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chromedome

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  1. One man I knew in Halifax, who operated a lucrative lunchtime business for the downtown trade, summed up his own prerequisites neatly: "Fifty thousand in the bank for emergencies, and enough capital or credit that you don't need to make a profit for a year." He was on his third restaurant at that time, having sold the previous two at an insane profit after running each one for 2-4 years.
  2. Gee, who knew there were so many of us? I sat up late one night at the age of 38, telling myself that it was time to decide what I wanted to do when I grow up. Cooking was the only thing that came to mind, so off I went to cooking school: one year at NSCC in Halifax, and one year at NAIT after moving to Edmonton. I was infinitely better prepared for school than most of the younger students in my class, even the ones with kitchen experience; and in neither school was I the oldest in my class. I've been out of school for 2 1/2 years, now, and have recently been promoted to chef at my workplace. Even more exciting, I'll be travelling east in a few weeks to meet with the proprietors of a boutique tourist-trail hotel, who are interested in offering up an ownership stake to a chef who can help them grow the business. Without the years I'd spent in sales, and the varied life experiences I'd had before becoming a cook, I would not have this opportunity right now. Follow your heart, kiddo! Age is no object, if the passion is there.
  3. We used it a lot at the fine-dining restaurant I worked at. I found that it melted well and was not quite as viscous as Callebaut (nor yet as runny as Lindt). To my taste, the flavour is earthier and less fruity/acidic than Callebaut. I prefer it for applications where the end flavour is to be less sweet than bitter. It's a solid product at a reasonable price, in my experience.
  4. My first cookbook, and the only one for most of my childhood, was my mother's copy of The American Woman's Cookbook. It's one of those classic-style all-inclusive cookbooks, like Joy, though lacking the Rombauers' exuberant chattiness (probably why Joy is still selling...). I liked that it laid out all the rules for entertaining, and formal cutlery arrangement, etc. I now own my grandmother's earlier copy of the same book (the wartime "Victory Edition," with recipes tailored for the rationing regime). I was a precocious, smart-ass kid, and even before I knew much about cooking I would have disdained a "dumbed-down" or kid-oriented cookbook. I could read, I could follow instructions, why would I need anything simplified? Looking back now, I can only wonder at my mother's indulgence. I was making my own porridge occasionally at five, and at six my own eggs and toast, and panfrying trout. I made caramel mousse at thirteen, and I vividly remember watching in wonder as the sugar melted in the pan (I still love making caramel). I had a less-relaxed attitude with my own kids, waiting until they were at least adolescents before I would permit anything involving hot fat or melted sugar.
  5. There are lots of cool places in and around central Halifax, that's for sure. On North St, just a couple of blocks from the Commons (a great place for a stroll with a stroller) is my favourite Halifax coffee place, Java Blend. They're a family-owned (since 1937!) shop that roasts their own coffee, and (being close to the universities) they have both organic and fairly-traded coffees. You may not care about that, but it's absolutely outstanding coffee and most coffee drinkers will care about that part. On the way there, you'd also pass by Jane's on the Common, a highly-regarded "upscale casual" place which was one of En Route's 10 best new restaurants in Canada just a couple of years ago. The waterfront has lots of great spots for strolling, as well. Black Bear Ice Cream will probably have closed their waterfront kiosk by now, but their indoor store on Granville St is just off the waterfront (behind the Delta Barrington). Quinpool Rd does indeed have lots of neat stuff, that's where the Holiday Inn is that you stayed in last time. You may want to check out Scanway Catering on Quinpool, for some Scandinavian baking and pastries. The chef there, Gerd Simondsen (sp?) was pastrychef on Culinary Team Canada for while. If you go to the Saturday market at the old Keith's brewery, be sure to buy some bread from Boulangerie la Vendeenne, which is absolutely outstanding. The owner is a French boulanger with the full-bore classical apprenticeship behind him. Another is Didier Julien of Julien's, with two locations in central Halifax. The one at Hydrostone is a bit out of the way for you, but there's also one on (I believe) Dresden Row, just off Spring Garden Rd. Two other places you may want to check out: on Spring Garden itself, Il Mercato. This is run by the same people who own Bish's and da Maurizio, but it's more of a casual trattoria-style place. Just off Spring Garden Rd (I don't remember the street) is Woozles, which does not have food but which is an outstanding independent book store dedicated entirely to children's books.
  6. Oh boy, another time sink! (facepalm)
  7. You must have done something right...
  8. Trivia footnote: Satirical singer Tom Lehrer (Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, Vatican Rag, National Brotherhood Week, etc) claims to have invented the Jell-o shooter while doing his national service during the 1950's. Alcoholic beverages were prohibited on the base, it seems, but Jell-o is not in fact a beverage...
