Lisa Shock

Fat does a lot of things. It can allow food to cook at a higher temperature and develop flavors they wouldn't otherwise, like frying potatoes gives them a crispy brown crust (maillard reaction & caramelization) they can't really get from baking or boiling. (McGee tested baked potatoes rubbed in oil and baked without, with oil was better) Sauteing onions brings out flavors that boiling can't, that's why so many recipes start with cooking an onion in oil or butter and then adding liquids. Some fats have flavor naturally, like some olive oils or butter. Others are fairly flavorless like shortening or grapeseed oil. Obviously adding a flavorful oil will add flavor to a dish, while pouring a lot of grapeseed oil all over a dish won't be useful. Some flavors are fat soluble and can be infused in oil, some at room temperature, some need to be heated -like chile oils. Once infused, those oils obviously add flavor to a dish.

BTW, when the time comes to get a new fridge, look to see if you can get one with a humidity adjustment feature. They aren't all that common in the US, I have no idea about China.

Can you get a vacuum sealer? They work really well on cheese, and honestly, cheese is the one item I have sealed more than anything else. Once sealed, the cheese can remain in the fridge for several months. What you do is seal it in a bag that is much longer than really needed. Then each time you open it to use it, you reseal which means you lose about 4cm of the bag.

Yeah, had some of that on a shelf at the old house. It partially disintegrated and stuck all over things. I use the clear plastic stuff with ridges for glassware and clear plastic stuff with round bumps for the other shelves -dishes, food etc. The nice part about it is that it can be removed and washed.

Even Viking refrigerators do not produce clear ice. They do, however, sell a separate, freestanding ice machine which makes clear ice.

Sorry, same time post as Darienne. I haven't made magic shell before. The big issue with subbing pure cocoa butter in her recipe would be flavor and some texture. Without cocoa solids, you lose some of the solidity of the final product. And, obviously, flavor. Butterscotch flavor might make it work, might need some creamy background flavor to prevent it from tasting like flavored oil.

Yeah, exactly. You need to start with an ingredient that has the properties you are seeking. I have never seen coconut oil turn into a crisp solid, I have no idea what would need to be done to it to make it change into one. Cocoa butter naturally crystallizes when properly tempered, one of the few pastry ingredients that will do that without cooking. If you are seeking a vegan product, you can experiment with pure cocoa butter, or Mycro, but, you'll need to add something with more flavor than coconut oil to simulate white chocolate, and, something that won't interfere with the cocoa butter crystalline structure. I am not sure what the 'secret' is to meltaways, I do know that they have a soft, non-crispy texture and rplicating them would give you a soft coating not a crisp shell.

Yeah, I unwittingly melted down some of the 45% stuff to make clarified for Hollandaise! I then had to show the boss why our yield was so low, melted a couple pounds so it separated, then chilled it and weight the solid part and water separately so she could complain to the supplier.

The easiest ting to do would be to get some butterscotch flavoring and add it to melted and tempered white chocolate.

Making your own butter is pretty easy if you have a stand mixer. (look for recipes online, it can be cultured for more flavor, or not) It can also be frozen, if needed. I make it if I see cream on sale -it must be heavy cream without additives. Sometimes around holidays, stores get in a lot to run promotions on, and then when it gets close to the expiration date, it's half price. The weeks following Christmas are prime hunting season for cheap cream. I also have a Smart & Final near me and access to a Restaurant Depot, both of which sell half gallons of manufacturing cream -which is fine to use if you're cooking the butter.

Water, usually with a lemon or lime wedge squeezed into it. Occasionally a beer or glass of wine, depending on the food.

Malt syrup adds flavor, doesn't do much else. Powder diastatic malt is a dough conditioner. I'd make up half batch and run tests. IIRC, 3 oz of dough should make a fairly substantial roll.

What about using it in a white wine punch?

Oh yeah, the aforementioned recipe contains amaretto, so, some sort of hazelnut liqueur or extract will be needed for the test.

