paulraphael

Isn't it normal in some French restaurants for the pastry/dessert kitchen to be completely separate from the main kitchen? I've heard them talk about the cuisine, and then about the laboratoire. It makes some sense that they'd have different chiefs.

I've given up on my LN2 ambitions. Locally I found the price and inconvenience of getting the stuff to be discouraging (the price per liter isn't high, but all the suppliers I found had a minimum order). If anyone's interested in my dewar (especially in the NYC area) give me a shout. Otherwise it's going back to the great ebay next week.

I should have added that the foil only needs to be on the breast for half the cooking time. The breas will brown thoroughly in that time (being so close to the radiant heat of the top of the oven).

Super easy. Cover one side of the breast with a double or tripple layer of foil. Roast the bird with high heat, until the thigh meat is properly cooked. The covered breast should be perfect. The uncovered breast will be at least 10 degrees hotter. Maybe not quite 175, but it could get close.

No preserves ... that's the Alton Brown trick, right? The secret there is pectin, which works as a stabilizer (you could also just buy some pectin). I ended up dealing with three different issues: body, stability (which basically means resistance to an icy texture, when it's fresh and especially when it's been in the freezer a few days), and freezing point suppression. Body and freezing point suppression are handled really well by adding nonfat dry milk. I resisted this, because I always thought the stuff was gross, but when I saw pastry chefs like Pierre Herme and Michael Laiskonis using it with abandon, I gave in. It works brilliantly. A small amount of alcohol also helps with the freezing point. For stability, the easy answer is to buy commercial ice cream stabilizer. This stuff is some blend of natural gums like guar, carageenan, and locust bean, and it's simple to use. I wanted to do it from scratch, though, so I wouldn't be dependent on a commercial product. Rather than using gums, which work in such tiny quantities that they're hard to measure for small batches, I ended up using a combination of the two oldest stabilizers: gelatin and corn starch. These are used in very small amounts, so there's no effect on the flavor, and the effect on the texture is a small but positive one. With the right amounts, ice cream lasts over a week in the fridge without deflating or getting icy. Ice cream is such a personal thing ... everyone has their own idea of the perfect texture. The great thing about deconstructing the ingredients is that you can create your own perfect version. If you like the taste of a French custard base, your project will be easy. It's not my cup of tea, though, so I had to jump through a few hoops.

I've spent the summer working on vanilla ice cream. I wanted the creaminess and body of Lebovitz's ice cream, but without the strong egg flavor and the slightly greasy mouthfeel (which are common to all very high butterfat ice creams made with a custard base). I finally nailed it, but it was a more complicated projectt than I'd imagined. For me, the best ice creams I've had haven't been from ice cream shops or people's homes, but from the pastry chefs at good restaurants. These guys have a lot of tricks ... some from the world of artisinal pastry, and some from the world of industrial ice cream. I've cut back a bit on the fat, cut way back on the yolks, and substituted other incredients to adjust the body and make it stable. And to make it scoopable at the right temperature.

I've experimented a lot with air drying. I think it works wonders for supermarket chickens that have been processed with additional water. These birds take on additional water weight, which dilutes the flavor and makes it harder to brown and crisp the skin. With better quality air-dried birds, drying uncovered in the fridge seems like too much. Drier is not better past a certain point. What I've found works well with these birds, if you have the time, is to salt them and let them sit overnight in the fridge partially covered ... like in a plastic bag that's been ventilated wtih a few holes. The results are much better than brining, in my experience, and you get benefits that you just don't get when you salt shortly before cooking. Keller's Simple Roast Chicken is very good, but keep in mind that it's his simple chicken, not necessarily his best! If he's roasting a chicken at the French Laundry or Per Se, I'm betting he's using more sophisticated methods that give even better results. You can too.

So? That's ok in China.

Ha! I still think it's a just a chocolate chip cookie. But if there's naming and marketing involved, we should remember that these are American Cookies, so they deserve some corporate sponsorship. How about "Batman Dark Knight Special Edition Summer Blockbuster XTreme Chip" cookies.

Philosophical Question of Great Importance: what exactly is a chocolate chip cookie? Bolstered by positive feedback from fellow egulleters, and by my girlfriend rejecting a Thomas Keller chocolate chip cookie from Bouchon Bakery, claiming to be "spoiled," I wrote a shameless email to David Leite. Without putting it in so many words, I tried to suggest that the Times publish a Major Retraction of its cookie manifesto, preferably on the front page, including an apology to the public and to world leaders, for omitting my favorite recipe. Unexpectedly, Mr. Leite wrote back, and not just to tell me to get a life. He proposed the following: "I will certainly make your cookies, but I need to state that yours aren't chocolate chip cookies; they're cookies with chocolate chip. And, I'm not splitting hairs. There is a difference... ...they don't fit the parameters of a traditional drop cookie--by definition of ingredients and method. The melted butter (which intrigues me the most), the oat flour, the milk, the non-creaming method speaks of a cookie unto itself." So I'm wondering if something like a chocolate chip cookie is best defined by a particular ingredient list or methodology, or by a more subjective impression: would people eating it recognize it as a chocolate chip cookie? As a variation? As something completely different? Thoughts?

