Lisa Shock

Oh yeah, most people's recipes stink. There's a reason why restaurants use professional standardized recipes as opposed to home recipes, or those horrible recipe aggregate sites like allrecipes. Members here at eG generally have websites they trust for recipes, but that number overall is very small (like fewer than 10) compared to the millions of recipe sites out there. Aside from volume issues, professional recipes have been tested and retested, use standard units of measurements (no dashes or splashes, pinches or handfuls), and specifically particular types of ingredients. Sure, chefs pass around recipes, but, the smart ones wait until they have tested it (many times) before handing it out. Check out the kitchen scale manifesto. If you accept US home-user recipes you'll wind up getting cake recipes using 'cups' of flour, etc. where the actual amounts can vary wildly by who does the measuring. One cup of AP flour can weigh from 2¾oz - 6½oz. -Meaning that a recipe will turn out differently every time it's made, whether by one chef or a platoon of chefs. You also have substitution mania with home cooks. Sometimes, this can result in dangerous situations like chemicals burning holes in aluminum foil, then leaching into the food. Or just ruining your pan. And, there's what I call 'recipe drift' where people pass along their bad habits (like melting butter instead of creaming) and cheapo substitutions, which eventually morph into substandard recipes for the original delicious food. Offering a bounty to people who submit recipes will incentivize people to give you lots of recipes, while the cost burden will be on you to make them work. Professional cookbooks have already gone through extensive testing, in labs and in the real world. There's a huge savings in using the results of other people's research rather than starting out from scratch. For extra credit, interview a culinary school's program chair and ask why they teach recipes from textbooks instead of random recipes from allrecipes, etc. The one way I see this place working is like 50 years in the future, when someone has a really good 3D printer for foods, and/or replicator technology, but, at the same time it's too expensive for most home users to own. For about 20 years, until Star Trek-style replicators are affordable for most households, a novelty restaurant might be successful. You'd be starting with simple molecules and energy as building blocks and storage and recycling wouldn't be much of an issue. -Don't like the pie? Just recycle it back into basic molecules and re-use.

Another issue is sourcing ingredients and storing them. Which is going to drive your costs way up. 1) You'll pay rent based on sq footage, and, pay to cool the walk-in and freezer. You'll wind up storing a lot of extra food because there's a limit to how small an amount of some things, like rice, you can buy. You can't buy ½cup of forbidden black rice, so you buy a 3lb bag and store the leftovers. This will add up quickly into a huge vault of dry foods, and a walk-in that would be overflowing. Within a month or two, you'd need an enormous amount of storage space which equals $$$$$ annually. 2) Food wholesalers can't always get things to you in 24 hours, and, when they do, you will pay a premium for it. Generally, for a bigger restaurant, they deliver once a week. maybe twice a week if you place big bulk orders. So, you'll pay extra for the deliveries you do get, and wind up going out grocery shopping for a couple of hours almost every day. (you can do back door pickup 5-6 days a week at some wholesalers) You'll need to buy a van or small truck for your shopping excursions. 3) Local growers aren't going to like doing business every once in a blue moon, you'll pay top dollar for their delivery of, say, 3 yuzu fruit vs a regular place ordering a case every 2 weeks. Waste will be huge. If I order a slice of Lady Baltimore cake, you have to make a whole cake to serve me that slice. Fancy French places used to have certain set dessert items, and even then ate a lot of waste. They'd offer a cake and present the whole cake at lunch, sell as many slices as they could. Whatever was uneaten became part of family meal, and a fresh cake was made for dinner. Leftovers could be recycled a bit, but, your system wouldn't allow for a regular program to manage and use waste. Part of menu planning is sneaking in waste reduction. -Vegetable trimmings get used to make stock, which is then used to cook rice, for example. This only works consistently with consistent supplies of trim and a consistent need for the end product. You'll also face seasonality issues. People who want to eat fresh genuine Maine wild blueberries in January -when they are only in season for two weeks in early summer. And, of course, you're going to spend a fortune on staffing the telephone with caring, detail oriented people who can get the orders reasonably correct plus the executive chef who will have to write/research 50-500 recipes every day. Not to mention the staff who can cook a perfect consomme, slice a fugu beautifully, make a delicious terrine from elk liver, can prep a kidney properly, assemble a wafer-thin soup dumpling, make rice noodles from scratch, etc. Then, there's the pastry chefs needed. You might want to read a bit about they heyday of the original Delmonico's and the size of the place and the amount of staff needed to service their menu.

