Step 1. MAYONNAISE
"From: Simply French by Patricia Wells
Mayonnaise has to be one of the greatest and most versatile sauces. It is not difficult to make, so considering the poor quality of most commercial versions I encourage you to make your own with the finest and freshest ingredients you can find. It is an emulsion of oil within the egg yolk. There are only two important rules to follow when making mayonnaise. First, all of the ingredients should be at room temperature, and second, the oil should be added slowly to the egg yolks, starting with only a few drops as a time and building up to a slow, steady stream. Many different types of oils can be used, including corn, peanut, olive, grape seed, and safflower. The renowned Chef Joel Robuchon suggests sing grape seed because it results in a less gelatinous mass once cooled.
Disclaimer: This is a raw-egg sauce. The old, young, and immuno-compromised should be particularly cautious about consuming raw egg. Pasteurized could be used to create the sauce. Alternatively, some recipes call for placing the egg yolks in a double-boiler and gently tempering them.
Ingredients
1/2 cup of oil
1 large egg yolk
1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
- Place the oil in a measuring cup with a pouring spout
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg yolks until light and thick. Whisk in the mustard, salt, and pepper, and whisk until the mixture is thick and smooth.
- Continue whisking and gradually add just a few drops of the oil, whisking until thoroughly incorporated. Do not add too much oil in the beginning, or the mixture will not emulsify. As soon as the mixture begins to thicken, add the remaining oil in a slow and steady stream, whisking constantly. Taste for seasoning
- Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Yield: about 1 1/4 cups
Variations:
Use different types of oil (peanut, grapeseed, canola, olive)"
Sadly, the grapeseed oil was out of my budget even though it supposedly made the best mayo. Instead of cutting out the variation to get the grapeseed, I chose to stick with the three other oils (peanut, canola, and olive) for the experimental sake of comparisons.
Results
Peanut Oil Mayonnaise
- Thick, creamy and oily
- VERY nutty and distinctly peanut
- Warm, savory flavor
- Slightly sour
Canola Oil Mayonnaise
- Smooth/not clumpy
- Pleasant aftertaste, slightly salty
- Thick consistency
- Not much flavor, but a little sour, as good mayo should be
Olive Oil Mayonnaise
- GROSS aftertaste
- Bitter
- Lingers in your mouth. I actually had to drink some green sludge to wash down the bad taste. That's how bad it was, in my personal opinion.
- I threw this out immediately after tasting it
After tasting the three mayo's above, I realized that it really would have been nice to try the grapeseed oil. There's always next time.
Define an emulsion.
What is the difference between an oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsion? What is the role of the egg yolk?
"A mixture of one liquid with another which it cannot normally combine smoothly-- oil and water being the classic example. Emulsifying is done by slowly (sometimes drop-by-drop) adding one ingredient to another while at the same time mixing rapidly. This disperses and suspends minute droplets of one liquid throughout the other. Emulsified mixtures are usually thick and satiny in texture" (http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/entry/?id=2421)
Emulsifying by adding water to oil will cause the consistency of the sauce to become thinner because water droplets are more dispersed than oil droplets. Vice versa, oil droplets contain fats which enhance the thickness of the emulsion. "Nearly all emulsified sauces are oil-in-water systems".(McGee)
Egg yolks are already emulsified, which is why they are helpful in emulsion processes. They are "a concentrated and complex emulsion of fat in water, and are therefore filled with emulsifying molecules and molecule aggregates."(McGee)
French Fries
"From: Everybody Eats Well in Belgium, by Ruth van Waerebeek
Where to begin...volumes have been written about the fired potato and it is probably amongst one of the most studied foods. It is an epic food and when done well there are few that can rival its desirability. The remarkable thing is that there is no fancy skill involved, but there is a trick-- frying twice. The first fry at relatively low temperature cooks the potatoes through and makes them tender. The second turns them golden brown and deliciously crisp. Starchy potatoes (e.g. russet) are a must and the older the better due to more starch development.
Ingredients
4 cups vegetable oil for frying
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, rinsed, and dried
Salt to taste
- Pour the oil into a deep pan, at least half way up, and eat to 325 F.
- Cut the potatoes into sticks about 1/4 inch wide and 2 1/2 to 3 inches long. Dry all the pieces thoroughly in a clean dish towel. This will keep the oil from splattering. Divide the potato sticks into batches of no more than 1 cup each, fry separately.
- When the oil has reached the desired temperature, fry the potatoes for 4 to 5 minutes per batch, perhaps as long as 10 minutes. They should be lightly colored but not browned. Using a long handled skimmer, lift out the potatoes. Be sure to bring the temperature of the oil back to 325 F in between batches. At this point they can rest for several hours at room temperature until you are almost ready to serve them.
- Heat the oil to 375 F. Fry the potatoes in 1 cup batches until they are nicely browned and crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain on fresh paper towels in a warm serving bowl. Sprinkle with salt and serve at once.
Serves 4 to 6
Variations:
Use different potatoes (russet, yukon, sweet)"
Results
My favorite part about cooking these are when the fries are lifted out of the oil. They make this whisper of a hissing sound that sounds similar to a squealing baby pig, a rocket ship or airplane, or a whistling teapot.
