glossyp

Thanks for posting the link. I really enjoyed the article and Manresa is now even higher on the list of places to get to on our next holiday.

I think you have expressed your sentiments honestly and made it clear that they are deeply personal. I feel this way about steak! I am not so adamant about Japanese food even though I lived there for many years and learned so much about cooking, tradition and respect from a dear Japanese mother-in-law. I personally find Hiroshi to be the most interesting and innovative of the well-known chefs here in Hawaii. He really cares about the food and while it obviously doesn't hit the mark for you, I hope he finds success and recognition for his passion, creativity and hard work.

A common variation is to use coconut milk. Another pleasing though unusual flavor is essence of rose such as you would find in some Indian cuisines. I've also had a wonderful tapioca made with essence of lavender. Good luck with your tapioca - one of my favorite desserts!

The writer is fabricating the vast majority of the incident if not all of it - they take no reservations in person, the phones are answered by a phone system that transfers to a live person if you call during the hours they take reservations, and you are advised when you make a reservation to call and confirm 48 hours in advance. What bothers me about the article isn’t just that it bares no resemblance to the truth, but that it incorrectly characterizes the staff as unfriendly and aloof. ← Then the account is fiction and should be viewed as a satiricial piece with "La Lavanderie du Paris" serving as the skewered. The article plays to the notions people have about the haughty attitudes of service persons in high-end restaurants where elite and/or gourmet food loving folks gather to dine. It served to provide at least a few of us with a chuckle or two as it was quite cleverly written. It wouldn't discourage me from dining at The French Laundry - a goal which I hope to achieve at some point!

I thought the point of the piece (which was amusing in tone) was the difficulty he had with the reservations person and, unless the writer was completely fabricating the incident, was a humorous look at what happens if you get on his wrong side.

I did try it last week and the results were so butt-ugly I couldn't bring myself to post photos! I'm going to try again though since I'm pretty sure the problem was not doing enough cuts to create an attractive spiked effect. I ended up with something that more closely resembled an alien baby's head with nodules...not appealing at all!

Aloha <b>Behemoth</b>, I have tried this shape and I used a 5/8" wooden dowel to make the impression and, yes, I did have to re-impress the seam just before baking. Love the "...genius who must be worshipped," comment!

<b>Marcia!</b> It is gorgeous - congratulations on your achievement. Your persistence really paid off and your good results are making me rethink trying sourdough again. It's good to see you back and rockin' & rollin' with the beloved sourdough!

Congrats on your start! Please let us know how it turns out with photos if possible. Also, which molasses are you using? This bread was a real hit at the dinner party I made it for - very tasty.

Check this earlier thread - they might have some hints which will help answer the question. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=61040

You do now! The alert has no doubt gone out and I'm sure it's been duly noted by the powers that be. Wish I were going too and I look forward to your report.

That is a beautiful loaf of bread! I have the same experience with the rapid proofing and I thought it was due to the warm temps here in Hawaii. I've gotten to the point where I will put it in the frig for a couple of hours and then bring it out to finish proofing. It seems to help with certain doughs.

Thanks Jackal10 for keeping on eye on us over here! We appreciate your expertise and as a beginning baker, it is so helpful to get your input. Bentherebfor, isn't this a great hobby where even our 'failures' are appreciated by the loved ones??? Plus, it's always fun to make the next one unless it's the bloody sourdough...sigh... I do have one suggestion which might help. Whenever I try a new recipe I follow the directions without any variations (such as adding the olive oil to ciabatta for more tender texture) so I can try to establish a baseline. That doesn't mean I don't try to adjust to the conditions, just that I don't add or delete ingredients. I also take notes with each batch as to what flour was used and of any adjustments made, times for each stage and anything else which could be a factor including weather conditions. For example, my poolish formula was not the consistency of thick pancake batter as Peter said it should be so I added additional water in measured amounts until it was correct and made a note of that quantity for future reference. The stretch and fold techinque of working the dough requires a different mindset and takes some practice. I'm getting better at it. My efforts at breads like pain l'ancienne have been mixed but I'm feeling more confident now and will keep trying.

Aloha all, Here are the promised photos of the ciabatta. As mentioned, I'm not completely happy with the results. I was hoping for more holes in the crumb. Otherwise, the crust, flavor, etc. were all fine. I did need to use more water than called for to get the poolish to be the desired consistency. Here is where there was some problem which may have contributed to a not so great crumb. You can see the dough has collapsed some on the right side of the left loaf. It was challenge to shape these without degassing. Can't wait to see your loaves bentherebfor and compare notes.

