Brussels Sprouts disaster

G

Geshan

New member
Many times per brussels sprouts season, I will make brussels sprouts
alwyas by the same method: sauteed with pancetta, using a heavy stainless
steel sautee pan, both sauteed in and finished with olive oil, and a
little white vinegar; and by being just a little bit careful, they
generally come out perfect.

But recently I was trying to duplicate this dish at a friend's house.
She did not have any stainless cookware; it was all non-stick.
The most appropriate-sized pan was somewhat wok-shaped. As I
was preparing it, I noticed I was using less olive oil than I typically
will (which made sense at the time, beings it was a non-stick pan).
Going by normal measures (e.g. how much it was sizzling) I seemed
to be cooking the sprouts at a normal rate and for the usual length
of time. But in short order, before I could stop things, the entire dish
(both sprouts and pancetta) ended up dried-out and overcooked. Quite
an embarassment!

I'd like to blame the non-stick cookware, which I have always disliked
and don't own any of, and I know that under the best of circumstances
non-stick does not function as well as stainless, but undoubtedly had
I adjusted my cooking technique appropriately the result would have been
much closer to correct.

I think what really threw me off was how little sizzling noise the
dish was making as it was cooking, relative to how fast the cooking
was happening. I think the wok shape of the pan may also have been
somehow wrong.

Steve
 
Re: [email protected]

Steve Pope wrote:


I never like making one of my dishes on unfamiliar equipment in an
unfamiliar place. I don't know why the nonstick feature would be the culprit
behind overcooking though. I would suspect that their pan had different heat
conductivity than the one you are used to working with, and as you said, the
wok shape of the pan was something you wouldn't normally use for the dish.
Woks are intended to concentrate heat.

MartyB
 
Nunya Bidnits wrote:


[snip]


Well, I like it in the sense that it's informative. I travel alot,
tend to rent units with kitchens and end up using a variety of
equipment. This has led me to conclude that I do not like nonstick
cookware, smoothtop stoves, electric stoves in general, dishwashers,
in-refrigerator icemakers (dedicated icemakers are fine), garbage
disposers, noisy kitchen fans, and convection ovens. (A few months
ago, when cooking at a different friend's house, I really had to
be insistent that I needed the convection feature of their oven
turned off...)

Oh yeah, and French press coffeemakers. They suck.


Yeah, I'm not sure. I just know I have had distinctly better
results with certain types of vegetable sauteeing since I started
using (heavy) stainless steel: this includes Brussels sprouts,
chard, and rapini/broccolini. Whereas there is not much difference
for vegetables like onions, pepper, carrots, mushrooms. These
sautee just fine in non-stick.


Steve
 
Nunya Bidnits wrote:


For sure, that is a possibility. That combined with being overly-reliant
on the audio cue (magnitude of sizzling sound) to judge rate of cooking.
I do think the nonstick is quieter for the same rate of cooking,
even if there were not a hotspot.

Steve
 
On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:16:18 +0000 (UTC), [email protected]
(Steve Pope) wrote:


You can't expect it to be perfect when it's your first time in that
kitchen using somebody else's equipment. It's very hard to cook in a
strange kitchen. I don't know how personal chefs, who do one time
party cooking, do it.

The constant agitation you need to do in a wok cooking isn't going to
give you the caramelize you were looking for so it overcooked while
you were expecting it to brown.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
sf wrote:

The answer is simply experience.

Unlike folks who insist on only cooking on equipment that meets their
aesthetic tastes i.e. some high end "professional style" range,
professional chefs cook on whatever equipment is available, with
whatever cookware is available and focus on the details. They have
cooked on everything out there before, so they know what adjustments to
make and therefore do not suffer from mishaps due to different
equipment.

I'm not a professional chef, but I have been an avid cook for decades
and over those decades I've cooked on everything from Coleman camp
stoves to professional Vulcan ranges in actual commercial kitchens, and
everything in between. As a result I find I have no issues cooking at
other people's homes, beyond the obvious limitations of not knowing
where everything is stored which slows you down a bit.
 
Pete C. wrote:





This is true up to a point. But, there are certain types of
equipment popular with (some) consumers that you will never see
in a restaurant kitchen. Often, there is a reason for this.


S.
 
On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:11:57 +0000 (UTC), [email protected]
(Steve Pope) wrote:


Well, that would have eliminated a variable and given her a chance to
experience steel cookware. You might have even won over a convert.
:)

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
On Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:13:20 -0600, "Pete C."
wrote:

Good point.

I guess you're right, but I don't cook in other people's homes very
often so when I do it's hard to make what I'm cooking come out "just
like at home". I guess Steve is in the same situation.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
Pete C. wrote:


I suppose you are going to tell me that Chef's Choice knife sharpeners,
crock-pots, non-stick pans, and ninja-style onion dicers are all used in
commercial kitchens.


S.
 
