alanamoana

I know I don't have to tell you to check out BryanZ's foodblog of a week or so ago. He traveled the same route you'll be taking, more or less. I know some people might say it is criminal to not eat at the French Laundry, but even though I haven't eaten there, I would take the money and eat at three other restaurants which might be more worthwhile. Call me criminal . If you can go to Julia's Kitchen at Copia in Napa, just go for desserts. I know you have a sweet tooth and I feel the pastry chef is the BEST (I'm biased as she's a good friend and mentor). p.s. What will you be studying in grad school? Caltech is pretty serious math/sci... Check out this thread to get familiar with Palo Alto... More to come as I think it over.

tracey, glad to see you made it home okay! too bad about the deer ... the ride to newfoundland is pretty fun! did that last year. now we're on the west coast and getting ready to ride the pacific coast highway sometime soon. lots more food out here, i hope! there's only so much fish-n-chips you can eat (canada)

steve, i had to laugh and immediately tell my husband this story as we were "regulars" with atomic wing delivery. this never happened to us, but we do agree that their wings are really good. an even better greasy meal is when you order the seasoned waffle fries and order extra blue cheese and horseradish sauce (which, unfortunately, it seems they changed the recipe to)!!! good luck with four pounds of old water logged carrot and celery sticks! edited to add: every time a post like this pops up, the homesickness sets in. no good hot wings in cupertino!

i have a feeling the reason he leaves the chocolate cheesecake in the pan is so that when you pour the ganache on top, it doesn't ooze down the side. it's a matter of aesthetics. but you can do what k8 said, chill both cakes so that they're firm (i wouldn't freeze, there's no real need to do that), pour the ganache on the chocolate one, then unmold the pumpkin one on top. chill again and then unmold the whole thing when it is all firm and stuck together.

Alan, I think its more the other way around... Japan has always had really serious junk food, and they are influencing our trends in snacks more than anything else. ← i actually lived in japan for three years back in the 80's on a u.s. military base (yokota-kichi, kris you might know it). i understand japanese "snack" culture pretty well...but overall, these snack-type things weren't how people ate at home (from what i remember). special occasions and such. not like in the u.s where junk/fast food constitutes an entire meal. often three meals a day. from what i can see in china, it is really changing how people eat on a day to day basis and now that it has been 20+ years (maybe 30+) since the first mcdonalds opened in japan, i'm wondering how people are eating.

torakris, i'm always interested in westerners, especially like you who grew up in a very "american" area, who end up living in asia. as far as this can apply to food, how did this happen for you? your kids are so cute (hapa kids are the cutest...i can say that 'cause i'm a hapa too ). how americanized is your husband? it seems that you have assimilated very well into japanese culture and you say your children speak better japanese than english, do you have any plans to return to the united states to live? it is a very different profile than say fellow eGulleteer bryanz who just finished his blog a week ago and is half japanese (his mother) and was raised in the states. i realize this is more sociological than food related, but it is so interesting. as much as it can relate to food and how your cooking differs from japan and the united states, with all of the american junk food infiltrating foreign countries, do you find that the japanese diet has changed significantly? are people less healthy? can you do a bit of comparison/contrast?

based on some places you like in ny and boston, you might like this place for a casual lunch: coco500 website review of coco500 of course, for ethnic...good mexican in the mission just can't be beat! it's been a while since i've been back up there, so i don't have names except my down and dirty favorite "el farolito"...i'm sure others have better ideas. banh mi can be found on irving street in the inner sunset...and really good pho.

they had it at the d'agostino on york ave. when i lived there (earlier this year). i loooove my frank's red hot.

other night: chips with pico de gallo and guacamole last night: melanzanisalata, tsatsiki, pita chips and wurst-salat nice to not cook...

i've read somewhere on this board that crisco butter flavored sticks are a decent sub for butter in some cases as well. don't know if it is any better than fleishmans, but you could give it a try for some other recipes maybe. also, i have a recipe for a chocolate mayonnaise cake that is really good (like a devil's food cake). the batter for that is really thin, but it bakes up nice and spongey and delicious. there's no dairy in it as the liquid is just water.

a lot of eGulleteers also swear by pichet ong's pate a choux recipe. there's a thread on it here in the pastry forum...here it is. have fun and remember that all of us will have different ideas about what you should start learning, but just remember to take your time and have fun doing it so you don't get frustrated, regardless of what you make!

i'm with kerry on this one. i've never had trouble whipping any kind of cream. you can even whip creme fraiche...

chili with a pork chop...that's a little odd and un-german, eh? i hope your last meal in town is a good one. the weather has been a bit unbearable, but not as humid as hotlanta, right?

doesn't this kind of piss you off? the plumber didn't say that you had to clean the grease trap and he's charging you an arm and a leg to snake every few weeks...hmmmm...even if it is a different plumber, it's a total scam that they don't make any connection between the drains clogging and the grease trap not being cleaned out. gah! and yes, you do have to empty it, not add more stuff.