In Professional Baking by Gisslen, I linked to the version I own, there's an almond pastry filling that is based on creme anglaise with marzipan stirred in while it's warm. I'm thinking that you could sub hazelnut paste/butter for the marzipan. I'm not near the book right now, I can probably post an ingredients list in a couple of days.

That's a smart way to go.

I am a FoodSaver owner and love it. I vacuum seal all sorts of things in canning jars to help prevent pantry moths and keep things fresh: dry cat food, rice, sugar, flours, dry beans, raw nuts, dried fruit, bulk candy, etc. I also use the bags to portion out and preserve cheese, and items headed for the freezer. I also sous vide in canning jars as well as bags. I believe that I have gotten a great deal of value from my $150 purchase a decade ago. That said, it appears that Ziploc has made a product just for you - a hand pump that costs less than $5, and, specially designed bags in lots of sizes: gallon, quart, etc.

Are you allowing at least 30 minutes between folds? The gluten in the dough gets tough as it is worked and needs time to relax so that it can be fully rolled each time. Try lengthening your time between folds and see what happens.

BTW, you should look into a slightly longer proofing period or adjust your temperature. The striped effect, of very light dough just under the seams, is caused by a late bit of rise in the center happening after the exterior is browned. The crisp, sharp outside edges of the wrapped triangle are also an indication that they needed a longer proof. Overall, though, they look very good: well shaped, uniform and, it appears that you have an even-heating oven. As for recipes, I go with Ciril Hitz now, both for work and home. His instructions are very clear, and he gets world-class perfect results. edited for clarity

Butter in america is unregulated, so it can have wildly differing amounts of water in it, by manufacturer, season, region, etc. Generally, cheap butter, even from a good supplier, is for whipping and serving at the table. The added water helps lighten it. But, it's not good for baking because most recipes are formulated assuming a 20% water content in the butter. I have gotten super-cheap butter from US Foods, not my decision, that turned out to be 45% water!!! I think that generic or store brand butter might sometimes be from that same manufacturer -cheap butter is like playing the lottery. Better, branded butter, tends to run closer to the 18-20% water that one wants in a croissant formula. In europe, you can by lower moisture butters, these work well in croissants. One company even makes commercial butter in sheets ready to fold in.

Aren't these the cherries that are used in real black forest cake? You could make that, or Heston Blumenthal's 'perfection' version.

Oh, I had one more thought, if you really want to save time, why don't you occasionally make a frittata instead? They are lower calorie and can satisfy the no-gluten crowd. And, just like quiche they can be a way to serve small amounts of scrap vegetables or meats, or leftovers.

I agree with Diet for a Small Planet and it's successor, Recipes for a Small Planet. I started being a vegetarian when those books were released, and recall vividly measuring out ingredients to ensure complete proteins were available at every meal. The Moosewood Cookbook was a little better, and, the Vegetarian Epicure was notably better. I'm not saying good, I'm just saying that the 'Diet' books are a lot worse. There used to be a website with a really disgusting company cookbook posted on it. I have lost the link, or else it no longer exists. I believe that I linked to it on EG long ago, before some forum updates that make search kind of wonky. Now, that cookbook was not a professional endeavor, and was only made to be seen by employees, but it was bad, really bad despite low expectations.

And, in the case of some of the bad bacteria, especially anaerobic, they produce toxins which, once in the food, cannot be cooked out. -Unlike some foodborne illness which are bacteria or viruses which infect your your body with disease which are killed by heating.

Essentially the app doesn't provide much value unless it references excellent recipes. Making the software and the just expecting high quality content to fall into place from nowhere is going about it backwards. Especially since pretty much all of the existing recipe websites around the world already have functions to search for combinations of ingredients on hand. To make your app stand apart from the dozens of established competitors, you'll need to source unique recipes. I get the impression that the OP is a software developer, not the head of a large test kitchen that will run experiments hundreds of times before publishing a single recipe. (like Cook's Illustrated does) And, probably not really prepared to run a professional test kitchen. -Thus the website allows anyone who registers to submit recipes of unknown provenance and quality. GIGO...