Lisa Shock

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.

I was recalling the old eG thread when watching the episode, and wondered why anyone would bother with bread -as it's something that is traditionally discarded at old school beefsteaks. I was also kind of surprised that no one managed a really interesting side, no deep fried mac & cheese, no stuffed vegetables, no mini twice baked potatoes, nothing wrapped in bacon, etc. I kept wondering why no one did chicken legs, although it has to be really difficult to manage a menu for hundreds when shopping at a retail grocer. For fish, I think the challenge was fairly difficult, as many cooked fish dishes aren't finger-friendly, and raw bar doesn't show off enough cooking skill to impress the judges. Poke (maybe served in a cucumber boat or a baby bell pepper half) might have worked. Crab cakes might have also been a good choice. Overall, this episode felt like the show was treading water. I am looking forward to the revamped Restaurant Wars.

Your recipe is very derivative, appears to have been written and re-written by home cooks, and I think you're seeing the results. I have no idea why the author of your recipe wants you to bring butter and sugar to a boil. Butter has two crystalline structures and also has emulsification properties (all useful to the process of this custard setting) and you lose all traces of all three when you get it too hot. I have only seen cream listed in ingredients lists when it is to be whipped and served as a topping. Here is an NYT article on the history of the recipe. Original ingredients were: 1 lb semisweet chocolate 10Tbsp unsalted butter 1tbsp unbleached AP flour 1 Tbsp sugar 4 eggs, separated sweetened whipped cream, as a topping (my synopsis) Method: melt chocolate in a double boiler, whisk in butter, flour, sugar. Beat yolks and stir in, whip whites, fold in, bake. Rose Levy Beranbaum also has a good recipe with clear instructions. She gets away with no added sugar by using a good, very balanced eating chocolate. I would avoid chocolate chips as they tend to be gritty, and low grade. Try to use a better grade of chocolate. GIGO Also, I have never made this as a full sheet pan. I wonder if it doesn't hold up better in an 8" round due to basic physics.

Oh yeah, I used to own a Citroen 2CV van many years ago. Mine was a 1958 model. It was, and still is, a grey market vehicle in the US. I got a salvage title, and a clear plate without questions, but, that was in the days before the DMV had computers. I wouldn't load anything that weighs much in it, we used to have troubles with it not making it up steep hills, and I spent a good amount of time pushing it around -while it was empty. Although admittedly, I lived in Santa Fe, NM at the time which is at a fairly high altitude and hilly areas were often at much higher altitudes. That said, Smart cars have engines that are more than twice as large. By the time you have a generator and backup batteries to power the machines and a set up for hot water + a sink for handwashing, other equipment (for making coffee, and serving supplies) may weigh too much. Ultimately, I doubt that I'd risk my life driving it nowadays. I'm not as reckless as I once was. There's simply no doubt that if an SUV hit it, everyone in the Citroen would die in the collision. I mean, have you seen the seats? You're basically driving around sitting on lawn chairs. Heck, I have owned more substantial lawn chairs than those seats. And, I have owned lawnmowers with more powerful engines. Then, there's the added bonus of having the all aluminum frame, so it crumples very easily, and has no airbags. (yes a Smart car weighs more, too) I'd really work with the health department, and know that your truck has plenty of carry capacity by weight and volume before committing to a particular type of vehicle.

Check your health department regulations. Here in AZ, they need to approve the vehicle and the remodeling plans before you start. Also, the vehicle needs to load, unload, and get cleaned in a health department certified location. (many trucks use a big warehouse run by a local coffee roaster, for a set fee)

I discovered in my 20s that music got me too distracted, and I would make mistakes. So, I gave it up. I need the quiet to focus. That said, something high energy, like punk, was always nice for repetitive production jobs where we made the same pastry every day.

Here's a short article on it, looks like 9% would be inhospitable to some organisms, but not others -notably some that like high saline environments and cause food spoilage. I personally would look for another immediate use or toss, the ingredients don't cost much. I just discovered an outdoor application for leftover brine!

