Perfect. Urban Chef Tomatoes are adequate, and it makes all the difference

So over the past two months or so I have stopped using Muir Glen tomatoes. Organic and otherwise, they use citric acid and calcium chloride. Have I started shelling out for Heinz-owned Escalon brands? Not so much. I understand that they don't taste bitter or like chalk, and that is fantastic. Use case here is when I'm just grabbing any can for a generic application; especially one that is going to have some kind of bitter to it anyway (i.e. in chili I am typically adding coffee and, specifically, lemon or lime juice, which contains more citric acid), or where the duration of cooking evens out the fake-fresh texture of the calcium chloride.

What about just using fresh tomatoes? I use those too. I like them a lot.In the use cases above I still typically have some in there for the sake of cutting the canned with some fresh. Normally though, I reserve fresh tomatoes for fresh-tasting tomato sauce. In particular, where it's not going to be cooking for more than 20-30 minutes, where all the herbs are added fresh at the end, or for pico de gallo and other salsas. In all those applications, the vitues of fresh shine through. Can you get rid of the calcium chloride taste and texture, and the taste of the citric acid in these cases? I don't 100% for certain know, so I asked, but I don't seem to have a great answer yet.

The thing I can tell you, and why I wrote this post, is that as a stand in for expensive, organic, or no-additives added tomatoes, I have been using a new-to-me brand. These tomatoes go by the name Urban Chef. Per usual, this isn't paid, it's just an honest recommendation. I like using Urban Chef tomatoes because they are reliably tasty, brightly colored, and good in texture. They aren't some San Marzano varietal or whatever, and they don't claim to be. They are reasonably priced and locally made. They started in a kitchen and they're a great product. I recommend them for your ho-hum-reaching-for-any-old-can-of-tomatoes tomato applications. They sell them at a couple places,including the local co-op I belong to. That's about it. They even have low-res images on their web site. Hooray for local homegrown.

I've put up a few amazon referral links here and there for other stuff, but I haven't been paid or anything and this post is just to point out a good solution for a common problem.

Does searing cause more or less oil to be absorbed than frying?

In continued celebration of Veg*n week on Seasoned Advice, I have a follow up on my crusted porcini comments, and general tips for frying/grilling tofu. 

Does searing cause more or less oil to be absorbed than frying?

So I gave an answer with guidance on making tofu on the grill or skillet; but a side question came up, which was to do with the chemistry of frying for me. I can see this also being of significant importance to people who decide to go veg*n due to health or weight concerns as they would be more likely to want to min-max their benefits/flavor from oil to fat/calorie intake.

Do you know a definitive answer to this one? Is the answer neither more nor less, but equal? I don't know; that's why I asked the question. Head over to stackexchange if you know the answer!

So far I got one good one:

Higher temperatures, as a rule, mean less absorption of oil because the force of the steam trying to escape from the food pushes against the oil. Here is a link to a scholarly article discussing the mechanics of fat absorption in the production of french fries (complete with a table of results and diagrams). Interestingly, the author says that potatoes deep fried at more than ten degrees Celsius below the recommended temperature of 180-185C leads to 40% higher fat uptake. I expect pan-frying leads to a much lower total uptake of fat, but I am sure the principle is the same.

How to prevent tofu from falling apart on the grill

Seasoned Advice's Veg*n week continues, back again this time with a tip for tofu;

Standard tips for browning/frying/grilling tofu;

• Ensure that you press the tofu sufficiently to remove its own moisture, marinate if desired
• Lightly dust with flour or cornstarch
• Brush oil on the grilling surface
• Specific to the case of grilling, be mindful of the gap the tofu will stretch across on the grate; it may be crumbling because it isn't strong enough or thick enough to sustain wide gaps.

Someone also mentioned skewering the tofu as an option. While this would work well, I have found a spatula, thin and metal, to be prefereable as long as the grilling surface is clean and brushed.

In following Miss Kristin's lead, I made the porcini crusted tofu from ppk's recent post. A minor, but major difference in my tofu is the temperature of the cooking surface. Some people find a medium heat preferred, and for uncoated tofu I would agree. However, when you crust anything moist, a high heat with the intent of searing is my preference.

This is doubly the case for tofu. Caveat: your taste in tofu determines whether this will be more/less applicable. I prefer a more raw texture and taste with a crunchier shell. It should be warm, but I don't want it to be a wholly dried out bean curd carcass or soaked in oil. YMMV, I liked Pittsburgh Rare before I stopped eating steak and I think that sensibility has carried over.

Searing versus a more thorough frying will lock in less oil (not only can you use less oil, but the higher the heat the lower the absorption) and give way to a crisp out side and firm inside; medium heat will allow in more fat from frying and result in more doneness conformity through the slice of tofu.

It's that Shifty Time of Year again

Ah the season of seasonal Zoloft prescriptions, I see that you are a mere moment's breath away. I do not begrudge you, but still I must make ready myself in order to get through this time of year without psychoactives.

