EASY ESPAGNOLE AND DEMI-GLACE
Posted on | September 3, 2010 (13 minutes ago) | No Comments
Starting off with Espagnole:
Espagnole is a classic mother sauce. Since Escoffier revolutionized “French Cuisine” at the beginning of the twentieth century, Espagnole has been an intermediate step in making other sauces (called compound sauces). With the exception of a few individuals, most people don’t like it on its own; and it is (almost) never served as is. Since nouvelle and California cuisine, demi-glace is the most common compound destination.
Even though this Espagnole recipe has a lot of steps, it’s a quick and dirty version of the classic.
SAUCE ESPAGNOLE
(Yield: About 4 cups)
Ingredients:
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 stick, celery
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 2 tbs butter
• 6 cups veal or beef stock (or 3 cups each), divided
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 handful parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried, or 1 sprig fresh thyme
Technique:
Cut the carrot, onion and celery into medium dice. Put them in a bowl and mix with your hand so they’re evenly distributed. This mixture is called mirepoix.
Preheat a a medium sized sauce pan over medium high heat and add the olive oil and butter. The butter will foam. When the foam has subsided add 1 cup of mirepoix (reserve the rest for another time). Sauté the mirepoix until it begins to show some color.
Push the mirepoix to one side of the pan, and add your tbs of tomato paste to the center. Spread it around with your spoon and let it cook for a minute or so, so the paste forms a fond. Move the mirepoix back to the center of the pan and mix it into the paste. Keep the contents moving until the paste begins to darken – another couple of minutes at most. This combination of cooked mirepoix and tomato paste is called a pincage and is extremely useful in saucing. Remember it. It will be on the test. .
Stir the 2 tbs of flour into the pincage . Continue stirring until “the raw” is off the flour. You’ll smell the difference; it takes about two minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking another five minutes to toast the flour and further brown the tomato. Now you’ve got a roux-pincage.
Add about 1/2 cup of the stock, raise the heat to medium-high and deglaze the pan. Add the remaining stock, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Make a sachet of the bay leaf, parsley and thyme, or you may add them loose. Reduce by about one third (to 1 qt liquid) at the simmer – never the boil.
When the sauce is fully reduced, strain it through a very fine sieve, a sieve lined with cheesecloth or a fine tami. Don’t forget to press the essence out of the mirepoix with the back of a spoon.
Note: It’s impossible to overemphasize the importance of sieving in sauce making. When in doubt – sieve.
Moving on to Demi-Glace:
Back in the day, demi-glace was used as an intermediate step for more sophisticated compound sauces. Escoffier would roll over in his grave if he thought you were using it as a stand-alone sauce, but modernly it is considered a compound sauce, and is mostly commonly used “as is” to sauce for meat, poultry and/or vegetables.
Anticipating that it will be used alone, I add a butter “finish” to this version.
DEMI GLACE
(Yield: 2 cups)
Ingredients:
• 2 cups Espagnole (recipe above)
• 2 cups stock
• 1-1/2 oz Madeira (or dry Marsala, or a medium-dry Sherry such as an Amontillado)
• 1-1/2 tbs butter, chilled
Technique:
Mix two cups of Espagnole with two cups of veal, beef, brown or chicken stock in a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and reduce, by one half.
Add the Madeira (if you can’t find an inexpensive Madeira go with the Marsala or Sherry – don’t waste your money), and simmer an additional five minutes.
When the raw wine taste has cooked off, sieve the sauce and the classic demi is complete.
Nothing succeeds like excess, so we might as well keep going. Mount the butter as follows. Cut the butter into four pieces. Add two pieces to the sauce, and whisk until they’re halfway melted. Then remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the remaining two pieces until they’re fully melted. The sieving and the butter both add a glossy visual appeal, while the butter enhances the already considerable “lick your lips,” protein sheen.
Note: These recipes, like a lot of my old fashioned French cooking, owe a lot to Pellaprat. H/t Henri-Paul!
Tags: classic sauces > demi-glace > espagnole > fond > mirepoix > mother sauce > mother sauces > pincage > roux pincage > sauce making
Snow white and the seven* mother sauces
Posted on | September 2, 2010 | No Comments
There are seven mother sauces in "classic" French cuisine. Careme had four, one of which didn’t overlap with Escoffier’s five. At some point after Escoffier touched Adam’s finger and gave humanity life, everyone slapped themselves on the forehead and said, "merde." Merde is not a mother sauce, but mayonnaise is.
