Tag: food

After making many gallons of yogurt, I think I’ve figured out the easiest, most fail-safe method. To summarize: 1) Use Yogourmet starter for consistency, 2) use ultrapasteurized milk to avoid the tedious heating-cooling step, and 3) use a yogurt maker to avoid the complicated low-tech yogurt-making methods.

Ingredients:

Yogourmet starter/culture. Using a little plain commercial yogurt does work and is less expensive, but Yogourmet produces consistent results. It’s available at Whole Foods, local health food shops, or online.

Ultrapasteurized organic milk. Organic milk tastes better, and might be healthier. More importantly, ultrapasteurized milk does not need to be heated first to produce good yogurt. Yogurt-making instructions usually say to heat the milk to kill bacteria, but I think heating it has more to do with changing the milk somehow so the yogurt will set better. Milk that’s ultrapasteurized sets well without the pre-heating step, so you can skip the most tedious step of the yogurt-making process. It doesn’t seem to matter that the milk starts out at refrigerator temperature instead of 100 F or so as is usually recommended. I use whole milk or half-and-half but I assume that skim or 2% would work fine too.

A Salton 1 quart yogurt maker. Yeah, it’s another electrical appliance in your cupboard, but if you make yogurt frequently you’ll appreciate it a lot. I prefer the Salton yogurt maker because 1) it’s very inexpensive (under $20 right now) and 2) 1 quart Ziploc twist-lock tubs (or even 1 quart glass jars) can be used instead of the included badly-designed tub. Using a tub with a secure lid makes mixing the milk and starter much easier.

Process:

Add about a cup of ultrapasteurized milk and the starter to the tub, secure the lid, and swirl till it’s mixed in completely. Add milk to the top, avoiding over-filling, and secure the lid. Put the tub in the yogurt maker, add water to reach near the top, and plug in the yogurt maker. I let it work for at least 24 hours so the bacteria eat as much of the lactose as possible, but if you’re not concerned about that it might be ready after 10 or so hours. Chill the tub of yogurt completely, without disturbing it, for the best texture.

Let’s say you’re too lazy to marinate food for more than ten minutes, and you don’t have any fresh herbs or peppers around. Can you still achieve semi-authentic jerk flavor?

• chicken parts, pork ribs, skirt steak, or something similar
• dried herbs like oregano and thyme
• ground spices like allspice and cumin
• pepper sauce such as Melinda’s, Tabasco, or similar
• something acidic, such as lemon juice or vinegar
• salt and pepper

Cut some clashes in your meat in order to facilitate flavor penetration and reduce cooking time. Pork ribs can’t be slashed much, but cutting them into chunks of 2-3 ribs will provide more surface area. It’s best to mix up all your marinade stuff first, but if you’re like me you’ll just sprinkle it all on on then massage it in lieu of mixing. This also ensures you’ve got enough marinade on the meat – it should be well coated. Rub the marinade into the slashes in the meat.

Grill the meat over hot coals for maximum flavor. Skirt steak can be cooked in a hot cast iron skillet. Chicken and pork ribs can be roasted in a 400-ish degree oven.

Since I follow a diet where I’ve gotta avoid certain food additives, for a long time I stuck with original recipe Tabasco because it only contains peppers, vinegar, and salt. It’s sorta boring though, so I started picking up bottles and reading labels. I was amazed by how many hot sauces contain additives like guar gum and sugar. I think the additives are supposed to improve the texture of the sauce, and maybe keep it from separating.

After a long and fruitless search I found Melinda’s habanero-based sauces. I had a bad experience with a habanero at a party once so I was cautious at first, but they aren’t terribly hot. They contain carrots, which may moderate the heat a bit, and likely improve the texture too. So far I’ve tried their XXXtra, XXXXtra Reserve, and Chipotle sauces. The flavor is excellent, with less vinegar flavor than other sauces I’ve tried. The chipotle is nice when you need some smokey flavor. Melinda’s does make a couple with bad stuff, including their Amarillo Hot Mustard, Mango, and Jalapeno sauces. As always, it pays to read labels.

Inspired by an episode of Good Eats. The main idea is to wilt the cabbage a bit in order to achieve a day-old texture, without waiting a day.

What’s in it:

• 1 head cabbage
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons creme fraiche
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1-2 minced garlic cloves
• 1 grated carrot
• salt and pepper

How to do it:

Start about 2 hours early or sooner. Shred the cabbage. Toss with salt and squish up a bit, put in a salad spinner or strainer over a bowl. Wait about an hour, then rinse with fresh water. Dry off the cabbage a bit by spinning or squeezing. Mix up the other ingredients, then toss with the shredded cabbage. Chill and serve.