tino27

Is this really "two nations divided by a common language" again? [...] However "active dry" (or active dried) yeast is the older type of stuff, in coarser pellets, which needs 'starting' in its own warm water and is not suited to breadmaking machines, and so it is not sold in single dose tiny packets. Also, now that I know (from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain and from Emily Buehler) that the coarser "active dry" yeast is much higher in glutathione (promoting a weaker but more extensible gluten), I have another reason for never, ever using it. ← While I agree with dougal that instant and active dry yeast is not interchangeable gram for gram, one can be substituted for the other (with appropriate changes in amount) with little or no effect on the resulting product. However, at least in the US, instant yeast and bread machine yeast (or Rapid Rise yeast) ARE different animals. First off, instant yeast is not sold in the standard packet format. In fact, I have to buy 454 g sacks of it at a place like Sam's Club and keep it sealed in a zip bag in either my fridge or my freezer. Rapid Rise yeast has various additives to it to maximize yeast development once activated. It's designed to allow you to mix and knead the dough, place it in the baking pan, let it rise and then bake it. Great for the on-the-go baker, not so good for flavor development. (As an aside, claudinefm never mentioned whether the method of making bread was going to be a bread machine or by hand.) As for activating the yeast, I've never proofed either active dry or instant yeast and never had any problems. Then again, I usually use the yeast well before the expiration date printed on the package. If it's getting close, I might proof active dry just to be sure, but instant has always been reliable (even past the expiration date) since I keep it chilled. All that being said, almost every non-technical bread recipe out there (i.e. not Peter Reinhart's book) will call for either yeast (which implies active dry) or actually specify active dry. Just in case you wanted to know, a 7g packet of Active Dry yeast is equivalent to roughly 5.8g of instant yeast. Most home scales have 1g accuracy levels, so adding 6g instead of 5.8g isn't going to throw the recipe wildly off or anything. Good luck in your baking.

I picked up a copy of Sandwiches You Will Like during a PBS fund drive a couple of years ago. Great documentary! I still watch it from time to time. It turned me on to a number of great spots during a visit to Philly. In fact, food geek that I am, I was wandering down 9th Street in Philly and lo and behold I was standing in front of George's Sandwich shop -- and the guy from the movie was actually serving customers. I could care less if Tom Cruise walks in the room. But this guy ... was ROYALTY. From what I remember, he serves a killer roast pork sandwich.

In college, a local bar served Bloody Brains. Combine strawberry schnapps, Bailey's, and grenadine in a shotglass and the magic begins. Looked disgusting, but tasted nice, if not a little sweet.

Absolutely loving your foodblog. You may want to check out another page on Holly's blog. Clicky clicky She, as it turns out, is a he.

I believe a packet of active dry yeast in the US is 7 grams.

What got me were these two quotes ... I do rather enjoy Last Restaurant Standing ... hopefully Chopping Block will live up to it's UK roots. But "original" ... um, no.

I thought Padma was just an observer/facilitator, but did not actually get a vote? ← From this link ... It sounds to me like she has a vote. Maybe it's just the way it was worded. edited for clarity

She seems to like it too much to do that. She's probably one of those people with skinny genes. People I resent. LOL! ← I seem to remember reading (or hearing) someplace that she does actually put on weight between the beginning of the series and the end. I think when the series ends she returns to her normal diet (coupled with her skinny genes) and returns to her normal weight.

A generic heating pad will go a long way, too. Good for the sore back AND the bread.

Required: 1) Digital scale that is accurate to 1 gram 2) Instant read thermometer 3) Flexible bowl scraper 4) Bench scraper Push come to shove, nice things to have are: 1) Pizza stone / unglazed quarry tile 2) Stand mixer (like a KitchenAid) 3) Serrated knife or lame Purely for show: 1) Banneton / Baguette pan 2) Linen towels 3) Cloche

Depending on whether you roast the bones or not will determine which type of chicken stock you will end up with (brown vs. white). Either is delicious, but obviously you want to go with how you will be using the stock you made. If it were me, and I was trying to get the most out of my chicken purchase (and I wasn't thinking about roasting it whole), I would disassemble the creature, save the carcass and wings for stock, and then use the rest of the chicken for eating. Perhaps use the dark meat pieces for a nice braise (chicken cacciatore) and the white meat pieces for something like fried chicken. One tip though, if you are going to take the time to make stock, you will more than likely need more carcass/wings than one chicken is able to supply. Perhaps the purveyor you bought the chicken off of has extra carcasses/wings that he can sell you.