  9. Baking for just me and the kids, Birder, I wouldn't bother skinning the peaches. Baking for company, I would. (shrug) It's a personal call. They're easy enough to skin, using the technique given upthread; I do 20-30 pounds at a time when they're in season. A word to the wise, though, if you're not used to baking cobblers you would be well-advised to stick a skewer into the middle of it to make sure the dough is fully baked. If you're unsure how to go about that, just take a large spoon and overturn part of the dough in the middle. If it's underbaked, just put it back for a while. If the crust on top is getting dark and the middle's not done, just cover it with tinfoil first. A good choice, btw. Cobblers are supposed to look rough and uneven (always a good thing for the non-confident), and they're ever-so-simple to make.
  10. On Nova Scotia's South Shore, the German heritage shows itself in something called "Lunenburg Pudding." This is a fairly standard-issue black-pudding, IIRC, but I don't recall which grain goes into it along with the pork blood and scraps. It's typically served with sauerkraut, another local specialty.
  11. I attempted my first frog leg at the age of eight months. Unfortunately, it was still attached to the panic-stricken frog, at the time. My father still regrets not having a camera handy. His usual comment is that he didn't know I could move that fast...(it was Mom who rescued the agitated frog). I must have planted a seed, though. A few years later, on an unsuccessful fishing expedition, my father decided to redirect his attention to the plenitude of frogs in his general vicinity. He brought home a few dozen legs and attempted to "sell" them to my mother, as he prepped them for the pan. He dusted them lightly with flour and dropped the first handful into the hot skillet...and most of them jumped right back out again. They contracted in the hot fat, or something; maybe there's a tendon in the back of the knee. I dunno. Bottom line, Mom wouldn't eat one then or ever!
  12. My usable counter space in the current rental consists of a pull-out cutting board. That's it. So, yeah...stovetop, corner of the kitchen table, top of the microwave...it's all prep space. I don't burn/melt anything, although my kids occasionally do.
  13. {relief}
  14. I was poking through a stack of 1970's-era cake decorating booklets at my wife's work when I came across the 1967 Pillsbury bake-off winners book. It's a paper thingie about the size of an Avon catalogue, and for $1 I just had to have it. The back cover alone cracks me up! "Much of a marriage happens in the kitchen. That little restaurant...His laughable attempts to duplicate a secret sauce...remeniscences of first meetings. There's romance in a kitchen and it's a wise gal who pursues it through the countless 'discoveries'...new and remembered in America's foremost culinary collection...The Pillsbury Family Cookbook." The contents include some of the most disgustingly retro-vile dishes you can imagine. Bachelor's Bake, anyone? Mashed potato flakes, spam, processed cheese, barbecue sauce and chicken gravy...all your favourites in one dish! And how about Party Pink Pie for dessert? Pillsbury icing, red food colouring, sour cream, and a can of cherry pie filling all lovingly poured into a pre-baked Pillsbury pie shell and refrigerated until the Tupperware party. I mean, until set. I could go on, but it's almost lunch time and I'm putting myself off...
  15. It's an unhappy scenario for management. One reason is that, yes, there's always some a$$hat out there who will try to sue over anything (thankfully, less so here in Canada). The other reason, though, is that if employees are permitted to take home leftovers THERE WILL ALWAYS BE LEFTOVERS. Since leftovers=increased food cost=reduced profit, this is reason enough all on its own. I'm not saying that you can't do it - I've worked in smaller, independent places where it was done openly with the boss's blessing - but I don't think it's a good practice once you get past the point where the owner/chef/manager is always there in person. Ensuring that production is just high enough is a difficult balancing act at the best of times. At my workplace, under the old manager, we kept our bakery displays full all day, and gave away hundreds of dollars worth of product every week to local charities. When the new manager came in, one of his first acts was to mine the POS system to find out what our sales were, hour by hour, for those products. It turned out that we sold only a handful of bakery items after 2PM every day, so now we cheerfully sell out around 2PM and move more durable products into the display.
  16. If memory serves, it is the bacterial fermentation (not the yeast fermentation) that develops the characteristic deep and sour flavours of a good sourdough bread. Because the bacteria do not reproduce as quickly as the yeast, the cold-and-slow method allows time for this to take place.
  17. It sounds to me like a variant on a dish my wife's German/Mennonite grandmother makes. It's called kartoffeln-mit-kloessen (sp?) which means, logically enough, potatoes with noodles. The noodles are made out of the same dough as her verenike wrappers, cut by hand into long strips like fat fettucine (smaller than pappardele, though). My wife's grandmother usually serves hers with greens from the garden, bacon bits, onions, and a little splash each of the bacon fat and some vinegar. If you remember a thickened sauce on the ones you had, it may be that this specific Amish woman thickens the "pot liquor" she cooks her veg in, and serves that with the dish. I haven't seen it done quite that way, but it is certainly the sort of notion that would appeal to farmwife frugality.
