Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Kosher Salt

In most professional kitchens you will find kosher salt, if not sea salt and other varieties of salt which are so in vogue nowadays. The passing fad was flavored oils, the new trend is herb salts, spiced salts, and other salts they'll charge you a fortune for but that you could easily throw together in your kitchen for far less.

Kosher salt is my salt of choice for every day cooking. It's available in most supermarkets. The salt itself is not kosher, that is, conforming to Jewish food laws, but because of its large crystal size it is good for absorbing moisture, making it excellent for curing meats. To remove any traces of blood from meat as is often required for making meats kosher, they are often soaked and salted.

Kosher salt contains no iodine, so doesn't provide that metallic taste probably unrecognizable to you if you have been using regular table salt for any length of time. Once you start using it for a few days, however, you will notice that flavors come through more brightly and clearly and aren't muddled by the metallic taste of iodine. The other useful trait of kosher salt is its large crystals. It's easy to pick up a pinch in between your fingers to salt food, and you'll get a feel for just how much you need once you start using it on a regular basis. Try it, you'll like it.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Build Your Own Chocolate Vibrating Table

Ok, I know this post isn't for everybody. Most people don't make chocolate at home or lust after arcane, highly specialized pieces of pastry equipment. This particular piece of equipment is used to vibrate chocolate molds used for making pralines or molded figures, in order to rattle out any air bubbles that might be present and give you a perfect mold. The cheapest one I could find on the web was $130 at chefrubber.com; from there it just goes up.

I found this web site with a do-it-yourself project on how to build your own; I had been tossing this idea around in my head trying to figure out how I might build my own without needing an engineering degree and a factory in China to build it for me. So this web site set me on my way. However, I think this guy's idea was more for working with dental and hobby molds, rather than chocolate. Not that it made a lot of difference. Anway, let's get started.

First, I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond looking for a vibrating massager like the one shown on the above-referenced website. I couldn't find any plug-in ones, just battery powered ones. I opted for this $9.99 foot massager which has little hard nubbies all over the surface, with a half-dome shape. You press down on it to start it vibrating. I had initially thought about using a power tool like a sander, but I found this had already been tried and they vibrate too forcefully, as well as generate a lot of noise. This item uses two AA batteries, which I figure will give me a couple of hours of vibration. You only need to vibrate a filled mold a few seconds so changing out the batteries every couple weeks won't be too much trouble.

I also got a $12.99 cutting board measuring about 9" x 16", which will be the top of the vibrating table.

In order to attach the massager to the table, I used some heavy duty velcro to attach it to the bottom. I didn't see the need for the industrial strength pipe fasteners used on the other website. I attached corresponding pieces of velcro to the bottom of the cutting board.

I then went to Jo-Ann fabrics and got a 9" x 16" x 4" piece of foam for about $10. They'll cut it for you there, but if you need to do additional trimming, an electric knife is the thing to use. I did trim my down a bit so it wouldn't stick out past the edges of my cutting board "table top".

Then with a knife I dug out a rudimentary hole in the foam in which my massage device, attached to the table top by the velcro, would fit. So basically, as you can see in the photo, the massager is upside down attached to the table by velcro, and then lies in the hole in the foam. You have to dig out the foam hole deep enough so that the cutting board/table top is just flush with the foam.

To finish, I bought a $2 piece of poster board at A.C. Moore and glued it to the bottom of the foam, in order to give it a firmer base and a surface that could be wiped clean. You could use a piece of plastic shelving or whatever else you think might work.

Since working with chocolate can be a bit messy, I opted to wrap my foam block in plastic wrap to protect it. Then I just lay my board with built in vibrating device on top, press down, and voila, vibrating table.

So my total cost for the project was $12.99 for the cutting board, $9.99 for the massage device, $2 for the velcro, $11 for the foam, $2 for the poster board, for a grand total of $38, minus the 20% I saved on the cutting board and massage device via Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons. You could even shave off a few more dollars by buying a cheaper top, maybe a cheapie serving tray or just piece of cut plastic. It took me no more than an hour of shopping, and maybe 30 minutes at the most to assemble. What a deal!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Chipotle Peppers

Chipotle peppers, (not chipotel as some say, or habanero vs. habaƱero-the latter is wrong, one of my pet peeves-and I've even seen this spelling on hot sauce bottles in the grocery store!), are one of the great flavoring agents, if you like hot. Both dried and in adobo, these are one of the wonders of Mexican cooking. However, for ease of use and versatility, stick with those in adobo. These will add a smoky, spicy all around delicious flavor to almost any dish where a little heat is desired.

You can buy these in the can at most supermarkets nowadays, otherwise try your ethnic grocer or specialty shop. Once you open a can, they can keep in your refrigerator for months. I usually blend them up with a hand blender and use a little at a time-they are quite hot. Try these ideas:

  • Add a spoonful to some mayonnaise and put it on a pulled pork, chicken, or any other kind of sandwich you like.
  • Add some to your favorite chili recipe; or add to black, red, or pinto beans, along with some fresh chopped tomatoes or canned tomatoes, for an instant spicy bean dish.
  • Add a dash to your favorite barbecue sauce or your own barbeque sauce recipe for a fiery sauce.
  • Blend with fresh chopped tomatoes and salt for a quick salsa.
Bon Appetit!