These are new things I have invented to eat, and which I can make in less time than it would take to write out:
→grilled salmon salad with soy and balsamic vinegar
→calf’s liver in tomato pesto
I am a genius but I have never learned to cook beans, which is what I want. Mine almost always come out dry or boring.
Now I have an organic vegetable broth made with many greens and I have to figure out how to thicken it and give it flavor. I want to put grain in it and more vegetables, making it macrobiotic, but I am not quite sure how. It probably needs miso, which means I must find some.
Do you have recipes for, or tips on these things?
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
From: http://www.quora.com/What-chemistry-facts-help-you-become-a-better-cook
One principle that helps with cooking is recognizing the difference between hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules. Hydrophobic molecules are soluble in oils and hydrophilic molecules are soluble in water.
Most flavor molecules are hydrophobic. This is why soaking rosemary, garlic, peppers, thyme, etc. in oil will infuse the oil with flavors.
Sugars and salt are considered hydrophilic and as everyone knows they readily dissolve in water, but are insoluble in oil.
I cook a lot of New Orleans foods, like Gumbo, and so I make a lot of stocks and rouxs. The idea of hydrophobic flavor molecules really comes through in these dishes. If I simmer herbs for a stock, the kitchen smells delicious as the volatile oils from herbs fill the air. However, the stock never delivers on the smell. This is because the flavor molecules aren’t very soluble in water. The flavor molecules are released from the herbs because the herbs get damaged during boiling, but then they just float to the top of the pot and evaporate – hence the delicious smell and lack of flavor.
If you want to bring the flavors out from the herbs (and other ingredients like paprika and pepper) into something like a pot of gumbo, pitching them in with the roux before adding the stock releases the flavor molecules of herbs into the oil. A roux is a mixture of starch and fat, and it will form a gel when it is added to a stock. The oil, along with any flavor molecules in the oil, gets suspended in the gel network. This gives the dish an extra dimension of flavor that would be lost if you just used herbs in the stock.
This is fascinating and explains a lot. Thank you!!!
Some nice bean recipes here: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/search/label/Soups
I’ve made so many things from his website and they’ve all come out wonderful. Can’t recommend him highly enough.
He is fantastic and I want soup now. Thank you once again.
Glad you like this. His videos are awesome and I love his strangely soothing voice.
More beans from him: http://www.youtube.com/user/foodwishes/videos?query=bean
From the list above, I’ve made cassoulet, sandy beans, bacon and bean ragout, chicken and white bean chili. All of them came out brilliant.