earlgrey_44

I benefited from this thread on a recent weekend in Toronto, and I'd like to add a few comments of my own. Cora's on Wellington www.chezcora.com is one of the best breakfast places I have ever encountered. Very popular and deservedly so. Great benedicts, crepe dishes, even some whole-grain choices. A remarkable sleeper is Arrabiata on Yonge St. www.arrabiata-trattoria.com The Italian menu here is supplemented by a sprinkling of diversity, the chefs are actually a couple of Tamil guys. These guys did a stint at an Italian place where they obviously absorbed every molecule of knowledge and skill that was to be had, and bring a considerable talent to their own place. I had the Platonic ideal of a chicken sandwich: "a point" grilled chicken breast piled with grilled onions and peppers on a soft crusty warm slab of bread. This was accompanied by a pile of perfectly dressed mixed greens. Seasonings were excellent and textures absolutely perfect. My SO had a fruit salad, and again the freshness and textures were excellent. The skill of execution was striking - and all out of proportion to the inexpensive price. If time had permitted, I'd have been back to eat my way through the rest of the menu in a hot minute. We enjoyed JKWB and found the pairings and execution to be excellent. The service was aloof and disengaged though, and I left feeling like the hefty price tag was somewhat weightier than the experience. On the coffee scene, The Green Beanery on Bloor St W has great staff, competent espresso, and the most spectacular selection of coffee equipment I've ever seen in one place.

Wow, this blog makes the wheels start turning. This latest meal in particular makes me want to get some bonito, make up some ponzu and experiment with dressings. Sounds very cool. I have never seen umeboshi used as a condiment - that's new to me. I have always used them to make medicinal tea. Do you just mince them up into tiny bits? Any particular other ingredients that combine well with them to make a good rice topping?

I agree with Mr. Solomon. I finally disassembled my Rocky after a year and a half or two years of use. (Too long really but better late than never). The burrs themselves were clean and uncaked, but the feed areas between the burrs and the chute were pretty ugly. It was easy to take apart and put together again, and easy to brush and wipe anything that could not be removed and rinsed. No need to buy anything really...

Some people prefer a single-acting agent in pancakes on the theory that double acting baking powder doesn't have time to completely work, given that pancakes cook so quickly, and the extra chemical then gives an unwanted taste. In the Cloud Cake recipe, buttermilk = acid, baking soda = alkali; together a single leavening action that works immediately.

When you buy a bread machine, you buy an automated kneader, proofer, and oven, and any bread machine is a better kneader and proofer than it is an oven. There are tricks you can do to move toward artisanal breads, see: http://www.amazon.com/Rustic-European-Brea...99049703&sr=1-1 But, you will never really quite get there with the robobaker. Many people don’t care, since they mainly want control over ingredients, convenience, and fresh bread smell. This describes the everyday me. There is a thread on egullet called “in defense of the bread machine” that covers this pretty well. Incidentally, my Salton bread machine was flimsier than my current Panasonic, which is built like a tank. The non-stick surface of the paddle and pan rubbed off quickly on the Salton, not so the Panasonic. Breadman is a Salton product – does the Ultimate model suffer from this? Tell you what, I don’t know what part of Paris you live in, but if you let me live with you, I volunteer to be the one who goes down to the boulangerie every day….I would not need (heh heh) my Panasonic there.

FG's apology for using Bisquick is graciously accepted. The world suffers from inadequate Bisquick guilt. With a nod to Chris Kimball for his "Cloudcake" Recipe: Serves 4-6 2 c ww pastry flour 2 T sugar 1/2 t baking soda 1 t table salt 2 c low fat buttermilk 1/3 c sour cream 3 large eggs, separated, beaten whites folded in at the end 3 T unsalted butter, melted My particular prejudice here is that while I happily eat many a delicacy made with white flour, I cannot abide chewing my way through a whole plate of cakey white flour pancakes without eventually feeling like I’m chomping away on a cud of sweet dairy glue. The whole wheat pastry flour gives these cakes the substance of real food. At the same time, the buttermilk, sour cream, separated egg approach lightens up and tenderizes the whole thing so they avoid the “leaden slab” image that comes to mind when whole wheat is mentioned. Pastry flour is important since whole wheat bread flour is an irredeemable pancake disaster. If you are not so afflicted as I, you can substitute all purpose flour in the above and almost have the Kimball Cloud Cake. Chris punches up the recipe from stratocumulus to cumulonimbus by adding an additional egg white. I don’t know what to do with the extra yolk and don’t like throwing it away so I usually stick with the three eggs. I followed chefcrash’s “one bowl” method today (see up thread) – I can’t believe I didn’t think of that before either – but I still had to use my zabaglione bowl to beat the egg whites. Hoo-ray for Tammylc for using the magical ww pastry flour! With the right iron, a similar recipe to this will produce 100% whole wheat Belgian waffles so light and airy as to elicit reactions of shocked incredulity from those informed of what they are eating after tasting them.

I've had a Champion Juicer for the last 25 years, and the grain master attachment for it for the last ten or so. While the juicer has been used sporadically, the mill attachment has been used for all our household whole grain flour and cornmeal for our bread, pancakes etc. No repairs or problems. MFger's site: http://www.championjuicer.com/ It uses steel burr discs similar to those on the old Corona hand mills if anybody remembers them, which means it will do grains but not oily seeds and doesn't do so great with some beans. If beans and seeds are a must, andiesenji's suggestion is a good one. The flour doesn't get particularly hot, grinding speed is OK, dust not a problem. Noise level between the dishwasher and the vac. For the same $$ as some of the grain mills, you get a mill plus a versatile and heavy-duty juicer/homogenizer too. Not a bad deal.