andiesenji

I have two that I have been using for years. One is Rectangular 12 x 15 made by Black & Decker, the other 12 x 12 made by Oster they have worked perfectly for 20+ years. In fact, I took one to an eG Potluck holding a big batch of Carnitas. back in late 2004. The newer ones have a slightly different base but the innards are identical. The very same control power cord as mine. Hamilton Beach makes a "deep dish" one that has a ceramic lining. The gals at the HOA office got one to use for the occasional committee breakfasts and it works beautifully. (They also bought one of my big "vintage" GE electric griddles for pancakes because they don't make them now, at least not that size for home. 18 x 24)

In another thread I mentioned that I make coffee ice cream with the Agrimontana coffee paste I make up a base of 2/3rd coffee paste, and the other third is a blend of black cocoa and Illy espresso powder. The coffee paste is not pure coffee but the addition of hazelnuts and sugar enhances the coffee flavor, as does the black cocoa and the espresso powder. I make up this base in larger batches than I will need for one batch of ice cream and measure out 200 gms. for 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream, I blend this mixture into a base of 10 ounces of heavy cream, bring just to a very slow simmer and cook for about 8-10 minutes, tasting and adding Non-high fructose corn syrup, which adds creaminess to the finished ice cream and allows for longer churning - slows the development of ice crystals. I use half & half for the rest of the dairy. Occasionally I make a custard base and add the heavy cream/flavoring mix, after cooling it so the eggs won't be affected by the heat. I bought a kg of the paste and it took me almost a year to use it up.

My spice cabinet before the holiday baking.

I agree. My Sharp Convection/Microwave oven lasted for 21 years and then the convection oven stopped heating but the microwave continued working just fine for another 5 years.

If you follow my directions to sprinkle sugar (I buy the granulated Maple sugar) on the "raw" surface while the first side is grilling, when you turn it over, that stuff caramelizes into a crisp sugar crust and that is the presentation side. I have never been able to describe it perfectly. It is like a burnt-sugar lacy coating that has so many flavors, it is difficult to describe.

No. But it appears that I have ancestors that were Romans that remained in the British Isles when the Legions returned to Italy. These are via the Welsh. One of my early ancestors that was in Virginia by 1645, grew Flax, Indigo and later built a flax mill and ten "floor looms" instead of shipping the raw materials home to England. He paid the passage for 16 journey weavers and 2 master weavers from Scotland in 1680. His son built cotton mills some 40 years later. The family were abolitionists. So I think several of my ancestors were very involved with various fabrics and surely there were some tea towels and etc., in the output. I meant to add that ALL of my ancestors were here prior to 1800 The last batch arrived between 1750 and 1775

I like the Kings and Queens of Scotland. There are a bunch of those in my pedigree. Had my DNA done again with newer tests and turns out my ancestry is quite limited more than 50% from Ireland/Scotland/Wales and Great Britain and 40% from Europe West - more ancient than the British Isles folk.

It has been at least 15 years since I worked on of the "Breakfast fund raisers" for the Antelope Valley service clubs but a member of one of the clubs phoned me a few weeks ago and asked if I still had my portable propane stove (8 burners and a 24 x 36 heavy steel griddle. I said yes and then he asked if I wanted to help with a fund raiser. I told him I would donate the stove to the club but my health was such that I could no longer take part. He said that the first time he tasted my "French toast" He thought it was terrific because he hated the "soggy stuff" and mine was crisp on the outside and like he had always hoped the product would be on the inside but never was and he hoped they could have it again. I told him no problem, I still have a dozen of the long, deep straight-sided loaf pans and will donate them to the club and will give him a printout of my recipe and method. I told him anyone who could construct a bread pudding could do it with no problems. He came and picked up the equipment, went home and with his wife and daughters made a single loaf of the bread pudding and sliced and griddled it the next morning. Later his wife phone and thanked me and we chatted a while. She said her daughters, (late teens) are very enthusiastic about the stuff and are going to help their dad at the fund raiser. This was a bit before Thanksgiving and he phoned again around the first of December to say it was a great success and he wanted to know where to buy more pans. They sold out of the French toast in less than an hour - the pancake breakfast was supposed to be 3 hours. They had plenty of pancake batter so were able to feed latecomers but some were annoyed. The pancakes with 2 bacon or 2 sausages were for a $3. donation and the French toast with bacon or sausage was a $5. donation and all the ingredients were donated by a local market. He said it was surprising how many people remembered those breakfasts from the late '90s and early 2000s and commented about it.

