Franci

Anybody has a recommendation for the NYC area for a lab for products shelf life testing? It's my first time using such a service, can you tell me a little more about it. Times, prices etc? Thanks!

@Kerry Beal did you end up getting an hotmix?

@dcarch definitely hiring a professional, don't have the time nor the tools to do a good job on my own! @ElsieD I'll talk about panettone but most likely is not going to happen at the beginning and maybe not at this time of the year. Maybe the aroma di sicilia from King Arthur is nice, usually they have always great quality extract and aromas. In Italy there is not such thing as "aroma di sicilia" and honestly they even sell a nasty product called "aroma panettone" but you can make easily an "aromatic paste for panettone". Your aroma di sicilia would be nice to use also in many other recipes. This come to mind: brioche col tuppo (the sicilian brioche to eat with ice cream), migliaccio napoletano, sfogliatelle frolle (not the "ricce"), in the shell for cassata al forno. And in any ricotta cheese cake. Example of what I have in mind. Now Easter is coming and I might a bit late for it, but besides the most famous "colomba", there other many other great sweet breads around Italy at this time: fugazza veneta (this is wonderful and easier than Panettone), and various pizze dolci from Pesaro, Civitavecchia, from Umbria and Tuscany. Pinza pasquale in Trieste. Presnitz still in Trieste and many more. Then we want to start talking about sweet baked goods made with ricotta? Besides the most famous pastiera and cassata siciliana, or cannoli, there is much more! Sfogliatelle frolle, migliaccio, cassata al forno, castagnole di ricotta, soffioni abruzzesi, pardulas from Sardinia, ricotta infornata, torta ebraica con le visciole and much more! Also, besides panforte, there are many panpepati in Italy. From Emilia Romagna to Lazio, to Umbria and Abruzzi. And I could go on and on.

not just cakes, anything sweet, so also sweet breads.

I think I want to start to make videos available on my website. Could you guys help me out thinking what people might be interested into? Let me make a small introduction first. I make an sell traditional Italian cakes. As my business expands, I'd like to make more regional products available, sort of a culinary travel through Italy. And that's also what I'd like to do with these videos, talk about traditional baking with maybe a more modern accent. So, I am start thinking what kind of angle should I take. Things that come to my mind: level of expertise. Should I focus mainly on average level of skill of the public? Keep it fairly simple? Length of the videos? Making a series. What kind of subjects might interest more...what is the trend nowadays and if my style is different mistakes I should try to avoid. What do you think. I'll start making a list of subjects that I find interesting. Could you give me your feedback, please?

I've always thought of polyester as a fabric...now I found on Amazon this polyester collar for baking. It should be safe, at least they state, up to 356 F. I use acetate strips to finish my cakes but those are obviously not for baking...Anybody have used these collars and any thought about their safety before I buy a roll? Thanks!

I'm not very helpful for cooking the yellow (asian korea/japanese) sweet potatoes. I leave the skin and then peel. I cook at 425 steam bake until easy to penetrate with a knife. But the timing will depend on the variety. I like to double cook them. So once they are cool enough to peel, peel them, wrap with film and once cold, refrigerate, slice from cold and pan fry with oil until nicely caramelized on the outside.

Thanks for the Crepes did an awesome job linking the video with the 2 guys!

Yes, correct! As for the second video, the cute girl, of course she says thinks right but she doesn't have a very neutral accent for me (I can hear the Southern accent) and it's funny she says scampi and put a photo for shrimps (scampi in Italian is langostine). I really like the video with the 2 guys. Very good. When he talks about carbonara is clearly explain how easy it's to pronounce vowels in Italian. The only tricky part are some sounds that are not there in English. Gn, gl, and there are only a couple rules for how h transforms into guttural sounds c, g but that's it, it's very very easy. Yes, pane casareccio is a common term, to say rustic. Home style. On that website they say rosetta from Lazio but in my mind is michetta from Milan (I just love and miss so much that bread. Differently than rosetta, michetta, is completely empty inside, no crums and very light, nutty crust). Pane di Laterza also doesn't look like that, I love it because it's where I'm from. Also durum. For something similar to your pane di casa, you could try a recipe from my friend Adriano for cafone napoletano. He is own this business, which I wish him a lot of success.

As John said it means house bread but honestly I would say pane della casa meaning Bread made in the house and that's the name I would expect if you go to a restaurant where they bake in the house their own bread, pane di casa instead to me suggests more a home style bread but at that point maybe I like more the name they have at Eataly: pane rustico. For the pronunciation, Italian is so easy, you always read it as you write it...so in English linguinE, fettuccinE is alway misproununced.

Yes, correct!

I don't always do marrow but it should be there. If I have the time, I will cook the marrow on very low heat to melt it and strain it, so I won't have black spots on my risotto. It is traditional to use also a tiny bit of "sugo d'arrosto", roast jus. You start with butter and marrow (and a very small quantity of roast jus) if you have it. Beginning, already answer on 1. Never ever oil in risotto alla milanese. Although in the rest of Italy some people will use oil for a true Milanese is a sacrilege. And I agree, oil doesn't belong here. The only thing is that sometimes I like to cook more onion on the side with butter, for long, until it's melting soft (no color) and use just a couple tablespoon to add when I toast the rice. No wine btw, I don't like it in here. No doubt for me, beef stock! 100% and differently than the French it's never a brown stock, no roasting, and done with a mix of bones (no marrow) and meat. The taste is off to me if it doesn't have beef stock. To me it's depends on the saffron you have, very good quality or "fake". The good quality, I'll add only at the end dissolved in stock. But many times I'll use the fake powdered saffron from 3 cuochi that I bring back from Italy and I will cook my risotto 90% of the time in my pressure cooker, because, regardless a culinary degree and being brought up by Lombardi grandparents, my risotto in the pressure cookers comes so much better than the traditionally made. Just as a curiosity, in Lombardy, nobody calls it risotto alla milanese but risotto giallo, yellow risotto.

