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is anyone using the two-stage with fluid flex, or are you just mixing it all straight?

I got money on the cardinal.

Sorry for the delay on my final class before extern. I hadn't even payed attention because for some reason I thought I had already posted. My final class, Individual Production Pastries, before extern was probably my favorite for many reasons. First of all, our class grew to its smallest size yet, a remarkable eleven students. Two dropped out to continue research and development right before the practical, one dropped out due to legal issues in his hometown (was going to miss more than 2 days and figure he might as well start the class over before it began) and another I never really received a straight/positive answer from. I think it had to do something with money, she had to get back to work full time to pay for school just to come back. Also, we were suppose to have a previously suspended student join our class, but he never showed up and I am quite glad he didnt. (----I am not a big fan of people who dont know their limits or have little awareness of their suroundings and how to act. Secondly, and probably first guess for most, was the anxiousness of gettting out of school and heading to Palm Beach for extern. I have re-established a love for something new, and a new place. Maybe its true to my genes of being a Viking, I love exploring a new land. Also, I must say my Instructor this class was my favorite so far. I was nervous at first for a few reasons, mainly because the last teacher before extern is the least rumoured because the students are so ready to get out of school they do not hang around long enough to share experiences or pass down advice. Another reason I was nervous was because apparently he was "ready" for me. I had been given many signals that the chefs talk about me when they gather, even if its good talk (more than likely not) its still bad. Honestly, if you are not prepared to perform, you do not want the chefs to bring you up in conversation. Even if a Chef has nothing but great things to pass on, the next Chef may find it necessary to test your limits. Maybe its a pyschological thing that can't be helped, but I am not a fan. My arrogance proved fortunate for me with problems like this. Even if they actually get to me, I try my best not to let them see it. But thankfully I had all this pent up anxiety and pyschologic aggression, ready to withstand the strongest thrust my new instructor would throw, and not a single breeze came by. Infact I think he enjoyed my company quite a bit because I was the last male left in my class. Besides my size (which results in a personal issue) I do believe I have one good characteristic all/most of my instructors can appreciate, I am a born restaurant personality that they can instantly relate to, even if they do not like me, they understand me. It doesnt take long for any of my instructors to figure me out and feel comfortable with their opinions of me. I value that. The class kicked off instantly. We were, as warned/prepared, expected to be given a task and perform it without difficulty. We were given our tasks, our chef went over all the details before class, and we were released. This happened everday of that block exactly. Some topics took longer than others, but the agenda stayed the same. We come in, relax, talk to the chef for a moment or two about the world cup (him being a French Mexican, and his wife being from Brazil, now both living in USA), which he had a lot to discuss, and maybe a few small things that happened since the last time we saw each other. Then it came down to business. He would pull out his drawing board and list out teams with projects. Me and our group leader both worked individually without a team member since we were such a small group (we still had to produce a certain amount of projects, both to experience and to execute for the students in the dining halls). Because of this me and her would also work on extra projects together. This was probably the only three week block we have had together that we really didnt have any personal issues. Everyone really knew what the other one was capable of, and I think we all got over our differences. Personally I think the main reason was because our chef gave us instant credit plus indivudal responsibility. He did not raise his voice infront of the whole class, indirectly alerting a problem, or someones falacy, he treated everyone individually. If he had to call in some team support, he knew who to ask because he could tell who was comfortable accepting help from who. Yes its necessary for all of us to get over ourselves and accept help from who ever is capable of giving it, but its not so easy. That is probably my worst problem. Sometimes (I learned now) if someone doesnt want to accept your help, it may not mean its because they dont like you, it may actually be because your the kind of person they dont want to show you when they bleed (metaphorically speaking). Sometimes its a person they have already seen bleed that triggers a complexity inside of us in which allows us to share an equal pain. The problem with me is, I not only try not to bleed at all, and if I do, I pull my sleeves down over it so no one can tell. Better yet, if someone notices me bleeding, I act like I had no idea I was even cut. I now understand the most important part of being a leader, that is to break yourself down, and let them bring you back up. If you dont, you end up fighting to prove yourself for long periods of time (which may very well work, but its so damm difficult and unnecessary). So here we are, three weeks before not seeing each other for the next five months, producing our best work yet, and feeling proud of it..... As you can see, here is glass day, or "container". I appologize because I do not remember the components of each one because its already been too long. I can tell you min was the only anamoly in the bunch, that being the filo cups. My chef let me pretty much do whatever I wanted, that was a minor reason why it was such a great class for me. And by letting me do what I want, I mean flavors and minor components. The filo a orange bavarian cream (recipe I made up on the fly, dont tell my chef), with a honey-milk chocolate (also containing 30% bittersweet chocolate) ganache cutout, with whipped cream and candied orange zest. I was originally going to candy my orange orange zest (bigger pieces), but chef told me to hurry up and go to dinner so I had to cancel the project in the middle of blanching and use the already made stuff. Also, the ganache was made up on the fly, and my chef loved it, probably because hes a choco-holic. I also felt good about making it because it save another team some time of comming up with a needed component and making it. I do remember on the far right was a pistachio and cherry piece, next to that on the left was a mango (yogurt maybe?) piece, and on the far left was a tirumasu. another angle for you. I believe the tall tuiled ones are blackberry. this was meringue day, my least and most favorite of the block. It was the least favorite because meringue is played to death for me, and most favorite because I got to use a secret ingredient in mine. Mine were the pinneappleish pyramid things in the bottom left hand corner. The were meringue pyramid cups containing chocolate cream with, secret ingredient, and a praline mousse ontop. Meringue was then piped ontop and torched. I made the chocolate cream quite bitter to salvage ones tongue from all the sweetness, because the secret ingredient was some of Sam Mason's eggless lemon curd we made the night before during the demo. Wow that stuff has the strongest lemon flavor of any curd you will yet. Word spread quick and I had chef instructors from A.M. classes come in specifically to taste the curd, ha, it was fun to talk philosophy with them during class. also, there are some pate a choux swans we have to make for practice. Heres a picture of the curd being conspicuously placed in the center of the chocolate cream, and then being topped with the praline pyramid. Here are also a couple pictures of the chibouste day we had. Probably the most memeroable (pertaining to actual pastries). there were orange, lemon, apple, passionfruit, chocolate, and plum flavors I believe. I hope you enjoy. Hopefully soon I will give you a report on how the breakers is going with plenty of pictures. Sincerely,