i second what k8 said, but it might be difficult to mask with whipped cream if you plan on transporting them to give to people...a bit perishable. because it is german, whipped cream with quark or even creme fraiche and mask the cake, sliced toasted almonds around the sides. i might have turned the cakes upside down and then wrapped in marzipan. that way, you're dealing with a smooth top and sides until you get to the topping which would now be the base. then you could just 10X the top after wrapping the sides in marzipan. edited to add: to be very martha stewart-like, you could find some really nice complementary tissue paper and wrap it all around the sides and allow it to blossom above (like you did with the marzipan, only taller, to hide the rustic edges) and tie with a wide ribbon. that way, it looks festive. you can then 10x the top.

yes, i would start it at a higher temp and finish at a lower temp. all depends on your oven though. it's just the way it is with phyllo. a dessert we did was using dried fruits (this was for autumn and winter) that were moistened with a flavored tea...because the fruit was dried and the mix wasn't too wet you could bake the hell out of it and they were crispy and dark. eventually, though, the bottoms would sog out...but not for quite some time after being baked. anyway, both of your desserts looked and sounded good anyway! you could always bake the cheesecake with a traditional crust and then bake little circles or piles of kataifi (shredded phyllo) that has been tossed with butter, sugar and maybe cinnamon or some other spice and top the cheesecake with this as a garnish when serving. that way you get the crunch without the sog!

i often find that people are afraid to bake their phyllo items until actually done (dark golden brown). if it isn't too delicate of a batter, i would start the oven off at a higher temperature to set the filling so the liquid doesn't leach out into the phyllo. then bake until finished. also, if you're baking inside of a mold, you'll notice the color difference between what is exposed and what isn't. of course, this is all personal preference. taking a look at the picture of the banana dessert you posted, i would say that the inner layers of phyllo are actually still raw. maybe baking a little longer could help in avoiding a soggy bottom.

what about western beef? they often have latin ingredients. there's one at 62nd and west end i think.

most restaurants that i've worked in have had a service come to clean out the grease traps like once a month or something like that. this could end up costing you just as much as the snaking. of course if you can get your own people to clean out the trap (a really disgusting and unfair job if you ask me...i'm the kind of person that doesn't want any of my employees to have to do anything that i wouldn't do myself...and i wouldn't clean out the grease trap, i just don't get paid enough) then it wouldn't matter.

in what way? according to the french laundry web site: "The French word "bouchon" describes a particular style of cafe that has existed in the province of Lyon for centuries. Bouchon, opened in 1998, lives up to this designation, offering authentic French bistro fare of a quality not to be found elsewhere in the United States." from what i can see, at least in the united states, bistro and brasserie are terms used interchangeably to mean a relatively casual french restaurant serving some common food items like: steak frites, frisse salad, french onion soup, etc. i haven't eaten at left bank (but my husband has), and we have both eaten at bouchon...i think they fall into the same category as restaurants like balthazar, l'express, etc. that you can find in nyc. just because it is thomas keller, doesn't mean it can't be compared to other restaurants of the same ilk. and to be honest, i didn't find the service, food or atmosphere so rarefied at bouchon (unlike the french laundry, i'm sure) that it could be held above left bank to the degree of a comparison being "apples and oranges"... to beat a dead horse, their menus are very similar and they are both multi-location endeavors.

second this suggestion, but i would also try a simple custard like creme brulee or creme anglaise early on as well. any recipe that only has a few ingredients is something you should work on because it seems so simple but the process is what is important. learning how the ingredients look and feel throughout the measuring, mixing and cooking process will help you when you move on to more complicated recipes. i think the title of gale gand's book "butter sugar flour eggs" says it all! i don't have the book, but pastry really is about these basic ingredients. know how to use them well and you should be set.

tupac, i just saw this on the dinner thread and now i come here and it's on the dessert thread...damn you for torturing me! i think shortcake is one of the best desserts when done well...and yours are just perfect!;

find out if your ovens at work have been calibrated lately. could be a temperature/time thing related to the oven. also, make sure your leavening isn't a hundred years old. even though you work in a restaurant, some things just don't get rotated correctly or used as often as others.

thanks for taking my post with a grain (or two) of salt! unfortunately, there are decent restaurants here, but i don't think there is much that is great. actually, if you like steak, alexander's steakhouse is pretty darn good. i would say on the level with new york steakhouses. just avoid the desserts. their menu concept is a little different as they sort of fuse the steakhouse concept with high end sushi...haven't tried the sushi though. but i have seen lots of japanese and other asian businessmen eating there. edited to add: for what it's worth, the left bank would probably have been a decent choice if you like french bistro style food. i don't think that it is much lower on the scale than bouchon in yountville.

from the "what's for dessert" thread