xxchef

Gosh, and I was just looking at a little 6" "lab table model" for only about $12,000. That's about what I did in sales all of last season (Oct-Dec)! A bit too long of a pay-back for me, I think. Yes, using a fork. I tried hand-dipping but couldn't get the nice smooth look I was trying for... [caramels on the right, obviously] That might have just been a skill issue but I never was able to get it right to my satisfaction. Balls? Interesting idea. I might give that a whirl.

Which brings me to my next dilemma. I am really struggling with my caramel consistancy. Not "consistant consistancy" (I have no trouble consistantly hitting the consistancy I want), but in deciding on a consistancy. I chocolate-dip all of the caramels we make and am having trouble making a caramel that isn't either lovely and soft to eat but difficult to dip ("running", "seeping" or "slumping") or nice to dip but on the too-firm side for great eating. I have been leaning towards the softer set caramel, footing the slabs, and/or pre-coating the caramels before dipping. This works OK but is certainly a lot of work. Tried chilling the pieces slightly but that (no big surprise) caused some issues with getting a nice finish. I am otherwise extremely happy with my recipe and am not really interested in changing to a different type of caramel. Any sage tips for working with softer caramels?

Excellent suggestion on sharpening. Thanks. I was hoping for 6" but the largest pizza cutter wheels I've found are 5" have you found any larger?

Here's another one (looks very similar to the Zesco model listed previously)... Pastry Chef Central UNIVERSAL ADJUSTABLE CUTTER 13 sharp 4 ¼” stainless steel cutting blades mounted on a 30" long stainless steel rod $279.99 http://www.pastrychef.com/UNIVERSAL-ADJUSTABLE-CUTTER_p_1181.html

I assume you "foot" the slab in preparation for dipping so the fork doesn't stick and you get a nice base? I've had some trouble with the feet falling off my caramels when I cut them. That may be because of the pressure I'm having to apply with my big 2-handled knife. Maybe with the rolling cutter they'll stay put better?? Oh Man, I don't imagine that trying to sharpen discs is much fun even without dents!

Thanks Ruth. That's exactly the information I was looking for. Good tip on using the 6" knives too. Do you find you are able to cut completely through the caramels or are you just deeply scoring them and finishing with a knife?

That sounds promising. My toffee pieces will be square so no need to re-set between cuts on it and I can plan my work to do caramels one day and toffee another or at least allow enough time between to re-set for the different sizes. One more question (I seem to be having trouble getting answers from Savage for some reason): Can the blades be set at ANY distance or is the spacing determined by the size of the spacers available and on hand? If limited, what are the stock spacer sizes? My caramels are 7/8"x7/8" and my toffee 1.25"x1.25".

After some research I've found a number of rolling cutters on the market in a range of styles and prices. Here are the ones so far (info current as of 8/20/2010)... Matfer Bourgeat UNIVERSAL ADJUSTING DOUGH CUTTER $340 - $676 http://www.amazon.com/UNIVERSAL-ADJUSTING-CUTTER-Matfer-Bourgeat/dp/B000KENPX0/ref=sr_1_36?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1282333430&sr=8-36 Zesco Multiple Disc Dough Cutter - Stainless Steel - 24" and 30" Long $29 - $39 for handle, plus $17.90 - $19 for EACH blade http://www.zesco.com/products.cfm?subCatID=2103&PGroupID=020501AZ02 Tomric CARAMEL CUTTER $189.95 (out of stock) http://www.tomric.com/ItemDetail.aspx?cmd=local&item=5048 Savage Bros. Adjustable Roller Cutter $? (custom designed. haven't been able to get them to quote me a price yet for the one I want) http://www.savagebros.com/media/pdfs/03-Roller%20Cutter.pdf I'd like to put together a fairly comprehensive list here so if you know of others get me the source and I'll add it to this post.

Just found a YouTube video of the Savage Bros Caramel Cutter in action. Check it out here...

Robert- This looks like exactly what I need (great pix on the "2010 Chocolate Conference Report" pages). BTW, in one of the Conference pictures of you cutting there is just the corner of a wooden object. Is that a holder for your cutter? I've been in touch with Savage but have been told by them that it is difficult and very time consuming to adjust the spacing of the cutters. I want to use it for cutting toffee and caramels (different sizes). They (of course) suggest that I but TWO of the cutters! What is your experience in changing the blade settings? Thanks!

