John DePaula

Could it be that the gelatine is adulterated in some way? Was it manufactured in China by any chance? My advice would be: stop using it.

On a separate note, I'd just like to nominate the little cocoa pod character for the Jar Jar Binks Award for Animated Excellence in a Documentary.

I do wish to say that I have enormous respect for M. Bau. But I think the video simply didn’t do a very convincing job of making his point. Most of us learned to make ganache by pouring ALL of the heated cream over callets and stirring – starting with small ellipses and widening over time as the mixture emulsifies. And that absolutely works. As I said, it seems to me that it didn’t work in the video because he stopped too soon. Having said that, are there some methods of making ganache that are better than others? Yes, of course. For example, making a tempered ganache is superior in my mind (and on my palette). I think it was Morato and/or Wybauw who first turned me on to tempered ganaches and yes, they are smoother and seem to melt just at the correct temperature. They also produce a product with a longer shelf-life, though I haven’t tested this assertion. In support of M. Bau’s statements, I found this passage in Ramon Morato’s book, 'Chocolate,' regarding the making of ganache: He also talks about how important it is to work at or above 35ºC in order to ensure that the cocoa butter remains liquid so that a proper emulsion can form. So, long story short, another very well respected chocolatier agrees with M. Bau. I just wish he’d have said something like the ganache will melt better or be smoother or taste better, etc.

Here are the direct links: With great respect to M. Bau, I just cannot agree that it's necessary to mix the ganache with 4 or 5 additions of cream to achieve a smooth emulsion. For the failed ganaches, it seems to me that he simply stopped mixing too soon. Had he continued, each would all have ended up virtually identical to the first. I always add the cream all at once and I always get a smooth ganache. Occasionally, a stick blender can help with a tricky recipe but really I almost never need to use one. Note 1: Using a stick blender is fine, just be careful not to whip in air (unless you're making icing) as this will decrease shelf life. Note 2: The addition of glucose, invert sugar, honey, etc. helps to prevent crystallization but also sequesters water making it less available for bacteria to grow thereby extending shelf life.

If you're doing a lot of chocolate work, and even if you're not, I highly recommend an IR thermometer - worth its weight in gold - very accurate and very NOT messy! If you having difficulty with too-thick chocolate, you can always begin by adding a bit of cocoa butter to thin it out a bit.

Sorry, just now saw this... You definitely want to try out Beaker & Flask, Clyde Common, Teardrop, Ten01 (makes a great Aviation), and they're making some great cocktails over at SpintS, too.

Baked French Toast sounds just fine. I make Pain Perdu often and if there's any left over, I freeze it in foil which has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. It reheats pretty well in a low oven, though not quite as good as just made.

The half-life on that Hollandaise is like 10,000 years. COOL! But seriously, what ever happened to honest food. Next thing you know, they'll start splicing pig genes into tomatoes or making corn and soybeans "Monsanto ready"...

Is this the thread you were searching for? Molded Chocolates filled with liquor ETA: Ooops, I see you've already found it...

Thank you! I saw the site, it's very nice, but I can't watch the video. Because it's only available in the US and Canada. And thank you for the information. I can't make the move in a month either. I wish someone will cancel earlier. Have a nice time in Paris! I have no idea what the library situation is in China, but you may be able to find the course materials, videos, audio tapes, & books, at your local library. Best of luck to you!

Congratulations to David for his award from IACP for this book. You can read about all the winners, here: International Association of Culinary Professionals 2010 Awardees.

Yes, please do let us know. Bon chance! And of course, we'd also be interested in hearing about how the year progresses.

I made the Multigrain Bread Extraordinaire yesterday and it was pretty fantastic. The depth of flavor was intense and made me wonder how we ever got away from baking with whole grains in the first place. Nothing matches the flavor you get from fresh whole grains!

Thanks. Good suggestions. Call me stubborn, I may still try the steaming method with a corresponding reduced oven temp/extended baking just to see if that would work. Cheers.

I was craving polenta yesterday, so I went looking for a nice cake recipe. Found this one by Edward Schneider in Mark Bittman's NYT column: Ed’s Lemon-Rosemary Polenta Cake. I went ahead and entered the recipe here: Polenta Cake with Lemon Rosemary Syrup by Edward Schneider The cake was so simple and the flavor combination of citrus and rosemary was just wonderful. I will definitely make this one again but want to improve it in one area: the polenta was just a bit too crunchy. I used Bob's Red Mill polenta, a medium grind product. To correct this problem, do you think I could steam the polenta a bit, say 20-30 minutes, prior to incorporating in the batter?

