jsmeeker

I was in the grocery store a little while ago picking up some potato chips. I wandered down the aisle where they stock the plastic wrap, aluminum foil, Gladware containers, etc. and happened to spy this. It's foil and parchment in one. Looks like one side is parchment, the other foil. Interesting. Anyone ever use this before? Is it a unique product that Martha Stewart invented, or is it something that isn't new but not commonly available to consumers?

That's a good question. I don't really know, other than to say I've seen it done this way in restaurants.

Made another one last night. This time, I shaped it by pressing down on the dough with my hands and a rolling pin. Also, I put the basil leaves on there for just the last two minutes of baking.

I love potato chips. I think they are the king of salty snacks. Lots of good stuff has been mentioned here. I've got a lot of favorites, too Kettle Zapps Utz (I need to see if I can get the "Grandma" ones cooked in lard) Target house brand (Archer Farms, I believe) Lays Kettle Cooked Wavy Lays (I love these made with Hidden Valley Ranch Dip) I think I need to go to the grocery store.

First two In-n-Out locations in the Dallas area will open in late May http://www.dallasnews.com/business/headlines/20110324-in-n-outs-dallas-area-debut-set-for-frisco-and-allen.ece

tasted great!

Somone told me "Never trust a round pizza" I think this may be the most trustworthy pizza around!!

- like my authentic toast Sounds like a hydration issue / hydration consistency across different flours ? Unless it's too much or too little dough development. I don't know that there's such a thing as 'stretches too easily', not the way I like my pizza. I keep my pizza dough pucks each in its own wee oiled plastic bag. Once a puck's proofed, I drop flour on top of the dough and use that barrier to turn it out onto one hand, flour the other side and I'm good to hand-shape with no sticking, the excess flour simply dropping off (in my kitchen: dropping the flour into the sink) before shaping. Loose & highly-developed as it is, my dough is impossible to handle without the flour. Even oiled it sticks mercilessly. What's your approach ? Those are god questions, but I really don't know how to tell if it's a hydration issue or not. I too divide dough into individual plastic bags after the initial over night ferment in the fridge. Then I shape The recipe I use most calls for regular bread flour. It's frequently haard to work out. And it's always hard to get the dough even in thickness. I just do it by hand. Not really sure how to describe the shaping technique. It's something I picked up watching on TV. The other recipe I use was from Reinhart, and calls for regular AP flour. Actually, calls for the flour to be COLD and the water to be ice cold. This frequently comes out too slack. I pick it up to shape by hand and it droops quickly. And then can fall apart. Really don't know if I over work the dough when mixing or under work it. If find it hard to believe it's OVER worked, because it would be mixed for a few minutes. Anyway, I am going to shape the dough I made last night. We'll see how it goes. In any case, I usually to manage to shape out a pizza. It's not always nice and round and even. But it works. And it always tastes good.

Emeril had a show like that on Food Network when he first started. Even after he good big with "Emeril Live", he stil had a more straight up "how to" show without the audience and the band and the "Bam!" schtick. Maybe there is something like this over on Cooking Channel? I dunno. I don't get that channel. I think the closest you may come to this right now is "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS.

Wow. That's crazy.. Where are they standing? Outside of a hotel that caters to Western (American?) tourists and business travelers?

Even non commercial TV (PBS) needs to find an audience. Local PBS stations need to buy those shows. Ones that find an audience willing to make dontations will last. Also, it seems were seeing a lot more "food travel" woven into the PBS shows. Avec Eric is a great example of that. It's not just Eric Ripert in a kitchen cooking a dish. In fact, that's less than half the show. Rick Bayless does a lot more cooking, but he still has a good amount of "food travel" in his show, too.

it's not burned, it's charred! Anyway, the dough came together quite nicely, I think. Added everything into the bowl and mixed as specified. Actually, the mixing instructions didn't say to use paddle or dough hook. So, I did the first mix with the paddle to get evetything to come together. after the rest, I did the second mix using the dough hook. The dough is parked in the fridge, fermenting away. I checked it this morning and it's already doubled in size. The biggest test will be when it comes to actually stretching out the dough to make a pizza. Generally, my doughs are either too hard to work (wont't stretch. Snaps back) or too easy too works (stretches too easily).