Yes, there were several shots (albeit brief) of a big mass of pizza dough sitting on a table for the chefs to use.

Realize that the goal of a hotdog/hamburger bun is different than an artisan loaf -- the crumb (or hole structure) is much much tighter in a sandwich bun than what you are shooting for in an artisan loaf. That being said, the two things I would do to adjust the recipe is to lower the hydration level to somewhere in the 65% hydration range. The second thing is that you want to make buns that are about 30-45 grams. You will end up working the boules much more to shape buns than you do when trying to form a regular loaf. Form boules with the small pieces of dough, place them on a parchment lined half-sheet pan (you'll be able to get maybe 24 to a half-sheet pan), and flatten them down slightly with the palm of your hand. Proof and bake at a lower temperature than you would an artisan loaf (I'd bake them between 350 and 375 deg F). They may take less time to bake than one big loaf does. Sometimes I will also brush the tops of the proofed buns with milk before baking so that they take on a nice golden brown hue. Realize, too, that if the recipe you are using is a lean dough (no fats or sugars), you need to use the baked buns the same day you make them as they will dry out pretty fast. Using an enriched dough (something with milk, sugar, or butter) recipe will help to alleviate the drying out issue, but then you've lost the flavor profile you were shooting for because additional flavors may cover up or change the slight tang of the original recipe that the book (and this thread) talks about.

What I particularly thought was poignant was the fact that at the very end when Guy is in the TGIF test kitchen, the comment was made that they "deconstructed the winning dish". So I guess $25,000 is the going price for selling your soul to TFN? You: Yay! I just won $25,000 for my winning dish! TGIF: We're just gonna make a few changes. *Wink, wink*

Click here for that answer.

Just to add a little conspiracy theory to the mix ... IMHO, TFN has clearly shown (and stated as much) that they are about generating as much viewership (and thus ad revenue, product tie-in, etc.) as possible. I suspect there are two situations possible here: 1) They were too lazy to check Irvine's resume references 2) They DID check his references, but because he tested so positively, they kept quiet about it In either case, as long as no one complained about it, there was nothing to do but pimp him out just like all of their other celebrity chefs. Once he was exposed for the fraud, the only thing they could do to save "face" was to fire him. I would even venture to bet that he got a nice settlement to walk away quietly. Integrity hasn't exactly been TFN's strongest suit up till now, why would they start with this incident?

Tino - get them to the Velvet Tango Room ASAP! ← Bolognium -- be happy to pick them up for you if you'd like. Just say the word. They are priced at retail though ($24 something). Tino

I can answer the 2nd part: Fish is not considered "meat" for Kosher meals, since it is not a mammel (and doesn't feed it's young with it's own milk). ← And hopefully, I can answer the first. My grandmother (who is very Catholic) and I just had this discussion last week. The current trend is fish on Fridays during Lent only.

Agreed with Chris ... I don't mind ponying out the dough for a professional reference, but is this a good (meaning scientifically accurate and thorough) investment? ETA: Oops, we must've been replying at the same time. If you had to buy one over the other, would you buy this book or the Baking Science and Technology set?

So I'm headed off to class last night and the only thing even close to the school is a McDonald's. I begrudgingly pull in not even thinking about a FOF sandwich until I get up to the microphone. I think I have to agree with DCP here, this thread must be subliminally affecting me because I open my mouth and out pops "FOF combo please". It was actually better than I remember it being. Although the cheese is forgettable. And when I peeled off the top bun to check out the tarter sauce, it was lopsided as well (as noted in a previous post). Given my predilection not to eat the burgers at McD's, I think I may now have a "go to" sandwich for when a visit cannot be avoided.

One other small piece of advice -- the Internet is a very big and well-indexed place. If you are going to rant on a public forum about your place of employment (or internship, in your case), be sure to leave any personally identifying information out of your post (and your profile). I've seen first hand someone blowing off some steam here on eGullet and either the employer or someone connected to the employer putting 2 and 2 together. They were subsequently let go.

