Text 18998, 111 rader
Skriven 2011-12-13 03:36:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av NANCY BACKUS
Ärende: sticky 351
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 ML> Funny - Stephen was talking to a sushi novice, of course, but I
 ML> have to say that tamago is about the oddest of all nigiri sushi.
 NB> It is, after all, NOT raw fish, though...  ;>

Cooked egg: easy to do badly; I can do it mediocrely; hard to
do well. It has been said that it's the bellwether of the sushi
chef's talent. It has to be perfectly smooth, done just so, in no
place sticky and in no place hard. A balance of sweet and salt and
of custardy bland and winy savoriness. And the egg has to be laid
fresh today.

Back before the stick blender and the Internet, a prospective
diner would go to a sushi place and order just a single order of
tamago. If it was good, he would stay; otherwise he would turn on
his heels and leave without paying, to try another place.

==

 ML> I used that same mix for the basis of my stuffing and found the
 ML> texture way too soft and sticky, reminding me more of mashed
 ML> potatoes than stuffing - luckily there was some leftover bread
 ML> to fix it up with. If I ever use it again, I will cut the liquid
 ML> drastically.
 NB> I would too... although I DO like the mushy stickiness of stuffing
 NB> that comes out of the crevices of the bird carcase...  That always has
 NB> enough turkey fat in it to not be confused with mashed potatoes...  ;)

Back before I began to appreciate underdone turkey, I used to
like the sticky wet goo that I dug out from near the backbone,
but unless the turkey is well done beyond my acceptance level,
the stuffing tastes kind of bad (and, rumor has it, is on the
dangerous side, but I always counteracted that with a salt
and/or alcohol rub). I suppose that another way to fix that
issue would be to cook both separately for a while, then stuff
the mostly cooked turkey with the mostly cooked stuffing.

 ML> I'd have guessed that the mushroom liquid and the dried
 ML> cranberries would cancel each other out.
 NB> Apparently not.  The crans weren't terribly dry (Craisins, intended
 NB> for, among other things, snacking out of hand).  I could probably have
 NB> done with a little less butter, too, since the thighs were fairly
 NB> fatty... But all in all, it did ok...  ;)
 
Too much butter? Say it ain't so.

Six-hour slow-roasted pork shoulder
cat: English, celebrity, main
servings: 4 to 6

2 kg bone-in shoulder of pork, skin on
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
2 sticks of celery, halved
1 bulb of garlic, skin on, broken into cloves
6 to 8 fresh bay leaves
600 ml water or vegetable stock

Preheat your oven to 220C/425F/gas 7.

Place your pork on a clean work surface, skin-side up.
Get yourself a small sharp knife and make scores about
a centimetre apart through the skin into the fat, but
not so deep that you cut into the meat. If the joint
is tied, try not to cut through the string. Rub salt
right into all the scores you've just made, pulling
the skin apart a little if you need to.

Brush any excess salt off the surface then turn it over.
Season the underside of the meat with a few pinches of
salt and pepper. Place your pork, skin-side up, in a
roasting tray and pop in the preheated oven. Roast
30 min, until the skin of the pork has started to puff
up and you can see it turning into crackling. At this
point, turn the heat down to 170C/325F/gas 3, cover the
pork snugly with a double layer of tinfoil, pop back in
the oven and roast for a further 4 1/2 hr.

Take out of the oven, take the foil off, and baste the
meat with the fat in the bottom of the tray. Carefully
lift the pork up and transfer to a chopping board.
Spoon all but a couple of tablespoons of fat out (save
it for roast potatoes!).

Add all the veg, garlic and bay leaves to the tray and
stir them into the fat. Place the pork back on top of
everything and return to the stove without the foil
to roast for another hour. By this time the meat should
be meltingly soft and tender.

Carefully move the meat to a serving dish, cover again
with tinfoil and leave to rest while you make your
gravy. Spoon away any fat in the tray, then add the
water or stock and place the tray on the hob. Bring to
the boil and simmer for a few min, stirring constantly
with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those lovely sticky
tasty bits on the bottom of the tray. When you've got a
nice, dark gravy, pour it through a sieve into a bowl or
gravy boat, using your spoon to really push all the
goodness of the veg through the sieve. Add a little
more salt and pepper if it needs it.

Serve the pork and crackling with your jug of gravy
and some lovely roast potatoes (As a treat, you can
try roasting them in the fat you spooned out of your
roasting tray. Some stewed red cabbage and a dollop
of apple sauce will finish this off perfectly.)

Jamie Oliver
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