you better do your math better on CIA, its closer to $60,000, Much closer.

Next "Fire and Ice" restaurant that opens, why don't they just wear brand new fireman outfits. And I am sure much more than .5 percent of the populace can tell its "chef/cook" uniform and its a little out of place. Just because a large scale of people dont understand food, doesnt mean they havent seen emeril and dont know what a chef uniform looks like. Its pretty stupid, but there is no need to get upset about it, because its just one of those things that come and go. You can go to pretty much any regular restaurant and find something that will boggle your mind and make you say to yourself "why"?

my advice, Stop using spring form pans

absolutely nothing wrong with it in my book. We use it heavily at school.

There is quite an excellent array of clothing specifically designed for service, far more elaborate than chefware. Seems like people are grabbing at straws to be different, when they dont realize its an unnescessary reach.

I have no idea how I miss these threads, its like they disapear before I see them. When Sam did his demo, he used 1.25% versa whip with .25% Xanthan. It weeped a little bit but held pretty stable for a few hours. Ended up discarding the small bit that was left of it, so I dont know exactly how long it could go. Me and F.Migoya were discussing a foam one time, and he came across the idea of preparing protions that you need and freezing them. The once you need it, pull it out and the foam should thaw relatively quick. Of course that was with lecithin, I am not sure how similar versa/xanthan would be.

In theory, yes, 1 t. will thicken a cup of liquid, but in practice... you'd end up with a gloppy stringy slimy mess. Commercially, xanthan is almost always used either in small amounts or in conjuction with other thickeners. It has an especially good synergy with guar. I always combine the two. ← That's what I'm reading in the Food Product Design articles -- that the best effects are usually achieved with mixtures. I'm very much interested in hearing anything you want to say about how you have used these gums, singly or in combinations, and the successes and failures you've had. I'm curious in particular whether you've experimented with using these in ice creams. ← I haven't used gums in ice creams personally, but I've developed gum based ice cream formulas for a few clients and they've been extremely happy with the results. From what I understand, gums limit ice crystal formation in two ways. 1. As dissolved solids, the gum particles get in the way of ice crystals attempting to grow. 2. By increasing the viscosity of the base, they help incorporate more air (overrun). The air bubbles in the foam are another barrier to ice crystals. Overrun also helps weaken the overall structure of the ice cream and creates a more scoopable end product. The smaller the ice crystals, the smoother the mouthfeel in the end product. Other than ice cream, my favorite use for xanthan/guar is as a stabilizer. I add it to Thai coconut milk based curries to help prevent them from separating. I also use it in cheese sauces to prevent curdling. ← From what I gathered from how gums use (not to give a different idea, but to add on to) was different with different hydrocolloids. Algniate gels in the presence of calcium ions +2, so it would make sense for this to be the main ingredient in ice cream stabilizer. With the gums, the ones used are thixotropic which means while the product is freezing, the gum resists the extreme temperature naturally to protect food stores. Ice crystals being a natural enemy, this is why. *just wanted to add to the science.

