Tri2Cook

I check in on your blog pretty regularly so I already grabbed it. Thanks again for putting them together.

Thanks!

Sounds like a fun evening. Any chance of getting the recipe for the Difference Engine? It sounds tasty, looks tasty and I like the story behind it... and I just happen to have a bottle of walnut oil on hand at the moment.

The Simpsons already did it.

This is Michael Laiskonis' recipe... 375g heavy cream 25g Earl Grey tea 90g trimoline 500g dark chocolate couverture (66%), chopped 100g unsalted butter 10g orange flower water Infuse cold cream with tea for 24 hours. Bring cream to 50ºC/122ºF. Strain. Add fresh cream to bring the amount back up to 375g if needed and combine with trimoline. Bring to a boil. Place chocolate in a large bowl and gradually pour hot cream over it. Emulsify with an immersion blender if necessary. Allow to cool to 35-40ºC/95-104ºF. Add butter and orange flower water. Deposit into molds. ...which I haven't actually made. But I keep telling myself that I'm going to. I've always had good results with his recipes so maybe it can at least give you a reference point to work from.

I feel like Shel_B is looking for a straightforward North American style sauce (brown some ground beef, maybe with chopped onions and garlic if feeling frisky, dump in some tomato product of preference and season as desired). He may want us to eGullet-ify it a bit for him since he asked here and there are thousands of basic meat sauce recipes on the internet but I don't think he's looking for all-day multi-meat projects. Apologies if I'm incorrect about that Shel_B.

Looks good to me. Since the disappearing cream thing seems to be a common problem, a syrup soak might be the way to go. I'm wondering if something honey based to replace the dulce de leche might be worth investigating at some point just to see what a boost to the honey flavor does for the end result. A honey caramel or a honey cream or something similar.

You get really creative with your Nanaimo bars. I love it.

Looks good and it sounds like your closing in on the texture and flavor you want.

I'm not familiar with those particular recipes and I've never made a stout cake but I have made a Guinness ice cream. I enjoyed it. I've also made a sorbet using a raspberry lambic that I enjoyed.

True and kinda the point I was making. The restaurant where I work isn't at the fine dining level but we maintain very high standards of cleanliness, food safety, etc. and have that consistently reflected in our inspection scores. The health inspector generally has to feed his ego by writing down some trumped up nothing at the end of the inspection sheet because it's apparently against the rules to just say "great job gang" after we clear all the checklist items. He's told us many times that we have by far the cleanest kitchen of any place in his territory. But it's not the type of place people might assume that to be true of. So, in a divided scenario (which I'm not saying you suggested, just joining in on discussing that idea), people would probably insist on us wearing the gloves while giving the "fancy" place an hour away a free pass. I've been in the kitchen at that place... giving them gloves wouldn't make it much better. So I agree completely with you that insisting on gloves in a place that doesn't have good overall cleanliness and safety practices is a waste of time.

I agree with Sam that it would be impossible to apply the law to some and not others based on how high-end a place is perceived. The place where I work, while not fast food, would be considered low on the food chain compared to something like the French Laundry and I'm very diligent about hand washing. If people really believe they can accurately judge the cleanliness habits of the employees based on how high-end a place is or isn't, they're wrong. They can only assume based on generalities and hope they're right when it comes to the places they assume to be up to their standards.

Thanks! Sounds like something I'll have to save for when I have an entire day to devote to it but they're definitely going on the "must try" list.

I think I want to try these. Do they really fry for 30 minutes as stated in the recipe?

I like the look you got with that. And I agree on the Chef Rubber thing. They have a lot of interesting toys but their shipping cost to Canada is way too high by and standard. I get a lot of things shipped from the U.S. and their shipping charges are nowhere close to in line with what they should be*. *With the disclaimer that I haven't ordered from them in a few years for exactly that reason... but I can't imagine they've gone down.

I wasn't really suggesting anybody should avoid eating in restaurants. Or at least, that wasn't the main point of what I was saying. My point was that it's the reality and it probably won't be any time soon that it's not. The vast majority of restaurant workers don't really make a lot of money. Many (most?) restaurant workers don't get paid sick days. My bills don't care if I should or shouldn't go to work, they just expect to be paid. I'd like to say I would never go to work sick but I've called in sick exactly once in the past 12 years (due to a sudden unexpected appendectomy) so it's probably not too difficult to figure out what I actually do. Most people who work in restaurant kitchens as a career, if they're willing to be honest about it and not just try to sound noble on the internet, will tell you pretty much the same. As for the gloves, I'm trying to picture someone in a busy kitchen constantly putting gloves on, taking them off, getting more, 10 times or more for each plate as they have to handle different things and, good or bad, I'm picturing a whole lot of non-compliance. The customers may want you to change those gloves 10 times while you prepare their food but, in most situations, they don't want to wait the extra time that will take as it compounds over each ticket. When those customers start complaining, the gloves will be at the bottom of the priority list.

Anybody who is seriously concerned with this issue should probably consider not eating in restaurants. I'm pretty sure what you're describing is the reality in the vast majority of restaurants in North America (and maybe elsewhere but I've never worked in restaurants outside of North America so I don't know). I'm not saying it should be... but it is.

Definitely going to have to get around to doing it. Now I just have to see if I can get my hands on a nice tuna loin. Edit: I wonder if this would work with any other type of fish...

Hmmm. Well, thanks for tracking that down. This thread has captured my curiosity. So many new things to play around with.

Rob comes through as usual. Did he know anything about the dulce de leche layers mentioned by James in the original post? I'm wondering if that was a little ad-lib on the part of the restaurant to give it their own twist or maybe upscale it a bit.

That's a tasty cake. I did a version of it that also contains chocolate a while back (I can dig up the recipe if you'd like to see it. It was provided by eGullet member The Old Foodie, who also has an awesome blog on exploring old/ancient recipes and foods). I used a layer of ganache and a mirror glaze but I think the marzipan suggestion above would work really well with this cake. Although, if you can transport it under refrigeration and it can remain refrigerated at the destination until needed, the heat shouldn't be a huge factor.

I considered it too but I don't have access where I live to anything anybody can't get cheaper and easier themselves. Well, I can get Havana Club but just the anejo blanco, reserva and 7 year. So, for the most part, I'd be the only one that would benefit from my participation and that seemed a bit unfair.

Is this similar? I've been meaning to try it for a while now... but still haven't got around to it.

I don't need pot-sized spaghetti... but I don't break my spaghetti either. Those short pieces don't twirl on the fork properly.

Thanks Kerry! Thanks Diana! Including the Medovik James is trying to track down, that's three spins on a similar theme. Looks like I have some work to do...