Russet
- Texture
- Most crunchy on the ends
- Very starchy
- Chewy in the middle
- Taste
- Sweet and earthy
- Dull
- Little spice in the back of the throat
- Burnt and flavorful
- Touch
- Tender
- Scruffy on the outside
- Greasy to touch
- Odor
- Faint spice
- Sharp
- Tasty!
Yukon
- Texture
- Tough
- Crunchy
- Crispy
- Starchy
- Scaly
- Mushy in the center
- Taste
- Charred
- Salty
- On the 3rd or 4th chew there is a tangy bite
- Creamy
- Spice in the back of the throat
- Musky
- Touch
- Greasy to touch
- Stiff
- Leathery
- Odor
- Smokey
- Buttery
Sweet
- Texture
- Crunchy
- Chewy
- Mushy on the inside
- Distinct outer coked layer that has a gummy texture
- It reminded me of licorice at first because when you bite into it at first it gets stuck in your teeth
- Taste
- Sweet
- Burnt
- Smokey
- Salty
- Nutty
- Faint licorice flavor
- Touch
- Hard
- Slightly malleable
- Pointy
- Sharp edges
- Sandy feel (in a good way)
- Greasy to touch
- Odor
- A little like sweet burning leaves in the fall
Try this at home sometime...
Perfect Thin and Crispy French Fries
By J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
"About the author: After graduating from MIT, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt spent many years as a chef, recipe developer, writer, and editor in boston. He now lives in New York with his wife, where he runs a private chef business, KA Cuisine, and co-writes the blog GoodEater.org about sustainable food enjoyment. He developed this recipe after secretly acquiring un-fried French fries from McDonalds in a scavenger hunt, it is an amusing story.
Ingredients
Serves four
- 2 pounds russet potatoes (about 4 large), peeled and cut into 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch fries (keep potatoes stored in a bowl of water)
- 2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
- Kosher salt
- 2 quarts peanut oil
Procedure
- Place potatoes and vinegar in saucepan and add 2 quarts of water and 2 tbsp of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 10 minutes. Potatoes should be fully tender, but not falling apart. Drain and spread on paper towel-lined rimmed baking sheet. Allow to dry for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in 5-quart Dutch oven or large wok over high heat to 400 F. Add 1/3 of fries to oil (oil temperature should drop to around 360 F). Cook for 50 seconds, agitating occasionally with wire mesh spider, and then remove to second paper-towel lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining potatoes (working in two more batches), allowing oil to return to 400 F after each addition. Allow potatoes to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Continue with step 3, or for best results, freeze potatoes at least over night, or up to 2 months.
- Return oil to 400 F over high heat. Fry half of potatoes until crisp and light golden brown, about 3 1/2 minutes, adjusting heat to maintain at around 360 F. Drain in a bowl lined with paper towels and season immediately with kosher salt. Cooked fries can be kept hot and crisp on a wire rack set on a sheet tray in a 200 F oven while second batch is cooked. Serve immediately."
Results
Russet
- Texture
- Malleable
- Perfectly soft on the inside, perfectly crispy around the edges
- Melts in your mouth
- Taste
- Hint of vinegar, not too overpowering
- Nutty
- Slightly fishy
- Creamy/buttery
- Touch
- Crispy
- Flakey
- Sandy (in a good way)
- Crispy around the edges
- Odor
- Eggy
- Oily
- Sweet
This was definitely my favorite of the bunch! Such a good flavor-texture combination!!
Fried Fish
(Shrimp, Tilapia, Cod)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup corn starch
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour (rice, pastry/cake, all-purpose, bread)
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Working in small batches, dip the fish into the batter. Immerse into hot oil (350F)
Results
Rice
- Texture
- Crunchy along the edges
- Flakey, thin, grainy
- Retained oil
- Taste
- Light
- Even balance between fish and batter
- Subtle
- Touch
- Soft and doughy
- Wrapped well to the fish
- Rough
- Odor
- Smells slightly like pancake batter
Bread
- Texture
- Doughy, similar to breading on chinese food
- Cushioned
- Light and fluffy
- Puff-pastry thick
- Soaked up all the fish juice
- Taste
- Flavor of the fish gets lost in the dough
- It tastes solely like fried dough
- Touch
- Cushiony, like a pillow
- Lizard-like smooth roughness
- Leathery
- Odor
- Smells like dough
- Doesn't smell like fish
All-purpose
- Texture
- Still juicy on the inside
- Doughy and soft, but not as much as the bread (good)
- Stuck to the fish
- Dense and soft
- Not too greasy, not as absorbent
- Taste
- A little salty
- Tastes like the oil used and flavorless bread
- Touch
- VERY pillowy and puffy
- Smoother than the bread
- Feels like a dry tongue
- Odor
- Smells like a pastry
Pastry
- Texture:
- Light like a skin
- Didn't stick tot he fish
- Not crunchy
- Flimsy
- Very doughy
- Grainy and bready
- Pancake texture
- Taste
- Buttery
- Exceptionally savory
- Fishy and resembles the flavor of oats
- Touch
- Oily
- Leathery
- Not too rough
- Odor
- Greasy
- Nutty
- Nauseating....TOO MUCH FRIED FOOD!! AGH! I'm sure if this was my first helping it would have been delicious.
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