SeanDirty

ya know if you want a hard candy crust like coating you should think of using egg whites. A simple recipe would be to use egg whites, some sugar, any spices you want and cover the walnuts, finish it with some granulated sugar bake at 350 till its crusty. The egg whites do not add any flavor, but they do crust the toppings on. Use whatever your recipe is, just toss the walnuts in egg whites first...

such wierd responses, where are you??? we live in the new age of INTERNET!!! http://www.chocolatesource.com/products/se...ype=30&brand=21 Buy in bulk chocolate shipped to your house!! As for tempering... I went to culinary school... but you dont need a culinary degree to know how to temper... Im not saying your doing anything wrong... but maybe your technique is off... I have had no problems tempering even toll house chocolate... I usually use a double boiler.... So pot, about 4 inches of water at a medium simmer, bowl up top, chocolate inside.. stir every once in a while until melted. Now the fastest way is the seeding method. By seeding i mean keep a few chunks, or nuggest of unmelted chocolate on the side, take chocolate off the heat, toss in 1-5 chucks depending on size into the melted chocolate stir and feel for temp with your upper lip. If it is no longer hot to touch, then the chocolate should be appropriately at 98 degrees, your body temp. Which is the temp chocolate should be for tempered to get your gloss. Even with toll house chocolate i have been able to make the shiniest truffles..... So if lets say your using store bought and im guessing you would buy the best you can find... you should have no problems with tempering. Another method... stir until you reach the temp you want, touch to your upper lip. Voila. A quicker method... You have your bowl of melted chocolate, place that above a bowl of ice... stir stir stir, touch to lip... finished.... Another method for fastest effects, but takes the greatest care. Place chocolate in bowl, place bowl strait over fire, stir, once chocolate is melted, be sure to pull off the chocolate when there are still a few chunks, the heat will carry over and burn your chocolate if your not careful. Once there are a few chunks left, pull it off and stir till the rest are melted, you should be very close to your temp if you did it right, if not right now, and it is now at your "tempered point" GOOD LUCK!

http://www.knipschildt.net/me-a-chocolatie...-chocolate.html Small quantity delivery 12 bucks.

i'd say NY, easy to travel around w/o transportation. Cheap to take the subways. Lots of choices within walking distance. And just about anyone in Chicago wants to be in NYc anyways... is there really a comparison... It should be where in NYC should i stage...

I watched a show with Jose Andreas he ate at some restaurant in spain... but anyways A dish featured on the show was, a poached hour long egg, they took off the extra whites and left it with just the whites covering the yoke. Put coffee grounds or coffee sand... i couldent tell as it was just brown powder. They painted the plate with gold, placed the egg in the middle, made some kind of edible seaweed paper. and finished at the table with a unique consomme... im not sure what kind of consomme it was... but maybe try the chocolate...

Well selling and buying for a while and looking at it from a business side... It looks to me like your not going to stop what your doing anytime soon. As i learned long ago, there are certain things you can buy in bulk that obviously wont go bad, or go bad any time soon if kept well. For example if you are making truffles. You can buy the chocolate in bulk, maybe 10x what your actually going to make per batch, which you should get at the lower price. And buy the other ingredients that are more perishable at the time of production. That is one way to cut costs. Another to maybe streamline the production, try to think of the most efficient way to create said items. Cutting time, manpower, supplies used. Also cut down on waste, scraping that last tiny bit of chocolate off of the bowl at the end could save you a nickle here a dime there, but would eventually add up. That extra inch thrown away in packaging... try to make it so you can use everything as efficiently as possible. Last of price out everything you can, so you can keep track of expenses. Lets say you can lower your price for the person buying your products, and your costs are still the same. If it works out in a profit no matter how small of a gain, try to lock them into an agreement to buy X amount of product over X amount of time. Therefore you will know at least if your making 10 bucks per batch, you will at least know how many batches you will make and how much you would make at the end... And ask them to maybe add a card or a website to promote your product in their store, ask if they know any other stores that would be interested in your product. More you sell, more you can buy, more you can make... i hope i didnt ramble to much, and i hope this helps at all...

Ya know, when i used to work in a restaurant i'd make smoothies with exotic limes like yuzu and calamanci... the unique flavor of the limes would add a very nice twist to a drink we all know and love. Also you might think of putting into a cheesecake... even 1 yuzu should add enough flavor to a cheesecake to taste it, while not making it overpowering. There is also a Japanese candy called Wagashi that ive seen use yuzu. Where the innards was carved out, the fruit slightly poached and candied, and the mixture added back into the hallow fruit...

