Lisa Shock

Google Translate is your friend....

I picked up a copy and have almost finished it. Now, I think the Food Network ruined Food Television. The blind leading the blind is what's happening. Anyone want to help me start a better cable food channel?

I haven't ever known anyone to do this, but, if i were going to do it, I would put in a few thin layers of red raspberry bakery jam. It won't burn, doesn't run, and has a good strong flavor.

Note that the mustard on the list will be dry ground mustard.

Without an ingredients list, it's hard to tell. I make a sauce for chicken that catering clients seem to like. It's just: good apricot jam (I try to use bakery jam as it doesn't burn, d'arbo is a good brand.), whole-grain prepared mustard (I'm in the US, so, I use Woeber's Sandwich Pal, sweet and spicy), a dash of Worcester sauce, and a little kosher salt. Instead of jam, you can add boiling water to dried apricots and puree with some sugar. The main point being you want strong apricot flavor. I have had some jam that was just sweet and tart but did not have a discernible apricot flavor.

Wrong! You'll kill people someday with that approach to sanitation. The fridge just slows bacterial growth, it doesn't stop it. And some things, like botulism, thrive at refrigeration temps. -If that pot has liquid in it, botulism could be growing and producing poison at the bottom, since it hasn't been moved and is full of protein. You could have all sorts of things that are odorless and tasteless being cultured in your pot. Not to mention good old decomposition. Boiling it won't get rid of poisons excreted by microscopic organisms, like botulism toxins. Boiling also will NOT kill all the sources of foodborne illness. Assuming that a boil will kill off everything is simply playing russian roulette with the lives of those you'll be serving. I'd fire any employee in a restaurant I owned for making the sort of stock that you suggest. (partly because I'd require everyone to be ServSafe certified) Aside from the issue of toxins, infectious viruses, infectious bacteria, etc. there's also the quality issue. Do you really want to make and serve something which is so far beyond its prime?

I got some sweet tamales, raisins and walnuts, yum!

Save the pits and use them for sauces and infusions. HERE are some ideas.

For me, it's often just following an idea (like what would it be like to make a loaf of bread with a swirl of savory Indian food inside), seeing where I can amp up the flavor (maybe barely cook the Indian dish before rolling, so it doesn't overcook when the bread heats up), and then work on the negative issues (too much acid, from, say, tomatoes, might ruin the loaf structure).

The original formula called for 4.5oz of 'eggs'. I changed it so that home users would have an easier time figuring that out. You might try adding a little bread flour to the leftovers, maybe a couple tablespoons. This would also be a good time to test mixing in some lemon peel, orange peel, flavor extracts, etc.

The SF area must have an actual bread bakery or two someplace...

The flour mix is a way to accurately (as much as reasonably possible) control several properties of the flour. The cake flour provides tenderness, and it will rise more easily with the weak leavening present. The bread flour provides gluten, which is important because the almond paste doesn't really want to be cohesive. The gluten is particularly helpful in holding together piped cookies in twisty 3-D shapes in ways that eggs as a binder alone cannot. Essentially, in the US, there is no trade standard for AP flour. In the South, it's very close to cake flour as manufacturers assume most people are using it to make biscuits. In the NE, it's more like pastry flour or weak bread flour, because the mills doing business there are catering to people baking lean yeasted breads, pretzels, etc. So, walking into a supermarket and buying a bag of AP is a bit like playing the lottery. The formula above gives a mix that's 10.5 - 12% protein, which is the same as some but not all AP regional flours.

I would like to point out that some recipes referenced in this thread contain baking powder. This is a bad idea in a cookie where you want to see the efforts of you piping, or the details from your press. The formula I gave will rise a little due to the creaming of the butter, plus a little lift from the eggs. But, you will definitely be able to see the shapes you pipe, and the stripes made by a star tip. One last tip, if using jam or jelly, wet a finger in water and make a small depression to hold it so that it doesn't boil all over the place.

Here's the LCB version with a couple of shortcuts for home bakers. (I subbed real eggs for liquid) 12oz Almond Paste 6oz Sugar 3/4tsp Salt 12oz Butter 2 Eggs 1 Egg Yolk 1tsp Vanilla Extract 6oz Cake Flour 6 oz Bread Flour Creaming method. Pipe or use a press. Make different flavors by adding any one of the following: lemon zest, orange zest, cocoa & chocolate extract, anise seeds, mini-chocolate chips, etc. Coloring may also be added. Pipe into shapes. Can be decorated with dabs of jelly, nuts (whole, sliced, crushed), candies (like red-hots, aka cinnamon imperials), hard candy to make windowpanes, glaceed fruits, large crystal sugar (good for the pretzel shaped cookie, makes it look more like a real pretzel), dragees, etc. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days (IMO), or frozen for use later.

European style scrambled, very soft and creamy with a LOT of butter emulsified in early on. Learned this from a Raymond Blanc cookbook. Least favorite: anything with a runny yolk, or white.

