challah-baker

Well, we got "snowed in" which in North Carolina means anything over 1/4 inch, so with hot cocoa in mind I tried making marshmallows using coffee instead of water and Lyle's golden syrup instead of corn syrup and mixing some unsweetened cocoa in with the confectioner's sugar for dusting. Yummy.

I have three now, and like them. I have a fluted bundt pan, a mini-fluted brioche and a heart shaped mini-cake pan. Even though they are "non-stick" you still have to butter/flour them pretty well. I made heart shaped mini-chocolate cakes for V-Day and they were a big hit. I use butter/cocoa on the bundt pan for a chocolate bundt cake. The only one I am not totally happy with is the brioche. It didn't brown nicely. Of course, since they are flexible you have to be pretty careful. Obviously you need to put them on a sheet pan before you pour in your batter. The nice thing is that for delicate shapes like hearts, they unmold very easily. I made 3 dozen heart cakes and they all looked perfect.

Not likely. Sam Sifton is the editor of the section. He is my favorite writer they have, but it would be a step backward. Although, if he wanted the job I am sure he could have it.

I am reading: Several back issues of Gastronomica (I bought myself a complete set as a present after settling a 4-year old lawsuit. Whopeee!) Bittersweet by Medrich Home Baking byAlford and Duguid Of course, this brings up the culinary equivalent of "fish or cut bait". Do I read or do I bake now?

Try this. It is a compromise between the dry kind and the custard kind. 3 cups half and half (or whole milk) 3 eggs 1 cup sugar (additional for sprinkling on top) 1 TBS vanilla 1 tsp. cinnamom 1 tsp nutmeg Beat together in large bowl Then put: 5 cups cubed day old challah 1 cup raisins into a 2.5 liter buttered souffle dish Pour custard mixture over bread. Let soak for 1/2 hour or so. Bake in a 350 degree over for 45 minutes or so. Sprinkle additionalo sugar on top after about half and hour. Mexican pilloncillo works very well for the top.

A digital scale! Yes Yes Yes. I agree. It does make all the difference. And for breads, a baking stone. Nice for pies too! Oh, and a good oven thermometer, preferably a mercury one. A heavy duty stand mixer (5 or 6 quart) makes life easier

OK, can you recommend a source for Cacao Barry's Single Origin line?

I have had pretty good luck using the 70% as a ganache for inside truffles. The difference in price is admittedly a major attraction, but it melts OK, blends well with the butter and cream, cools off and shapes nicely, and tastes very nice. I made a much larger batch than I could have afforded to with the Valhrona Manjari 64% I have been using recently because it costs 33% of what the Valhrona does. Now I should say the last time I was in Austria there was a little chocolate store than sold chocolate bars that were from single source cocoa beans. All from the same farm or region. Now I would love to experiment cooking with those...

What would the affectt be of substituting either maple syrup or golden syrup for the corn syrup called for in some receipes (like those from the LA Times)? Is there something particular in the chemical make up of corn syrup that other sugar syrups don't have?

Panzanella is OK, but they can be inconsistent, both in food and service. Service ranges from friendly and competent to surly and inept. Especially if you bring kids, which one would expect would be welcome in a restaurant owned by a food co-op. (It is owned by Weaver Street) Some of the wait-staff act like they have never seen a child before and get visibly flusstered when they see them at the table. Sometimes they clear your plate before you are finished eating if you aren't on guard. The breads are great, if you come earlier in the day you can watch them bake. The pizzas are tasty. They have several selections usually for vegans. They also have several nice fish selections. Inconsistency is the key though. I have ordered the mahi-mahi and it was cooked to perfection and then the next time it is overcooked. The menu changes frequently.

I recommend making your own. Making your own truffles is very easy. I have been dabbling in making truffles for awhile and just bought an 5KG block of Callebaut from choclatesource.com to use a base. It really wows people when you say they are homemade

I like Sam Sifton the best of all the NYT writers, but for him it would kind of be a step backwards. Still though, who else would write "in a sauce that could only be described as yucky" in the NYT. Then again, R.W. Apple might want to spend more time in New York...

I have used a Silpat with several different types of cookies including molasses. ginger, oatmeal and chocoloate chip with fine results. I have been using it on a standard half-sheet pan on the floor of a Hearthkit so I assume that the direct heat I am getting might make a difference, but they brown and spread nicely.

Yeah, I have heard some of the other branches of this chain are good. Hopefully they will get this branch together. I'm glad to hear there is hope!

No, no, no! Just plain, please!