Wow for a bunch of foodies, yall give some terrible options. Ok well, for Lunch, Jean Georges does a pretty cheap lunch prie fix at 28 for 2 courses 12 for each other course...... as well as Gordon Ramsay... and also Mercer Kitchen... i hear so does eleven madison.... Now dinner is a whole other game, but for lunch for your mom's i'd say do Jean Georges, the feel of being rich while being able to be a cheap bastard... Good Eatin!

Battery Gardens Gigino at Wagner Park Both of which are overlooking the harbor at battery park

It has come to my recent attention, that we (as in the foodies) in NYC have the luxury of the freshest fish on the market, with high reguards to those funky foodies in Japan, and in Australia. What i dident know was that, fresh fish is a commodity in other states. Having the luxury of our Fulton fish market, and our purveyors. Really my question is, Is this true? Is fresh fish hard to find in other states (landlocked areas mostly)?? Any chefs out there wanna clear this up for me? And also would anyone like to buy some fresh fish?

I know Exactly What you are talking about!! My mom used to make this for us when we were little. Its very very simple and a great way to feed a group, its fun and its assemble your-self. Its called, I know im butchering this but, Po-Phea....... First you will need egg roll wrappers, bring those out to thaw, then seperate as many as you will eat, i'd say 4-5 a person You will need: kecap manis Egg roll wrapers Toppings: Anything you want (this is what we use) omelet (cooked very thin, then sliced in strips) small shrimp chinese sasuage toasted peanuts (add alittle suger for sweetness or not) braised chinese vegetables (carrots and cabbage squeezed dry) Method: You start by placing your wraper with a point facing you. spreading a thin layer of the kecap manis just above the edge about 3 inches long. Start with your toppings, put anything inside you want, just remember dont overfill it, because the moisture of everything will cause the wraper to rip. Roll the point facing you over the pile of topings, and begin rolling it up, when the roll reaches the two middle points facing < > fold those into the middle >< then finish rolling it the rest of the way. Hold it together with your fingers and eat! I hope this helped ~Dirty~

A friend and I ate a Momofuko last night, there was a line out the door, but fortunatly she was able to snag us some stools. The waitstaff despite it being extremly packed, with little to no room to move, did a great job. My water was never empty, and we were taken care of. However our food took a little longer then i would have liked to wait for noodles... But it tasted great.... at first. The temp of the food was warm, but not hot, as it should have been. As i mentioned before the food was delicious, at the beginning. And slowly as i passed about the halfway mark, my tastebuds honed into the flavor, and the dish begun to loose its flavor. I had the MoMofuko ramen, the pork one..... and she had the porkneck ramen. Mine was better. Also the price was a bit high, for noodles. Yea yea i know Berkshire pork, blah blah blah. So, the food was good, but I think it could have been a bit reduced in price/portion. So people might be more inclined to purchase an apptizer. So by the time you finish your noodles you could still be ravin.... Sorry if this seems a bit jumpy my mind is lost right now, and i cant concentrate....

Truffles..... thats all i can think of just using peanut butter and chocolate... but even then you would need cream.... bleh! Snickers!! with no carmel!

I will never, splash 400 degree oil over my hand, during service... again. I will never grab the handle of a pan out of a 500 degree oven again. I will never Wipe a plate, that is sitting on a turned on Flat top, with my finger again. I will try never to watch the beautiful women walking through the kitchen while handling sharp knives.

No, Not that i dont remember to use one.... its more chefs pride..... It is Fun to clean your Stove! Do it after every single time you cook, work clean!

You never know until you try. Everyone loves to makes that sale, and everyone wants a cheeper price... =p

Vietnamese Spring Rolls!!! Depending on how much someone can eat, and size of the roll, i'd say 3 at the least.... Anyways, Ingredients Rice paper (the white dry, round things) Vermicilli (rice noodles), heat them up in very hot water for few seconds till tender. protien (shrimp, chicken, something tender and mild) shreded carrots shreded cucumber cilantro ( peanuts (optional) Scallions (cut on bias) Sauce: Thai-bird chilies 1 will probably do for 2 people... soy sauce (light) seseme oil (just a drop) ginger minced Fish sauce Rehydrate the Rice paper in warm water, place it on a cutting board, first layer shrimp or meat, then layer vermicilli, carrots, cucumber, scallions, cilantro, and peanuts. Roll it up about half way, a little past the middle would be key. Then fold in the sides to the middle, and finish by rolling it down the middle. (like an egg roll) sorry if the rolling part is hard to understand, i have no imagination. for the sauce, its mainly soy and fish sauce, add the other things for flavor. so do half-half fish and soy, then add in ginger a touch of seseme oil and 1 julienned thai chili pepper. Dip and Serve, once you have your mis en place, for the rolls you can pop them out pretty quickly..... good for parties..... and very tasty and refreshing.....