Have you ever tried my "mock French toast?"

It works fairly well as a top grill. It's not as fast or as hot as a salamander. I had one on my Garland range at the same time I had this but this had better control for grilling steaks when we wanted them actually cooked more than just seared on the surface. None of us liked rare, rare steaks or chops. It does gratins nicely.

I think i'm going to list mine on ebay. I doubt I will ever use them again. Just gathering dust.

In my email today - King Arthur Flour offering FREE SHIPPING on all COCOA orders. Click on this link: KAF Cocoa

I don't really have “extensive experience in pastry making.” I originally learned the basics when I went to Dunwoodie Baking school in 1956/57 and then worked in my mom’s bakery. I did none while I was in the Army. I took it up again when I married and we entertained my husband’s business people quite a bit. That was when I attended Chef Gregory’s French cooking and baking classes. After my divorce, I decided to try some personal chef work - which I got into quite by accident, helping one of our patients when her caterer quit abruptly. This is also when I met Henri, a patient who sort of adopted me, treating me like a daughter. I just did a lot of watching when I would visit Henri - he would put me in a chef's coat and one of those little round white caps on my head and I would hang around and he and I would talk while he worked. Occasionally I got to separate eggs or retrieve something from the walk in or other minor tasks. No one ever questioned me being there because he was the boss of his space. The executive chef thought I was cute and would wink at me but never asked what I was doing there. Meanwhile, after this discussion began to expand, I got in touch with a friend who is a Brit but has lived in France for many years, has a lot of friends in the business. (she used to be a food writer and asks that I not use her name) She says that a few bakers in France use them, most do not and she has seen different kinds, developed for bakers who thought there might be a better way to achieve the preferred effect. Usually they are just displayed as curiosities, like the carved pins for decorating cookies or other pastry. She described the ones she remembers. Most have ridges or grooves end to end, some are large ridges, some are small. Some have grooves or ridges straight around the pin. Some have ridges that zig-zag around the pin. She says she has seen pins with what looks like "hobnails" on them but never in use and doesn't know if they were intended for use as a tutove because some are identify as “lefse” pins. I sent her a copy of your original post and she says that if your friend is as competent and "starry" as you say, he or she will be impressed just by the fact that you have made the effort to perfect the pastry and even more so for purchasing a tool to make the process better. She says that the bakery in her village is owned and operated by a woman in late middle age who uses one of the old fashioned tall wine bottles to produce "fantastic" pasty that is the true mille-feuille and not the "ersatz" commercial stuff that is sneaking into many of the commercial establishments nowadays. She works by a window where people on the street can watch and there are often tourists standing and watching her work. This of course, draws people into the shop where her daughters are happy to take their money. My friend says she has in the past asked about the use of the bottle and the woman told her something like it was to hand. Doesn't quite translate. Her wooden pin fell on the stone floor and a chunk split off. Middle of the night, no way to replace it but she had this big wine bottle so cleaned it and use it and it worked so well she kept using it.

I have known several chefs, French, German, Swiss and my friend of many years who was a pastry chef at the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. I never saw one use a tutove, although they may have done when I was not around. Henri used a regular wood pin for all the preliminary work and for the final roll-out, he had a huge heavy steel pin. The main thing is, if it works for YOU that's great! Anything like this should be personal preference. Just like knives, or skillets, or whatever. If you like something and it makes your cooking and baking experience better, then that is why we have a million different things. Something for everyone. I like my cheap "bread" knives because they work for me. I have a homemade French pin (as well as a few other pins) and I don't care if other people want something different, that is THEIR choice. And it's good.

I haven't made puff pastry for quite a while. But I would make a double batch of butter, while it was still soft, line a 1/4 sheet pan with heavy plastic wrap, spread the butter in the the pan, cover with another sheet of plastic wrap, place another 1/4 sheet pan on top, squeeze to level it edge to edge and place in the fridge overnight. Sometimes I would have two or three batches ready for the next step.

