Sethro

The roasted sesame oil...is it significantly different in flavor than regular sesame oil? If it really tastes like toasted sesame than that might be a good idea. Not sure how well oil will emulsify into whipped cream though. I shuld specify the tiramisu will be in parfait glasses, accompanied by caramelized banana and milk chocolate sorbet. I kind of want to stick to ladyfingers so my production list doesn't get any bigger. I would like to reinforce the sesame flavor somehow there too though..I need to make some sort of sesame syrup. Hmmm. Sesame syrup, anyone? Thanks for the help. My creative engine is close to burnt out right now and it really helps to hear suggestions.

I need to make a white sesame tiramisu, and I really am drawing a blank. Usually I would infuse the cream with sesame seeds, but the mascarpone:cream ratio is going to make the flavor undetectable. I don't like the flavor of sesame paste at all either. Has anyone here used an extract before? Also, what should I soak the ladyfingers in? I think espresso or brandy is also going to knock the sesame flavor out of the park. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have to have this thing 100% by Thursday.

I ate Otto on Sunday night. Started out with delicious crusty bread with a really nice olive oil. I asked for salt and got a surprisingly big dish of the expensive stuff. Escarole and sunchoke salad was perfectly dressed; bright and delicate. I was as excited as I get about a salad. My companions arugala with cherry tomato was less exciting but still good. I had the margerita and my companion had the vongole. I was underwhelmed by both. The sauce on the margerita was a little too sweet and light on spice for my liking. The crust was also less crisp than I hoped for. The Vongole was flat out ridiculous, with a huge pile of clams-in-shell slopped atop the pie. It took us almost 5 miutes to "clean" it before we could even start, and at that point it had been rendered soggy, sandy and salty. For dessert we ordered three gelato coupes. First was the olive oil coppeta, which was amazing--just as perfect in every way as a dessert can be. Second was the "Black & White", which I thought was a little boring except for the ganache enrobed hazlenuts slyly reffered to as chocolate-chips on the menu. Last was Goat Ricotta with dates, which was very subtle with only a slight twang. This would have been great to have first, but after all the citrus and chocolate it couldn't really hold its own. Still, texturally the gelatos are all masterfull and well appreciated.

Dan Skurnick. We were in the same high school class. Funny thing is we didn't keep in touch, and I had no idea he was also a pastry chef until our 10 year reunion! Glad to hear you enjoyed his stuff, and I was even happier to see Bruni refer to him by name.

Somebody ought to acknowledge that!

I found some black boba but I wanted to stick with mini-boba so it mimicks caviar. As far as I can discern from th net, mini black bobas don't exist, so I think I'll have to wind up making my own somehow.

Thank you. If you can think of a name for the Korean shop with the kits, please let me know.

I need to find some black mini bobas asap. Asian Market is the only place I can think of and they only carry one type of boba; large white. Any help?

The peking duck isn't complicated per se, but alot of the hot aps/dim sum are more complicated than one might expect (which I gauged by this thread was in the neighborhood of very little). The food in general is quite good, at least in my experience, and the enormous size of the menu makes it a place I would look foward to dining at a couple more times. Of course you are going to get a more authentic representation of any Chinese dish in Chinatown, but that's not what the mark-up represents at Buddakahn. Yes the rumor mill has revealed Susur's and Angelo's involvement but one of them asked me specifically not to mention their name in regards to consulting projects. I wasn't trying to be intentionally obtuse, I guess I shouldn't have brought it up at all.

Unfortunately I'm restricted to purveyors who I can create an account with in NYC. Thanks for finding the syrup though, I wonder if its any good. The Anise "Caviar" is quite awesome. The only problem is it's more purpleish than black. Tapioca doesn't really absorb alo of color. Oh well I'm using it anyhow! I will charge up the digicam and get a pick of the dessert this week.

I switched gears and did this instead: Anise Caviar 8 oz water 4 oz sugar 1/2 tsp anise extract 1/8 tsp salt 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1/2 c tiny tapioca pearls black food color Make a syrup with the water, sugar, anise extract and salt. Cool completely and add tapioca pearls. Add black food color and refrigerate overnight. Strain tapioca pearls and reserve syrup. Bring syrup to boil and add tapioca, stirring constantly. Simmer for about 30 seconds,or until tapioca floats and becomes translucent. Strain tapioca and reserve syrup. Transfer tapioca to tammi or large sieve and chill under cold water. Pack and store.

Its totally worth it. I don't know if I'm alowed to reveal who the menu consultant was, but he is legit. Schulson is also legit, obviously. The food is mostly fun, but surprisingly complicated. The service is "familly style" so its much more managable for a mega-restaurant than the approach they're trying in Morrimoto's dining room. Also, my friend from high school is the pastry chef, and he's a great guy.

Okay, so 4:1 / water:licorice gave a nice consistency and flavor, but the color was more of a dark caramel than black. My conclusion is that this would be alot easier and more cost effective to do with water, sugar, licorice extract, black food color and xantham. The candies are artificially colored to begin with, so I figure what's the difference. Plus, licorice candies are damn expensive.

Wow, thanks for the extra effort! I actually picked up some of the Finnish licorice today. It was the softest and stickiest I could find, so I figured it had less of whatever might cause lumping if used in a syrup. I suppose that would be the wheat flour. Anyways, I'm off to experiment with it. I'm going to start it on a double boiler with just a couple Tbsp of water to get it going, and dilute it more as necesary from there. ...back later with results.

Thanks Ted! I think Licorice Drops might actually be the name of those gummy candies that are sort of thimble shaped. I've never had the Luden's but the thought of cooking with cough drops is scary!

I was hoping to go with real, but I already prefer imitation cocnut extract so what the hell. Is it black though? What I really need is black, and I'm trying to avoid breaking my food coloring dam.

Anyone know of a distributor who carries licorice syrup? If not, does anyone have a recipe? I'm looking for something the consistancy and sweetness of super-saturated syrup.

Get some Silica Gels or desiccants to pack with them in airtight containers at room temp. They still may not last a week. If they are in a room 80 degrees or higher they may not last 24 hours. If you HAVE to sell these outside or make them last a week, you should purchase some Sucraset, which is a foodsafe powdered desicant you can add to the caramel that should give it a little exta shelf life.

I wound up selling my KA Pro. Too inconsistent freeze times, and inconvenient design. Batches of the same base would alter in freeze time by as much as 8 minutes day-to-day, resulting in alot of over-churning. The despenser is star-tipped, which would be nifty for soft serve, but basically just slows down the process and creates clogging. The motor would also start to whine after freezing 2-3 batches. Overall I wouldn't recomend it for anything other than a soft serve machine.

I actually disagree. I know some chefs do indeed freeze caramel decorations for service. They tend to melt faster once out of the freezer, but you don't have to worry about them melting during service. I'm not suggesting this is the ideal method, but its an option in very hot kitchens. If the pastry station is right by the line, your caramel decorations are going to melt with silica gels or not.

They sell very small hand whisks at JB Prince that could be fitted onto the head of a drill pretty easilly (I imagine). You'd need a pretty serious drill though, KA motors are built for sustained running. Now you have to tell us what ultra-lux ingredients you're making these marshmallows with, considering the bulk of marshmallows are typically the cheapest ingredients going. I'm guessing truffle marshmallows?

Nope. Cream of coconut is basically a drink syrup, pretty much identical to coco lopez. Its about as thick and sweet as condensed milk.

Man, have you come to the right place with this question. I summon... AKWA!!!

This technique works pretty well for making isomalt "trees" too.

Well ya can't go wrong with licorice and rhubarb! Let us know how it turns out.