Saturday, December 24, 2005

Baking vs. Cooking

For me, food preparation can be dichotomized (is that even a word?) into cooking and baking. As Alton Brown put it, "Food + Heat = Cooking" and "Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking." Those are, coincidentally, the titles for two of his cookbooks. Also, being skilled at one doesn't necessarily mean skilled in the other. After all, alot of cooking schools offer two different certification routes: one for cooking and one for baking.

But to the aspiring chef hobbyist, what's the difference? Personally, I prefer cooking. From a practical point of view, one doesn't have to be as precise when measuring ingredients in cooking. If you've ever seen chefs on The Food Network shows, alot of them eyeball their ingredients when they cook. Amounts of salt are measured in imprecise pinches, pepper in cracks of a pepper mill, and seasonings in palmfuls, to just list a few.

With baking, though, the ratio of ingredients is very important. An inaccurate amount of flour can turn your cake into a ... non-cakelike thing. If you are a beginning baker, you will get to know your measuring spoons/cups very intimately as you will be seeing them very often. A chain of good measuring spoons and cups are also good to have handy. Baking is also the best way to impress your friends because baked dishes always look/taste much better than the amount of effort you put in. This is especially true of cookies, cupcakes, and brownies. They are extremely simple to make, but will definitely make you a big hit with everyone you give them to.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Making dipped chocolates, part 2

After making the ganache, it's necessary to dip them. Once again, the process itself isn't that complicated or difficult. What is difficult though, which I realized today, is getting it to look good, but more on that later...

What dipping entails is putting a thin layer of melted chocolate on one side of the ganache square (or rectangle), letting it set, cutting the big square into smaller pieces, and then finally dipping those small pieces into tempered chocolate. Tempering the chocolate is the involved part; everything else is pretty self-explanatory.

Tempering chocolate is basically melting chocolate and then cooling it to a precise temperature. This allows the chocolate, when it cools, to have that signature snap and shine to it, without any unsightly streaks. Of course, if you don't care how it looks, you could just dip the ganache pieces into melted chocolate, but where's the fun in that?

Tempering works best with a substantial amount of chocolate - about two pounds. A larger quantity stays in temper easier and it is also easier to submerge the ganache into a greater volume. I found that out the hard way when I used too little. I ended up not having enough to dip all my pieces!

The process itself involves melting about 2/3 of the chocolate in a double boiler, removing it from the heat, and adding the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate -- called the seed chocolate -- until it all reaches a certain a temperature (about 90 degrees for dark chocolate, 87 for milk/white chocolate). Of course, frequently check the temperature with your instant-read thermometer and it drops below the temperature, heat it over a gas flame for a few seconds and resume dipping.

The dipping part is simultaneously the most fun and most frustrating part of it all. Place a ganache piece on a fork (fondue forks work well) and place it in the tempered chocolate. This is where it pays to have tempered a larger volume of chocolate. Then, push it in to submerge and then take it out with the fork, scraping the bottom on the side of the bowl. Place the dipped piece on a plate or whatever lined with parchment paper and you're all done! If done properly, it should be a smooth coat without any streaks. This is indicative of a good temper.

And just like that, you've made dipped chocolates! I'm sure that you will, just like I have, find out that it really isn't all that much magic to it. Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Making dipped chocolates, part 1

About two months ago, my sister received a cookbook, as a birthday gift, entitled "Chocolate Obsession." One day, out of the blue, she handed it to me and told me that I could have it, saying, "It'll probably be better in your hands than mine." Not really knowing what that meant, I read the first few pages. It had some historical information on chocolate, how to select the right kind, taste it, differences between levels of cocoa, etc...and then it got hardcore. It had in-depth instructions/tips on preparing and infusing chocolate ganaches (more to come on that), tempering chocolate, rolling truffles, and molding chocolates, before any of the recipes! Who knew that making chocolate was so complicated?

So to make a long story short, I read through all the prep work and recently made chocolate ganache squares for dipping and I wish to share my experience with you as well as clarify all of the mystery that's involved in making dipped chocolates.

There are really 2 main steps in making your own chocolates. They are:
1. Preparing the ganache
"Ganache" is a French word for the emulsification of cream, butter, and chocolate. It's essentially the "filling" of a chocolate; the softness inside the crispy outside. Ganaches can be infused with a variety of different flavors. Ganache also involves a magic ingredient called invert sugar. Exactly. What the fuck? Don't ask, just buy it from a specialty candy making shop or order it online like I did. Also, an immersion blender is great for blending the cream, chocolate, and butter. It works much quicker than whisking by hand and not to mention, an immersion blender is great mult-tasker to have in your kitchen.

2. Dipping the ganache in tempered chocolate or rolling them into truffles
After you've made the ganache, allowed it to sit, and cool, the next step is to cut it up into squares and either dip them into melted chocolate (for chocolate candies) or roll them into truffles (for...truffles). If you choose the dipping route, this will require tempering chocolate which will be covered in Part 2.

For my first attempt, I decided to make Earl Grey infused ganache for dipping. So let's begin, shall we? I will try and make this as easy and painless as possible. Essentially, all that's happening is you're brewing the tea in the cream and sugar mixture. After that, you'll strain it and mix it with the melted chocolate. Next, blend, add butter, and pour it into the pan. That's all there is to it! Here's the detailed recipe which looks much more complicated than it really is.

