Lisa Shock

So far, I am liking the run-off challenges where the 3 lowest scoring teams face off better than the main challenges.

The advantage with baking the kisses on the cookie is that the chocolate pretty much loses temper, becomes softer and easier to eat. Putting them on afterward so they stay cold, means there's a large, hard chunk of chocolate you have to bite through if you want to get something like an even proportion of cookie and chocolate in each bite. Unless you nibble the cookie off and then pop the whole kiss in your mouth and wait for it to melt a bit. I was never fond of really thick chocolates over 1cm high, like Chunky bars or the kisses. But, I am sure some people find it delightful.

I don't know what it tastes like, but, I'd like to mention that I enjoy gastriques and wish that other people made them more often.

I spent $17 and got: a small steel drum (not a toy, a beginner's model that retails new at $99), a Micheal Graves clock, a black marble figurine, a Mickey Mouse glass, a handblown red glass pitcher, and an older Glasbake dish missing its lid.

This has been a hot topic for over a year now, with several publications doing articles on the situation. The trend was started and promoted by Mario Batali.

I find fekkas to be a bit easier on the teeth, and more aggressively spiced. Also, I have learned that sometimes, they are served as a breakfast food; broken into chunks and served with milk poured over -like cereal. I have used them crushed as a topping for a layered custard dessert. Anyway, since fekkas last a long time if sealed in an airtight container, I thought they would be perfect as office fare.

I would like to point out that, during the 1980's food writer, engineer, comedian (and so much more) Al Sicherman aka 'Uncle Al' did a huge series of experiments with popovers -in attempt to figure out why they didn't work many times. His project and the results are chronicled in 'Caramel Knowledge' -IMO, one of the finest cookbooks ever written. The answer is the eggs. They must be super-fresh. This is borne out by more modern science, as an egg ages, the protein in the white starts to degrade. HERE is an image showing how the whites collapse and get runny over time. A fresh egg when cracked should stand up and take up very little space. If the whites run all over, it's too old -scramble it, feed it to the dog, whatever. Eggs sold in supermarkets can be problematic. They are not hauled away from some farms daily, they travel, they get placed in storage then sit on a supermarket shelf for a week and in the end, they can wind up being a month old on the day you bring them home. This is one instance where farmer's market eggs, or your neighbor's eggs are clearly superior. With supermarket eggs, reach in the back of the case and get the ones with the best date on them. Kenji Lopez-Alt has an exhaustive article on popovers and yorkshire puddings. He tests the lore surrounding popovers and shows images of the results. For me, one of the more important tips is to rest the batter for a while because it causes gluten development and gluten is an important part of the structure.

I suspect that making them less tall might be the answer. I see you got good browning on the tops and bottoms, so, also, you might want to consider dropping your oven temperature by 10° or so. Anyway, I am glad you made some biscuits and they turned out well. Honestly, IMO, more people should make them -and more often. They are so easy to make, I laugh when see I packaged biscuits at my local supermarket. Small children can be taught to make great biscuits. I hope @Katie Meadowgives them a shot soon! One additional note, there is whole wheat pastry flour out there -both regular and albino white. If desired, a person can substitute up to half the flour in a biscuit recipe to make a whole grain one. (don't go 100%, the texture will be too gritty) Obviously, they will never be as tender and light as the 100% cake flour, or self-rising flour ones, but they will satisfy the person who prefers whole wheat breads.

Olive oil is very good, as are some nut oils like toasted hazelnut, pistachio, toasted almond, etc.

@Anna N Daiso stores still carry cooking oil hardner.

Sorry, not, but I saw a product on Shark Tank a while back. They had a product for sale online for a while, but apparently, they are re-tooling the product.

Oops! I'll edit that! Thanks!

To make the process faster (even though this is a super-quick recipe to begin with) make your own biscuit mix by weighing out and mixing several batches worth of the dry ingredients. Then just weigh out 31.5g of mix for every 1 large, or 2 small, biscuits you want to make and add 36g of cold cream per. If you keep the ingredients on hand, making biscuits like these on the fly can be a great solution to the dilemmas faced when an extra person or two shows up unexpectedly for a meal. Feed everyone a biscuit, and they'll be happy with a smaller portion of the main dish. They only take about 15 minutes to make, start to finish. tested variations: 'Italian' - add 2g of onion powder, 3g of ground rosemary, and 30g of finely grated parmesean cheese to the dry ingredients at the beginning. Egg washing the tops and dusting with parmesean is also good. 'Chicken' -reduce the amount of cream to 350g and mix 20g of Minor's chicken base in with the cream before the final incorporation with the dry ingredients. (note, not all bases are the same, you may need to run tests on other brands and other flavors)

For those who have issues using their hands, note that, for me, using the bench scraper is easier than a fork or other tool with a long handle. IMO, it's easier on both the fingers or the wrists.

I'd try cutting the recipe into half (makes 5 large biscuits) or a quarter. I have never frozen these, I don't know for sure. What I do know is that the dough starts to show gluten developing within a few minutes of adding the cream. So every minute that the raw ones are not frozen affects the texture. Might come down to your freezer. Please note that I am about to change the yield. This recipe makes 10 sandwich sized biscuits or 20 normal sized ones. Sorry about that, I have my recipes stored as just formulas, not technique, and I grabbed the one I had developed for a restaurant so they could make sandwich sized ones ten at a time.

