KennethT

So, just an update of what's been going on, and a question... So, I changed my cake from being citrus scented, to hazelnut. I did a lot of searching online, and saw a bunch of recipes that looked ok, then made some tweaks and came up with this: 10 eggs, separated 1/2# toasted hazelnuts, cooled then ground 1C sugar 2T matzoh cake flour pinch salt Whip the yolks with the sugar Whip in MC flour Fold in ground nuts Whip whites to stiff, fold into yolk mixture Bake 350F, 50min or so Being that I have such little experience with baking, I went to the baking supply store and bought a new "non stick" square pan whose shape would work well for my application. While washing it, it definitely seemed non stick as the water would just bead up on it. I didn't grease or paper the pan, hoping the non-stickiness would be enough, but, the cake practically welded itself to the bottom and sides of the pan! Should I grease or paper the pan, or both? In what order? Since I can't use butter, should I use shortening, margarine or oil? Also, while the cake is nice and moist, it's a bit heavy - do you think I could lighten up on a yolk or two, and add an extra corresponding quantity of white to lighten it a bit?

Kevin, I'm sure you've read this already, but just in case you haven't the Cooking Issues guys have done extensive testing/writing on shaking vs stirring / dilution, effects of carbonation, etc...

That's what I was thinking - thanks for your confirmation, Chris. I didn't know that the flavor would change over time - I haven't tasted it since last week - curious to see what has happened...

I made an Herve This style chocolate mousse last weekend - it is an emulsion of only coffee and chocolate - and it has been in my refrigerator all week. For how long will it still be safe to eat? Is there something in there that can go bad? There are two different versions - the details of which are: Mousse 1: 150g bittersweet chocolate 120g coffee Mousse 2: 150g bittersweet chocolate 140g coffee

Thanks for the advice! I have several recipes that I'm looking at for the cake portion (some from recipeGullet, and some from previous passover baking threads) - but it's always good to get more suggestions and ideas. Also, I was just wondering what other people are doing this year... I know I'm a couple weeks early, but it's never early to start planning, right?

Thank you, but I'm not talking about the regular zip loc freezer bags (which I've used for 72 hour short ribs and the like), but rather the zip loc vacuum bags that have both a zip seal at the edge and a one way vacuum valve through which you can pump out air. It's that valve that I'm concerned about. Here's the product page for what I'm talking about http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Pages/VacuumFreezerSystem.aspx I've used these with no problems... if I'm nervous, after sucking the air out, I"ll stick a piece of duct tape over the valve.

I've decided to bake for Passover this year, as I'm sick of waiting on a long line, paying a LOT of money for a really crappy, dry aweful cake to bring to seder.... I have been planning a layer cake with the cake parts being lemon scented and the filling as a Herve This inspired dairy-free mousse - it's basically an emulsion of chocolate and some liquid - in my case I'm using a nice coffee. I did some experiments this weekend with the filling, using two different brews, and then varying the ratio of chocolate:coffee to get the texture I was looking for. I've read a lot about these types of mousses but have never made them myself, but I'm amazed at how well the technique works. Light, fluffy, and really intensely flavored. I am thinking of using the technique to make the frosting as well, just changing the liquid ratio to make it a bit stiffer, and maybe I'll sweeten it a touch more, since I"m using 70% chocolate that's not very sweet. I haven't baked a cake in a long time - and I don't think I've ever done a passover cake - does anyone have any ideas to make a sponge cake that is dairy free, (eggs are ok) and kosher for passover that's not dry and crumbly? I was thinking maybe some type of almond/olive oil cake, but I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Have you tried subbing tarragon for thyme? To me, one of the best combinations in the world is morels, butter, tarragon and cognac.

There's a lot of advantages to steam ovens - high end restaurants use them for lots of things - but I don't know about the Wolf model. It doesn't seem like you can control the humidity inside, like you can for a Rational CombiOven, which would be a true steam oven, but it's hard to tell from the Wolf literature.

If you have the time, how 'bout small, lentil sized spheres of lentil cooking liquid to be mixed in with the lentils?

OK - so, in this case, it makes sense... especially if the finished product worked out well! I didn't realize the tea:vinegar ratio was so low - so I guess it makes to require a real strong tea to come through at all with all that vinegar.

