merstar

That's what I've been looking for forever. I want to do a homemade cheesecake like the ones I used to get at the Carnegie Deli in NYC - they fit your description exactly. Mine (the traditional ones, that is), always come out too creamy for my taste. The bittersweet chocolate ones, however, come out with a firmer texture, still creamy but firmer.

Favorites: Sauteed Garlic and/or onions, chocolate anything, cinnamon anything, orange anything, curry anything, fresh brewed espresso.

Rye with seeds, buttered on outside only. Equal amounts Swiss Gruyere and extra sharp cheddar, layered twice with large tomato slice in between. Browned on both sides in buttered nonstick skillet, then covered until cheese is melted.

Thanks, Ted. That's good to know about the El Rey - I never cared for any of their chocolates when I tasted them out of hand, so luckily I never worked with them. Now as far as Scharffen Berger is concerned, I love the taste of their bittersweet chocolate, so I'll continue to use it, but either melt it first or use a stick blender. I've actually never had any problems melting it over a double boiler - the only problem I had was in this case, ie, trying to melt it with the hot cream with too little liquid to begin with. By the way, I made the Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream again, but used unsweetened chocolate, which I melted first. It came out great. Next time I'll try the SB bittersweet again, and hopefully will have a stick blender to use by then!

Thanks a lot for the info, Fred. Sounds like a great little gadget!

Thanks for the tips, Steve. "Also, the Fine Cooking folks, in general, are well-meaning but just not that knowledgeable or experienced--there's no inherent problem with this "recipe." Actually, there are many professional chefs and pastry chefs who hang out at the Fine Cooking Forum. FWIW, none of the FC gang said the recipe was "flawed," - that was my own choice of words, since I felt from the beginning that Medrich's instructions were off about the small amount of hot liquid to initially add to the chocolate. Unfortunately, I didn't follow my own knowledge and instincts - and it was VERY late at night and I was tired - I should know better than to do anything when I'm that tired! "(I'd also recommend you don't put your warm chocolate custard mixture in the fridge as Medrich advises--better to get in the habit of cooling down all your custard-based ice creams first in an ice water bath.)" Thanks, I usually do use an ice bath, but didn't even have a chance to get to that step with this recipe - it was already history.

I agree - we always used a stick blender on our chocolate ice cream in school. Unlike a ganache, there is such a high ratio of liquid to chocolate that it's really the only way to get the mixture completely incorporated. Do not use an electric mixer. This will incorporate way too much air and the beaters don't actually spin fast enough to do the job that a blender would. Actually, now that I re-look at the recipe, I can see that Medrich is trying to get you to make a ganache-like mixture first with the smaller amount of hot liquid before adding the rest. This should work as long as you make sure the mixture is very smooth before adding more liquid. I would use a whisk rathar than a spatual, and when you pour the initial amount of hot liquid over the chocolate, let it sit for a couple minutes to let the heat melt the chocolate before stirring. You could also melt, or patially melt the chocolate in the microwave beforehand as suggested above. But it sounds like a work around for an audience that might not have a stick blender at home. Thanks, Neil. I guess I should be looking into getting a stick blender. As I asked Fred, what are the benefits in using a stick blender instead of an electric?

Thanks, Fred. Question: Why is a stick blender preferable to a regular blender?

Thanks for the suggestion. How about an electric mixer instead of a blender?

Okay, thanks again, Anne!

It was beyond help, ie, straining. It just never incorporated and was very thin.

NO, it did not taste oily or grainy. It actually tasted great.

To foolcontrol and FWED: The chocolate I used was Scharffen Berger 70%. I love the taste of this chocolate, but do you think I should forget about using it altogether or simply melt it first as Anne suggested?

Ok......so I'm figuring it this way: Your mixture is at approximately 175 to 180 degrees. You strain the mixture into a bowl then stir in vanilla. It's probably cooled a good amount in this process. Then you add it to your chopped chocolate which cools it further. There probably wasn't enough residual heat at that point to melt all of your chocolate. That's my guess anyway. So I say, why not just melt the chocolate and add your hot cream mixture to it? Then you don't have to worry about the heat of the cream mixture melting all of your chocolate. That's the ticket! Anne, Thanks! That's EXACTLY what I'm going to do next time!

I posted this over at the Fine Cooking forum also, and the consensus is that there wasn't enough hot cream initially added to the chocolate, which is simply due to flawed instructions. Medrich says "Pour just enough of the hot cream mixture over the chocolate to cover it. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is thick and smooth. Gradually add the rest of the cream mixture, stirring until perfectly blended and smooth." Most think it would have been better to add about 1/2 - 3/4 of the cream immediately. In addition, I'm not sure whether letting it sit a few minutes, then stirring it, OR stirring right away after adding the hot liquid makes any difference in melting chocolate, but I definitely believe the too-small amount of hot cream screwed it up in this case.

