gfron1

To answer your questions. He has not been to any of my events, but knows my food by reputation. He suggested buffet. I suggested Family Style. Same thing but better presentation. And I can't do alcohol since I don't have license yet. Everyone's comments are really helpful - thanks. I think I'm getting a good picture of what I should do. I'm going to do the bison tenderloin SV, finished with a molè dulce pan sear. I also think the Thai lime shrimp RECIPE. I'll make a bunch of my sourdough rolls since they'll expect them. For desserts I'm going to do a few things including a traditional French Bouche Noel (not the rolled version) and a flourless chocolate tarte. What about sides and desserts? I'd like to incorporate piñon and pomegranate in things.

The party is at the docs home and everyone will be able to eat together. I typically do 90% of my prep in my kitchen, then do some last second finish work on site. In this case, for example, I've been toying with a sous vide bison tenderloin, that I would pan sear on site. That's just a thought...not committed to it at all. I'm shooting for big impact, fresh but safe. Docsconz - this doc is adventurous, but I think you're dead on with his staff.

I think a) they would go for anything as long as b) they don't know what they are getting. Also, this is a cardiologist office, not that that will sway my use of butter or cream.

I've been catering ever since I took over my cafè four months ago, but every single job has been small and/or cheap. This is my first chance to have fun and do what I want. The doc has a really nice budget so money won't be the object, and its a chance to show the medical community what I can offer - which is hugely important in this economy especially as 5% of our community got laid off yesterday at the mines (our town is in a world of pain right now). So I need to submit a proposal by the end of today for what I want to do. We'll negotiate after that, and its a very friendly doc, so this will be easy, but its my chance to have fun and impress (their expectations will be low since all the other caterers do salmon or enchiladas). The party is mostly for his staff which are mostly small town locals - ie not well traveled, possibly afraid of exotic foods, young with big appetites. I'll be able to take care of the dessert side - classic French Bouche Noel and some other over-the-top dessert. Its only for 15 people. I want to have both traditional stuff, but also incorporate some "molecular gastronomy" techniques that I've been doing in my tasting menus. So, does that description of the guests fit any of you? Have you served a group like this? Recommendations?

I thought Billingtons was a Brit brand. I bought it once through my Brit distributor -very expensive.

What they all said...the challenge is sourcing that muscovado. I've yet to find a bulk distributor. I can only get 1# packs from India Tree which, even at my wholesale cost, is expensive.

Well thank you. You answered my question from a while back on how to make them...HERE.

From the catering world... I just got back from catering a gallery opening. Nothing fancy, 60 people, 6 foods. Our prep area was in the center of the gallery where they have a work sink. I instructed the servers to lift the tray and duck their eyes if anyone put down roots at the doorway. Someone did. No matter how high the tray or how low the eyes, the mooch would stop them, grab more than one item and leave a near empty tray. After an hour of this, and me hearing his comments joking about what he was doing, I set the trap. I instructed my first server to take a tray of empty dishes, walk up to him and say, "courtesy of the kitchen." And one step behind was to be the other server who was going to make a dash for it. The plan worked perfectly! Distraction worked, server escaped! Food for the other 59 guests! The bad part...and the reason I could pull the caper...it was my pastor! I'll have to drop more into the offering plate this Sunday so he can eat.

Ha! Its not, just kumquat sugar strings, but when I presented the entrement to the birthday girl, she asked to have a piece without bugs on it.

I made this Pomegranate Kumquat entrement yesterday. After pulling out the ol' Wagner one more time, I was motivated to look up a more traditional spray gun and realized how inexpensive they were. My Wagner may be retired. Its worked well, but I lack some of the control and precision that I now want/need. I also hate having a container full of chocolate that can't be picked up by the suction tube. Other than those two issues, this is still a good option for folks especially with big jobs.

I wanted to practice a bunch of different techniques and ended up with this entrement From bottom to top: blueberry sponge pomegranate bavarois whole wheat fillo brushed with ginger kumquat syrup crushed pistachio pome bavarois sprayed with colored white chocolate white chocolate pomegranate some pulled sugar decorations candied kumquats (the lil bastards collapsed on me!) tempered chocolate on the base

All of that makes great sense. Thanks. The entrement still kicked ass (I'll post it in the daily sweets topic shortly). I'll have to do something similar to see if I can get this to work. Too bad...my temper was perfect.

Two things...first, I had a curved section that I wrapped around the dessert which buckled - how can I adhere it so it won't move. My dessert is frozen at time of application. Second, I had two sections that were straight that I was going to glue chocolate panels on after I removed them from the transfer paper.

I've got this gorgeous entrement almost complete. Like, really, maybe the best thing I've ever done. I wanted to wrap a chocolate band around the base. I measured and cut my transfer paper (so its not really acetate, its the flimsier stuff) and did a perfect temper. I spread it perfectly even and then moved the now chocolate coated transfer paper to a silpat for hardening. Anticipating buckling (this has happened before), I put a second silpat on top of the first and a cookie sheet on top of that. I'll be damned if the bugger didn't buckle on me anyway! I'm out of time, so screw it, I'll pipe ganache, but for the future - what should I be doing to make sure it doesn't buckle?

