Lisa Shock

The pouring action itself causes some loss, regardless of temperature. That said, one of the first things I learned when I got a shave-ice machine was to use a really big cup if I was going to add a carbonated beverage to the shaved ice. Once the drink hits the ice, no matter how gently you slide the liquid in, it foams up quickly -taking up a large volume of space. Shave-ice has a lot more nucleation points than an equal weight of ice cubes because the surface area is vastly greater.

My parents keep apples in the basement all winter long, they live in Maryland.

I had thought of that, dunno if PJ would agree or not. He's got to be the final judge here. I've had some wonderful versions with grilled eggplant, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, etc. The bonus is that it's easy to make in a sheet pan, and faster to assemble than pizza because you aren't dealing with as much toppings-wise. -I also find it faster to press dough into a pan than to stretch a pizza into a circle.

I like them because they are small. I tend to use them in minestrone.

You're in NYC, right? If you're worried about food safety issues, why not have the pizza delivered in the morning so there's a shorter time in the food danger zone? (I'm assuming that when New Yorkers claim that you can get anything 24 hours a day there, they mean it...) Or how about making him some cheese bread in the morning, sliced bread with mozzarella run under the broiler to brown, and packing a container of sauce (maybe doctored up with his favorite topping ingredients, to dunk with?

Pastillage is what Necco Wafers are, as well. And, yes, prepare every bit of your setup in advance, the surface sets up in under two minutes. Thicker parts can take days to dry fully, but the surface is only workable for a brief period. Of course, you can always sand your candies to smooth them, before serving.

Bevmo sells styrofoam packing sleeves for wine bottles, they come as singles, doubles, and triples. I have used those on international flights without issue. I do place the entire thing inside of a plastic bag, just in case of cork failure.

I'd like to suggest Wondrich's Imbibe!, but, I don't know how immediately useful it will be. I personally enjoyed mixing my way through the book.

Agreed. I use the Duralex to drink from, not cook. I have been phasing out all glass cookware from my kitchen and replacing it with various metal pans. I've come to the conclusion that if cooking in metal pans is good enough at school/work it should be good enough for my house. I have a few legacy corningware items and some ceramic ramekins that I am using with caution, but, that's it.

In cooking competitions that I have participated in, one category might involve presenting a plate consisting of: 4-6oz protein, 3-4oz starch, and 3-4 oz vegetables. The exact amounts vary by rules of individual competition. Some competitions require calorie counts as well. HERE is one example of a competition manual.

I would like to mention that Duralex glassware is still tempered glass of high quality. I have manged to get some so-called 'used' Picardie items on amazon that were customer returns with damaged packaging but brand-new, unused merchandise at big discounts.

I was able to get pasteurized UN-homogenized milk when I lived in Santa Fe, NM in the early 1980's through the mid-90's -in glass bottles. It was great buying milk and scooping out a goodly proportion of cream to use for sauces or baking. I am not sure if the dairy still exists.

I would leave it open, but, be aware of the air temperature. In school, we bake in convection ovens, the old-fashioned way, so the temperature is fairly even all-around and the circulating air removes some moisture. If you try this in a regulated water bath uncovered, but the room has the AC blasting, the top may not cook well. I say leave it open because most formulas have some moisture that needs to be released during cooking. Caveat: there may be modernist formulas that work better sealed that I am not aware of. (I want the book, but cannot at this time afford it...)

I live in Arizona, and I miss fresh apples, unwaxed ones, right off the tree -you can pick a region, there are too many to choose from. And so many kinds... Winesaps were always my favorites. Then there's always cider and cider jelly. Most of the places that made these things when I was a teenager in PA are gone, so I don't know what to say about a location. My HS brought into the cafeteria full sized barrels of cider in the fall, yes, huge real barrels, and sometimes it would be a bit hard....everyone was a bit happier that time of year.... I also miss really ripe peaches. My parents, when we moved to Maryland, used to buy overripe peaches for $1/bushel at an orchard and have us immediately freeze them in simple syrup. We had a taste of late summer all winter that way. Once again, I don't have an exact spot, but, a peach orchard someplace where they raise them the old-fashioned way and let them get really ripe on the tree. I'd visit Santa Fe for apricots. People grow them in their yards and it's the only place I have ever been where they didn't have to be peeled to make pie. I know that other places have apricots, but, some of the older trees in Santa Fe were better than anything I have ever tasted. I'd love to pull a vidalia out of the ground and eat it immediately, in the proper terrior. I could do a whole world-wide tour of fresh local honeys, they are so individual!

I just saw an episode of America's Test Kitchen where they explored French Toast. Turns out that it's better to dry the bread out in the oven for about 15 minutes than to use stale bread -the starch will absorb more and have a better texture. They liked Challah, used it for the demo, and mentioned several mass-market breads that tested as best to use.

Thanks for the link, it looks useful for the future. -It's a lot easier to carry around a bowl and whisk than my mixer! Yes, what I got was essentially a gin & tonic sorbet, we ate it with spoons. To drink, you had to wait a while. But, as a frozen confection, it was really lovely texture-wise.

I would visit Thomas Haas, he makes everything from scratch, including his soft drinks. I have taken classes from him, and he's great teacher in addition to being a very talented chef. His philosophy is that maybe only 2 people out of 20 can tell the difference between good chocolate and great chocolate -and he wants to cater to those two people. You can see more on his Facebook Page.

