What are you Cooking the week of December 10th?

[Joan Simpson]

Last night I made cubed steak,sour cream mashed potatoes and green beans.

[RiversideLen]

Last night I made Cornish Hens, they came out a bit dry, they always do. I don't know how to time them or where to stick a thermo probe.

[cwcdesign]

Sorry to hear about your Cornish hen Len. I have no idea where to put the probe in that tiny bird.

I made shrimp fried rice for dinner

[skeptic7]

This morning I melted a 1 lb block of good Dark Chocolate to make chocolate bark. I had had the block for about a year and it showed brown streaks on the surface. It melted fine and I poured it on parchment paper in a thin sheet and put pecans and dried cherries on the surface. However now that it cooled it has swirls of light brown color on it. What caused this?
Is there any general advice for making chocolate bark? I broke up the bar of chocolate, melted about 2/3 in a double boiler over hot water, removed from heat, add the rest of the chocolate and stirred till smooth. This is what I did last year for filling chocolate molds.
Do I need to break up the chocolate bark while still warm? Right now I am letting it cool completely which might be the wrong thing

[BakerAunt]

My guess (I've not made bark before) is that if you want even-sized pieces, you should at least score it while it is warm rather than trying to cut it through completely.

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, I don't know if the link below will help you but thought I'd offer it.

https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-know-when-a-cornish-game-hen-has-finished-roasting/

[Mike Nolan]

The cocoa butter in chocolate has six different crystal states, referred to as alpha-1 through alpha-6. Alpha-6 only forms after a long time, but alpha-1 through alpha-5 will form any time chocolate is heated and cooled. Properly tempered chocolate should mostly or only contain alpha-5 crystals. (Alpha-1 through alpha-4 have lower melting points than alpha-5.)

Streaks in a good chocolate is called 'blooming', which is when some of the cocoa butter loses the desired alpha-5 crystal state and produces a lighter color chocolate. (Cocoa butter itself is white.) This usually happens if the chocolate gets too warm or is not properly tempered. You can leave a chocolate bar in the sun and it'll get warm enough for the alpha-5 crystals to break down, resulting in a white layer on the outside.

A cheaper chocolate may have other things in it that can separate out.

Usually melting and properly tempering the chocolate again will get rid of the streaks. As long as you don't scorch chocolate, you can reheat it over and over.

The issue of whether almond bark should be randomly shaped pieces or more evenly shaped ones is largely a matter of personal preference. Scoring the chocolate as it cools is the best way to get it to break into more even pieces.

[RiversideLen]

Thank you, Italiancook. I'm going to bookmark that.

Today I roasted a large chicken on a vertical rack. I haven't cut into it yet, it's resting while I do the sides, which will be noodles and carrots and Brussels sprouts.

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

[BakerAunt]

Tonight I made Salmon with Couscous and Dill for dinner. We had it with a side of peas.

[skeptic7]

Mike Nolan;
Thanks for the information about Chocolate Bloom! You are the best! The chocolate bark was thin enough to break without problems even after it was completely cool, but I had little control over the size. I like the random size pieces but I will try scoring it next time.
I'm not sure there should be a next time, I was sampling the bark rather freely as I was breaking it up and putting it away and might need to avoid temptation.
Since you are a chocolate expert how would you make chocolate pieces for pan au chocolate? I've seen little bars at KA for that purpose and looked unsuccessfully for chocolate molds.

[skeptic7]

RiverSide Len;
The chicken looks wonderful! Does it cook more evenly this way than lying on its side?

[luvpyrpom]

This week I did more baking than actual cooking. We had roasted salmon and rock fish earlier in the week, korean bulgogi, roasted sweet potatoes, leftover chicken leg quarters from Costco. I did make up a 6 pints of pickled green papaya today - will let it ferment a bit before trying it. There's habenero peppers in it and I'm always unsure how spicy it will be based on the size of the pepper. I did remove the ribs and seeds before using, though.

RiversideLen - love your chicken, it reminds me that we used to have a vertical stand for roasting a chicken. Then we lost that, we used a beer can. Now a whole chicken is way too much for us so now it's just chicken parts.

[RiversideLen]

Skeptic, I believe the chicken cooks more evenly that way. The skin browns evenly all around and the metal rack sends heat into the cavity. It's pretty that way. More often though, I cut the back out and lay the chicken flat in a roasting pan. That way the cavity is eliminated and I can easily season both sides of the bird.

Luvpyrpom, a whole chicken is a lot for me too, but it makes easy lunches and dinners for the next several days. More often then not, I just buy chicken breasts but every now and then I want the whole bird.

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, you chicken is beautiful! With what did you season the outside?

[RiversideLen]

Thank you, Italiancook, it's seasoned with thyme, a little kosher salt and olive oil.

[Author]

Posts