Lisa Shock

Thanks, TFTC, I kind of alternate between types, but I suspect that darjeeling is going to become the go-to iced tea this summer. (I also like to cook Indian food, so it matches well.) After taking a bottle of the genmai cha to work and drinking it all day, I came to the conclusion that it tasted like drinking water infused with sushi and it was a really good thing that I don't sweeten my tea. I don't know that I would make that tea cold again, except maybe as part of a modernist meal. ('look this shot glass of water, it tastes like I'm eating sushi!')

The advantage to the fridge method is that it doesn't foster as much bacterial growth, you don't need a sunny spot, and you don't have to worry about retrieving a jar and then taking all that time to chill the container it's already in the fridge and cold. (here in PHX in the summer, my house is set up to not get any direct sunlight inside at all, I'd have to put it outside in 115°+ heat which is just involves the danger zone too much for my taste) I own a variety of metal infusers (teabag taste hatred) so last night I set up some genmai cha. In the morning the rice flavor was very pronounced along with smoky undertones. The green tea component was a bit light. Perhaps green tea needs a little hot water boost to start -kind of makes sense since it isn't fermented like black tea. Overall the tea was good but I can barely taste the green tea. I'll set up some good gunpowder green tonight and see how that works out.

I forgot to mention that I store small quantities in mason jars, vacuum sealed. That works very well against bugs, but rancidity is still an issue.

I use Cambros, I also have the grain grinding attachment for my DeLonghi/Kenwood mixer, so I buy wheat and grind it into WW flour. The wheat grain seems to stay fresher longer. That said, I only buy a little at a time. If I saw a deal someplace, I would freeze it.

In some ways it sounds like people weren't keeping up with training staff, or do not see the value in it. I have worked places where the owner just assumed that servers knew what to do if they experience working elsewhere, and she'd just let them go out an do whatever. We've got such a culture of worshiping celebrity chefs now, it's ironic that servers often get thrown out on the floor with little or no guidelines and standards. Most fine dining establishments train the wait staff, and most culinary schools have a course and lab class (work in the school restaurant) in the finer points. I know that in Europe, for better restaurants, wait staff go through an apprenticeship program where the position is treated like a career path, not something to pay the bills while waiting on a 'real' career to materialize.

Are you using a smaller pot? If you don't, you have a much larger surface area to volume ratio, meaning that water is evaporating out more quickly. I am also wondering if you might need to check the original formula, like maybe it always needed adjusting but since you don't get the top area of a tall pot warm enough you never really activated 100% of the gelatin. Then when scaled down, all of the gelatin is getting hot enough and activating. Anyway, I'd try added a little more water and see how that works before trying syrup. (there's nothing wrong with syrup, it just adds more variables to the mix.)

I was also wondering what you consider to be room temperature?

Are you referring to glazes containing gelatin? If so, are you weighing everything carefully?

Mycryo is very high in beta crystals, when it's in the powder form. Generally, it's used like a 'seed' when tempering whereas liquid cocoa butter may or may not be in temper and a block of cocoa butter is in temper but might fall out of temper when melted depending on how it's handled. If you are trying to spray chocolate, mycryo is a good choice for making it a little thinner because it also pretty much guarantees a good snappy result. It's expensive to use alone or in large volume, though.

Morning report: Tea is now very good, much more tannic than last night. For my personal taste, I'll probably try to stop the process before 12 hours have passed. It's strong for me, but not so strong that I have to use ice cubes. I will test green tea once I have finished off this batch. Overall, I am liking this a lot, it saves energy, and it's easy.

Phase 1 of the experiment completed. I took 3 Twinings Darjeeling teabags (I hate teabags, but people know that I like tea and are constantly gifting me with them. I used bags because it seemed like the perfect way to use them up, and if it didn't work, well not much lost.) and added 40 oz filtered water. (I know this seems like a lot of water, but many times when I have used tea bags I have found the tea too strong. And, I figured that the powdery leaves would probably give off more flavor than whole leaf tea.) Also, I like to just drink cold tea, I don't like fussing with ice cubes, so, I don't like to make super-strength tea like a restaurant. After 4 hours the water had a layered look, the darkest at the bottom and almost clear water on top. I stirred and tasted. It was a little weak, but overall tasted very good and wasn't too tannic. I left the teabags in and tasted an hour later. It seemed to be good, but still a tad weak. Actually, it was good enough that I caught myself wanting to drink more a few minutes later, but, I can't drink caffeine so late or I won't sleep. I left the teabags in the pitcher, will taste in the morning.

