Just in case you've been wondering what Renee looks like with her new glasses, the banner photo should give you a good idea. Larger sizes available at my Flickr account.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Another Pork Tenderloin Recipe
I have a standard recipe I use for preparing pork tenderloins, from, yes, the folks at America's Test Kitchen. It involves searing the tenderloins in a fry pan to seal in the juices, then baking them. Using an instant read thermometer lets me know when they are done without overcooking them. Cut on the bias, they yield juicy pork medallions, and make for a nice main course.
I've been reading Shirley Corriher's CookWise: The Hows & Whys of Successful Cooking with over 230 Great-Tasting Recipes. It's similar to Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, but in addition to the science and chemistry of foods, it includes a number of very interesting recipes.
For example: Juicy Pork Tenderloins with Spicy Chinese Sauce. This recipe is really simple, and quite easy. Start with a freezer bag filled with 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 cup soy sauce. Put two tenderloins in the bag and seal it. Place in the refrigerator at least an hour or overnight. I did overnight. Making the marinade takes around five minutes.
The next day, line a tray with foil, spray a cooking rack with vegetable oil spray, and put the marinated tenderloins on it. Roast in a preheated oven (500 degrees!) for nine or ten minutes, turn over, and repeat. The internal temperature should reach 148 degrees if done.
In the meantime, take the marinade, put it into a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water, bring to a boil. Boil gently for a few minutes, then add 4 tablespoons of butter. Bring back to a boil. I boiled until it had reduced a bit. I also tented the pork tenderloins for a few minutes after they were out of the oven.
Slice the tenderloins into medallions, cover with the sauce, and sprinkle with sliced scallions.
We had this for lunch today, and it was very tasty. This is the second marinade recipe I've tried (the other was a lime chicken marinade) and I'm becoming a believer.
Another item that makes Shirley Corriher's book so neat (in addition to the food science sections -- read her treatment on making caramel to learn about the breakdown of sucrose in high heat into 124 other sugars!) is her tips on ingredients. Here is what she says about hoisin sauce:
We had to make do with Sun Luck brand (I foresee a trip to Uwajimaya in Beaverton soon...) but the dish turned out great. I asked Jean if she thought that Sun Luck was one of those 'good hoisin sauce(s)' or if the dish would have been even better with Koon Chun. "Definitely it would have been better!" Of course, she was humoring me.
I've been reading Shirley Corriher's CookWise: The Hows & Whys of Successful Cooking with over 230 Great-Tasting Recipes. It's similar to Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, but in addition to the science and chemistry of foods, it includes a number of very interesting recipes.
For example: Juicy Pork Tenderloins with Spicy Chinese Sauce. This recipe is really simple, and quite easy. Start with a freezer bag filled with 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 cup soy sauce. Put two tenderloins in the bag and seal it. Place in the refrigerator at least an hour or overnight. I did overnight. Making the marinade takes around five minutes.
The next day, line a tray with foil, spray a cooking rack with vegetable oil spray, and put the marinated tenderloins on it. Roast in a preheated oven (500 degrees!) for nine or ten minutes, turn over, and repeat. The internal temperature should reach 148 degrees if done.
In the meantime, take the marinade, put it into a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water, bring to a boil. Boil gently for a few minutes, then add 4 tablespoons of butter. Bring back to a boil. I boiled until it had reduced a bit. I also tented the pork tenderloins for a few minutes after they were out of the oven.
Slice the tenderloins into medallions, cover with the sauce, and sprinkle with sliced scallions.
We had this for lunch today, and it was very tasty. This is the second marinade recipe I've tried (the other was a lime chicken marinade) and I'm becoming a believer.
Another item that makes Shirley Corriher's book so neat (in addition to the food science sections -- read her treatment on making caramel to learn about the breakdown of sucrose in high heat into 124 other sugars!) is her tips on ingredients. Here is what she says about hoisin sauce:
"This dish is highly dependent on the taste of a good hoisin sauce (Chinese barbecue sauce). Unfortunately, hoisin sauces vary greatly, and some are not that good. It is well worth a trip to an Asian market to get Koon Chun, an outstanding brand. It comes in jars or cans with a blue and yellow label."
We had to make do with Sun Luck brand (I foresee a trip to Uwajimaya in Beaverton soon...) but the dish turned out great. I asked Jean if she thought that Sun Luck was one of those 'good hoisin sauce(s)' or if the dish would have been even better with Koon Chun. "Definitely it would have been better!" Of course, she was humoring me.
