gfron1

Today was tuile play day for me. I used the kicking legs recipe from the plated dessert cookbook. It runs, so it sucks! But here's what I did. First a 3-D swirl. It broke but the idea is good. I cut the parchment so that as soon as it came out of the oven I lifted the center for depth. Then I got to work on the dome. My first idea was a pac-man looking stencil. You can see it on the left of this picture. That didn't work. I need a geometry major to figure out this strategy. But, on a whim I smeared the batter on the backside of my form using my finger (on the right of the picture above). Surprisingly this worked! It did run... But I broke off the run edges and ended up with this beautiful half dome. It was paper thin so it wouldn't work for my project, but the concept works. I could paint the batter on mid-way through the first bake to thicken it.

Uhhhh...I'm not sure. I guess I'll talk to my rabbit friend and the processor and see what I can do and then decide what I'm actually up for.

Ha! Now I know what offals are. I was very tempted to say, give it all to me figuring I could share with my dogs and dispose of the bones and such in a much more respectful manner than I assume the processor will provide.

Thanks for keeping us up to date - I enjoy reading your posts. And $250 might be the lowest, but with the US economy that's worth $254!

Just typing my original post stirred quite a bit inside of me and that's why I feel like its important that I do this. I know my short-memory-edness and can't imagine giving up meat completely. However, I'm glad I saw my goats face-to-face, and I'm very, very glad that I met Becky and know how she treats them. The toughest part was coming home and looking my pups in the eyes as we headed out for a walk. It doesn't help that my NPR is playing sappy emotional music right now.

I know - me neither. But I'm going to. I do promise not to show anything graphic.

I own an international grocery, but I live off of local foods as much as I'm able. Recently I began talking with a woman who raises rabbits, about getting her rabbits in my store. That led to a discussion about goats. I'm well aware of goats as meat, versus just milk, and am well aware of ChefCrash's goat head topic - one of my favorites. But, I had never prepared my own goat, let alone sell it. This morning was our local goat sale. The majority of goats were going for meat, but some were for breeding/milking or just pets. I knew I would be a bit tentative about seeing an animal that I would later eat - I lean vegetarian, but enjoy a big juicy burger! Somehow this feels kind of important in my development as a food lover - my dinner isn't coming from the grocery store this time, and I had to look it in the eyes and thank it for providing sustenance. It wasn't all that dramatic, but I am feeling a bit sad for the loss of life. But that's not what this topic is about. I want to share my experience of picking the goats, taking them for processing, and ultimately to my table. HERE is a topic that covers so much about goat preparation. HERE'S the topic on baby goat. And finally the IMFAMOUS GOAT HEAD TOPIC. So let's start at the beginning. Here the goats are being transferred from the truck to the sorting pen (its nothing like the Hogwarts Sorting Hat). "We're not so sure this is going to be a good thing..." "Okay, I'll go if you go." The nervousness seemed to dissipate within minutes. I was less anxious once they relaxed and started acting like goats at a petting zoo. Lots of pee and poo followed. All of the goats were either branded or tagged depending which ranch they came from. Most are from the Gila Hot Springs Ranch north of Mimbres, NM (45 min. from my house). Here's one being sold as pet. Isn't he cute. Well, he's the one who did this: That's Becky Campbell, the owner/herder. She was moving the little guy into the truck this morning and his sharp baby horns jabbed her right in the cheek. See - the universe takes care of things. It was selection time since I was first in line. I asked for help since I didn't know what I wanted. The herd is all seven months old, and all eat the same diet, so we went for the biggest. They explained that I'll be lucky to get half of the weight in meat through the processing. Apparently there are lot's of bones and a huge stomach that go to waste. Here's my first selection: Sturdy looking Billy. This is #2. He had a friendlier face. And then my two were marked and put in the trailer for delivery. That's it for my cute little petting zoo moment. DB56 and LB24 are now going back to the ranch for 2 weeks of R&R, then off to the processor in Wilcox, AZ. The plant brings in a USDA certified person for jobs like mine. The rest of the herd will get regular non-certified processing. DB56 is a 78.5 pound Boar/cross Wether (Goat term glossary) with the 4E brand. LB24 is a 67 pound boar/cross wether. DB simply stands for "dark blue" meaning the tag color, which represents a single birth. LB stands for "light blue," or a twin birth. This herd is naturally raised, and non-certified organic. They feed primarily on catclaw and oakbrush, but get the occasional alfalfa during the driest part of the season. I asked for standard chart processing (HERE is the slaughter process), to include ground. My goats cost $1.15/lb plus another $78 for processing and $10 for delivery. My anticipated cost per pound for the finished goat is $3.50 after I get only half of the animal back as meat. They asked if I wanted the head - I said no. They asked about the guts - I said yes. I'll probably try and make sausage. I'm thinking of a goat mole sausage. Now I wait for about a month. I've requested the ability to take pics at the processing plant, and if I can I will share them here. So, I'll step away now and answer any questions anyone might have. Then watch for the update in about a month. A quick note for anyone who is interested in doing this themselves. There really was nothing to it - goat people seem nice and are willing to provide free advice. All I had to do is show up with a check - they do all of the rest. Contact your local 4-H or Extension office if you don't know where to find a goat seller.

