DaFonz

I got to about the 2nd course and just started ordering from the menu. I covered off most of it I think.

Anchor and Hope was one of my favourite restaurants when I visited. Lobster remoulade was to die for.

Thanks for recommendations egulleters. This was my dinner at Ame last night. I really enjoyed it especially with the wine pairing. The only two things I didn't finish was the cherry pie (only managed half) and the risotto with the pork chop because it blew. Trio of Sashimi. In focus is the red tuna with a zukke sauce. There's also a smoked trout and a kanpachi with uni sauce. Corn soup with lobster puppies. Broiled black cod with shrimp dumplings. Grilled quail with beans and chirizo sausage Foie Gras Tortellini with truffle shavings Tuna tartare with foie gras shavings Scallops, geoduck and prawns in a tomato sauce (almost a cerviche) Kurobuta pork chop with mushroom risotto Abalone in a spicy mushroom sauce Chocolate pudding with some sort of sorbet (which was good) Strawberry parfait Pistachio ice cream with pistachio cookies and matcha green tea Cherry pie with creme fraiche and a malt milkshake. At the end of it all, the kitchen gave me two shots (something rank and ginger beer) to help me digest it all.

Kobe Beef steak and eggs. Salad was a mango/citrus/spring mix with light vinegrette and the bread was fresh bought baguette from nearby Italian deli. I.. did not function for most of the day because i was so stuffed.

Played around some more and got a little more blistering, but I think the lack of a cast iron pan is hurting me here. Another thing I noticed was that the loaves .. kinda got flat after a while... does that mean I gimped up the dough with not enough flour..?

Ok, I made again using tips from this thread (thanks guys!). I added more water than last time, which I think might have been a little much. The dough was MUCH closer to what I wanted and much less dense than last time, but looking at these photos, it seems like I either.. a) added too much water or b) didn't cook them long enough? The crust this time was noticeably improved and much thinner than last time. It wasn't super crispy though this time I did notice some blistering on the crust (though not as much as I think it should have). For the rising, I just shaped the loaves and then let rise and then bake instead of letting rise, punch down, shape, rise agian. I also noticed that it rised.. then went down a little... should I have let it rise, let it fall and then let it rise again?

oh no! yet another thing to buy! The recipe called for a pizza stone preheated for 45 mintes and then the bread to be baked for 20 minutes. i did it without a pizza stone for 28 so perhaps longer? I'm not quite sure how long to bake things for (I was using a thermometer to check the internal temp).. and it read 208 i believe? Whatever my recipe called for. Thanks for hte tip on the water! I knew that a crisp crust had to do with water evaporating off the crust, but never knew you had to presteam it. Would I get the same effect if I waited say.. 10 minutes for the water to steam and then putting it in.. or do I HAVE to do it the way you described?

I was baking it at 500f.. yah I think that might have something to do with it.. I did have a tray with water in it.. but it was cold so it took a while to steam it. I think next time i'll boil some water and put hot water in. I also misted the bread loaves so I think that helps?

The crust wasn't the way I wanted and the bread was too dense for my tastes. I'm not sure what overproved means? 30 degrees eh? Hum, i think that might be a problem.. i was doing it at room tempurature... the recipe I was using called for a sponge to be made, then you mix in the other ingredients.. let it rise... deflate, let it rise again and then shape into loaves which you then put in fridge for 12 hrs. Time to experiment more. aieeeeeee

Ok.. try two. I think the dough I started off was better.. but still could use improvement. Perhaps more kneading? I've also realized that the recipe called for a pizza stone to help with heat distribution... hum... this is what I get for not following the recipe. Arggg...

Make coconut rice Make black rice (uh.. hak lo mai)... that's good with coconut milk

Ok.. try two. I played around with the water and flour towards the end to get the .. soft, moist and tacky doughball. It was far softer than what I had the first time around, but I still couldn't get the window pane? Perhaps it was my flour. I discovered that adding a little water to the recipe helped somewhat in helping to make the dough software. As a result, I only kneaded it for 20 minutes. I'm not sure how useful pictures are to helping determine the "rightness" of the dough, but here are some... Is this the level of smoothness Ishould be aiming for? Or more? If you look just under my finger, you can see the dough rising up a little.. when I pulled away... none really stuck to my finger.

I am working...always on and off the computer printing stuff off for students. I've made foccacia a few times, and I've only made a baguette once a few years ago. I remember the foccacia was really easy to do and turned out well. The baguette turned out well too, but I didn't have a good reference point a few years ago (having eaten very few "good" baguettes at that point in my life) so I'll have to try again. Thanks for posting this thread...I'm sure it'll help me a lot. ← Ok, we make baguettes together. I'm so determined now. 40 minutes until my second sponge is done. If it doesn't work I'm going to scream. My focaccia better turn out... the recipe calls for potatos! It's kinda strange...

