tan319

Ted, I LOVE the coffee and cardomom idea. How much cardomom do you use for your 4-quart batch? Thanks, mags. I use 5 crushed pods and infuse for a least an hour, along with the beans, etc. If I need the flavor to come up I just season with salt. You have to be careful with cardamom.

Ted, I just reading earlier on baking911.com that the egg yolks in ice-cream act as an emulsifier. Therefore, because they help disperse fat droplets evenly, the ice cyrstals are forced to be smaller resulting is a much smoother end product with a more desirable 'mouth feel'. This explains why lower fat ice-cream (at least those made at home) just don't cut it. You're right about the change in coffee taste when I put in milk. I never thought to look at it way. Thanks. An emulsifier, yes, that too. it's funny that as much of a technophreak that I am, I'm not much on the food science end of things. My basic approach is intuition. My eggless ice creams have great mouth feel too, but I do stabilize them 99% of the time. So there will be no crystalization. Any low fat ice cream made at home in the kind of machines most of us would be using would probably not end up having a great mouthfeel. Lowfat ice creams usually use a lot of emulsifiers and such to give you that. You could achieve it, you would just have to source out that stuff and develop/use a formula to get it right. I would say, why bother? Enjoy yourself!

I think fat, in ice cream at least, brings more to the mouthfeel part of the quotient, smoothness, etc. And yes, it mellows the bitterness out, just like cream in your coffee, no? I think that's the reason (bear with me, now), why a lot of chefs are using what I call the more "industrial" recipes for ice cream. Using dry ingredients such as nonfat dry milk powder, and other things that get some people riled up. You still have richness but flavor cuts thru more. Mind you, I use yolks in most recipes still, but sometimes don't, like in the Peanut butter ice cream, there's more than enough fat in that! Salt is very important. I season almost everything that I make for dessert with it.

Cool recipe! Thanks for clarifying, akwa!

Are you melting the chocolate with the water or pouring the (hot?)water over the choc? Or melting the choc first? Just curious, not wanting to have it seize up on me. The lecithen is for emulsifing? And the egg whites are not whipped, correct? Cool recipe! Thank you, akwa!

Could you explain why? The recipe has 6 egg yolks. well, the yolks mellow it out because of the fat, for one thing, I would say. Remember, you have 3 TBS of a dehydrated espresso, how much would you use to make yourself a cup to drink, that tasted like one? If you're afraid of going too far, reconstitute those 3 TBS in a bit of water, to make an extract, so to speak, and add it to your mix after bringing it to temp ( making your anglaise base). That way, you can control the amount. Remember, the fats are going to mellow the taste. Yesterday, I was working on a peanut butter ice cream to accompany a new dessert. This was using an eggless base, and I couldn't believe how much p-nut butter i had to use, not to mention salt to bring the pnut flavor up! The flavour got there but it was quite interesting to see how it developed. Hope all this helps. Good Luck.

The 3 TBSp might look like a lot but if you're using an egg yolk based recipe, those yolks really soften the blow. I make a coffee cardamom ice cream that has yolks in it, and although I make a base that is a bit more "industrial", I use 600 grams of brewed espresso and 100 grams of beans for the infusion. This is to make 4 quarts but you get my drift? Good luck on your journey!

Quicktime?