Ronnie -- Put me down (+1) as interested for the The Violet Hour. That sounds like it will be a lot of fun! Tino

In an interesting twist, I stopped at the liquor store for something non-Campari related, but thought I would check out which version is currently being sold in Akron, OH. Three interesting things: 1) Made with Carmine 2) Has the word Bitters on the label instead of Aperitivo 3) Importers are Skyy I checked the alcohol percentage and it was 48 proof. There were three bottles left on the shelf.

OMG!! I about fell on the flour laughing when I read this. Apparently there are two of us in the world who do this! I don't know what it is either. And only with the plain M&M's, not the peanut. I don't know where along the way I decided that eating a single M&M was too small a serving and that two at a time was much better, but I've been doing it for years. My solution to the errant extra colors that don't fit in the 2x2 category ... lump them together at the end and just throw them in all at once. Perhaps we should form a 12 step group to overcome this.

I lived in Columbus for 5 years, so hopefully I can turn you onto some of my favorites. In Worthington ... Old Bag 'o Nails Pub -- get the Fish Fry dinner. To this day, when I visit friends and relatives in Columbus, this is what I always order when I go there. I have yet to find a piece of beer battered fried fish that tops it. The fried mushrooms with the horseradish mayo dip is also a delicious bet. Don't tell you cardiologist you are going here, however. Not a brew pub, per se, but a nice place to have a good piece of fish. Graeter's Ice Cream -- So very good. All their ice creams are delicious, and the sorbet's are very nice as well. Outside Worthington ... (my favorites) Thai Orchid on Sawmill Road -- OUTSTANDING Thai cuisine. They have a Tom Yum Goong that I have yet to find its equal. All the entrees are delicious, but I particularly like the fried fish in the chili sauce (the name escapes me at the moment). Also get the Thai iced tea ... quite good. Also, best Phad Thai I've ever had, to this date. Lee Garden on Federated Blvd (off Sawmill Road, actually) -- Excellent dim sum. And ask for the Flower Tea (chrysanthemum flowers). No cart service, but the food is always excellent. Mary Kelley's on Muirfield Drive -- This place has lots of good food, but this is where I go when I want an exceptional patty melt. Wash it down with a Guinness from the tap and you've got an exception meal. Sopporo Wind on Cleveland Avenue -- Excellent sushi and Japanese menu. I've had many a fine meal here and I highly recommend it. I normally get an appetizer of nigri and then a main course of something highly Japanese. Taj Palace on Fishinger Blvd -- It's a bit of a trek for where you are staying, but the food is consistently good here (the saag paneer is awesome). They do have daily lunch buffets (very good value for the dollar), but the food is good no matter when you go. Cafe Istanbul at Easton Mall -- The food and Turkish Coffee here is quite good. They have a fabulous thing on their menu where you can order a small or large tasting from their appetizers which can feed 2 - 4 of you (in case you want to go out with co-workers). They used to have a monkfish dish listed on their menu that came with a mesclun salad ... however, translations being what they are, it was listed as a masculine salad. Many laughs were had on that one! Indochine Cafe on South Hamilton -- Again, a bit of a trek for you, but wonderful Vietnamese. This restaurant actually changed owners (used to be Pho Saigon) the last time I was down in Columbus (October '07), but I can definitely say that the new owners have kept up the quality of the food. I normally go for the noodle dishes, but I also tried the Banh Mi last time I was there and they were excellent. Hometown Oriental Gourmet Food on Bethel -- Ask for the Chinese menu. Lots of delicious things to try here. They'll even do Bubble Tea for you. The cold sesame noodles are delicious, but the Ma Pa Dofu is killer here. I'm salivating just thinking about it. And while you are at it, visit CAM (Columbus Asian Market) which just happens to be behind Hometown in the shopping plaza. Lots of amazing things you can't find other places. Monte Carlo Italian Kitchen on Shrock Road -- The chicken Parmesan with gnocchi is STELLAR here (and quite affordable). Everything else on the menu (this was 4 years ago) is completely sub-par. The lasagna was decent, but that's about it. Even with the rest of the menu being not up to snuff, the chicken parm w/ gnocchi ALONE was worth the trip. All the places I've recommended are on the "affordable" list. If you want some upscale suggestions, let me know.