nightscotsman

Hey mamster, I have a tangential question for you: when I made my batch of bread, I was afraid to use a cast iron pan for steaming since I was afraid throwing the water in a hot skillet would remove the season and encourage rust, or even warp the pan. Did any of this happen to your cast iron pan?

Hey Jim - is Three Lions still in downtown Portland? They used to have good puff pastry stuff, so I would think their croissants might be worth checking out. By the way, I was really pleased with the way my at-home experiment in croissanting came out. Very light and yeasty, but next time I would bake them a bit longer for more crust. You can read about it on the Croissant Thread here (scroll down).

I made the yeast dough part the first day, let it rise, punched down and chilled overnight. I think this is important to both completely chill the dough, and allow the yeast to slowly proof a second time in the fridge. The next day I added the butter, did all the turns, shaped and baked. I only baked up half the dough, though, and put the rest in the freezer for a later date. It is a good thing to let the finished dough relax for several hours or even overnight to make the final rolling easier. I read a bunch of directions from serveral book and only one (Baking with Julia) mentioned this technique to "plump the middle". I didn't do it, and the shape seemed fine to me. Several of the recipes mention cutting a notch in the base of the dough triangle before rolling up, which I guess allows the points to stretch out (none of them explaned why you should do this).

I love City Kitchens for many of the same reasons you discovered - good prices and selection, especially for baking stuff. Another great place is Seattle Restaurant Supply up north near Central Market. Other than those place I usually buy stuff online, because most of the items I'm looking for these days are extremely specialized pastry tools.

I just baked a batch of croissants from the Sebastien Canonne recipe that Elizabeth 11 posted. I'm so pleased with they way they came out! They are like crisp, flaky clouds. Thank you so much for posting the recipe and directions. I haven't tired making croissants for many years and never had very good results in the past, but these worked like a charm. Some things I learned during the process: - Form the butter packet when the dough is cold and you are ready to combine the two. By pounding the cold-from-the-fridge butter with a rolling pin and quickly pressing it into a flat square, it softens the to perfect temperature and consistency to start folding in. - Be patient when rolling out the dough. It is very elastic, but it will eventually work out. - A great way of proofing the formed croissants is to place them in a cold oven with a pan of hot water next to, or on the rack beneath them. The hot water keep the air in the oven moist and warm. - Do not underbake. The crust will soften a bit as they cool just like bread, so make sure they are deep golden brown when you take them out of the oven. Mine were properly baked through, but I would have a liked a slightly thicker, crisper crust. - Cool completely before eating. I know it's hard to wait, but the structure needs to set before you tear into them. - They do take a long time to make, but they aren't that difficult, especially if you've done puff pastry. There are also several spots during the process where you can leave the dough in the fridge for extended periods or even overnight and continue when you have time. You can also freeze the dough or the shaped croissants and bake them much later.

Excellent! Thanks so much for the link. Another guide I think is really cool (though I can't speak for its usefullness) is SuperFutureCity: Tokyo.

Cool. You have money left over after City Kitchens?

Scrat and I are heading to One World for the French menu this Tuesday the 13th, 11:45. Anyone else want to meet us there?

Oh dang. The smell of just baked brioche could make a dead man... well, you know. I once drove for over half an hour to a friend's house in a car with a brioche-creme fraiche tart fresh out of the oven. Torture.

Yeah, well... but I haven't tried making them for about 15 years. So inspired (or shamed) by this thread and the other one on croissant recipes, I've just started making a batch. I'm using the recipe that Elizabeth 11 posted from Sebastien Canonne. Since I'll be making them in a few months at the French Pastry School with Jacquy Pfeiffer looking over my shoulder, I might as well get some practice in. I thought Le Fournil's croissants were good, though I haven't had the ones at Besalu.

tighe, scrat, MsRamsey and I (they kidnapped me!) made the scene at Porta Taverna last night for dinner, and it was just as described above - very good! The place definintely feels like a funky, comfortable neighborhood hangout, and though it was a little slow when we got there at 8:00, it was full and jumping (and a bit loud, for me) by time we left. Sadly, their deep frier was on the fritz, so no kalamari or crispy octopus . The dishes are designed to be shared, so that's what we did: Fava Skordalia - "and exotic blended dip of bread, garlic, yellow split peas with olive oil, lemon, kalamata olive and fresh herbs". I wasn't very excited about this item from the menu, but I have to admit it was very good. Much like a hummus, but much lighter and brighter tasting. Kopanisti - "feta, bleu cheese, fresh mint, lemon and spices blended together covered with pistachios ans sweet wine syrup". This was very rich and strongly flavored with lots of garlic. The wine syrup drizzled on top was like a thick balsamic, but milder. Yummy. Vassili's Arni Salata - "a mixed green salad with tomatoes, sauteed lamb, bacon, bell peppers, onion, garlic, herbs and spices, topped with geta cheese". Well, it had bacon, so we had to order it. A great mixture of warm, sauteed ingredients on top of fresh greens. This would make a nice meal in itself. Garidhes Saganaki - "sauteed prawns and artichoke hearts smothered in a rich spiced tomato sauce, feta cheese, and then baked, w/rice pilaf". This was really good and the sauce had an unusual sweet spice that we couldn't quite place - my guess was allspice. Paidakia - "grilled lamb chops searved rare, marinated in oregano, lemon and olive oil, with rice pilaf". These were like like juicy, tender lamb lollypops, nicely charred on the outside. Mmm, mm. We ordered one each of the two desserts on offer. I don't remember the names, but one was an orange custard baked in filo and the other was sort of like a rolled baklava with nuts (almonds? pistachios?) in filo. Both were very weak and dissapointing. Not to put it too strongly, but these were some of the worst desserts I've had in Seattle. Pass. I'll be back when they fix the frier, though.

