dejaq

actually sucanat along with unbleached unbromated "organic"flours and such do proform a little differently. I spent a summer a few years back working for Whole Foods market, and found that out first hand. If you are a little more specific about what you are looking for, I would be able to post some recipes to the forum. MIchael Robert Porru

I have to agree with Pan, quality of ingredients, or what commercial fruit cake has been considered as such, has given it a bad rap. Use nobel ingredients, and I don't think you can go wrong.

Love the colors, very in check with the season, creative execution, nice. the tart looks delish...well done. Michael Robert Porru

here is a special we just ran over the weekend, based on it being a sell out, I guess it was popular, after just coming back from a day off. some inspiration came from Mason, and a pic from Lenotre, my version is a Cinnamon swirl French Toast bread pudding spiked with Baileys, dried blueberries, cranraisins, and raisins. along with a butternut squash creme brulee, maple gelee, raisin reduction, and a timbale of Tapioca. the desserts I am designing these days, can be practically implemented into a days regime, and serviced by any pantry person. I stress practical, B/C on a Friday/Saturday eve, we have little time to fool around for more than 30 seconds. Michael Robert Porru

Superior presentation,very original-you did well Kate, I know this took some serious time to put together. Michael Robert Porru

I just bought the book from Amazon.de, it's in German, and well worth however many Euros the book cost.The Guy is tops. Michael Porru

Sorry to my fellow Eg members for being a stranger these last few months, the build out on just having started a decoration company and developmentally coming up with the material for the Pastry Consortium online ezine doesn't leave me too much time. here is my re-engineered version of a long standing fav, Tiramisu, the construct is a a tiered stack consisting of Espresso soaked ladyfinger, compound Mascarpone cream, and a coffee gellified crème brulee, the decor is the type of stuff I am selling here in the Washington area. I will keep you posted on any further developments, Michael Robert Porru

you may want to double check your proof box settings, the only time I have seen core unbaked dough is if the box temp was pushed up too high the outside proofs ok but internal stays raw, try that. Michael

figs and cheese are an excellent combo, one other is a combo of Goat's cheese, poached pears, and walnuts. Although it's been a while since I have done this, I poached one batch of pears in syrup, one batch in port, splice the two pears, and fill with the cheese walnut mixture, a fantastic complement would be some warm fritters, dusted with some 6x. and a splash of chocolate sauce on the plate-just an idea, maybe for next time. Michael

I read the responses, and this is my experience, at least in my camp, Unless you have signed a contract that explicitly states, " all formulas developed in house become the property of the operation"...you are bound to comply with leaving the intellectual property behind, at least based on ethics, this is a gray area though. a few years back I was in a similar situation at a restaurant, they wanted to replace me with someone right out of school who knew nothing, and save the house my wage, they got squat, when I left, same house that was asking the purveyors if a sorbet mix was available. Before I started Pirouette, I was the one going in on weekends staying until 11:30 pm on a Sunday night,(on my time) developmentally piecing together the line, it required a lot of work, testing, tweaking, re testing, the thing that got Festive into trouble, was that they required me not only to do all of the regular ho hum stuff, but in addition wanted all of the new developments as well, even things that weren't actually put into mainstream product - a lot for one guy, the Chef and I had a falling out, and I put in my notice that following Monday, and never looked back, even when I see Marilee from time to time at a seminar and such, she realizes what she did wrong. The idiots at Yum Yum got nothing, jack nada zippo zilch, they tried to replace me with someone for 20 K less, you get what you pay for. Since the middle of June they have already ripped thru two PC's. But this issue has come up again with my current employer, and the previous watch commander left a few things, the staff and the two ladies that were his suitors tried to take the info and run, One of them was called on it, another on my watch who I knowingly realized took the recipes home to photocopy them, is about to be dismissed for it, for not having yet returned them. Bottom line, use common sense, if a property is just a job to you, and you have no regardence of their functionary interests, moreover if they have treated you poorly, simply leave, you owe them nothing, and your reputation won't be so horribly tainted that you couldn't find work again, believe me, word travels like quicksilver in this biz, if an establishment is run by jackasses, or backstabbers, here in DC, there is a blacklist, but you have to be in the know, to understand who not to go to work for, these are usually the guys that rip thru PC's every six months. if on the other hand, it is a position of responsibility, and these positions usually entail entering the data into a costing/spec program anyway, then leave on good standing, chances are, they may not be able to replicate what you are doing anyway, once you leave. Please don?t construe these opinions as callus, people I have been screwed a few times, some employers, and I say some, deserve exactly what they get. M

very eloquently put Melanger...your words speaks true Wisdom, I think you summed it up in a nutshell. M