I have to agree with blue_dolphin. I have spent years trying to reverse engineer a couple of recipes, and still have not quite succeeded. If a customer requested those original items I don't know how they could be reproduced accurately. I have helped people here with similar quests, like the search for a cake that a grocery store chain no longer makes. I mean it's one thing to say, 'gee, I've never eaten matsutake mushrooms, make me this popular and famous dish featuring them' and another to say, 'I wish I could have grandma's crumb cake again -the one she never told anyone the recipe for.' Even some seemingly simple dishes have variations that create strong feelings among aficionados.

Well, in France, by law, only a 100% butter croissant can be straight. The 100% butter kind can be any shape the baker wishes. However, ones with any other sort of fat, even 1%, can never be straight.

At work, we would use full sheet pan size only. My home oven will not fit a full size pan, so, I use half pans. I guess I don't care about color. I already own some Silpats, as well as purely silicone mats in pink and one in red. Texture is a big issue for me. I like them to be totally flat, preferably shiny, for sugar work. One down side of Silpats is their texture. This project could be improved with a flat mat.

Do you have a place near you that makes the sliced/shaved noodles?

There are special concretes used for countertops, they can be purchased in white. One advantage is that in many cases, seams can be avoided. You have to research each of these products separately.

If the weather isn't too warm, you could make a large roast, or roast a duck or turkey. In some cases, you'd be wanting to rest the meat for 30-45 minutes, so, it would effectively be done and waiting for you as guests arrive. (I recall seeing a recipe for turkey that called for resting it for the same number of hours it got roasted!) Sides, could be held warm in the oven: dressing, roasted mixed vegetables, etc. Instead of salads, you could start the meal with an antipasti platter which could be assembled hours in advance and simply kept cold. Terrines and galantines could be another starter option, with maybe a relish tray. Of course, lots of great desserts can be made in advance, from easy things like pots d'creme or pound cake, to more complex items like charlottes.

I forgot to add that I also like to use Emmental/Swiss cheese instead of mozz, and/or occasionally a touch of smoked gouda or parmesean for flavor. I don't like cheddar, jack, or related cheeses. Not that it matters, go with what your family enjoys. That said, crusty, browned swiss cheese is pretty great. I have a stoneware bread pan from Pampered Chef that I often use to make the potatoes. Once they are cooked and cold, in the loaf shape, it's super easy to slice them into julienne strips.

I make potato frittata all the time. I use a cast iron skillet, 12" for groups and my 100+ year old 4" pan for single servings. You can do either raw or cooked, however, raw shreds experience a lot of shrinkage. (the frozen type also shrinks an amazingly large amount, like you need half a pound for a 12" skillet) I personally prefer boiled potatoes that are then shredded. You can cook them days ahead of time. Don't forget to season the water, or use stock instead of water. Butter or oil your pan liberally, add the seasoned shreds. (I like to toss with salt, herbs, and finely diced onion before adding.) Let them get a bit crispy before adding the beaten seasoned eggs, lower the temp, cover to capture heat for a few minutes, then finish under the broiler. You can top with a little grated cheese before broiling, and let that brown a little. Sometimes, I like to top with tomato concasse and/or diced green chile before broiling. My favorite variation on this, however, is to take leftover scalloped potatoes, or potatoes Anna and use them as the base. To get extra browning, I start with beurre noisette. I take the cold leftover block and julienne slices off one end, then flip them on their sides into the pan. (so that what was formerly the heart of the casserole is now on the bottom) Heat through, then keep cooking until the outside is crisp, add the beaten eggs, let them get warm with the lid on for a few minutes then broil. I personally make scalloped potatoes pretty garlicy, this flavors the frittata pretty well. I also tend to use cheese (mozzarella) and cream, so the frittata crust retains some creaminess as the cheese doesn't meld into the egg layer so much, unlike cream or butter alone.

