paulraphael

are the methodologies all similar as well (creaming the butter and sugar, oven temp, etc.)? i look forward to hearing about your results.

this Peter Reinhart recipe is the best I've had.

this sounds like a project for Thomas Keller. I can see him presenting a Gum Course.

It is, unless you happen to have a really good source for milk fat. I use manufacturing cream from Berkeley Farms, which I can usually get for about $4-$5/half gallon. That's a lot more expensive than typical butter and close to the cost of the fancy-pants brands. But it gives me something to do, I guess. Hobbies can be expensive. ← $5 a half gallon doesn't sound expensive to me. Supermarket butter costs $4-5 a pound where I am; how much do you get from a half gallon? And how is the quality of manufacturing cream?

Any sense of how much butter you get from a quart of cream? I'm curious to figure out the cost of homemade butter vs. factory butter vs. farm butter.

As far as I know this has to do with the churning action of rapidly boiling water. The vigorous stirring action of the boil emulsifies a lot of the fat and smaller protein particles that would otherwise rise to the top where you could skim them off.

The question is what happens to that additional energy at the rolling boil--does it somehow make it into the food, or does it just escape as steam at a faster rate (hence the rolling boil ... )?

When I made ice cream commercially, we made the rum raisin by soaking the raisins in rum overnight ... no heating required to get them soft, plump and drunk. This would be worth trying with the vanilla, assuming the immediate craving isn't too overwhelming.

Interesting. I've wondered about this. Have you tried preheating the oven with the stone to a much higher temp (500 or so) and then letting the air temp drop down to regular baking temp before putting the pie in? Stones are an interesting variable because the retain a ton of heat (high thermal mass) but don't transfer the heat to the food as quickly as metal (low conductivity) and they they also block the convection that you'd get with food sitting on a rack. I think the biggest help for a pie crust would be a stone that's hotter than the ambient temperature of the oven. By the way, the slow conductivity makes it highly unlikely that you'd break any kind of glass or ceramic bakeware by setting it on a hot stone. It won't cause a drastic temperature change like putting it under a broiler or quenching it in water.

Raspberry Thyme Sauce for Pork Serves 4 as Main Dish. I came up with this as a sauce for roasted pork tenderloin. I tried a few different approaches before getting to this one, which is a tart, intensely flavored glaze. Since then I've learned that it's not an original idea, but I still like it! It works well with any roasted or sautéed pork dish. 1 shallot, finely chopped 1/3 c raspberry preserves 2 c poultry or veal stock 1/2 c white wine and/or white wine vinegar* 2 tsp Balsamic vinnegar (use goof stuff, or leave it out) several stems fresh thyme 1 fl oz butter salt, pepper *For a very tart sauce, use all vinegar. For a mild sauce, use all wine. For a medium sauce, use 1/4 cup of each. Deglaze the pan drippings from the pork with the stock, and wine/vinegar. Stir in shallots. Reduce by 1/2 Add 3/4 of the thyme and all the raspberry preserves Reduce until it's a light syruppy consistency, then reduce heat Add remainder of the thyme, and the balsamic vinnegar (if using) Salt and pepper to taste. Strain into warmed serving vessel Swirl in Butter Keywords: Dinner, Easy, Main Dish, Pork, Sauce ( RG1995 )

