gfron1

I have a question - pain au chocolat...I proof and bake them with the seams on the bottom. One out of every four like to roll over off their seam. What should I be doing? Am I just being too gentle with them? I'm trying not to damage the layers so I treat them like a butterfly on a baby's rear.

I'm doing Cajun specials next week at the cafe. Anyone have a good maque choux recipe that they can recommend? Its funny because when I lived in NO I had never had maque choux. Then when I moved to Indianapolis a little cajun place opened up (Y'ats) and that's when I discovered m-c. Its been one of my favorites ever since. Thanks in advance.

My slight twist on that is that more education - more income - more travel and world experience. That isn't a rule, just my experience. But, in my town that has a much higher than average education and income level, I can throw a croissant on the shelf and sell them in minutes, but the pain au chocolate sits because people don't know what they are. I've learned to call my cookies - Chocolate Chip and not some fancy name like I was. I originally thought that if I called it something fancier, I could increase the perceived value. In my experience, a fancy name often completely devalues the product.

That's perfect! I hope he remembers that display case tops tend to get warm. Otherwise he may end up with a tray full of chocolate milk

Not my prettiest, but here's a passionfruit curd tartlet with mango slices. I've only used glazes once before (I prefer natural looking desserts), and so its not an even glaze. The only reason I made this is I need to find a shell that works consistently for me, so I went to Baking with Julia and her chocolate shell. The shell was fine. The rest was just okay.

15 INCHES!!!! OMG! You should wrap it in butcher paper It would be even funnier if you could find a foam tray that would fit it.

What I recently re-learned was the importance of packaging. I've been selling my cookies (and other stuff) for a couple of months. Two weeks ago I ran out of my labels and just put a label above the cookies on a basket. I went from daily sell-out to a slow trickle. I put the labels back on and they flew out the door again. And, in the early days when I added the label, I was able to go up an additional 50 cents each. My labels are dirt cheap - just run them through my color laser (which only cost me $150US). btw - this is my old price.

I saw that as well - big turnoff for me. I can't imagine serving kool-aid to my customers. I think I'll be looking at Martha's recipe unless I hear elsewise. Thanks.

Kerry, don't mix your words. What do you really think?! I just tried some again and it seems flavorless, not to mention that texture that just isn't working for me. 22#s later... I need to get this used. Brownies, here I come!

What has been everyone's experience with Chocoa? I recently needed something in the 75% range in a relatively small quantity (22#) and Chocoa was all that Qzina had in stock. I've got it, so I'm going to use it, but I'm curious. Seems very creamy to me - almost too creamy for a 75%.

I want to make kumquat cooler cookies, and all of the recipes I've found call for shortening. Does anyone have a good recipe for lemon coolers that I might experiment with? Thanks.

First of all - don't you dare promote your recipe. I already have customers asking if mine are the NYT version to which I reply, "No, mine are much more complicated and sophisticated in both technique and taste." Second, just because you're use melted butter does not disqualify them. By that standard we have to remove all sorts of recipes from various desserts. All that will leave us is crap out of a box. If we must, then we'll call Leite's cookies - lazy bastard CCCs, and yours CCCs for people who give a crap. Okay, an over-statement, but I believe that definition to be too artificial and self-serving. (Okay, I can't let it go that easily). So let's say that any cherry pie that includes tapioca is no longer a cherry pie. Heaven forbid there are fresh cherries instead of canned. Lattice - no - the authentic must be topless. If he wants to say, "A toll house style cookie" v. chocolate chip cookie, then I'll buy that distinction. Now, I'm done.

Thanks for the kind words all. I'll see you around the fourms.

Of course since I said I haven't had any variance or issues...this morning my cookies spread about 30% more. The only difference in my process was that I baked on parchment instead of silpat. I guess I'll go back to silpat.

