AAQuesada

I wanted to put in a plug for Owner/ Exec Chef of the Ottolenghi group Sami Tamimi's book Falistin -really think it is excellent

My favorite recipe writer is David Lebovitz he writes so clearly. I think i'm a pretty good recipe writer but it's a lot of 'know your audience' In my case it's line cooks / prep cooks. So i know that i have to write in short clear sentences or the instructions will be ignored. Everything is weighed out including liquids, I find it's easier not to confuse people with mixed measurements & even though I could write recipes in Spanish I only write them in English (no i'm not being cruel) because many of my cooks only know the proper names for things in English so if i ask for Perfollo no one will know I'm asking for Chervil except for me.

As in freezing baked southern style biscuits? Works great for me, I've often done a batch for the sole purpose of freezing. Then microwave one for a quick breakfast with homemade preserves

I it was for work I would say it's better to have something a little bigger but in a home setting personally I think its the opposite whats the smallest size that's going to get the job done 80% of the time. You can always run a second batch of dough -no big deal. If the 8qt works for you i'd get that, even if it's not much a smaller footprint makes it easier to move around and clean ect. It just depends, try and guesstimate your volume the best you can. Your other limiting factor is how much you can bake (and eat/give away!)

I've never used the FAMAG but spiral mixers in my experience do much better with smaller quantities than the KA type.

you don't want to get something bigger than you need but if you are going to be doing multiple loaves / large batches say around the holidays.. 10 quarts is reasonable.

i've never been much for milk chocolate but it really works in this recipe. Really like Guittard here, I've tried Callebaut and felt it got lost. Curious how other milk chocolates would fare

These are from Fanny Zannoti. They really are excellent -i'll often add a bit of rye whiskey to it. I was going to link to the recipe as well but i don't see it on her current site. A LOT OF RYE AND A LITTLE MILK CHOCOLATE KIND OF COOKIES makes 24 100g butter 120g light brown sugar 40g caster sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract/paste one egg 90g rye flour 90g plain flour 120g milk chocolate, chopped into chunks 30g rye flakes one tsp flaky seasalt, crushed 1/2 tsp baking powder In a large heatproof bowl, melt the butter. Add the sugars and vanilla and mix well. When it’s cooled down a bit, whisk in the egg. In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, and add them to the butter mixture. Stir until it forms a dough. Scrape it onto a large piece of clingfilm and pat into a 2cm thick rectangle. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least an hour or up to 3 days. Cut into 24 squares, roughly the same size. Now you can either bake the cookies straight away or freeze the dough for later use. In that case, simply let it thaw in the fridge for a couple of hours before proceeding to the rest. Roll the little squares of dough into balls and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, making sure to space them quite a bit, around 8cm apart. Bake at 170°C for 10-12 minutes, until the edges start to brown. Allow to cool down slightly.

I've had nothing but problems working with buckwheat (I have cold mountain Soba ko & BRM buckwheat myself) wish I could help but I'm going to stick with my rye chocolate chip cookies lol really looks easy in the video!

they just don't hold up. I've taught culinary school and the KA's are always broken and the Globes just keep working and I'm talking table top. At work I probably have 3 broken KA's in storage. You don't have to believe Teo but its not bad advice to be careful when doing stiff doughs in one

Just used the word pro because i was too lazy to type commercial

Yes I use Pro KA at home and have used them for years at work. It was my financial decision not to buy another for work.

Those commercial KA's are not very good. your 35 yo is probably built better. Last time I had a choice I picked the Globe SP05 to replace a KA. We've had no problems since.

Globes are great workhorse mixers. That being said I completely understand not wanting to support the Chinese government. The Famag looks like a very good bread mixer. As a chef its hard not to look at Q/P. The Alpha looks great (hey in a home kitchen that matters) and is at least as good only you can answer if thats enough to justify the extra price.

Have you considered something like the Globe SP08? They are really great work horse machines and have plenty of torque for thick doughs and you won't have to learn a whole new type of machine. Spiral mixers are great for bread (and only because it's a specialist) but they really are a different animal and you most likely going to want to have a KA around for Cakes/cookies ect. Platetary mixers are generalist machines. But really imo spiral mixers are really more useful for bakeries. In a home setting even an advanced one I just don't see the advantage. So much gluten development can be done autolyse & stretch folding. YMMV and all that

my two notes would be on a boning knife most of the time you are really using the first 1/3 of blade. just worry about the tip and flat. note 2 would be if you reallllly want to get that back part - save your broken pieces of stone for that (I call them finger stones) then work it with that smaller piece.

Found a BA video making this cookie at the shop. I don't know if thats helpful or if you've seen it. Buckwheat Chocolate chip recipe Video link

I use a Japanese version from Nisshin called 'cooking four' in English if you have a Japanese market in your area

When my brother got married I gave him David Rosengarten's Dean & Deluca cookbook. I really think it's excellent and really covers a lot of ground + plus the recipes work reliably

https://www.amazon.com/Spices-Cumaru-Vanilla-Dipteryx-odorata/dp/B01701SL4I/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=tonka+beans&qid=1601771956&sr=8-2 You can get them on Amazon Pretty sure its not legal to use them -OTOH i've seen them on menus enough to figure no one it really cracking down on illicit Tonka bean use. *shrug*

- lol! if anyone else said that I would dismiss it out of hand. since it's Teo -who I'm pretty sure doesn't kid about food. it's prolly worth trying!

At work the eggplant gets fried -because I have a fryer (when done properly it doesn't taste greasy) but at home roasted. I actually give the pepper, celery a quick blanch and pickle my raisins, garlic gets poached in oil

I've always wanted to try that! you picked them in the spring? Love caponata, I did it recently with octopus

Thank you for posting the link to the Event recordings. I saw the Dishoom one live -the Author has a great personality and story that really come through. Really want to see the one with Elena Arzak.