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DanM

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Posts posted by DanM

    Strawberry Cake Base

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    Wifey has asked me to make her a strawberry flavored cake with chocolate frosting for her birthday. I have been looking around, but cannot find a formula for the strawberry base.

    Does anyone have any ideas?

    Thanks,

    Dan

    Hamantashen

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I'm bumping this thread back up. Its hamantashen time, what are you making?

    Thanks to the influence here, I will be making yeasted with an apple strudel style filling, yeasted with orange frangipane, apricot gingerbread, and maybe chocolate with cherry.

    Dan

    New Caribbean Market Find - Unknown Fish and Roots

    in Cooking

    Posted

    I just had one of those adventures. I found a new grocer near my house that specializes in Caribbean produce and fish. How can I nave NOT known about this place all this time?? Finding fresh pineapple at $1 each is a definate find.

    Anyhow... I am unfamiliar with some of the fish and roots that they carry. I found brief descriptions for them in Oxford's guide to food and online, but any info and suggested recipes would be greatly appreciated.

    Fishies:

    Doctor

    Butter

    Jamaican Butter

    Parrot

    Goat

    Grunt

    Spot

    Roots:

    Yampi

    Yautia lila coco

    Batata

    Thanks!

    Dan

    Being Pressured Into Starting a Business

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted

    For that much bread you don't need a mixer.

    Using stretch and fold you can do it by hand until you establish the business

    Umm thanks dude, but I am neither a masochist, nor desire the forearms of popeye. I think a mixer will be used if I ever have to make this much bread.

    I greatly appreciate everyone's advice. I have been thinking about it greatly and have decided to resist the pressure and temptation to open a small operation for at least one year. I will instead try to find a job in a local establishment. I need to work on my skills, see how working 40+ hours a week will effect home life, and work on the numbers more.

    Now the hard part... Finding a local bakery that knows what they are doing. Sadly, there are not very many around here.

    Dan

    Being Pressured Into Starting a Business

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted

    My computer crashed yesterday and was unable to follow up on your thoughts and questions.

    Per your estimates... my ingredient costs came out to approx $70 per 1 lbs loaf with 2 or 3 loaves per customer. The local supermarket charges $3.95 per loaf and everyone thinks it is crap. So lets say $3.50 per loaf = $7-10 per customer.

    Why would you charge LESS for your (superior) product?

    I'm sorry for not being 100% clear on this. The local supermarket sells 24oz challahs for $3.95. The challahs I will be making will be 1lbs each at 3.50. Thats 16 cents per oz from them or 21 cents per oz from me. 1 lbs loaves make more sense to me given the quantity purchased by the average family.

    Would you do things other than challah?  Hamantashen next week, chiffon cakes for Pesach, cakes for bat mitzvahs, etc.?  Or are you just talking about bread?

    Has the synagogue expressed any interest in hiring you vs. running it as your own business? Would you be interested in an arrangement where they cover your 'salary' and you get a share in any profits?

    Yes! I plan on making 2-4 desserts available for preorder with the challahs. I will vary the offerings by season and per holiday. Birthday cakes and special even orders will be possible given the amount of time I might have that given week. Pesach is a whole other beast given that I would need a whole new set of equipment.

    Working for the synagogue has not been explored. I would prefer to be a separate entity to protect myself and the business from the board's influence.

    What risk?

    If you are walking into a facility that is up and running.

    You have a willling captive audience awaiting your every move.

    I mean if you are worrying about the children you have yet to conceive, probably not a good plan for you.

    ?

    Determine your break even point and go start some relationships with vendors. I mean you could do this part time. What?

    The facility is there, but I am also facing a $7-10k in start up capital to purchase a 20-30 qt mixer, racks, pans, pots, and other equipment.

    Thanks again everyone!

    Dan

    Morimoto

    in Cookbooks & References

    Posted

    It is a beautiful and inspiring book. However, many of the recipes call for exotic and unusual ingredients. You may find some of them at Asian markets in your area. For me it is mostly food porn since many of the recipes call for non kosher ingredients.

    Dan

    Being Pressured Into Starting a Business

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted

    Baking for fun and baking for a living are very different.

    If you are running a business, then its the business part that is most important.

    Lets say you are making challah. They are good challah, and you can sell a 2lb loaf for $7.50. I use challah as an example, obviously you would bake lots of different things.

    That loaf has about 1 1/4 lbs of flour in it, some oil and some poppy seed, say $2 worth of ingredients. You pay $3 to the shul for rent, fuel, phone, insurance and all the rest, leaving $2.50 profit.

    Minimum wage in Connecticut is $8/hour, and you work a 40 hour week, so $320/week. That is 128 challahs, or 4 an hour, every hour, not allowing for cleanup, delivery, sales, chatting to customers etc. How fast can you plait?

    Can you sell 128 challahs, or 25 a day, everyday?

    Can you bake 25/day in the ovens?

    Its at best marginal. Don't do it.

    If your arm hurts now, think how it will feel after plaiting 128 challahs...

