250c/480f and holding them there for an hour or so. They turn out soooo crispy and perfect in the middle. Actually amazes me how much heat you can hit a potato with and it doesn't burn while it cooks. I struggle to get the same result in an oven. Maybe it's the fan that burns the outside before the inside is cooked. I'll try and take a pic next time I do potatoes.

Last edited by bensyd; Apr 28, 2020 at 3:34 pm
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Old Apr 28, 2020 | 5:56 pm
  #118  
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Originally Posted by gfunkdave
I didn't know that about sugar either. But I did know that fat does the same thing.



Sweet potatoes won't crisp much if at all. You need the starches as found in russet for that. 450 is probably too hot...you might burn the potatoes before they are fully cooked inside. I do it as follows:
  • Oven at 400
  • Cut potatoes relatively thinly, either medallions or wedges like steak fries
  • Toss in a little oil and whatever seasonings you like...I like either Lawry's salt or garlic salt and some pepper
  • Spread in a single layer and bake for about 20-30 mins depending on thickness then take them out, flip 'em all with a spatula, and put back in for another 20-25 min
  • The side of the potato touching the baking sheet will be what gets brown and crispy...that's why you need to flip them
i can only get sweet potato to crisp by slicing them super thin...shoestring...and heating the sheet pan to pretty hot before throwing them on there. I remember seeing a recipe where you put a coating on them to get them crisp...probably flour, then egg white , then panko...before baking. Probably baking on a rack would help too.
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Old Apr 29, 2020 | 12:27 am
  #119  
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Originally Posted by LapLap
Another route to reducing sugar in recipes is to stay away from US recipes. Japanese recipes tend to have more of a tendency towards less sweet products (not always though!).
There is a great technique for injecting moisture into baked goods without relying on sugar. Its called the water roux method, sometimes called Tangzhong or tang zhong, sometimes called yudane. It often requires an extra step in the baking process - which you might need to start the night before - but it means that your dough wont be relying on sugar to lock in moisture.
Youll find plenty on the net or in YouTube using water roux or the other search terms.
I had success with water roux for the Japanese fluffy pancakes.

Ive further adjusted the chocolate chip banana bread recipe; changed 1/2 cup of brown sugar to 1/4 cup and then the water roux for the remaining 1/4 cup. Just hope I did it correctly (1/4 cup flour and 1-1/2 cup water). It looks good.
yes, I baked chocolate chip banana bread at 9:45p because Im already doing a load of towels and I had some dishes to wash from supper.
LapLap likes this.
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Old Apr 29, 2020 | 12:31 am
  #120  
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My Monday attempt at fries was so bad because I didn’t read the comments in time and of course the Russet potatoes got burnt. I never ended up doing the sweet potato. The cheeseburgers were fine and the added condiments were bonus. Sadly my family still wants carry out from a burger place for the fries and milkshakes, so that’ll be a $75-ish supper just to get the fries. Sigh. I love the brioche slider buns from Safeway. The whole brioche bun thing is lovely.
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