The alternative to the killing zone is the velvet rope approach, whereby you let certain microbes into the party with the understanding that they won’t go bustin’ up the place. This is the world of fermented pickles which includes things like gherkins, sauerkraut and kimchi. The principle behind it is rather elegant. It is, simply, […]
READ ONLike canning, pickling is all about controlling the forces of spoilage, living things like microbes especially, but also non-living things like enzymes. Both can be inhibited or destroyed in a variety of ways. Salt in high enough concentrations is hell on fungi, molds and bacteria, though not quite so good on enzymes. Likewise high doses […]
READ ONI’ve got a pretty flimsy sense of culinary modesty, and nothing brings it crashing down quicker than a compliment on my own home-made pickles. I don’t know why I’m so uncontrollably proud of them. Maybe because I still have a hard time believing something so good can be so easy to make. Here in the […]
READ ONWhat could possibly go better with a pregnant houshold than pickles and ice cream? Last week was the first half of the combo, this week is the second. But before you run screaming for your pull-down menus, check this recipe out. Sweet, sour and aromatic, it’s a pickle that really does go perfectly with ice […]
READ ONThere was so much to talk about on the ice cream front I didn’t have time to get into ice cream makers (much). The wife and I own the basic countertop model, a plastic Cuisinart that does pretty well. There are others to be sure, but the Cuisinart seems to be the in-home standard. The […]
READ ONBy measuring it of course. All you need are a couple of graduated containers, a pyrex pitcher-type deal for measuring the progress of starters, and a rising container or two for the finished doughs (only not that big…gallon-sized is plenty). You can find them at any restaurant supply shop in pretty much all sizes. I’ve […]
READ ONArtisanal bread bakers, let’s be honest, the can be a little…flaky. Crunchy. Granola. You know what I mean. As a group they’re a hugely enthusiastic bunch, and more often than not make amazing bread. But when I hear one say something like I feel about my starters the way most people feel about their children, […]
READ ONThe Chicago-Style, Gino’s East, deep-dish cornmeal crust conundrum has finally been solved for good. I’ve been vexed by the toughness of the crust the last few times I’ve made it, and I know that in pie-type crusts, water is the source of that toughness. The crust recipe as it’s stood these last several months contains […]
READ ONYou may remember from two or so years ago where a Japanese specialty retailer debuted the square watermelon for Christmas (yes, they celebrate Christmas there, mostly as a commercial holiday). Nothing artifical, the melons were simply grown in wood frames. Well, now one of the British grocery giants, Tesco, has coopted the idea and is […]
READ ONThere are those fish proteins I mentioned. Just last night Mrs. Pastry called my attention to a TV ad for Breyers’ new Double-Churned ice creams. Breyers is of course one of the Unilever brands (others are Klondike, Good Humor and Popsicle) that uses the proteins in their products. The very first image in the ad […]
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