    If you must do it please do a cashflow and budget first.

    I was figuring I would be making Challah all day Thurs and Friday. I can probably fit 4 challahs per oven every 40 minutes. If I do a best case scenario of baking ONLY challahs Thurs day Fri with 14 hours of oven time, that is maybe 150 loaves if I am really efficient and have nothing else to bake or do.

    Per your estimates... my ingredient costs came out to approx $70 per 1 lbs loaf with 2 or 3 loaves per customer. The local supermarket charges $3.95 per loaf and everyone thinks it is crap. So lets say $3.50 per loaf = $7-10 per customer.

    I can always "hire" slave labor interns from local culinary schools, but I despise the practice of free labor.

    Any way you slice it, it does not add up to much money.

    Per the point about how many challahs can you sell, it's unclear to me how this business works if you are operating out of the synagogue's kitchen. How would you market your product without a storefront? Would it just be word of mouth to the local community associated with the synagogue and are their enough of them to for you to earn a decent wage?

    Seems to me that using the facilities for a catering business makes more sense.

    The model that makes the most sense is that this will be a preorder/catering business. A menu of available items would be sent out to members of the local synagogues 2 weeks in advance and then given 1 week to respond for their orders for the upcoming Shabbat. That will give me time to order ingredients and do any prefab.

    Dan

    Being Pressured Into Starting a Business

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted

    Hello everyone.

    In early 2007 I knew that I had to make a career change after marrying the love of my life and the related move to Milwaukee. Wifey convinced me that I was happiest when I was baking in the kitchen and should look into culinary school after we settled down and maybe one day we would open a bakery of our own.

    Nearly 2 years have come and gone. We have moved to Connecticut and I have completed the baking and pastry program at a mediocre culinary school. Residents of the local Jewish community that we live in have heard about me as a baker and are very excited about the potential for a kosher bakery in the community. Last week was an unofficial start to this potential project when I was asked to make desserts for several small events. My desserts were very well received and now my arm is being twisted in many directions, some not intended by nature to start the business NOW.

    Members of the shul's board are offering me the synagogue's kitchen to run the business out of as it is not used during the week. I also have people offering to assist me with writing a business plan, working out kosher certification, and obtaining financing or grants from the rich and retired in the community. While I am extremely flattered and rather tempted to make the dive into this, I do have several reservations on actually making this happen.

    1. I have no experience in an actual bakery outside of my internship. Not that there are many quality bakeries to learn from or bakery jobs to find...

    2. I have no formulas of my own and lack the experience and knowledge to develop my own. I currently bake from what I find in cookbooks.

    3. My wife is in law school and shows no desire to give up her career. In fact, she plans on us to move in 2+ years after she graduates. The potential for a bakery will be taken into consideration when choosing a place to move to.

    4. I don't know if the synagogue's kitchen has enough equipment capacity to make this work. They currently have a Vulcan double convection oven, two 48" ranges and a 4 door True fridge.

    5. My wife and I want to start a family. I do not know what the impact of the business will have on our family life. Once we have kids, they will come before any possible business.

    6.With the economy as it is and our investments greatly depreciated, I just don't know if it is worth the financial risk.

    I have expressed these concerns to LOML and am leaning towards not pursuing the business for a year or two and get more experience in a bakery for a year or two while I work out these issues. But my arm is being twisted more that I may be passing up on a good opportunity and not to chicken out.

    What are your thoughts?

    Dan

    Cookbooks...beyond the recipes

    in Cookbooks & References

    Posted

    In addition to many comments already listed, I will share these thoughts.

    I do not like it when ethic cookbooks do not include sample menus or recipe pairings.

    Any chef who puts in a dessert or pastry section into their book with obviously no knowledge of baking and pastry.

    Listing the prep and cook times, but failing to mention overnight marinades or rests.

    Dan

    Checking cage-free eggs for blood spots

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    I could be wrong, but I think for Dan the ethical issue is using eggs that aren't cage-free in his baking business, vs using cage-free eggs that may result in a higher amount of waste (and expense). 

    I think you (Dan) need to consult with whatever rabbinical kosher supervisory board you will be under when/if your catering business becomes kosher.  Show them the eggs, or have them explain the difference between a blood spot and a protein spot (or have them show you the difference).  Also discuss with them the issues raised on the website slkinsey linked to.  There are a whole bunch of "ifs" that would allow you to continue using cage-free eggs as long as the supervisory board agrees (there was something about eggs from chickens that live in rooster-free environments, for example). 

    Also, are your cage-free eggs rated A or AA and from a supermarket?  From http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/english/Journal/broyde-1.htm

    Thus it is possible to conclude that Jewish law does not require that one check eggs for blood spots prior to their use if one purchases grade A or AA eggs from a supermarket in America, although there is a minhag to check eggs, and one who checks for such eggs is in the category of Hamachmir tavo alav bracha, (pious conduct for which one is blessed for being strict). No less than six different reasons can be provided to justify the practice of not checking eggs prior to using them:

    1. The United States Department of Agriculture already requires that all eggs be checked for blood spots before they can be sold in a supermarket as grade A or AA eggs.25 There was never a custom to check twice for blood spots.

