Tri2Cook

Assuming the above, because I don't deal well with people looking down their nose at me either, it sounds pretty sweet to me. But I'm a bit of a hermit at the best of times so the isolation wouldn't bother me at all.

The only thing I'm going to add to this is that I bet the Moto guys (who I was happy to see there going in) took some ribbing at the restaurant after this aired. "It's meeee... sob-sob-sob". Then the other one takes things that they actually do at Moto and does them extremely unwell. I wonder if Homaro has him in a prep area rolling cigars and carving potatoes all day now?

Thanks! Didn't get to it last night, I already had a couple rum drinks lined up to try and usually call it a night at two unless something special is going on, but it's next in line.

I'm trying to slow down on the uneducated impulse buys a little so I'm going to ask about this one. It looks like the LCBO is picking up the St. Vincent Sunset Very Strong rum. All 169 proof of it. My question: is there any real reason to add this to the cabinet? I don't care about high proof just for the sake of high proof so this stuff needs to have something going on that makes it worth getting before I'll have any interest. I can already get Bacardi 151 if I just want jet fuel.

Haven't tried them yet - they smell a lot like angostura. Oh well, even if they're exactly like angostura it was a nice gift. A unique bottle on the shelf if nothing else and maybe something interesting will come out in the taste.

Please share when you find out... I really want to try this one. I like Cynar, I love Fernet, tart is always nice.

I needed falernum in a hurry so I made up a batch of rich falernum syrup from the Kaiser Penguin blog. I'm not sure what the fridge life is going to be but I haven't made much of a dent in it in almost two weeks. Would heating it again buy some time? Maybe tossing it in the the freezer? I'm happy with the flavor so I don't really want to end up tossing it if I can avoid it.

Nice gift! I'm a little curious about the Japanese bitters, have you had a chance to investigate those yet?

You could save yourself half a day by buying a case! Tempting... I have to drive an hour to get the blanco and reserva but I can get the 7 year at my local store. The LCBO is a strange creature at times.

If chef considers following his idea to the letter more important than the result then you're in a tough position. If you're baking the cake, pouring on a custard base and baking again, the cake is being overbaked. It's also going to leach moisture from the custard base changing the texture of both the cake and the resulting custard. If chef refuses to budge on this, maybe use Jaymes' idea of the custard cake, bake them in individual serving dishes and cover the top of each ramekin with a premade sugar disc before serving. The custard will be on the bottom but they'll be baked together since that seems to be the party trick he wants. I don't know the situation you're working in or I'd suggest diplomatically telling chef that people have to eat my dessert so it's more important to me that they enjoy eating it than be amazed because they were baked together.

The stability of the agar/gelatin combo might surprise you if you haven't worked with it much (I'm not assuming you haven't, I just don't know if you have). I don't think heat much above room temp is going to be a factor for this purpose though, I can't imagine the chef insisting they be baked together if it's not necessary just because that was the original idea. Gelatin and agar are commonly found in or easily and inexpensively sourced by restaurants which is why I mentioned them specifically but if carrageenans are available in Tweety's kitchen I agree that it's a good path to follow.

Sounds fun. I hope a whole bunch of people get on board and post their creations here. I think I'll try to sneak something in. The week of the big hockey tournament starts tomorrow so it's going to be long and crazy busy hours at work but maybe I can find some time to play along.

That's a good question. I didn't think of that one because my standard creme brulee custard (that will remain in a container of some sort) couldn't be cut and moved without destroying it. The agar/gelatin stabilized custard isn't quite as soft and creamy as without but it's very close. It doesn't take much to stabilize it enough for the task, especially if it's on top and doesn't have to support anything. The textural difference between the stabilized and not is actually really difficult to discern in the context of a cake insert unless you want to notice and investigate it independent of the other components. I consider it a more than worthwhile tradeoff for the risk-reduction (it won't soften enough to slide off if it gets warm) it adds but if the person's standard custard is up to the job without assistance, that would be the way to go for purity of traditional texture.

I'm going to put my money on not-more-knowledgeable-than-you. It was just another option, not necessarily a better option.

And that is exactly what I would do. Use the right gelling agents (a combo of agar and gelatin works well but there are other options) and you can hold the custard insert at room temp or even warm it. That with a pre-made sugar disc (or whatever shape the cake is) to drop on top means no risk of failure and no loss of quality.

Kerry and I agreed that we would share our lunch experiences but largely avoid any sort of review unless something was extraordinarily good or extraordinarily awful. Hope that gives you at least a clue. Not a bad policy. I followed the link and browsed the menus just out of curiosity. Saw some things that sound tasty... shame about that dessert menu though.

Sorry Matt, I edited in an explanation for that. I keep getting a "can't open the webpage" message when I try to go to the page I got it from so I listed the source as an addition to the post.

Went with the Penguin In Bondage as my post-work relaxer, anything with that much Fernet gets my attention every time... 1 oz Cruzan Blackstrap rum (have to sub Gosling's here) 1 oz Fernet Branca 1 oz Falernum 1/3 oz lime juice 2 dashes Angostura bitters Shake with ice, strain over fresh ice, top with 3 oz ginger beer. The small amount of lime to sugar scared me a bit and it is on the sweet side but the spice from the Falernum, the bite of the ginger beer and the menthol bitterness of the Fernet seem to conspire to push the initial sweetness out of the finish and leave the palate feeling clean and refreshed between sips. I really enjoyed it and will be enjoying it many times to come in the future. Edit: I tried to link the drink name to the source for credit but for some reason I can't get the page to open and the full URL isn't displayed in the search results so... I got this one from the TDN: Rick Stutz Dance Party Wrap Up at the Mixoloseum blog.

The Havana Club is my go-to when the rum will stand out in the mix but I also keep a big bottle of Appleton on hand for when it's playing more of a supporting role in tiki drinks and such. The Havana Club isn't available at my local store and requires an hour-each-way drive to replace so I'm a a bit stingy with it.

The purpose for this product, for me, is because I'm a curious S.O.B.

Yeah, but if you're easily entertained like me, the panel with the ship in it is actually just a blank clear panel. The ship is actually on the back of the bottle. Unless you look at the panel from within the right viewing area, you can't see that there's a ship at all.

This sounds a lot like me, though not particularly with chocolates because I just don't do them often. But the birds have had some fine cookie feasts over the years when baking at home because I got distracted and they got slightly more brown on the bottom than I could live with. I understand completely what you're saying, I just try my best to make light of it because they're getting tossed whether I call myself a dumbass and laugh or bang my head against the wall and get angry.

Nothing fancy today...

Yeah, I was just being silly. Chocolates are not a finely-honed skill of mine so my best work would probably belong in this discussion... I'm saving my bad work for when they start the "Chocolates with that Igor's Dungeon finish" discussion.

A piping bag full of tempered chocolate with a tiny tip and some carefully applied "random" piping, being sure to cover the cracks... add a sign reading "hand decorated chocolates" and management has to buy their snack along with everybody else.