Steve Pope wrote:

I'm afraid so, other than the knife sharpeners.

Crock-pots = steam kettle, a very common commercial kitchen item

Non-stick pans are indeed found in many commercial kitchens, and
frequently used for things like omelets.

There is a wide array of commercial grade versions of your "ninja-style
onion dicers", also tomato slicers, french fry and hash brown cutters,
onion bloomers and the like.
 
Re: [email protected]

Pete C. wrote:


But there are times when equipment below a certain quality is simply
unacceptable for a job, for example, very thin skillets with or without
cheap teflon coatings. But if you're telling us you can perfectly pan fry
bone in skin on chicken breasts in a pan like that on an electric range or
over a propane campstove without a bit of scorching, and have it all come
out with a uniform crispy coating, all pieces cooked through evenly, then we
should all bow down to the master. Maybe there are chefs who cannot ever
come to the mercy of a piece of equipment, but I follow Iron Chef and Top
Chef Masters and other such programs, and I have seen it happen plenty of
times to some of the best chefs around, so you'll excuse me if I'm
skeptical.

Try cooking outdoors in a portable environment some time. I've done it many
times in competitions and had a lot of success, yet certain factors can
still blindside you and wreak havoc. For example, if it's a very hot and
windy environment, the moisture loss in foods you are trying to prep and
cook can be so severe as to completely alter what will work and what won't
no matter how many times you've practiced it. But like you, I have indeed
learned to cope with the situation - in that case it's better to make
something else than to fight Mother Nature and turn out a substandard
product when you only have one chance to get it right and done on time.

MartyB
 
Nunya Bidnits wrote:

- Understand the environment you are trying to work in and the issues it
presents
- Adapt to the environment and improvise what you can to help reduce the
issues i.e. wind blocks, makeup moisture, etc.
- Get on with the cooking paying close attention to the potential issues

As for the frying chicken in a crummy thin pan over a poorly controlled
heat source, yes I can do it if needed, but I will not be happy about it
and my carpal tunnel will be killing me after from holding the crummy
pan off the heat source to better control it. It will also slow down
preparation of side dishes since I will be focused on heat management
and not be able to multitask.
 
Re: [email protected]

Pete C. wrote:


Including sometimes accepting that maybe doing something different would be
better in so many ways? That was my point. Sometimes the skill comes in
having the ability and foresight to shift to an alternative and still have a
good outcome. I remain highly skeptical of your claims of unwavering
perfection.


You make it sound so easy. Surely you'd be an instant world champion in
cooking competitions.

I didn't know it was possible to reinfuse moisture in anything regardless of
chemistry or to erect highly effective windbreaks against strong gusts out
of shit that happens to be laying around, and to do it without losing time
against a deadline.


I never would have thought of that. My ignorance abounds.


Why aren't you an Iron Chef?

Again, sorry if I seem skeptical.
 
Nunya Bidnits wrote:

The chefs in most of the competitions don't generally have to options to
be as creative as I am with regards to improvising cooking equipment
(see Alton Brown flower pot smoker, or some of the Dinner Impossible
stuff), so they have to improvise by adjusting what they are cooking
since that is the design of most of those shows anyway.


Nope, see above. Not being competitive is another issue.


Increase the humidity of the surrounding environment and you will help
reduce the moisture loss.


It certainly is depending on your skills and what's available. I've
performed enough field expedient improvisations to be frequently called
McGyver.


It seems the bulk of people will just blindly do things as they always
have in their own kitchen, not expecting anything to be different, which
is what gets them into trouble.


Because I'm not competitive, and because I like my work from home job
with six figure salary far more than "fame".


Recall I've never indicated that I never have issues preparing a
particular dish, everyone runs into issues at various times, and we work
around them as best as possible. What I've indicated is that I never
have issues cooking in unfamiliar kitchens with different equipment.
 
In article ,
"Nunya Bidnits" wrote:


We went to a cooking demo at a local fair some years ago, where a local
chef (Guy Fieri, who is no longer just a local chef) made some food. He
held up an incredibly battered, very thin, small skillet, and said it
was ideal for his restaurants. The food was cooked to order, so
something like the chicken breast he was cooking for a salad (certainly
not with skin or bone *or* coating) could be cooked in a reasonable
time, since the thin skillet would transfer the heat very quickly. I
believe the cooking demo was done on a home gas cooktop, but I'm sure
Guy's restaurants have high heat gas stoves.

http://www.johnnygarlics.com/

(the local location is no longer open)

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
[email protected]
 
Re: [email protected]

Pete C. wrote:

Did you miss the outdoors part? Of course if I was going to believe you were
the perfect chef then I'd probably believe you could fix that too.

Really, never mind. Morimoto was my hero and now you've ruined me for all
chefs forevermore. And I didn't even have to dine, only hear you describe
your perfect abilities. Bastard.
 
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