Well, I attempted to make Alice Medrich's Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream last night, and my chocolate wouldn't melt. I'm so pissed off - I had to throw the whole thing in the garbage. I followed the directions exactly - it said to heat the custard to 175-180 F, then pour over the chopped chocolate, and mix till melted. The chocolate didn't blend completely and left lots of specks after stirring for several minutes, and of course the mixture didn't become thick. This specks were not hard lumps, but they were still specks and stayed separated from the cream mixture, leaving the texture thin. I checked my candy thermometer for accuracy and it is indeed 100 % accurate. So what the *%_^*_$^)!!&(* happened? Is 175-180F not hot enough a temperature to melt chocolate?! I've used this method before with scalded cream and it usually works - can't figure out why it didn't this time. After stirring for awhile with no results, I tried to heat it a little over a double boiler and it still didn't blend. I used one of Medrich's variations (she includes several at the end of the original recipe, which I omitted here), and did 6 oz of 70% bittersweet chocolate with 1/2 cup sugar instead of the 3 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate with 3/4 cup sugar. Note: my chocolate was at room temperature, and I chopped it into very small pieces so it wasn't overly coarse. Here's the recipe: BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM Makes about 3 1/2 cups INGREDIENTS: 3 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped 1 1/2 c. heavy cream 1 1/2 c. whole milk 3/4 c. granulated sugar 1/8 tsp. salt 4 large egg yolks 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract Set a strainer over a medium bowl near the stove. Put the chocolate in a medium bowl next to it. In a 1 1/2 qt - 2 qt. saucepan, bring the cream, milk, sugar and salt to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a third medium bowl, whisk the yolks just to combine them. Whisking constantly, pour the hot cream mixture slowly over the yolks. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over mdium heat, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens slightly and registers between 175 and 180 degrees F. Strain the mixture into the waiting bowl to remove any bits of cooked egg. Stir in the vanilla. Pour just enough of the hot cream mixture over the chocolate to cover it. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is thick and smooth. Gradually add the rest of the cream mixture, stirring until perfectly blended and smooth. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Freeze according to the instructions for your ice-cream maker.

I know this won't help you now, but the mixture needs to "bloom" at least 24 hours in the refrigerator, (so the proteins can relax or something to that effect), before adding to the ice cream maker. Otherwise, ice crystals will form. Hope you can fix it with the sodium alginate!

I did the Sicilian Chocolate Gelato, which is also posted on the Scharffen Berger site. It's delicious and deep chocolatey, if you use Scharffen Berger cocoa, that is. I tried it another time with part SB and part Hershey's, (only because I was out of SB), and it definitely wasn't as good. The extra added benefit is that it's pretty lowfat. A few notes: This gelato has a texture more like ice cream than gelato. Also, it didn't make a quart as the recipe indicated, more like a pint or a pint and a half. I did a few things differently than the recipe stated. Instead of pouring the mixture into a bowl, cooling, and then covering with plastic and chilling, I first strained it into a bowl, then covered with plastic wrap immediately to prevent a skin from forming - I also jabbed some holes into the plastic to let the steam escape. I cooled on the counter until lukewarm, then chilled about 32 hours before processing in the ice cream maker.

I've heard nothing but raves about the vanilla beans from Vanilla International. Many people on the Fine Cooking forum have recommended this company, and call the owner the "Vanilla Man." His beans are supposed to be of the highest quality and very reasonably priced. Here's the link: http://stores.ebay.com/Vanilla-Internation...genameZl2QQtZkm

What you are missing is what most people miss at first, as I did awhile back, and that is the fact that Watkins Madagascar Vanilla is NOT an extract. If you look at their site, you'll see the name of their vanilla does not include the word "extract." To be considered an extract, the product needs at least 35 % alcohol; Watkins has much less alcohol, plus other stuff that's not in vanilla extracts. So while their Madagascar is not an imitation vanilla, since it is indeed from Madagascar Vanilla beans, it is also not an extract. It does however, contain some other artificial ingredients that they do not list on their site. I did some research last year, and could find NOTHING about their ingredients. I e-mailed a Watkins rep and he apparently sent me the ingredients - I say apparently, because a few were missing from his list. I only found that out, because an Internet acquaintance posted the entire list for me right from her own bottle. They were not the same as for vanilla extract, which is simply water, sugar, alcohol, and vanilla bean extractives. The Watkins has some "fortified ingredients. I didn't like the fact that their rep omitted the full list of ingredients. What was he hiding? Meanwhile, I actually saved the list of the Watkins ingredients and here they are: water, corn syrup, propylene glycol, vanilla extract (alcohol, water, extractive of vanilla beans), alcohol (8.25%), artificial flavors, caramel color. Here's some info about Watkins from http://www.homebiz-online.com/watkins_vanilla.htm Why is Watkins Vanilla "imitation"? Pure vanilla extract, by law, must be made with at least 13.35 ounces of vanilla bean per gallon of liquid, and must contain at least 35% alcohol by volume. Imitation vanilla extract is any vanilla that contains other than natural vanilla flavors. Watkins Vanilla has a very low alcohol level (8.25%), which makes it more heat-resistant than pure vanilla. Unlike most "imitation" vanilla, Watkins starts with the best Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans. Once the extract is "brewed," it is fortified with ingredients that make the flavor bake-proof, freeze-proof, and double-strength.

Broiled wild Alaskan salmon with lime, cumin, and a chili powder mix with cinnamon; served with brown basmati rice and green beans tossed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Dark Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with whipped cream for dessert.

While shopping for dinner near a friend's house in Columbia MD, I saw an Omaha steaks store. Went in, bought a few NY strips. Horrible. I've never had such a WET steak. I had to pat them as dry as I could with a ton of paper towels, and they still came out with this awful texture. I could have done better had I bought a plain old strip at a plain old supermarket. I agree, they suck. I tried them for the first (and last) time a few years ago -bought their filet mignons locally. Cooked them as per usual, medium rare on the rare side, and they were TOUGH! I went back to the store and complained and they actually gave me a refund. I rarely eat red meat, but when I do, I expect it to be excellent.

There are several different Lindt bittersweet bars on the market, each with a different cocoa percentage. Which one did you buy? The two most bittersweet are the Lindt Excellence 85% and 70%, each sells for about $2.99 for a 3 1/2 oz bar. These are top quality and very bittersweet, with the 85% one obviously being the more bitter of the two. BTW, Scharffen Berger also makes an excellent 70% bittersweet bar.

Good idea!

More ideas: Orange curd, chicken or salmon with orange/ginger sauce, orange syrup for crepes or French toast, orange French toast, orange bread....