gfron1

One of the courses I am preparing for the 12 course tasting menu for next weeks Hatch Chile Fest event is going to have a bitter element. I've been consulting with our local herbalists to find an indigenous plant that is, of course, edible, and might pair with some of my other planned flavors. Here are their recommendations: I'll be testing them tomorrow, first in oil, then as a tea. I'll be sure to report back. Has anyone played with bitters before in your food (v. drinks)?

Now that I'm settled in my little cafe job and have my morning routine down, I'm looking to expand just a nudge. The cafe/store doesn't open until 10, but I'm here starting at 6 doing my prep. I've been thinking that since I'm here anyway, why not hire a part-timer to help with the prep, have them work the counter, and open for breakfast burritos - why not?! But, if I do that, I need to be consistent in my quality and style. So, while I could do the old standards, then this gringo would be competing against the existing stands who can do it much more authentically - so why compete? I'm thinking about: Mango and something Blueberries and something Serrano and manchego you get the idea... what combinations would you go for?

Forget "whoa" try "ouch" The review/assault assails the bread. Here's the thing about the bread. Yes, the color is grotesquely odd, and the flavor is not natural, but dammit, it is good in its own way. I always assumed he slathered it in the oil used for movie theater popcorn. It just has that taste. I loved that bread and the slow cooker foods plopped on rice.

Simply, soaked green chile with everclear, lit. Burned 90 seconds and released the chile smell at 45 seconds. Exactly what I need. More on this later

Not sure if its the same, but I used to go to a two-store chain in Indianapolis called the same. It was fast, cheap and really good.

I've done my first experiment. I took Everclear (I hadn't bought that in nearly 20 years!), and brown sugar cubes. Then we read this from the bottle: So we grabbed the fire extinguisher. Then we read a bit more: With that I grabbed the flame! It burned very intensely. Plenty of flame for my purpose. In fact, it may have been a bit large. It burned for 90 seconds before it started to flicker and we doused it under a bowl. I also wanted to test the exploding glass theory, so I put this candle holder over it. This is the one I would like to use if I can find 18 of them (one for each guest). It didn't explode (although we hid under the table just in case. Here's the downside to sugar: The smell started at about 45 seconds and wasn't very appealing. So then I just poured some in a bowl and lit it! Fire! Fire! Fire! Oooh, me like pretty flame! Then I realized, the vessel for the flame is irrelevant from a functional perspective. Yes, I can control the flame depending on what I put the Everclear in, but its going to burn whether I put it on sugar or on a mouse's ass. So that opens up some possibilities. What if I poured it in a vessel of green chile? It melted the sugar, so it would heat/cook the chile, but it would burn itself out before it caused mischief. So that's it for tonight. More fun with flames tomorrow. And, I'll try my homemade vanilla extract which I used 151 rum in.

You're welcome. Next time you go to St. Louis, ask family to take you to the place (I think its in the south city) that has something like 75 varieties of gooey butter cake. That should give you plenty of practice in making the recipe!

A quick update. I've cut back to just one days aging and have added PaulRaphael's newly suggested powdered milk (updated in RecipeGullet). I found the 2 and 3 day aging were not as important as the browned butter and muscovado, and effected the final appearance in ways that I did not prefer. I think I'm done playing now

Thanks to both of you. I do roll a bit larger than the final size, but I do work it into the mold probably more than I should. I do that in an attempt to have as thin of a crust as possible - I hate clunky crusts. I'll check out the tutorial.

I'd like to go back to basics. First, I am talking about pastry crusts, NOT pie crusts. I have the worst time with pastry crusts. My worst problem is that they like to shrink back down the sides of my pastry form during baking. I do freeze before baking. (I'm too tired to get into all the details ), can someone cover the basics on the perfect pastry crust/shell? Tried and true recipes would be greatly welcome. And for what its worth, I made Ong's citrus crust today and it worked perfectly for me. Thanks.

The story behind it is that a worker started scraping the spills from the bars and that made Flake. So think of it as a ribbon garnish. Temper your favorite chocolate. As it starts to cool (but before it becomes too hard), take a paint scraper and scrape the chocolate off of a marble slab (or other smooth surface). I think that would make you your Flake.

I also use Pacific, which are really well priced at Costco. I seem to remember Cooks Illustrated liking Swanson's - but that may have been vegetable broth.

I thought today would never come! Finally, after a delayed harvest caused by our monsoon rains, we are finally seeing chiles at the stores. Today was the first day of local roasting, and folks were lining up as early as 6:30. I was getting nervous since we really need them for the upcoming Chile Fest gathering.

I start with my razor blade, follow with the Weiman's pads, then polish (when I'm motivated to do it). That's with light commercial use.

I like pecan oil with its 475 smoke point.

Its been a while since I've used that stuff. Doesn't it have a smell? If you're saying other restaurants are using it, maybe not. I'll add it to my experiment list for this weekend.

Ha! Glad it turned out. Just think - if they liked your Hershey version, imagine if you had a higher quality chocolate around. Go out and buy some so you'll be ready for the next last minute decision!

I'll definitely post results. This will be for Labor Day weekend. My plan for the skins was to have a wound wire holder (not really sure how to describe it - other than to say that it will be minimal, but hold the skins a bit above the flame). I think that should create the effect. I guess I'll have to go buy some high octane booze this weekend and start playing! Daquiris - here I come!

My spouse was raised in Zambia and apparently they have cockroaches as big as a chihuahua. No matter what they tried, nothing worked. Then the locals told them to put soda bottle caps full of plaster of paris around the kitchen. They did, and the roaches were gone. The concept is that the roaches eat the plaster, the plaster hardens in their stomach, and they die. They specifically said soda caps, so maybe the idea is that the sugar in the cap attracts the roaches. Not sure about that though.

This will be part of a tasting menu where in this one course I want to place a "globe" (think small fish bowl) in front of the guests. On the bottom of the globe will be this flame on which I will place green chile skins to create that incredible roasting chile smell (a smell of the gods). Suspended above that will be the food - which I will conceal until the event since some eGers are coming to the dinner. If push comes to shove I guess I could use a tea candle but I don't really want that big or strong of a flame.

The flame will be in the bottom of a high walled bowl/vessel so its a bit more safe. I was also thinking everclear. I remember from my college days that stuff doing pretty amazing things. And I vaguely remember a friend pouring it on his hand and lighting it (children - do not try this at home).

I need a flame in a dish I'm preparing, but I don't want smoke. The flame needs to be intense enough for me to put some pepper skin on it and not douse the flame. I'll be drying the skin first so there won't be much weight/coverage on the flame, and I can shred the skin if I need to. Yesterday someone said that they had seen a technique where a sugar cube was soaked in alcohol and lit. Has anyone heard of this? Or is there a better way of doing this. The flame will be put on the diner's plate so safety is a key factor.

I served it today as the side for my specials and it was a huge hit. Not one single person knew what it was, but everyone enjoyed it. Thanks again.

It's been a while since I made something new from this book. At the store I have been making Ong's Peanut Butter cookies and while I liked the taste, I didn't care for the texture. So I decided to make Amernick's PB shortbread, but I kept the chopped nuts and sea salt from Ong. Good choices. This is a very, very good cookie.

Thanks Amanda. I'll give it a try.