Lisa Shock

Personally, I don't like food processors for making pie crust. I know that it's a hassle, but, I prefer the old fashioned pastry cutter. (I like THIS one, it doesn't bend and is easier on my wrists.) It's important, IMO, to have the lumps of fat be about the size of fat peas or a tad larger. I find that the food processor can mix too quickly, and bring the fat/flour mixture to a consistency like sand really fast. If I owned a food processor, I'd freeze my butter and use the processor to grate it for me, then dump into a bowl and do a quick mix with the pastry cutter. There could be issues with your AP flour. In the Southern US, it's lower protein/gluten -more like cake flour. This isn't good for structure. Northerly/Western AP flour should be fine. I notice that your formula does not have an egg in it. I've been using an egg in mine for years. I also recall asking around at World Pastry Forum in 2006, and everyone I spoke to uses an egg. Serious Eats agrees, although they don't use weight-based measurements for their recipe. (arrg!) It's not common in home recipes, but very common in professional recipes. Aside from being an emulsifier, and helping with texture, I suspect that the protein in the egg helps prevent spread. You mix the egg with the water, I generally hold back a teaspoon of plain water just in case adjustments need to be made. Here's my formula, makes 2 9" crusts: 10oz AP or pastry flour 0.7 oz granulated sugar (tablespoon and a half) 0.1 oz salt (half teaspoon) 10 tablespoons cold butter (5 oz) 1 large egg 2 tablespoons water If the kitchen is hot, I measure out the dry ingredients into the bowl and put them in the freezer for about ten minutes along with the pastry cutter tool. If you wish to sub in some shortening or lard, remember that it's 100% fat while butter is 80% fat, 16% water, and 4% milk solids. Hope this helps!

You have to start by thinking about the composition of the glaze. Yes, sweet glazes can be crisp because sugar becomes crisp when cooked (so that the crystalline structure is disrupted) and all the moisture leaves. What sort of savory food do you wish to use, and does it have a crisp or hard phase? Traditional glazing for savory foods has been a gelatin with things like mayonnaise mixed in. These glazes, obviously won't be hard or crisp, but, they can be very flavorful. Bread and pastry crusts ( pâté en croute ), wrapping in meat like bacon, or rolling food in nuts or crumbs are all I can think of. (I have several professional books dedicated to garde manger.) There are other crisp/hard item one can surround food with, like edible starch papers, but I cannot think of one that has a flowing phase. Where did you see such glazes? Can you simply ask the chef for more info?

After you roll out the dough, chill it for about 15 minutes. This lets the gluten relax, so it isn't moving around during baking. Make sure that the dough isn't too moist. It should look really crumbly and not stick together until grabbed and compressed with your hands. (replacing 50% of the water with vodka helps, too) Use a wooden tart tamper to place the dough in the pie pan. Use a cold utensil to crimp, and chill for a few minutes after crimping. That all said, an incorrect ratio of fat to flour could be the culprit. Make sure to weigh everything carefully. If you're not weighing, this is one example of why you should. Hope this helps!

"Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?"

I hadn't thought of heating it, thanks! Little spoonfuls on crackers like Triscuits would be really good broiled.

I haven't eaten one, but the Phoenix/Scottsdale Polish dogs look almost exactly like the regular hotdog. There are no grilled onions or peppers at all, but the PD is still on the menu. And, it's been Pepsi as far as I can recall, since 1995 or so.

Collecting items with chickens and/or roosters on them has always been popular, but was HUGE in the 2000s.

I am not a fan of sharp cheeses, and avoid cheddar, jack, and a host of others. (ok, I know i am weird) So, I tend to make cheesy foods really differently. (my mac & cheese is made with mozzarella, my scalloped potatoes are made with smoked gouda) Anyway, I recently ran into a recipe online for pimento cheese variation using Jarlsberg which I enjoyed more than expected. I change it just a little in that I make my own mayonnaise, and I tend to make it fairly tangy (I like acid and don't mind if the mayo consistency is kind of loose), so cut out the cream and lemon juice. It's just Jarlsberg (or some other nutty Swiss type), mayo, and minced red onion or shallot. I suspect that with some thought, a custom type of spread could be made for many varieties of cheese.

King's Day Bread went online today. This has always been a favorite of mine.

Sorry, no pictures, but we had oatmeal topped with chopped baklava today.

The dough won't shrink if you change how you handle it. (Shrinkage is caused by stretched out gluten strands snapping back like rubber bands. Given time, and cold temperatures, it will relax.) When you have the dough rolled out, chill for about 15 minutes. I roll on a silicone mat that I transfer to a small sheet pan and pop it into the fridge or freezer before placing in the pie pan. Using a wooden tart tamper will help form the crust without exposing it to heat from your hands. HERE are some crimping and edging tips. I personally like attaching small cut out shapes (leaves, flowers) with egg wash. I pick them up with my small offset icing spatula to avoid heat from my hands. But, the fork method is speedy, and helps keep the crust cold. Good luck!