Very nice work, thank for posting Kerry, lovely goodies... MIchael

"Most of them use the traditional creaming method, in the end alternating dry ingredients with ice water." you said it yourself, I calcs are use to regulate final batter temperature, to come up with a target temp of let's say 68F. remember you may be working in a kitchen that is hotter than Dante's Inferno, there is a way to compensate for this, a batter "can be too warm", with deleterious consequences...especially with hydrogenated fats made with mono and di's. M

Ice water is used to regulate batter temp(final), nothing more, nothing less... M

much of what JSolomon says rings true, many of the dynamics that apply to heating a product can also come into play, regarding cooling it down super fast. With freezing though, esspecially cryo blast freezing, you are concerned with "breaking the microbial air barrier" around the product, to have cold air penetrate the product. One note I would like to add is the addition of air vapor, in the heating process, Combi ovens execute this quite nicely, and not only keep a product moist, but cooks it in a fraction of the time, barring at an added expense. this is a Phenomenal resource, don't be afraid of giving them a call or writing them an email, these guys are at the top of their heap, and are way cool: AIB Michael

I tried to warn Ted on this, I am going to pull a "Torres" and sit by the pool, munch on some breadfruit chips and have another Pina Colada.....

Terrific responses, especially Wendy, your vantage on it, on a bit of a different note that was hinted on, there are shysters out there also, these are misfits, they “occasionally advertise” for a PC in a newspaper publication, just to get free labor for a day, this happened to me a few years back and after spending an entire day working alongside this flim flam that could never have afforded me in the first place and never Had any intention of bringing aboard a PC, he says at the end of the day “you seemed lost”…I just looked at him, I looked over at his rag tag dishwasher cross trained cartel assembly , and smiled and said “I am sorry, I believe I have made a mistake”. Just like the guys I just sewed up working for here in Fairfax, (same insignificant wanna be yentas as the clown off of Edsal Road in Alexandria) that also had a problem with constipation every time pay day came around to be certain. Be aware, “free” day practical gigs are just that, they don’t demonstrate anything really, your experience, education and as was noted, your portfolio should speak for itself. Michael

Don’t be foolish, how can you possibly come across as harsh, Patrick on the other hand … Ted, listen, women have had it rough in this industry, but we men haven’t had a cakewalk either, some of the crap that I have seen, and I mean the high jinks nonsense has been directed toward woman more so than men, both are equally capable of standing their ground, but men are not usually the subject of harassment on the job, and I have found a lot of gals having to tone it back in order to interface with men on “their” level, brash jokes, uncalled for stuff and all. Locally one of the last Seminars that American Gourmet put out in Gburg just outside of Washington, was probably split 70% women, 30% men, Having an open ear, a lot of the Gals seemed to come out of a fine dining arena. I can honestly say that La Academie is cranking out more women than men, particularity Asians of Korean and Chinese decent, they typically have an incredible eye, a delicate touch, and pick it up like quicksilver. My number one is Asian, two years out school, when she finishes her tour of duty, I no doubt believe she will make a phenomenal PC. In a lot of ways your topic has merit, all I am saying is and you said yourself This is a "hot button" subject, can be controversial. Be aware that trends change, just BC PA&D, along with a good number of books may lean toward being put together by us, that is likely to change. The best Administrators out there, are like cool hand Luke, they leave their emotions at the door. Michael

