Salmon (or other fish) en papillote

Using aluminum foil, and whole fillets, rather than individual serving pieces.

Preheated 400 F oven; 17 minutes is slightly overdone for fully defrosted salmon.  Try 14 minutes next time.

o mai cam thao

From the youtube video of Uyen Thy's Vietnamese cooking show:

• 3 lbs craisins (sweetened dried cranberries)
• 1 c lemon juice
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 c water
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 lb fresh ginger
• 1 c ground cam thao (licorice root), divided into 2 parts

Stir sugar & salt into the lemon juice; add water; mix together with dry ingredients & half the licorice.  Let soak overnight in a covered container to let the dried fruit rehydrate.  Pour out into a foil-lined pan; dehydrate in a 200 F oven (door ajar) for ~6 hrs, stirring every couple of hours.  (Food dehydrator is probably ideal)  At the end of the dehydration, there should be no free liquid--it should have evaporated, but the dried fruit should still be soft.  Stir in the remainder of the licorice root.

Attempt #1, 5/9/2013:

• 2 lbs Trader Joe's unsulfured dried apricots
• 1/2 c sugar
• juice from 2 limes
• 1/2 c sliced licorice root, rehydrated with 1/2 c hot water, then, ground in food processor (next time, try the vitamix, and don't rehydrate)
• Water made up to 1/2 c, added to 1/2 c sugar
• 2 large ginger roots; when ground, comes to 2 cups
• 2/3 tbsp salt

170 F convection to dehydrate.

Almond cream for tarte; tarte aux pommes

• 6 tbsp butter
• 2/3 cup ground almonds
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp rum

Use a food processor; beat almonds, sugar, & butter together.  Add eggs, then, rum & vanilla.

Pour out into a container & refrigerate until ready to use.

Peel & slice apples that hold their shape:  Golden delicious, granny smith, fuji

Line a pan with pate brisee; spread a layer of almond cream.  Layer slices of apples.  Cook in a preheated 350 oven for 40-50 minutes (convection--also try 325 F for 40 minutes, up to 375 or 400 last 5-10 minutes).

Red chile sauce (vitamix) and carne adovada

Put into the vitamix:

• 10 dried red chile pods (break off the stems)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• About 2 cups hot water

Mix on slow a bit, then, move to high.  Mix on "high" for 3-4 minutes.  That's it.

For the Carne Adovada:

• Use 6 pods.  (8 pods was a bit too spicy)
• Replace salt with bouillon (enough for 2-3 cups)
• Add 2-3 tbsp flour before blending

For about 3 lbs of meat in a crockpot:  Use the above amount of red chile sauce, + 1 chopped onion, some oregano, 2 14-oz cans of hominy.  Cook in crockpot on low for 8 hrs.

No-knead pizza dough

2.5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp yeast
1 cup water

Mix dry ingredients.  Add water, stir until water is all absorbed.  You may need 1 more tbsp of water if the humidity is low.  The dough will be sticky.  Maybe coat the dough with a spoon of olive oil at the end of all the stirring.

Cover, let rise 18-24 hrs.

Preheat the oven with the pizza stones (convection 450 or 475 F).  Scrape out the dough on a floured surface.  Divide and form balls (fold the dough into balls).  Set seam down; cover and let rest about 30 minutes.  Roll out gently; place on pizza peel (flour & cornmeal on peel).  Add toppings.  Slide on stone; bake 8-9 minutes.

Makes about 4 personal-sized thin-crust pizzas.

Basic brine

Basic brine, for turkey (or other poultry), or pork tenderloin:

4 cups water
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar (minus a bit)

Reduce the salt a bit, and add some soy sauce if you want to change the color.  Substituting some honey for the sugar is also good.  Substituting about 1-2 tbsp of soy sauce is a good substitution for pork tenderloin & boneless chicken thighs.

Easy method:  Take 2 cups of water and heat.  Dissolve salt and sugar.  Add spices/herbs as desired (hot pepper flakes, garlic, thyme, rosemary, etc.).  Add ice to come up to 4 cups volume.

Whole turkey takes at least 1 gallon of brine (multiply above by 4), and 12-18 hrs to brine.  Pork tenderloin takes about 5-6 hrs.  Boneless chicken thighs (for grilling) take 2-4 hrs of brining.