TheSwede

This is my second attempt. It obviously went much better: Filled with raspberry italian buttercream. I'm pretty sure it was moisture that made yesterdays batch fail. It was raining outside and I belive a proper "skin" never formed. Today I used a hair dryer to ensure a proper skin and everything worked perfectly.

I used the same recipe...

I had them drying between 3 -30 mins. Didn't seem to affect the end result.

It is in the El Bulli 2004 cookbook. Although their recipe for the consomme is just baked potato skins that first is simmered and then steeped in the cooking water, salted and filtered through a superbag. The "gnocchi" is pretty cool, it is a spherified foam. All in all, not an extremely complicated dish actually.

Thanks. I just made my first batch of macarons today with limited success. I used the italian meringue recipe from http://www.syrupandtang.com/200712/la-maca...and-a-few-tips/ Half the batch was plain with some salt crystals on top for a later filling with caramel, half the batch was colored pale green and had japanese green tea added. All in all I made four trays. The two plain trays hade a nice dome shape, but refused to develop feet (not a trace!) and the top surface was matte and sligthly cratered like a microscopic moon surface. One of the green tea trays actually got the glossy finish and some small feet (!), but instead had cracked domes. And the last green tray was matte and too flat (stirred that one too much). This variation is enough to drive anyone slightly crazy... Can anyone shed some insight why some of the macarons got a matte dome and no feet? Here is a picture:

I belive that the last four contestants actually are pretty competent cooks. Probably not great chefs or anything, but good enough to hold their station during busy service. I also think that it was the right decision to let Jen go home. I think she certainly can cook, but that she is a disaster in a busy kitchen when things are starting to go wrong. Maybe that is just caused by the extra pressure brought on by the HC competition?

I'm sort of a pastry newbie (but still attempting macarons. right). I'm perfectly comfortable making an italian buttercream technically, but I'm not experienced enough to judge what should go where and how and what to use depending on on the circumstance. Say I want to put some rasperry flavour into my macarons. So: Color the macarons red, either with a bit of rasberry syrup or plain food coloring. But what is the best filling/flavour carrier for rasperry (or fruits in general)? What is the best flavour carrier for spices or things like toasted sesame seeds or green tea? Does anyone have generic recipe for a ganache that is spreadable, but still firm enough to hold in room temperature? What flavours works well in a ganache besides the obvious chocolate? Bonus points if someone can tell me how to make a foie gras or oilve oil macaron that tastes good...

There has been a lot of discussion of baking the actual macarons (which I've eagerly read) but much less so about filling/flavouring. Anyone like to share their favourite fillings and flavourings?

Thanks for the report! It was both fun and informative.

Check out the Khymos Hydrocolloid recipe collection. Lots of very usefull stuff. http://khymos.org/recipe-collection.php Typical ratios seems to be 2.5% gluconate and 0.5% alginate.

Do you cool before whipping the mix or while you are whipping? How do you cool it? I think my attempt failed because of inadequate cooling.

Serious pastry work has my highest respect. I (and most people on this planet) could never repeat it, whereas most people are comfortable sauteeing a steak. Perhaps the hours are somewhat more compatible with a normal human life and that is what attracts women?

Go go! You sound like me - more exuberance then sense. Note 1: I would dearly love to have some hands on advice on the chocolate chantilly. The one time I tried it (with Earl Grey tea for extra sophistication (right...)) it definitely refused to whip up. When cooled it made a nice ganache for truffles or such (see "water ganache" in the pastry forum) but it was in no way fluffy. Note 2: How many ISI whippers do you own? I've been trying hold off buying my second one. Seriously, owning more than one is just silly. Right? Note 3: If you think ordinary alginate spheres taste too little, try reverse. Possibly with the sphere-to-be frozen before. That way you don't need any thickener, which presumably is what kills the taste. Note 4: You don't happen to live near Stockholm, Sweden? If so, I would love to cook with you. Or marry you, if you happen to be female.

White wine is extremely high in acidity. I'm betting it has something to do with that. I found some information on acidity and buffering with sodium citrate in this thread: http://groups.google.com/group/molecular-g...7e534c4d56e9afd Although since you are doing reverse, it might not be relevant at all?

I think the reasoning above (by TC and posters) is selling Stephanie short. I belive her technical skills are at least on par with Richard's, they just are aligned more with traditional french cooking. Her starter in the finale was absolutely stunning in presentation and was also very very good in taste according to the judges. Sure, it was in a "modern but still rooted in tradition" french style rather than "cutting edge modern" style, but there are loads of michelin starred restaurants still doing that kind of food. Exactly the same could be said for her lamb main course. (And she is cute!) Go Stephanie! On the other hand, her dessert was shockingly bad. When was the last time you had a layer cake in a fine dining restaurant? What was she thinking? Was the salted banana cream supposed to be the twist that turned the cake into a modern dish with just a wink towards traditional home cooking? I'm definitely not a chef, but I'm even less of a pastry chef and I would have made a better looking and more contemporary dessert. (Although not while making three other courses for 12 people in too little time...so ok..)

He is restaturant manager at two star Petrus in London.

This is how I usually make my brown chicken stock. I might add another 30 - 60 minutes of cooking, but otherwise no difference.

What do you mean by jus in this context, how is it different from stock?

Visited newly Michelin-starred restaurant Leijontornet during the week and had a really excellent meal. Not quite as spectacular as Matthias Dahlgren (but who is?) and not quite the cutting edge cooking of Esperanto (not intended to be either), but delicious dishes very much rooted in the nordic/local/seasonal credo. I thought Leijontornet's food were better than Lux (see above), but this time of the year Lux definitely wins extra points for the dining environment. Dark rustic cellar (Leijontornet) vs park and water views (Lux). Leijontornet offer two three course menus. Both comes with amuses and two bonus courses so in effect you get six dishes (plus canapés with the coffe). My menu was: Amuses/snacks: Crispy fish skin, crispy pigs ears, crispy pork jowls with dipping sauces. Langoustine from Skagerrak Luke warm langoustine, crispy side of pork, pearl barley, morels, sorrel, common wood sorrel and shoots of spruce Extra dish: Smoked char Duck from Hagbygård Breast of duck fried with thyme, terrine of duck liver, jelly of elder flower, three kinds of onion, poached quail egg and baked cheek of pork Extra dish: Composed goat cheese course Rhubarb from Lennartsnäs Pickled rhubarb, polypody and wheat bun filled with vanilla cream Canapés Also very nice home baked bread service with 4-5 different kinds of bread. Definitely a memorable meal!

A traditional Swedish dish is Beef a la Lindstrom: Burger patties with capers and diced pickled beetroots. Serve with some fried onions, boiled (or mashed) potatoes and brown sauce or gravy.

Cool receipe. I think I will inflict this on some guests in the near future!

I tried to do the Chocolate Chantily (ie "whipped chocolate") mentioned upthread, but no success. I made a water ganache with 35% fat /65% water (actually Earl Grey tea), added a tiny bit of gelatine and then tried to whip air into it. Didn't work, no air got into the mixture. Any suggestions why? So, I gave up and just put the mixture into the fridge. Once it set I had a nice quite firm conventional ganache that would have been perfect for trufles.

Receipe? You mention lipids, ie fats. Presumably you emulsify the fat in the orange juice somehow?

Very OT, but I would love to get my hands on Marinetti's cookbook! There seems to be an out of print english edition from 1991.

Thanks for the report. I haven't been there (yet). The logistics of getting there and back has always seemed a bit challenging.