I Want to Ride My Bicycle...
Renee never graduated from the trike to a full blown bicycle. We had a tiny bike with training wheels, but she convinced us not to take them off, then winter came, and by the following summer, she was too big for the darn thing. Now she's ten, and we decided the time had come. Yesterday I bought her a bike from Target, and took her down to work to take her first falls on the soccer field.
We practiced for around a half hour with just the tiniest halting starts. She's now too grown for me to support her when her balance falters, and I wrenched my right knee trying. So we kept working on the 'jump start' of getting that foot on the pedal, then the butt on the seat. On the whole, she was not very satisfied with the progress. I had to pull the dad card: "you will learn to ride this bike, no matter how long it takes." Of course, the plan is a half an hour to an hour each Saturday and Sunday.
Jean accompanied us down today. With her help, we were able to steady Renee until she had enough forward momentum to balance (more or less). Eventually, it was more a matter of me being brave enough to let go of the seat and let her pedal or fall. When I did, she managed to cover 45 yards unassisted! The very next try, she hit the brakes in a panic after fifteen feet. But by fits and starts, she kept trying, until she was able to bike the length of the soccer field.
I haven't done any kind of running for several years, since wrecking my ankle pretty good. So I was huffing and puffing to keep up with her. At the end, I was soaking wet, but I felt really proud of Renee. Now my plantar fascitis is bothering me, and my ankle is burning, but I'm thinking it was worth it.
We practiced for around a half hour with just the tiniest halting starts. She's now too grown for me to support her when her balance falters, and I wrenched my right knee trying. So we kept working on the 'jump start' of getting that foot on the pedal, then the butt on the seat. On the whole, she was not very satisfied with the progress. I had to pull the dad card: "you will learn to ride this bike, no matter how long it takes." Of course, the plan is a half an hour to an hour each Saturday and Sunday.
Jean accompanied us down today. With her help, we were able to steady Renee until she had enough forward momentum to balance (more or less). Eventually, it was more a matter of me being brave enough to let go of the seat and let her pedal or fall. When I did, she managed to cover 45 yards unassisted! The very next try, she hit the brakes in a panic after fifteen feet. But by fits and starts, she kept trying, until she was able to bike the length of the soccer field.
I haven't done any kind of running for several years, since wrecking my ankle pretty good. So I was huffing and puffing to keep up with her. At the end, I was soaking wet, but I felt really proud of Renee. Now my plantar fascitis is bothering me, and my ankle is burning, but I'm thinking it was worth it.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Quadrangulating...
My iFriend™ Pascale, asks in a comment to the entry before this:
In fact, Pascale, I have looked at other recipes, and considered trying them. Your recipe reminds me somewhat of this recipe, for instance, though as engineers, they are satisfied with vanilla extract. Shirley Corriher's Cookwise has a nice recipe, with the added twist of a crumb crust shell!
The reasons why I find myself doggedly pursuing this recipe from Best Recipe are manifold. Firstly, I've suffered all my life from completism. I've gotten better over the years--for instance I don't slog through a book to the finish if I am not enjoying it. But I still have tinges of the disease. Secondly, I've had a lot of success with recipes from the America's Test Kitchen crowd over the years, and I'm hoping that the hiccups here are just a fluke. To be clear, the unflavored custard of this recipe to my palate tastes great. It's just the texture that I'm working on.
Finally, and this is one Jean will appreciate, I can only make so much creme brulee. My first experiment was unsettling enough that Renee will have nothing to do with it. And Jean just plain don't like custards, as I've mentioned before. So this experiment is just for me, and I have to eat all my results (no, I won't throw out perfectly good food). Since I feel I'm so close to getting this right, I don't want to hare off on another tangent, introducing a whole new pack of variables that need nailing down. If this next experiment is still off, I'm confident I can get it right by the fourth try.
Once I get it right, I'll probably put away the ramekins and not return to them for a long while. I've got lots of other recipes that are a tad more forgiving of deviation that I want to try. Still, I'll probably try Pascale's recipe come the holidays, especially if she has done that recipe herself and vouches for it. Pascale?
How about triangulating with different recipes?
Like this one: Creme Brulee
Oven temp: 325
Cooking time: 35 minutes
In fact, Pascale, I have looked at other recipes, and considered trying them. Your recipe reminds me somewhat of this recipe, for instance, though as engineers, they are satisfied with vanilla extract.