Careme:
Allemande
Bechamel
Espagnole
Veloute
Escoffier:
Bechamel
Espagnole
Hollandaise
Tomate
Veloute
Modern, Synthesized:
Allemande:
It’s pretty much an egg stiffened veloute. No one uses it. It started petering out of French cuisine by the mid 19th C around the beginning of the culinary revolution and trend towards simplicity which carried Escoffier to sainthood. It enjoyed a brief resurgence right after WWI, with a bunch of dishes (especially fish) which everyone called "Parisienne."
Bechamel:
Everyone uses it. The issue is, uses it for what. Bechamel, Espagnole, and veloute, as roux based sauces have pretty much disappeared from the high end haute French, some other high-end European, and New International Cuisines, but they’re still going very strong in a lot of regional and bourgeois cuisines.
Espagnole:
Been rendered (pretty much) redundant, especially as a path to demi. During the nouvelle and California revolutions we discovered that if you left stock on the stove it thickened up by itself, and that was pretty much it. I like Espagnole as a mother, but haven’t been a professional cook for multiple decades; so I don’t count.
Hollandaise:
Mmmm. Hollandaise.
Mayonnaise:
Where would the Japanese be without it?
Tomate:
The mother tomato sauce, "tomate," wasn’t something you tossed on spaghetti, or used right out of the pot. Rather it was used to supply structure without starch as well as some color and sweetness — the sweetness coming after it married the other ingredients and cooked down. Everyone still uses a tomato "sauce" for the same purpose, but no one uses Escoffier’s version or anything like it because canned tomato products are so good there’s just no need. Modernly, we use tomato paste and go from there.
Veloute:
It’s pretty much gone from modern high end French cuisine, New International Cuisine, and so on; but is very much alive in ordinary cooking worldwide. Think of it as gravy and you get the idea.
Vinaigrette*:
NOT a mother sauce, for two reasons. Vinaigrettes should be made a minute, because they eventually separate, and the eventuality doesn’t take very long. Daughter vinaigrettes are still vinaigrettes, there isn’t enough distinction or progression in the daughters. Mostly though the daughter is created at the same time as the mother, which drives a stake into the heart of the whole mother/daugher relationship as I understand it.
Distinguish all that from, say, taking jarred mayonnaise, thinning it with diluted vinegar, and sweetening it with sugar in order to make "Alabama White Barbecue Sauce."
But there’s some support for the idea. Plus, I’m not researching as I write, just pulling it out of my behind like a flying monkey; and I certainly don’t know everything. There’s something on which we can all agree.
Hope this illuminated for someone,
BDL
Tags: espagnole > hollandaise > mother sauces; allemande; bechamel > tomate > veloute
Long Time No See
Posted on | August 25, 2010 | 1 Comment
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeees baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.
Long time no post. I apologize to those readers who expected more freqeunt posting. What can I say? Crap happened.
I look forward to posting again on a regular basis. In the near future, there’s going to be more knife and sharpening stuff, including some reviews, and with luck I’ll be able to bring some structure to my thoughts about equipment and its use. Since my primary focus is on cooking, I’ll keep adding recipes which focus on technique as well.
Over the hiatus, one thing become sadly clear. Most cooks, amateur and pro, don’t know what a sharp knife is. At some point in the very near future, I’ll do a sharpening tutorial / FAQ which should help new freehanders develop their skills to the point where they can reliably sharpen and maintain thier knives.
Keith DeGrau of HandAmerican helped me choose a stropping and deburring kit (from Chef Knives to Go). It’s been a long time since I last stropped, and a lot has changed on the equipment front. HandAmerican’s stuff is always among the best of the best, and it will be interesting to see how far the old Sabatiers can be pushed.
Nicko at Chef Talk has asked me to do knife reviews for the Chef Talk site, and I agreed. We’ll see how that goes if and when it happens.
It became clear during the last few months that a lot of people were logging in to read the knife stuff and are interested in what I have so say. I’ll talk to a few dealers, and see about reviewing some knives here.
If this seems awfully knife oriented, I’ve decided on buying a new go-to gyuto myself as retail therapy for a chronic case of the bluses, and as a 60th birthday present to myself. No decision as yet, but the short list is entirely wa handles. I’m torn between one of the “lasers” like a Konosuke or Tadatsuna, and the practically perfect in every way Masamoto KS.
More soon,
BDL
What’s New This Week
Posted on | March 18, 2010 | 4 Comments
What’s new by me? Funny you should ask:
7th Week, 9th Entry (but who’s counting?), 03/18/10
St Patrick’s Day been and gone. Time for the left overs.
