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TheSwede

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Everything posted by TheSwede

  1. Yeah, the Viking price is ridiculous. In the US, the same model cost less than half of that. You also get the switching off, but two minutes is is probably approaching ok even for me. A better buy in the prosumer segment is the Gaggenau modular 400 series. Still very expensive, but cheaper than the Viking and actually used in restaurant kitchens. If you can accept slightly flimsier construction, the Gaggenau 200 series is almost affordable. Still has knobs and very high wattage (for a consumer range). All the above models need space underneath for extra cooling, but that is the price you pay for cooking with high effect. http://www.gaggenau.com/SE_sv/Modular-Cook...w.do?protocol=*
  2. Pork floss looks like it would fit the mark! Maybe I had pork floss and also added some fermented tofu...?
  3. I have cooked a fair amount on induction ranges. This is why i have concluded that I really really hate touch controls. There is a reason why all professional models have sturdy old school dial controls. As for the turning off/beeping/blinking: That varies between between manufacturers. Blinking is clearly the least offensive, but still bothers me somewhat. Most offensive are the ones that turn themselves off (really off) if you don't replace the pan in 15 seconds or so. Once again, professional ranges doesn't do anything like that. From what I've seen, they silently turn themself off after ten minutes or so if no pan is on. Thanks for the tips on the brands, I will check them out.
  4. I will redo the kitchen in the apartment I'm about to move into and I'm trying to find a decent induction rangetop. It is not as easy as it might seem. Almost all inductions rangetops have two features I absolutely hate: They have touch controls (very slow to operate and prone to malfunction if your hands or the top is dirty) and they turn themselves off (or starts to beep/blink) if you remove the pot. What I want is a simple, high wattage range similar to this Viking one: http://www.vikingrange.com/consumer/produc...?id=prod3690160 As far as I know, Viking doesn't sell their stuff in Europe. I have been looking at real professional induction ranges like this one: http://tools.professional.electrolux.com/M...lish/CAD010.pdf But I don't think the electrical wiring in my new apartment can take anything like that. Any suggestions? I can of course buy a stove (which usually have classical controls), but then I might be stuck with an oven I don't want. Edit: My bad, Viking do sell in Europe - but maybe not the induction range? Still interested in all opinions.
  5. Tastewise fermented tofu matches, although I vagely remember a brownish slightly dried/shredded texture. This was quite some time ago though, so my recollection is a bit hazy. To widen the topic a little bit: What do people like to put on their congee? What condiments are typically served?
  6. In my limited experience, the most important thing for good photos is to get familiar with some sort of image processing software. As long as you are starting with a reasonably sharp image, you can fix most things in software. I'm using a Panasonic FZ 18 which is a step up from a digital compact cameras, but quite a bit cheaper than than pro/consumer models such as a Canon 40D. I'm using Adobe Lightroom for post processing, which unfortunately is a bit expensive. You can check out my photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26839885@N08/ Not all the photos a top notch, but some of them are pretty good.
  7. I've no idea how gelatinous your turkey stock is in itself, but my chicken stock usually has enough gelatine to set in the fridge. Adding agar to that will probably just slow things down.
  8. When I visited Singapore several years ago, my hotel served both asian and european style breakfast. Of course I tried the asian one. A staple of the Singaporean breakfast (and probably lots of other places in Asia) is Congee, savory rice porridge. Very nice. I rember adding some sort of condiment on top. It was salty and maybe even had a bit fermented taste - some sort of fermented soy product perhaps? It was a nice contrast to the more mellow taste of the congee. Can someone suggest what this might have been? What do you usually eat with congee?
  9. TheSwede

    Catering Questions

    The initial post says "sitdown for 120". My take on that is plating and serving tableside. I hope everything goes smoothly and you have lot of fun.. Please give us the full story on monday!
  10. TheSwede

