paulraphael

How do you plan to apply typography to a cake?

I haven't heard anything as bizarre as some of these. What's common, though, and always annoying, is when the question is asked in a way that coaches you to say everything's great. I want the server to express genuine interest. The best servers make it clear that they're on your side if there are any problems ... they want your meal to be great and they'll fight on your behalf to make it that way. The smiling, nodding variations on "is everything super???!!!" coax us into smiling and saying "yeah, great" even when everything isn't. The subtext is that the server wants approval more than the truth.

I don't follow Ms. Waters very closely, but I can't help suspecting there's a lot of straw-man arguing going on here. Does she really scold people in inner cities and in northern midwestern states for not eating local organic food? Or is she trying to reform food culture in a way that allows people in these situations to eat local organic food? There's a big difference. As strident as her tone may seem to some, I have trouble believing she's stupid. And everyone arguing that she didn't invent the organic food movement .... please. The civil rights movement existed for decades before MLK Jr. was born. Does this make him irrelevant? It's clear from this thread that her tone rubs a lot of people the wrong way. That's too bad. What's worse is if people dismiss a message purely because the messenger bugs them.

Pasta for dinner is the old standbye. Fruit smoothies (especially if you goose them whey or soy) are a new age classic. Really easy: bananas! I always ate pancakes the morning of a race. Not sure how popular this is. And when I toured on a bike through hot places, my friends and I always craved iced tea. If you really think you might get serious cyclists coming through, you could pick up a couple of cartons of Hammer Gel or Gu or Cliff Shots and sell them POS. About as anti-gourmet as anything in the world, but if you're busting out a lot of miles, they are the nectar of the gods.

Consider all the wattage claims meaningless. Like, 100% meaningless. Either it's a good motor, well matched to its electronics and transmission for its expected use, or it's not. The only mixers that will give you full power at low speeds are commercial mixers with a geared transmission. All of these that I know of have three speeds, selected with a lever. You have to bring the mixer to a full stop to shift gears. The motor always runs at its optimum speed, where it's capable of putting out full power. This is why a hobart k5, that draws maybe 300 watts at a rare peak, can spank any 1000 watt consumer mixer. But the best consumer mixers are still good enough for anything you're likely to throw at them, if you can overlook the Russian Roulette factor imposed by all the companies' notorious quality control debacles.

I'm not familiar with the brand. Personally, i wanted to go hardcore with mixing, I'd keep my KA for 90% of tasks, and then for the heavy stuff get a 10qt or 20qt countertop Hobart. These can be had for reasonable amounts of money on ebay, assuming you live close enough to pick up in person. Shipping is a bitch! Hobart has the widest availability of parts, accessories, and service in the industry. I don't think the commercial mixers are a 100% substitute for home mixers, because they're less convenient to use. The big ones are really big. The smaller ones have much narrower bowls than the KA pro models, which makes it messier to add ingredients. And the geared, 3-speed transmissssions, while superior in terms of performance, are a lot less convenient to use. I think most people would end up using their KA for most tasks, and then stepping up to the big mixer for things like large scale bread and pizza production, wedding cakes, or making 4X and 6X batches of cookies.

The all metal hobart grinders attachments (vintage KA) are readily available on ebay. They cost more than the new plastic ones, but less than what the elecrolux ones cost on the site linked above. The plastic ones are popular because many people prefer a tool that can be put in the dishwasher over a tool that works I have a metal one ... no idea what year it's from. It's a workhorse. I've ground many lbs of meat in a single session and it just hums away. Mixer gets slightly warm. With any meat grinder it's important for ingredients to be prepped properly, otherwise they can gum up and jam the machine. Meat should be very cold ... partially frozen. This keeps it stiff and keeps the fat from melting and turning to goo from the machine's friction. The disks and blades on these are carbon steel and need to be washed and dried well immediately after use. A light coat of oil is a good idea if you don't it often.

That's just awesome. And Emeril, no less!