1) I don't know, I have never tried it. It would probably work if they were wrapped tightly and used within 6 months. I wouldn't thaw them much either, or else gluten will form -like no-knead bread. 2) Once again, I have never done this, but it seems like it would work. 3) In my experience, the food processor does too good of a job. You do NOT want the sandy, even texture of pie crust prior to the addition of liquid. You really want to see lumps like plump peas before adding the liquid. The only exception for FP, would be if you used the large-hole grater attachment (and a cold bowl) with frozen butter and then hand-stirred (with a fork, spoon, or bench knife) the grated butter into the dry mix.

These biscuits feature flaky layers made by lightly laminating the dough. Cold ingredients, a cool room & work table, using cold tools and a light touch are key to great results. Ingredients 1200g cake flour (AP flour may be substituted, but the result will not be as tender) 24g salt 60g sugar 72g baking powder 420g cold butter (frozen may also be used if you have a sturdy, large-holed grater) 800g cold buttermilk (regular, whole milk may be substituted, but the result will be less flavorful) 34g melted butter, to brush on tops (for those in the US, just use what's left from the pound you've almost used up) Preheat the oven to 350° Line a plain half sheet pan with parchment paper or use a non-stick sheet pan. On a clean work surface, sift together the dry ingredients in a mound. Cut in the cold butter until the chunks are about the size of peas. Random large chunks are good. If using frozen butter, grate it with a large-holed grater and toss with the flour to coat. Quickly create a well in the center of the flour mound with a bench scraper or fork. Pour the cold buttermilk into the cavity and start folding the flour/butter mixture into it with the bench scraper or fork. Once everything (except the melted butter) is barely incorporated into an ugly shaggy mass, use the bench scraper or fork to form a rough rectangle that is at least twice as wide as it is high, and about 2cm high. You should see random streaks of butter in the dough. Use a little flour on the board if needed. If too dry add a little bit of milk but be careful, this should start out as a fairly dry dough, the butter, as it cooks, will moisten it. Make a book fold by taking up each of the shorter-length ends of the rectangle and placing them touching each other on the center. Gently pat with tools, or roll quickly/lightly once or twice with a pin, to make an even rectangle about 2-3cm in height. Using a bench scraper or the back side of a long knife (carefully!) cut into grid of 16-24 biscuits. To make round biscuits, use a juice glass or round cutter and cut with one strong downward motion -do not twist or you will inhibit the rise. Scraps from making round biscuits can be lightly formed into shapes, generally 1-2 crazy biscuits result from cutting rounds. Use a spatula to place the biscuits on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with the melted butter. Bake for about ten minutes, depending upon size. The tops should be golden, the bottoms light brown. They will continue to cook for a few minutes out of the oven. Enjoy! These are best eaten immediately, I would not hold them for more than 6 hours.

posting now, check out Recipe Gullet in ten minutes. Note that on the lightly laminated, I personally do two careful book folds, but I only put one in the recipe because I think two is a bit difficult for someone who isn't used to making laminated doughs.

This is an easy drop biscuit recipe originally developed by the Beard family cook over 100 years ago. The trick here is to use fresh ingredients in a cold room and a light hand. AP flour may be substituted for the cake flour, but the resulting biscuits will not be as tender. Do not use a cream substitute or any lower-fat alternatives. Converted to weight-based measurement by me, directions by me. Makes 10 sandwich sized biscuits or 20 regular sized biscuits. Ingredients: 284g sifted cake flour 10.5g baking powder 5g salt 14g sugar 360g heavy cream, cold 28-30g melted butter, optional, for brushing on tops Preheat the oven to 350° Place parchment paper on a plain half sheet pan, or use a non-stick sheet pan. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the cold cream and stir gently until barely mixed. This 'shaggy mass' will look very rough. Using the two-spoon method, drop in large spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. Lightly tap into shape, if need be. Brush the tops with butter, if desired. Bake for about 10 minutes, time varies by size, until the tops are barely colored and the bottoms slightly brown. They will continue to cook for a few minutes after leaving the oven. These can also be carefully dropped into flan rings on a parchment covered sheet pan to make consistent rounds for sandwiches or eggs benedict. Or, try dropping into non-stick molds like muffin pans -keeping the height 2-3cm. Enjoy!

With a good recipe (no shortening!!!) you should get decent biscuits the first time. A small batch only makes 6-8 biscuits, so it's not that big of a commitment. And, you can easily halve or quarter a recipe. You should be close to perfection with maybe 3 tries. I think you should go for it!

hmmm... flipping a burger? cutting fat into flour to make pastry? draining pasta?

@liuzhou a fish spatula? or maybe a deep fried food lifter?

Why the takeout box? What's so important about it's relationship to your place? Honestly, when I see them, I think, "the leftovers are packed up, time to leave" or "the carryout I ordered is ready, let's leave." So, I find it a bit odd to present in/on one at the start of a meal, but, then again, I don't know the rationale behind it.

I'd like to point out that the family of blue cheeses (Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola, Cabrales, and the newer Maytag, etc.) have a unique culinary niche due to their unique texture and flavor. I can't see substituting another cheese type from a different family when a customer wants a bleu-burger or a wedge salad.

In soft ganache, like centers, the pieces will eventually dissolve, possibly crystallizing along the way. It's just sugar, flavor and color.