The stellar bays are good eh? You just can't go wrong with oysters at joe fortes.. they are always so amazingly good

Shouldn't you .. like be at work now? My second batch better turn out or I'm gonna be mad.. then I'll give up and make the foccacia.

Yah, I've been reading and it seems like a scale is the way to go. I guess I'll pick one up next month.. aiee... my kitchen gets more and more stuff I scooped the flour and then leveled it off with a flat plane without settling it into the container. The dough when it was done was kinda sticky. I didn't add flour to it when I kneaded and only used what the recipe told me to. It was.. pretty elasticky I suppose. I just couldn't seem to get the gluten going the way I've seen in done in shows. Yeap, this was the very first time I have ever made bread in my life. From your description, I think my dough was tacky. It has a little stick, but I didn't get bits of it on my finger. I did the round ball thing! It held its shape just fine Thank you so much for your help. I have another sponge going in my kitchen now so I'm going to try again with another loaf. Bread ended up turning out like this which was kind of disappointing for me because I was trying to make a baguette. The taste was alright, but I made the mistake of not waiting for it to raise for 12 hrs in the fridge like the recipe called for (I was impatient.. which is bad)... and instead gave it 15 minutes... so it was a little too dense. I also had a problem with the top crust being too thick. At the risk of asking the obvious, it was because I didn't turn it right? edit: All purpose flour = bad? Should I be using something else?

Oh man.. ok ok.. instead of trying to copy the recipe from memory.. here's what it *really* was... 16 ounces total in flour = 453g 1.25 cups of water = 296 grams Huzzah? The recipe I'm following is from the new best recipe by the cooks illustrated people.. and I always thought they were pretty reliable?

Hum.. ok. More info.. Started with a sponge with 1/8 teaspoon yest, 1 cup flour and 1 cup warm water. Water wa about.. 85 degrees f. Let that rise for about 7 hrs (until it raised and fell a little) Then mixed in 2 cups flour, 1/2 tablespoon yeast and 1/2cup water.. water was done.. 6 tablespoons.. mixed.. then 1 tablespoon, kneaded and then another tablespoon and then kneaded. Flour used was robin hood all purpose flour. A friend of mine mentioned that my dough might be too dry thus not allowing the gluten to form... so how do I know how much water to add?

Arg! Ok, first time making bread and the recipe says to knead 14 minutes by hand until you can do the window pane test where the dough gets super stretchy. I kneaded for 40 mins.. and it's still ripping too easily. I followed recipe exactly as they said right up to the point of kneading so I don't think its my ingredients.. is it? What am I doing wrong?

Went to sushikan (aberdeen) for the second time today and got the guts to order the Basashi (horse meat sashimi)... was *very* glad I did just so I could try it. The taste was very neutral, ubt the texture was amazing! Very tender (I'd say even more tender than the super premium wagyu from nikuya) and only $10 for a plate. Would I order again? Probably not, as I feel there are better things to get for the price, but it's something everyone should try at least once in their life. Also had their lobster motoyaki which was very good as well.. it's the way motoyaki is suppose to be. If you have ever had the baked black cod with miso mayo at Guu, then imagine that topping.. on top of a half lobster tail. Mmmmmmmmmmmm....

I love the meat from nikuya... it's.. to die for. nikuya.ca too btw! random fact.. nikuya means meat shop in japanese..

Yeap! My friends look at me funny when I tell them I spent $600 on knives... or buy nice super premium wagyu beef.. they kind of understand... but they dont really.. hehe

You so have not taught me! When you going to the chocolate place today?

When I was a kid, my mom would like to dry chillis in the sun, so being the nice kid I was, i helped flip them so they would... dry evenly. They had lots of seeds my fingers were covered with them. A bug flew into my eye. That kinda hurt. I rubbed my eyes... that *really* hurt

Every have one of those nights where you think something is a bad idea... but you go ahead and do it anyways because just maybe.. just maybe.. it'll turn out ok? Here was my stupid idea for the night.. spinach + eggs + tuna. First.. I killed the eggs (damn my lack of cooking ability!) It's ok! I still had one more so I put it on top of my spinach... and then promptly decided to forgo the tuna. It was beyond weird... especially since that was all I was eating (ok I cheated, this was a late night snack). The moral of my story? If it sounds like a bad idea.. it probably is.