gfron1

You're right - My rice cooker is like that also. I'll made one in both the rice cooker pot and my silicone bowl tomorrow and see how they work

Its not that I'm trying to avoid buying another pan (our sales are good enough to justify that), but I'm not quite going for a full hemisphere. I really want the shape of the bottom of a mixing bowl - it flattens out. And I considered the idea of carving, but I can't imagine getting a clean enough finish from that - meaning I've only carved up a cake once or twice. It won't be frosted - its being set inside of a mousse.

I'm trying to create a cake that is 8" across and rounded on the top. My strategy so far (which has failed twice) is to bake in a stainless mixing bowl and trim any bottom that exceeds the 8". I've tried two different recipes, one more genois-esque and one more meringue based. Both collapsed terribly and both stuck to the sides making even the remnants virtually unremovable. I really want a clean look on this because of how its going to be used. My next attempt will be to painstakingly line the pan with fitted parchment. Has anyone done this, or do you have any ideas? BTW, I have an iSi silicone mixing bowls that says they're safe up to 490F so I'm tempted to bake in one of those.

Here's one that I assume everyone knew but me... When you drop shell into a cracked egg, use the remaining large shell to remove the shard. The shard is drawn to the larger shell and comes right out. Same goes for yolks that break into your whites.

We do. We both live in a small town of 10K in southwest NM, and are 3 hours to any major city (Tucson & El Paso). I think there is humor in the fact that I do MG meals here.

RSVP/Endurance is the brand that I have.

And this is where organics get messy. I re-read the defs after your post Chris and completely agree with you. But in my first reading, using Sam's logic and calculations, and noting that the next category accepts salt and water as "an aside," then I'll be at 99%+ organic. If I can't take water or salt out, then are we talking weight or volume? And, there's no such thing as organic water as far as I know, so then if it is lumped in with salt, would it not therefore be logical to assume that I could remove both ingredients from my calculations?

By definition then I can label as 100% organic since the category excludes salt and water.

Last week I conducted a presentation on hypermodern dining to an adult education group (mostly retirees with expendable income). The focus was the history and evolution of MG techniques, and a slew of practical applications. HERE is the launch of my info gathering for the presentation. In the presentation, I was asked a question by the audience (someone who had attended all of my dinners), "What is the role of joke or pun in MG cooking?" My immediate reaction was that I don't create food and joke or pun, but rather, use all of the tools at my side to activate the diner's experience. I wasn't satisfied with that answer, nor was the questioner. The same person then followed up with me over the weekend to which I gave a response something along these lines - Like a painter who creates on canvas a picture, the goal is not for the painting to be viewed, but rather for the painting to be manifested. Likewise, when I create a dish, while I care that the diner enjoys the dish, I'm less concerned if they "get it," or if my little "joke" is understood. I'm not telling a joke. What I am doing is challenging the notions of flavor, texture, temperature, etc. I am pushing the comfort zones of the diner's senses. And as such, the diner's experience becomes ultimately irrelevant because my motivation or intention is the focus of my energies. I still was not satisfied with my answer. Then I received an email from the same questioner: I share this here because I'm still formulating a response. I have strong post modernist leanings which are clearly causing an obstruction in our conversation. That said, I don't feel any vagueness about my intention or motivation - I create meals that will delight the senses, specifically, challenging one's conceptions of flavor, texture, smell, temperature, etc., with the goal of engaging even more of the diner in the process of eating. That is why I set my fall menu to begin exactly at sundown. That is why made my tuna tempura out of prickly pear tunas. That is why my beet balls were sorbet and not vegetable. But my goal is not to trick nor tease. That may happen. It may not. But once it was eaten by the diner, did they enjoy it? Did it raise an eyebrow? Did it illicit a laugh of surprise? These are the things that drive me. I'm curious what others think about when they serve MG styled meals. (btw, I really enjoy having guests that can engage in this level of discourse with me about the food I serve them.)

Right, and I'm not going for "certified organic" so if I had to I could claim, "organically produced" or "with organic flour," "non-certified organic," or some such claim. I don't think my customers will split hairs with me. My salt is not organic (I'm sure someone sells such a thing), but then again, neither is my water. But by volume or weight (taking out the water), my product will be 99% organic.

I use silicone spatulas all of the time. In fact, the various sizes and shapes all have different functions in my kitchen. I understand the original premise, and there are things I can only use wood/bamboo for such as roux, but with many other things I am able to get a better scraping of the surface with the silicone. And I used to use the ones with metal handles, but have stopped now that many of the silicone spatulas have more sturdy/durable handles that can be placed in the microwave.

Thank you. And, I could probably make the claim sooner since I've noticed more and morre organic products are stating contents such as "90% organic ingredients" suggesting 10% non-organic. I'll do my math and get the new signage.

I've been using unbleached, non-bromated AP for the past couple of years for my starter and bread. I'm now going to use exclusively organic flour. At what point do you think its legitimate for me to claim that the bread is organic? Ever?

