Preserver

i love nielsen massey xtract. but as everyone has mentioned that it is expensive but definitely worth it. like fat guy mentioned, it will not be worth it to use such an expensive vanilla for cookies... i would use those expensive beans or extract to highlight the flavor. as for cookies i would use something not that expensive. and for flavor it all depends on how strong you would want it. different beans from different regions have different flavors. there are ones that are sweet, heady or subtle. so i guess depending on what you do... you can highlight different vanilla flavors

whenever i bread i make sure that my breading is not too dark as it will darken sooner than lighter breading. well of course sometimes you would have no choice but to use darker breading. then i would also consider the thickness of the product i am breading as it would need to cook fairly fast, especially if it was a darker breading. then there is the oil.. it needs to be clean as well.. or it will darken faster. i guess flour is considered breading, i may be wrong on that. i don't think that batter is considered as breading, then again i can be wrong on that too. as for the techniques i like to hand bread as to the shake and bake cos of the adherence of the flour and bread on my product. i press it down every time i flour it or bread it. i like to use eggs or eggs wash for my liquid. eggs will cook and stick to the product better than just milk alone... i either deep fry them ( then again how can you go wrong with deep frying?) or just fry it in a shallow pan...

of course you get what you pay for, that said there are people/chefs come out from a community college that are great at their trade. i think it all depends oh how passionate you are in your field. again of course you learn alot more in a shorter amount of time at CIA or JW than community college. you would have to put in more time and sweat into learning what you did not get to learn at community college. we also have to remember that no matter where we go to school, when we graduate we all need to put in time as an apprentice/commis chef for some time before we can become chefs. i vote for the chefs who don't look at what school they come from but what they can give me in the kitchen....and also i think that attitude counts too...some student's think that they are better than others just cos they went to a better school....

well the school, did start off as a great school, with instructor's with passion for food. then after it was sold tho a cooperate education company it just went downhill from there, and of course they are swimming in the reputation that the school had reaped for the 20 years when it was a great school.

well, not all culinary schools are like that... some are very particular bout their student's. cos they will be carrying their name around the country if not the world, some are just mills to make money quick and don't care bout what happens after they get out of school... they would give you the impression that you would graduate and immediately be like Todd English or Thomas Keller or some well known celebrity chef. they fail to mention that you have to put in time and sweat to get there and also your passion to come up with new dishes. you pretty much have to eat, sleep, shit food.... (no pun intended) i worked with this kid who graduated from that school and he cut a piece of meat along the grain... the good thing about culinary school is that you don't have to spend years learning techniques from chefs where else school teaches you different styles of food and techniques within 2-4 yrs depending which school you go to.

oh by the way.. i didn't know this but my brother read up for me before i bought my KA. the lower end KA mixer has silcone gears.... and the higher end ones has metal gears. thanks to my brother i have the metal gear one.... just throwing it out there for ppl who don't know already..

i have the cuisinart ice cream maker .... not too fancy but it does the job. i think i would prefer the kitchenaid attachment, but seems alil big for the freezer. price point it is almost if not more for the bowl than a normal ice cream maker .. but then you save on counter space. ice cream makers are uni tasker's.....

this is an expose of the illegal school practices to gain more students, but disregard their ability to pay back the loans. it's more of a mill than a school with pride.. http://www.sfweekly.com/2007-06-06/news/burnt-chefs/

i have the same problem.. normally it is thinner on the right side as i am right handed... the past 2 post are right.. by rotating it or using yard stick would work too.. if you want pastry stores sell rubber band's that go on the end of your rolling pin.

well here is the recipe.. i believe most if not all of his recipes are very basic... will have to play with it from there on.. but here it is... http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_36271,00.html

sounds like you are looking for a chinois. it looks like the china cap on instawares.com but has a finer mesh. now if you are looking for the flour sift kjind the try this website http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodli.asp?Keywords=sift the johnson rose and lincoln have different mesh size.. i don't know which is finer. you might have to call and ask.

everyone has good point's and guesses, but we also have to remember that they for one won't throw out everything. they would just trim it if it does not look good. which i support cos of wastage...here are some of my guesses and 2cents 1) not many asian markets have romaine but bok choy. targeting a specific market. 2) cash only 3) trimming not throwing away produce, hence no wastages. cut cost there. 4) cheaper labor, no union, family member as staff. 5) "working" with the supplier/farmer, so no middle man. 6) most asian restaurants are in the vicinity and most often than not their order is not enough to make supplier want to deliver so they buy from the markets. 7) asian families buys fresh produce almost everyday. 8) most of the market owner's own their own building. 9) they are the only place that buys produce that most supermarkets don't carry much, so farmer's will cut them a better deal. 10) bottled stuff from other countries? well, cos of cheap product's and labor, thats why we get it cheap. 11) they buy everything in cash of course and no 30 day credit. i know what i have stated here have mostly been covered by egulleter's but there are a few i have added in. there maybe more....i know it well cos i am asian as well

have no experience in corned beef making at all but i do have the brisket brining in the fridge right now. i am using the alton brown recipe and will go from there. ohh i need to post pics too hehehe Shel B which of the place in SF are you talking bout..?? Dave's..? or is it some other smaller deli's..??

god that lady at that store is an ass. she takes a look at you and if she thinks that you don't live in pacific heights she would not even talk to you.... i don't go there anymore... i get most of my wares online.

dont know if you need a reservation but try the farralon ..... and also max's too. you have ponzu too thats just down the hill.. enjoy your stay here..

if you're a cutie that might answer the hand holding .... heheh just a thought..

i would vote yes and no for pockets on your apron. if it's the full apron i would say no to pockets on the lower region of the apron, but yes to smaller pockets higher up by the chest for therm's and sharpies. i find that pockets on the lower region hamper my movements and i would crush my therms and what have not on the edge of the table. i hang my hand towel on the tie that comes around from the back.

you said that you were doing altitude baking, have you tried baking the pithvier on the stone itself? maybe that will help with the temp problem and have the lift that you want. i noticed that the puff was alil on the blond side... do you know what happened? what temp did you start it with? some recipe's call for 350 but i generally start puff at 400 that helps alot with the lift and color. then i would brush corn syrup on the top and bake it 10miins more... hope this helps

for now one place comes to mind and thats slanted door... will come up with more later..

i googled it and found this site. hope it helps.. http://www.fruitsstar.com/nuts-seeds-pistachios-c-2_105.html

i would say bay bread, tartine and citizen cake.

the trick to using them is to slice your knife into the groove handle first and NOT try to push it in from one end. to take it out is just the opposite, holding on to the guard and lifting the knife from the handle end and not pulling it out. oh cardboard and masking tape heheheh i have done it before and sanitation wise is questionable.

well i had to add my piecde to this one *smile* but i g=have done it in many varied ways.one was boiling the water then dunking the eggs in. bad idea, cos the shell would crack. but i like the eggs in the pot and bring the water up to boil with the eggs and let sit for 20 mins then peel. I find that if the eggs were room temp and not cold out of the fridge works best and shock it in cold water for 5 mins before peeling. of course i agree that older eggs works better too. i like peeling it after giving it a roll on the table, then peeling the shell off in bug peels. i heard that salting the water helps too. i salt my water for boiling eggs..

ohh you have to go to the slanted door at the ferry building and if you are there on the weekend check out the farmers market on saturday too then go to the slanted door after, they serve vietnamese food ....

i would definately suggest getting them, as you have read all the post, it mainly suggest that it will protect your knives, your roll and more importantly your fingers.... get them and you will not get a dull knife, torn roll or a cut finger