Yeah, since it only makes one loaf at a time it seems to fall into the home cook category, but the price and storage considerations are considerable. It might make an ok accessory for a grill, for people who regularly cook with a grill, have extra space on it or extra heat after cooking a meal, and who are really into good bread. That said, even the manufacturer considers a dutch oven to be just as good, but with some size/shape restrictions, and most of us already own a dutch oven. That ceramic hearth oven is larger and would accommodate several loaves.

Whoops! Yes, that's the one I saw. if you search on eBay, you can use their option to 'follow this search' and get emails when new items get listed. (look directly under the all listings, auction, and buy it now buttons) This may be your best option. But, I'll keep an eye out when shopping the thrift stores.

There's one on eBay right now for $18.99 with free shipping. Just search for KitchenAid Professional 670 and you'll see it.

Has anyone here tried a Fourneau cast iron bread 'oven'? It's a cast iron box that fits inside of a home oven, it kind of mimics baking in a dutch oven in that it holds moisture in a small space. The info on the website touts heat radiating in from all directions, but, IMO, a preheated oven does that, too. The Serious Eats reviewer used it with the ¼" MC steel.

1) Make sure your thermometer is calibrated and correct. Do not use a temp gun on sugar, it won't work correctly. (even if it did, you're mostly getting surface temps, which are not enough information) 2) Increase temperature slowly, and pull the pan off the fire just as it hits temperature, and shock the pan as quickly as possible. Have your bowl of ice water prepped before starting to cook the sugar. (this may also be useful in case of an accidental sugar burn to the skin) 3) Use a pan sized to fit the amount of sugar you are cooking -don't let the sugar be too thin, like 2oz in a 12" pan is too large of a pan. 4) Use a fairly heavy pan, not as heavy as cast iron though, but, also one with good conductive properties. This IS the time to use an expensive copper pot. Make sure the pan is well made, and level. -A cheap warped pan will not heat evenly. You want something that heats evenly and well, but will also cool quickly in the ice water bath. 5) Make sure the pot is clean. I have a sugar-work pot that I wrap in clingfilm after washing and drying so that it does not accumulate dust or microscopic oil droplets from the air in the kitchen. Every once in a while, I boil the whole pot inside of large stockpot to make sure that it's really, really clean. Once it's wrapped in clingfilm, I hide the pot so that no one can find it and possibly unwrap it and stick their (grubby) fingers inside. Hope this helps!

I suspect that not feeding people will be the downfall of team orange. I think this was forshadowed by the editors who caught people on the team wondering about the complexity of some dishes. I can't believe that no one thought about streamlining some dishes for speed's sake. I understand that the decision to focus on the judges led to their downfall, but, that said, how complicated were these dishes that they took so much time to prepare? There should have been plenty of time between sending out the apps and sending out the mains -especially since the judges take time to discuss what they are tasting. And, Carl's terrine bothered me. I know that it's common to see terrines where the pan is lined with bacon, but, this practice has always bugged me. The flabby steamed bacon has a very unappealing appearance and can be difficult to cut on the plate with a fork. He also needed to add something for color, and something for texture. This is why pistachios are so common in terrines; they add green color and crunch.

How about a BBQ mop?

One more tip, this may or may not work so well, so maybe run a test: try not refrigerating so quickly after filling. If it's due to uneve contraction of the mold itself, and your room is already fairly cold, maybe you don't really need much of a refrigeration step, maybe none at all. Hope this helps!