Ted, with all due respect, you really are opening up Pandora's box on this one. what difference does it make???I have seen some women PC's that could blow the frigging doors off of us men, their talent is Paramount! both men and women in this industry have it rough, neither of us have an easy time of having to deal with hot headed sub one hundred IQ Chef Megalomanics...Speaking for myself, I have seen fire and I have seen rain, and I am a guy, Please and I beg you, stop fueling these types of topics, they are simply irrevalant. As to who is promoting who, any conspiracies concerning bias, is hog wash, we promote ourselves, independent of gender, now knock it off Ted, I am getting pissed. Michael

very nice blog, BTW...you know I almost bought my wifey that unit a holiday season ago... there are several resources online, some of the "bigger" companies, promo there bases and wares, have seminars, ect...if you just want to play around with some stuff back at the hacienda, here is one resource: Gelato there are more, but it's a start, you want to try to come up with a very "fresh tasting" natural, actually-simple base, a lower overrun (spongy air) and it has to be very smooth, gelato is Magnificent in so many ways, it is not like American Ice cream, try a couple of interesting batches, like dulce de leche , or Tiramisu, you won't be disappointed. Have Fun Mikey

a Proper presentation, is sometimes done on "Off" hours, this is the time when you can rip thru their kitchen and do the Tazmanian Devil bit and really knock them dead...the kitchen is going to become completelty trashed, with multiple bird droppings, multitasked assignments, started EVERYWHERE!!!!!-But you will produce, you will impress, you will prob land the job. Maggie, as I noted, you can only get away with this if you are on your own, if you are doing this during regular biz hours, of course, you have to work smartly...Putting a presentation together off hours only allows you the option of sprawling out, "cutting loose" but when you are hammering it out at light speed, you may have, and I say this carefully, you may have the ability to generate a product faster than your ability to "clean as you go", that is done after the fact and you have churned out significantly more in a given amount of time, to secure the position, at the very least, you will look like a miracle worker... Mikey

Hey there Kate, to be honest, I was going to post a thread "how to land the job on the first go around", you beat me to it! Typically an owner/Chef/head whomever will give you about four hours. This gives you enough time to compile a subset of bases, put it together, and make a presentation.There are some places that will ask you for more, chocolates, friands, minis, you name it...The best thing to do is on first contact, (if you have the ability to walk thru the kitchen)scope out and take "mental snapshots" of everything they have on their shelves, go in the freezer, go in the refer walkin, without seeming "snoopy".The House doesn't usually give you the "privlages" of taking an inventory, to me this is a tacktic that puts more stress on you, and I have seen a great many Chefs, come up with a half cocked presentation, in spite of it. Make no mistake, you are under the gun, you have to focus, you are in an Alien environment. What I recommend is going with an A, B, C type set of plans... In other words, if you have a couple of these, one of those, two kilos of this you can make (A), if not and you have little bit of this and a little bit of that, go with (B) and so on... a Proper presentation, is sometimes done on "Off" hours, this is the time when you can rip thru their kitchen and do the Tazmanian Devil bit and really knock them dead...the kitchen is going to become completelty trashed, with multiple bird droppings, multitasked assignments, started EVERYWHERE!!!!!-But you will produce, you will impress, you will prob land the job. Just be prepared, set up a sample menu of what they are going to be eating, present it on elegant card stock, go one step further, and map out the formulas, all of them with yields, and descriptions. the "practical" is only as good as "first" impressions, come across confident, but not arrogant or cocky, be relaxed, it might pay just to go thru the simulator a couple of times with some BS no name outfits, you never had intention of working for in the first place, just to get comfy with it, don't be embarassed, more people I have spoken to have done this, again and again. As for me, I don't have time for the nonsense of it, I go in, do my thing, and get the heck out, I have always regarded my services as a "contractor" on lease, similar to an Electrician, you don't own my ass, you never did, you never will, I guess I report to a higher authority....and beleive me he is a royal pain in my you know what, but I love the guy.... Mikey

Ditto, you did well, bravo!!!!!

sorry Gruzia, I misunderstood what you meant about the layers seperating, the earlier poster is correct, trim your cakes,whisk off your cake trimings and make sure your icing is soft enough to "adhere" to the cake layers, otherwise, yeah, it will dollup right off. Michael

you're referring to “tunneling” or "capping" a common flaw in bread baking also, this is a suggestion only, be aware of the mixing time, and the neutrality of mixing temps of all ingredients in the mix, especially the eggs, and butter. I doubt oven temp played a role, without seeing the formula, I can't make further comments. with out seeing the final baked product you could also be experiencing something called stratification, a separation due more to the way the eggs coagulated in a faulty mix, this has happened to us all especially with that notorious lemon pound cake that takes forever to bake, when it's kicked out of the pan, it breaks into a million pieces and is impossible to slice. Michael