alanamoana

You don't even need to pop the balloons to remove the molded bowl. If you don't over inflate the balloons to start out with, you should be able to squeeze them a little to remove the chocolate. Probably better not to pop them anyway as it could crack your bowl.

i think slicing the fruit very thin helps, then cooking at a fairly high temperature to start helps to dry out the fruit (and make the pastry puff/crisp). then you can turn the oven down a bit to finish cooking everything.

they make food grade cellophane that you usually see in bag form (cello bags) that people use to package large cookies or candies. at any rate, they sell it in sheets or on rolls or even cut into individual squares that we used to use to wrap nougat and soft caramels at work. it looks nice and professional. the transparent cello is also very aesthetically pleasing.

they sell fromage blanc (also called fromage frais) at ideal cheese. it comes in 200g (8oz+/-) tubs and they have it in plain and strawberry. they get deliveries usually once a week, but call first and make sure they have it. they are located around 52nd and 1st ave, but i could be off by a block or two.

office supply stores are also full of things to use. there are plastic index dividers for three ring binders that are great. they aren't very expensive and they are very easy to cut with an exacto knife. they are also relatively flexible (thinner than plastic lids, no edges to cut off). remember to look for the all plastic variety, not just plastic tabs . there are also commercial plastics stores that sell acetate or plastic sheets in varying thicknesses which are a little more expensive. here in new york's chinatown, there's a great place called "canal plastics" which my boss has used to make plastic frames for pate de fruit and ganaches. the recipe is calculated to exactly fill the acrylic frame and we have a guitar to cut them with just about no waste at all. canal plastics can make almost anything you ask for and they're relatively reasonable. i think the frames were a little expensive, but the amount of money you save on waste more than makes up for it over time.

the actual "buffer" is a sander. it's just your regular makita brand sander.

cafe gray isn't open for lunch...yet dinner is from 5:30 to 11pm monday through saturday. i'm not sure if they're open later on the weekends. you can eat a full meal in the bar if you like. there is a bar "snack" menu, but i'm pretty sure you can get the full menu without a problem.

it's open........

how about a little "new green bo"? their xiaolong bao beat joe's shanghai easily imo.

interesting bit in new york times dining out section today...some restaurant is inviting the public in to PAY!!!! for employee staff meal on thursdays between 4:45 and 6pm. needless to say, i'm sure it isn't the same swill they make from friday to wednesday! since where i'm working right now is not open, we have the luxury of time in creating our staff meals. it has been pretty amazing as i'm working with a lot of talented cooks. i know that will change quickly once the restaurant is up and running so i'm gaining my weight now and i'll forego family (meal) once we're open.

in any situation like this, it is best for you to call the restaurant well ahead of your reservation (or while you're making your reservation) and ask them all of these questions. inform them of your health concerns (as if you were dealing with an allergy or something like that). i'm sure they would be happy to accommodate you. the key is to give them this information ahead of time, NOT when you show up at the restaurant. it is amazing to me how many people show up at a restaurant on a busy weekend night at 8pm when the kitchen is slammed and then decide to deal with staff regarding their 20 different food allergies/eating issues. if the kitchen is forewarned, they can be prepared to deliver you the dining experience you are expecting with little fuss or bother.

i'm sure i've caused all sorts of trouble at my old job, but when we got the new hobart (60qt? or bigger), i hated it because i couldn't add ingredients while it was mixing. so, i had the construction workers (still working on the restaurant at the time) cut a couple of the wires away from the cage so i had a little hole where I could add/pour ingredients through without messing with the safety features in a more agressive way. i'm sure if hobart came along to do any repair work, it would void the warranty, but let's be realistic and know that most places won't hire the actual company to do the work in the first place.

today, as my boss and i were tediously picking the stems out of a pile of frozen huckleberries, he repeatedly asked "where are my commis?!?" for those of you not in the restaurant industry, "commis" (i hope that's spelled correctly, it is a french word pronounced coe-mee) equals "kitchen slave". that's the best automatic cherry pitter you'll find!

haha!

