Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Bread baking can be done by touch once you get the idea what it should
feel like at each stage, but I agree that cookies and cakes require
measurements.  It's chemistry.
  

    
Hab grits! Welcome, topsy. Scott, are you on that?

Hey, while I've got the collective mind here: 

A talented videographer has generously lent me a day of her time to do
some breakaway videos to put up on my website. I'd love to hear
opinions on what should be covered, how long they should be, general
tone, etc. 

What would you like to see if you were a first-time visitor to the
site? Since attention spans are now measured in microns, I'm thinking
one to two minutes each on a variety of topics. What would constitute
GREAT breakaway video?
  

    
Any time a habanero can be justified at breakfast, I'm all for it. I'd
just need to get grits, but I might try it with steel-cut oats, which
I do have.

Videos:
- A 15-sec one: make some flavored salt just to show how easy it is.
Or extend it, and do the poached eggs.
- A collection of crusts: make them, apply them, show the result
- Make sure that you include lots of "mmmmm"
  

    
A video with a table full of things you might find at a farmer's market, and
you holding them up, saying what they are, quickly rattling off ideas for
them, wrapping up by saying how much fun it was to do the research and
testing for the recipies you developed in this book.  Big enthusiasm.
Even better if you walking through a market, but much harder to do.
  

    
Demo of measuring for baking, to take the fear out of it....  

;-)
  

    
How 'bout a video of you carving a habanero without touching it.
  

    
That would be stunning!
  

    
I'd rather see one of you touching it. A lot.
  

    
Iron Breakaway, where you get ingredients someone just threw together, then
make something (or explain all the things you'd do)
  

    
Great idea if you can fit that in a 2 minute video.
  

    
Late chimes Sharon, I buy them $5.50 for white. Charge more!
On baking: I'm not dextrous, never have been,  yet I’ve never
understood anxiety re. baking. I bake 7-10 different recipes per week,
mostly to give away to friends, or for the soup kitchen where I
volunteer, or for various social things; I try new things all the time,
I mess around with recipes a lot, and I’ve never had an abject
failure. Some things turn out better than others, some things a bit
saggy in the middle, or the icing not exactly the way I’d want it, & I
learn from these, but they’re always delicious.  
Other than loving life to an inexplicable & absurd degree, and being
somewhat-competent at my job, it’s my best passport into other people.
The only explanation I have is that I’ve never believed it to be hard.
My mother told me that if you can read, you can bake, and off I went
from an early age. Trying hard things for the first time for special
occasions, knowing it would be fantastic, loving the smile it makes.
  

    
For breakfast today, I tried the grits thing, but substituted
steel-cut oats for the grits. And I had no ricotta, so I used greek
yogurt. For the habanero, I used Red Savina habanero. It was very good,
but next time I need more habanero.
  

    
(Obviously.)
  

    
I just read the breakaway hamburger post on the blog and I'm going
with the Italian version, which I figure can be adapted for skillet
cooking, since grilling's illegal here. I decided to make a herb
mixture heavy on salt and pepper, which is to say, not a herb salt per
se, but a mixture that includes salt (I'm going to use fleur de sel de
Camargue, cuz that's what I've got). 

I envy you Statesiders all this pomegranite stuff that's suddenly
appeared everywhere. I bet it's good.
  

    
Ed, are there any middle eastern grocery stores? I'd be surprised if
they did not have the pom syrup.
  

    
If it's used in Turkey, it's probably no problem. Otherwise it'll take
a good search. And pomegranite molasses, fahgeddaboudit. 
  

    
I think they use pomegranate molasses in turkey, which is the same
thing as pomegranate syrup--maybe slightly different concentrations,
but aren't they both just cooked down pomegranate juice?
  

    
Maccha salt and citrus salt have changed my life! As you say, it's true, I
wake up craving poached eggs (or microwaved eggs) with maccha salt, and my
kid thinks "green salt" is the best thing ever. Next up: smoked paprika
salt, which I have a feeling I will love. Now if only you would tell me what
to do with the excess of tarragon I already have in my garden, and it's only
May....
  

    
#86: I can't! I have too much competition selling them for that price!
  

    
Yeah Ed they should definitely have pom molasses (same as pom syrup,
and, confusingly, the same as pom concentrate, though any one of these
may or may not add sugar) in Turkish markets there. 

Jessica: excess tarragon, what a wonderful problem to have! It
actually makes great pesto. I like putting in a glop of Greek yogurt
along with the olive oil, just to make it a little creamier. Compound
butter made with tarragon is heavenly stuff. 

How to cut a hab without touching it on video sounds like a great
little segment. We probably won't have time to do an Iron Breakaway
segment this time, but it's a great idea for next time. 

We'll probably cover: 

making salts, with one finished dish (probably poached eggs)
making pickled ginger (on the edamame salad)
making crusts (on a burger, on a block of tofu)
how to cut a chile
keeping spice bowls out and fresh, and by the stove
cooking with tea -- jasmine biscotti

Keep more ideas coming, please!
  

    
Aesthetics play a huge role in breakaway food, too. It's incredible
the difference a little nice handmade pottery/ceramics makes in
everyday existence. It makes every meal feel special. I can't stand
matching sets of anything -- there's something so aesthetically
pleasing about a table set with unique plates and bowls. They might all
be made by the same potter, or might not. Candles make a huge
difference. Fabrics. Not too fussy or precious, mind you, but a few
little touches like these really add up to an elevated eating
experience. As a corollary of Ed's law, which says that food
automatically tastes 20 percent better when cooked in someone else's
home, I think a cool table setting automatically adds a similar
percentage to enjoyment of food. 
  

    
> I can't stand matching sets of anything

Uh-oh.
  

    

I think he's talking about tableware, (smash), not body parts...




I totally agree with you, Eric, about the importance of presenting the food
in an attractive setting. And while I generally also agree that "all
matching" place settings aren't necessarily appealing to me, I see nothing
wrong with people serving food in that kind of environment if it's
pleasing to them. The main point, seems to me, is to please the eye
as well as the taste buds when serving a meal.

Personally, I feel a bit intimidated by totally matching dinnerware, but
others might find it enhances their dining experience. Whatever works,
right?
  

    
> not body parts...

No, I just happen to have matching tableware, although it *is* purple,
and the glasses are very cool ones from Spain.

Eric, you talk about seasoning with authority, and that really strikes
a note with me. I have an opinion about what stuff should taste like.
And that's not just spicy hot - I know how to do moderated spice, much
to the surprise of many. That is a key item:  although you say that the
cook should season to what is good for them, they must also satisfy
someone else that they are cooking for. An experienced cook has learned
how to do both, usually without compromising their tastes, but how
does a newer (or less authoritative) cook get to that point?

Somewhat along the same vein, how did you get to the point of emphasis
on salt? (I suspect that discussions/thrashes here on the WELL have
likely contributed to that.) But was it an evolution of conscious trial
and error, or did it come as an epiphany? And was it any different for
flavored salts?
  

    
While my enthusiasm for the unmatched table knows no bounds, I have
not yet resorted to clandestine enforcement raids. "Sorry maam, we're
going to have to confiscate that set of bowls -- don't way we didn't
warn you." The screenplay I've been waiting for!