Corned Beef Hash: Wow! I thought the subject would be nicely covered in about 350 words.
If you’ve been following along, you know I try to cover a lot of technique in most of my recipes. There’s a lot of knife technique in this one. If you’re hazy about dicing, t’s worth reading for that alone. There’s some other good technical stuff too. And, it’s a great recipe. Really great.
Fish and Chips: How polticially correct is it to put English and Irish recipes side to side? If you want to argue that there’s nothing particularly Irish about Corned Beef Hash, and nothing particularly not-Irish about Fish and Chips you win as far as I’m concerned.
But enough with the Troubles, and up the food.
This particular Fish and Chips recipe uses a double dip technique to give a very light and crunchy fish, and a double fry for a nicely textured chip. Good technique makes things better.
Philosophies of Knife Sharpening: This piece is directed more at people who are either already freehanding or thinking about it, than those who are using or interested in trying some other system .
Don’t worry, the knife and sharpening magnum opae are in the works.
So, what’s new by you? Don’t be coy. There are a lot of other things to ask and comment about. For God’s sake, ask and comment. Your feedback not only validates my inflated ego it helps provide sorely needed direction.
Love you madly,
BDL
PS. Keen eyed observers may note that this post has been edited to reflect that it was posted during the 7th rather than the 6th week since its birth.
corned beef hash
Posted on | March 18, 2010 | 4 Comments
We had corned beef for dinner the 15th of March. For dinner on St. Patrick’s day, the 17th, we had this hash. Hash is a very good thing, but because the techniques are so simple, almost to the level of boiling water, and because there are any number of good recipes available on the interwebs and elsewhere, I hadn’t really thought of writing it up and posting it.
However, Linda spent dinner raving about it and insisted that I write and post this.
Only after deciding to cooperate with the inevitable did I remember that sharing, explaining and using simple techniques is what Cook Food Good is all about.
Here we use moderate heat to slowly develop a crust; cream for its balance of fat and moisture; a balance of fat moisture and to retard the crust and promote a marriage of flavors; dicing and staggering so all the components finish cooking together. Even though assemblage (pretentious, no?) takes place in the pan and long before plating, we also use mise en place just because it makes life easier.
In addition, I’m going to talk a lot about two of the most important basic knife techniques – general dicing and dicing an onion. Lucky you. The instructions presume that you have a sharp chef’s knife or santoku and that you already know how to “claw” and “cut and retreat” with your offhand. If you don’t have a good knife do the best you can. If you don’t know what a claw grip or cut and retreat are – just be darn careful with those fingers. They belong on your hand, not in your hash.
CORNED BEEF HASH
Quantity: Serves 2, 3, or 4, depending
Difficulty: Not at all. Requires some patience
Ingredients:
• 1/2 to 1 pound russet or Yukon Gold potato
• 1 medium or large yellow (sometimes called brown or Spanish) onion
• 3/4 – 1-1/2 pounds left over corned beef
• 2 – 4 tbs butter, preferably unsalted
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Fresh ground black pepper
Optional
• 1/4 bunch parsley (curly or flat)
• 1 or 2 gently fried or poached eggs per person
Technique:
I. Prep
Peel the potatoes and put them in water.
Remove a potato from the water, put it on your board, and (ideally) using a sharp chef’s knife or santoku, cut off a slice about 3/8" thick. If you’re right handed, push the slice to the right side of the board, and if you’re a lefty like me, push it to the left.
Roll the potato onto the flat side left by the cut, and cut it into more slices (aka “planks”) about 3/8" thick.
Stack the planks as high as you feel comfortable holding in your off hand. Orient the stack so the long end is perpendicular to your knife blade. Cut the planks into 3/8" thick sticks (batonnet).
Organize the sticks into bundles with the sticks running in the same direction. Make sure the bundles aren’t too large for you to hold comfortably. Use the face of your knife to even the right end (if you’re right handed). Cut the sticks into 3/8" thick cubes (medium dice), using the “cut and retreat” method. Return the dice to the water.
Continue until all the potatoes are diced and in water.
Rinse and dry your knife. Wipe your board down.
Put your onion on the board and cut off the stem end (that’s the end without the hairy tendrils), with a square cut. Lay the onion on the cut and cut it in half through the middle of the root (that’s the end with the hairy tendrils). Leave the root on each onion half. It’s going to hold the onion together during the dicing process. That’s important enough to repeat. You want each onion half in one piece until the final cut.
Pull the papery skin from each onion half. Some people (me among them) use their fingernails to start prying the paper from the flesh, others like to use a table knife. Discard the skin and the stem end.