For those looking, I get the Tejava mostly at Smart & Final, IIRC Safeway carries it too. I don't live near an asian market, so, I pick up various bottles when I do venture out. I see the Itoen around town, even at gas stations, but, it's a pricey treat. Thanks for the link, Thanks for the Crepes! I already own a Bodum pitcher which I have never used because it's kind of small and seemed like a lot of work for a small return. If I don't have to boil water, I would make it a lot more frequently. (sometimes, I just hate heating up the kitchen, or I'm just too busy) I will test some black then some green tea and post an update.

I like Tejava and the Japanese brands, but, I too generally brew my own. I am partial to Darjeeling in the summer, and that's not a common brew.

I use Ciril Hitz's books most often. His formulas work very well and his instructions give very precise results. In Baking Artisan Bread, I think the Ciabatta (formula two) is my favorite -no real rhyme or reason here, I just like making it. In Baking Artisan Pastries and Breads, my favorite is the Basic Sweet Dough; made up into the Pecan Sticky Buns or Russian Braid. Both books are really solid throughout (look for the errata sheets on the author's website) and have helped me really step up the quality and precision in my breads -and really helped with competitions. Ciril's classes are great; check out his youtube channel, he also sells DVDs. IMO, you should talk to Mitch Stamm, he has such a wealth of information about bakeries and procedures of the past.

Anpan, from Japan, is my favorite regional bread. It's fairly unique in that it does not come from a long tradition. What makes the real stuff very unique is the use of sakedane in the dough. (The home baker recipes online do not make the real thing.) I have a recipe from a professional baker's guild, but, I do not know the copyright info for it. There was a recipe posted HERE for a while, but it was taken down.

Yep.

Generally, acids turn leafy greens brown. It affects the chlorophyll. That's why we don't don't add acid to cooking green vegetables, we add it in sauce later. Ascorbic acid and citric acid are usually used to prevent browning of fruit, which is visible oxidation when there isn't chlorophyll present. I don't know of a textbook solution for your situation. However, in cooking of greens, sometimes a bit of baking soda is added to the water. It maintains the green color and sometimes it brings out a really vibrant bright green color depending on the type of chlorophyll. (there are 6 types, you generally only run into 2 of those) The down side is that the soda treated veg tends to fall apart pretty quickly, so the pretty bright broccoli will start to crumble on the buffet line over time. You might test some baking soda in the blanching water. (we used to use about a half teaspoon to a 7 qt pot) I simply have no idea which type(s) of chlorophyll mint has.

Also, some liquid eggs are frozen. A frozen commodity has a much longer shelf life and is insulated a bit from the short-term supply and demand forces of markets.

IMO, each of the 12 steps of bread production have measurable effects on the final product; doing each of them correctly can mean the difference between good bread and mediocre. Just last week, I made 4 large boules at home -50% whole wheat. I was in a rush and did not spend as much time 'rounding', final shaping, one loaf. All of the loaves were from the same dough, the dough for each loaf weighed the same down to the tenth of a gram, they were benched and proofed identically. I just didn't spend as much time on the final shape on one loaf. That one loaf came out much flatter than the rest -a little more than half the height. It wasn't bad, the people who ate it enjoyed it. It was just a bit more dense than it should have been.

Every place I've worked has just supplied the $20 knives with the white plastic handles.

eggplant caponata, red pesto, tapenade

Get a scale and a good baking cookbook with the dry ingredients measured by weight, not volume (cups). These are hard to come by in the US, but, common in other parts of the world. Start with simple things, but things your family likes, maybe muffins or scones or cookies. Then move on to more difficult items. Yeasted breads involve a different set of skills, but can be very rewarding to bake.

Bone-in, skin-on is perfect for oven roasting. If you switch to thighs, you can rub with salt and some herbs (maybe lemon zest) and oven roast (start oven at 425° and reduce to 350° after 10 minutes, cook until thermometer reads 165° at the bone) to get good results pretty quickly without much fuss. This will get you juicy roasted chicken with crispy skin. If you're just making a couple pieces, you can toss some root vegetables or thick cut cauliflower or brussels sprouts, etc. on the same pan about halfway through -just toss them in a little oil and salt first.

Cook as much as you can. Ignore celebrity cookbooks. Get some good basic technique books and work your way through them. Feed others your food, ask for honest feedback. (but, don't get too bogged down by one person's tastes, either)

You could use it instead of cream in a sauce.