I just read this thread. No, I do not have a tutove, never felt the need for one and when I took classes in French cooking from Chef Gregoire back in the early '70s, one of the other women in the class said she had seen a tutove at Jurgensens (very high end food store that carried some pots, pans, utensils &etc.) and asked if they worked better than a straight French pin for pastry. It was very expensive -as was most of the stuff at Jurgensens. The Chef had one word, "merde" and said, "don't waste money on it!" In fact, earlier when we began the class and were being told what we would need, he had suggested that we go to a lumber yard, ask for a 2-foot length of maple or oak round 2 inch banister, buy some coarse sandpaper and round off the ends and work it with finer sandpaper till it was smooth, oil it with mineral oil, wipe it as dry as possible and then rub it with the back of a spoon until it was slick. I think most of us did. I still have the one I made. The method he taught us involved a lot of beating on the slabs and the weight of the maple pin helped a lot. Over the years I successfully produced a lot of puff pastry, and other pastry, worked with that pin.

The blade is too short to be effective that way. It is a 5 inch blade.

I still prefer my CHEAP "scalloped" edge "slicers" for cutting bread or cake. They work on very hard, crusty artisan breads, dense pumpernickel that I want to slice extra thin, on brioche and panettone, cakes, sponge cakes and angel food cakes. They do the job with the least effort on my part which is GREAT for my arthritic hands. I have tried several other "bread" knifes and not one performed as well on ALL those types of bread. One might be fine on crusty bread but mashed softer breads. Non-serrated blades do okay on cakes but not on soft breads that might have a bit of tough crust and they don't work at all on crusty breads.

I have some that won't get used. These are "decor" in my kitchen and on a wall in the hall between my kitchen and laundry room. One is from the DISCWORLD EMPORIUM in England and refers to a Dwarf restaurant that shows up in many of the Terry Pratchett books set in the city of Ankh-Morpork the setting of many of the books. Dwarves consider rats a delicacy, especially the "free range" rats!!! It is 18 x 31 inches The others are oversized tea towels - I have four sets - They are 25 x 36 inches. They came with one patterned and one solid color. This one green. The others are the same pattern with orange solid color, yellow solid color and tan solid color.

In my opinion the King Arthur Double Dutch Dark cocoa is better than the Bensdorp. I have used both. I buy them from Amazon - and I also buy the Black Onyx Ultra-dutched cocoa powder which I have been blending with the recently purchased Gerkens Garnet Cocoa powder which is also 22/24 high fat. It too is alkalized and has a wonderful rich flavor. $12.99 a pound. For hot cocoa and for other liquid application, my favorite for many years is the Valrhona which is now available in one pound bags from Amazon. More costly than some at $20.08 but considering I used to have to buy this in 5 kilo bags when I was catering, I am happy it is now available like this. The fat content is 21% and it blends nicely with milk or cream for drinking or for liquid sauces. Hight fat is great in baked goods but can be a bit too much in other applications. None of these have required refrigeration, although my pantry is always rather cool, 58°F - even during the summer. What cocoa were you using?

I have a couple like that. I don't wrap my fingers around the handle, I hold it like a wand with one finger on the back of the blade. This Global "utility" knife is one such. A real knuckle banger.

It has been many years and I don't recall exactly but I think it was boneless turkey breasts and rolled and tied pork roast that was worst.

The one I had did. I had to cover the kitchen table with newspapers, otherwise it was a bitch to clean. It was a wedding gift and I used it a few times but I eventually gave it to my sister in law.

I probably used it more for steaks and chops on the grill pan with it all the way up for plain meats. I would move it down a level for stuffed chops and game hens, gratins and other dishes needing a few minutes under the grill. Move it down another levels for things like garlic bread, Welsh rarebit, and casseroles that needed toasted tops.

I like both. The Mexican "queso tipo manchego" which I buy is made from a combination of Cow milk and Goat milk, has a lovely buttery flavor and MELTS PERFECTLY and does not overwhelm other flavors in cooked dishes. The Spanish manchego has a stronger flavor, a table cheese that goes well with fruits. I don't care for it in cooking. My favorite SPANISH cheese is Idiazabal.