Lay one onion half flat on your board, push the other to an area of the board where it won’t be in the way.
Turn the onion so that the stem end is to your right (facing your knife hand). Make a horizontal cut, half way up the onion from the stem end ALMOST to the root. Stop short of the root by about 1/4" to 3/8". DO NOT cut through the root. Cutting without cutting all the way through is called “scoring”
Note 1: Lefties often find it easier to cut the vertical scoring before making the horizontal score. I don’t know why, it just is.
Rotate the onion 90* so the stem end faces you. Use the tip of your knife blade to make vertical scoring cuts, all the way down to the board, about 3/8" from one another – each cut stopping about 1/4" short of cutting through the onion. Still scoring, because at this stage you want the onion hold together as one piece.
Rotate the onion 90* so the stem end is to your right again. Cut 3/8" thick slices starting with the stem end. As soon as they’re cut the slices the combination of the scoring you did and the fact that an onion is build in layers, will make the slices fall apart into medium dice.
Keep slicing until you reach the stem part of the onion – in other words, where the slices no longer break up into dice – and discard the stem end.
Repeat with the second half of the onion. Reserve the onion to a bowl on the counter and cover with cling wrap.
Put the dice in a bowl and cover with cling wrap, and reserve on the counter.
Note 2 (Very Important): Consistent sizing IS important. BUT 3/8" thick is an approximate measurement. Don’t make yourself nuts. If your dice end up between 1/4" and 1/2" thick you’re doing well. A reference is helpful to developing consistent sizes. For instance, a fine dice is about the same size as a rivet on my knife handle. To cut medium dice, I cut the first plank about a rivet and a half wide, then use the first plank to gauge the rest of the planks and the first stick, and so on.
Rinse and dry your knife. Wipe your board.
Remove the corned beef from the refrigerator (cold meat is easier to dice) and set it on the board so the grain of the meat is perpendicular to the axis of your knife blade and cut planks, 3/8" thick, against the grain of the meat.
Note 3: Since you’re taking the meat down to dice, cutting your planks (slices) against the grain isn’t really that important. But slicing grained meat against the grain for any other purpose is so important, you should make it a no-exceptions habit.
Once your planks are cut, continue as with the potatoes, all the way through to medium dice. Reserve the corned beef to a bowl on the counter.
If using, mince enough parsley to make about 1/4 cup (4 tbs)
Take a look at your mise so far. There should be roughly equal volumes of potatoes and corned beef, and about 2/3 that volume of onion. If there isn’t… who cares? It’s hash. Proportion is strictly As You Like It.
II. Assembly and Cooking:
Drain the potatoes, refill the pan with water to cover them by about an 1". Set the pan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Strain the potatoes, and set the strainer over the cooking pan. Note that the water is unsalted because the corned beef already brings so much salt.
Heat a large skillet over a medium flame. When the pan is hot lift it off the flame and add the butter (unsalted, if you have it). Swirl it to prevent the butter from burning. Return the pan to the flame and swirl until the butter is melted and the foam largely subsided.
Add the onions to the pan and cook until they show signs of becoming translucent, stirring occasionally – about 5 minutes.
Add the corned beef and potatoes, stir together well. Season with a few turns of black pepper from the mill, and stir all together will again. Distribute the hash as evenly as possible.
Put your spoon in the sink and use a metal spatula to press the hash down into the skillet – again, distributing as evenly as possible, and with the top as flat as possible.
Pour the cream over the top, again as evenly as possible. I don’t know about you, but I’m sensing a theme here.
Allow to cook undisturbed for 10 minutes. Use your spatula to turn the hash, redistribute in the pan, and flatten – wait for it – as evenly as possible.
After another 10 minutes (20 minutes total) the cream should have almost fully absorbed. Turn, redistribute and flatten as before. If the hash is very sticky or seems too dry, reduce the heat to medium-low.
Another 10 minutes (30 minutes total) and by this time the water from the cream will have evaporated, the milk solids absorbed, and the fat from the corned beef rendered nearly completely. The hash should be gently frying. Turn the hash. If the hash is very dark and if you haven’t already down so, reduce the heat. If the meat is becoming agreeably crisp and it’s starting to smell very good – your heat is fine.
Sprinkle half the parsley onto the hash, redistribute and flatten.
Cook for a final ten minutes (40 minutes total).
Plating: Are you kidding me? Just dump it in the middle. Garnish, if desired with fried or poached egg – cooked so that the yolks are still liquid enough to serve as a sauce, and with the remaining parsley. Hot sauce is a nice touch, especially Bufalo Chipotle, Tabasco Chipotle, or Pico Pica.
