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Pallee

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Everything posted by Pallee

  1. etherdog, Glad to have you on board! Always good to hear new ideas and even better to hear the results. I went to my nephew's high school graduation celebration last night and part of my present to him was a pound of my regular bacon and a pound of my garlic stuffed bacon. As well as a piggy bank with $100 of coins in it. He loves pork! Probably end up as a politician, don't blame me! Have fun!
  2. The old standby - "Go ask Pete if you can borrow his chiffonade knife." Works every time.
  3. I'm on my second Luhr Jensen in 15 years. The first was a top loader and I used the hell out of it at work in every kitchen I ran. Had to replace everthing at least twice but it finally became so grimey that it had to go. My latest one is a front loader - much better design. I own 4 smokers - a Smokey Mountain gas, a New Branfels wood, the Luhr Jensen and a stove top smoker. The Luhr Jensen gets used the most - I do the first 5 or 6 hours of smoking bacon and pastrami in it, then move to the gas fired for the last couple hours to bring the temp up to 150'. I also smoke fish, other meats, and odd things like tomatoes in the Luhr Jensen.
  4. Tim, I think you left out the quantity for the sugar....Let me guess - 1 1/4 cup?
  5. You might give Toro Bravo a try. It's a new tapas place that is really great!
  6. I use my wine cellar to cure peperoni, salami and such. It's very well insulated. I have a small electric wall heater that I usually set for 55' in the winter, but have to turn it up a bit when curing sausages as the ones I make like it a little warmer. The house has central air and it wasn't hard to tap into one of the ducts, so when the house air conditioner runs, the wine cellar gets a good blast and never goes above 64'. I don't have any problem keeping it between the 60 and 70% humidity, if I have to increase it, I just hang a wet towel in there and pour some water on the concrete floor. Oregon Scientific makes a good remote thermometer with humidity on it, so I can see the info from my bed, if I'm so lazy. I keep my chocolate in there, but haven't played with cheese aging as there are so many excellent cheese shops close by.
  7. A few years back I was loaned an Indian cookbook that had been in my friend's family. It was stained and falling apart. Also out of print. I was about to start copying recipes when I went to Powell's Books online and found a copy. It's quite worthwhile to track down. "Indian Cookery" by Mrs. Balbir Singh I also like "Indian Home Cooking" by Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness. "Moroccan Modern" by Hassan M'Souli is very good as well.
  8. I've done this several times. I've found I only enjoy it if I like the people I'm cooking for. That's a hard thing to tell in advance. The worst time was when the Dacor oven refused to get much above 300' and of course I needed much more than that. The people had lived in the house 2 years and had only used the oven once, and wondered why their turkey took so long to cook, but never looked into why. So, if you do it, check out the equipment real well ahead of time. Since it's an auction, you won't have the luxury of checking out the people. Good luck!
  9. I found an error in the first recipe I used. It was for the Chocolate Cream with Vanilla Caramel Ice Cream and Coffee Sabayon. The amount of sugar called for in the chocolate cream is at least twice what it should be. The instructions for the sabayon omit the cooking instructions, at least I've always heated the ingredients. Also the amounts were weird - it says it serves 10, but I ended up with enough cigarette dough for and army. The next recipe I used was the Tapenade Bread and it was wonderful. As with alot of books, you need to really use your judgement and if something looks off, check another source. Great pictures and a beautiful book.
  10. I put in my order yesterday for F-LC and some other supplies. I plan to use it next week in peperoni and salami. I hadn't been to the BP site in a while and was glad to see they've added more info on their products. For instance, I didn't know that you could re-salt natural casings after they've been soaked and store them like that for a long time. I'd just been leaving them in water and hoping to use them up, but did end up tossing some when they got an off odor.
  11. I'm placing an order with Butcher Packer for larger casings for salami and some Bactoferm. I notice a new variety - the F-LC that looks interesting. It's a mixed culture and says it better controls listeria. Also has a larger range of fermentation temps than the others. Anyone use it yet?
  12. I also always make sure I heat the custard to 180' as this helps de-nature the proteins and you get a smoother ice cream. I also add a bit of alcohol and that helps prevent iciness as well.
  13. I've chilled the base in an ice bath when I was in a hurry and I really haven't noticed a difference. I've read that the flavors in the custard improve by an overnight chill in the refrigerator. You do want the custard as cold as possible as the quicker it freezes, the smaller the crystals are and the smoother the ice cream.
  14. I've had great results by rolling out the dough, putting it in the pan, chilling it really hard, almost freezing, docking it, place parchment on top and another pan the same size on that and baking it upside down on a sheetpan. No shrinkage or slippage at all.
  15. I have cork in my kitchen and dining room. We used the 1' by 3' floating floor tiles that came pre-finished and then put an extra coat of urethane over them once they were installed. It's been almost 3 years now and I still love them. Clean up is easy. I use the swifter duster or a vacuum a couple times a week. To do heavier cleaning, I use the swifter wet cloths as you don't want to flood the floors and it works fine. I have a dog and try to keep her from playing on the cork to avoid scratches. But she likes to play and I notice the scratches just disappear after a bit of walking on them. There are days I'm in the kitchen for 8 hours and I appreciate the resiliency of the cork. I looked at bamboo, but didn't like the gaps or want the hardness of the material. The other advantage of cork is that I don't think anything has broken that's hit the floor yet. I'm very happy with it and would do it exactly the same way again.
