Lisa Shock

The fat adds mouthfeel, recent research shows that we have a taste for fat. Also, some astringent and some bitter compounds are masked by dairy. Isn't it usually milk with tea and cream in coffee?

You may be burning the chocolate. What happens when you increase the volume of a recipe like this is that the hot milk, butter, and cream represents a proportionately larger hot mass that won't cool off as quickly because of the physics of the surface area to mass ratio. Also, it's the hottest part of the summer and your ambient room temperature is hotter as well. Even a few degrees difference in the room temperature affects things. I would: Carefully monitor and regulate the temperature of the milk. Add the butter after the milk has heated the chocolate, just before stirring -maybe cut into small chunks. Carefully regulate the temperature of the cream as it heats. Temp the mixture as you work and try to keep it as low as possible. Take notes about the room's temperature each time. Hope this helps!

What if you made apple patè de fruit (or gumdrop) and some fairly firm caramel then stacked the two sheets on top of each other, cut with a cutter and enrobed the resulting candy? -Or, if using chocolate molds, pipe in caramel, cut the patè de fruit into shapes that approximate the base shape, place on caramel and finish with chocolate. They won't last a really long time, but, at least you'll get a textural difference.

Haven't tried it, but, I am wondering if an oral anesthetic like Anbesol might work for the hand problem...

I don't like the idea of serving anything with toothpicks in it at all. I don't personally serve anything with them at all, ever -at home, or work. I only have them in my kitchen for doing fine detail work on sugar flowers and marzipan showpieces, not food someone will eat.

Last time I checked, there weren't any local sardines to be had in Las Vegas.... Are you asking why these places have non-local foods on the menu? -That sardines should only be served within a certain radius of where they were caught? IMO, they do it because sardines are a classic topping that some customers expect on a pizza. And, because they are available in shelf-stable tins which provide a consistent experience, the pizzaiolo provides them. This is in keeping with the Vegas tradition of providing certain customers whatever they want. Face it, seafood in general is big business in Vegas -a city in a landlocked state. While I don't personally eat them, I don't see much of a difference between serving the sardines or the canned tomatoes. Each is the correct and best version of a food that has a place on traditional pizza. As has been pointed out before, if a food travels well, like parmigiano reggiano, Italians use it. I also think there's a limit to the local foods movement. Most Americans wouldn't want to give up their coffees, spices, or chocolates anytime soon -and many simply do not live near much agriculture.

Can you make it unfilled and keep it on the table as a display and serve cream puffs that you made separately? If so, you can fill the puffs at the last moment and have a better texture. I agree that the caramel is a necessity.

I like to use lightly crushed or cut up tomatoes pretty much straight from the can, the seeds don't bother me so much. I started doing this after reading Jeff Varasano's website he does have a pretty good procedure for seed removal. Anyway, I like the cleaner, more intense tomato flavor I get from this. But, it's a matter of personal preference. I used sauce for years, and everyone was happy with that too.

Usually the chocolate gets recycled into more showpieces. I wouldn't want to eat one since they aren't always made under strictly sanitary conditions. Well, in most competitions they are, but in hotel and school situations, the commodities can be re-used for years, and since they aren't classified as edible, the makers are a bit more relaxed about wearing hats, gloves, etc. The isomalt gets recycled as well, it's more expensive than the chocolate. And, it's not really great to eat anyway. I am liking the show a lot more than last season. They seem to be focusing more on real skills and showing a lot more action.

Well, only you know what your supplier is charging for ingredients this week. There are charts out there of approximate yields, but, your specific recipe might have you creating more or less trim than average. And, the charts are really basic, they may not take into account variations in vegetables by variety. But, yes, this is something done for each menu item to calculate price. It's taught in culinary school.

I thought I had put in a link to a Cost Card I hope it works this time!

Here's a version of the recipe that gives instructions to boil the lentils and describes various stages of texture in the dish as it's cooked.

Generally, a cost card is used. You need to know how your supplier packages an item (50lb sack, by the dozen, etc.), the "As Purchased" unit weight/volume, and the "Edible Portion" of that unit -those numbers will give you your yield %. Things like flour have 100% yield, there's no trim or waste on them, but, apples for apple pie might have an 85% yield.

If anything, Trader Joe's has less expensive flour, and if you can handle a big bag, there's always Costco.

You can cut the cost of the cheese by making mozzarella from scratch.

Thanks!

I have a couple of the old chrome Sunbeam vacuum pots (actually I have the whole set with tray, creamer, sugar, etc. to match my T-9 toaster) with the World's Fair inspired logo. I, um, don't actually like coffee, but, have friends and family who do. Has anyone here used one of these, and, if so, is it decent coffee to serve to people I like? (the pots are very clean)

I always thought the rice in salt cellars acted to physically break up clumps, like having tiny hammers inside the salt cellar.

When I lived in New Mexico I knew a couple of grandmothers who put green chiles into their apple pies.

I love driving around and smelling the roasters as you drive by... Indeed, it's time to restock my freezer. -And make some rellenos, stew, etc.

I have a jar of salt that a friend brought back from a trip to the Himalayas in 1988.

I have always preferred the flavor of raw, small producer honeys and that's all I have purchased since the 1980's. I miss Questa honey from New Mexico something awful.

The ice paddle I own has a wide-mouthed screw-on cap so that you can toss ice cubes into it. You don't need to store it in the freezer. I keep mine hanging off the side of a metro rack in my kitchen.

No, but you are required to write an in-depth article about the social history leading up to it and review the moral implications of its creation!

Is your yeast fresh, have you tested it lately on something else?