Chocolate Butter Sauce Serves 6 as Dessert. This is the most versatile and delicious chocolate sauce I've found. I first learned about it from James Peterson. It's infinitely variable. Compared with ganache based sauces, you have more control over flavor and consistency, less milk flavor diluting the chocolate, and more sheen. Most hot fudge sauces taste like Hershey's Syrup in comparison. The drawback is that it's a more fragile emulsion than ganache, so it's best used fresh. It can be refrigerated and reheated, but you have to do it with care. 4 oz Bittersweet Chocolate*, at room temperature, chopped into small chunks 113g 3 fl oz Liquid** (approx) (84g) 1-1/2 oz Butter, cool, in small pieces (42g) *I like a dark, complex, strongly flavored chocolate, like Valrhona Guanaja. If I'm not adding any additional flavoring, I'll brighten up the taste of the chocolate by blending 2-1/2 ounces Guanaja with 1-1/2 ounces Manjari (a brighter, more aromatic Valrhona chocolate). If I'm adding a sweet flavoring (liqueur, etc.) I'll blend 3-1/2 ounces Guanaja with 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate. **Liquid can be water, strong coffee, liqueur, fruit brandy, fortified wine, whisky, etc.. You can adjust the amount to control consistency (add more if the sauce will be used on ice cream, for example) 1. melt chocolate in the liquid over medium-low heat in a heavy saucepan. keep liquid well below a simmer. 2. lower heat or remove from heat, and swirl in the butter. if you do it all right and keep the temperature moderate, the butter and chocolate will stay emulsified, and you will have a glassy-smooth texture, like ganache but with a greater sheen. 3. If you refrigerate leftovers and need to reheat it, let it come to room temperature slowly, without disturbing it. then heat in a water bath over water that's below a simmer. Stir very gently. Keywords: Dessert, French, Easy, Chocolate, Sauce ( RG1994 )

I've gotten it to work ... pre-chopped with a knife to very small pieces. more like 1/4 inch. then pulsed carefully, with the processor much less than half full. I'd think a real grinder would do a much better job, but I've never had one. Partially freezing the meat is probably a good idea, as is using a blade that's sharper than mine (not quite blunt but getting there).

With these tortes/cakes you should start by deciding what kind of texture you want. I've found three basic families: souflé based (light and fluffy, made with whipped egg whites), custard based (denser and mousse-like, made with whole eggs or eggs plus yolks), and ganache-based (even denser, usually made in ramekins with an underbaked center ... they're typically made with cream, and without egg whites). After trying a ton of recipes, I found myself liking the texture of the second kind the most. They can be made really creamy and dense and intense, but still light enough that they melt in your mouth. My version (very intense and easy to make) is here.

who could argue with that?

Yeah, same impression. Appears to be designed to look great in photos. I'm also really wary of all these manufacturers advertising higher and higher wattages to make you think the things are powerful. It's like trying to sell you a car because it gets worse mileage. Delonghi sells a 1000 watt mixer ... I looked up some specs and found 40 quart Hobart floorstanding mixers with lower watt motors than this. The hardcore mixers advertise horsepower, which is the actual output of the thing, and consider lower wattage, not higher, a design goal. These are mixers that could probably hold three or four Delonghi and Cuisinart mixers in their bowl, and turn them into merengue! Unfortunately the consumer mixers don't seem to advertise power output, so you have to trust word of mouth to know how burley they really are.

I haven't actually tried it, so I've told you everything I know. It's mentioned in 'Desserts by Pierre Hermé' ... i don't remember him going into much more detail than what I posted, but I'll take a look.

I mostly make tarts, but the challenges are the same. I've used all the tricks that MaryMc mentions. They definitely help, but it stll can be a challenge to get a crisp bottom shell when the ingredients are moist. Here's a trick from Pierre Hermé that I haven't tried yet: keep a stockpile of stale crumbls from ladyfingers or genoise or sugar cookies, and use them to lightly line the bottom of the shell to soak up excess moisture. Has anyone tried this?

I'm not sure about the specific problem you're having, if the ganache really was luke warm. I can imagine the loaf pan causing the recipe to not turn out as intended, though. Most of the chocolate tortes I've seen that are based on a ganache are intended to be underbaked in ramekins, so the center stays liquid. That's usually the point of the ganache batter (althought these are typically made with just yolks or mostly yolks; egg whites can muck up the texture of a molten center). Is that what the original recipe called for?

