gfron1

Round #1 - Failed. I went back to the Bread Bible and converted it from a liquid to stiff starter and I'm in the 2nd round right now. My cup of starter is in a 6 hour rising right now, so I'll know if a few hours if its working.

A few previous topics on the subject in the Mexico forum #1 #2 #3

The dough is rising right now. Here's the starter that went into it. I built it up and did the 2x daily feedings. Still a great smell.

It was experiment day at the gfron household. I found a fairly ripe small tuna, and an unripened large tuna. First, here's the small ripe one: Let's open her up and see what's inside: I love the alien-like gooey strings inside. Then here's the young big mama: So, the seed warnings are clearly heard. But my stubbornnes prevails. I'm thinking now that I flatten the bottom, remove the top, remove the seeds, fill with blue cheese and bake. I still like the idea of poaching (using the same processing) in champagne. I did take a bite of the insides of the small tuna (tunita?). Mildly sweet, very slimy (in a thick kind of way). Definitely needs more time ripening.

Well, I never let a project die until its completed (I have some on eGullet from almost 2 years ago that I'm still working on). I did my first trial with the tap malto. I didn't follow any instructions other than the label which said 1 part oil to 2 parts TM. Well that didn't work. I used 10 g of melted mint ice cream, with 20 g of TM. I have a gloppy mess that's going to be a pain to clean up. So I'm off to read up on how to use the stuff next. Maybe it meant by volume not weight My dinner is next Wed so time is up!

Okay, I have to ask - what is a sheeter?

My recipe called for 32 oz of cream cheese, and I had 10 oz of the alta, so there was still 22 oz of cream cheese to hide the taste, but it still came through as a strong, but not offensively strong cheese, and well paired with the nectarine. I would like to have a cake made exclusively from the alta, but I don't think I could pull it off because it is so runny.

Here's a previous topic on orange curd. I've also had guava and mango.

I hear the practice, practice, practice responses being typed right now! But, I have the same problem. What I do when I really care (which isn't too often) is lay two yardsticks down and that gives me uniform thickness.

Kerry - that is a nice selection of designs, and not as expensive as I thought they were going to be based on your comment. I'm going to pay more on shipping than the sheets themselves...geez you can even get Republic and Democrat transfers. Who knew

I wonder what their sourcing is on produce. For example, if the green bean is being served in Austin, and maybe it comes from a Sysco hub in Dallas, where is their provider, and where is the farm? Not talking about food miles, but freshness and crispness can be a result of many things - some good and some bad. Anybody know - does it all go through one central hub for the nation, or regional breakdowns?

I'm going to go for a loaf this weekend. I am tempted to do a traditional starter, but that's not really the point of what I'm trying to do - I want to play with hummingbirdkiss' juniper starter - so I'm ploughing ahead! I'm continuing the feedings, aeration and other suggestions from above. Thanks to all for the suggestions.

Desserts don't automatically exclude savories. I know my spouse rarely orders sweet desserts, but would get a more savory form - croissant, puff, etc...so don't write them off completely. BTW, I love the idea and can't wait to see what comes of it.

The pads are nopalitos - and recipes are all over the internet...still lots of work.

I'm looking for a transfer sheet that would be perfect for a women's fiber arts collective fundraiser. Since I've not dabbled in chocolates, I'm thinking I'll stick to what I know and bake something, but top it with a tempered chocolate square that has a pattern on it. The ideal would be an American Indian weave design. Chef Rubber wasn't much help, nor was Pfeil & Holing. And sorry Kerry, but I'm not up for making my own just yet

Is that like "How's your gout doing?"? Its doing really well. I was going to give it another day before I showed the living dead to the group here. I've been feeding it (what a concept). The first day I fed only flour to get it to a consistency that is consistent with my memory of starter. Then I've been doing the flour water feedings since. The smell is out of this world - better than the smell from my previous grape starter. I know this is cheesy but I really want to shape my first loaf in a small round boule (if I'm using the correct word) and form it into the shape of a juniper berry.

And without further adeiu...Alta Margherita - a super cheese! And I made it into a cheesecake with nectarines baked in and as a compote with limoncello on the top.

I had a really great cheese called Alta Margherita from Italy, and when I tried it I knew it would be perfect with peaches or nectarines, so I made a cheesecake out of it with nectarines baked in and as a compote with limoncello on top. Also, thanks to Kerry - this is the first time I've ever been able to get my white chocolate to temper properly.

Let me add a bit to try to elevate this to a national or international crisis!!!! In the past week, I've tried to order dutch processed cocoa (Callebaut, Peringotti and Droste) for my store from four different distributors. Not one of my distributors had any of those three brands (or any others) in stock and available. So there is no dp cocoa in southwest New Mexico either...oh the horror of horrors!

What do you do with it? You send it quickly to ChocoGrok?

Right now I'm baking mini-cheesecakes in my fancy, but small, silicon muffin pans. That might make a nice platform for the toppings.

I've been having the urge to say glochid again, so I thought I would update my progress. Last night I had dinner with my friend Carlos, who is from the Yucatan region of Mexico. I was telling him all about my idea, and he called his brother Josua (hoe-sway - the pronunciation threw me for a long time) to ask him about prickly pears. His brother still lives on the peninsula. Josua said that they really only use it for the juice to make jams, and sometimes in drinks. He explained that they prepare them by removing the thorns, then lying it on its side, cutting the top and bottom off, followed by a slit down the middle of the top. They then pull it open and scoop out the inside. I asked if he thought I could braise or poach it in champagne, and he said he had never heard of that but if I insisted... I do, so I will. I'm also still stuck on the idea of filling it with a blue cheese and pan searing or baking. Either way, I have a month or so of waiting to go. While we were on the phone we looked up recipes in a Bayless book and my favorite - Mexico the Beautiful. Neither had anything using the fruit.

I couldn't help but notice the girth of the judges I'm sure they love their jobs! I continue to be fascinated by regional styles of BBQ. Coming from the midwest, I'm so attached to sloppin' sauce covering my pork (no beef), and now I live in a town that doesn't even know what sauce is. St. Louisans will appreciate this little jingle, "What makes that Q a culinary thrill? You gotta Maul it! Spread that great sauce on. You gotta Maul it!" Anyway, thanks for the report JohnnyD and welcome to the forum Tedlor70.

When this happens to me...its swirled brownie time! And since Lior has asked about my curry marshmallows - they that in brownies!

Chocolate Toffee Torte from the Art of the Dessert - full description here.