Do not skimp on protecting the food and minimizing food odors, you do not want to be confronted by bears or mountain lions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBnGe9HDGBI Some newer coolers do a much better job than older ones, check reviews before buying one. For breakfast, old fashioned oatmeal (maybe with some chopped dried fruit) is good. What a lot of people don't realize is that the oats are ok, not great but edible, dry, from the package. I always use less water and a shorter cooking time on my oatmeal because I like it to have some texture. Anyway, oats provide an inexpensive and nutritious breakfast. Another trick is to bring some hard boiled eggs, they'll last a couple of days in the cooler and are a quick, easy, non-smelly source of protein. That said, you'll probably be taking a hard look at cleaning out your fridge right before leaving, so cooking up anything which is decent when served cold is a good idea for the first days' consumption. (frittata anyone?) Also, many fruits and vegetables don't really need to be kept cold. They may last longer when cold, but they won't rot in 3 days' time, either. Some herbs (and vegetables like celery and fennel) can be given extended life by trimming ends and placing in a cup of water, or, by trimming ends, wrapping the ends in wet paper towels and then placing the towel parts in plastic wrap or plastic bags with zipper seals -just close the sides tightly around the towel or use a rubber band. Tomatoes do not need refrigeration at all, they loose flavor components when chilled. Same for peaches and apricots.

Cooking beans. It's a bit of an overkill, but, tap water with a high mineral content can keep beans from ever getting soft, so most pros recommend filtered water.

Here's a bit of news from Albrighton, Shropshire. Apparently a chef named Laura Goodman decided to tamper with a vegan patron's food, then brag about it on FaceBook. The fact that she deleted her posts after a public outcry means that she felt justified in her actions for hours afterwards, and had no clue that she could have harmed someone with an allergy or a medical condition such as gout. Not to mention emotional harm related to violating religious beliefs, and overall confidence in controlling one's own diet. At any rate, looks like the establishment's online reviews and ratings have plummeted.

Oils will not travel, the molecule is too large. This was tested and proven in the Modernist Cuisine labs. That said, some things will permeate, like liquid smoke or smoke flavor from other smoked items. A few years ago (sorry just remembered this debacle) I got some beef stock to permeate skinless chicken thighs for a competition (had to use sponsor's boullion products) but tasters found the flavor to be undesirable, 'tastes reheated' and 'old tasting' were the notes I was given. I had done this based upon some reading I had done claiming that fast food places brine chicken breasts with flavor enhancers like pork and beef. The science is pretty simple: diffusion plays the largest role. Changes in flavor during cooking (thinking about garlic here) and interaction between ingredients during cooking also play roles. Good luck!

That would be a fairly easy experiment to do -just get a package of chicken thighs (usually 10 per pack) and brine 2 normally, brine 2 in stock, brine 2 in cider, brine 2 in milk, and don't brine 2 of them, then roast and taste.

If you can attend a trade show, manufacturers who display there often sell off equipment cheaply so they don't have to ship it back. (plus, if they did demos, it's now technically a 'used' unit)

Melamine dishes were first introduced in the 1930s and were in widespread use/production by the late 1940s. The Raydarange was first introduced in 1947, but it was an expensive commercial product. The home consumer models were first released in 1953, at a hefty price. It was far more likely for a home to have melamine dishes in the 50s and 60s than a microwave.

Well, it made money. But, it's closing. No more donkey sauce for Times Square.

Cast iron! Many items from the past are better made than modern cookware. (better balanced, more accurately shaped, more evenly conductive) It can very often be restored, very rarely is it not redeemable. I have some cast iron baking pans in shapes which are no longer made, so, I can make small cakes in shapes that most people have never seen. I can also make historic recipes accurately. (one of my pans is from the early 1800s) Some old cast iron sells for a pretty penny, but many items can be had reasonably inexpensively.

Try tangerines, too.

I have enjoyed Mr Rayner's reviews for years, but somehow missed this one, thanks! Le Manoir was also the location used for the English comedy series Chef!

I'd make sure to clean out the insides very well. Who knows what might be in old mineral scaling... I mean, what if it was used for several years in a place like Flint Michigan?

And, Marcel won a quickfire on one of the special one-off shows by making an omelet. On episode 3, I was surprised again at how many contestants (well 4) didn't really have a grasp of this culinary school basic. I worked as a breakfast cook for about a year and at one point could make two at once, one in each hand. Oh, and I laugh at the 15 minute timer on this one. Five minutes should have been more than enough. -And, you don't need the non-stick pans. HERE's an unedited, real-time video of Julia Child making a French omelet in a plain steel pan. Anyone attempting to go on a cooking competition show should practice this.

It keeps the octopus in the stockpot? (bad Iron Chef reference) Actually, I was wondering if it was used to keep something open, like when being filled. For example, I could see putting a par-cooked piece of cannellloni on the end and filling it up while the tool holds it open.