Accompaniments: Salad and/or fruit.
Beverages: Corned beef benefits from drinks which cut the salt. Beer, coffee or sparkling water are all very nice. A dry sherry, or something spicy-sweet but not too-sweet like a dry Traminer or Riesling would do well, too. Champagne, every very good champagne, or champagne based cocktails such as Mimosa or Kir Royale – Yes, indeed.
Tags: corned beef > corned beef hash > dicing > dicing an onion > hash > Knife Technique
Fish and chips
Posted on | March 17, 2010 | 3 Comments
The best fish and chips I’ve ever had came from the King’s Head, a theme British style pub which was owned by a couple of Aussies in Santa Monica. The Aussies are gone, the King’s Head remains. The fish is wonderful. So are the chips.
As a result of their training, I prefer the coating on my fish to be very light and crisp, in the style of tempura, and some of the better chipper vans (can there be a “better” chipper van?) and pubs of the UK. I also like my potatoes fried properly — something that’s impossible in a van, difficult in a restaurant, and rather easy at home.
There’s a certain amount of complication in this recipe, but the extra technique is very worthwhile.
Fish and chips has been driven off it’s pedestal as the iconic British carry out by curry. Mmm, curry. While it’s not exactly fair to say that fish and chips is endangered, eat it while you can.
FISH AND CHIPS
Quantity: For four
Difficulty: Easy, but extra steps and some “plan ahead” timing
Equipment:
Fryer or “deep enough” pan set up as fryer
Brown paper bags
Ingredients:
Chips:
• 2 pounds russet potatoes
• Enough oil for deep frying – I.e., at least 2″ deep in a Dutch Oven.
Fish:
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbs double acting baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 ex-large egg
• 1-1/2 cups, ice-cold club-soda or seltzer, or bottle of lager beer, divided in halves
• 1 or 2 ice cubes
• 1-1/2 pound firm white fish fillets, the standards are cod, haddock, halibut and plaice; catfish is surprisingly good but not very British
• 1/2 cup rice flour, or corn starch
Technique:
A proper chip is no small thing. Peel your potatoes, and cut them into chips about the size of your index or driver’s finger. Cover the potatoes with water, discard the water, and cover again with fresh water. Potatoes should soak at least 45 minutes, and up to 8 hours. The soak is important. You won’t get the right textures on the skin and the interior without it.
While (or, “whilst” if you’re from the Empire) the potatoes are soaking, begin the batter. Sift the flour baking powder and salt together. Beat the egg and add it and about 3/4 cup liquid and stir to combine a very smooth batter. Cover with cling wrap, and hold in the refrigerator. The partially completed batter should be held for at least 45 minutes and up to 2 hours.
When ready to cook, Wash and thoroughly dry your fillets (did I mention that they should be dry?). Portion into long triangular wedges, each about 4 oz. (English style is skin on; American is skin off.) Alternatively, if you’re feeling dainty, you may cut the fish into goujon aka fish fingers. Dust the fillets with enough rice powder or corn starch, so they are fully covered, and completely dry. Shake off any excess and reserve the fish on a rack.
Heat the oil to 325. Drain enough chips to fill the fryer without crowding, reserving three for later. (You may have to work in batches.) Dry them thoroughly with a towel. Cook the potatoes through, about 5-6 minutes. They will either not brown at all, or only brown slightly.
Set the potatoes aside to drain on paper. A brown paper bag works better than paper towels for draining oil.
Raise the oil temperature to 375.
Remove the batter from the refrigerator. Add the ice cube and the remaining liquid, and stir until just combined. Dip the fish in batter until coated.
If you only have one smallish fryer cook as follows: Fry the fish until done, about 5 minutes. While the fish is frying drain, dry and reserve the remaining three chips. As soon as the fish comes out of the oil, add those chips, and let them cook for 60 seconds only. Then remove and discard. (Their purpose is to clean any fish taste that got into the oil.) Immediately, return the partially cooked chips to the oil, and cook until they pick up some color, about 5 minutes. Remember, they are already cooked
One big fryer: If your fryer is big enough to handle the temperature shock, you may fry the fish and “par-fried” chips at the same time. If you do so, chips on the bottom, fish on top.
Two fryers: Fry the fish and the partially fried chips simultaneously.
Drain the fish and the chips on fresh brown paper. Salt lightly while still very fresh from the fryer and very hot.
Plate the fish and chips with lemon wedges. Serve with malt vinegar
on the side. Some people like tartar sauce as well.