Shirley Corriher's Cookwise has a nice recipe, with the added twist of a crumb crust shell!The reasons why I find myself doggedly pursuing this recipe from Best Recipe are manifold. Firstly, I've suffered all my life from completism. I've gotten better over the years--for instance I don't slog through a book to the finish if I am not enjoying it. But I still have tinges of the disease. Secondly, I've had a lot of success with recipes from the America's Test Kitchen crowd over the years, and I'm hoping that the hiccups here are just a fluke. To be clear, the unflavored custard of this recipe to my palate tastes great. It's just the texture that I'm working on.
Finally, and this is one Jean will appreciate, I can only make so much creme brulee. My first experiment was unsettling enough that Renee will have nothing to do with it. And Jean just plain don't like custards, as I've mentioned before. So this experiment is just for me, and I have to eat all my results (no, I won't throw out perfectly good food). Since I feel I'm so close to getting this right, I don't want to hare off on another tangent, introducing a whole new pack of variables that need nailing down. If this next experiment is still off, I'm confident I can get it right by the fourth try.
Once I get it right, I'll probably put away the ramekins and not return to them for a long while. I've got lots of other recipes that are a tad more forgiving of deviation that I want to try. Still, I'll probably try Pascale's recipe come the holidays, especially if she has done that recipe herself and vouches for it. Pascale?
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Triangulating the Recipe
Still using the recipe for Creme Brulee that I found in our Best Recipe cookbook, I took another shot at preparing the dessert. Last time, the centers were downright soupy, so I knew that with our oven, at least, I would need to either cook longer or hotter. Since I was using a bain marie, I felt that longer was needed (since the bain marie is supposed to stabilize the cooking temperature at 212 fahrenheit, boiling water temperature).
Our oven runs about 20 degrees hotter than the dial indicates, as measured with an oven thermometer. Last time, I set the oven to around 255, as the recipe suggested 275 degrees. What difference would this make, if the bain marie limits the cooking custard to 212 degrees? I theorized that (1) the tops of the custard are still exposed to the full heat of the oven, and (2) the water bath gets pulled toward the boiling point earlier the higher the oven temperature is. So this time, I set the oven to 275 (making the actual temperature around 295 degrees) and put the bain marie into the oven to preheat, rather than pouring hot water into the bain marie when adding the ramekins. This way, when I added the ramekins, the water would already be close to the boiling point, and the custard would be exposed to the full temperature from the start.
I put the ramekins in and started with the specified 45 minutes. When I checked, the centers were very liquid. So I set the timer for another ten minutes. The centers were still liquid, but I wasn't sure if they were too liquid, so I set the timer for another ten minutes. I should have been watching, but I just waited for the timer. When I checked this time, the custards were rock solid, no jelly motion at all. Oops. I took them out, let them reach room temperature and refrigerated them.
The next day I took two out and layered the brown sugar on top. Into the broiler they went. You're supposed to broil them two to three minutes, until the sugar is carmelized. I got distracted and let them run a full three minutes. One turned out okay, the other got carbonized, rather than carmelized. But the custard tasted great! The texture was more akin to cheesecake than custard. But at least it was not runny.
So I have to try one more time (triangulate, triangulate!). This time I used an oven set to 275 (295) and a preheated bain marie, and cooked a total of 1 hour, 5 minutes. Forty-five minutes was way too little, and the latter was a bit too much. Where in the middle to set it this time? I'm really stuck. The difference in cooking time is twenty minutes, so split down the middle I should add ten minutes. But the custard still looked really liquid at 55 minutes. Would it have coooked through on residual heat when I pulled the bain marie out of the oven? Or would I have still had a liquid center, albeit smaller? Maybe I'm gonna try this two more times...
Our oven runs about 20 degrees hotter than the dial indicates, as measured with an oven thermometer. Last time, I set the oven to around 255, as the recipe suggested 275 degrees. What difference would this make, if the bain marie limits the cooking custard to 212 degrees? I theorized that (1) the tops of the custard are still exposed to the full heat of the oven, and (2) the water bath gets pulled toward the boiling point earlier the higher the oven temperature is. So this time, I set the oven to 275 (making the actual temperature around 295 degrees) and put the bain marie into the oven to preheat, rather than pouring hot water into the bain marie when adding the ramekins. This way, when I added the ramekins, the water would already be close to the boiling point, and the custard would be exposed to the full temperature from the start.
