jsmeeker

Was it an episode of 30 Minute Meals? If so, what else would you expect. It's her "schtick" on that show. It's what made fer famous. (or infamous). What's worse? Doing it her way or ordering a complete meal from the grocery store and re-heating it at home?

It's well chilled when it goes into the oven. I let it sit in the fridge (after placing in the pie pan and trimming and fluting the edges) at least as long as suggested. The dough is very firm when I pull it out. I don't think that is the problem. I don't use much flour. Just enough to keep it from sticking. Maybe it IS A typo? I can compare that pie dough recipe to others from the same source. (i.e. look in my CI book instead of the web) My understanding is that this is their "standard" pie dough.

I don't think it's a typo (the fat and shortening). I've seen the same thing from another "technical" cooking source. (Alton Brown). I'll go with your advice. Parchment and pie wieghts (I have both). I've used pre-made shells before. And they look nice and stay nice. Flavor isn't so hot, though. Also, there is just that personal satisfcation I get when I make ALL of it myself. Also, I'll pop over to the Cook's Illustrated webpage and their discussion boards to see if I can get some more insight.

ingredients for the pie crust 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour , plus extra for dough and rolling surface 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon table salt 8 tablespoons unsalted butter , chilled, cut into 1/4 -inch pieces 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening , frozen, cut into small pieces 1 large egg white , chilled, thoroughly mixed with ice water (about 2 tablespoons) to equal 1/4 cup 1 large egg yolk , beaten with 1/8 teaspoon water (the egg yolk gets brushed on the partially baked shell, then returned to the oven to give a nice shine) I think I'll do it again, but this time with pie wieghts. No need to press it down. Maybe that step is there because they (the author?) think not everyone has pie weights? I dunno. It's a Cook's Illustrated recipe and they have other recipes that DO call for their use. But I think I would need to line with foil so I can get them out easily. The idea is to pour the pie filling into a warm shell and then return it all to the oven. it tastes great. Just doesn't look as pretty as I would like it to look for a holiday table.

Yeah. I'm doing all that. The recipe calls for the crust to be par-baked prior to being filled, then filled, then baked to completion (this is for the pecan pie). I also think it calls for the the use of pie weights or whatever to be used. I'd need to check the recipe, but I seem to recall steps where it says to press down the foil (they tell you to place foil over the crust during the inital par-baking) to keep it from bubblng up. Although I must be confusing something here because if I used pie wieghts, why would I press down? I could be (in my mind right now) combining the procedures for a traidtional pie crust with a sweet pastry tart. LOL.. I dunno. I'll have to go check the actual pecan pie recipe that I make and report back what the actual steps are (and I've always followed those steps exactly)... I'll be back. Edit: I'm back.. Here is the procedure for the crust... So, I was confsing it. There are no pie weights called for in this recipe. So, what I think might be happening is that during the step that has me press down on the foil while baking might be causing the dough to pull down the sides of the pie pan. Could I just use wieghts instead? Would they interfere with the holes that are pricked in the bottom of the pie crust? Or is something else going on here? The fluted edges look pretty good and well defined when I pull the pie plate out of the fridge, but after baking, they really flatten out.

I'm glad someone started this thread. I was thinking of doing it myself. I've been tasked with doing dessert this year. I've done it in the past. No problem there. What I've typically done is pecan pie or pumpkin pie. I've got good recipes for both. I make my own crust, but run into some issues with the crust. (it "slumps" or slides down the pie plate while baking. It goes in look all nice and pretty. ) So, if I do a pie, I need help with the crust part. I'm also very much open to suggestions on types of pies or variations on the pecan or pumpkin and I am also open to something totally different. I'm also willing to do two things. (like maybe a pie and something "unique") Help me out here..

It was. And I know that sort of thing DOES happen. But it's becasue people over fill the pot with oil, don't make sure the turkey is dry, etc.

The turkey derreck was way over the top. I know he thinks fryinf a turkey is dangerous amd he is right that a lot of people screw up and run into big problems... But come on.. He measured out the proper amount of oil in advance using the displacement method. He made sure the turkey wasn't wet or still paritally frozen. PLUS he dropped the turkey into fairly cold oil and then brought it all up to temp. I've never had deep fried turkey. But everyone who has had it says it's great. I've always wanted to try it. (eating. probably not making as I don't want to buy all that equipment)

From time to time, I've had issues finding some really bassic, normal items at Central Market. (Plano location). One example is long grain white rice. They didn't have it. They had all types of stuff. But not that. The closest they had to what I wanted was Uncle Ben's converted white rice. And I didn't want converted rice. Just normal, long grain white rice. Had to pick it up at a regular grocery store. I have never been to one, but from what I hear from friends, the Wegman's chain (I think that is the name of it) is like CM, but seems to be a little better. I'd really liek to see one some day.

hmmm.. OK. It's already had a decent amount of cream added to it. Maybe I can thin it with milk. I think the problem was there being a lot of leeks and potatoes relative to the amount of stock.

Dallas has the biggest event in the USA? Wow. Maybe I should go. Always looking for a new excuse to party and drink.

I made some vichyssoise last night to serve at a party tonight. I've made this potato leek soup recipe before, but this is the first time I ever turned it into a vichyssoise. Now that it's been sitting in the fridge overnight and all day, it's well chilled. But it seems to be pretty thick. How thick should it be? I was planning on serving it chilled, but now I am thinking I should heat it up. (it was thinner when it was hot). Ideas? Comments? Suggestions?