I've been making our Butter Almond Toffee for sale commercially for about 20 years. It's hugely popular around the winter holidays. I've always been happy with the rustic look (cooled sheets of toffee, coated each side with chocolate with more nuts embedded then broken up before boxing). I'm a one-man shop and last year I sold just under 1000 lbs of this between the end of October and Christmas. This year I want to add a more refined product as an alternative. I'm thinking squares of various flavored, wafer-thin (maybe 1/8th - 3/16th inch) nut-less butter toffee pieces, individually dipped in chocolate but I'm at a loss as to the best way to get nearly-uniform pieces to work with. I want to find a way do do fairly large batches at a time in an efficient manner but so far my small-batch experiments have not been very promising. Once the toffee layers are cool they are too brittle to cut. They are way too hard to use a guitar-type cutter on. The layers don't cool evenly (edges harden while center is still molten) so cutting or scoring then doesn't work. I think it would be next to impossible to use molds (not that I've found any appropriate ones even) because with the time it would take to fill them the molten toffee in the pot will either over-cook or, if I cold-shock the pan to prevent that it will set-up in the pan (not to mention the difficulty in getting uniform thicknesses between pieces if the mold isn't exactly the right thickness). My best success was by taking the fully cooled toffee sheets and warming them slightly in an oven, scoring deeply, cooling then breaking the pieces apart. "Best" but not "good" as there was some fairly significant loss due to breakage and the method created a lot of toffee frass/dust that was difficult from keeping out of the dipping chocolate. I've seen this type of product from large-scale producers but there should be a way to do it without a factory and $$$ in special equipment. Right? All suggestions GREATLY appreciated!

Well I have a couple of pretty big strikes against me as a contributor to this thread. First I live in dry and land-locked AZ. We may have the most number of boats registered of any state in the country (honestly, can you even believe it?), but we're not exactly a fresh fish mecca. Second, I'm highly allergic to many commonly eaten fish (like cod, haddock, halibut, flounder/sole etc) so my "Big Five" are a bit different. Salmon, Tuna, Mahi-mahi, Shark are all favorites but all eaten very infrequently. Though not a "fish" local shrimp also makes it to our table from time to time. "LOCAL SHRIMP IN ARIZONA?" I hear you ask... Surprisingly AZ has a growing inland shrimp farming industry. There are four shrimping operations in Arizona, all raising Mexican white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei in brackish (salty) groundwater. The farms recycle much of the shrimping water by growing auxiliary crops of tilapia, date palms, olive trees or field crops. If shellfish are under consideration we also get dry scallops, mussels, whole-belly shucked clams, steamers, and lobster over-nighted to us from ME or MA from time to time (special occasions), and have a friend in WA who sends us Dungeness crabs in season. Fresh water fish and shellfish for us would include trout, catfish, and crawdads

Chris- Andrea's on Thayer - that's right! That was the first place I’d had a gyro not made from "pre-gurgitated" mystery meat and tzatziki sauce not made with some fake dairy product (so sue me – I had a sheltered upbringing!). By “Still there, astonishingly” do you mean that Andrea’s is, perhaps, not worthy of such a long run? That it might be living off something besides its inherent culinary merits (ummm, like location and a never-ending supply of new student/customers)? I had to laugh at the mention of Tortilla Flats earlier in the thread. I can’t believe it is still in existence. I worked a brief stint at a Domino’s Pizza around the corner and, even with my ignorance about good Mexican food at the time; I knew it wasn’t. I remember Sandwich Hut too. Glad they’re still going but that’s not the place I’m thinking of. This was a real stinking (literally) dive full of dock workers drinking tap ‘Gansetts with raw eggs and Tabasco at 6am. My shoes would stick to the floor on the way in to pick up the sandwiches from the bartender. What was I even thinking eating food from there? But the sandwiches were great. Thanks. This is a real trip down memory lane for me as I haven't been in Providence in almost 30 years. Oh. Another place I remember was Vinnie’s Deli on Douglas Ave(?). I lived near there for a while and the owner introduced me to sopressata and a really good dried beef cold cut (probably bresaola?). He always had great bread too.

At one restaurant we used to make a wild rice timbale as a side dish. The rice was cooked in chicken stock pilaf-style with lots of diced carrots, celery and onion then, when cooled mixed into a rich savory custard batter (lots of cream and yolks, a little cheese), spooned into ramekins and baked in a water bath just until set. Unmolded on the plate for service. It was very popular.

What a great thread. Chris - you're an awesome resource! I am amazed at how the Providence food scene has "grown up" since I went to college in the late 70's-early 80's. Wow! As a very busy and penny-pinching student I rarely went to any decent restaurants. A couple of good, solid Family Italian places on the south side, a Greek place near Brown U when my folks came to town. I was more likely to visit a really dark and dirty early morning bar on Friendship (I think) that served huge and cheap Dagwood sub sandwiches that I still remember; or maybe Haven Brothers' trailer after getting off work in the wee hours of the morning. Jeez, Is Haven Bros still around? What an institution that was (is)! Thanks for the great posts.

I wouldn't watch Ramsey if you paid me - a LOT. But what's with all the "sell your soul to the devil = Fox TV" references. I don't get it. Is it a $$$ thing?