Exactly. There are two issues. One is the liquidity that Josho mentions. The second is that since I'm using nicer chips/callets/discos, they tend to be very heat sensitive. Mine were melting from the lingering warmth of the melted butter. BUT, I didn't want to scoop hard dough. That's why all of my steps. I'm attempting to cool things down a bit, add the chocolate (once its cool enough to not melt the chocolate, but before its too firm to work with), cool a bit more (so its scoopable), then scoop. It sounds far worse than it really is. We're talking seconds of work at each stage while I'm off doing something else.

The way I've dealt with PR's chilling is that I make the dough, pre-chocolate and chill for about 15 minutes (or so) to cool it but not firm it. Then I add the chocolate while its still soft. I re-chill for another half hour (or so) until its starting to firm up, but not so hard to scoop. I scoop, push down, and then do the 3 days of chilling. Freeze, and bake from frozen.

Not sure what to say on the variation. I've made about 100 of these all with uniform results. The only thing I can think is that you overmixed or over handled. Mix just until combined. Good luck.

i've only used AP and not the mix of flours. And there's also a light muscovado out there for the weak of heart.

sorry - you need muscovado. I tried all the different ones because muscovado is so expensive, but nothing was as good. I also tried putting in a bit of molasses, caramel flavoring, caramelizing my sugar first...no luck.

Learning of the day - the pizza special included fresh sliced tomatoes. Because of the moisture content, I had a couple of complaints about runny pizza. Today, I sliced them, and let them rest on paper towel during service. Today, no runny pizza! We did about 60% of our normal day and I didn't feel rushed at all. Midway through service, I felt in control, and in fact, a bit slow. While there are many lingering topics and issues, now that we've passed opening day, the topic is becoming more about me blabbering on and on. I'll post further comments in relevant topics in the forums and on my blog - so thanks for joining me on the ride! ~Rob

I have fufu flower, now what can I do with it? Its basically plantain powder "that's used around the world."

I don't mind at all. I was 135 until I hit about 28 because of all of the running I was doing back then. I finally hit 165 at 32 and that felt almost healthy to me. At 35 I hit 175 and have stayed there no matter how much I run or eat. 175 feels very health to me and it seems that its movng around. I also see that my cheeks are no longer hollow, which is good. I've wondered what daily kitchen life will do to me. I think I'll find a balance because I'm kinda repulsed by fatty foods (except desserts of course) so I still eat very well, and sparsley in the summer. Finding time to eat has been an act of determination since I moved into the kitchen. I force myself to eat lunch before I clean at the end of the shift. Breakfast is even tougher since I'm coming in off a run and my stomach doesn't want food yet.

My store of course We get our tea from Vital TeaLeaf in San Fran Chinatown. Ming is the PT Barnum of tea (minus the whole sucker thing). We carry about 20 of his teas including some rarer stuff like a bamboo green. I like the naturally sweet teas like the lychee and jasmine pearl.

I'm trying a new way of packaging (actually losing the packaging) of my bread, and changing the display on the cookies so shorter folk can see what they are. Speaking of shorter folk, kitchens are clearly designed for those under 6 feet talk. My back is aching from all of the hunching over. All of my prep tables are at maximum height, but only one is tall enough for me to be comfortable. I'm not a monster, just 6'3", but geez. I don't need a sous, I need a chiropractor on site. I just threw two quiches in. One is a Greek - kalamata, feta and red onion. The other is pancetta, pecorino fresco and balsamic glazed red onion. The leftover egg became my breakfast. And did I mention I'm jittery from drinking a pot of lychee black tea! So much for being tired.

Did I mention that eG member, Patrick A gets back today. He and his high school culinary team were just competing in nationals in Orlando - they got silvers in two categories. We only have him for another month until he goes off to college, but you know how it feels when your teammate is gone? Well, let's just say, I've forgotten about whatever flaws and weaknesses he may have had. He's got my back and he'll be at the register for lunch, so I know the world will be under control. Even though I'm sort of a one person show in this kitchen, that's not really the case since I have Patrick. I can't imagine flying completely solo.