HERE YA GO

Eager to please. Happy to serve. Bon appe-shit!

Depends on how adventurous you're thinking. I would check out THIS challenge issued to Mette who used and deconstructed desserts from beer. The other fun idea that I'm thinking about is how you could re-build coke with aeration for the bubbles. Or put something in the re-cycled coke that would have fun with bubbles - like boba tea. And is cherry coke fair game? Do they even make it anymore? I'm working on a rootbeer dessert that found recipes which helped me break down the flavors. You could do the same and make components that when eaten together created coke.

Not that I want to play universal owner/decider, but your timing is wrong. Just yesterday I had an employee approach me about a raise. I internally laughed because he had just come off of a probation (it was an issue of background checks, not poor performance), and hadn't been back even a month. I just said, "Let's talk again in 6 months." You now need to heal the relationship with the chef. One of the things I value is employees who can stay out of the shit. I know that employees bicker and battle. I don't ever want to see it, nor do I want to even hear about it. When people put energy into bickering, it tells me they aren't focused on the job at hand or are a bit immature. Your skills and dedication would have to be so over the top for me to overlook those characteristics. BUT, its healable. I had an employee that was on the verge of firing because of a fight that they were in with a co-worker. I pulled them both in and told them that even though they were my best two employees they needed to stop immediately or leave because it was creating a poisonous environment for everyone else (please hear my reasoning very clearly since its probably relevant). I haven't had one issue since that day and they are again my best two employees, and I'm fighting for raises (significant raises) for both of them. Its been about six months since we had our talk. So, apologize. Move on. Let the other chef dig his own grave and you just keep focused. Six months from now, thank the chef for his/her guidance and let them make the next move. A week later then ask for your raise (that's a small increase so its not earth shattering). And most importantly, please read THIS COMMENT I made in another topic. Its a small world out there. [Please don't take offense at my comments - I'm just an anonymous person on the web who is offering objective advice hoping they'll help.]

Its more common than you think, and its not just restaurants. Always wear your internet condom and play safe. And remember that your comments become part of the public record and can't be deleted. Read the Member Agreement for more info on this. Today you don't see a problem with your comments. Tomorrow might be a different story, and by tomorrow that EDIT button is gone.

I'm still voting for 'heavy on the butter,' and chilling it regardless of the base recipe.

I'm on a run of not-my-favorite desserts! I had been looking forward to this one and it was a disaster! Poached Cheese Dumplings A pretty basic idea. Farmers cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, flour, sugar. Chill. Roll in flour and poach. I followed the directions and ended up with glop. My dumplings didn't hold together. I sensed it was going to happen since my batter was so loose, but I thought I would plough through. I ate my glop anyway and it was okay - nothing special. She calls this comfort food, so it probably carries memories for her. If someone fixed the recipe (or used ingredients that worked better than mine did), it would be fun to poach in champagne, reisling, etc. I served mine (to myself) in blood orange reduction. My loose batter Me trying to save the loose balls by rolling them in heavier flour The glop after the dumplings broke up in the hot water Mmmm...scrambled eggs in blood orange anyone? BTW - I hate dessert failures!

BTW "my vision" is still percolating. I anticipated the slide. I think I'm leaning toward taking a paper circle, lying it inside of my mold, cutting the excess, then using that as a stencil, baking the flat tuille, and as it comes out, set it in the mold. But we'll see.

That's my experience as well with PH's. I think Chris' question about room temp v. chilled is key since I would much rather have a curd held together by the chilled butter.

Trying to get me to remember something that happened 2 years ago is like trying to keep my hound quiet when a cat walks past the house. Here's what I wrote in the chocolate sushi topic As I seem to remember, the invert sugar was added at a higher proportion than you would expect, and then I countered with the sunflower oil for tackiness. That combination (sorry I don't remember proportions) allowed the chocolate to set up, but not be too hard to cut, but hard enough to pick up the transfer sheet design and be handle-able. It was in my early eG days so I didn't document the moment very well.

I do these gigs almost every month and my crowds range from 40-125. Regardless of the size group, 3 is the max that you should offer. I've tried more and its too much stimulus, too much chaos, too much, too much. I normally just do two now and link them somehow. For me they link by country or style, yours obviously won't since they'll be local. Its also nice to have the cheesemaker there if you can, or have someone cooking with the cheese to show people ways to use the cheese beyond on a cracker.

Maybe you're too in the middle of it to see. Reminds me of his summer internship early in the book.

1. If you haven't already - read Kitchen Confidential. 2. Say thank you and take your reference and run. Oh, and by the way, welcome to eGullet...we'll be gentle with you

HERE'S the frozen cake topic. Quite controversial as I remember it.

Now I get it! What we are seeing there is just a thin layer of chocolate that has taken the shape of the knob. I thought we were looking at the side of the chocolate that had contact with the knob - but we're actually seeing the side that did NOT contact the knob...right? I can definitely see the flower.

What a cool idea! But I don't quite understand how you'll use these since you'll want the reverse...right? Although I see great potential for dessert decorations.

Ask and you shall receive Dessert Sushi Chocolate Sushi Candy Sushi

Thanks Ilana - and thanks for showing us the fish and meat. I'm really glad that you took the time to blog for us.