Good Grief Chris. "Farm Fresh Cocktails"?! How bizarre, absurd and ridiculous. While there are plenty of places around trying to capitalize on the current local foods trend (with varying degrees of veracity) I don't think anyone will top that for pure (and totally local, I'm sure) Bravo Sierra As a very small agricultural producer of products that are often rightly touted on our restaurant customers' menus as "biodynamic, sustainable, local, whatever," - even I am sick of hearing it at every turn. It's used as if it were the defining quality of the product. As if the product had no other redeeming value - like great taste, marvelous texture, tremendous aroma etc. When the terms are blatantly thrown around solely as a marketing ploy (and I'm SO sure that cocktail drinkers REALLY care that their limes come from the bar's backyard) it makes me want to pop somebody. Good job finding an excellent example of this abuse. Let's fine some more and drag them all kicking and screaming into the light of day!

I guess my first question with a "New England Seasonal" theme is... What season? I'm guessing summer since you mention grilling and salads. To me the quintessential New England Summer family-style meal is the Calm Bake, done right in a pit. Most of the good ones I've been to also featured grilled steaks etc. If you're looking at late summer or even fall a solid alternative would be the classic New England Harvest Supper. Kind of like an over-the-top traditional Thanksgiving meal (hearty fare with lots of apples, root vegetables and winter squashes, country bread etc) but you're not stuck with just turkey. Fall was traditionally the time when many farm animals were slaughtered so platters of grilled fresh sausages, chops, steaks etc would be right at home on the table. Good luck.

The best Tuna melt I've ever had was at the seafood restaurant at Phillippe Creek in Sarasota FL, USA 20 years ago. Their take on it was original and amazing. They used 1/2 inch-thick fresh Ahi steaks quick char-grilled with lemon and butter to a nice medium - then built the sandwich with thick slices of butter-griddled sour dough bread topped with cheese (not sure what kind but probably mild cheddar or maybe gouda) then plenty of grilled sweet onions and a little tartar sauce. Served with some excellent hand-cut French fries. Man-oh-man... Heaven on a plate! Went back a few years later and while it wasn't on the menu they talked the cook into making it for us and it was just as good as I remembered. Don't even know if the restaurant is still there but it's still the gold standard for tuna melts in my opinion.

Try jicama. Good crunch, little flavor, no strings.

Casu Marzu (maggot infested cheese), Italy - didn't care for it and the after-taste still haunts me Tripe Sausage, Paris - boring, boring, boring with a little too much white pepper Snoot Sandwich (fried pig's nose (complete with whiskers) and potato salad on Wonder Bread), St. Louis - no, not everything deep-fried is manna from heaven despite tossing the bread away before starting on it. Rattlesnake, right here on our Ranch - tastes like frogs legs.

Perhaps a poor word use there on my part, I meant "private". You were bemoaning the worthlessness of the various government programs when it comes to giving the consumer info on humane animal care (and I don't disagree). That said, just because HFAC gets paid a fee by some of the producers for performing the inspections doesn't mean they cannot maintain their independence from them. HFAC is still largely third-party funded and is "endorsed by a consortium of animal welfare organizations, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), the Atlanta Humane Society, the Humane Society of Vero Beach, the Hawaiian Humane Society, The Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCALA), and others." This helps keep them financially (and often philosophically) independent from the producers they inspect. They are also the only organization of their type to be audited and "found to be in compliance with the Organization for Standardization (ISO) Guide 65 General requirements for bodies operating a product certification by the USDA. ISO Guide 65 specifies requirements for organizations operating third-party product certification systems." In other words they have worked hard to design and maintain a system of checks and balances to keep them independent and have gone to an outside agency for verification of these efforts. I don't know what else one can expect an organization to do to help ensure the absence of impropriety or to maintain their "independence".

You are forgetting about independent monitoring agencies which DO concentrate on the humane living conditions and treatment of the animals at the facilities they inspect. I'm familiar with the Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) organization [http://www.certifiedhumane.org/] but I know there are several others across the country including a program by American Humane http://americanhumane.org HFAC is "A national non-profit 501©3 organization created to improve the lives of farm animals by setting rigorous standards, conducting annual inspections, and certifying their humane treatment." They inspect farms, transporters and slaughter facilities and award their "Certified Humanely Raised and Handled" certification, labeling and branding assistance to places that meet their criteria.

I'd suggest checking out Local Harvest (www.localharvest.ORG). Lots of family farms, organic and free-range operations are members. A quick search there of "chicken" and "New York, NY" brought up 212 entries. Somebody there would surely welcome the opportunity to educate a city girl.

We started calling a new head chef just "Chef" at one restaurant where I worked because his given name was long and hard to pronounce. It kind-of stuck and subsequent chefs all got called Chef. Given the rate of turn-over at that place I think it was also easier than trying to remember who the chef was that week! And trust me, it was not usually out of respect in those cases.