Lisa Shock

And, you can talk all you want about 'the law' but, if an employer hires you under the table that's all just hypothetical nonsense. When I lived in Santa Fe, most of the local employers paid under the table. In 1994, they considered $5 an hour to be excellent pay for a manager or head cook, $1.60 was what waitstaff got. If you got hurt on the job, well, good luck to you because everyone would deny that you ever worked there, so there was no worker's comp. -Forget about the employer making up the difference between the below minimum wage for servers and the tipped wage if you got less than $5/hour it just plain wasn't going to happen. I worked at a place with a lunch counter. Just lunch. We often saw customers (mostly senior citizens) who would come in and eat, and then tip a dime. -And make you wait in anticipation as they fished it out of their purse and then demand that you thank them for it. Yes, one thin, no-longer-silver dime, on a 3-4 dollar lunch. I saw servers wait on multiple tables and make less than 60¢ an hour in tips. Some only stayed because they were so poor that they appreciated the opportunity to sneak and eat uneaten food from customer's plates. I tried several times reporting employers who paid under the table, but, this was during the Anaya years and life in NM was very much like living in a banana republic. Heck, once, I was unemployed and the unemployment office sent me on an interview for a job listing they had, and I had to file a huge set of reports as I refused the job because it was under the table. I got in trouble for refusing the job, the employer was never investigated. This restaurant still exists and is a well known tourist destination. I am willing to bet good money that a many if not all of their staff is paid under the table and not covered by unemployment insurance or worker's comp insurance. Another thing no one is mentioning is deductions. Employers always deduct money for shift meals (whether or not anyone serves them), uniforms, cleaning of uniforms, breakage, lost silverware, etc. from paychecks. I saw servers get next to nothing for a week's pay once the deductions were added up. People forget that every time a customer breaks a glass, money is deducted from the server or busser's check. Every time silverware is missing, the bussers have to pay up. Every broken plate is charged (at full retail price) to a busser or server.

It's served at many fast food places; an easy recombining of ingredients they already sell in other forms. (Wendy's, Sonic) So, at some places it's frozen fries topped with canned chili and cheap orange cheese. Google images gives a pretty good idea of what it should look like, don't worry about proportions, and I have never seen anyone bake/broil it. (the cheese isn't usually browned, if it were, it might be too hard to eat with a shell of cheese that might come off all at once) It's a big portion of fries with cup of chili poured over and a light handful of grated cheese tossed on top.

I use a heating pad from the drug store to keep the chocolate warm, just put a towel on top of the pad, and the bowl on top of that. I also keep my probe thermometer in the bowl. This way I do not have water near the chocolate after it is tempered.

What always kills me is that she keeps saying 'your friends will never know the difference' as she proceeds to make 'truffles' where the centers are canned chocolate frosting. My friends would certainly know the difference! Have you seen her episode of Chefography? She quit, walked out of class, attending the LCB school in Canada because she didn't see the point in making biscuits from scratch when "everything you need is in a box of Bisquick." I sympathize that she had a rough childhood and had to cook and learn to budget from an early age, but, food from mixes isn't cheaper than scratch and certainly, most times, is not on par flavor-wise. And, the LCB teaches a really delicious biscuit recipe; if Sandra hadn't walked out of class that day, taken the time to recognize that she does NOT know everything about cooking, and had actually tasted the biscuits, things might have turned out very differently. I see her show as the ultimate conquest of the American home kitchen by the packaged food industry. She's always got a positive recommendation for packaged products and a negative attitude about classic techniques and fresh food. Basically, she's trying to undo Julia Child's work.

Don't forget to toss some into salad, just slice them fresh like plain bell pepper. I would also use them as a pizza topping.

So, what did you decide upon? How did the event go?

Yeah, for me, Frito pie was always Fritos, chile (red or green), grated cheddar, grated white onion, pickled jalapeno slices. (you always got to serve yourself the cheese, onion and jalapenos from a toppings dispenser) I have never seen Frito pie serves with a melted cheese. (and I own the official Frito recipe book) Velveeta and R-Tel heated together is the Suzy-homemaker version of queso dip.

I should point out that in my posts, I have been thinking about the fish as being raw -for the puree and otherwise. My imagining of it with melon would be of a melon cube topped with a small, paper-thin slice of raw fish that had been dragged through a little liquid smoke, then a dash of salt added, this could be done with some other moist fruit that is in season. (late grapes? applesauce?)

You could always tell the customer that you're selling the place because you're sick of dealing with him....j/k!

You could look at the problem with a modernist perspective. Your ingredient is a form of protein with a good amount of water in it, and low fat content. If you pureed it, you'd get something which would act a bit like (perhaps with some coaxing by adding various other ingredients) egg white, which is a magic ingredient in pastry-making. You'd need to do some research and testing, but, you might be able to make something like a chocolate souffle with a 50-50 mix of cod and egg white instead of the usual amount of egg white. Or crepes without whites at all, just cod puree, a few yolks, milk, flour, sugar and salt. In ice cream, think of the cod as replacing the eggs, not the milk. This would probably work with cake as well. It might take some cornstarch, xanthan gum or meat glue to make it work, but, I think it would. After all, cod is a very mild flavored fish. Add some orange oil, vanilla, or some spices, and you can hide the flavor.