Tags: catfish > chips > cod > Fish > fish and chips > french fries > Frying > haddock > halibut > malt vinegar > plaice > tartar sauce
“Philosophies” of Sharpening
Posted on | March 16, 2010 | No Comments
I’m not sure how you conceptualize sharpening.
Some people look at it as a series of progressive shapings and polishings; starting on the coarsest stones, and just doing the same thing only doing it finer as they move up the grits. Deburring is an incidental nuisance, a consequence of a burr which occurs when “bevels overlap.” (That’s not what really happens, but let it go for now.) For lack of a better word, let’s call them “polishers.”
I think that’s the most common viewpoint at my primary knife site, Fred’s Cutlery Forum, as well as those other boards where knife, sharpening, and polishing hobbyists congregate.
Polishers are folks who don’t tolerate much gap in grit size well, and consequently tend to have a lot of stones at a lot of different grit levels. They’re also more likely do stropping on loaded strops, and use other techniques to get the most polish possible. “Finger stones” are a definite give away.
I think polishers tend to enjoy the whole sharpening process and look to put the smoothest possible edge and best looking polish as their tools and technique allow.
On the other hand, a lot of “experts” (and me too) view sharpening as a process which centers about creating a burr, chasing it, and deburring; and has profiling (or repairing) and polishing as activities which precede and follow respectively. We can call them (us, ourselves, me) “sharpeners.”
We tend to see the middle grit as the place to chase the burr, and want a stone which is aggressive enough to do that quickly. At the same time, we don’t want to have to take out more scratch than necessary when we start polishing, so we want our mid grit to refine the pattern left by the stone we used to create the burr.
That is, assuming that we’re (a) looking for a fair amount of polish; and (b) chasing the burr on a different stone than the one we used to create it.
It’s probably worth mentioning, that even though it’s not an essential to the burr part of sharpening the coarse profile/repair stone is fundamental, because a good profile is not only fundamental — but problems which occur or should be repaired at a coarse level, cannot be properly addressed at a finer one. If a sharpener has a problem at any but the coarsest levels, (s)he goes coarse to fix it.
Anyway, we sharpeners are the ones with three, four, or five stone sets. A four stone kit has one grit each, for: Profile/repair; pulling the wire; chasing it and deburring; and polishing. A three stone user will blur the tasks by (usually) using the same stone to pull and chase, then deburr on the polishing stone — but one could deburr on the same stone the burr was created and chased; or, alternatively, chase and deburr on the polishing stone. A five stone kit is like a four stone, but with two complimentary polishing stones.
Sharpeners consider stones and the grit jumps between in light of balancing the amount of work required to do the given task for the stone. With waterstones, the “amount of work” includes flattening; i.e., too big a jump requires too many strokes, and too many strokes makes for dishing, and that means too much flattening. And with all stones, the absolute number of strokes — too many strokes increases the probability of a screw-up; and the absolute number of stones — too many stones also increases the probability of screw-ups.
Sharpeners look for a Goldilocks kit. Not too few, not too many, just right.
My kit, for the little it’s worth, has eight stones. But they’re really two distinct, four-stone sets — one, all oilstones; the other, all waterstones. Considering the types of knives I own, either would be fine; just greedy is all.
The “sharpener” viewpoint is all about creating as good an edge possible with as little effort as possible; then taking it to the highest, practical polish.
Some people — and it takes very good technique to do this — look at the process as essentially two steps — shaping + initial sharpening; and finish sharpening + polishing. How does “sharpening fundamentalism” sound?
Fundamentalists shape, repair, and (incidentally or on purpose) create the burr on a coarse stone; then they get rid of the burr, and polish out all scratches on the second. Murray Carter sharpens this way, and so does John Juranitch (the king of modern sharpeners, IMO), but you really want to look at some of BLW’s (from Fred’s Cutlery Forum and You Tube) videos as a good example of the technique.
Fundamentalists are as much, if not more, bound by practicality as sharpeners; but in my opinion they work harder and are harder on their stones.
As I said, it takes a lot of technique to make the jump from coarse (say 400) to polishing (say 6000 to 8000) really work, not to mention the right stones; and you’re better off learning to sharpen first before even thinking about working on Japanese knives that way.
Don’t confuse fundamentalism with a 1000/6000 (or similar) combination stone or two stone kit. Those kits don’t include a profiling stone — and the level of polish is determined by the absolute amount of jump most people can handle, rather than the level appropriate for the particular knife and task.