Thank you Kerry, I'll try that recipe method changing a some of the ingredients and report back

So, here the dessert I was thinking of making with the cookies of the other day. My biggest clients are butchers and delis, so I had the idea of selling for them a classic, childhood snack, very popular in Italy growing up. I tried this recipe that differently than the usual doesn't have eggs but I really dislike it. I am going to test other recipes until I'm happy with it and definitely use eggs, pasteurized. Chocolate salame

@MelissaH I think these cookies might be called sugar cookies. Do you call them sugar cookies because they are then glazed? Eh, eh, I admit, I'm still lacking in my proper English/American baking vocabulary :). I guess these cookies would be very nice glazed. I made them simple for the kids, I need some of them to use in another dessert, hopefully I'll post in a few days. I llike them like this, unglazed, with no extra flavoring. 500 g flour, 150 g sugar, 100g soft butter, 8 g (2 scant tsp) ammonium carbonate, 2 eggs plus 1 yolk, 2 tablespoon scalded milk, a pinch of salt. Make a well in the sifted flour and in the center work the softened butter, the sugar, with the eggs, plus yolk, add a pinch of salt. Dissolve the baking ammonia in the scalded milk and add to the rest of the ingredients. If necessary just add a drop more of milk and work briely until the dough just holds together. Roll to 3 mm (1/8 inch) and cut into preferred shapes. Brush with egg white, left over from the dough, and sprinkle with some sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350, then rotate the trays and keep the door ajar so the ammonium can escape and keep baking for other 8-10 minutes. Total baking time 16-20 minutes. I didn't count the cookies but baked 4 half sheet pans. They keep for long time too.

These cookies are so simple but I personally find them very addictive. Not too sweet, not particularly high in fat and are baked with ammonium carbonate which makes them quite crispy

I often buy from Webstaurant store for business. Since I have storage constraints I cannot buy in bulk as much as I'd like. But I often find myself playing with my orders. For example the rate for shipping for 1000 half sheet parchment makes the whole price much more expensive than buying 10, 100 sheets at a time. So, yes, I often play around with my orders trying to minimize my shipping costs. And if you start talking about delivery costs for small businesses in same area. Nightmare! One of my main concerns.

Because I've so any yolks left over from work, I've made my usual brioche dough. 3 ways this time. Focaccia dolce. The kids LOVED it! It has a stuffing of apricot jam and a thin layer of apples. Lightly brushed with butter and some sugar Ring wirh D'Arbo plum spread and lightly sweetened toasted pecans from a TJ's In a loaf pan with Ikea's eldelberry orange jam

To add to the list. I regularly shop at Supermarketitaly. I never tried the cheese, because it's so easy for me to buy locally. But I bulk buy coffee and repackaged caputo flour, 00 flour or durum flour.

I grew up with my grandfather capers. In his garden, on the rocks surrounding his house was full of capers plants, love the flowers! and prickly pears cactus. He used to cure them in salt and with time the salt will melt in a brine. My cousin, who inherited my grandfather's house, is keeping up with the capers production for the family. The store bought capers are a poor, poor comparison. There are some dishes that for me are missing without them, unfortunately, in my half chinese house are not too popular...I'm sure in a past thread on egullet on cucina from Puglia there are tons on my recipes: stuffed eggplants, lots of capers on top. The stuffed onion focaccia with capers and olives. On top of friselle with tomatoes. Anything "arracanato" = make a panure with breadcrumbs, oil, garlic, chopped parsley, grated pecorino, some capers, to sprinkle on top of potatoes/onion gratin. Anything eggplants. Anything cephalopod with wine and tomatoes. Peppers. So typical in stuffed vegetables. In tuna and tomato salads, onion.

thank you @Ann_T it's your recipe! The one for hot dog buns! It has become my standard ;))) Your bread is always beautiful!

I guess, it is ingrained in me...I just grab some coarse sea salt and pick the right amount for the water I have...I do adjust when the pasta is still very al dente, a couple minutes before I need to drain it. If I don't salt in advance, to me the salt doesn't absorb enough. And the condiment need just to have the right amount of salt for me. I just remember a Canadian friend of mine, when cooking for my kids, gave me one of those salt grinder...I was so puzzled, I need a couple handful of salt for a medium big pot, a grinder doesn't do... Also, if it ever happens to me that I under salt, I adjust at the end, but only if I'm sauteing with a sauce, so the salt can melt, I will never add it to a plate, as I see many people doing.

Thanks guys!

Mmmhh, I am sharing my space at the moment. I need to ask to the other tenants if they are ok with having my grater glued on the table :))) but seems an option!

With a long time problem of grating chocolate, finally I've decided I'm going to buy and electric chocolate shaver. Thinking of this. Kerry, are you there ? I've used for more than one year this little machine and has been wonderful. Best at making nuts flours as well. But after one year of intensive use, I had to replace it with 2 new machines in less than a month! Maybe I was lucky with the first one I got and less with the others... So, I'm going to go temporarily back to the hand grater that I was using at the beginning of my business, just until I don't get a real shaver. This one. It does an excellent job but it is very easy to loose the suction and the grater comes off the table easily. I know there are many Macgyvers on this forum. Any suggestion on how to clamp this thing to a table? Thanks!!!