M.R. = Methode Rotuts an advanced technique for serving fine wines.

The really elaborate bundt pans don't release well. Cake doesn't have a lot of structural integrity anyway, and the stress of unmolding it just tears those fancy decorations apart. I currently use a plain tube pan. Please note: silicon cake pans are horrible, do not buy one. I would like to recommend my favorite pan coating, one that really helps release even stubborn high protein foods: lecithin granules and oil. Because sometimes it's not the pan, it's the prep. Nonstick Pan Coating 56 grams granulated lecithin 200 grams vegetable oil (I like using peanut, it works well at high heat, but be cautious about allergies.) Place both ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix for 20-30 seconds until smooth. Store in the refrigerator. Use to coat baking pans.

This episode reminded me of beginning culinary school, in our very first class in the kitchen and the instructor shouting at a student, "There's no crying in the kitchen!" -The lesson being that the food was outside the realm of emotions; cooking was about the science of the ingredients and excess baggage needed to be left at the door. Learning correct execution was the key, good intentions don't always make a great plate of food and you can't cry to a customer and get forgiveness when you mess up a dish. Clearly several chefs were shaken by the challenge. Shaken enough to be thrown off their game. They forgot that they were in a televised cooking competition, not a group therapy session. All they needed to do was choose a dish and fish a cute story about it from some part of their past. Marjorie handled this perfectly, she was green, so she made a green dish. No deep psychoanalysis, just a simple declaratory sentence defining the concept. Philip's attitude is grating, I think to a certain extent that he is refusing to accept that his food could be better. Some of his food on past episodes has clearly been bad, who here wants to stand behind his gummy mashed potatoes? I don't think Tom's dislike of them was idiosyncratic. IMO, we are seeing the Dunning-Kruger effect in action with him. His time is coming, very soon, much sooner than he himself can imagine... I was sorry to see Jason go on this round. he clearly got upset by something and he wasn't focusing on the food. Hopefully, he have a good run in LCK.

Yeah, I had a showpiece one winter that I took all sorts of places and kept at home on the dining room table for about 8 months until my cat (bengal) broke it. I have made others during our monsoon season that just barely lasted a day. It can be a very ephemeral art form. I would suggest practicing with real sugar (cheaper, and you can cook with your mistakes) just to get more experience.

Don't forget that you could make dressing for the capon with the semolina bread. (make a little stock with some bones) Or, bread pudding. Or, croutons.

A few years ago, I got a rechargeable LED work light on amazon which they no longer sell. (it's got 100 small LED bulbs in it) A single charge gives me about 20 hours of low light with just 1/3 of the bulbs lit and about 6 hours at full brightness. -At full brightness, reading is easy. I just charge it every 6 months or so, or right before a storm. I am thinking about getting a couple more. I have one solar charging flashlight, but, it's pretty weak. I've also got a bunch of small rechargeable flashlights in power outlets, always ready to go. I am about to get a portable solar charger for things like phones and tablets. I've got the Kindle app on my tablet, that can go quite a while on one charge, and I downloaded a bunch of free public domain books onto it. I probably have a couple of years' worth of reading material there.

I think there are certain foods, to me anyway, that taste great without salt. Like red potatoes, I can roast them, boil them, whatever, plain (no oil, no herbs) and I think they are very tasty. Russet potatoes not so much. Just like I eat melon without salt, but some people apparently cannot stand to. I'll eat cucumber spears, tomato wedges, carrot sticks and celery sticks plain, too. I don't salt oatmeal, and find that if it's made with salt it tastes weird. So, I'd say gravitate towards foods you naturally don't like to salt anyway. Then start reducing salt in foods you do normally salt. And try some things you've never had before, without salt.