The basics for a professional kitchen are: go home if you have norovirus. You obviously cannot send the DH away, so, here are some tips: The virus is mostly transmitted via fecal matter transfer, so handwashing after restroom use is a MUST. Look into what's involved in professional handwashing: scrub for at least 20 seconds with soap, scrub from fingertips up to bottom edge of sleeves -oftentimes that's all the way up to the elbow. Dry with paper towels. If you have a couple of restrooms, you should probably not use the one he is using, as erm, uh, gas/fumes can also be an issue. Take a shower before cooking, and always don clean clothes. Gloves might be a good idea, the trick is to wash your hands every time you change them. The point behind gloves is to protect people from foodborne illness carried on your skin. We all have strains of things like E. Coli living deep inside our pores, and hadwashing only gets off the top layer, using the hands, or rubbing them will bring more oil and bacteria to the surface. Clean the kitchen with bleach-based sanitizer solution: make sure to clean cupboard fronts and handles, door handles, the outside and inside of the fridge, exteriors of small appliances, the oven door and handle, the floors, and of course the counters. For good measure, I'd sanitize the bathroom beforehand, too. (in a restaurant, the restroom gets cleaned and sanitized several times a day) Per usual, low moisture, high acid foods will not support the bad beasties, so, they make the best gifts. Maybe flavored vinegars this year?

A little, off-topic here, but, don't forget to try winter seasonal beers, there are a LOT of them. One of my favorite beers is seasonal, 'Winter Solstice Seasonal Ale' from Anderson Valley Brewing Company. You might want to give it a try. I am not a fan of beers that punch you in the mouth with a fistful of hops - a style that is very fashionable right now. I prefer more subtlety. With beer, like anything else, pairing it with food can be a real revelation. Personally, I think that pizza and beer is a great combination -the bitterness of the beer cuts the fattiness of the pizza, and the (relatively) slight sweetness of the tomatoes gives contrast to the slight, dry astringency of the beer. Same goes for spirits. Something that might be too heavy, or too floral, or just weird when consumed neat can open up into a whole new flavor experience in a cocktail.

Make Focaccia bread, spread it on the dough unevenly and thinly, leaving some small bare patches. Then use your fingers to make dimples in the dough. Toss some finely minced fresh rosemary (or ground dry rosemary) on top, sprinkle some olive oil all over, then sprinkle with large grain kosher salt. (If you tend towards the OCD, try to get the salt in the non-jam areas) Proof a little and bake.

You may wish to try corn syrup or agave syrup or somesuch.

Remember that a good spirits store (local government willing) will allow you to taste some of their stock. Some stores, it's just what's on promotion, others give staff leeway to open bottles based on their own judgement. And, most also have tasting events for free or a nominal fee, like $10. It's great way to get some education without spending much money. You might want to start carrying a small blank notebook with you to use as a tasting book. You will thank yourself later for taking notes.

There will be LCK this season, so, we will get to see more from the eliminated chefs.

Frostbite is the least of a cook's worries with regards to unsafe handling of LN2. The liquid to gas ratio is 1:692 at 20°C. This means that LN2 which is not handled properly and is exposed to warmth (like room temperature) can cause a large explosion. One liter is enough to displace the air from a small room, making it potentially fatal to transport in elevators and cars, or use in an un-ventilated home kitchen. The gas is odorless and displaces air, but does not impede release of C02 from the lungs, so people do not feel like they are asphyxiating even when there is no oxygen left in the environment. They just lose consciousness and die within a few minutes.

Fact is, the channel is still not profitable enough to run programming 24 hours. They run infomercials overnight. And, in some years, the majority of their profits have been from selling their celebrity imprinted, middle-of-the-road-quality merch not advertising spots on the shows.

I agree that she doesn't need anything aimed at kids, except a smaller chef's knife. I'd go with a 6" blade, if that's the direction you're headed. In terms of savory-side books, I'd see if her family has a good all-around cookbook, like Julia Child's first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Or, if you are feeling generous, the volume 1&2 boxed set of MAFC. From personal experience, I would avoid the classes at Sur la Table, they just teach a recipe, not the theory behind it. They also mostly, have a focus on selling you products -partway through the class they parade students through the store to shop. She is old enough to learn theory. I would probably give something baking or pastry related. My favorites books are both priced under $20: Baking Artisan Bread, and Baking Artisan Pastries and Breads by Ciril Hitz. (there are a few corrections to the books on his website) Each book covers just a few basic formulas for breads or laminated doughs and then covers making variations from them. It's a great way to become familiar with baking. I would start with BAB, and only give BAPB as an additional book. Chef Hitz is an instructor at J&W and these books are like taking his classes. I have taken many of his classes in person, and his formulas and methods work well, quickly and without fuss. Each book comes with an instructional DVD, too. How about a kitchen scale? Ciril Hitz's books have measurements by volume and by weight in both imperial and metric measure. Anyway, a beginner scale is about $20 and she should start baking the right way. So, if it were me, I would give BAB and a scale. If you are feeling very generous, Bed Bath and Beyond has french rolling pins for $9.99 (don't forget your coupon!). I personally would avoid indoctrinating her with any Food Network branded merch, especially the stuff being shilled by their untrained, uneducated 'personalities'.

A cobbler style shaker is fine, IMO. I like having an all steel set, you can't break anything. You might also want to look into making grenadine.