Apples and Oranges. I like the traditional version because it was sweet and I'm a sweetaholic. The savory version had no sweetness at all, and my chocolate had no added sugar beyond the 73% chocolate. So naturally I didn't like it as well. However, what was important to me was the texture of the savory marshmallow. At one point I dropped a cube of the savory and it bounced while holding its shape. That's good. If I had added one more sheet of gelatin, that would haven't firmed things up a bit more which would have come even closer to traditional marshmallow texture. I also considered framing up inside of a vacuum bag to compress the marshmallow more since the savory version is a bit looser than a traditional one. I wasn't really going for the "fooled ya" approach here so I didn't bother, but definitely some strategies to consider.

MikeJ - some people must live under rocks (joking of course) Alright, done. Two versions of this silly little game. Traditional Salmon Marshmallow I used palm sugar instead of white, and maple syrup instead of vanilla. This was very very good, and great with the hot chocolate. Savory Salmon Marshmallow I think you can see the textural differences in the pics. Thanks to mkayahara for the recipe base from el Bulli. 500g Milk 18g Gelatin leaf, softened 40g Salmon oil I took a chunk of dry style smoked salmon - a good oily piece, and heated it in the 40g of canola oil. Once warm, I covered and let steep off the heat for an hour. Next I chilled 400g milk until almost frozen. I then added the softened gelatin to the remaining 100g milk and heated in a sauce pan over low flame. In my mixer, I then whipped the gelatin milk mixture for 30 seconds, then added all of the cold milk at once, whipping for another 3 minutes. At the end of the 3 minutes, I poured the oil, which I had strained out the salmon chunks and chilled slightly. Another 30 seconds of whipping and then spread, chilled and cut. If I re-did this, I would probably try a vacuum infusion of the salmon and let it sit for a good long time as the savory version was not intense enough for my liking. The hot chocolate was a 72% Guittard couveture melted in boiling water (I didn't want a dairy taste in the drink) until it was a thick water drink. I seasoned with a hint of cinnamon, clove and stirred with a lavender branch. The drink was outstanding by itself and was inspired by Kakawa in Sante Fe.

I just ordered the iSi silicone tagines for my store which look like they'll run $20. Micro and oven safe but no stove top use. HERE is what they look like. Has anyone used them yet?

I gave in due to time constraints and made a traditional salmon marshmallow tonight that is setting up right now. I'd appreciate the el bulli recipe if someone wouldn't mind PMing me. I'll post the sweet results this weekend.

I didn't realize until I had to let someone step in for me at the cafè last week. I didn't give my pots a second thought, but freaked out when I realized I didn't tell her how I wanted her to wash and dry my knives. And yes, she did manage to leave some odd stain on one of the knives.

Since I took Kerry's class a couple of years ago, and also, since I don't make chocolates, but temper almost daily for cookies and other stuff, I do all of my melting in the micro and watch the viscosity. My instant read thermometer just isn't instant enough for my pace and I'm not looking for sheen, just snap, and I get it every time. The few times that I do want sheen, I'm just much more careful about what I'm doing (translation - patient).

Thanks Amy - I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Yeah - nice looking set of food. Lucky hubby.

I just made the Paula Deen recipe because it was super fast and it satisfied my craving, but it was about 10% as peanutbuttery as I would have liked. I'll start going through some of your suggestions now that king cake season is past me

No celiac disease here fortunately. And while the old ecto/endo/meso classification system is no longer used, I definitely fit into the tall thin guy category - always have, and based on my family, always will. I do completely agree that I need to carve out time dedicated to eating, and I've been doing that since I started this topic. The next focus has to be smartening up what I'm eating to make the calories work for me.

I'm thinking I don't know what I'm looking for. All I know is that when I lived in New Orleans I used to get these amazing PB pies. But that was a long time ago and my memory has faded. I don't remember them being frozen, and I also don't remember the crust being a significant factor. I kind of feel like it was a mousse inside of a graham crust - possibly choco graham.

This thread cracks me up so I'm reviving it with a little story. I finally have an employee who I trust enough to give my Monday prep to so I can take the day off. I fully own that I didn't prepare her well enough to step into my recipes, in my kitchen, to do things my way. Of the three tasks I gave her, all three were literally disasters - she was in tears when I came in to do some quick king cake decorating. The most notable disaster was the brownies. I make these almost every day - they are my best selling baked good. The recipe is crystal clear...if you know what I'm talking about. The first step involves melting 75% Chocoa (my cheapest chocolate) into melted butter. My able assistant somehow read that as a pound of cocoa powder instead of the brand Chocoa. I have never seen brownies so dark before and so...well...pastey. That was a costly mistake - she used nearly a pound of my Valrhona powder. While she was crying and heading out the door, I tried to reassure her, and promised I would come in next Monday so we could do some more training.