I was reading online a few days ago about how polluted snow is nowadays. It's up to you...the only thing I can think of is to make a snow-cone with tightly packed snow and Midori. There used to be some sort of fake ice cream people made with sweetened condensed milk and snow, but my family never did, I just heard about it third-hand. I'd also like to suggest, for anyone able to still head out to the store, you might want some paper plates, bowls, disposable cups, plastic utensils and lots of napkins. If the water goes out, your life will be easier. Even if you have water, if the power goes out, those with electric water heaters won't have hot water to wash dishes in. BTW, forgot to mention that chefmd's bread looks really good.

The bag in box does work very well. Target carries a decent series of wines that come in a cube shaped cardboard box with the bag. (smaller size is aseptic pack) I think these are better than the usual wine in a box brands, and I have kept a Pinot Grigio at room temperature for about 4 weeks with no ill effects. No idea if you can buy this wine in PA. When I was in culinary school we used red and white from a box with a bag, from Shamrock, it was not marked with a brand just the wine color. The box was approximately 18" x 18" x 30". It wasn't great wine, but I never noticed going sour, either. You could try freezing excess wine. (use an ice cube tray or muffin tin, then transfer to a freezer container or plastic bag -I would vacuum seal it) Some people swear by it, but, freezing does alter the wine's taste making it undesirable for drinking. I have not done it myself, but, I guess if all you are doing is using a little to deglaze a pan for a robust sauce, some sublteness was going to be lost anyways in the cooking process.

Good work, with the capon and the water filled tub! While roasting, I'd bake off other foods as well: root vegetables, toast some nuts, etc. When you turn the heat off, I'd toss in some garlic bulbs (if you have them) drizzled in oil and wrapped in foil, in the oven to roast for about 45 minutes. I have seen warnings that you may lose power. You may want to clean out your fridge and freezer now, cook off anything that's good at room temp (use that package of filo to make baklava). I'd also prep a cooler to store important items from the fridge, assume that you'll be able to keep your freezer door shut and everything cold for a day. After that, if the power failure is longer, you'll have to set up another cooler and pack it with snow for the freezer items. Find any grilling supplies you may have, and organize them so you know if you can grill and how many meals you could reasonably cook. Some suggestions: make some savory pies make some fruit pies if you have fruit, they will keep for several days make hard boiled eggs make pasta salad Oh yeah, get caught up on laundry. If you are without power and cold, clean socks will be very welcome.

1. Can I melt isomalt nibs the same way as crystals Yes, be cautious, isomalt gets a yellowish-brownish hue if overcooked. 2. NIbs are apparently easier to work with - can anyone explain why? The crystals have already gone through the changes associated with boiling. 3. Ref to 1 - do nibs need water when melting? How much sugar work have you done in the past? You can do melts without water, but you will have to manage temperature changes in a very short time frame (stirring, pulling off and back onto the flame, taking the temp) and very accurately or you risk burning it. Instructors generally have students use water the first time, then reduce the amount of water as they progress in classes. 4. Colouring isomalt - can I just use normal food colour? And lustre dusts? There are coloured options available but seem more expensive. You cannot just use any colors. Isomalt cooks at a higher temperature than sugar and some colors will burn. You can buy separate colors just for sugar work. Luster dust should be brushed on after a piece is done. If mixed in with melted isomalt it can burn, and it can under go changes which make the isomalt less strong, and possibly cause fractures. But, generally it turns very ugly. 5. Over here (UK) there's a place selling "Ready tempered coloured isomalt nibs" - I don't understand what they mean by tempered here - (I understand chocolate temper..same thing?) Not the same as chocolate. In isomalt you are discouraging crystal formation not inducing it. Essentially those nibs will melt easily and are usable without having to worry about exact temperatures. They have also been packaged in moisture free environments to discourage crystal formation. Be aware that in some cases a showpiece might only last a few hours. Isomalt is a bit more resistant to humidity than sugar, but, I have seen them get fuzzy looking in just a few hours during classes given in a hotel with humid air. (here in Phoenix, nonetheless)