Text 30990, 85 rader
Skriven 2009-11-12 16:22:00 av BOB GEARHART (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: Checkers Burger
=======================
 Jim Weller said to Bob Gearhart at 11-08-09  16:29
 Subject: Checkers Burger<Jim Weller>

 
 -=> Quoting Bob Gearhart to Dave Sacerdote <=-
 
 BG> French fries are one of those things where how it's handled is 
 BG> more important than what it is.

 JW> Up to a point. But different varieties of potatoes do cook up
 JW> differently. Dutch Farmer Bill's dad made his living from just two
 JW> crops: strawberries and potatoes. The family ate a LOT of potatoes
 JW> and besides the four acre commercial plot he had a small family plot
 JW> with a variety of heirloom varieties just for his own table. Bakers
 JW> and mashers should be starchy, boilers for dicing up for soups and
 JW> salads just be waxy so that they don't disintegrate and the best
 JW> frying potato is low moisture, starchy and has a higher than average
 JW> sugar content.
 
 Grampa only grew one type of potato.  And at six years old I had my own 
 personalized hoe. Grampa had thirteen kids and I was the oldest of five 
 grandkids who spent the summer on Grampa's farm.  Grampa also had thirty 
 acres of potatoes, all maintained by his offspring. My first exposure 
 to a blister on the hand came from that hoe.   Grampas potatoes were
 whites.  That might explain my preference for a white potato.  
 
 The Idaho's make fine French fries and are much easier to peel, but 
 they are to mushy for mashed or pan fried.  Yukon Golds are nice, and
 have a bit of an off taste. Of course, I'm not familiar with all the 
 varieties of potato, just the 5 pound bag for so much types in the
 supermarket.

 JW> Getting back to technique, you can improve any frying potatoes by
 JW> using old, mature potatoes, left in the open in a breeze (use a fan)
 JW> for a bit (like overnight) to dehydrate slightly and by soaking the
 JW> cut fries in salted and sweetened water for a bit before frying
 JW> them to increase their sugar content. The soaking water should be
 JW> about the same strength as a standard brine, about 6%. (I don't
 JW> often go to all that trouble but on the few times i have, the
 JW> difference was noticeable.)
 
 French fries I do in hot grease using the French trick of cooking them 
 to almost done.  Then setting aside to cool while I prepare something
 else, then before putting them on the table I put them back in the hot
 grease (375º) to crispy up and reheat.  I use Idaho's for those from
 selected potatoes that are longer and large enough to form a thick fry,
 not the thin things sold in fast food places.  They turn into potato
 sticks using my method.
 
 Fried potatoes are white and seldom done without onions.  Only a few
 for breakfast get cooked naked and to a crispy edge. For other uses
 like when served with breakfast sausage fried to crispy then covered 
 in apple sauce as an evening meal, the accompanying fried potatoes are 
 prepared sharing space equally with a similar amount of yellow cooking
 onions.  The entire mess fried to nicely browned bits of edge. 
 
 Usually the only thing between the flavor of the taters and my taste 
 buds is salt and lots of black pepper.   However last week I brought 
 home a nice large head of garlic, and found Dorothy already had several
 in store.  So it was cleaned and all of the cloves were sliced into 1/4
 inch thick rings, and fried to nicely browned in the oil intended to 
 use for the potatoes, removed and set aside.  The potato and onions 
 were cooked up in a covered frypan and the fried garlic was mixed in 
 about half way though after the second turning/stiring. I don't know 
 as it was great enough to compensate for cleaning an entire head of 
 garlic, but it was good.
 
 
 JW> Fried fish:
 JW> 
 JW> Title: CAJUN HOT FRIED FISH
 
 I have a restaurant three blocks away that went through a transformation
 from bar to eatery with the decrease in drinking habits.  It is called
 J-Dubs and advertises the restaurant as Mississippi Bayou food. Having
 spent some time in the Louisiana Bayou country when my sons worked out 
 of Morgan City, I can say, they are missing the mark in most places 
 except for the name. But their catfish is better than most imitations
 that compensate for fish taste by covering it with spices and such.
 
 
... What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
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