Nargi

I don't honestly even use recipes, except for baking, in which case I rarely deviate. I'm much more a fan of cooking by feel than constantly having to read and reference (was that 1 1/4 tsp of salt or 1 1/2? oh dear!). Even when people ask me for recipes, I always tell then I don't have one on hand, but I'll write them "guidelines". My brother recently asked me for a recipe for a potluck and I told him the process I use to make the dish, not explicit instructions. To be brutally honest, I don't even WANT people to follow my "recipes" exactly anyway. I'm a big fan of having people take what I may have inspired and have them run with it and make it their own. I don't even attempt to make some of my friends truly great recipes for fear of bastardizing it. I may make an inspired dish, but never try to recreate the original. I think that takes away from the experience when they prepare it for me. Maybe I'm weird in that respect.

cap'n crunch with crunch berries i'm sick, gimme a break haha (awake at 3am with bronchitis, conjuctivitis and and ear infection/popped eardrum... and still on eGullet, i'm loyal to the end)

So, last night as part of a meal i prepared, I made a potato gratin (russets, super thinly sliced onion, parmesan, heavy cream, crimini, thyme) and I have a decent amount left over. do you (you being the universal "anyone who feels the need to listen to my ramblings") think I could maybe dice it small (or hell, even mash) and use this as the basis for some croquettes? I've really only made croq's from mashed potatoes or risotto.

hahahahaha. tricks. riiiiiiiiiight. the base of tons of things, sauces included: sauteing. how do you saute? in oil. derp. sushi is the greatest thing ever. that's all i have to say. how are "steamed" vegetables loaded in fat? yes, tossing them in butter and salt adds a smidgen of fat, but uh... yeah. (i'll concede i read nothing but the "tips" and not any article in length, but it's late and i'm bored. i wish someone told me of these horrible misdeeds before i became a cook. i'm so ashamed of my life and choices. a common callback in restaurants: "fire fish, broiled, with no oil or salt!" "fish, no flavor, fire!" people are strange.

Maybe I'm grossly mistaken on this, but I've never used eggs or any part thereof to make my tempura batter. I use AP flour (rice flour if it's available), baking powder, ice-cold water (seltzer if on hand), and a little bit of sesame oil. It's the recipe in The Professional Chef. I used it in culinary school and since then, and it's served me well enough. One thing I noticed is that my coating is light, fluffy, but crunchy on the outside, they tend to be a decently even coating, somewhat smooth. Not at all patchy or "flowery" as I've seen in this thread. Would this maybe just be "battered" and not tempura? I'd appreciate any insight.

Hmmm, so I know this is not exactly a new thread, but I figured I'd toss something in. I read through the entire thread (and although there are several other threads out there, I'm not that dedicated). I own a pretty decent SS Bron (it was $220 originally, but through some nifty bargaining and luck, I got it for all of 20 bucks) and a regular Benriner. Although the Benriner is definitely sharper and for quick jobs, much more convenient (doing 50 pounds of potatoes would warrant the Bron), I noticed that with tougher vegetables, like carrots and daikon, the julienne blades on the Benriner just aren't up to par. I've tried different angles, techniques, etc. and it always seems to get stuck/jammed. I have to use them at work and I do it at home and I've yet to find an adequate solution. I was making some psuedo-Japanese pickled carrot and daikon salad the other day and it took me like half an hour just to mise en place everything. No bueno.

I don't know if I should take offense to that (the barbie thing)... hmm.. haha I'll see if I have any pictures of it sliced. I think I took some... maybe. haha I'll keep you posted.

I am, the head pastry chef at school graciously took time out of her school schedule to mentor me in the essentials of fondant and such. I'm glad to report me made me do everything though.

haha yeah she very much appreciated it. she didn't even want to cut it. I had to do it. As for the taste, I was very pleasantly surprised. I'd never had carrot cake before, so I didn't know what to expect. I was sort of expecting a savory cake, but it wasn't at all. I used a ginger buttercream to crumb coat it, so it was sweet, but not overly so. I'll overnight you a piece of you want haha

Hey hey... and hey. Alright, so this is pretty simple. My girlfriend's birthday was 2 days ago, and I wanted to do something special for her - not just some Betty Crocker out of the box. Her favorite cake is carrot cake, so I made a modified carrot cake which also included pineapple and golden raisins. She likes dolphins and ocean-y type things, so I decided to do a light marble on the outside and decorate it accordingly. This was my time ever working with fondant, but I'm actually relatively proud of it. The flowers were meant to be flowers, but also somewhat resemble seaweed (hence my not doing roses or tulips). Feel free to comment and so forth. I'd also like to hear if any of you have any experience (non-professionally) working with fondant or cakes and the like. Buon appetito! <br><br> <img src=http://a877.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/56/l_eca95102371922e5b7f9ef9135a5bce4.jpg><br><br><img src=http://a59.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/28/l_5ef42748f599854ff00201ad0e05d83a.jpg>

Toad in the Hole. "egg(s) in the basket" is a variation, but as far as restaurants and such go, toad is generally what it's called.

Specifics, please. I've checked up a lot of what he says and it's all true. He gets a lot of his information from Shirley Corriher, who's a genius. If you have some examples of things he teaches/says that are wrong, I'd like to know.

Alright, I'll keep this short and hopefully you all can expand upon it for me. I'm a culinary student and the Art Institute of California - San Diego, and there's a whole bunch of AI's throughout the country, but it seems as if everyone here or anywhere else goes/went to CIA. I'm just trying to find some fellow AI-ers out there. I've been comparing CIA, AI, J&W, etc. and see if there really is a truly "better" school. I'm a good cook already, but I'd like the best education I can get since it's gonna cost me almost 6 figures.

Um, I don't know what you people have been using, but I make handmade (okay.. well stand mixer-made) whipped cream all the time and it keeps perfectly in the fridge for days... and days. You're probably not whipping it enough. Also, if you can whip it into butter by hand, you're spending way too much time whipping it. I've overwhipped in my mixer and it still didn't separate into butter.