gfron1

That's an interesting recipe. I'll leave off the meringue and make it a graham shell (or maybe McVitie's). But as you saw on the blog, they were all good, but none is quite what I remember from my days in NO. I'll suck it up and make another one next week.

That's unfortunate. Maybe its time for me to start tinkering. I guess what I want is a hydraulic armed press that can have a sensitivity adjustment.

Is there such a thing as a panini grill that allows you to set the amount of pressure/weight applied to the top?

Thanks for pointing these out Sam. Over at Khymos.org, a similar discussion occurred a couple of months ago talking about the "plateau of productivity." I know that for me, preparing MG meals just a half dozen times each year, I am already finding certain techniques in their pure form boring and quite frankly, silly. I can't imagine cranking about 100 orbs a night, day after day, week after week. It must feel like the actor in the Goofy costume at Disneyland trying to make the kid who is seeing Goofy for the first time smile every single day. I want to let everyone have the experience of the discovery of MG meals, but what then? To me the future is not in food technology, but other technologies, and then the ultimate integration of MG techniques back into "normal" cooking. Of course these are not new or novel ideas, but ones that feel closer by the day.

I like gfron1's idea! Fast, inexpensive, easy, impressive! fillo circle topped with lemon curd, fillo, curd worked into whipped cream, fillo, candied peel with 99% chocolate shavings.

Its from FoodTv.com not his books.

I think "comfort us" gives us a clue here, though Alinea made me feel comforted as well as challenged. ← My magazine always comes late - just received it yesterday. I couldn't really respond to Maggie beyond personal experience, but then as I read through last night, much earlier in the magazine the author refers to Alinea as comfy and welcoming...or some such words. Different author than the list, but the contradiction wasn't lost on me.

On this attempt I did one whole sheet. I figured out during the attempt that I should have tried your method. I did do the freeze, line, fill, bake, but you can see in the bottom of this pic that my walls are ugly because I had to trim the corners and make it fit.

oh sorry, I didn't explain. Everyone above had recipes with cream cheese, so I wanted to make sure they knew I valued their input (I'm so thougtful ). When I get recharged for more PB, I'll try mascarapone (since I'm now obligated to try that )

I stuck with cream cheese out of obligation and the hope that maybe the tang would go away....it didn't

A few of attempts at the perfect peanut butter pie...I'm not there yet. Alton Brown's recipe: Amy Eber's recipe: PB with Grapefruit Mousse:

I think I'm ready to take a PB rest before I start up again. I'm still not finding what I want - a strong PB flavor with no cream cheese twang. Here's what I've done so far. Roasted my own nuts - Check! Made my own peanut butter - Check! Tried Paula Deen's recipe and then Alton Brown's - Check! Check! (Alton's is more like a Reese's Cup) Then I made Amy's recipe above and tinkered a bit using Herme's shell and lining them with ganache and nuts - Check! And then added grapefruit mousse on top of the Amy's filling - Check! And so I'm a bit tired of peanut butter right now.

They are hollow, so I'm not sure I could do the upside down trick. But if I fill it with tiles like you're suggesting, line it with parchment, that would do the trick.

and again, mine are square which is presenting a differnent problem - putting something into the corners. I pulled my shells out of the form last night and they were way ugly which in a way made them really cool. I'm wondering if it would be easier to (using someone's earlier suggestion) bake the dough on the outside of the form, line with parchment and then wrap with foil.

I'm not sure I have the energy to knock Slanted Door any more since we've all argued that point in the CA forum. I'll just say that for the dollar (meaning a low-moderate priced restaurant) it is worth it, but certainly not "important" nor "comfort." However, I'm sure it had its day.

You really are too kind Erika Some time you should look at my early posts where my ugliest creations dwell...I've learned lots from these threads and do every day. This was like so many other desserts - I thought it was just okay (translation: not sweet enough) and Tyler thought it was the best ever (translation: not too sweet). I will say once again, you're missing out if you haven't worked celery into a dessert!

I was committed to my own sanity and stood my ground and 8-10 hour days when I first started 8 months ago. I'm taking a short break at the tail end of my 13 hour day (so far). Other days I get out at 8, but those are becoming increasingly rare as we continue to grow. I think a chef v. a cook may make a lot of difference as to how you answer the question. Are you responsible for the business or just an employee? If you are responsible...then dammit, I need to get a few more items out before I go home or we'll be short tomorrow.

I guess the glaring question to me is why no Alinea? Based on their definition, I can't think of a better example.

I'm using steel rings, not forms with bottoms, so I can't do the stacking thing, although that is a good idea.

I want to make pastry shells that have 1.5 - 2" sides on a flat sided pastry form - mine is square. I just made a batch and lined with foil and beans, and there was quite a bit of disformation. Is there a trick to keeping the walls in place during baking? I did freeze first.

It may not be exactly what you're looking for but check out the mad hatter demo thread and it should give you a good start.

Depending on the taste I want, I'll either steep the pods, use the seeds, or crush the seeds in a mortar. Each produces a different level of cardamominess. But regardless, a good steep is the trick with you recipe I would think.

If all else fails, I'll be doing a sage pastry cream with piñon on top to homage our race, but since I've never had one, I guess I'm just looking for inspiration. Thanks Dave.

uber geek is on a roll. He threw a handful of ideas at me with many more to come: Super magnets - think hovering plates with foams Class III lasers - think laser shoots across table piercing cocoa butter orbs filled with... Ultra violet - think raw meat cooks in front of your eyes Air foam - weightless, holds heat for many, many hours...not sure how this could be used Non-Newtonian liquid - think food trapped in liquid as guests figure out how to get in He gave me more but I didn't even know if he was speaking English at that point.

and his response (geez...it takes me weeks to formulate a response, and him hours)