I found this article to be incredibly informative, at least about cooking with wines.

Fall is melon season. As an added bonus, honeydew does not ripen on the vine, it ripens in storage a few months after being picked.

How about taking salt cod, dry, and grating it then using it as salt? You could use it to top caramels, sprinkle on ice cream, pretty much any sweet dessert.

I think it has to do with contrast. And the sum of the parts being greater than the whole. (my preference is for green chile cheese fries: just pureed green chiles topped with melted cheese) You start with a french fry which is crisp, salty, and starchy. The chili offers silky moisture to the dry centers of the fries, as well as an acidity with a little spiciness which plays off the fat in the fries, and a little sweetness and chew from the meat (maybe some sauteed onion adding sweetness) and a big, big dose of umami. Get them topped with a little raw onion, and you've added crunch, sweet, and a little bit of bitter. So, you wind up with the classic formula for a great dish with components bouncing off the major taste receptors (including that newly discovered fat receptor). On paper, the formula is similar to the interaction between fries and ketchup, but more complete.

The assignment was 5 courses....was dessert specified as course #5? I mean, you could do 5 courses without dessert.

It's worth it. I made another batch of ice cream last night. I have been giving samples to friends, so far, everyone likes it. This is unusual, generally someone in my circle of friends finds one of my sorbets or ice creams to not be to their liking. BTW, the sugar I have been using is Zulka brand Morena. It's pricey on Amazon but inexpensive in stores here. I find it to have a pleasing, subtle flavor. edited to add amazon link

I guess I should admit that I just realized that my batch was pretty different from the original. Instead of rind of a whole orange (well clementine in this case) to about 4oz sugar, I used a lot less. Like one rind for 2 pounds, so it's more like cinnamon sugar with a hint of orange. (I was wondering why people were storing this in the fridge...) Anyway, anyone attempting ice cream should probably use maybe ­¼ toast dope and ­­¾ plain sugar.

Just finished 'Eat Me the Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin'. Starting 'Mexican Cookbook' the 1940 edition by Emma Fergusson. I am kind of fascinated by the evolution of Southwestern food. This cookbook is from the University of New Mexico Press and was first published in 1934. The 1940 edition has 12 new recipes in it. The author lived in New Mexico and got her recipes and her recipe testers from the Albuquerque area. The book has been reprinted many times, I am currently in the process of buying multiple copies to compare them. So far, I am noticing that there is a huge difference between these old chicken recipes and modern recipes: what few there are all use pre-cooked shredded chicken, presumably because in 1940 birds were leaner, older and tougher. The pre-cooking (recipe given) involves boiling for a long time, instructions include adding spices like nutmeg and allspice, plus raisins, to the water, but warning to only salt during the 'final hour' of boiling. Several meat recipes also involve the use of allspice and other 'sweet' spices for meat, with the heat of chile sauce added as a finishing touch. Obviously, no tacos, or burritos, or chimmichangas here.

It probably won't mix well, but Italian buttercream is shelf stable. Perhaps you could just pipe a rosette of buttercream on top of the curd. I have not tried mixing the two, but, somehow the shiny buttercream just doesn't seem like it would actually blend well with the curd, I could be wrong. Just suggesting the decorating idea in case mixing doesn't work.

I was surprised that the author didn't mention tonka beans. I have seen them show up in small markets (not in NY) now and then.

I have always thought of the word 'dope' in this case being used like airplane dope used on old-style wood & fabric airplanes; as a finishing touch. But, that's just my interpretation.

Business broker, but, as stated, this place has been mostly about your uniqueness. That said, you've been doing well with lunch being more pedestrian, so I would emphasize the value of that. IMO, most buyers of this sort of package are looking for a plug-and-play set up with standardized recipes, routines, schedules, etc.

I made Toast Dope ice cream today, no special technique, just the basic classic French recipe from my LCB textbook minus a couple of egg yolks because I ran out of eggs. Very delicious!

I just made Toast Dope ice cream, and, it's amazing! Back in 2011, I made a big batch as gifts and wound up keeping a quart jar of it -vacuum sealed, or course. That jar wound up hidden at the back of a shelf to be rediscovered recently while doing a deep cleaning. Anyway, this batch was made with grated clementine zest, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, and a tiny amount of ground juniper berry. The clementine was grated with a fine Microplane directly into the sugar and there were tiny lumps in the Toast Dope. (they aren't noticeable in the ice cream) The sugar was a light brown raw sugar from Mexico that kind of resembles 'sugar in the raw' -it comes in 1 or 2 pound plastic bags with green text. Here's my ice cream formula: 1 Pint Whole Milk 5 Ounces Toast Dope 4 Egg Yolks 1 Cup Heavy Cream Heat the Milk until barely scalded. While the Milk is heating, beat the Toast Dope and Yolks in a bowl. Temper the Yolks mixture then mix Milk with the Yolks and Toast Dope. Stir in Cream, chill then run in an ice cream machine. These amounts will work in a 1.5 quart electric machine. The finished ice cream will have an ivory color. Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone, Toast Dope rocks!

Gonna have to organize a road trip!