Well, chefs really want their stuff done their way, texture, taste, and looks wise. As closely as possible, and that's hard sometimes, even if you know what you're doing. And it requires a certain amount of skill that not all of us have. When I was just out of culinary school, and was an apprentice in a kitchen, I went looking around for apprenticeships in solely pastry, as my main paying gig was in a savory kitchen. I did one at a place in DC called , jeez, I can't remember the name of the place but it was for a chef named Dominique Laborgne(sic), it was called 'Palais du Chocolat', I think. He's sadly no longer with us, but, I was in way over my head. One day, the final straw came when he had pulled out a full sheet of Napoleons to be cut, then had me or do something else for an hour, in that DC heat and humidity, and when the time came to cut the napoleons, with one of those roller portioner/cutters, they started sliding all over the place. He suggested that I not come in the next day, and when I called him to see when I should come back in, he said he didn't need me anymore. I wasn't very good, that was a fact, but he shouldn't have left those guys out for that long, and that's something I always keep in mind even today. Owner /chefs can sometimes be so scattered, with stuff that constantly needs to be finished, getting put off to do something else, then that get's put aside for something else, and so on. A Bad habit that I've seen repeated a bunch in those bakery settings. On this part time gig I'm doing, the boss pulled quiche dough out in a very hot shoppe too early, delegated some other stuff and when I finally was able to get to it, it was close to being too soft. So I told him we had to be more careful of pulling stuff too early when it was too hot. Ditto for butter to be cut for croissaints, I'm always on the lookout for stuff being left out too long as to not be workable. Make sure the person you hire is capable of what you expect, and likewise, if you're going for that gig, make sure you're not getting in over your head, working beyond your abilities.

Also hours spent training then replacing, training again.... That's why I do everything myself now.

Training is tough, but someone has to do it, and that person is you. You have to make sure the person is doing it the exact way you want it done, even if they call you over to check it out before the final process. There's certain things I've always done myself, just because it's always been easier for me or I don't really trust anyone to do it. Likewise, at the bakery gig I'm working at part time, when I make the doughs for croissants or brioche , I always call the boss over to check it out, and will continue to do so until I've got to the point that I know I'm in the pocket. This guy has been doing it for 20+ years, I'm going to defer to him, know what I mean? I think investing in a pro could be a good idea, or, as Brian suggested, if you can find someone who has "the passion" or is just a gung ho, loves your place as much as you do person, with a lot of the chops or a quick learner, you'll be ok. As all others have said, it's your rep going out the door every day, make sure it's how you want it to be! Much luck to you

No doubt. If I was there for 8 or more, I would be taking a break. In the last month, maybe twice I've said I'm taking a minute or two, to go outside and sit down for a minute, maybe take a couple of drags off a cigarette.

I know what you mean. I work 7 hours sraight, no breaks too. There's always something to do. Plus, if you have salaried people, it's in their own best interest to work at lightning speed. And they do!!!

