Here’s a quick post today in response to a question I received from Dave. He asks:

I made a lovely beef stew,removed meat and veg, made a flour/water slurry to thicken gravy. When we ate it you got a doughy taste. how to fix please.

Dave, when you thicken cooking liquids with a slurry of some sort of starch and water, make sure the liquid comes back to a full boil.  This will do two things for you:

1) allow the starch to achieve maximum thickening

2) cook off the raw starch taste.

An easy way to do this is to pour out your whole stew through a large colander, collecting the juices in a saucepan below.  Cover the meat and veggies so they don’t cool off too much, and then return the pan to the heat.

Whisk in your slurry a bit at a time until the sauce is as thick as you want it.  (Remember that the sauce will thicken more as it cools so it is often best to stop just shy of as thick as you want it).

Taste the sauce to make sure it doesn’t taste raw, adjust the seasonings and remove from the heat.

Add the meat and veggies back in and stir gently just to heat through.

These photos were taken with my iPhone so they may be a little out of focus but you get the point.

1 Edamame - $4.95
4 pcs Water Eel - $11.oo
2 pcs Tuna - 6.00
2 pcs Yellow Tail - $6.00
1 pcs Tobiko Red - $3.00
1 California Roll - $5.50
1 Dragon Roll - $10.50

Watching my daughter eat sushi - PRICELESS

Daddy Daughter Date

Last night my wife and oldest daughter went to the Phillies game against the Colorado Rockies. (Phillies won 2-1, yeah) I had the pleasure of taking my 11 year old out for some sushi. My girls as you can imagine have been introduced to a variety of foods but I am always surprised when I see them eat sushi. My oldest loves the salmon eggs, my youngest fresh water eel.

I remember last year in Park City when my oldest daughter Nell ordered a piece of salmon eggs sushi and using her chop sticks, ate each tiny egg individually. I just watched her in her delight.

What also amazes me when I take the girls out for dinner is how grown up they act. At home, there is often a little whining about the meal, “Daddy, I don’t like this” or “Why are you making me try this?”

When out in a restaurant, stick it in front of them and it’s gone. Last night I thought I ordered a few too many pieces of sushi but we ate every one. I would pick a piece of California Roll and Maddie would grab one too. I choose a water eel sushi, Maddie did the same. I drank a little hot saki, Maddie did not.

My Daughter’s Movie Cost of a Soul Opens Tomorrow

A scene from the movie Cost of a Soul with Maddie Morris Jones, Chris Kerson and Judy Jerome

Photo by Cast Shadow Productions, LLC – © 2011 Cast Shadow Productions, LLC. All rights reserved

On a side note, my daughter Maddie was in a movie called Cost of a Soul that opens tomorrow at 50 AMC theaters around the country. This is truly remarkable because Cost of A Soul is a very, very low budget independent film written and directed by Sean Kirkpatrick, a rising star in the film industry.

The story takes place here in Philadelphia about two veterans who were “returning home from war to discover the home front is nearly as grimy as what they left behind.”  It is a tough, realistic movie about life in the streets of some very tough neighborhoods in Philadelphia and Sean examines how destructive gun violence can be on these two families.

My daughter Maddie’s character is Hope, whose movie dad is one of these soldiers returning home who doesn’t know his daughter has Cerebral Palsy.  Maddie does have CP and limited acting experience but Sean wanted the authenticity of a child actor with a disability. He took a chance with Maddie but I think he’s thrilled he did. She is very believable in the film.

This is not a typical feel good Hollywood movie. In fact, most people are a little down after seeing it because of the reality of the situation. We didn’t even let Maddie see the movie at its Philadelphia premier. Yet it received rave reviews for its direction, cinematography and incredible acting.

So to support the movie and my daughter, I wanted to let everyone know it is opening around the country tomorrow and where to learn more about it and see the trailer that includes some scenes with Maddie. Go to Cost of a Soul

Maddie on the Red Carpet at the Philadelphia premier

The Reluctant Gourmet receives a lot of questions via email.  Some of them I can answer right away, and others I rely on the help of some of my chef friends for answers.  Remember, I am by no means a professional chef.  I’m called “Reluctant” for a good reason, but I promise that if I can, I will find answers for you.

I often save the baking-related questions for my friend, Pastry Chef Jenni Field, so here is a round-up of the most recent baking and pastry-related questions and answers.  Thanks, Chef Jenni!

How do you keep the Wontons from getting mushy In Wonton Soup

From Chuck:

Hello.  I made wonton soup for the first time the other day and was very pleased with the way it turned out — with ONE exception.  The wontons were a little mushy.  Now wonton soup you get at a Chinese restaurant has the wontons, of course, but they are rather stiff.  If you have leftovers, you can put them in the refrigerator and they do not get mushy.  I realize that cooking time is a factor (I boiled mine), but I’m wondering if a restaurant would use a different kind of wonton wrapper that keeps the wontons from getting mushy.  Thanks in advance for your opinion.

From Chef Jenni Field

Wow, Chuck.  This is a really good question, and using a different wrapper than is available to home cooks is often an answer that lots of people don’t even consider.  I would hazard a guess, though–and this is just a guess–that the wontons are steamed until just-tender and then added to the soup at service.  Otherwise, I’d bet that even the most sturdy wrappers would get mushy as the starch granules swell and swell and then finally burst, giving a mushy texture.

If I were you, I would try the same thing.  Set up a steamer, either a bamboo steamer/wok combination, one of those collapsible steamer inserts or even just a rack that would suspend the wontons over, not in, boiling water.

If you don’t want to get out a bunch of other pots, consider boiling the wontons in salted water until just barely done, so the wrapper is still a little al dente, as it were, then place them in bowls and ladle boiling hot broth over them. The hot broth should finish cooking them until perfect doneness.

As to leftovers, I would only boil what I need and keep any extras frozen until the next time you make the dish.

I hope this answer helps.