stuartlikesstrudel

I would think that tapioca flour definitely shouldn't have wheat and corn flours in it. I guess that recipe must have been a blend for something, maybe if you're trying to approximate the effect of it as a substitute.

Has anyone made rice krispie treats using a homemade marshmallow/fluff instead of melting down bought marshmallows. I know that's a very easy way to do it, but I don't tend to have marshmallows on hand and they aren't actually that cheap in the supermarket, it seems. I figure there must be a way to make marshmallow-y goop and just stir the rice bubbles into that... I guess it might work to use a normal marshmallow recipe and skip the part where you form and cut them?

I wonder if white sugar would be better for structure/texture, even though the taste may not be quite as nice. I think of brown sugar as being moister and seems to make things like cookies softer. It could be that using white sugar would allow the streusel to hold its shape better, so if you make it cragged when you put it on, it might stay that way. I agree with baroness too, I also like oats in my crumble/streusel.

I read in a book about pies that you are supposed to let fruit pies cool for a few hours for the juices to reabsorb into the filling, then heat them back up to serve. Which sort of makes sense when I think about it, and I guess the second time in the oven is enough to refresh the pastry so it's not soggy... means you can do it ahead of time, too I've never actually tried it though.

While this thread pops back up again, maybe I will jump in too... I recently tried out a few different recipes and get some experience making crusts. The pies mostly turned out well, but I noticed that while cooking, most of the pies seemed to bleed out a lot of butter - in the clear dishes, i could see it pooling a bit in the bottom, and I guess "frying" the dough in its own fat, essentially. They definitely turned out flaky, but perhaps a bit too 'crisp' The recipes I used were all pretty standard ratios and techniques. I'm wondering if there is always a bit of this, or whether I have done something wrong with oven temperature or something. I have had the same thing happen with croissants when I made laminated dough - a fair bit of butter melting rather than somehow being absorbed immediately within the dough. I don't actually know what a great pie crust should be like, i know what I like but I don't know if i've ever tasted a crust that is said to be perfect, so it makes it a bit hard to know if my results are "correct" or not.

http://www.foodbeam.com/2007/09/19/reussir-la-pate-sucree-pas-a-pas-mastering-pate-sucree-step-by-step/ This is Pate Sucree which I *think* is like brisee but with sugar. I've made this one a few times in the stand mixer and it works well. You'd still need to do a number of batches, of course.

Yesterday afternoon, about 4:30pm, i hit the hungries and wasn't going to be eating until about 8pm so thought I should have a snack... well a while ago I bought some Kraft Easy Mac in nacho cheese flavour (because the original isn't artificial and processed enough?!). As soon as I sprinkled the bright orange powder into the noodles, I had second thoughts. It did kind of hit the spot, since it was cheesy and salty like I wanted, so maybe it doesn't really belong here, but I pondered why I would do that to myself.

Interesting! I think I'd really like to do some showpiece work someday, I will have to keep an eye out for any opportunities What kind of chocolate do you use for these pieces? I'm assuming it's not top quality stuff since it's not going to be eaten (right?).

This is a really interesting topic I'm also interested to hear how people decide when a recipe is "done"... a bit like the question of 'how many times do you test a dish'? For me, I like to try new things so I don't really have any 'signature dishes' or things i make over and over, or if I do, i always mix it up somehow by trying different spices/quantities or adding a new ingredient. I don't really have that experience to know when something is pared down to perfection (if there is such a thing!) and doesn't need any more additions or tweaks. I think I'd always want to add another flavour or something.

Lior, you could also look into Agar Spherification as a more low-tech way to make little spheres/caviar. They are a bit different in texture but don't require the special chemicals (just some agar agar which is more readily available). I've never actually tried the calcium ones but I played around with agar a few weeks ago and had a great result with my first attempt.