There are also practical disadvantages to maintaining and using up “combi” stones. They’re usually a budget or beginner’s choice, more than one of sharpening philosophy.
Tags: Knives > oilstones > sharpening > sharpening kit > waterstones
What’s New This Week
Posted on | March 8, 2010 | No Comments
What’s new by me? Funny you should ask:
8th Entry (but who’s counting?) 03/08/10
Looking forward to Saint Patrick’s Day? I know I am. Here are a couple of recipes to start the week out.
Irish Soda Bread: Plus ca change, plus c’es la meme chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same). At least that’s the old saying. The history of this bread is a good illustration of the opposite. Because of differences in ingredients the closer you stay to the traditional Irish recipe, the less like the traditional soda bread. This recipe makes a few adjustments. It also includes directions for making farls. If you want to know more, take a look.
Corned Beef and Cabbage: This is actually one of the first recipes posted to this site. It’s not only one of the best versions of this dish you’ll ever try it includes some important technical concepts. One is balance: In this case, balancing the saltiness of the corned beef with bitter beer and sweet molasses. Another is the idea of cooking in parts: Here, the corned beef comes out of the broth when it’s almost done and is returned when the vegetables and broth are ready. It makes timing so much easier. Both are valuable lessons.
Dammit!: Pardon the long break between entries. I’ll try not to let it happen again — at least not without notice. Speaking of which, it looks as though we’ll be selling our house and moving to an apartment. The upheval is going to make regular writing and posting more challenging. On the other hand, I’ve decided to prioritize this site somewhat higher than it has been in my live — and may be able to create enough content to make additions on a regular basis.
Coming Attractions: I’ve been thinking a lot about knife content; and while I don’t have anything to add today especially as my ideas to relate to a few of the wikis on Chef Talk, a recent post there, and a very interesting thread in “Fred’s,” the knife section of Foodie Forum, so… I’ll be posting some new knife content as well as some thoughts about how best to organize a subject complicated by multiple contingencies. Excited?
In addition, I’ll be posting a couple of other recipes; some suggestions about putting together a water stone sharpening kit; and initiating a “tips” cooking section. I owe you.
So, what’s new by you? Don’t be coy. There are a lot of other things to ask and comment about. For God’s sake, ask and comment. Your feedback not only validates my inflated ego it helps provide sorely needed direction.
Love you madly,
BDL
Irish soda bread
Posted on | March 8, 2010 | 1 Comment
This is an authentically Irish version of soda bread. There are a few twists here, but they’re more for conforming American ingredients than for altering taste or texture.
Soda bread’s texture and loft depends on the interaction of buttermilk and baking soda and on the strength (percentage of glutens) of the flour. Irish buttermilk is both richer and tangier, while Irish flour runs softer than American. Consequently, traditional Irish recipes come out too dense and tough. The recent trend in modern American “Irish” soda bread recipes is to cut butter into the flour in order to lighten the texture – but the result is a little too much like a scone or biscuit for my taste.
This recipe deviates from American and Irish standards by replacing some of the AP flour with cake flour to take down the protein content, mixing sour cream with the buttermilk to enrich it; adding cream of tartar to enhance the acidity and fully utilize the baking powder, and using a typically Irish amount of baking powder. The result, as I said earlier, is a soda bread which is more typically Irish.
Note 1: There are three alternatives offered in the Ingredient section. The purpose of each alternative is explained there.
Note 2: This bread may be baked in the oven as loaves or on the griddle (or in a skillet) as farls. Farls are (a) very Irish; and (b) rock. Do try them.
IRISH SODA BREAD
Quantity: 2 round loaves, or 8 farls
Difficulty: Not at all.
Ingredients:
• 2 cups AP flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp (table) salt
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tsp baking soda:
• 1-1/3 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• Alternative 1: Omit the cake flour, substituting 1 cup of AP flour for it. This will result in a chewier crumb.
• Alternative 2: Omit the whole wheat flour, substituting 1 cup of AP flour for it. This will result in a lighter bread with a more delicate flavor.
• Alternative 3: Omit both cake and wheat flours, and use 4 cups total AP flour. Makes it easy.
Technique:
Put the sour cream in a bowl. Shake the buttermilk well before measuring it. Use a dinner fork to whisk the buttermilk into the sour cream a little at a time in order to make a smooth mixture. Set it aside for a moment.
Rinse and dry the fork.
Measure the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Use the fork to thoroughly mix.
Use the famous fork to swirl the dry ingredients to the sides of the bowl, making a well in the center.
Pour the buttermilk mixture into the well. Mix lightly with the fork just until the flour holds together. Work the flour quickly and gently with care taken not to over-mix.
