DanM

I have had luck in the past using instant coffee or espresso that has been dissolved in the least amount of water possible. Espresso does give a stronger flavor. I can't give exact proportions as it varies from brand to brand. Trial and error will be your guide. Dan

In old camping style, I would recommend a simple corn meal crust and then either pan fry in your best cast iron, or barbeque them. Corn on the cob, biscuits, and maybe some mashed potatoes. 2 bits.

Chouffe Coffee is an amazing liqueur from Belgian made from distilled beer, grain alcohol, and coffee. It would make a wonderful after dinner drink. Dan

It's very easy to scale the recipes, so I wouldn't hold that against Hamelman. If you're looking for a professional bread book, you most likely want to set up a spreadsheet to calculate the required amounts of levain and preferments for the batch size you want to make. As long as you've got the recipe broken down in baker's %, it's the specific weights aren't crucial. I do own a few bread baking books, and I agree with the above recommendations: Hamelman's "Bread" and/or Suas' "Advanced Bread and Pastry". Suas' book got the same measurements as Hamelman, but his application of baker's % are slightly different. You'll have to convert one to the other if you want to compare recipes in the two books. I'm becoming more and more fond of Suas' book. I think it's better when it comes to explaining and visualizing the bread baking process. Besides, it's got a substantial pastry and Viennoserie section too. Hamelman's book has got a broader range of recipes, however, and is especially strong on rye sourdough breads. It's probably the best book on rye sourdough in English. ← In this case, you are correct. Most professional baking books include baker's percentages that allow you to scale a formula any way you want. Hamelman's book does have a good explanation of baker's math if you need to learn it. Dan

I once had kidneys with some fava beans and a nice chianti.... Or was that his liver?

King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Cookbook has a stunning pancake recipe that uses muslei in the mix. Dan

Hamelman's Bread only has metric for institutional quantities. Home baker's recipes are writen in oz to the tenth of an ounce. Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain does have metric for all recipes. Dan

My name is Dan, and I am a Spice House addict. I used to live in Milwaukee and it became a regular stop when grocery shopping. I think I have close to 40 jars of herbs, spices, and blends from them. I can sympathize with the expensive visits. Dan

I looked through the book a little more thoroughly and was not as impressed as I first was. Some of the recipes seem to be "asian inspired" by adding ginger or cinnamon. I want to try the rice flour doughnuts, if I can find some glutinous rice flour that is kosher. Dan

I just received a copy of Pichet Ong's Sweet Spot and see some interesting new ideas and formulas that I will have to try out. Last night I made the dragon devil's food cupcakes and they are amazing! Next time I will use less tea and more burbon in the ganache, otherwise, spot on. Does anyone else have this book? What are your thoughts? Dan

I am going against the majority and vote for over the range. I had it at my old house and it never felt in the way. The model I had also doubled as a small convection oven. The oven function kept temperature and handled sheet pans and casseroles with ease. Thanksgivings were even easier with this function. 3 birds with one stone... not bad. Dan

For low country cookin, nothin tops The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook. 600 pages of southern classics to warm your soul.

There is a recipe for Chocolate Espresso cookies on their website, but I don't know how similar it is to the "Better Than Store Bought" recipe. ← Sorry, that is not the same formula. Dan

Rasberry Choux Strips from Bo Friberg's Professional Pastry http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll57/da...ng/100_2482.jpg

Good morning, I found an interesting Belgain Trippel recipe that calls for Chinese rock sugar. I am sure that I will not be able to find this stuff kosher, so I will have to resort to making my own. It is described as a blend of refined sugar, brown sugar, and honey that has a subtle spiciness. Is anyone familiar with this? Does anyone have a formula? Thanks, Dan

Wow! Any chance for a recipe for the cookies? ← Due to copyright rules, I cannot share them, but you can find the recipe in King Arthur Flour's Cookie Companion under the name Better Than Store Bought. There are three changes though. First, reduce the amount of chocolate blended with the oats by 2oz, replace the espresso powder with freshly ground espresso or coffee beans, and use up to 40% white whole wheat. Dan

Moosewood's squash and bean soup. A good balance between sweet and savory. Dan

I have been busy the past few days. Spent Grain bread (whole wheat) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/DanMages/100_0433.jpg German Many Seeded multigrain bread http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/DanMages/100_0437.jpg Double chocolate espresso cookies http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v647/DanMages/100_0439.jpg Dan

I recommend Bread Builders by Daniel Wing and Allen Scott. It is filled with theory and practice of making great bread with a brick oven. 2 bits. Dan

No where near kosher, but never the less interesting... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/dining/2..._r=2&ref=dining Dan

Veg bacon... I am sure it is not as good as the real thing, but what is a Jewish guy supposed to do! Dan

Sometimes I will roast a quartered bone in, skin on chicken over a bed of chopped up red or white potatoes and 2-3 heads of garlic broken up, but cloves with the skins on. Season the chicken with whatever spice blend sounds good, bake for 1 hour at 400 and bob's your uncle. The potatoes and garlic with soak in the schmaltz and will become as soft as butter. It can be fancied up by adding other veg like fennel, carrots, etc, or by adding herbs to the potatoes. But there is nothing like potatoes cooked in schmaltz and roasted garlic on challah! Dan

Most of the recent Moosewood books have nutritional information for each recipe. If you don't mind vegetarian food, its a good way to go. But as others have said, exercise and portion control also play a roll. Dan

I found the second edition at a used book store for a mere $9. I have not looked into into it too much just yet. Are there any stand-outs I should look into? Thanks! Dan

Kosher chicken is already brined... does then not need further attention? Dan