Ingredients Cake 1 stick (114g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1½ cup (187g) all-purpose flour 2 teas. baking powder 1 scant teas. fine salt ¾ cup (105g) medium to fine grind polenta 4 eggs, room temperature ¾ cup (150g) sugar zest of 1½ lemons (or other citrus) 2 teas. rosemary, very finely chopped Syrup 1 branch of rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped ½ cup water ⅓ cup (66g) sugar zest of ½ lemon juice of 1 lemon Rhubarb-Cherry Compote 1½ - 2 cups chopped rhubarb, fresh or frozen 1 cup frozen sour cherries, fresh or frozen couple of big splashes of white wine comparable splash of sugar 4 – 5 heaping tablespoons orange syrup, if available (I used leftover syrup from candied orange peels) Instructions Preheat the oven to 360 degrees and butter & flour a nine-inch spring-form cake pan (or bundt cake pan). Melt a stick of unsalted butter and set it aside to cool. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and polenta (e.g. Anson Mills, Bob's Red Mill, fresh! and you could use quick-cooking polenta too if that’s what you have). Using an electric mixer, whip four room-temperature eggs and sugar until they are airy and more than doubled in volume; at the end, add the grated lemon zest and the very finely chopped fresh rosemary. Carefully fold in about a third of the dry ingredients and then half of the melted butter; repeat until everything is incorporated. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes; the sides should slightly come away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. It should be well baked; don't worry that it'll be too dry since more moisture will be added later. Make the syrup while the cake is in the oven. Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan; stir over heat until the sugar dissolves; then add the rosemary and the lemon zest. Bring to a boil, and let it steep for 15 minutes, then strain and reserve. Before using, add the lemon juice. When the cake has cooled for 10 minutes, spoon the syrup evenly over the cake (still in the pan). Let it soak and cool in the pan, then remove. Serve at room temperature, plain, with whipped cream or, perhaps best of all, with a fruit compote. To make the Rhubarb Compote (obviously my own off-the-cuff addition), mix all ingredients over heat until rhubarb begins to break up. Serve warm over cake.

I noticed that, too, and like you, I've never noticed any difference either way. I assumed that it was potentially a "crush" problem: as the fish thaws, it can't stand up to the vacuum (the cells implode?) so texture is adversely affected.

Recently stopped in at Ecco to have a latte. Except for the uber-hipster attitude by one of the employees, I'd recommend this place for a coffee. The gelato (most of them) looked pretty good, too. Ecco Espresso and Gelato (web) 105 East Marcy Avenue (map) Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 986-9778

I recently had lunch at a new place in Santa Fe and I thought I'd pass along the info. They've been open only a short while, about 2 months. Mediterranean cuisine, very friendly and welcoming staff. I had the Mezza appetizer plate for lunch and it was plenty of food and a solid offering. I'd get it again. My dining partner had the Falafel Sandwich and enjoyed it as well. I tried it and though I prefer the one at L'as du falafel, this was pretty good. There were a couple of desserts on the menu that I'd not heard of before: kulaj bishta, and Katif with walnuts. I'd like to find out what those are; maybe try them some time. Espresso was excellently prepared and tasty. Casablanca 207 W. San Francisco St. (map) Santa Fe, NM 87501 Open daily 7am - 9:30pm Mediterranean Cuisine Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

I doubt you'd have enough fineness of control for tempering or keeping chocolate in temper.

I have 3 Mol d'art melters, purchased several years ago, and have had none of the problems you specify. 1) No rocker switch on mine, just the thermostat dial; so, there's no chance of accidentally turning it off. 2) I appreciate the light weight easy to clean construction - even though it's plastic, there have been no stress fractures after several years of use 3) When I purchased the melters, I assumed I'd want extra pans to swap out so I got extra ones at the time of purchase. Definitely pays to plan ahead in this regard. YMMV

An excellent explanation of gelatin: David Lebovitz: How to Use Gelatin.

Of course, on some other forums, the tired lament, 'Nanny State!, Nanny State!' is heralded once again along with the poor comparison to the smoking ban in public places; however, the comparison is inapt: Smoking affects all. If I eat salted food, it only affects me. Smoking is NEVER necessary to good health; Salt, in moderation, is. I feel perfectly competent to make my own decisions about what I eat. The bill is silly and should be discarded; and shame on them for wasting our time.

Well, I'll take a stab at it... From HeatherM's post (here) we see the following formula: Knox x 1.06 = Gold Therefore: Gold / 1.06 = Knox So plugging in our real world numbers and assuming that 1 Gold Sheet weighs 2g: 2g x 7 sheets = 14g Gold 14g / 1.06 = 13.2g Knox So if an envelope of Knox is 6g, you'd need about 2-1/5 envelopes of Knox for 7 Gold Sheets. David Lebovitz has a great article explaining all of this more succinctly on his blog: David Lebovitz: How to Use Gelatin

Seattle, Washington.