I put the ramekins in and started with the specified 45 minutes. When I checked, the centers were very liquid. So I set the timer for another ten minutes. The centers were still liquid, but I wasn't sure if they were too liquid, so I set the timer for another ten minutes. I should have been watching, but I just waited for the timer. When I checked this time, the custards were rock solid, no jelly motion at all. Oops. I took them out, let them reach room temperature and refrigerated them.
The next day I took two out and layered the brown sugar on top. Into the broiler they went. You're supposed to broil them two to three minutes, until the sugar is carmelized. I got distracted and let them run a full three minutes. One turned out okay, the other got carbonized, rather than carmelized. But the custard tasted great! The texture was more akin to cheesecake than custard. But at least it was not runny.
So I have to try one more time (triangulate, triangulate!). This time I used an oven set to 275 (295) and a preheated bain marie, and cooked a total of 1 hour, 5 minutes. Forty-five minutes was way too little, and the latter was a bit too much. Where in the middle to set it this time? I'm really stuck. The difference in cooking time is twenty minutes, so split down the middle I should add ten minutes. But the custard still looked really liquid at 55 minutes. Would it have coooked through on residual heat when I pulled the bain marie out of the oven? Or would I have still had a liquid center, albeit smaller? Maybe I'm gonna try this two more times...
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Deadwood
With just one episode left in our Season Two DVD set of Six Feet Under, I voted that we crack the box open on Deadwood. I'd been casting about for a new series to watch with Jean during the summer reruns, and Deadwood gets mixed reviews. The consensus seems to be that the first season is worth the effort, though, so I bought the sucker.
Set in the late 1870s mining camp of Deadwood (Dakota Territory), we follow Seth Bullock, who has laid down his badge as a sheriff in Montana to pursue a career as a hardware store owner in the wild camp. Deadwood can hardly be called a town, as buildings are being erected and tents serve as store fronts when Seth and his partner arrive. There is a saloon, the Gem, owned by town boss and villain Al Swearengen.
A lot happens in the first episode, and we paused and backed up a couple of times. If you're put off by swearing, then this show is not for you, as these are the colorful characters of the old West, and they swear as frequently as they breathe. This is another dense HBO soap opera, and like Six Feet Under, I think it will rely heavily on character studies unfolding over multiple episodes. For now, at least, I'm looking forward to seeing more.
Set in the late 1870s mining camp of Deadwood (Dakota Territory), we follow Seth Bullock, who has laid down his badge as a sheriff in Montana to pursue a career as a hardware store owner in the wild camp. Deadwood can hardly be called a town, as buildings are being erected and tents serve as store fronts when Seth and his partner arrive. There is a saloon, the Gem, owned by town boss and villain Al Swearengen.
A lot happens in the first episode, and we paused and backed up a couple of times. If you're put off by swearing, then this show is not for you, as these are the colorful characters of the old West, and they swear as frequently as they breathe. This is another dense HBO soap opera, and like Six Feet Under, I think it will rely heavily on character studies unfolding over multiple episodes. For now, at least, I'm looking forward to seeing more.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
The Tale of Zatoichi
Bought at Kinokuniya in Seattle, The Tale of Zatoichi is the original inspiration for the Takeshi Kitano vehicle Zatoichi, which reimagines the character. I got the Kitano work as a Christmas present last year, and enjoyed it tremendously. So did many of my friends, both in anime and at work. As a result, I'd been planning on grabbing this original film for some time, and seeing it on the shelf at Kinokuniya, I just had to grab it.
Watching this movie last night, I was reminded many times of the Kitano movie. The broad strokes of the story, introducing the character of Ichi, the blind masseur, his prowess with the sword, and his friendship and rivalry with an unattached samurai, are the same. Beyond that, what makes this movie is the screen presence of Shintaro Katsu. Shigeru Amachi is also great as Miki Hirate, the former samurai suffering from tuberculosis.
I'll be handing this movie around the same circle of friends who enjoyed Zatoichi.
Watching this movie last night, I was reminded many times of the Kitano movie. The broad strokes of the story, introducing the character of Ichi, the blind masseur, his prowess with the sword, and his friendship and rivalry with an unattached samurai, are the same. Beyond that, what makes this movie is the screen presence of Shintaro Katsu. Shigeru Amachi is also great as Miki Hirate, the former samurai suffering from tuberculosis.
I'll be handing this movie around the same circle of friends who enjoyed Zatoichi.
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