  16. I add chili flakes to my dill pickles. A tablespoon per quart makes some nicely spicy hot pickles. I don't see why it wouldn't do the same to sweet pickles. Sounds good to me!
  17. I have double ovens and a warming drawer. I use the warming drawer to proof bread, heat plates, and keep hot food hot while finishing the rest of the meal. It is a Dacor and the good thing is that it's on a timer, so shuts off by itself. It has a variable heat setting, but no thermometer, so I keep an oven thermometer in it so I know what it's doing. The bad thing is the knob on the timer has stripped, so I'll have to replace it and it's only a couple years old. It's stainless on the inside and the outside matches my cabinets, so it's stealthy. I am glad I have it.
  18. I asked that question last year as well, and here's Paula's answer - I'm really sorry about this error. I've sent the correction to the publisher. Here is the correct list of meats to be used in the sausage: 4 ounces very lean salt pork without rind, washed to remove surface salt, dried carefully and cubed by hand. 12 ounces pork tenderloin, trimmed of all fat 4 ounces pancetta, at room temperature
  19. I shop at the new "biggest Costco in the world" in Hillsboro, OR. It has the best price around at their gas station. The first hour on week days is business members only. They also have a growing inventory of organic produce, meat and groceries. I often get bags of coffee beans that are still warm from the in house roaster. I have the same problem with the bananas turning, but that seems to be the case with all the organic bananas sold in this area. But there's lots of things to do with over ripe bananas! No bags at this one that I know of, but I usually don't even get a box as I don't mind the exercise unloading the car. I am spoiled and have a hard time going to one of the other area Costcos, as they seem so small and are way more crowded!
  20. I make a Thai chicken sausage with coconut milk, lemongrass, lime juice, chilis, cilantro, garlic, fish sauce and pepper. Yummy!
  21. So I am trying my first recipe from the book - Desserts and Pastries. It's the Chocolate Cream in a chocolate cigarette paste with lots of other fillings. There's a problem with the recipe for the chocolate cream - WAY too much sugar unless he meant unsweetened chocolate where he calls for dark chocolate coverture. But my question is about the cigarette paste. Recipe says it makes 10 servings and the amount of cigarette paste must be enough for 20 at least, unless I'm spreading it too thin. I made a test piece and it seems thick enough. I made the test piece with the paste still warm and have the rest in the refrigerator to use tomorrow. Do I need to bring it to room temp to use it or use it straight from the refrigerator?
  22. I usually take the sugar syrup to 140' and whip until it's down to room temp. I also coat them in powdered sugar after panning them. That helps absorb any excess moisture. I make tons of jam and use it to flavor marshmallows, as well as ice cream. Works fine. I don't use pectin, however. Duh, I meant 240' F, Thanks!
  23. I have a friend to roll the dolmas and any last minute stuff, but I'm doing the rest myself. I have a prep list and it should be fine. It's a little over a week away.
  24. Oh yes, sparkling wine! The bresaola I do is not traditional. I put a dry rub of the spice mix on the tenderloin and air cure it in the refrigerator for several days. Then sear it on the grill. Then vacuum seal it and cook it sous vide style in a 130' water bath for a couple hours. When it's time to serve, I take it out and slice it. It's very tasty and easy, just takes advance planning. After years of putting on events for other people, this is the first one I've done for me. It's fun to be able to change the menu as no one else has a clue what I'm doing.
  25. Looks like about 70 people, starts at 5:00, so I expect them to be hungry. Almost all adults. I love doing this stuff and do tend towards overkill, but here goes.... Buffet style Greens w/ spiced poached pears, hazelnuts, blue cheese Grilled Veg Platter Beet Salad Fruit Platter Potato Aioli Gratin Bresaola Beef Tenderloin Homemade Warm Pastrami Glazed Voget Ham Lamb Dolmas Chicken Roulades w/spinach, roasted red peppers and feta Smoked Salmon Garlic Prawns Seared Ahi on Sesame Wilted Spinach w/ pickled ginger and cukes Asst. Breads and Rolls Pickles, horseradish, mayo and dijon Asst. Homemade Marshmallows Ind. Cheesecakes on Homemade Graham Crackers Persimmon Pudding Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Covered Brandied Cherries Angel Food Cake Huckleberry Ice Cream Burnt Sugar Ice Cream Chips and Crackers Asst. dips, including potted cheese, french onion dip Asst. cheeses Spiced Nuts Wine, Beer, Soft Drinks, Cocktails, Water I plan on making everything, ice creams, cakes, smoking salmon, curing tenderloin, breads, rolls. Probably buy the chips and crackers. I've been doing events and parties for other people for so long, just wanted one with all my favorite stuff. But there's that nagging question.......what am I missing?
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