Food & Cooking

One of my hobbies is cooking. I've collected some techniques and recipes that I find useful to refer to, along with some other resources that are specific to my kitchen.

Resources

My tare list

The Big List of Temperatures

(sorry no gemtext version of the temperatures page yet)

Recipes

While I often cook without using recipes, there are a few things that fall into the categories of "things I don't cook often," "things where the measurements actually matter," or just "things I like and want to remember." Here is a small sample:

Sourdough Bread

Apple Butter

Cheese and Nut Loaf

Crisp Topping

Ice Cream

Pasta Dough

Techniques

Cooking apples without them getting mushy

This is a technique I learned from Kenji. When pectin reaches 183ºF it begins to break down, resulting in mush. However, there are two things that can be done to prevent this from happening. First, you can provide an acidic environment to strengthen the pectin, which is why you often see lemon juice in apple pie filling recipes.

Alternately, if pectin is held between 140ºF and 160ºF for about 10 minutes, an enzyme present in the apples will convert the pectin to a heat stable form. This can be achieved in various ways, I typically use a sous-vide setup for about an hour.

https://sweets.seriouseats.com/2011/10/the-food-labs-apple-pie-part-2-how-to-make-perfect-apple-pie-filling.html

Pasteurizing Eggs

Eggs can be made safe to eat raw by holding at 135ºF for two hours. Applications include dressings, cookie dough, ...