If you have the mushroom guide you should also get the Tree guide. When you look for wild mushrooms you just dont simply stare at the ground and walk. Mushrooms are somewhat tempermental, they grow under the right conditions, and most mushrooms only grow under certain trees, so the Tree guide is most important, it is also the National Audobon Field guide for trees. Good luck huntin!

Now that is the whole question, really.... A good server should be able to anticipate your needs. If you want your table to be left alone, then not sayin the server should read your mind, but they should know that yall are havin a good time and to be as invisible as possible. But then again never having to ask for water, or a new napkin, or having tell the wait staff how to do their job, is always a Plus. But a great place to be left alone would probably be a diner...... you can almost ensure your water being empty. And never seeing your server.... you might have to hide your wine though... unless of course your diner serves alachol.

Ok here goes.... Charlie Palmer at Astra..... They do LUNCH only!!! ohhh im sorry its at 58thst on the 14th floor at 3rd avenue Awsome view, very inexpensive food for a named chef... it is actually their catering venu.... i dont think any of their entrees were over 15 dollars..... it was decent, the view was Great. Ok lets get downtown Centrico an Aaron Sanchez restaurant 211 WEST BROADWAY On the 1 train. Battery Gardens Chef Tommy Lee Great view, i havent tried the food.... but its an awsome spot Located at Battery Park, its inside the park.... overlookin the statue Gigino At Wagner Park 323 Greenwich Street Its far to the right of Battery Gardens Old Homestead is one of the Oldest Steakhouses in NYC Located 56 9TH AVENUE have fun

In very short, YES! and this is the reason, most if not all take their family meal, at around that time 4:30 or so is the transitiion period from lunch staff to dinner, also all the meetings, and of course food, tastings. So going into any restaurant around that time is generally not a great idea. Because the staff will be preoccupied with meetings, or tastings, or eating their lunches.... Try to make later reservation!

Ahhh... Korin, from a cooks prespective, its a Great store, they import alot of knives from Japan, and they are simply great, they even have knife sharpening lessons, if you purchase a knife, its free. However this store closes very early i think its like 5pm or 6pm... so get there early. As for Chefs jackets...... These can be Soooo expensive... so go to http://www.chefwear.com Now you can get your chefs jackets custom made, any color ect..... A whole lot better then buying them for 40+ dollars each... other then that..... Stay away from those "high end" cooking stores... like the one in the Time Warner Building, they sell some very nice things, but they are mostly for home cooks that like shiny objects.... Good luck, have Fun!!! Korin and Chefwear.... Btw JP prince is a hard store to find, it looks like an apartment building.... or an office building, if you dont know what your looking for its not too easy to find it... Not to mention it is a bit pricey. But they do have nice items, thats where i bought all my knife guards, and my new knife case.....

Move aside Statue of Liberty, and make way!!! Joel Robuchon is comming, to town! The restaurant is replacing restaurant Fifty Seven Fifty Seven It will have 52 Seats. No open date yet!! It will be located at the Four Seasons Hotel at 57East 57th Street 212-758-5700 They are not taking reservations yet, and the restaurant has no open date yet.

Makin fresh Mozz..... 6oz Salt 1Gallon of Water 1 Pot 1 strainer... (to put cheese curd in) 1# Fresh Cheese Curd.... Not Cheddar Curd, Fresh Cheese Curd.... Ask around not too hard to find but most stores find it hard to give it up... Because it makes Mozzarella and they mark it up alot after they turn it into Mozz. (make as much as you can) Gloves if you cant take the heat of the cheese. Bring the water to a low simmer 180degrees. Place the cheese curd into a strainer... and dissolve the salt into the water. Add the strainer with the curds inside to the water, until the curds begin to melt, start to work the curds into a big mass, when the cheese is almost into a large cogulated mass, start working the cheese, pulling it as you would taffy. When the cheese begins to have a shimmery look to it, then it is done. Form into small balls or a large ball to serve.... Mozz is best hot. Very Easy very fun for the home. Do not leave the cheese in the water for too long, the curds are mostly water and will shrink quickly. Other serving suggestions..... When the cheese is still warm, roll it out inbetween 2 pieces of plastic wrap, into a thin layer (preferbly square) remove the top layer and add any toppings you choose (try to get flat toppings) eg.. sliced meat, herbs, ect... onto half of the cheese, now proceed to rolling up the cheese into a log. Do this very quickly, the cheese cools and will not bind together if the cheese cools too much. Slice the log into 1/4 inch thick slices, serve with olive oil? balsamic, whatever you want..... Good luck!

You know you are all right, and i respect everyones opinions, thank you all for the feedback. It was probably wrong for me to "list" restaurants, but you know, each experience is different for everyone, you could catch a server or a host, on a bad day, many different outcomes can come from the same restaurant. Perhaps i wrote this posting with much haste, and i apologize, i will be more "netural" with my comments next time. I am more of a produce person, and less of a complainer