  18. The contrast in textures is the charm of a cod tongue. They consist of two small nuggets of muscle inside a sac of gelatinous tissue; when quick-fried in hot fat (traditionally from rendered salt pork) you get the crisp-fried outside, gelatinous middle, and firm muscle all in one bite. For those who detest gelatinous textures it can be off-putting, but taken altogether it has the same appeal as a crisp-fried oyster.
  19. Here in Edmonton, the only widely available "upscale" chocolates are Callebaut and Lindt. The Callebaut is typically the bittersweet couverture (811? 835? something like that), while the Lindt is the usual range of 66%/75%/85% bars. I use the Callebaut for ganache and truffle centres, because I mostly do those for Christmas and Callebaut has good brand recognition up here. Personally, I find the Callebaut bittersweet to be too sweet for eating out-of-hand. My wife and I lean to the 85% Lindt for a personal indulgence, while our daughter tops out at 70%. We're also partial to the Rogers Fire Bar, a dark bar (I'm guessing 60-65%) with cinnamon and both ancho and chipotle peppers. I'd like it to be a bit darker and less sweet, but it's a good bar. I understand why the Lindt and comparable chocolates are off-putting for some people, with the fruitiness and acidity front and centre. Certainly, for those of us who grew up on commercial "chocolate" bars, it is a strange and unaccustomed flavour. Bear in mind that cocoa is naturally acidic (hence the alkalization performed on "Dutch process" cocoa); how the beans are processed probably determines whether the acidity is brought to the fore or toned down. I suspect it's more complex than simply the degree of roasting, though I am certainly open to correction from someone more knowledgeable. I lean to intense flavours, rather than subtle ones. I love cumin, chilies, limes, cilantro, and garlic; while things like sushi, zucchini, and cauliflower tend to leave me cold. In chocolate, as in coffee, I detest sweetness and look for an immediate in-your-face impact that's almost too much for my palate to process right away. I compare the initial impact of an 85% bar to that of a good espresso, which also has an intensity and acidity which is disconcerting to the uninitiated. Having said that, the best chocolate is always the one you most enjoy eating... I've just recently discovered that there is a chocolatier in the downtown which sells various privately sourced single-estate chocolates. I'm going to try to get there next time I have a day available for errands. Can't pass up an educational opportunity like that!
  20. It is necessary to use a pressure canner to safely preserve items like meats, seafood, and non-acidic vegetables (squash, beans, peas, etc). For a good overview of how to can the most common household foods safely, you may want to consult the USDA canning guide. It's also available in downloadable .pdf format from many sites. There are also numerous books available from sources like the Rodale Press (publishers of Organic Gardening magazine) which offer more detail and a wider range of foods. I don't know what prices run for those down in the States, but if you have the bug in a serious way it's not excessive. It can also save you a ton of freezer space.
  21. When I was a kid in Nova Scotia, the local brand was Scottie's. They came in the old-school little paper-foil bags, back then. They were bought up by Hostess back in the early 70's, and they never seemed the same to me after that. Now, of course, I'm living in Edmonton and I can get Old Dutch everywhere. I like that new salt & pepper flavour. It's pretty good.
  22. And when you're in a hurry, you can just slap it into several dozen pans with a big ol' paint brush. As long as you're diligent in the corners, you can do the pans a whole lot faster that way (not as quick as spraying, but quick nonetheless).
  23. Y'know what? Icing is just the airseal on a cake, to protect it until it's eaten. It's packaging. That's it, that's all. I've had pretty much every kind of icing you can imagine, and I don't like any of them. Not just commercial (ugh!) icings and fondants, either. One advantage of going to cooking school is that you get to taste them all when made from scratch. I still don't like 'em. As and when I put something on a cake for home consumption, it's basically only ever going to be ganache (for special occasions) or whipped cream. Whipped cream, after overnight refrigeration, sets up into a nicely thick coating which keeps the cake moist. And how can you not like whipped cream on cake? Having said that, though, I'm a professional and I sell product. Icing is the packaging for the specific product called "cake," and packaging - on any product - is targeted at the desired audience. Give the people what they want (or at least what they think they want) and you can't go very far wrong.
  24. I love that book! I had my eye open for years, looking for a copy, and just two summers ago my next-door neighbour gave me one out of the blue. "Some old Mennonite cookbook somebody gave me," was how she described it. She was rather taken aback at my delight. I get a kick out of the unapologetic vindictiveness of her rabbit recipes...
  25. I had the same problem with my bread dough climbing up the hook and wrapping around the head of the unit. Some wonderful person here at eG gave me the crucial piece of information...don't lock the head down (assuming you have the tilting 4.6 qt model). The mixer bobs up and down, and occasionally clunks alarmingly, but the dough doesn't climb. Once in a while I will press it back down into the dough, and that seems to be about right. I always finish my doughs with hand kneading or folding (depending whether stiff/slack dough).
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