    Catering Questions

    Scallops in the hot box sounds like a bad idea. Resting the tenderloins in the hot box sounds like an excellent idea. Sorry to ask the stupid questions, but you do have adequate plating and serving help? Plating is going to be a bottleneck. Also, you want to keep those plates HOT (but not sizzling hot) to avoid serving cold food. Squeeze bottles (in hot water bath) for the sauces, ring moulds for plating (optional) , wet towels for wiping plates.
  11. Revisited Esperanto a week ago. The wow factor wasn't as big as last time when I really was floored by both presentation and ideas (although not always execution - see above). Maybe my expectations was higher this time or I just knew more what would be coming. The tasting menu was almost completely changed from last time, although the structure was pretty similar. The outstanding dishes of the evening was the oyster (exceptional) and the pike-perch (very good). The foie gras was also very good. I had a very nice evening, but I was ever so slightly disappointed with the food when I left. Menu: Amuses Frozen cream of fresh garlic in boneflour and celery salt Fennelbaked pike-perch with black lemon and cauliflower Belon oyster from Grebbestad with pearls on celeriac and Bayonne aspic Kingcrab on sole mousseline with green peas and ramson bavaroise, mayonnaise viande Spring porridge with morells Smoked scented foie gras with ginger pressed pears and soft ginger Salt poached sucklinglamb with a white onion butter and spring vegetables, liver paté on lambs bread and summer truffle Roses, Champagne and Madeleine Canapées
  12. Whatever became of Heather, season 1 winner? I bet Christina came back to NY and wrapped up her training at the CIA, and is probably stashed away somewhere, right now, training and working in a Ramsay restaurant. Believe me, GR Holdings has now invested heavily in her, so they'll give her as much hands-on as they can. If you notice from last week's episode, "Sarge", who was once a sous chef at GR's Hospital Road restuarant (I believe) when they shot Boiling Point (1995), is the exec chef at another of Gordo's restos. So Christina will resurface. ← I'm not doubting that they will offer her some sort of position and she will of course get the money, but the whole "executive chef at my new restaurant" spiel never sounded very likely. Mark Sargeant has worked for Ramsay forever and if you are good enough to survive that, of course GRH will take care of you.
  13. Well, nowhere at the homepage of "Gordon Ramsay at the London, West Hollywood" is there any mention of Christina. Not that I'm surprised. You aren't going to install a culinary student in any sort of leading position when you have a critical restaurant opening. http://www.gordonramsay.com/gratthelondonwh/
  14. ...or it was a clever PR stunt to draw some attention to the newly refurbished restaurant.
  15. Summer truffles is a perfectly ok species of truffles. They have much less taste than winter/perigord truffles, but still tastes "truffly". Use as winter truffles but use more. Of course, a lot of things can happen in the canning process so you never really know what you will get. Always check the latin name: Black Périgord Truffle (real black truffle): Tuber melanosporum White truffle (super expensive, wonderful, most commonly from Italy): Tuber magnatum Black Summer Truffle: Tuber aestivum Burgundy Truffle (also a perfectly good less expensive substitute for real black truffle): Tuber unicinatum
  16. From what I've gathered it is a general purpose foaming/stabilizing agent for cold foams. Mix 100g per litre of liquid, load your siphon and cool for two hours. No idea if it also will emulsify fat for eg a vinaigrette foam.
  17. El Corto Inglese in Spain seems to carry it for around 700 EUR.
  18. Oysters (even though they aren't really that expensive), foie gras of course, truffles (though very hard to find good preserved). Champagne and oysters, sauternes and seared foie...
  19. Using some sort of plastic bag is usually optimal, since you can completely cover the meat with minimal ammount of marinade.
  20. Thanks for the compliment! I'm only an amateur (although I do have a little culinary school, basic cusine from LCB in London). The yoghurt ravioli was only a technical experiment, not a complete dish. It is just plain yoghurt (reverse) spherified in alginate. Yoghurt and other dairy products have enough calcium to naturally spherify in alginate which is pretty cool.
  21. If you were to use the brown butter cream as an ice cream base, would you use the whipped cream or just leave it out? My inclination would be to leave it out, it is added to give a fluffy texture to the cream but probably not needed in a churned ice cream.
  22. I think the existing topic dissapeared? Regardless, on Michael Laiskonis' (exec pastry chef at Le Bernadin) excellent blog there is a recipe for a brown butter cream that uses milk solids from double cream: http://michaellaiskonis.typepad.com/main/2...-is-flavor.html (recipe in PFD at the bottom) This cream could probably be used as an ice cream base. Someone more knowledgeable than me can hopfully point out if there should be any modifications to make it a good ice cream base. He also has a recipe for brown butter ice cream that uses ordinary browned butter: http://michaellaiskonis.typepad.com/main/2...e-road-low.html (As a component part of the dessert recipe at the bottom) His blog is an excellent read for anyone interested in high level pastry.
  23. With that much forethought and prep work, I think you could easily pull off that menu by yourself, no help needed. You have already done the complicated stuff, mapping out the whole dinner in your head. Remember that it is actually ok to have the guests wait for a little while for the next course. Talk a little, finish their wine etc. That happens even in three star restaurants. You won't bee seen much in the dining room, but that can't be avoided. (The most I've pulled off from TFL Cookbook is two courses in a single day, but then I started shopping ingredients mid day saturday and served saturday evening, with a simpler main course in between. See http://www.flickr.com/photos/26839885@N08/ for photos)
  24. A short term solution would be to fire someone that really needs firing. Just one person that really really deserves it. And then fire an apprentice or two at the same time (or just have "the talk" with them). That will probably take care of any immediate problems you have at work. But it definitely won't fix your general burn out tendencies. That requires a long vacation and/or a change of venue in a serious way. Catering? Private/personal chef? Teaching?
  25. A more interesting question is if it is a difference between a swiss or italian buttercream (or meringue)? My personal preference is the italian, it just feels easier to make.
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