There are a lot of good ideas here. I'm really intrigued by the idea of the mashed potato chocolate cake. I could do that, plus maybe a savory dish. Like the vichyssoise I was originally thinking about. Or maybe some sort of potato salad like the French one.

it doesn't have to be all potato. Someone is actually going to do sheppard's pie.

I'm well known for making desserts for this group. I even joked to someone that he should make potatoe ice cream since he likes to make ice cream and it seems to be a common theme on "Iron Chef". (make ice cream out of the secret ingredient) and yes, I will report back with what I decided on.

Some of my friends are getting together for a little gathering Saturday. When we do this, we frequently like to do a potluck thing for food. This time, the host has decided we should have a theme ingredient. The theme is potatoes. Help me pick a potato dish. I have to prepare it in advance, then transport it in my car. Maybe like 20-30 miles, I think. It should be something that can easily be served buffet style and doesn't really require complicated assembly, plating or cooking at the party site. (I could most likely heat something like a soup) One thought I had was vichyssoise. It's commonly served cold so that eliminates the need to heat it. But if people wanted it hot, I should be able to do that pretty easily. bringing some chopped chives for garnish would be easy to do as well. I have a recipe for a rustic potato and leek soup that I like, and it making a vichyssoise from it ought to be easy, right? (puree it, then finish it with cream?? ) nobody has potato salad yet, but that seems kind of lame. Unless maybe I can come up with something "fancy" or something that isn't traditional American picnic potato salad. anyway.. fire away with ideas and suggestions.

That's interesting. When I made the reservation (in person at the restaurant), they said my request for counter seats would be no problem at all. And I saw that counter seating vs. table seating shows up on a different portion of their computer screen, so there's definitely clear differentiation. Yeah, as I'm sure you well know, it ain't easy. I only have one friend crazy (er, uh...adventurous) enough to go placea like L'Atelier, and not run away in horror when a $500+ check for two people is placed before us.... Same friend with whom I went to Masa. Same friend who I'll be joining at a wine dinner at Per Se next week. Good friend. ← I need some more bank. For sure. From my perspective I can't see spending $200+ on a meal that's not an entire experience. I like the pageantry, etc, etc. It will likely be a while until I get to Atelier. ← I can't really take much issue with your feeling, as I kind of feel the same way. I visited L'Atelier in Las Vegas back in June. It was great. Really wonderful food. And there was no bullshit pretense. We were on the tasting menu which gave us just one single option, so you can't "screw up" anyway. It was all nice, very efficient, proper service. Just friendly enough. But it did lack that feel you get from a more traditional white table cloth fine dining place. And yeah, more often than not, when I'm dropping that kind of coin, I like to have that elemetn too. But that should be meant to take anything away from L'Atelier. It's still great. You should go. You'll really like it.

thanks! Those other chocolate covered caramels look great! I may want to try those out as well, in addition to playing around with the recipe you posted.

the soft caramels were a big hit at this weekend's party. I guess due to the way they were packed and the course of time, they started to spread and flatten out. They didn't look as pretty as they did originally (not that they were that pretty all wrapped up to begin wtih), and some of them oozed out of the wrappers, but they still tasted great and there were no major issues with them sticking to the foil. About the spreading.. These are a little softer than the commerical caramels I have had in the past. (i.e. Kraft caramels). Mt sugar science isn't very strong, but I think the hardness softness has pretty much everything to do with the temperature the caramel is cooked to. If I want it firmer, would I just cook it a little hotter? If so, does it make a difference if I do it before adding the cream AND after adding the cream? I might want to experiment with this a little bit. See if I can get them a littler firmer. Or a little darker with a stronger flavor.

No. Cowboy food is not Southern food. I think most people from Texas would agree that, with respect to culture and cuisine, Texas is a region unto itself. ← It certainly is. If you want to group it in with another region, you can. As long as that region isn't the south.

I DID go. It was very good. Jovany came over and introduced himself. We talked about some of the wines, and wound up selecting two different ones. The first was a Carmenere. It was a Santa Ema, Reserva Mapio from Chile. I liked this a lot. It worked well with all of the excellent meats that were served. The next bottle was a Malbec. Went with a Navarro Correas Gran Reserva Mendoza. It was very nice. Out of the two wines we had, that's the one all of the wine drinkers preferred. I really appreciate the help I got in this thread, and especially enjoyed the personal connection. eGullet is such a fantastic resource. I (as well as the people dining with me) found some new types of wines to enjoy.

the chef's 5 course tasting menu only offers cheese for dessert. That's kind of interesting. Is that something the Mansion always did under Dean, or is this new?

I hope you can get the caramel off the foil. It might just stick. I'd probably use parchment if I had no cello. Wrapping caramels is a royal pain. How heavy is your pot. I often find that the dark stuck bits are more likely if your pot is not really heavy. In this case you might want to stir more to prevent any sticking. Other classes may be possible in the future. I'll talk to the boss. Hard candy would be interesting. ← Eeeek! I hope so too. I didn't even think of that. The only cellophane the store had were bags of various sizes. The pot I used was a 7 qt. Le Creuset. Maybe I did go too high on the heat. It was just taking so long to get the temp up, I slowly started to crank it up a bit.

Thanks. I'll be there tomorrow night!

I appreciate all the suggestions on the Malbec. I think I will see what they have and hopefully they can suggest one that's within my budget. Do you think a Malbec would be available by the glass? If not, it's not a bg deal, as I was prepared to order a bottle.