Jump to content

etalanian

participating member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    541

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by etalanian

    Walnut pricing

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Nuts always go up at this time of year; it's a matter of supply and demand.

    There is a nut company here in the Philadelphia area that I used when I had my bakery. I would suspect you have something like that near you, and you should be able to either get a quick delivery or pick the nuts up directly from them.

    No help now, but in the future, you might think about buying your nuts before Thanksgiving, when the prices go up for the season.

    Eileen

    Old dough

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I am so happy to read this, because my son will often make or buy pizza dough and then something will come up and he doesn't bake it. Then he goes back to college and I find it a week later in the fridge. I have always just tossed it, assuming it would be no good.

    Next time I'll make a pizza with it!

    Thanks so much for passing this along.

    Eileen

    Creme Brulee

    in Pennsylvania: Dining

    Posted

    I have always found the vanilla creme brulee with fresh berries at the Fountain Room to be good.

    I suspect at London's they left the creme brulee under the broiler too long and the custard became partially liquid. Either that or they had recently made a batch and it didnt set up in the fridge long enough.

    Actually, if they left the CB under the broiler too long, it wouldn't melt the custard, it would curdle it. A custard will be runny if it's undercooked.

    Eileen

    Creme Brulee

    in Pennsylvania: Dining

    Posted · Edited by etalanian (log)

    I love creme brulee. and it is very disappointing when it hasn't been cooked properly. In my mind it should be room temperature, smooth as silk, creamy, and thick enough that it isn't runny but not so thick that your spoon could stand up in it. It sounds to me that they cooked the custard on the stovetop and someone forgot to put it in the oven afterwards.

    I've had it in restaurants where it is too thick, or curdled, or really runny. I don't understand how a restaurant can serve something that just isn't right. I understand that restaurateurs have the bottom line to consider, but dessert is the last thing most people eat when dining out, so I would think the owners would want someone to leave with a good impression, not a bad one.

    I try to always let them know when it's not right. Did you tell them?

    Eileen

    all purpose baking chocolate

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I always used Callebaut in my bakery, and everyone loved it. We dipped baked goods in their D835NV and their 60/40. It has an amazingly smooth texture and a very good flavor.

    Since I sold my bakery I still buy Callebaut, but I also buy Trader Joe's belgian chocolate - both the semisweet and the bittersweet. The price is excellent, and the quality is the closest I've found to Callebaut. (In fact, it may even be Callebaut for all we know!)

    But I agree with the previous advice about buying several kinds that you have access to and try them yourself. It's a very personal thing - really depends on your own body chemistry.

    Good luck!

    Eileen

    Blind Baking Pie Crust

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I agree - stretching the dough is probably the culprit.

    When you roll the dough, it's best to start at the center, roll to the end, make a quarter turn of the dough and roll from the center again; repeat as necessary, being sure you have the rolling surface lightly floured just enough to keep the dough from sticking. And roll it out large enough so you have an edge to trim. Dust the top of the rolled dough and brush off all the excess flour, then fold it in half and gently pick it up, and ease it into the pan. But no stretching to make it fit.

    Chill or freeze, line with oiled foil, weigh with dry beans or rice, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and continue baking until golden brown.

    Good luck!

    Eileen

    Cupcakes: Tips & Techniques

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    It sounds very much like your oven temperature is off. Ovens can be fine one day and the next ---off enough to ruin whatever you're baking. If you use an oven thermometer you can tell if your oven is off, and you can make an adjustment in the temperature setting to compensate.

    Eileen

    Conspiracy Theory: Never baked enough

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I know you 'dismiss the conspiracy' types...probably work for the government.  :hmmm:

    But, that said, I will be eternally grateful to SugarSeattle who just a month or so ago taught me how to know if cheesecakes are done.  I had always thought I knew, but when I had one using her guidelines, I knew I had been eating swill for years.

    And as far as brownies, I can tell by the smell with one exception - Ling's brownies.  I have never had them baked enough - but that hasn't stopped me from eating them.

    So how did Sugar Seattle tell you how to know when cheesecakes are done???

    Eileen

    spicy brownies recipe ideas?

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    In my humble opinion, any recipe is really dependent on an individual's personal taste.

    I love chocolate with hot flavorings added, and prefer to have my chocolate flavors for this purpose be bittersweet. I've never made Hepburn's brownies, nor seen the recipe, but would recommend adding a little cocoa powder (and decreasing the flour a bit to balance the wet/dry ingredients) to increase the dark chocolate flavor.

    I like Ancho chilis for this purpose. You can also get a similar effect with Pasillo peppers. The heat isn't overwhelming, and it sneaks up on you at the end. So you get the richness of the brownie in your mouth, the dark chocolate flavor, and then the warm heat of the chilis in the back of your throat. Quite lovely.

    Eileen

    Apple Pies -- Bake-Off VIII

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    gfron1, are you thinking about something along the lines of a napoleon? Or will it be something that is baked in layers, rather than being constructed of pre-cooked and pre-baked layers?

