Sethro

Still, to me, little salmon bites that are so sweet as to almost be dessert...aren't dessert. Like someone else mentioned about liking sausage with syrup, a sweet savory course/component is totally welcome. I promise you that I hold to that claim not based on any rule or societal prefect, but on my own personal taste. I wouldn't condemn anyone for serving a dessert with meat components...hell, my favorite pastry chef does just that. It just won't ever sit well with me, personally.

I mean...heat makes caramel melt. Always. Are you hitting the bottom with a torch before inverting and unmolding?

I'm far from a stick in the mud, but I just can't cozy up to the idea of animal flesh in a dessert. Ice creams, sorbets and gels in a savory course are great, on the other hand. I feel like if its the smokey flavor you're after, there are other ways to achieve it than with pork. Maybe a bean or date "sausage" would be something that captured the desired texture and smoke without porking up the dessert. Blergh.

Pastry-dedicated sifters and tamis. The small sifter is NOT for daikon radish!!! Bad sushi chef--BAD!!!

I've mostly had problems with sorbets getting rubbery due to too much Guar-based stabilizer. It's never happened with ice cream though, and I'm sure at first I was using way too much. Actually, I don't use stabilizers for ice cream at all anymore. I think its totally unecesary (although that might not be the case with large-scale production). Anyways, I do like the gelato at Otto alot, as well as pretty much all of Sam Mason's ice creams at WD-50.

Belcolade is my favorite.

Thanks for the quick reply. It looks nice, and I will definately consider it.

EDIT (thread mereged): I'm looking for the best counter-top unit under $1000...

Glucose will do that too. My understanding of micri is that its best use is as an all-purpose emulsifier.

For some reason Wylie's ep isn't appearing on FoodTv.com's episode guide. Apparently I'm a bigger fanboy than you, because I checked just for that reason.

Would it be possible for you to elaborate (without getting yourself in potential trouble for libel)? ← Disgusted might be the wrong word. Disapointed may have been more appropriate. Its not like there's anything gross or unsanitary involved. I just get surprised by how impressed new york foodies (and critics!) can be with really mediocre operations. You can put a party dress on a horse, but its still a horse. In this case I'd chalk it up to lack of comparison. En is supposed to represent some specific style of Japanese cuisine the 99% of its customers and critics have no experience with or expectations for, so it basically gets by on buzz. Now I sound all sour-grapes.

I attempted to take over the pastry department at En during an interem between my old job and my current job. That lasted for about a week. I was pretty much disgusted with the way they (mis)treated food, and did business in general.

I've been to Buffalo, had the wings, and was about as impressed with them as I was with the cheeZesteak in Philly. In other words: meh. Blondies gives me so much damn celery and carrots that I've been considering buying a rabbit.

Two things: Pack them in airtight containers with silica gel packs, if you aren't already. Silica is a readilly purchaseable, reusable commercial dessicant. If that doesn't nip the soggies in the bud, try adding a little sucrasec to the mix. Its a foodsafe sugar stabilizer (really meant for sagarwork, but usefull in tuiles too). I use about 5g per pound of batter.

There is a pretty famous Japanese bakery downtown (NYC) that is know for this exact item. The PC at Megu actually buys and plates it...so I've heard.

I used to use it alot, but I'm sort of over it now. I liked pairing it with white chocolate, coffee, banana, soy milk and corn. I think the most popular thing I ever did with it was a red bean "brownie" petits fours. Really it was a blondie but it had a muddy color so I called it a brownie. I'll look for the recipe if you have any intrest. I also did a steamed red bean and soba pudding that I though was really subtle and sophisticated, but most everyone else thought just sucked.

/\ Much appreciated. That parsnip cake rocks.

Just a note, I see that I put the wrong measurement for the butter origionally. Its edited now..

I find most recipes containing only ricotta to be low on flavor and mouthfeel. I have a VERY good recipe fo a creamcheese/ricotta cheesecake though. 105g butter 52g sugar 270g creamcheese 90g ricotta 60g egg yolk 52g milk 2tbs lemon juice 105g cream (whipped) 120g egg whites (whipped) 23g sugar 15g cornstarch 1. Cream the butter and sugar 2. beat in the creamcheese till completely smooth 3. seive the ricotta and incorporate 4. Incorporate the egg yolk, milk and lemon juice 5. Whip the cream to medium peaks and fold in 6. Whip the whites to VERY soft peaks, adding the sugar in a stream 7. Sift the cornstarch over the whites and the cheese mixture, and fold everything together 8. Bake at 250 for one hour. I start with the convection fan at high for 15 minutes and then lower it for the remainder. In my particular oven I get the best rise with the least cracking this way.

That's...a pretty nutty conclusion.

Whoa, Strongbad on Egullet. All my worlds are coliding.

Here's my specials from this past month... Ivory Tower Yuzu White Chocolate Sauce Blueberry Sherbet Sake Peach Parfait Wasabi Anglaise Peach Compote Matcha Raspberry Tart Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse Orange Calpico Cake Cashew Cream Orange Salad Chilled Blueberry Souflee Buttermilk Sorbet Corn Grit Sablee Wish we had cooler plates...

Sure. Just lessen the amount of cream and you should be good to go. Any amount of liquid you add, even if scalded, is going to shock the caramel and stop the cooking process, so you won't have to worry about burning it.

Actually its Sucrasec, my bad. DairylandUSA

There's nothing wrong with adding a little sucraset or other foodsafe chemical dessicant either. Unlike pecticn it has no effect on consistency, even in larger amounts. I typically include some in any component that gets limp/sticky.