I'd deglaze with the wine after the scallops are out of the pan, then add capers to make a sauce. Keeping moisture to a minimum is the key to a good sear here. Making brown butter first can be a tasty option, and helpful to the process (as you cook off the water that is in butter), but, I'm not so fond of it with capers.

Painting might help both issues. I'd also try pouring at a slightly lower temperature, even a degree or two may make a big difference. The unevenness may be due to uneven contraction during cooling. I'll defer to other members with more experience, though.

There are also copyright issues involved with using people's stories. Just because a work is online does not make it copyright free. Sounds to me like your employer is trying to get away with not hiring real food consultants by going on an online fishing expedition.

Did you paint the molds with a light coat of chocolate before pouring? Did you refrigerate before unmolding? How did you handle the molds, were your hands or fingertips touching the bottom of the mold as you filled it or moved it? The chocolate as it sets up generates a bit of heat on its own from the motion of the crystals, so, sometimes chocolate that is in temper goes out of temper when molded. You usually see this with larger molds. I have also seen chocolates go out of temper because a mold got warm from the chef's fingers and went out of temper in fingerprint-like ovals where they held the mold. I have hot hands, and fill molds while they sit on a chilled quarter sheet pan. Hope this helps!

I should have also mentioned (food history is my favorite class to teach) that others who have tried to streamline cooking have run into counter-intuitive results. When boxed cake mix was first introduced in the early 1950s, it contained powdered eggs and powdered shortening. They did not sell well, housewives told researchers that they felt the process was too easy and the cake was therefore not as wholesome and home-made -it was clearly a factory product. So, they reformulated the mixes so that consumers had to add eggs and butter or oil, and they became incredibly popular. Ironically, the improved product saves a total of 13 minutes over making a scratch cake, most of that time savings is from not having to sift or weigh the dry ingredients. And, despite being full of low quality ingredients, fillers, binders, colors, artificial flavors, etc. people feel that these cakes are on equal footing with scratch cakes -just because they lifted a hand to crack an egg and measure 3/4 cup of oil. Right now, there are a lot of meal options out there, from refrigerated heat-n-eat food from the supermarket deli, to frozen meals delivered to your doorstep, retail meals you heat up are everywhere at all sorts of price points and quality levels. Yet, Blue Apron and its competitors seem to be doing well, and they leave the most time consuming part of cooking (prep) to the buyer. I have also noticed a recent trend where some people feel like they 'cook' when in fact all they do is follow instructions for heating frozen meals. I know someone who will actually say 'dinner is ready, I cooked tonight' and you'll find tv dinners in their trays on the table. People who grew up with processed foods often do not recognize them as created products instead of real ingredients. To me, eat out is only part of the problem. One can eat just as badly from a supermarket, depending upon the choices they make.

I have to agree with most of what's been already said here. IMO, people who cook and enjoy it tend to have gotten some experience with cooking when they were children. They may have spread their wings and taken on more later, but, a foundation was built when the brain had super-plasticity. That said, many of us had parents who did not like to cook, or were not good at it. But, they allowed us to experiment in the kitchen. Once people are adults and don't cook, I'm not certain that much can be done to persuade them to start cooking beyond, say, a physician ordering them to adopt a special diet. I have tried to convert people, I taught public classes for a while and people would bring reluctant spouses to class and most of them just never 'got it'. They just weren't thrilled with the potential for customization the way food enthusiasts are. So many cookbooks have basic cooking lessons in them, honestly, it's not that difficult to learn to cook if a person gets ahold of a good all-around cookbook. I don't really know what motivates some of us to scour cookbooks and the web for something new to cook for tonight's dinner. I agree that Home Ec should be taught in schools and most do not anymore. That said, many students in past HE classes hated them. I suspect that the availability of so many meal options, fast/frozen/deli, serves people who in past eras would have grudgingly cooked due to necessity. I don't see there being a switch to locate to turn the kitchen-adverse into foodies.

THIS may be of interest to you. I had the crostini many years ago and liked it, but, that was veal spleen.