I was actually advised by TIC gums, that as the pH levels decrease (more acidic) that it is likely to need a greater percentage of xanthan. For instance, our berry sauce I have estimated it at around .3-.35%, while the passion fruit may be as high as .7%. this may not seem like that much of a difference considering we were using around 3.6% cornstarch previously, but I think it has a considerable difference. I still have to do some experimenting, so dont come down on me just yet.

My gastronomy professor, who um, lets just say hes qualified to be a critic, eghh hemm..... emphasized how many chances in life you have to eat a meal, and to not be so careful in your choices. He then further emphasized that there may be a lot of bad meals you may soon forget, but a great meal you will strive for again and again. now before anyone gets bent out of shape and tells me that they have had a meal here and will never forget how horrible it was, or they couldnt believe the service here and will never return, let me just say one thing... GET OVER IT. Mentally, its not healthy for a person to hold such a grudge, or to care so much about something bad. So please, spare me the stories, I hold no value to it.

I want to take some notes, dammit!

i've read anywhere from .015% to 1%, depending on various things.

sorry patrick, I think we posted at the same time . You you really feel xanthan is inferior to cornstarch in coulis/fruit sauces?

srhcb, I think you are thinking of arabic gum, that is why many brands turned to the name gum acacia.

I can only contribute about 34, I like to read mine cover to cover before moving on to the next one. Sometimes I dont even buy them, I just sit in a Barnes and Noble for 2 and 1/2 hours at a time charging through books. I know its wrong, but I am but a poor student.

Just wondering if anyone has any information on Xanthan that I can use. Something specifically from personal experience, particularly something I cant read in a book. What are some do's and donts? Same with Alginate while were at it.

I just love food. I will appreciate it any way it comes. So the argument between you two seems foreign to me. I agree with it all, just let me have some great food.

one day I will be able to process whats in my head onto the keyboard without screwing up. That day is no where near today, so, accept my appologies.

I dont think that should be a "rule". If some people feel that is necessary in their opinion than I have no problem with your guidelines on how, when and where to eat. I sub-conciously wait a decent amound of time to try out a new place. I usually wait to hear some good reviews of it before waisting money, but that is only because I have limited time and money. If time and money were not a factor, neither would waiting a year be. I do reccomend continuously revisiting a place after it first opens. Maybe every 6 months to see if they have improved or declined. I use to eat out with my father a lot when I was in high school, starting to learn the restaurant life thoroughly. We ate at a couple places that were not up to par, but even as synical as my father can be towards service and dining, he would always give a place another shot if coaxed. For example, There is a place just down the street from my old house that we went to back when I was in ninth grade. I was sub-par to what we were expecting. The bar was magnificent, the appearance, everything out front was great. But when the food came, it was not so. They had been open for about 3 months. We privately tore it apart verbally, paid the check and left unsatisfied, but not unhappy. We went there again a year and a half later, after the chef had left. Unfortunately this was probably a very bad time to go because the soux chef that stepped up was obviously not up to the task. She changed the menu the way she saw fit, and turned "not so great" food into an embarassment. I still remember ordering the duck that had been salted probably 6 times before being served to me. Sadly I like things heavily salted, and I could not eat it. I forgot what my father had, but I remember it being of lesser quality than the first. This time we left a little upset they we waisted our time. Finally a new chef came in and did a complete overhaul on the joint. I am not going to get into the details, but since his arrival/good leaving/soux chef rising (current chef) it has been one of my favorite places to eat back home. So I can understand why Steven would say wait a year, but even though I did not exactly have the greatest meals in the early years, I appreciate what the place has been through getting it right. And quite honestly I think I like the place better now than if I had waited for it to be the way it is now, because they didnt quit until they got it right. So, I say be daring, especially if it appears to be a place you'd like to return to regularly.

Dan, I dont know if thats just great photography, but that looks great.

I missed you, ohwell. L'Escalier is Ala Carte now, so you might find it more in your taste. If you still want further information, let me know.

Where the hell is the closest Whole Foods!!!! All I can find around here is Albertsons and Publix. HELP ME!

To add, or slightly change suggestions of what Neil already said: YOU NEED CORNSYRUP. Man has this been drilled into me like I was in army bootcamp. over and over they ask you, what is the cornsyrup for? reply, for shine Chef! try a 1 part ratio of corn syrup, sugar, and water instead of just simple syrup. I've really only done fondant over a double boiler, but I guess if you are good enough you can throw it right onto the heat. For someone trying it for the first time I would suggest using a double boiler like tempering chocolate. Bring it to 100 degrees and keep it as close to 100 as you can. Make sure the fondant flows properly, similarly to what Neil already said. Pour it down and move the spoon away to watch the fondant slowly work itself back into the mass. I suppose it will be similar to honey, probably a little thicker. You will get a knack for it once you practice with the viscosity. Also, that chocolate glaze you were already using should be fine. Touch the glaze a little with the torch before they are put on display. The direct heat should bring back the shine.