I'm so glad you liked them, Snowangel. So I take it you have a bunch of unbaked batter? I'll be curious to know if you taste much difference in the cookies you bake later ... if you get the improvements suggested by the NYT article.

I couldn't find any info on their site about buying any way besides mail order. Did they mention any plans for a brick and mortar retail location? I'd love to try them, but can't imagine having meat shipped from a company that's 20 minutes from where I work.

After a lot of research (conducted mostly on my unwitting employer's dime) and seven trials, I finally got a basic vanilla ice cream recipe that I like: http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r2135.html From the recipegullet description ... I wanted to create an ice cream base with the smoothness, body, and stability of an egg yolk-ladden, very rich, custard-based ice cream--but without the strong egg flavor or the greasy film that these ice creams can leave in your mouth. I turned to some of the tricks used by pastry chefs. There are two yolks per quart, instead of the usual six or more. There are also added milk solids, and very small amounts of gelatin, starch, and alcohol. The recipe is a bit more complex than typical homemade ice cream, but I think it's worth it. It has a full body, a natural and creamy melt, and it will last several days in the freezer without deflating or getting icy. It will be a bit too hard to serve when it's at freezer temperature, but not rock-hard like typical home recipes. This recipe will work best with a slow-turning machine that doesn't introduce a lot of air (overrun). It will give you between 3/4 and 1 quart of 15% butterfat ice cream.

Interesting! not my experience at all. I love the depth of the brown butter flavor. In fact, I don't strain the browned solids out. And I'm considering increasing the intensity a bit by adding some nonfat dry milk to the butter when it melts (a Michael Laskonis trick he uses in brown butter recipes).

I would consider cakes, cookies, meringues, and quickbreads to be 'pastries' - are you saying only viennoisserie is pastry? I've always seen "pastry" used to describe things made with dough where the fat and starch are kept separate: brisee, sablee, choux, puff pastry, filo, etc. I've never heard cakes or any of that other stuff called pastry. Yes, I realize that Pastry Chefs traditionally make all that stuff. But since we're arguing about the appropriateness of a title, I don't see why Dessert Chef is seen as more limited that Pastry Chef. The words themselves strike me as much less limiting. If the argument is that this goes against tradition, then ok. But you should just say that.

Whether or not "Molecular Gastronomy" is a good name for something is a different topic from whether or not that thing exists. I'd agree that it's not the most accurate or meaningful title. But there's no question in my mind that it refers to something that's separate from other styles or traditions in cooking. What sets the style apart seems pretty simple. Historically, virtually all cooking evolved through trial and error and through the gradual building upon existing traditions. Food science has been with us for a while, but it's had a narrow range of applications: theoretical ones (answering questions about why cooking works) and industrial ones (solving practical problems related to food processing and manufacturing). Molecular gastronomy started when chefs who had studied the food science saw in it opportunities to try things that were completely new ... to take principles learned in the laboratory and use them make radical departures from existing cooking traditions. I think the biggest problem with the term isn't that it's imprecise, or reduntant, or annoying--but rather that it's going to get dated very quickly. We've already moved into the era when people practicing the techniques aren't just experimenters and inventors, but cooks who are learning by example and from books. Just like they've learned every other culinary tradition. Past this point, it will become increasingly unclear which techniques are molecular with a capital M, and which ones are merely molecular in the sense that cooking has always been.

One reason I use melted butter is that it's browned, and I brown it as part of the cookie making process. I'm also making the cookies on a small scale, so I don't have a problem with the burly exercise of scooping the chilled dough. If I were making them on a commercial scale, I might try browning the butter separately, and keeping a supply in the fridge. Then your idea of making the recipe with softened (and not creamed) brown butter would be more practical. I'm guessing it would work fine, but haven't tried it.