Chocolate Marquise with Peach and Basil Sauce Serves 15 as Dessert. This is my interpretation of the classic super-rich terrine, inspired in part by Chef Gilles Bajolle's refinements. His and the more traditional versions are somewhat less intensely flavored than this one. There are a handful of traditional sauces, including pistachio-infused creme anglaise and vanilla creme anglaise. I came up with peach and basil as a sauce for summer; I like the way the bright, fresh flavors work with the dark chocolate. Some other sauces I've concocted for other seasons: pear and clove, cognac and golden raisin, grand marnier, raspberry, and pear and lapsang souchong tea. Your imagination is the limit when it comes to creme anglaise flavors. This dessert is all about chocolate, so make sure you use the best you can find. The recipe specifies my favorite blend. There's no need to feel bound by this, but do pay attention to the ratio of bittersweet to unsweetened chocolates. I have friends who won't come over unless I promise to make this. The Marquise Chocolate--9oz, made up of: 3-1/2 oz Valrhona Guanaja bittersweet chocolate 2 oz Valrhona Manjari bittersweet chocolate 3-1/2 oz Valrhona Cacao pur Pate unsweetened chocolate 4-1/2 oz butter (1 stick plus 1 TB) 1-1/3 c heavy cream 6 large egg yolks 2 large whole eggs 7 T sugar (1/2 cup minus 1 T) 1/4 c cocoa 1/4 tsp salt The Sauce 3 T sugar 6 large egg yolks 1-3/4 c whole milk 6 T peach preserves 1 stem of basil leaves (intact) 2 stems of basil leaves (removed from stem and finely cut, ideally by hand or with scissors) The Marquise: Note: Make sure the eggs are very fresh, to discourage anyone from dying. If you're paranoid, you can beat them in a bowl over the same hot water used for melting the chocolate, to quasi-pasteurize them. Do not make scrambled eggs. Or you can buy pasteurized yolks. -chill 1 qt. pan (ideally a 6" cheesecake or springform pan) in fridge while preparing the ingredients -melt the chololate and butter in a bowl over hot water. ideally melt the chocolate, then stir in cool butter a bit at a time until smooth and glassy. -whip the cream until stiff and set it aside, keeping it cold -beat egg, yolks, sugar, and salt until smooth. do not incorporate enough air to significantly increase volume. for all mixing, use a stiff whisk, a hand mixer, or the flat beater of a stand mixer on medium speed. -when chocolate has cooled a bit, beat it with the egg mxture for one minute -beat in cocoa for 5 minutes by hand, or 3 minutes by machine. goal is smoothness and some thickening, not increased volume. final texture should be like a ganache icing. this is where you earn your dessert if you're not using a mixer. -fold in cream, gently. make it homogenous, but work it as little as possible to keep it from deflating -fill pan -thump it hard on counter to remove air bubbles. cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours; preferably overnight. -to remove from cheesecake pan, warm sides with hair dryer or a towel soaked in hot water. set bottom on a sturdy glass or bowl, and push sides down. -to remove from a solid pan, partially immerse in warm water to loosen it. Wipe of all the water from the outside of the pan, and flip it over onto a plate. if you're lucky, it will come out. if you're like me, you will do a lot of pounding and yelling, and maybe even resort to running a knife around the outside edge (and repairing the damage later--think stucco) The Sauce: This is a light Creme Anglaise (no cream), since the marquise is so rich. -simmer milk in saucepan. ideally use an evassee or windsor pan (with sloped sides). -beat sugar and egg yolk in mixing bowl, until smooth and lightened -lightly simmer stem of basil leaves in milk for 3 minutes, then remove -turn off heat, and whisk preserves into milk until soluble parts are disolved -pour 1/2 of the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture, mix it up, and pour it all back into the saucepan -stir in the chopped basil leaves -turn the heat to medium. start paying attention. -stir constantly, using a wooden spatula, scraping the whole bottom of the pan, especially the corners -the sauce will thicken at about 165 degrees, but you won't have time to measure, because as soon as it gets a bit hotter than that it will curdle, and you'll be screwed. so watch closely. when it seems to have thickened (you'll start seeing the bottom of the pan peek through the sauce), run your finger in a horizontal line through the sauce that's clinging to the spatula. If the horizontal line stays, without getting dripped over, the sauce is thick. -keep stirring over heat for 10 seconds. Remove from the heat and stir an additional 30 seconds. -strain through a fine strainer or chinois. -the sauce is best if prepared right before serving. I like the non-traditional contrast of a warm creme anglaise on the coId marquise. if you do hold it, or chill it and reheat it, strain it again before serving. To serve, slice the marquise. a round pan gives wedge shaped slices that i set upright like pieces of cake. This is much denser and richer than a mousse ... a little goes a long way. I like to ladle the sauce onto the plate first, and set the marquise slice in the middle of this. The marquise and sauce last up to a week. Cover marquise tightly with plastic, with as little air space as possible. Sauce should be kept in a plastic container (like a sauce squeeze bottle) also with as little air space as possible. Both need to be kept in a very cold fridge. Keywords: Dessert, French, Intermediate, Chocolate, Plated Dessert ( RG1993 )