I'd agree with your assumptions, but 15g of dried blossoms is a LOT of blossoms... especially in only 50ml of water... so even though it's not explicit as in the later recipe, I would assume fresh blossoms. If you think of making tea (not necessarily chamomile tea) - for normal brewing, I use about 4.5-5g tea leaves for roughly 250ml water and that makes a pretty potent brew - I wouldn't want it stronger than that...

Really? A vacuum is at most 1atm/14 psi. It's pretty easy to withstand that, especially in compression, isn't it? I'm sure the polycarbonate of a Nalgene bottle could do it. I think the challenge is to create reliable, low-maintenance pumps and seals. The problem gets more difficult/expensive as the size of the chamber increases. This is because the loads increase with the surface area of the chamber. You also lose the help from making the walls curved as the chamber gets bigger, as the curvature of circular walls is inversely proportional to the radius. One more thing is the direction of the loads is such that it wants to buckle the chamber loads - not a problem with a bottle that is pressurized on the inside. For a natural example, check out the thickness of an ostrich egg shell versus a chicken egg. Right... just to illustrate a little more, if you have a chamber that's 11x15x8 inches, then for one wall (say the 15x8) you'd have 120 square inches, so at 14psi, that would equal 1680 pounds of force that the wall would have to resist against. While the material itself will have no problem (like your nalgene bottle), you'd have to have a very strong wall and joints that will resist buckling under that kind of force.

Part of the problem of a chamber vacuum is designing a "box" that will withstand the high pressure of a decently strong vacuum. Materials significantly strong/thick enough to withstand this pressure at a decent size is not that cheap.

I agree with Julian - but getting to Lameloise would be very difficult without a car. While I think Beaune is a cute little town, I don't know what it would be like to live there for a month wihtout a car - as many things in Burgundy are quite a ways outside the city. One thing not to miss - which I odn't even know if it's possible to miss since it takes up the whole central square (right next to the Hospice de Beaune) - is the market that takes place every weekend (can't remember if it was Sat or Sun). Ma Cuisine is excellent - although you'll need reservations - at last check, they're only open 4 days a week and hard to get into as many winemakers enjoy dining there. They don't really have a set menu - just a blackboard where they write what they have that day. They do, however, have a massive wine list - mostly from the surrounding area with many back vintages, but also a full page of Chateau d'Yquem in tons of back vintages. Also, the wine list is very fairly priced for what it is. My wife and I shared an amazing bottle of 1998 Meo Camuzet Clos de Vougeot for less than what we would have paid retail (or even at most auctions) here in NY. I'd like to add, if it suits you, the local specialties of frogs legs, and escargot are fantastic. I still dream about them (with lots of butter, garlic and parsley) and we ahven't been there in a few years. If you like the burgundian style washed rind cheeses, there's a plethora to be found. Sure there's the Epoisses, but keep an eye out for some of the others that are made in the area that don't get exported so much - I don't remember the names off the top of my head, but the people I met were very friendly and very happy to talk about the local specialties - most of which are made around the corner somewhere. Have fun on your trip - you have tons of time to try everything in Beaune several times over.... count me jealous too!

I've never cooked burbot liver, and have never even heard of it, but I commonly do foie gras or chicken livers sous vide at 132F (55.6C) to bring to temp (dependent on thickness). I don't know if the burbot liver is similar at all to either of these.

True - but I thought the service has been excellent each time. The courses were spaced really well, and I've found the staff to be welcoming and knowledgable, despite the "cool" appearance, and I've never felt rushed like they were trying to turn the table like what happens at so many popular places... Definitely have to check out the men's room now though!

Likewise... Actually have a resy for next Sat at 6 - taking some friends who haven't been yet.

damn... and it was getting hard to get into before... now it'll be impossible!

Well, unitasker or not, I'd like to say that that is a pretty piece of wood craftsmanship... I'm sure you had as much fun building it as you'll have using it!

We used to go to Coop's for jambalaya, but I don't have that much experience, so I can't say if there's better out there.

What about doing the creme on the stovetop or sv? Then, pipe the finished creme onto the cakes and refrigerate until service... then add sugar and brulee at service

My memory of CB is that it's cured in a brine using, among other things, Instacure #1, which results in a pink color (like pastrami, but it's not rubbed and smoked), and also "sets" the texture... I don't know what value it would be to cook at 131 for a long time...

ha! Sable MacGuyver!

I find the biggest thing is to keep a clean seal area to start with. Try folding the top of the bag back so it stays clean while filling.