Ate at NY Burger Co this afternoon. Definitely better than "fast food" like McDonald's but I would have to agree with bpearis that the BJ burger is much better. My s.o. and I ordered two burgers, both cooked medium, and ended up with one rare and one well done. S.o. commented that even with his burger undercooked, there wasn't any real "juiciness" to it. I would agree that the burger was rather bland and flavorless. I still champion the BJ burger as an all around good burger on the level of In-n-Out. If considering price, the NY Burger Co. is a deal for portion size. (probably for the other thread, but to consolidate)... Went to the Shake Shack after NY Burger Co to try a custard or concrete. Was disappointed that they only had hot fudge, caramel and mint cookie as toppings/mix-ins. I have no real experience in the "custard" arena so didn't know what to expect. It seemed to be rather like a shake in consistency and overall too sweet for my taste. The burgers that I saw being made were rather puny and although cheap, didn't come with any toppings at all...I guess you have to build your own burger at a premium. I remember FG writing that the employees are from Washington Irving High School, but it seemed to me that most of the kids working there today were standard middle class Manhattanites. It looked like a stand at a beach where the kids work for the summer. Disorganized and messy in my opinion without much management going on. I realize it is just a stand in a park, but I guess I have high expectations when it comes to Danny Meyer and the USHG.

i'm sure someone else is more qualified to answer this than i am, but it is craftsmanship that dictates some of the price. a japanese knife that is being made by a 20th generation knife maker using samurai sword making techniques could warrant the $2000 price tag. i have a friend who has a $5,000 japanese knife. for myself, spending much more than $100 on a knife is overkill. i'd get a perfectly serviceable knife with a decent edge and lifespan, particularly since i'm able to maintain it. also, some of these knives are meant for specific foods. you do need a special knife when you're carving up some fugu edited to add: korin does give industry discounts at about 10% off regular price. i had them change a knife from right handed to left handed for me and the main sharpening guy didn't charge me for that. normally, a left handed knife costs 50% more than a regular knife off the shelf.

anybody have any thoughts as to where agar agar or other gelatin based products belong in this discussion?!

Hi everyone. I'm here in New York City and had the pleasure of meeting Chuck Furuya, D.K. Kodama and Hiroshi Fukui while they were in town for the "City Meals on Wheels" charity event. They talked about their new venture on Maui, "Vino" and also the soon to be "Sansei Steakhouse". What do locals think of their restaurant group/empire?! When I was home last summer, I went to Maui for a couple of days and happened to end up at Sansei (can't remember which location) and they had a great kama'aina special...50% off between 5:30 and 6:00pm. We were wondering why there was such a long line out front! Was pretty good too, but a little too much fried stuff. So, I'm just checking in on the local scene. Aloha, alana

although it isn't a true "almond milk" it certainly isn't an ice cream. maybe almond flavored ice milk should be the proper name as the recipe includes: milk, honey, almonds. hope that cleared this up

if you read the menu it is "frozen almond milk"...not ice cream, thus the texture.

this runs up the thread a bit, but it goes with the dirty piping bag thought. do any of you have a budget for disposables? you can fill several disposable bags with your buttercream or whatever you're icing with and tie them with plastic wrap "string". then you can have one clean bag with your tip in it. clip one of your disposable bags and drop it into your clean bag with tip and pipe away. when you're out, just pull out the disposable bag and throw it away and drop in a new bag. clean and easy. hope that helps.

tom, acetate is a thick gauge plastic, but not for wrapping. it is shiny, clear and can be purchased in sheets or strips. the sheets are great for glossy surfaced chocolate work and the strips are mostly used to wrap around cakes, mousses etc. to keep the sides clean and perfectly smooth. if you buy pastries at a fancy bakery, you'll sometimes see acetate on the outside of their cakes. you should post a query or pm chocophile with regard to "etching" chocolate. he has some amazing products that he showed us at this year's chocolate show...something like a cameo broach but using an actual photograph and somehow translating that picture onto a piece of white chocolate...hold it up to the light and it is actually transluscent...like a watermark. very interesting application.

forgot to ask, if they have pecan sandies where you live, do they still have "lemon coolers"?

they do have fudge covered oreos (and "white" fudge covered oreos) but i don't think they've yet hit on the fudge-covered-vanilla-oreos...don't worry, i'm sure it will happen soon

why would the home cook need this stuff? if you need invert sugar, use: honey, glucose, corn syrup, etc. the professionals are using this to make products shelf stable either baked or frozen. there are also many professionals who don't use this stuff at all and seem to get by with a pretty superior product.