I've had nothing but good luck with a KA pro 600 and bread dough. BUT--I make only very slack, high hydration breads ... ones which are a nuissance to handle but easy to mix. And my mixer is a post 06 model with a metal (injection molded zinc) transmission housing. At any rate, I've done back to back batches of bread and pizz dough without the thing getting more than luke warm. For stiffer doughs, especially ones that need to mix for a long time, I can imagine it would be a different story. You wouldn't want to use it in a production environment for that. A hobart would be a much more reasonable choice if you like to use a stand mixer. Carp, based on some snooping around on the forums at the KA site, it seems that the grain mill is responsible for more mixer failures than any other single cause (besides maybe wanton abuse). For whatever reason, that attachment seems to strain the mixer more than anything else. A huge number of people with the old, plastic transmission housing had their failures when milling flour. Caveat emptor!

is that a good thing? I think it's silly when people are secretive about recipes ... especially for things like this. Maybe someone could have gotten acclaim for a flourless chocolate cake recipe 30 years ago, but today they're older than old news. It's like trying to patent slightly reshaped cast iron skillet. Anyway, if that recipe is close but not quite what you're looking for, let me know. These things are easy to tweak and almost impossible mess up, as long as you don't overcook.

I tried your trick on an aluminum griddle that has thick and thin patches of polymerized oil on it. Didn't make a dent. Seriously ... before and after pictures would show no difference. I think you're using it on burned on food and juices. Completely different stuff, and not nearly as tenacious. Also, when I was talking about how hard it is to remove earlier, I meant it as a benefit, not a problem! In the context of cast iron skillets, you want the seasoning to be tough. I was pointing out how it's a lot less fragile than many assume.

Recent topic.

Flourless chocolate cakes are among the simplest recipes you'll ever work with. The trick to picking one is deciding what texture you want. A light, fluffy, souflée? A dense, melting ganache? Something in between? If you narrow it down, it's easy to pick recipes by category. And also important to use the best chocolate you can get your paws on. My favorite is on the dense / moist side ... it has enough air to feel cake like, but then melts almost instantly in your mouth. (this recipe specifies a chocolate blend that I like; you can use any high quality bittersweet chocolate. you may want to adjust the amount of sugar accordingly)

have you tried this on fully polymerized oils? like on a stainless or aluminum surface? Or worse ... a non-stick one? I've used much more abrasive cleaners on my aluminum griddle ... the polymerized oil seems more abrasion resistant than the aluminum itself.

Dougal's explanation is excellent. The part of the equation I've always missed is the importance of the carbon you get from smoking the oil. I've gotten my best results when the oil gets hot enough to smoke at least a bit, but didn't know why this would be. Makes sense, because the unblackened polymerized oil that I've accidentally gotten on other pans is anything but nonstick. It's also next to impossible to remove. This stuff isn't fragile.

I believe sour cream is traditionally made with lower fat and at lower temperatures.

I'd be curious to see of show of hands from people who find that celery makes stock bitter. I've never found it to be true, but know at least a couple of people who are adamant about it. I wonder if something gets extracted from celery that some people are more sensitive to than others. One option is using celeriac instead of celery stalk ... similar flavor profile, but mellower and earthier. I doubt it would be as likely to release any kind of bitter flavor.

I use two kinds: a big one and a small one. Both the most conventional shape. Sam's analysis of the specialization thing sounds spot on. In contemporary kitchens, I think mixers have taken over most of the duties traditionally given to a balloon whisk. And immersion blenders are taking over many whisking duties and even changing basic techniques used in some kitchens (for making foams, emulsified sauces, etc.)

One of the benefits to using something like grapeseed is that you can go a lot hotter. That is, assuming it's a fairly refined grapeseed oil ... one intended for high heat sautéeing and not for tasty salad dressings. The former tend to be much lighter colored, and not at all cloudy. Some companies are nice enough to print the smoke point on the label. If it's a light, refined oil, you should be able to put it in at 450 degrees or so. It's not a big deal if it smokes a little. I find it helpful to use a really light coat of oil. If it's at all heavy, the oil will thin out from the heat and rund down the sides of the pan making drip marks and puddles. After 45 minutes or so, you can pull the pan out, and with the pan still hot, brush on another very light coat of oil with a paper towel. Obviously taking care not to burn yourself. If you repeat this three times or so, you should end up with a nice, shiny, plasticy glaze. As you go along, use your intuition to adjust the oven temp, cooking time, etc... I don't know any firm rules for how to determine this, other than a temperature around the oil's smoke point seems to work well.