This place has Cluizel (repacked from bulk), $7 for 8oz: http://www.cooksshophere.com/products/chocolate.htm

Those Indian MREs are amazing. They've become my camping food of choice for short trips (a long weekend or less). I supplement them with higher protein snacks, since all the ones I've found are vegetarian. For longer trips weight becomes an issue, so I bring freeze dried dinners. Either these are much tastier than you'd expect, or else the trips make me hungry enough to change expectations radically! I really like them. In cold weather I bring a tube of olive oil to mix in. Improves flavor and ups the fat content nicely. I'm spending ten days in the Wind River range next month, all of it way in the backcountry. My partner and I have abandoned all gourmet pretenses and will eat only the lightweight, easy stuff.

it definitely depends on the stove ... some are meant for cooking and can actually simmer. others (like mine) are climbing stoves that let you choose between Off and Blowtorch. They're great for melting snow and boiling water. But they'd be more useful for welding yourself some outdoor furniture than for making a sauce or some pancakes!

An easy way to do this is to spoon a bit onto a cool plate. This will give you an idea of its consistency at eating temperatures. As far as Pepin's recipe, it's very typical of what I hear restaurant cooks doing these days, but it represents a major shortcut (perhaps a shortcut on a shortcut on a shortcut) compared with what traditionally has been called demiglace (which itself is a shortcut, intended to simulate natural jus and coulis which are not possible to prepare in a modern restaurant that needs to make a profit). I would recommend a look at Sauces by James Peterson, and possibly also The Saucier's Apprentice by Raymond Sokolov or Le Guide Culinaire by Escoffier. These will give an idea of the origins of demiglace and the differences between one and a glace de viande (an important distinction that seems to be getting lost. What you're describing--a 10X or more reduction that results ina a solid mass--is glace de viande, not demiglace. It is used very differently in recipes than demiglace). Peterson especially will give you much more theory than you get from Pepin, so if you chose to take Pepin-like abbreviations, you'll at least have an understanding of what you're doing. ←

The point of small pieces is to get more surface area for browning. With bigger pieces you'll still extract as much flavor from the beef (it simmers a long time!) but the stock will likely be less brown and have less of the roasted flavors you get from browning.

This is a great book: http://www.amazon.com/Cookery-Library-Nati...p/dp/0811728609 I have an old (really old) edition that's bound with staples, so the new one is sure to be more complete and up to date. Its focus is on very long backpacking trip and expedition cooking, so it will probably presume more limitations than you're facing. But it's not about roughing it; the authors find that people get bored easily with unimaginative food on long trips, and have found a million innovative ways to keep things tasty and interesting. Lots of tips on using stoves, fires, and minimum impact, leave-no-trace techniques. I remember learning how to bake a cake in a coffee can, and about a dozen ways to prepare all the trout that we never caught.