Try "finger lime"

What about making a granita with the ginger ale? I think adding a lot of cream would lose the characteristics of ginger ale (which may be what you found with the panna cotta) and so a granita would still be refreshing, a bit watery (like ginger ale is) and taste strongly of it. And you don't need an icecream maker for it, cause it's meant to be a bit coarse and textured anyway.

Those are beautiful, E.T.! Amazing feet and overall shape on those macarons, i'm very jealous (but i like the filling to ooze a bit more to the edges ) and that moulded chocolate is very aesthetically appealing. Great photos.

Mmmmmmm Keller's quiche. Need to make that again! I agree with FoodMan that the thicker crust helps to make up for the tall filling. I guess people who want some crust in every bite might still argue that so much custard makes it unweildy, but the custard texture is so good i'm perfectly happy to have some bites of gooey deliciousness, and every other bite having some crust. Having said that, if we kept the temperature down, I wonder if making it thinner would still work. I like the sound of the 1 1/2 to 2 inch height.

I don't know what a Mounds bar is but in Australia we have something called a Bounty which may be similar... just a coconut filling in dark chocolate. What I like about the bounty bar, at least, is that the filling isn't too chewy - it's very moist, but not sticky and sweet in the caramel-y way, which I think might happen with condensed milk. I wonder about using coconut milk as the liquid instead... would enhance the flavour and give you more flexibility with sweetness, I think?

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Last night I did a quick test for the herb layer, using parsley because it's what we have in the garden. I just blended it with some water and got a "juice" that was decently flavoured, then added a bit of lemon juice and salt because I thought it needed something, and have gelled it with some agar agar. Didn't have time to try it this morning but the overall process seemed promising. I used the trick which Kenneth suggested where I only cooked a small amount of the liquid to try and preserve freshness... probably most important for the tomato layer. As for the mozzarella, I have found a lot of vegetarians will still eat cheese made with traditional animal rennet, but it is a good point to raise, thanks Kouign. I'm not sure if people just don't realise it's not vegetarian or they just don't mind. For the oil and vinegar, i'm thinking I might just blend them with a little lecithin or xantham gum to thicken them slightly (not much) and then put a few drops on top of each serving, which should be ok to get a hint of the flavor. Again, thanks for the help I'm looking forward to when I have time for a full test run.

Ahhh, that's great Would be a fun dish to eat. I have just realised that I did an internet-naughty and didn't do enough research of my own before asking. It seems there is quite a bit out there for the different elements I need, so I may be able to piece it together myself. Particularly with the help of the hydrocolloid recipe book, which is very extensive, and I should have checked earlier. But tips are still welcome if people want to contribute. 2 questions I do have are : does oil work with agar? I feel like all the fat might interfere, or make a gross texture. And i see locust bean gum popping up quite a bit in use with agar. I guess they synergise somehow... I don't really want to buy more specialised things that I won't use but is it something that would help out a lot?

Hi all, I want to create little savoury jellies to take to a party, and I would like to make a layered one based around the classic salad combination of tomato, basil, mozzarella and perhaps olive oil or vinegar. What I'm not sure about is how to get the flavours into liquids that I can then gel, and also would love any advice from the communal wisdom pot about how to get a good gelling texture. I don't have any specialised equipment (i.e vacuum sealer or iSi whipper, which I read can both be good for infusing). The tomato should be easy, I think... my plan is to blend the tomatoes then hang them in some cloth so the tomato water drips through, which I have read about before. Should be a very pure, clean taste. Not so sure about the basil and particularly the mozzarella... the whey or liquid it comes in should be a good start i think. To create the jelly, I would prefer to not use gelatin if possible so it is vegetarian, but if needed I can use it. I have agar agar, but I haven't played with it enough to know if the texture will be good. I read it gets a bit "crunchy" almost when used by itself? I also have some xanthan gum and soy lecithin, but i don't know if they're any help. All i really want from the texture is something than holds its shape well (i want to layer the flavours, then cut into little cubes for people to pick up and eat, maybe I would skewer them for easy eating). I have a bit of time to play around with it but not heaps, so I probably won't have time to test things like different setting amounts for the different layers, which would be cool if I did have time to refine it. Thanks heaps for any tips

