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TheSwede

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    Macarons – Baking

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    This is my second attempt. It obviously went much better:

    gallery_56770_5388_169481.jpg

    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.

    Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road

    in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining

    Posted · Edited by TheSwede (log)

    Here's the review from may 2005 -

    'And then I found ñoquis sféricos de patata con consome de piel de patata asada: a game-coloured meatless consommé that tasted of baked potato skins, in which floated white spheres that burst to yield the very essence of baked potato flesh, and glass-coloured ravioli full of butter. It was the taste and smell and childhood excitement of November 5 turned into a lot of balls – and perhaps the most astonishing single dish I have ever known. '

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/c...ticle388585.ece

    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.

    Macarons – Baking

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted · Edited by TheSwede (log)

    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:

    gallery_56770_5388_515531.jpg

    Hell's Kitchen U.S. (2008)

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    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?

    Macarons – Baking

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    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... :biggrin:

    Cooking a molecular gastronomy tasting menu

    in Cooking

    Posted

    1) Chocolate chantilly just seems to work for me. Make sure to cool it fast, and I'd recommend not adding anything else, just chocolate and water, the first time.

    ....

    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.

    gender & pastry chefs

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted

    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?

    Cooking a molecular gastronomy tasting menu

    in Cooking

    Posted

    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. :smile:

    Top Chef Season 4

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted · Edited by TheSwede (log)

    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..)

    Help with the "ice filtration" technique...

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Traditionally you would make Jus with whole chicken carcasses with some meat still on the bones, roast the bones and veg and cook the jus for much less time than you would cook a stock (about 2 hours).

    You end up with a jus with much less gelatin but with the color of a reduced stock.

    Perfect for gelatin filtration.

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

    Stockholm Restaurant Recommendations

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted · Edited by TheSwede (log)

    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!

    Capers

    in Cooking

    Posted

    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.

    Water Ganache

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    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.

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