Are we talking about western restaurants vs. asian restaurants in the United States or other western nationas or are you comparing restaurants located in western nations to restaurants located in asian nations?

I will join the "deep frying at home is awesome" group.

So, you do "sous vide" but in a pressure cooker instead of a water bath?? Do you just use water in the pressure cooker?

I was in Central Market today and went to check out what they had in way of Thai curry paste. Saw these.. Much larger container than the little jar I bought. Cost a bit more, but you are obviously getting a lot more for your money. Maybe when I use up my little jar, I'll buy this. How long can I expect it to last in the fridge? They also had yellow and red.

What the heck is a "retort pouch"?

I want to make some pizza over the weekend and need so make some dough. I have some "go to" recipes, but I am planning on trying out a different one this time. Poking around in my bookmarks, I found I had set one to a Peter Reinhart blog. I took a look and decided to make the "NY Style Pizza Dough" You can find a link to the recipe right here. http://www.fornobravo.com/pizzaquest/instructionals/59-written-recipes.html I'm going to make the dough tonight and park it in the fridge and bake a pizza with it tomorrow night for dinner. It will make enough dough for several small pies. I'll get going on it and report back.

That's what I really don't get. In catering, you pretty much want everything to be like clockwork, ready to serve your hungry guests, without a lot of potential for screwing up. It's not necessarily the time for experimentation. And I still don't understand why you're having one of your cooks slice up apples which are going into the VitaPrep. this isn't just a catering gig. It's also a TV show. Maybe the "experimenting" is simply a way to sorta demonstrate technique and method to the viewing audience? I dunno. As far as the apple go.. Did marcel instruct he girl to slice the apples that way? I honestly don't recall any specific instructions on that. Just "peel them and make a puree". If it was me, I would have rough chopped them. I'll keep this on the TiVo for now to catch at least one more episode to give it a bit of a chance.

That doesn't look compressed to me. In the final shot, it seems they had a before and after comparison. They both seemed to be the same size to me. But one was clearly redder than the other. I wish the person filming was showing eating it.

I could nomintate some BBQ places in central Texas, but I'll single out one. Kruez Market in Lockhart. HUGE place. Pit room is full of brick pits, loaded with meat. Lots and lots and lots of meat. Live, open fires fuel the cooking. Meat piled on paper. Eaten with fingers. It's all very primitve. I have a better write up with pictures over in the Texas:Dining forum. You can read it right here.

Thanks for that write up, Steven. On the "Today" show segment the other day, Nathan demoed the omelette. It was very easy to just SEE it had that rubbery "fruit leather" type of texture to it. And he demoed the pistachio gelato. Used a fancy machine called an "emulsifier" to mix it up. He also made note of calling it "vegan". Was it describe as such at the event? That pistachio gelato seems to be a good demonstration of "modernist" It's taking a common dish, then focusing on the key flavor and making it taste more like that. Strip everything away in the traditional version that gets in the way of that flavor. Like the milk/cream in this case. That dilutes the taste of the pistachio The mac and cheese everyone is making is the same thing. The bachemel one would use to make a traditional cheese sauce gets in the way of the cheese flavor. That oytster dish sounds amazing. But does dunking an oyster in liquid nitorgen really do anything other than making it easier to open? I mean, an experienced oyster shucker can open one in WAY less time than 30 seconds.

I think we have a great final two. Blais vs. Mike I. Should be a good one to watch. I'm pulling for Richard to get his redemption.

I was disappointed in the dishes he presented. Not nearly what I expected out of the guy based on him going on and on about his awesomeness while on Top Chef.

I bought some jarred salsa at Whole Foods after sampling, too. But that was a while ago. Yeah yeah... jarred salsa. But it was from a "local" producer. (some place in Texas). And it was pretty good. At Whole Foods, I got turned onto a drinkable yogurt from Lucky Layla Farms. They are VERY local to the Dallas area. I think for a producer like them, a tasting can really help a lot. Sure, they won't sell as much as Stonyfield Farms or Fage, but they seem to do pretty well. The store stocks a lot of their product.