In this free pdf, there is a recipe near the end for an apple torte/cake which I think is excellent. It's pretty much a whole lot of thinly sliced apple held together by a batter, and when it's baked the "cake" is very caramelly and delicious. I think this, served with a dollop of cream, would be an excellent dessert as it's full of apple, and yet seems a bit classy to me. I haven't played around with things to serve with it, but I think some kind of caramel sauce could be good (maybe too sweet, not sure) or even something crunchy, some toasted nuts sprinkled on top, perhaps.

What about an unbaked meringue? If you have a blowtorch, you can torch the meringue to get the lovely outside without baking. A thin layer of meringue means the inside will "cook" a bit as well, or if you do a lot of meringue, it will stay soft, but Italian Meringue is a beautiful soft, gooey meringue which I love uncooked, just torched. Then you can do whatever you like inside.

Do you mean the liquid glaze kind (like you might find on top of a bun or mille feuille, or the firm sculpting kind used in cake decorating? Prariegirl's link to the Chef Eddy site is very good if you want the poured kind. If you are interested in a rolled fondant, you could try googling Marshmallow Fondant. It is the only type I have tried to make and it worked well... and as a bonus, it tastes like marshmallows, which is a step up from a lot of the unpleasant fondants I have tasted in the past which I immediately peel off.

Soups are a perfect way to eat a lot of vegetables. A lot of the middle eastern and african type ones use some couscous, rice, legumes or something like that to fill it out, without being overwhelming in that aspect. They really are one bowl meals. I like to team it with a salad for freshness but often don't bother. This is one of my other, slightly less obvious, vegetable-y meals. http://www.culinate.com/columns/front_burner/everyone_loves_vegetable_fritters I go very light on the batter so it's pretty much just vegetables with enough batter to help them adhere well. They're so flexible, I use whatever we have lying around, serve them with a sauce/mayonnaise/chutney/whatever and flavour in any way I feel like... could be indian-style spices, asian twist, it's fun to try out different types.

I wonder if tomatoes are more easily preserved than some other vegetables, so the food traditions worked them into year-wide cuisine. This might just be wrong, though... i don't know what works for canning/preserving.

I have planned to do some comparison, makes sense really... Are there some things where the difference is more marked, do you think? I guess high water vegetables might be more dramatic. In regards the carrots, it made me think of a Marcella Hazan recipe for sauteed carrots that cook slowly for about 90 mins (maybe braised rather than sauteed) and throughout that time, they shrink and shrivel, as you only add enough liquids to keep them from sticking. At the end they taste intense and very different from their fresh counterparts.

Hey all, I have been wondering for a while if there's anything inherently different in the heat from an oven than from other methods... for example, I'm about to cook some rhubarb, and I was planning to cook it over a double boiler, sprinkled with sugar - so with no added liquid. If I were to cook it in the oven, what might be the difference? I guess for some things you get caramelization, and it is a more generalised heat which would make a difference. The reduction of moisture/liquids is the most important feature, as far as I can understand, as it allows for intensity of flavour. I don't want to get fixated on rhubarb, it's more of a general question. To my mind it extends to all kinds of things... roasting pumpkin rather than steaming (if you're doing a large chunk of pumpkin, where the maillard reaction on the surfaces isn't necessarily the aim). Roasting pears rather than sauteeing or whatnot... or sauteeing cauliflower rather than the famous eG roasted slices. In this case, since they're so thin, would it work equally well (or even better?) to be exposing the edges directly, so you get the browning intensely. (never mind the huge amount of pan surface area you'd need to do more than a few slices). Hopefully this is clear, I'd like to hear what other people have experienced anecdotally or scientifically... to me, heating the oven and spending quite a bit of time to roast elements seems a bit of a waste in many applications, so i wonder how different the results are. But I do recognise that at least some of the time, there is a definite difference.