My people!!! So many things said here ring truer then hell, it's almost spooky. I never had stars in my eyes when I deceided to get into cooking, via a 9 month schooling, part time. I had already devoted 17+ years to music (started when I was 13) and knew the writing was on the wall, as far as wanting to play it anymore to get the pie in the sky. Watched a lot of great chefs shows, loved food, restaurants, etc, so thought school would be a good thing. Studied general cooking, French style, and after graduating, got an apprenticeship at one of the most popular French places in the DC area. Making more money then I ever had made in my life (still the best paying cooking gig I ever had in my life), with constant raises. The craziest place I ever worked in my life. The hardest I had ever worked in my life. Quit after 6 months when the exec chef punched a cook out during an extremely rough night. Went back for a year and a half more after a month off. I missed it. Did some pastry apprenticing too back then. I learned a lot of basic stuff that I still hold close to me then, not so much technique as mindset, protocol, and what will happen to you if you do do this, or you don't do that. Learned a whole lot about politics. Went back to music for 8 or 9 years steady, working on the "other side of the glass"( producing) And after that started tanking due to upheavals in the 'business', took some time off to work in another great kitchen, this time in NYC, where I had moved, with a well known chef this time in pastry, as that was really what I had always been interested in the most. A great experience, a lot more civil then I had expected, met some great people. Came to New Mexico, waited for the music biz to get another life, ended up becoming the pastry chef for a new restaurant. Since then, I've had probably 5 jobs here at least, once going back to savory work for around 3 months, waiting for something to open up, pastry wise. Seen a lot of different situations too, good and not so good. I'm currently dealing with speed issues too, at my French bakery gig, and all I can say, and Neil, you're noticing it already, you just start getting faster. For me, it's hard to deal with massive amounts of general portioned items. Doing my own menu as the pastry chef at my restaurant, everything is generally made in preportioned amounts (ie: molds, flexipans, etc.) while in the bakery, a lot more is your eyeball determining the cut, etc. and that's never been my strong suit. I design my menu to work with my strength's and weakness's, and since I'm my staff, for speed too. But, I'm getting better, faster and I also like working for some else for a certain amount of time every day, it's making me a better chef at my other gig. It also makes me realize how lucky I am as a chef at my own place, to not have to worry so much about the bottom line. Making your own marzipan, filling for Danish, using butter for everything, even making your pastry cream from scratch, in a high volume bakery, I don't know if that's a reality for many people. Labor costs alone, not to mention keeping your price point affordable for the customer, make this hard for any owner to do. I'm working with these two French guys who I know over there would have never made brioche with margarine. Here, we do. I would be surprised if Neils kitchen uses a mix for anything, unless the chef has decided that it's an improvement on the product. But that's a luxury that being bankrolled by a casino in Las Vegas, where I would imagine no expense is spared. And for me, my restaurant situation affords me a mini version of that same luxury. The best chocolate, everything from scratch, it kills me that a lot of my product tastes better just because of my ingredients. Not putting anyone down, just speaking about taste, because as Jeniac said, and it is true, a lot of people can't tell the difference, that is, until they have something where that quality just screams it out at them. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the general lack of good wages ( as in line with experience, etc.), benefits, vacations. It's pretty wack. Don't you think all jobs have a dread factor to them? Annie, now that you're freelance, do you give yourself some time off? I admit it, I took the bakery gig because the restaurant biz here is so up and down, I need to have something where I can really depend on a certain amount of hours, consistently. The bakery gig is probably never going to be too slow. Whereas the restaurant gig's hours are always skewed, last week was very slow, therefore I worked less hours. I did toy around with going back to school for something, but came to realize that I'm pretty good at two things, have devoted most of my life to them, and I'm either going to do one or the other. Owners, wack business and lack of perks be damned! Good luck to all! Career changers, be warned, you'll never make less money or work harder then you do in the food biz, unless you're extremely lucky.

The food sounds fab, although I have to say, it troubles me that the dessert portion of the menu has almost been universally declared as a bit underwhelming. That's troublesome. The pix of them sure looked nice. If anyone who has dined there has the time, maybe you could elaborate? I would greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, c'mon!!!!! GREAT STUFF! Can't wait to see the whole thing. Awesome work, Mssr. Bourdain. Please keep us posted to the release of this, can only hope it's soon.

Maybe the bungie cord keep all of the weight semi suspended, so the wrist and arm isn't supporting it all. I don't use huge piping bags, as I rarely, if ever, do the kind of work you all do but, I have been having a hell of a time carrying a big pot of hot nappage around a table while I brush glaze on Danishes in the morning, For that I'm looking into this cool manual sprayer that JBPrince has in their new catalogue.

The Pastry Chef, Sebastian is the chef nearest the photograopher in the picture. In the white apron. Man! He looks young. Is his last name Rouxell? Thanks.

John, Thank you for the great post and pix!!! One thing that made me smile was how happy all of you looked, and for good reason Looks and sounds delicous. In the pastry pix, who was the pastry chef? The guy with the spikey hair? Thanks again for your post!

Neil, is there any special procedure you guys use to break them up ? That's what I don't dig about them. I've found that I don't like the way sauces look when I've used them . it's kind of a grainy look. I would expect that with your chef, you are getting a great result. In cake batters, doughs, you wouldn't see it. It was a topic of conversation with one of my French guys the other day.

When I was working the souffle station during my appenticeship I didn't like the carton whites much. They just behaved differently. Ditto for liquid yolks or whole eggs. Just didn't dig them.