Nice looking bread McDuff! I never thought about making the Anadama as a boule but it looks great. Can't wait to hear about your bread, bentherebfor. I put my pizza stone in the oven and haven't taken it out since. As far as the hot water goes. I boil water on the stove top and add it to the steam pan when I load the loaves into the oven with good results. Another post mentioned covering the window with a towel when you add the hot water if you're concerned about breaking the glass. No time right now but I'll be back to post the results of my ciabatta bread made with poolish. ellencho inspired me to try and it went pretty well though I'm not satisfied yet!

I'm curious why you ask.

Marcia - I completely understand your disappointment...your results are precisely what mine have been with sourdough in the past...it all looks great until you cut it open. I'll be checking back to see what the gurus have to say as well. Buck up though and remember that learning comes through failures as well as successes.

I'm far more concerned about magazines and newspapers carrying restaurant advertisements than I am about a critic getting a comped meal. Critics of many kinds get comps: book reviewers get their books from publishers for free, performing arts critics generally get their tickets free, sports columnists sit in the press box. On the news side, reporters ride the campaign bus and fly on Air Force One. To me, good journalism isn't about not taking comps; it's about not letting those comps create conflicts of interest or exert undue influence over your coverage. What I find in discussions of comps for restaurant reviewers is that many who oppose those comps happen to work at well-funded publications that can afford to spend the money. In that situation, the need to pay tens of thousands of dollars a year for a critic to visit restaurants acts as an anticompetitive measure -- it means only heavily financed journals can play in that arena. But when I look at actual results, like Mariani's restaurant reviews, I think he provides more valuable information than, say, the critic for the New York Times. Mariani publishes a free online newsletter. How is he supposed to pay for these meals? I'd much rather have him getting comped and writing about those meals than I would want to have a situation where only a few wealthy publishers control the world of restaurant reviewing. Yet, while they protest comps, those same publishers invariably carry restaurant advertisements. There they are in the New York Times, right next to the restaurant reviews. And there they are, it so happens, in D Magazine. Do you believe that carrying restaurant advertisements is morally superior to accepting comps? ← This is truly a valid point and one which I could never have made as succinctly. Here in Honolulu it is common knowledge that, if a restaurant wants to correct bad coverage or garner favorable ink, buying an ad is an excellent move. A particularly egregious example was of a fairly new restaurant which was panned by the paper's critic but, lo and behold, when the annual restaurant guide with awards was published, it was front and center as a "Critics Choice" and, surprise!, a full-page advert. Guaranteed more people saw the highly touted award and ad than ever read the review and who knows how many people were suckered into spending their money there at least once. I'm quite certain that this happens elsewhere in one form or another.

Aloha! I have a done a search (not incredibly extensive but time consuming) looking for a tonkatsu sauce recipe and only found ones which use miso and/or worchestershire and ketchup. If you have one or know where I could locate one, I would very much appreciate it. My dear Japanese MIL, who makes practically everything from scratch uses the bottled stuff. Hiroshi Fukui of L'Uraku, and now his own place, fame makes a brilliant one but will not part with the recipe. The most I've been able to glean from him is that there are apples and vinegar involved, a fact which most any one who tried it would be able to figure out. Anyway, a big mahalo to one and all.

Your bagels are awesome! How did they taste and what was the crumb like? Looks like you have the image thing wired so post some more photos. I haven't baked anything since the rye loaf but since seeing your bagels I think I need to give them a try. Plus, the dearly beloved's stepdad is coming to town and that way I won't have to buy them. Thanks for posting!

Very nice work! I know brioche is labor intensive but your efforts were well rewarded. You might want to check out Vengroff's brioche (be sure to follow the link in the post to many pictures and extensive explanation) in the Baking with the Bread Baker's Apprentice thread (which has been lanquishing) for some helpful tips. Link to thread

Did you use uncooked rice to start with? I always use rice that is at least a day or two old and stop cooking when it is quite thick but still easy to stir. I know there are purists out there who will object to using cooked rice but it works very well and it's a great way to use up old rice - the only better use is for making fried rice!

I just got mine a couple of days ago! I sent the sase just like they instructed and tucked a few dollars inside as appreciation for the effort they put into keeping Carl's Starter available. It took about three weeks all up.

Oh, I love that combo too! My favorite "light" dinner lol!

Add a layer of fresh kim chee and then it's perfect...no kidding. Definitely not for the faint hearted but a tasty surprise for fearless eaters.