Turn the contents out onto a floured board and knead with a light hand, exactly four times. If all of the flour is not incorporated – fine. Let it be that way.
Form the dough into a rough ball, and cut it in half. Form each half into rough balls.
Clean your board, and dust it again.
Loaf Method:
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Pat a ball into a flat, level disk, about 7" in diameter. Transfer it to greased 8" or 9" pie plate. Use a knife to score a cross – from edge to edge – on top of the disk.
Repeat with the second ball.
Place the pans in the oven – as near the center as you can get them. Close the door and reduce the oven heat to 350F. Bake for about 35 minutes, until brown. Test for doneness with the thump test (should sound hollow) and/or the toothpick test (should come out clean).
Farl Method:
Preheat a griddle or very heavy skillet to medium-low. Grease it well.
Pat a ball into a flat, level disk, about 7" in diameter. Cut it into four roughly equal triangles. Repeat with the second ball.
Crumple up a paper towels, grab it with tongs, and wipe any excess grease from the griddle.
Place the farls on the griddle and bake for about ten minutes, until nicely browned. Turn and bake the other side. Be careful not to let the farls get too dark. As long as the griddle is not too hot, their color will tell you far more than the clock can.
What’s New This Week?
Posted on | February 28, 2010 | 1 Comment
What’s new by me? Funny you should ask:
7th Entry (but who’s counting?) 02/28/10
We hit a sort of milestone early this morning — 1000 page loads.
Challah To Die For: I actually posted this a few days, but what with one thing and another never got around to doing a “What’s New?” Good egg bread recipe if you’re a loaf pan type of baker. Perhaps the best French Toast bread ever.
What You Need to Know About Kitchen Knives – Introduction: The title says it all. First entry in a series I’ve been trying to start for a long time. Inspired by some really awful writing “wikis” on another site.
Mashed Potatoes: Seems like the world’s simplest thing to make. But there’s a fair amount of technique to making them wonderful. This recipe takes a look at a few very good ways.
Horseradish – Green Peppercorn Sauce: Very, very simple. Good with darn near everything that isn’t dessert. And if it isn’t, there’s a simple variation which is. Take a look.
Rib Smoking Recipe and Guide: This recipe covers the 3,2.1 and 2,2,1 methods for spares and baby backs respectively. Plenty of information specific to ribs, and plenty of general ‘Q knowledge as well. Plus, a couple of good swine dry rubs to bood.
So, what’s new by you? Don’t be coy. The Overview should raise a lot of questions. There are a lot of other things to ask and comment about. For God’s sake, ask and comment. Your feedback not only validates my inflated ego it helps provide sorely needed direction.
Love you madly,
BDL
PS. Since posting this, I’ve made the editorial change to “What’s New This Week” from What’s New Today. This should make the process of checking for new content for returning visitors easier. The schedule for adding new content will remain (roughly) twice a week — on Wednesday or Thursday, and Sunday.
WHO IS BDL, Boar D. Laze, or whatever the hell his name is?
A Brief Biography:
Ex-Navy Seal; Ex-Victoria’s Secret model; Turned down a three-way with Sophia Loren and the young Marlene Dietrich (as in the Blue Angel) because had other plans; Knows who killed everyone in The Big Sleep, and why; Chaired the work-group which invented Time, Space, Gravity, Fire and Holiday Sweaters; Prefers Dickel to Jack.
What is Cook Food Good?
What’s this site about? It’s about a lot of thingsForcing myself to work out issues relating to writing a cookbook: COOK FOOD GOOD: American Cooking and Technique for Beginners and Intermediates.
Getting feedback on my work from you.
Discussions on basic and not-so-basic techniques. The recipes here are very technique driven. Similarly, the idea behind the book is to be far more about the how than the what – with the goal of teaching you to create your own recipes and tweak other people’s, confidently and successfully.
How to cook better, as it relates to you (and me too). That is, taking a beginner or advanced beginner to good, restaurant quality. Mostly this will be (more or less) French technique and (more or less) American food. But only mostly, more or less.
Recipes for this, that and the other.
Knives and all about sharpening them (which have somehow become a subject on which I frequently get asked for advice): How to choose and how to use.
The first Cook Food Good Blog was hosted by the website, Chef Talk. However, CT, removed its blog section. If you’re interested in bad writing, poor punctuation and ancient history, you’ll find the old CT posts archived here. One thing about posting on CT, was that it acted as a sort of language and attitude super-ego. Don’t count on it here. This is naked id.