Here is my February through April road map;

• Start planning meals for the entire week or starve
• Miss Kristin reminded me of my budgeting motivation having lapsed by mentioning mint.com, Beth doubled down on that and I realize I need to get back into using that. I used to use it for a while and it was quite the benefactor in keeping me on the skinny and narrow
• Make something. In keeping with my new year's resolution to make myself some furniture, I think I should start by going to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and sourcing wood
• Pay attention to a calendar, fill up the dates with good things to do
• Kick out the jams with TWO MORE Bounty Dinners for Dreamsfood.org and a Clintonville Chili Cookoff!
• Find excuses to be outside
• Game of Thrones in April; something to count down to!
• Buy clothes! Nothing beats away winter blues like marginally responsible consumerism (I mean. I can't go to work naked... ever again) veiled by the rationalizations of "can't make a second first impression"
• Keep warm and dry
  • take up knitting, 
  • or sewing
• ...More suggestions and ideas and your tactics for staying sane in the Season of Zoloft? Comment below so I will know

The "Why?" Behind Dreamsfood: Experimentation

Chef Cooks 'Dream Omelet' From Recipe That Came To Him In A Dream

So for a second leg of the Dev Cycle posts, and a nother I want to put an emphasis on another "Why?" behind Dreamsfood. This time, it is to do with Experimentation. The emphasis on charitibility is to do with the community at large; experimentation is for the benefit of the cook.

Recently, Beth Binkovitz described the Dreamsfood model as one where cooking competitions are turned on their head and made accessible. Here, you try to win money to fund cooking food using a great recipe. With most competitions, you spend money to cook food to maybe win money to maybe cover the expense of cooking the food.

Dreamsfood is a model for investing in cooking experiments and fantastical food; it helps cooks craft competitive ideas that win them money to cook

I participated in the 2011 Cincinnati ICS Fire Fest Chili Cookoff. It was a lot of fun, my friends Paul and John were involved and the camaraderie of such an event is definitely one to be appreciated. As a social event it is a boon.

As a culinary event, my impression (disclosure: partially flavored by a big, round zero for a score) was that it was a boondoggle. In spite of how well the event was run, and how fun the different elements were, and in spite of the recruitment of some fantastic judges, the event left little leeway for creativity in one's entry.

Entries not conforming to a standard Midwest Conception of chili were not only not rewarded, but to an extent punished. When we got to go upstairs and see our score, and check out the other chilis, we were nonplussed. Every chili was within such a tight standard deviation that our chili by comparison looked like some alien baby. We were not surprised that we got a zero; we were confused by the devotion to a salty, cumin-dependent (and yes, I love cumin), Red Hot inspired recipe that was refined to the point of inbred. Were we a surprised our alien baby couldn't compete with the samey soups? No, and we don't think they were bad either; each of the other chilis had their merits.

The problem with that brand of competitive cooking was that you were effectively punished for experimenting.

I also competed in the Local Matters Grilled Cheese Throw Down. And the Bacon Camp competition put on in part by Wild Goose Creative. (Both before I went vegan.) These two experiences were much more rewarding. In the case of the latter, I just went way the hell out on a limb and made a few gallons of some crazy pulled-pork chili. It was hella expensive, but it was my first comp and I didn't care. In the case of the Grilled Cheese Throw Down, it was less expensive, but still on the costly side because of the amount of food that was ultimately used up in R&D.

But the Local Matters competition helped me exeriment and come up with a truly novel soution to the age old question; "Just how do I make a grilled cheese with mac 'n cheese?"

In the course of this experimentation my friend Kate expressed an interest in competitive cooking, but with the caveat that it is too expensive to just jump into - especially if you have no idea what your chances at a payoff might be.

And that is one of the points around which Dreamsfood crystallized; my ROI for the Grilled Cheese Throw Down was high, even if a dime was not won in the process (ha; even if I didn't qualify to compete, my sandwich just wasn't Grilled Cheese-y enough, even though it was crazy good). This was not due to some monetary reward, but rather to engaging a challenge and finding a unique solution. With that as a starting point, I wanted to find a way to fund the individual discovery of cooks and remove the barrier to entry.

One of the key ingredients to an amazing Recipe Card is the willingness to go out on a limb with a concept. To try to re-compose a standard as something new and innovative is hard-coded into Dreamsfood. So, to all the cooks out there, do your damnedest to make some crazy proposals.

Deep-fried vegan grilled cheese tiramisu? If you can dream it, we'll help you bring it.

Stuffing a Bird

Hey, so I may not cook animals anymore, but I do have sympathy for those of you who understand it's not the tidiest task in the tool shed.

Anyway, a question popped up on whether it was worth stuffing a bird if you aren't going to eat the stuffing (answer: yes). I chose not to answer that question but rather to address her indirect concern;

How do you partially sanitize the yuckiness of stuffing and unstuffing a carcass?

Obviously if you are into eating animals, but find dealing with them a bit yucky but still want to play the wo/man behind the curtain, you probably might choose aversion altogether and skip the stuffing.

I say, if you're down with killing things, do them some respect and put some effort and forethought into cooking, and be willing to overcome your own obstacles to do so. That said, a workaround for the eww-factor goes as follows;

If you're interested in stuffing the bird, and consuming the stuffing, but not interested in the yuck of unstuffing the thing, you could fill an improvised food-grade net (i.e. cheesecloth, muslin wort/hop bag, grain sock, etc) that would be permeable AND allow for you to remove the stuffing more easily.

In this way, you get all the benefits of the stuffing flavoring the bird, you get a side dish, and both the act of stuffing and unstuffing will leave your hands reasonably clean.

(If you like my answer or think it's useful, go upvote it!)