alanamoana

what is a "serious egg professional"? restaurants and such use large eggs.

you might want to consider a combi oven. they offer better control over temperature and time, but i'm not sure about the fan. they also offer very low temperature settings and steam options. very expensive from what i understand, but fully programmable...they can even be used to proof and then switch to bake. i think that "combi" is the type of oven and they're made by "rational"...but i could be confused on that. anyone else?

PatrickS, just a quick question on the gelee...it looks like a rather thick layer to my eye. does the recipe call for that, or is it a matter of personal taste? i feel like (just from seeing, not tasting) that it might cover up the other flavors of the cake and bavarois? what do you think? edited to add: it is beautiful!

you can buy a product called "praline grains" which is caramelized hazelnut bits. i think barry/callebaut manufactures a pretty good one. probably just this item stirred into the ganache gives it that crunch. to do at home, you can buy granulated hazelnuts (chopped and sifted, so you only have the nice even sized bits) and caramelize them... edited to add: cross posted with mrose...what he said.

if you could get the picture from your friend, we might have a better idea. also, this might be more suitable to the savory cooking forum as even though it is called a "pastry" it more than likely isn't sweet. the standard is luobo gao, which i don't think is what your friend is referring to. that is shredded daikon mixed with diced lapchong, dried shrimp, dried mushrooms and a rice flour slurry and steamed. then sliced and fried. usually served at dimsum. then there's the less common luobo-shi-bing, which is shredded daikon, usually cooked with some kind of ham and enclosed in a very flaky pastry and then pan fried until golden. this is likely what your friend was talking about. i'm sure there are other variations depending upon where in china your friend had it. it mentions cheng-du, so i'd have to ask my mom what is popular in that area. you can get little luobo-shi-bing on the street in shanghai, too.

i know it strays from the traditional, but i used to toss in a handful of olive oil roasted garlic cloves (peeled cloves submersed in olive oil and slow roasted in the oven...like a confit) at the end. adds a touch of sweetness.

i had some buttermilk sitting in the fridge waiting to go bad, so i mixed it with some orange zest, orange juice, sugar, corn syrup and a touch of labne (also called kefir cheese...like a cross between yogurt and sour cream) and spun it. a very refreshingly tart creamsicle flavor!

i'm not saying i like curly fries (keeping a picture of them doesn't mean anything, does it?), but i don't think they'll ever be as good as manufactured ones... . i would like to see your attempts! i think the apple peeler thingy would make the fries too skinny, not potato to crust. but if you like 'em crispy, then it's perfect!

Brilliant idea! Should work nicely as long as you don't add anything to the centre that will soften the feuilletine. ← or, you could just add the feuilletine to the tempered milk chocolate and dip the middle in the whole mess. that way, you'd have a crunchy exterior.

you could, if you're not looking for a perfect copy, take the praline (gianduja?) center and roll it in feuilletine, then dip in chocolate?

kris, i'm sorry to see your blog end! i hope you and your kids have a great time the rest of your vacation and have a safe trip home. i'm so envious of your cross-cultural lifestyle and i do hope your kids will appreciate how special they are (and you are, too)!

it's a pretty standard, obviously american-ized, sushi roll. you're right, soft shelled crab with the legs all hanging out, making it look spidery! it used to be one of my favorite rolls, but then it started showing up everywhere and i noticed that the soft shelled crabs most places were using were frozen. if you're paying around $15 (the average price for a spider roll), it had better be fresh, in season, soft shell.

on another tack: food words that make me cringe because they sound like something they aren't...for example, i don't like "clafoutis" because it sounds like some sort of infection. "I have a bad case of clafoutis, it's got me itchin' real bad"

hey emma, i'm still not working...i could drive to reno! edited to add: CONGRATU-EFFIN'-LATIONS! it sounds like it could be fun. you should ask m.c. what he'd do...but he never shares info, dammit!

or dumbing down?

yeah, pastry cream is "oven safe" that's why it is used in choux...often it is filled and then dipped in the hot caramel (when making croquembouche) so you need a filling that won't degrade with the heat.

i should probably post this in the hawaii thread, but there hasn't been much action there lately. aside from honolulu chocolate company, are there any good, high-quality chocolatiers in hawaii that you know of? considering moving back there one day (my parents live in aiea)...this could be a good business idea? i haven't even had any chocolate from hcc lately, so i don't know what their quality is compared to some mainland chocolatiers. but with no competition, how would anyone know?! i love hawaii, but sometimes...

could you use dextrose? in the paco torreblanca book, he notes that dextrose "improves the texture of ice-creams. It enhances aroma and flavor...It reduces the freezing time of ice-creams" i realize you're making a sorbet (and a savory one, at that) so you don't want added sweetness, so i don't know if dextrose, atomized glucose or even an invert sugar like trimoline would work better, depending on the inherent sweetness of each product. i'm sure you've thought of all of these options, but just in case good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Hi Suzy, I think, though I could be mistaken, Joseph Schmidt (along with Scharffenberger) was purchased by Hershey. Nice descriptions of everything! Sounds like you had a great trip and got to see a lot. Lucky you made it out before the temp went up. My friend lives in St. Helena and it was 116 or something scary like that, the other day. edited to add: Article on Joseph Schmidt Buyout, if you're interested.

maybe pack them in olive oil? then freeze them? the oil will pick up a lot of great flavor from the tomatoes and herbs or garlic that you seasoned with and would be great as a dip for bread as well...

he can cook, but not in a restaurant anymore. i'm sure he wouldn't want to when the money isn't there and besides, who would back him now that he's been sued by chodorow? it's too bad, because before the stylists and everything i heard he was one of the great ones.

the quotes above come from an article on the epicurious website. i realize that this isn't the place to discuss health or other matters, but if you're eating a three course prix fix menu, even with "stinkin' small" portions, you're probably eating plenty for one meal. a three ounce portion of pig might seem small compared to other restaurants, but i for one am happy to leave without feeling over full. of course, if the discussion is only about price and perceived value, unfortunately, that's just restaurants. you can't just pile food on a plate and call it a day. you're paying for labor and hopefully, high quality ingredients.

I *was* wondering if that is what was meant and so gave the subcategories in the Kaffehause cookbook. Just to be clear, as you can see from the headings, the book has pastry recipes but does not focus on them alone. Thanks for the recommendatin, alanamoana! ← it's ironic, because when i tell people i'm a pastry chef, they don't seem to understand that it means i mostly make plated desserts. but when people talk about pastry (as in this topic) people assume desserts instead of viennoiserie. ah well...it's all in the translation i guess. i think the austrians are probably pretty good at viennoiserie, right?

well, my husband is a physicist (who always teases his best friend who got a degree in electrical engineering...you know how physicists can be) and my grandpa worked for nasa, so maybe we can help make up your mind, hehehe Nancy Silverton and Mark Peel used to be married. They opened Campanile and she started La Brea Bakery. Also, she has a book (aside from a bread one) called "Desserts from La Brea Bakery". She's a pretty highly regarded pastry chef.

i have a feeling cakedecorator1968 is looking for books on viennoiserie. please correct me if i'm wrong. there are probably a lot of professional/french books on this subject. check out this book. is this more of what you're looking for? the authors of this book i think have written other books as well.