New Seattle Centra menus! One World - Classic French time! May 13 - 22, 2003 Soupe a l’Oignons Gratinee $1.95 French onion soup with golden brown Gruyere topping. Soupe du Jour $1.75 Please ask server for today’s selection. Salad Paysanne, Vinaigrette ala Moutard $1.95 Duck confit, mesclun salad, and apples dressed with mustard vinaigrette. Entrees Includes your choice of soup or salad Salade d’Escalope de Saumon Chaude $5.50 Seared salmon served over fresh greens, with vinaigrette dressing Canard Confit, Haricot Vert et Poire Pocher au Vin $6.25 Duck confit with French green beans and wine poached pears. Filet de Poulet Sautee, Sauce aux Fines Herbes $5.95 Sautéed supreme of chicken served with herb sauce. Boeuf Grille, Sauce Béarnaise $6.50 Grilled beef shoulder tender steak served with béarnaise sauce. Cuisse de Grenouille a la Provencal $6.50 Sautéed frog leg with tomato garlic sauce. Mille-feuille de Fruite de Mar $6.95 Seafood Napoleon: shrimp, lingcod and scallop are layered between puff pastry. Poissons aux Olives et Herbes de Provence $6.95 Papillote of halibut and squid with olives and herbs de provence. Legumes Printanier, Vapeur aux Vin $5.50 Shallow pan steamed vegetables and tomato gratin. Square One May 13, 14 and 15 SOUP & SALAD Soup of the day - 1.50 Moroccan Orange, Cos & Watercress Salad With citrus cinnamon vinaigrette - 1.50 ENTREES Includes choice of soup or salad Spanakopitta Spinach and feta pie with Greek vegetable salad - 4.95 Tajine d' Agneau Savory lamb & olive stew served with spicy harissa sauce - 5.95 Sumk Shwi Grilled salmon with green olive salsa and chickpea pancakes - 6.25 Kalamari Flash fried calamari with orange blossom fruit salad - 5.75 Kefta Kebab Spicy grilled ground beef kebab in pita with tzatziki sauce - 5.95

Don't be a afraid. Unless you are baking something that has acidic fruit coming in direct contact with the aluminum - like pineapple upsidedown cake - you shouldn't have any worries. And I certainly agree with mamster that heavy, light-colored aluminum is the best for bake ware, especially for cakes where you do not want a dark colored pan. Dark pans absorb heat faster and will cause cakes to have a darker, thicker crust. For tart pans, however you do want a black steel pan, not shiny tinned steel, so the crust browns quickly.

When I was working at the office I had Japanese food probably 2 or 3 times a week for lunch at nearby restaurants. Mostly domburis, ramen, teriyaki and curry, but also sushi for a treat. Now that my budget has shrunk (and one of the better places has closed), I do Japanese 4 or 5 times a month. Unless you're counting snacks, then it's every day - Japanese snacks ROCK! I don't cook much Japanese food at home, though I used to make okonomiyaki quite often. Cooking Asian food in general has just never come naturally to me.

Matcha with a sweet.

I think the Trader Vic's brand is made with real pomegranate juice, unlike Rose's. I wouldn't use pomegranate molassas though - that will give your drinks a darker, "cooked" flavor. Or Torani makes a pomegranate syrup.

I'm here to confess that eat Indian food maybe once or twice a year - in fact, I avoid it whenever possible. I know that there are many wonderful and unique flavors to be found in Indian cuisine, but 90% of the time it's just too spicy for me to eat. For me, spicy food equals pain, and I would rather enjoy a meal than live through it. It's the same thing for most Mexican food. Thai food can also be a problem, but at least I can usually vary the heat when I order ("no stars, please"). Sorry.

Sorry I nabbed the date - I hope I haven't thrown a wrench in the works.

Technically you could, but I wouldn't. The thinner layers might be drier, and you would have more crust, which - unlike bread - is not the good part.

mamster, MsRamsey and I met there, but we didn't know what the hell Really Nice looked like, and we didn't want to look like idiots wondering around yelling "Really Nice!", so we didn't get to meet him. We didn't stick around and watch for very long, since it was very crowded and it didn't look like he wasn't going to do any real cooking. We did score some "Giant Rainbow Pocky" though. By the way, dinner at Tropics was quite good and really cheap. pineapple fried rice, basil rice noodles with chicken, and cinnamon duck in green curry - mango sticky rice and fried bananas for dessert. $10 per person including beverages and tip.

It sounds to me from the second article that they only tried aluminum and not copper pans on the metal side. Hardly a complete and scientific test, especially since copper is the traditional type. I'll stick with my copper, thanks. Also, the recipe from the first article is radically different from all of the others I've seen, both in books and on-line. None of the others included sweetened condensed milk, dry milk power, or water (why use dry milk and water - why not just use real milk?). Of course I'll have to try it and see if it really is better than Nancy's recipe.

I think the larger question this begs is: why do they bring out dessert before you even order? I think to the vast majority of American restaurant goers this would qualify as unexpected and even bizzare. There's a pho place here in Seattle that does the same thing, but with cream puffs. They're great cream puffs, but wouldn't it make more sense to bring them with the check if they are included with every order? Most of the friends I've eaten with there have wolfed them down before the soup arrives, but I saved mine until after the meal.

Damn, another restaurant I have to get to. Curses!

Sounds good - count me in.

Err, umm, uhhh... I never got one when I signed up! Are you sure it wasn't included in your membership kit? It should look like this: