chickie
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Posts posted by chickie
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The Burren in Sommerville - very simple irish food done very well.
This is probably too big to be considered a "pub", but when I want good beer and good food, I head to John Harvards in Cambridge
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I always find it depressing that I am way funnier when I am not trying to be
35% food cost - really? It has been a long time since I have worked in a restaurant, but when I envision my old Exec Chef running 35%, I imagine him writhing on the floor in the throes of a coronary.
Or is 35% an exception because it is a steakhouse? 5% profit just seems ridiculously small for a profit margin.
Anyone else? What is your target %'s?
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I am in a debate of sorts on a board that is not industry related, and need to know:
in a regular restaurant, what percentage of your final menu price is your actual cost. Assume that you own the property outright - no mortgage.
I was taught that the rough rule 25% was food cost, 25% was labor, 25% was overhead, 25% was profit - is that still the case?
this is a sample of the menu, if that helps
14 oz New York Strip Steak - Served with balsamic red onions, watercress, and roasted Yukon potatoes finished with veal demi-glace. - $26.99
7 oz Filet Mignon - Glazed with maple BBQ sauce and accompanied by cream cheese mashed potatoes. - $26.99
Beef Bourguignonne - Served with roasted mushrooms, red wine, Pappardelle noodles, and chive creme fraiche. - $21.99
Grilled Pork Chop - Served with sauteed herb gnocchi, wilted rapini, and Icewine apple butter. - $20.99
Herb Crusted Prime Rib - Served with Roasted Yukon potatoes, finished with veal demi-glace. - $21.99
Mushroom Filet Mignon - Baby portobella wild mushroom risotto with white truffle and herb butter sauce topped with fried parsnips. - $27.99
Seared Free-Range Chicken - Served over white beans and seasonal marinated veggies topped with lavender butter. - $19.99
Seared King Salmon - Served over sweet maple corn cake with candied walnuts and maple-ginger glaze. - $20.99
Shrimp, Scallop, & Mussel Bouillabaisse - Served over a pearl couscous with rich vegetable broth. - $22.99
Spiced Black Bean Cake - Roasted red pepper stuffed with black bean and corn dressing served with noodle salad and peanut sauce. - $15.99
edited for clarity
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what a great idea, my husband is going to love a cheddar apple pie. Maybe if I am feeling nice I will make him one tommorrow
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another person here to say white is diffcult.
Your teacher may have not broken the temper of the chocolate in class when he microwaved it, there is a fairly easy "formula" to melting in the microwave to maintain temper, it has been a long time since I did it but I am sure you could find it (basically small bursts)
You may have problems with your ganache breaking because of the added oil from your nuts. Generally a small amt. of liquid would fix this, but since you are already working with white chocolate adding more iquid is going to cause more thinness issues.
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I think you should sport some chef pants with chili pepper prints, a denim chef's jacket, orange clogs, and one of those cool puffy white hats. Have you ever worn a knife belt? You can never have enough fashion in the kitchen.
I am only offended by that cheesy looking short sleeve jacket that gordon ramsey is so fond of -YUCK!
He looks like he should be manning the fryolator in a paper hat when he puts that on
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have you checked with local suppliers? Where do you get your paper boxes from?
I found it prohibitive to order boxes to be shipped to me, especially heavy weight ones - they are very expensive to ship.
My only other suggestion would be to think outside the box (get it??? LOL) keep an eye out for boxes that that may be used for something else, but are the right size, and ask them where they get them. Or call some places that use the boxes and ask where they get them.
the bakery I worked at that used them had to special order them in partnership with 5 other bakeries, because they had to make a special die to cut them at the box company, and had a high minimum order
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although it is not my absolute favortite, you would have to, of course, mention Proust's madeleine.
For me, I have an addiction to creme brulee - before you think that is not simple enough, I present its' 4 ingredients :eggs, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla. A well made cremem brulee is heaven on earth.
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I am trying to get away from soy and using the garbanzo flour more - since my husband has realized he is allergic to soy and the airborne flour will send him into sneezing fits for hours! I haven't noticed the taste, but admittedly I don't do much more then taste a nibble now and then to make sure it tastes OK
I actually don't use any egg protein, because it makes it easier in my particular situation if my gf stuff is completely egg and dairy free as well - it cuts down the total # of products/recipes I have to produce if it fits both bills.
Have you ever experimented with agar or flax seed? that might give you the binding properties you want without the toughening aspect
And YES, gf (and egg and dairy free) baking is so amazing - I love the chemistry of it.
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I make my gf pie crust without any gums - it does occasionally split or crack, but just pressing the edges of the split together will fix that. Overworking one with a gum will definately give you toughening issues.
I use an all pupose blend of 1 part potato flour, 1 part tapioca, 2 parts soy or garbanzo bean flor, and 3 parts white rice for pie shells. The white rice gives the bulk, the soy or garbanzo are providing the protein/structure and the tapioca and potato are binding.
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cocoa is going to add an acid, which will activate the baking soda. So ideally you would want to replace the baking sode with a double acting baking powder AND add an acid (vinegar, lemon juice)
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I read the article a week or so ago and put it on my "to try" list. It sounds like, from what's been posted here, that it works well with the gliadin in wheat flour. I am wondering, though, if anyone has any thoughts about what this will do to gluten-free (GF) dough. Due to celiac disease, all my baking is with "alternative" flours. I make a very decent pie crust for GF, but am always looking for something to make it better. Unfortunately, most discussions involve gluten and trying to enhance or mitigate the effects. Since I don't have any gliadin in my doughs, I'm not trying to do that.
For pie crust, baking GF is in some ways easier. I don't have to worry about developing the gluten or using low gluten flours - all my flours are. But, contrary to what you'd think, overmixing or overrolling a GF crust does cause it to be tough. Not sure why... I can, however, use more water in my crusts without problems, so maybe the vodka doesn't help at all.
So, just wondering if anyone has any hypotheses around using this technique with GF flours. I will post my results when I get to it, but it will be at least a week or two, given the other things on my proverbial plate.
I can't imagine it would help or hurt, though for some reason I lean towards hurt.
If your dough is getting tough, it may be the flour mixture you are using, especially if it cntains a gum (like xanthan)
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FYI, they are showing repeats sunday mornings on BBC america
I reallt am not a fan of his hells kitchen "management style", and I only turned this on because one of the segments sounded interesting - I am so glad I did!
This show is fantastic, now I am addicted!
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But many places do have creme brulee. And I've given up trying on baguettes.
The baguette is a lost cause in america, isn't it
I don't use it as a litmus test per se, but creme brulee has made or ruined many a meal finale for me.
The most common creme brulee problem - cooking at too high a temp! curdled and broken, you can tell someone thought that doing something fast was just as good as doing something well. Impossible to tell if it was a retaurant systemic issue with management (work faster!!), or just one bad chef - so I don't usually throw the restaurant out completely over it.
I don't bother with the creme brulee again though
edited for typo
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PS... did you have the Thunderbird 10 qt mixer? I got $ off on the one I looked at and bought it. What I wish I could do is permanently disengage the guard. I found that if I put a pen cap or pair of tweezers into the male side of the guard, I can get it to run with the guard swung around to the left. But I would prefer to do something more permanent and wondered if you had jury-rigged something.....
I have a 20 qt., and one time I got someone from thunderbird on the phone and he told me how to cut a wire to disconnect the guard. Then I lost the paper I wrote it on, so I called back and got his co-worker instead - who was horrified that the other guy had told me how to do it in the first place
Unfortunatley he would not tell me.
I hate that guard - I am literally ready to toss the machine because of it. It always becomes unscrewed and the mixer won't work. Next time my mixer guy is in I am making him cut that wire, I am sure he know which one it is!
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Inn at Little Washington - can't say I remember the exact total, I am going to guess at $500 for 2 of us.
Not really dazzled either....
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I like the spatter idea
It has been a long time since science class, but I do not think a black ceiling would be affected by oven heat, it is light heat/energy that gets black items hot.
How do you do your pine nut tart?
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
I have done the frangipane style one before, with a shortbread crust. After baking, I brushed with a sambuca s/s and glaze with a neutral glaze, but you could use another s/s...we had some fantastic tequila candies in Mexico last year, the flavor was subtle, not what you would expect and sooooooo good