Kerry Beal

This is the free treat machine at the dealership where we left the car - @Alleguede was like a kid in a candy shop - I should have been a little more so and perhaps we wouldn't have had to stop for dinner.

All to soon after my rather challenging trip to Indianapolis - I find myself on the 40th floor of the Crowne Plaza in Times Square. I'm here for the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) Summer 2016 Elevate Chocolate event. Of course the EZtemper is with me - just one - and I realized that I hadn't brought along stainless containers of cocoa butter to put in the machine so I've been trying to get all the black stuff off a new turned stainless container with hand lotion and body soap from the hotel. Fortunately there was a loose bottle of mycryo in my suitcase that can be the source of cocoa butter. At 5 PM @Franci is meeting me in the lobby. We will be dining tonight at 11 Madison Park - arranged by the wonderful wife of @Alleguede. It was a surprise that was sprung on me yesterday while we were arranging the rental car at the Fort Wayne airport to get home after the little pot hole incident. When he explained it was a table for two - and I mentioned that I wasn't really interested in eating all by myself at a posh restaurant in NYC - I couldn't think of anyone else close by with whom I would enjoy a nice dinner more! 'Snack' on the very short flight.

If I'm not mistaken the GTA does have some good Burmese food.

Well sadly we didn't get to enjoy Burmese food in Fort Wayne - we grabbed food from Chick-fil-a again because by the time we got the car sorted, a rental car obtained, the car contents emptied into the rental car - we needed fast. Still took until 10:30 to get home - but on the upside - perhaps Burmese when I'm back to re-collect the car! Hope that can be done before I head north to Manitoulin on Thursday. Welcome suggestions for how to fly easily into Fort Wayne. So right now packing to head out in about 30 minutes to NYC for the FCIA. Had hoped I could do that yesterday - but hey - shit happens. Did I mention the speeding ticket?

Anyone know of a good place to have lunch in Fort Wayne Indiana?

Decided to get an early start today and take advantage of the free breakfast at the hotel offers. Not too terribly exciting as you can see. We are now sitting on the side of the road near Fort Wayne Indiana waiting for the auto club to pick us up and take us to the Mercedes dealer where they can repair the damage done to the bottom of our car when we hit a large pothole .

Indian Candy is brined and hot smoked. It's usually a fairly salty brine which is the first part of the process to dehydrate the nematodes and their eggs. The hot smoking process which reaches 150º F finishes them off. If you are going to cold smoke fish and/or lightly brine then freezing it first for 2 weeks to kill the beasties is a good plan.

Not sure about that - it was a garden that looks like it was maintained (but not well considering the huge 'weed' growth).

Our own Chocolot has made the big time again - with a full page feature in Dessert Professional. You go girl!

Hey - I saw some purslane in a garden along side Maryland Ave by the Westin. You could forage it in advance for Rob.

Pork Tenderloin sandwiches at Coaches a few blocks from the hotel.

Well then - that explains it! And me without my yoga mat.

@Alleguede and I went out to find the post office and have a little look around the downtown after we finished at the trade show yesterday - this impressive monument appears to have been the location for a very large Yoga-in (like a sit-in but with yoga). Not quite sure what that was about but it was very colourful. A little later in the day we were picked up by @huiray and left downtown for one of the many lovely little neighbourhoods that seem to make up Indianapolis to have dinner at Recess. The menu is determined daily by the chef based on what looks good from the market and his suppliers. They offer a prix fixe menu, al a cart and and and wet bar. I started with the seared tuna with shitake and a spicy miso broth. @Alleguede chose sashimi. @huiray went prix fixe and his first course was a lemon thyme chicken soup. Next prix fixe course was lake superior whitefish. @Alleguede and I opted for the hamburger they were offering as part of hamburger week. Last prix fixe course was beef tenderloin. After dinner we toured some interesting neighbourhoods - getting out for a walk at Broad Ripple village. Lots of interesting looking eateries there. We were surprised to see young 20 somethings playing bingo in one of the bars. Then a stop for a night cap on Mass avenue at Libertine. A girly drink of some sort for @Alleguede A manly drink for @huiray and myself. Should have left the flash on the phone - was only able to get one half way decent picture of the devilled eggs. This one was marinated in beet juice and topped with horseradish - note to self - when consuming this - don't eat the horseradish off the top first not realizing what it is.

All ready for the hordes

I think that I had the best of the 3 dishes - the Huevos rancheros - nothing like any that I've had before however.

Dinner thanks to Chick-fil-a passing through Dayton.

In our way - first meal breakfast with patris - Sweetness 7 in Buffalo.

Might be a caramel first.

The available water (Aw) is 0.68 - if it were a chocolate centre it would have a shelf life of 6-9 months. Same range as marzipan.

Texture is kind of sticky/gummy - like a prune. I'll be keeping it at room temperature in a plastic take away container. Might eventually move it to a bottle if I find a stray one around.

So the bag came out today - I believe it has had 11 days at 75º C in it's second round. The bag is pretty much fused together - like getting a retort packaged product - I had to cut right up to the garlic to allow me to peel the two sides apart. This is a sample of Ontario black garlic - side by side tasting - pretty darn similar - with mine perhaps a bit brighter and fruitier than the sample. Mine was also pretty uniformly black though and though - apparently if you don't add the drying step in between you won't get that.

Made some confit garlic scapes in the IP at work this am - picked them up at the farmers market before work this morning. Cooked up a potato in the IP on the saute mode. Fritatta with the garlic scapes, some cheese in the IP.

It uses a 110 outlet - max 7 amps - so any regular household plug will work.

But when condensed milk goes brown in the can over time without heating I was under the impression that it was Maillard mediated.

I had read the patent stuff before I found this chefsteps one - seemed like a shortcut to the same end and that's part of why I chose it. I read that making garlic black is a combination of enzymatic/fermentation and Maillard reactions