    2. There are virtually never blood spots found in eggs sold in supermarkets in America that are a result of fertilization; thus no biblical violation is ever present even if there is a blood spot in the egg. The custom to check all eggs was limited to a society where not checking might lead to a Torah violation.

    3. There never was a custom to check for blood spots when all eggs derive from hens raised alone, in which case some authorities rule that even the blood spot itself can be eaten.

    4. The incidence of blood spots in Grade A or AA eggs sold in the supermarket is less than one in a thousand, and generally one does not have to check for very infrequent rabbinic prohibitions.26

    5. Halacha never required that one check for blood spots; it was a custom, and the custom itself did not apply when it was difficult to check, such as at night. Nowadays, given the way we cook, checking is more difficult in a variety of settings.27

    6. If there is a blood spot in the egg, one will generally see it even after the egg has been opened, and one can remove the blood spot then.

    Thank you for the link!! I will have to read it in detail when time allows. And yes, you are right about the ethical isssue of using non cage free eggs in a business to reduce waste and the associated increase in costs.

    I don't know anything much about keeping kosher, but I do know eggs.  Brown eggs will have a higher percentage of blood/protein spots, because they are harder to candle.  White eggs and brown eggs taste exactly the same, and are indistinguishable once you crack them into a bowl.  So buying white cagefree eggs will probably solve your problem.

    Thanks for the details on blood spots. I have never seen a cage free white egg. I guess it is one of those marketing things where people think that brown eggs equal natural.

    Dan

    Checking cage-free eggs for blood spots

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted · Edited by DanM (log)

    Are you sure you're seeing blood spots and not protein spots?  See here:  http://oukosher.org/index.php/common/artic...nd_blood_spots/

    I will be honest, I have never seen this until now. I have taken classes on kashrut and this has never been brought up. Ditto with culinary school where they taught "Blood spots bad, throw out blood spots". Given that the school's low academic standards and was more interested in profits than education, I am not surprised by this.

    I appreciate you posting this. The article would be more useful if it had pictures to show the difference between a protein spot and a blood spot. But it does get me in the right direction.

    Thanks again,

    Dan

    Checking cage-free eggs for blood spots

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    While I understand that "cage free" and "free range" eggs are very loosely defined, I do feel that they are a step in the right direction. I have an ethical objection to animals being treated as machinery by being locked in cages solely for the purpose of producing eggs. The extra dollar for the "cage free" and "free range" eggs is a small price increase I am willing to take at home.

    However... I keep kosher and eggs with blood spots are immediately thrown out. I understand that it is harder to candle eggs with thick brown shells, but I often have 50% waste due to blood spots. Today I had to go through 10 eggs to find 4 without blood spots. I am being nudged... slightly pushed into becoming a baking caterer for the local Jewish community. In a business sense, I cannot afford that kind of loss and waste. Should I compromise on the egg issue to reduce this waste and cost issue?

    Your thoughts are most welcome.

    Dan

    Parve Buttercream or Frosting

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    When asked (or forced, depending on how you want to look at it!  :wink: ), I've used margarine in place of butter in  my Italian Meringue Buttercream.  I don't like it (it tastes greasy to me), but to meet the requirements, you do it.  It's been a while, but I want to say that I used Fleischmann's margarine at the customer's request.  If you do this, make sure you use the unsalted variety.

    I've found that if I fill the cake with a flavored version of this buttercream (raspberry or strawberry for example), it's much better - that way you're only using the "plain" stuff on the outside of the cake.  I really don't care for veg shortening or margarine in buttercream, but this works for the pareve requirement.

    ETA:  check this out for a chocolate version.  I can't vouch for it, as I've never tried it, and don't even know where I could find tofutti cream cheese, but ... Pareve Chocolate Buttercream

    I have made buttercream with parve margarine, but agree with the greasy quality. I might make it with chocolate and see if it masks the flavor.

    Thanks,

    Dan

    Parve Buttercream or Frosting

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I have been asked to make a cake or two for this upcoming weekend. The catch is that it has to be parve, or dairy free. I have never found a non dairy buttercream or frosting formula that actually tastes good. Does anyone have a good recipe that they are willing to share?

    Thanks,

    Dan

    Books by Denis Cotter

    in Cookbooks & References

    Posted

    My wife and I came across Denis Cotter by happy accident while cycling through Ireland. Once we got home, we immediately purchased this two (now three) cookbooks. They are a regular source for dinners, especially when we want something fancy.

    I was wondering if anyone else has his books and what you think about them.

    Dan

    Celery Salt

    in Cooking

    Posted

    +1 on a Chicago style dog.

    The hot dog needs a poppy seed bun and is topped with sliced tomatoes, diced onion, a pickle spear, neon green relish, sport peppers and finished with yellow mustard and celery salt.

    Dan

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