You will need:
- A baking pan lined with plastic wrap. Square preferred, but rectangular is fine
- 1 c heavy cream
- 4 oz. invert sugar
- 1 oz. loose Earl Grey tea leaves (strained to remove fine bits)
- 9 oz. loosely chopped dark chocolate
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature (very important that it is at room temp)
- Cheesecloth
- Instant-read thermometer
- Immersion blender
- Offset spatula

1. Heat cream and invert sugar to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, add tea, cover with plastic wrap. Let steep for 15 minutes or so.
2. Over a double boiler, heat the chocolate to 115 degrees. Remove bowl from pot.
3. Strain cream through a fine-mesh sieve lined with the cheesecloth into a large measuring cup. Use a cup sieve (and a friend) for easier straining. Wring the cheesecloth to get as much liquid as you can. You'll want 10 ounces of this Earl Grey infused goodness. Add cream or discard it to get that volume. Bring cream up to 115 degrees. Microwave is fine.
4. Pour chocolate and cream into a clear vessel and blend with immersion blender. The ganache will thicken, become less shiny, and be like pudding. Add butter. Repeat.
5. Pour ganache into your lined pan and spread as evenly as possible with an offset spatula. Let it sit at room temperature for a few hours, cover it with more plastic, and throw it in the fridge.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Non-Asian markets vs. Asian markets

A big part of finding the best-priced ingredients is knowing which markets to go to for which ingredients. In my experience, markets can be divided into three main categories and each type of market is best for certain kinds of food. Informally speaking, those markets are: supermarkets, hippie markets (I use "hippie" in jest), and Asian markets. My experience lies mostly with supermarkets and Asian markets so this entry will cover those. A colleague of mine, Luke Burger, will elaborate on hippie markets in a later entry (as soon as his girlfriend lets him use the computer again. jay kay.). I am not going to take into account those who are vegetarian or vegan. Chances are, if you are a foodie, you'll eat anything, regardless of whether or not if it had legs. I am also not going to take into account the delis that various markets may have because they vary so greatly across each.

1. Supermarkets
These are your Vons, Albertsons, and Ralphs. With the exception of most Albertsons, supermarkets cater to the average consumer. They've got pretty much everything you'll ever need. They've got "decent" meat/seafood selection as well as a good produce selection. Supermarkets are best for commonly eaten meat and produce. Reiterating, supermarkets cater to the average consumer. That means that if you are looking to prepare a slab of steak for dinner, some pasta, or a basic salad, supermarkets are usually the cheapest way to go. They are also good for snacks (chips, cookies, shit like that) and for most baking needs (types of sugar, chocolate morsels, flour). Where supermarkets tend to rape you, though, is when it comes to ethnic foods/seasonings (Asian cooking oils, rice, ginger, etc.), exotic/tropical produce (mangos, star anise, bok choy, napa cabbage, etc.), seafood (all fish), and herbs (basil, thyme, rosemary, etc.). Those things, although usually available, will probably cost you a small fortune. Another thing worth mentioning, the butchers and fishmongers usually only know how to grab whatever cut of meat/fish you tell them to, weight it, and wrap it. They only have a beef grinder (so no ground pork) and most fish will already be filleted.
Bottom line: for most of your typical non-Asian, non-Mexican cooking, supermarkets tend to blow Asian markets out of the water.
Never buy: Asian food/sauces/seasonings, rice, herbs, seafood.

2. Asian markets
The most well-known Asian market is, of course, 99 Ranch (or is it Ranch 99?). Mitsuwa, a Japanese market, is the other popular one. There are also several other well-known Korean and Vietnamese markets - Zion, Vinh Hung, Seafood City, and Lucky Seafood in San Diego. As you would expect, shop at these places when you are looking to prepare Asian foods. If you are looking to prepare Chinese food, 99 Ranch; Korean food, Zion; Vietnamese food, Vinh Hung. If you are looking to prepare Japanese food, however, you shouldn't always go to Mitsuwa. They've got alot of specialty Japanese ingredients, sauces, and seasonings, but alot of the time, they will rape you up the anus when it comes to pricing. The produce at Asian markets is pretty extensive. They've got most American fruits and vegetables in addition to Asian ones. They've also got every single kind of rice imaginable but of course, as to be expected, they don't carry any herbs. Where Asian markets destroy American supermarkets, though, is when it comes to meat and seafood. Chances are, any part of the cow, pig, or chicken will be for sale there. Their butchers can also do whatever you want with whatever cut of meat. They've got meat slicers, meat saws, meat grinders, and practically everything else. Thinly sliced for hot-pot or shabu shabu? No problem. Want it ground for dumplings? Easily accomplished. As for seafood, all their fish are sold whole, in addition to being sold in fillets (bone-in, usually). Their shellfish are sold in the same way. This gives you the chance to handpick the freshest seafood. Something worth mentioning is that alot of their seafood is still alive. You can choose to take home a live crab or lobster or have them kill it for you. Their fishmongers are equally talented as their butchers and can do whatever you ask them to. Another thing worth mentioning is that most employees at these markets speak a couple of languages (English, included) and alot of them aren't even Asian at all, so if you yourself aren't Asian either, fret not.
Bottom line: for Asian seasonings, sauces, seafood and special cuts of meat, go to an Asian market.
Never buy: American brands, non-Asian beers/liquor