Jeniac!!! Your peaches look amazing! Well done. Don't let that speed thing get you down. At my restaurant, where I'm pastry chef, I can do 5 things at a time, bust out ice creams and sorbets, bake stuff, at a pretty fast pace. At my EARLY morning French bakery gig, I feel like I'm as slow as molasses. These two French guys bust stuff out so fast, it's like I'm in slo-mo! I can get stuff like a 100 #s of crossiant dough done fast but rolling out quiche dough for tarts makes me feel like a slow ass. These guys have been doing it for 12 and 24 years, that will make you fast. One is 27, the other 39. From the look of those peaches, you're doing great.

Looks like a nice recipe, Neil. Thanks! I'll be trying this out soon.

All of the media attention? Don't think so. PA&D = maybe one article , two if you count Conticini, in the last 5 years. Bits and bobs in the mainstream press, here and there. People like Luchetti, Yard, Gand, the people who do solid, traditional based desserts get a good deal of press, usually based around book releases. Yes, I know Gand plays around in a lot of different styles, but her books are solid French/American style dessert ideas. That's how it works. Anything that's new, a trend, maybe even trendy, are going to get some movement because that's the nature of mdeia. Witness Atkins, you would think it was a new diet, when we all know it's been around for quite awhile. Nice post, Corey.

There are some buzz words being used here that are used often that, to use one, I'm "disappointed" about. Disappointed is one of them. Everyone is "disappointed" in dessert, so many of them suck. That's why they order the weird desserts. I used to go to Les Halles when I lived in NY all the time and always would have dessert, even though it was always disappointing. I used to go to Mesa Grill and Bolo and would always have dessert and don't think I ever had a bad one. When I worked at Chicama, in the ABC fine furnishings store next door they had pastries by Payard and I thought they were ok but they didn't change my life or anything. Funny story about Payard I just remembered... The New York Times had that chef column thing going, Payard was featured and there was a recipe for a pound cake with apples that he did, famous one that his dad actually did. I was invited to a party , a dinner party that a friend of mine from DC was going to be at and cooking for, in NY so I made Payards apple pound cake, 2 of them, to bring to it. I get there and my friend had brought 2 of the real ones, from Payards shop. Everyone thought mine was better! Go figure... Maybe it's because I'm getting older or something, I just hit the half century mark recently, but being disappointed by dessert somewhere is just not getting to me. It's like McDonalds, if the fries are fresh, the other stuff too, it can make it all worthwhile. But how many times does that happen? chefette nails it with the thought that, if I'm reading this correctly, that any kind of cooking is easy to screw up. Steve is more then likely right that most new pastry guys and gals probably don't do the classics justice. Does it really matter? I'm not being flip about this, seriously, but, do you have to be able to do the most sublime Paris Brest or St. Honore to go on to something else? I know Steve wasn't saying that, but it got me thinking about it. A lot of stuff here that has me thinking... Re: Entry level people becoming pastry chefs. I was looking for an assistant pastry chef position here when I was drafted into the PC position. Should I have not done it? Because I hadn't done it before? Here I am three years later, every review in the media here has been extremely positive, often more positive about my stuff then the savory food ( not that they got bombed all the time) I've been on TV , silly as that sounds, extremely lucky I've been . Maybe Zilla's stuff is really good, I hope so. She's the only person who became appointed "pastry chef" right out of school that I remember. I get what Steve says though, that those great moments of tasting something that transcends, it is hard to accept anything less then that after but, it's going to happen. I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't want to be cynical about this stuff. Andrea Strong is excited about the Ongs, Masons, Methas, they sound exciting to me too. Just like Adria excites me, and I have nothing to parley that into, maybe her excitement, I'd like to think her only reason for being excited about it, is because it IS exciting. Like hearing a song on the radio for the first time that sounds like nothing else out there, and wanting more of that sound. So,personally, I think her excitement is more about her being excited, and less about career advancement. If that's a result of it, so be it, best wishes, good luck, you go ,gurl! That's about it, hope it makes sense, I'm beat, end of a very long day.