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gfron1

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by gfron1

  1. Thanks guys...I was getting worried when no one replied earlier (my ego is so sensitive). The fans were actually very easy. I carmelized sugar (with a pinch of tartar) and drizzled it on a greased base from a tart pan (round), then wishing I had gloves on I pinched the base to make the fan. Once cooled I pulled them off for serving. I put them in the dessert right before serving in case the sugar dissolved in the cream.
  2. Beautiful! I hope it was as tasty as it looks.
  3. Same here...whatever the very slight chunks are in the cream are gone after straining making for a very nice lemon cream.
  4. gfron1

    Z Kitchen

    I didn't read the response as rude either, simply a college student with plenty of other commitments who is trying to get his business moving.
  5. Thanks again for your help. I used the Love 'n Bake can of almond paste which showed more almond than sugar. It was really nice after our over indulgent cajun meal!
  6. I had fun with this one. I'm always looking for new dessert plates/containers and Bodum's new stemless glasswear is great! This is their new champagne glass. Inside is Peach Coulis sandwiched between thick almond milk cream, topped in spun sugar fans. This was based on a recipe in the May 06 Pastrys Best. And here's the play shot...
  7. I've been doing these on a much larger scale for almost 3 years now (125 members), but the key advice that I would give is don't over organize. Our joke ByLaws state very clearly that if the club ever becomes not fun, then the remaining money will be blown on a case of wine and the club dissolved. We also charge a membership fee of $10/year which you don't need to do, but it allowed us to have club funds up front to pay for things, then when folks buy cheese it pays for the next month (we do tastings and if people like it, they can buy it). The other advice is prepare for when people ask to bring guests - we love them because its a chance at another membership, but they can also become leeches. I like the idea of letting someone plan each party and picking the wine and cheese, and rotating the responsibility each month. I've tried to do that which gives more ownership of the club, and that translates into volunteers. We're doing very different things, but feel free to PM me if you have questions or want to bounce ideas around.
  8. I in no way consider myself and expert on proscuittos, however, I am partial to the Applegate line simply for their curing methods. Its okay, but not great. I have used it for a few years with no complaints. (wow, now that's a half-hearted, non-endorsement that will make you want to run out and buy a case!)
  9. You know when you're an EGulleter when... you wake up early just to see if your thread has made it to a second page. your favorite saying is "outling the Ling."
  10. Another great cheese party.... Here is the Oregon Blue - the more popular of the two. Smooth, but strong blue bite. and the Pt. Reyes Blue - sharp and bold. and finally a really wonderful plum tart made from plums from our local trees...a nice treat.
  11. So the question is...did you recognize them from their picture or was it because they asked the worker if they had any croquant to top their shake?
  12. I've been thinking about starting this thread for a while. Every time I have a dinner party and pull out my camera to take pictures to post on EGullet, I get weird looks and comments. Its become a joke to the town when I come to someone else's party and start snapping pics. So...anyone want to share their most "EGullet" moments with the group?
  13. I served some Roaring 40s at a recent party and it was a nice blue. Tonight at my monthly cheese party we're featuring blues - Pt. Reyes and Rogue Gold - Blue Oregon. If they're tasty I'll post pics.
  14. Since I'm sampling jarred olives at my store right now, here are 6 varieties to consider: From California Harvest (Santa Rosa), Olive Melange is a blend of Sevillano and Manzanillo with garlic and bay leaf. These are naturally cured - our customer favorite. The Mission are dry cured in rock salt, washed, sun-dried then coated in olive oil. The Manzanillos are Greek-style with lemon and thyme. The Sevillano are the Scicillian-style with champagne vinegar, orange and fennel (my favorite). From Haddouch in the Seattle area. These imported Moroccan olives are grown in the Atlas range. The Bigaradier olives have "red olives" bay leaf and lemon. The Tunisian are cracked green with lemon, hot pepper and bay leaf. I'll break out a wedge of cheese later for my lunch!
  15. To me it is the same as people thinking that Bill Gates is going to send them $100 for every person they forward that stupid email to. If your friends aren't willing or able to click more than once then they'll always have 1% of the information. I don't know which review you're referring to, but it sounds like the review was fair and accurate - for the meal that you had.
  16. I'm so happy to have a contribution that was bad enough for this thread! Tonight I had enough of the messy fridge, so it was leftover casserole - egullet style! A bunch of veggies sauteed in a nice olive oil, sprinkled with flour to thicken things up, covered in leftover puff pastry. Then a wilted spinach salad on the side, but I didn't have the right oils and let it get too hot, but I did add some truffle salt which was a nice touch. The result - a delicious (kinda) glop thing: As we like to say in our house..."Bon Appeshit"
  17. Translation...just something you whipped up! You're amazing Kerry
  18. Thanks for the help you two. This is the Citrus and Almond Cocktail Glass from the May 06 Pastrys Best. Its a layer of almond milk cream topped with citrus coulis, another milk cream and then an almond biscuit. I'll give it a go and see what happens. If I need more help I'll let you know - and I'll post pics.
  19. Hmmm...so that tube of almond paste (Odense) available in most grocery stores which is very dense...any idea if that is appropriate? It seems very thick for what the recipe calls for. I've also seen small cans of paste by another company. Or are we talking about a product that I'll have to buy through a pastry retailer?
  20. I'm working on a recipe that calls for "Almond Paste (50%)". What does the 50% mean? It is used in an almond milk cream and also ina light almond biscuit.
  21. Thanks Patrick. The oat jaconde is the culinary brilliance that happens when you accidentally are out of almond flour! Ploughing ahead as I'm apt to do since my store is the only specialty food store in town and we don't carry almond flour...I grabbed my oat flour. I actually preferred the taste to the typical almond flour version, but the texture was a bit less refined - not necessarily bad. I'm still playing with ways to have my jaconde release from its textured silicon mat, so I'm not sure what the culprit was that caused a less than perfect finish on this batch - the batter or the release (brushed oil and flour). And like I said, it was tasty.
  22. I made a mousse cake. Basic genoise soaked in peach infused simple syrup, layered with strawberry and then vanilla/peach mousse, topped with just a bit of hibiscus gelee for some tanginess, and wrapped in an oat jaconde, decorated with deep fried peach skins. The cake was just okay, but the fried skins were really great - I'll have to work on making them not look like bacon, but there were very tasty!
  23. Dorie is an EGulleter...so come on Dorie! Don't be bashful - promote! Its a sure hit, so tell us all about it.
  24. gfron1

    Gjetost

    I sell it in my store and am always surprised at how much we sell - mostly to people from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Many of them tell us they put it in coffee.
  25. I hear ya grub, but it depends on what "ignorance" is. I'll not waste everyone's time with my post-modernist ramblings, but suffice it to say that I acknowledge that ignorance is a moveable construct. What is ignorance to you will be different to me. And so, for my earlier response, the point is more along the lines of not imposing your culture and standards on others. The vast majority of newspaper readers don't necessarily want or need the level of food knowledge that you find on EGullet, and that's to be expected in these two different cultures. If I got my fix at the Indianapolis Star, then I would not need EGullet. (poor Hoosiers are always getting beat down by the man!) Edited to add: On the other hand, if food writing elevated to the level of a defined profession and had standards, then I would take back everything I have said. They are ultimately journalists, and therefore grammatical blunders are not excused.
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