Well, I can say where the worst meal, well meals actually I have eaten recently in the Triangle were. The new Penang in Chapel Hill. (The N&O review was too nice in my view, although they were spot on about the plastic water glasses. Any restaurant with main courses running over $20.00 should do better) If I had to sum it up I would write "Mediocre food marred by inept service". First, the restaurant is cold, really cold. Most of the patrons on both of my visits were wearing their coats through most of the meal. One woman at the next table had her scarf and hat. Some of the appetizers were OK, I guess. My companions loved the roti (a Malaysian pancake) but I didn't care for it. I was outvoted there. Some of the Chinese style appetizers were nice, but standard. The restaurant was crowded, but the service was very slow and it took a few tries to get water. The main course however was, too put it bluntly, awful. We tried the shrimp in a Thai Chili sauce. The shrimp were overcooked to the point of being dried out and rubbery and came in a sauce, as the NYT's Sam Sifton once said, that can only be described as yucky. When we pointed this out to our server, he went and got the manager. The manager arrived and told me that the dish tasted good! I said that it tasted off. She said that the chef used shrimp paste in the sauce and I probably hadn't had it before. I told her that I had been cooking with shrimp paste since I was 11 and I am in my 40's. (This is actually true BTW, a long story so never mind) And then she said her chef must use it differently then I did. At this point I told her she was losing big points for arguing. She then left. We finished what was left of our appetizers and she returns saying she talked to the chef and he was willing to cook something else but by this point we had lost our appetite so we just wanted the check. The check arrived with the shrimp on it, plus they charged for the rice! That is OK too, I guess but the server didn't tell us when he asked us which kind of rice we wanted. Well anyway, my wife really really loved the roti so we went back again. This time the restaurant was even colder than before. I know it has been cold lately, but... The roti was still delicious (my wife said) but my pan friend dumplings left a lot to be desired. The noodle covering was fine, but the meat filling was a hard dried out little ball that filled maybe a quarter of the pocket it sat it. Perhaps made a central commisary and frozen? (Penang is a chain after all. One of my fellow diners on the first visit had eaten at the one in NY and said it was good.) For a main course we had the lamb chops in a chily sauce. The sauce was nice, but the lamb chops were incinerated beyond recognition. And it took 20 minutes to get water. I was actually very excited when I saw the signs for it when it was under construction. From the name I was expecting a fusion of Chinese and Malaysian since Penang is the capital of the heavily Chinese populate region in Malaysia. Bummer.

Ahhhh, I remember when Dunkin was THE place to go for good coffee. There were two choices for even half way decent coffee outside of NYC and a few other places. Cafe Bustelo in cans and DD. I wax nostalgic. Even now I can't resist and stop in once in a while. Oh, and those chocolate glazed donuts. Now, I a PEET's fan hands down, but driving down the highway and seeing a Starbuks and DD side by side, I'm going with my first love....

Sorry, I was not trying to be intolerant. Sometimes though, cookbooks that list ingredients in volume have an index, so lets say we can tell whether she measures a cup of flour it is 4oz 5oz or 5 1/2 oz or whatever. I guess I should have said "accurate". Many cookbooks or perhaps I should say "bakebooks" give both which is very useful. Some even give three, with volume, ounces and grams. That way you can choose. Like many folks, when I used to bake in my pre-scale days when recipes came out inconsistenly I never knew why. The first time I tried measuring a cup of flour by the spoon method, the dip and scoop method, the dip and shake method, etc. and then weighed them and saw how different they were I was shocked! Even stuff like brown sugar which until recently I packed and measured figuring that well packed is packed I was amazed when I weighed. I forget who it was on this list who asked the question but I was just about to post the same query. I am much more likely to buy bakebooks that have weight as well as volume because it is much more likely to get it right. I do apologize though if I came across as arrogant and to imply there was only one way. My favorite chocolate cake recipe, which we got from a neighbor. when I was growing up called for a yarzheit glass of sugar. It wasn't until many cakes later that my mom discovered it was 1 1/2 cups... This cookbook looks so I nice I may buy it anyway and hope for the best....

If she doesn't provide weights for flour, etc. does she at least provide what she sees as the equivalent in weight so that those of us who try to bake correctly can use them? Challah-baker

I lived with someone briefly who drank instant coffee with coffee-mate. Not even the name brand. Whatever was on sale. And weak. The relationship didn't last, not because of the coffee. but by the end of our relationship she was drinking fresh ground with half and half.

My experience with Ristretto is from Geneva, where they "pull it short" e.g. they use less water. The result is that it is more syrupy and concentrated. I used to have to go there a lot for work and it was the only part of Geneva I really liked. I also get very blank stares trying to order them here....