Vanilla Ice Cream (really good!) Serves 6 as Dessert. I wanted to create an ice cream base with the smoothness, body, and stability of an egg yolk-ladden, very rich, custard-based ice cream--but without the strong egg flavor or the greasy film that these ice creams can leave in your mouth. I turned to some of the tricks used by my favorite pastry chefs. There are two yolks per quart, instead of the usual six or more. There are also added milk solids, and very small amounts of gelatin, starch, and alcohol. The recipe is a bit more complex than typical homemade ice cream, but I think it's worth it. It has a full body, a natural and creamy melt, and it will last several days in the freezer without deflating or getting icy. It will be a bit too hard to serve when it's at freezer temperature, but not rock-hard like typical home recipes. This recipe will work best with a slow-turning machine that doesn't introduce a lot of air (overrun). It will give you between 3/4 and 1 quart of 15% butterfat ice cream. You can replace the vanilla with the seasoning of your choice. You can also increase or decrease the amount of fat by changing the proportion of milk to cream. I like to use less fat with fruit flavored ice creams, and much less fat with chocolate. 1-1/2 c Whole Milk* (367g) 1 tsp Cornstarch (2.8g) 1 Vanilla bean (I like Madagascar, but Mexican is also good) 3/4 c minus 1 TB Granulated Sugar (128g) 2-1/2 T Nonfat Dry Milk** (25g) 1/3 tsp Powdered Gelatin (1g) 1 pinch Salt (1g) 2 Egg Yolks (36g) 1-1/2 c Heavy Cream* (358g) 2 tsp Vodka or alcohol-based vanilla extract (10g) -Make slurry with cornstarch and a small portion of the milk -Add cornstarch slurry to 1/2 of the milk and bring to a light simmer in a saucepan. Stir until it thickens. -Add the rest of the milk. Stir and heat just until it steams (about 180 degrees F). While it's warming up, split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk with the tip of a finger or paring knife. Add the bean pod to the milk. When the mixture reaches temperature, remove from heat. let it sit covered for 30 minutes. -Whisk yolks until pale (optional—to diminish yellow color of base) -Remove vanilla bean from milk and set aside. Thoroughly mix the dry milk, powdered gelatin, and salt into sugar. Whisk this mixture into the milk. -Temper yolks with a portion of the warm milk and pour the milk / yolks back into the saucepan. -Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and corners with a spatula until the custard thickens (about 180 to 185 degrees).*** Turn down heat and continue stirring vigorously for 15 seconds, then remove from heat and stir another 15 seconds. -Pour the custard into the heavy cream. Stir in the vodka or extract. Put the vanilla bean back in. Chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours. If making a large quantity (more than 1 quart) chill in an ice bath before refrigerating. -Strain with a fine strainer or chinois (important). Rinse and reserve vanilla bean for something else. Freeze the mix in your ice cream maker. With a mulitispeed machine, start on slowest speed. At end when ice cream firms up and begins to expand, raise speed until you get the volume you want (this recipe works best with a low overrun). -Harden for several hours (ideally overnight) in a cold freezer. If you can set your freezer to -5 degrees F or lower, you'll get better results. Ice cream will have to warm up several degrees before serving. 20 to 30 minutes in the fridge works well. Ideal serving temperature is 5 to 10 degrees F. *Use the best quality milk and cream you can get, ideally from an artisinal farm. Avoid ultrapasteurized cream. Unhomogenized milks and creams are ok, but may lead to a slightly icier texture. **Dry milk needs to be high quality and it needs to be fresh and properly stored. There should be no off odors either when it's dry or when it's mixed. Better to leave it out than to use substandard dry milk. If you leave it out, increase sugar to 140g and increase vodka to 1TB. ***The starch and gelatin will have pre-thickened the custard, making it a bit trickier to tell when the yolks are properly cooked. However, the starch also offers some protection against curdling. Keywords: Dessert, Intermediate, Ice Cream, Ice Cream Maker ( RG2135 )

I've learned more from Peterson's Sauces than any other source, with the possible exception of McGee's On Food and Cooking.

But why is that? "Pastry" seems more limited than "Dessert." Granted, there are savory pastries served with other courses (quiches, amuses, pastry-wrapped meat, etc.) but those often aren't the domain of the pastry chef. Dessert covers a lot of ground. Cakes, ice creams and sorbets, souflés, mousses, sweet terrines, cookies, merringues, puddings, quickbreads, custards, candies ... none of these things is pastry. All are dessert.

Exactly! How is "dessert chef" more limiting than "pastry chef?" Most of what these guys make is dessert; a small fraction of what they make is pastry. Right?

The fridge was too cold when I left town, and a pint of cream was a block of ice two weeks later. Does this wreck the emulsion somehow? Can I thaw it and make ice cream with it? Anything else I should know?

Exactly. The average AP flour has a level of protein smack in the middle of cake flour and bread flour. If you want a bit more protein than your AP flour has, you could just as easily use AP and add just a touch of bread flour. The only other differences with cake flour are that it's chlorinated, has an especially fine grind, and has cornstarch added. As far as I can imagine, none of these things is an advantage in a cookie, unless you're trying to make a very light and fluffy one. On a related note, you don't want to develop gluten in a cookie, either. Unlike with bread and pasta, the protein content of the flour isn't desireable for its ability to make gluten. It's actually a liability, forcing you to use extra care to avoid gluten development (and the resulting tough texture). The reason you might want higher protein is for its ability to absorb moisture, which helps create a moist, chewy cookie and one that's resistant to drying out. One of the reasons oatmeal is a popular ingredient in cookies is that it has a very high protein content (higher than bread flour) but produces essentially no gluten. This lets you up the moistness and chewiness without worrying about toughness. I use some oat flour in my chocolate chip cookies for this purpose... enough to help the texture, but not enough to make them taste like oatmeal cookies.

Sorry, that should just be written more clearly. Keep the dough chilled as much as possible. The instructions are just letting you know not to bother making perfectly smooth balls, since the dough will be too hard.

Would anyone be interested in testing the NYT recipe with all purpose flour? My bet is that it would end up the same as with the cake/bread flour combo. I suspect the author of the recipe copied Jaques Torres's use of the two flours, but Torres torres likely only uses that combination because he doesn't use AP for anything in his shop.