Sooner, rather than later, contact the local food police (in my town its called the Environment Dept). They can be your best friend or worst enemy...maybe you read another eGers account of being required to put in a grease trap.

Just remember that this my bastardization of the real deal. The real deal can be found at my blog - both Tyler's grandmother's recipe and his mom's recipe, which is a refinement of his grandma's recipe. All three are good in their own way.

Here's a Hoosier Sugar Cream pie that I made for our TGiving: Its actually an evolution of three generations of the recipe starting with Tyler's grandma. My evolution is more of a dulce de leche pie. Not nearly as sweet, with much more complexity. It was very good. I chronicled the evolution at my blog HERE.

I am saying that...IF the style of ganache matches your need. You wouldn't want to fill a cake with a pourable ganache, right? But sometimes you want a smoother finish on your cake which a spreadable ganache might not achieve. To be honest, the pourable ganache is mostly a lazy response on my part when I don't want to work hard at the finish. Instead of worrying about sharp edges or perfect sides, I just pour and have a shiny pretty finish. But beyond that distinction, I play with all sorts of ratios to get firmer or thinner. I think about things like temperature and how it will effect the hardness of the ganache. An example there is I made a vegan cake recently that I coated with a water based ganache. I needed to chill it because I had to make a bit earlier than I would have liked (holiday baking schedule backup). I had to make sure it was a bit looser so it didn't become a rock and uncutable. Anyway, lot's of things to think about but really no major disasters are possible. And you always get to eat your mistakes.

I wrote about my family's sugar cream pie recipe evolution at my blog. If you want the original sugar cream pie recipe which is damn good read the blog entry. But, if you just want to cut to the chase and make the best decadent pie ever... My Sugar Cream Pie (My spouse called it a Dulce de Leche Pie) 2 C. Heavy Cream 1/2 C. Whole Milk 1/4 C. Sugar 1/4 C. Muscovado (or dark brown sugar) 4 T. Palm Sugar (I used coconut palm sugar) 5 T. Flour Pinch of Salt Put the three sugars in a small sauce pan with just a couple of tablespoons of the cream. Heat until melted and starting to caramelize. Don't take this much further than it starting to darken. On the heat, whisk the remaining cream and milk into the caramel, and continue whisking until it is all melted and combined - it should hav ea nice caramel color at this point. Combine remaining ingredients with the caramel milk. Microwave in one minute blasts on high until liquid becomes hot and slightly thickened, but not boiling, whisking after each increment. Pour into baked pie shell. Sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg and bake for 5 minutes, then lower to 350F. Bake until set.

-The students in town who took your class seem to have benefited most from ganache making. Can you roll your ganache into egg shapes -There's a German chocolatier that fills real eggs with chocolate. Can you find a way to do that safely at home? -I like the idea of chocolate decorations - leaves, curls, ribbons, etc...I want to take that class. -Acetate strip ribbons, ie Easter basket ribbons -White chocolate...much more usable for Easter -Chocolate piped decorations for sugar cookies

Its a matter of preference and function. I'll do a thicker, spreadable ganache for fillings, but a thin pourable ganache for coatings. Although sometimes I want a thicker ganache for coatings also, that I have to spread.

I know when I started my cafè earlier this year, many here at eG, and friends and customers, all argued that I was a chef. To this day, I don't care to have that term applied to me. By definition I am, but the way I am doing things doesn't feel chef-esque to me. I experiment more than practice fundamentals in all aspects of the business (recipes, finances, staffing). To me, a chef offers consistency. My goofy parallel - If I go to a doctor, I believe I have good odds of being helped. If I go to a witch doctor, I hope I will be helped. I like the idea of certification because it demonstrates a certain level of knowledge - school learned or self taught. And in her closing words, she puts me right where I believe I am: I know easily half of my customers (small town perk), and most of those will get a hug from me before their meal.

This will be my year of the bean! A few months ago I was told by a Southwest cowboy that when cooking dry beans, you put the salt in only at the very end to avoid toughness. Yesterday I was told by a woman from Mexico that you should put the salt in at the end because the salt slows the cooking process down. Food scientists can correct these teachings (please), but regardless of what is really going on, it was news to me since I cook beans maybe once a year. *** Now to the food science behind it. These two may be saying the same thing, but the latter explanation seems counter intuitive to this high-altitude bean boiler. It would make more sense that salt would speed the process, unless, the salt is toughening the skin of the bean, which in turn, would slow the process. Eeegad...a logic loop. Maybe they are saying the exact same thing. Anybody know the facts?

To sell out of my cafè this year, I made some 30 pumpkin pies using a recipe that included cognac. I've had a number of customers comment about a slight banana taste. There was nothing else in the recipe that I can think of other than the cognac to cause that taste. I didn't taste the banana myself, so my theory is that cognac tricks the mind into thinking banana. Anyone else experience this?

A quarter of a pumpkin and a slice of sugar cream...mmm...breakfast good.