    I'm not quite sure, but I was thinking of a whole bunch of layers apple, dough, apple, dough... I don't want to construct it in the end - I want it baked in final format.

    If your intent is to bake it in the final form, I would recommend the filo layered with sugar (or cinnamon-sugar or sugar/cinn-sugar with finely chopped nuts) between sheets. It helps to keep the layers from getting soggy, and if you pre-cook the apples to reduce the moisture, you should have some success.

    I'm curious to know what you decide to do, so please report back!

    And ABRA - WHERE ARE YOU ON THIS SUBJECT WITH ALL OF THOSE DELICIOUS LOCAL SOUTHERN FRENC E APPLES COMING INTO MARKET RIGHT NOW?

    Eileen

    Apple Pies -- Bake-Off VIII

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    gfron1, are you thinking about something along the lines of a napoleon? Or will it be something that is baked in layers, rather than being constructed of pre-cooked and pre-baked layers?

    Will you be using puff pastry, or filo, or what?

    If you are using filo, you can help to keep it crisp with that favorite old technique of sprinkling sugar (or cinnamon-sugar) between the layers of pastry. And pre-cooking the sliced apples on the stovetop would release a lot of the moisture before constructing the layered pastry and baking it.

    Assembly just before serving helps, also, if you are making a napoleon type of dessert.

    Eileen

    Artisan Bread?

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    Artisan Bread:

    Bread in which a number of overworked, underpaid bakers create, for the love of baking, flavorful crusty loaves.

    They live and die by the starter and how hot the shop is.

    They pray for the night when every loaf is perfect.

    They wonder why they do it.....until they slice open a loaf, straight from the oven, and slather butter all over it, and eat, what could be, the most heavenly thing on earth.

    :wub:

    Maybe not official, but a definition nonetheless.

    This is a perfect definition, and could apply also to artisan pastry makers with minor vocabulary changes to the text.

    I would add that artisanal breads and pastries are something a minority appreciate, but that those who do are intensely passionate people.

    Eileen

    Wrestling with Recipe Writing

    in Cookbooks & References

    Posted · Edited by etalanian (log)

    As a home baker, let me correct the assumptions of the above posters that home bakers don't own a scale and prefer volume.

    I do own a digital scale and much prefer using weight rather than volume. Indeed, I will convert my recipes to weight, so that they can be made with consistency and easily scaled.

    I detest recipes that use volume, except for very small quantities which are difficult to accurately weigh.

    I also get irritated by recipes involving boiling of sugar and such, where temperatures are not given. For I also own a probe thermometer and like to use it.  So much simpler to say "simmer till 170degrees" rather than "simmer till a lightish amberish/brown colour, but not too dark."

    So please, don't patronise us home cooks.

    I don't think anyone here wants to patronize home cooks. We are all trying to work with our publishers to include weights as well as measurements. But, I must say that most of the people I come across when I teach a class DO NOT own kitchen scales. And these are people who are interested in cooking. I recommend buying a scale when I teach.

    I love that you have and use a kitchen scale. I wish more people had one.

    I've just decided that from now on, my go-to wedding present is going to be a kitchen scale.

    That's a GREAT idea! You've just solved my wedding gift problem for the coming decade!

    Lorinda,

    I was trying to explain that the recipe authors don't have their own way when it comes to recipes. Editors can and do insist on changes to suit different markets and the author has to submit.

    Can't say I've ever met any authors who patronise their readers. The number I've met care passionately about their recipes and want the reader to get the best result every time. Send emails to publishing house and magazine editors, let them know you're out there.

    Dan

    That's really the answer here - publishers will respond to what the public wants, but they need to know the public wants it.

    Another caveat - publishers preview many of their cookbooks to the buyers at the mega-chains, and what those buyers say has a LOT to do with what gets edited out of/or put into a cookbook.

    So, my suggestion would be to flood the publishing houses AND the head cookbook buyers at the big chains with letters and emails asking that recipes be given in both volume and weight.

    And, in the midst of all this ranting of mine, my KD600 scale broke.  Just today!  I've had it about five years so am out of the loop as far as new scales.  Recommendations, anyone?

    Thanks!

    I love the Escali Pana scale. It measures in cups and tablespoons, or in ounces and pounds, or grams. I see it as a way to move people into using weight measurements. The conversions were worked out with the diligent help of the King Arthur kitchens. It eliminates the need for conversion tables, which require extra work for people who probably feel pressed for time anyway.

    As a compromise, how about a page at the back, or the front, giving conversions?  In other words, something like this:

    Do you think you could sneak in just one page?

    See above.

    And, djyee100 raises a good point. While the eGulleteers would rather weigh their ingredients for accuracy, most home cooks just aren't there yet. Because my book will not have weights in it, I am including a conversion chart on my book web site, as well as a suggestion to buy a scale and a link to the Escali page.

    Eileen

×
×
  • Create New...