The ideal oils to use are ones highest in polyunsaturated fats ... canola, sunflower, safflower, etc. etc... These oils will season a pan much, much more quickly and efficiently than anything else. This thing we call seasoning is nothing more than polymerized oil, which is oil that has oxidized and turned to plastic from heat. The fewer hydrogen bonds (meaning, the less saturated the fat) the more quickly and effectively the oil will polymerize. It's conventional to use veg oil or bacon fat. But it's also conventional wisdom that it takes years to get a good seasong going. If you use the right oil, you can do a great job in two hours. A killer job in a couple of two hour sessions. The conventional wisdom about how carefully you have to handle the seasoned pans is greatly exaggerated. Those polymerized oils are tough. And they're not soluble in much. You can use detergent and a scrub sponge to your heart's content. That stuff isn't going anywhere. I'd draw the line at using steel wool, or soaking in any kind of concentrated cleaning solutions. But you shouldn't feel the need to ever do this ... these pans tend to clean up easily.

Bridgedale and Patagonia socks are even nicer ... will last longer without flattening out. Something that would help almost everyone's feet--not just foot abusers like cooks--is a good set of orthotics or supportive insoles. There are few off the shelf shoes that have any significant arch support. I like the ones made by Sole. I bought them for hiking and climbing boots, and now use them in every piece of footware i have. For a step up, there are stores that fit people in running shoes and ski boots that can mold firmer insoles to your exact arches. A step up from these (if you still have problems) is prescription orthotics.

I've been reading about chefs at high end restaurants like Alinea making their own versions of liquid smoke ... doing things like smoking water (doing it in a way that I trust results in something tastier than bong water) and incorporating it into sauces or braising liquid. They like the control this process gives, and the way it allows the smoke flavors to be used subtly. Another option is to use smoked ingredients. Dried chilis like anchos, chipotles, and guajillos are a popular option. I served roasted lamb recently that was dry rubbed with lapsang souchong tea, and I used the same tea as an herb in the sauce. This tea is dried over pine smoke and has a deep, layered smokiness. This process let me get those layers of flavor into the dish, but as a subtle accent, rather than an overwhelming smokiness. I suspect options like these will all taste better, in their own ways, than any over the counter product.

You already have enough to craft a beautifully narcissistic menu for a dinner party.

I think a 0.1g scale is great for most applications. It lets you weigh all standard ingredients, including leavening. Most people get by with 1.0g resolution, but that usually means measuring things like salt and baking powder with spoons. Unless you're always making commercial quantities. If you're getting into products like gums, I think a .01g scale would make a lot of sense. Many of these chemicals work in minute amounts, and accuracy is important. Especially if you're experimenting and want to get consistent results. The trick would be getting something like a pocket scale ... a low capacity scale that you use just use for these ingredients. The price of a scale is mostly determined by the number of divisions--meaning, the capacity multiplied by the resolution. A scale with a 1kg capacity with 1g resolution has 1000 divisions. It's a way of saying that there are a thousand possible increments from its lowest to its highest reading. You'd expect to pay about the same for a scale with 10kg capacity and 10g resolution, or a scale with 10g capacity and .01g resolution. They all have 1000 divisions. So you can keep the price down on a high resolution scale by choosing one with a very low capacity.

These people tend to be grinders, not sharpeners. They will put a butcher-shop quality edge on a knife (serviceable, but not high perfomance) and in the process remove a lot of metal, greatly shortening the life of your knfe. And if the knife has a full bolster, they won't be able to reach the heel, so you'll soon have a blade with a concave cutout that won't ever meet the cutting board. If you're lazy and have beater knives that you're willing to replace in a couple of years, this isn't a bad solution. If you have nice knives then it's just destructive. The only skilled sharpening service in New York is the knife master at Korin. But it's better to just learn how to sharpen.