I'll have photos up in a couple of days. I was only able to do gin and tonics, the crowd didn't want to wait for a series of frozen drinks. I tried working in a red plastic cup, but, the fog was too dense, and we couldn't really tell what was happening. I did LN2, then gin, then tonic. The finished drink had just a little ice floating on top. So, I moved to the mixer. First, I made frozen gin. As this happened, everyone noted a very strong odor of gin and we believe that the nitrogen carried some alcohol off with it as people started to feel a little light-headed a couple of minutes later. (yes, we had good ventilation) It coated the sides of the mixer pretty solidly, looked like snow slush and had a sorbet like texture -judging by stirring it around, it was too cold to taste safely. Spoonfuls of it floated on top of tonic water in attractive manner, but that drink was unsatisfying because at first it was all tonic and became too strong as it was drunk. As the gin melted, there was an interesting phase when it was white and looked and acted a lot like royal icing. I cleaned the mixer, then poured measured amounts of gin and tonic into the bowl and mixed with LN2 until a sorbet-like texture was achieved. The fog as it mixed had a slightly different appearance, which we suspect had to do with the carbon dioxide from the carbonated tonic being released along with the nitrogen gas. The final product read -35.4° F, was white in color and easy to scoop, a bit like when sorbet first comes out of an ice cream machine. There was no trace of carbonation. The texture was amazingly smooth. There was definitely less flavor due to the cold, but the texture was very velvety and people were able to eat it like ice cream. Overall, the final product was successful and people really liked the texture. I'll be able to do this again in a month, I think I will try a frozen version of punch. (edited for spelling)

I'm doing a demo with liquid nitrogen tonight, and have been asked at the last minute to make some basic cocktails to be served frozen. I could really use everyone's help here to make it a success! I have read The Liquid Nitrogen Primer in Cooking Issues. I have 16 years of experience handling liquid nitrogen. I have safety equipment and a PhD level chemist who works in a cryogenic lab as an assistant. I just need a few tips on drink making with it, which I have never done. I have been specifically asked to make frozen drinks. I won't have a full bar, just the alcohol I bring, so it will be a very limited menu. I am thinking of a doing Manhattans, Brambles, and gin & tonics. My question is, are drinks (as illustrated in the Primer) just frozen in the glass? Or, are they frozen in a bowl, then scooped into the glass? I need a basic procedural. Would it be: make pitcher of Manhattans, pour LN2 into bowl, stir, scoop into glasses? Or: make pitcher of Manhattans, pour LN2 into glass, pour Manhattan into glass, stir? And, has anyone here frozen a carbonated beverage with LN2? I've been working on variations of a frozen G&T for years, but not with LN2. At my house, when I make shave-ice and pour tonic over it, the tonic foams up rapidly and voluminously. (less so if the ice being shaven is itself made from tonic water) How much can I expect in terms of expansion with LN2 - should I make one drink in a 5 quart bowl? And, if so, what's the best type of bowl to use?

They also probably pack it with a gas instead of plain air, too. This way, there's no oxygen to cause oxidation.

I have some of the cheap plastic Japanese 2-part sphere molds and have only had limited success with them. The ones I have are the type that you fill one side an then quickly place the top on it, hopefully forcing water from a ledge inside up into the top of the sphere. They are messy to use, and I often only get one somewhat complete sphere out of a mold that's supposed to make 4. If my budget would allow, I'd love to have one of the heat-press type, like THIS.

I stopped roasting in olive oil after reading THIS article by Harold McGee. I get better results with canola oil. Ran a bunch of tests for a restaurant that I did some consulting for, olive oil wasn't the best fat for roasting potatoes. (we had to stick with vegetable oils for this application) In the blind taste tests I ran, olive oil was consistently rated worst in flavor and texture of the potato. I will say that choice of fats makes a huge difference in baking. Butter tends to make cakes dry, whereas oil in cakes gives a moist result. This is the secret to great pancakes; use a light oil (canola, vegetable, soybean) and extra egg to make moist pancakes. But, this whole topic is about the basics of cooking anything: know your ingredient. Know as much as you can about all aspects of it. And, know as much as you can about every ingredient you add to it -as well as how that additional ingredient will interact with your original ingredient. With the addition of each item, you have to ask yourself if you fully know what you are doing, and, if what you are doing is the best possible course of action to maximize the potential of the original item. You also need to be able to accurately quantify your actions through the use of scales, thermometers, timers, refractometers, etc. IMO, this is the essence of modern technique.

Panna cotta can work well and is faster than pots de creme/creme brulee, and, if made with milk, cheaper. If you have access to some small, sturdy glasses you can pour into those, chill, and be ready to serve -with maybe a couple of berries as a garnish. One of my favorite flavors is orange/vanilla made by simply infusing vanilla bean and orange peels as I heat the milk/cream mixture.

Egg whites bind many baked goods. That said, pureed flax seeds act as binder and egg replacer in some applications.

I have taken master level classes in baking gluten free. People with celiac disease are in danger when exposed to the components of gluten (the two amino acids are sometimes found separate from each other in surprisingly non-grain related foods) in even microscopic amounts. When making foods for celiac sufferers it is vital to have an entirely separate environs to store the ingredients, prepare the foods, and wash the dishes. Most ordinary bakeries, for example cannot really prepare safe foods 'once in a while' or 'one day a week' because the air, air ducts, pans, ovens, sinks, commodity containers, etc. are all contaminated with gluten residue from other baking. There are a lot of websites with incorrect statements posted in a factual tone. Like all medical information online, one needs to look critically at the source. There are two reasons why it's 'big' right now. One is that it's a fad with all sorts of followers from movie stars to the pseudo-medical fringe healing crowd. It's the diet of the moment. The other reason it's big is because it has been discovered to be more prevalent than previously known. 2002 Study HERE. It used to be thought that about 1 in about 6,000 people had the disease. Now, we know the number to be closer to 1 in 133 people. There are blood tests that accurately diagnose the condition, and the good news is that kids are being diagnosed earlier, so they stand a chance at a better life than people living in the past who endured the slow destruction of their intestines without treatment.