147.2°F Eggs

For my first attempt at sous vide cooking, I used Thomas Keller's recipe of Soft-Boiled Egg with Toasted Brioche and Bacon Marmalade in the booklet that came with the equipment. Technically, eggs are actually not cooked sous vide since they come with their own shells and don't need to be vacuum packed.

The recipe calls for cold eggs to be cooked in a water bath at the temperature of 147.2°F or 64°C for one hour. The circulator is very precise as it maintains the cooking temperature with ± 0.2°F stability.

While the eggs were cooking, I made the bacon marmalade: pan-fried minced bacon with blanched diced onions, cooked in a mixture of reduced vinegar and honey. I also toasted a store brought brioche.

I took the eggs out of the water after an hour. I cracked the shells open on one end and slipped the eggs out into a small bowl. Then with a large spoon the eggs were transferred very gently onto a plate. I also tried to make a quenelle of the marmalade and placed it next to the eggs.

The egg white is soft but relatively firm. The yolk is set yet very creamy.

The precision and consistency provided by the immersion circulator is really quite amazing. The blog, Cooking Issues, actually has a chart showing the results of eggs cooked at different temperatures. Now I understand why chefs are so enamored with sous vide cooking.

Sous Vide: The Pressure Starts

Ever since I bought Thomas Keller's Under Pressure a few years ago, I wanted to try some of the recipes in the book. However, cooking sous vide requires buying some new equipment that were either very expensive or not readily available to the average consumer. Recently, PolyScience came out with an immersion circulator that is sold at Williams-Sonoma; the store also sells an accompanying vacuum sealer. With the new tools in hand, I am finally ready to do some low-temperature cooking.

Maclaren

Maclaren's stroller recall was front page news in Taiwan's newspapers and news programs, however the coverages have a different angle. Instead of just reporting on the specifics of the problem, the stories talked about how the stroller is popular with celebrities.

Below is from an article in China Times, which listed the various owners of Maclaren strollers, including Brad Pitt, Kate Winslet, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Elizabeth Hurley, and celebrities in Taiwan.

瑪格羅蘭是全美第一大嬰兒車品牌，許多好萊塢名流都愛用，包括布萊德彼特、凱特溫絲蕾、網球名將阿格西、莎拉傑西卡派克、伊莉莎白赫莉都是該牌粉絲，在台灣也廣受政商名流喜愛。但對照昨天美國廠商公布的問題車單，明星們愛用的嬰兒車統統是問題車款，震驚市場。

Below are screen shots from the local news:

I can't help but wonder if Celebrity Worship Syndrome is worse in Taiwan or U.S.

House Call

Even though we have a dishwasher in our kitchen in Taipei, we still need a dish rack. I decide to purchase the Dish Doctor designed by Marc Newson in 1997 for Magis. The dish rack measures 390mm x 460mm in plan and 100mm in height. The material is injection molded glossy polypropylene and comes in four colors: green, orange, white and translucent. I have always been intrigued by Newson's designs, which are visually attractive with the use of curved volumes and sophisticated technologies. While many of Newson's designs now sell for over six figures, I am glad the Dish Doctor can be had for much less. The dish rack adds some bold colors into our white kitchen.



http://www.marc-newson.com/
http://www.magisdesign.com/

Grist for the Mill

I left my Peugeot pepper mill in New York since we still need it there. Peugeot was the first to create the mechanism for pepper grinder in 1842. The mechanism uses a hardened steel that allows for long term use. While I love the Peugeot, I figure I try something else for our kitchen in Taipei. I purchased an Alessi grinder (PZ01) designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The grinder was originally designed by Zumthor as an one-off piece for his own use. Now it is part of the Alessi Officina collection. The grinder is made from a single piece of wood, either maple or walnut (the one I have), and measures 29.5 cm in height. Unlike the typical mill with a protruding knob at the top, Zumthor designed a countersunk screw as the adjuster and attachment to the drive shaft; a little harder to access but much sleeker in appearance.