curls

I just put down a deposit for a half cow. Will be splitting the beef with a friend. This is our first time doing this. Any advice, lessons learned, recipes? Which bones contain marrow? Is it easy to cut these in half yourself or best to have the processor do this? Any favorite recipes for the organ meats? I know what to do with liver and tongue but don’t know about heart, etc..

Interesting. I have several molded pieces filled with ganache that last for 2+ months. They still taste good & look good. I wouldn't sell them to anyone but test pieces that past the look & sniff tests do get consumed by my husband and me. I tell customers to enjoy, no preservatives, consume within two weeks.

I used to make a potato empanada recipe from one of the Moosewood cookbooks that freezes well. I would bake, cool, and freeze. Other items that freeze well: egg rolls, spanakopita, chicken pot pie filling, bread, sous vide meats, shredded beef/chicken/pork bbq, enchiladas.

@CanadianHomeChef congratulations on the anti griddle! Sorry that I don’t really have any suggestions for you but I’m having fun watching your experiments. The one thing that popped in as an idea is to make chocolate bird nests for Easter or Spring. You could use them to serve ice cream or other sweets. Lots of cool chocolate decor can supposedly be made if you pour it on a cold surface. video of making chocolate nests https://youtu.be/vhlOgL8OSIE

I’m also a fan of TikiDoc’s cream scone recipe!

@shain thank you very much for sharing your trip with us. When you went on that hike, did you go with a guide or are trails so well marked that visitors can go hiking on their own?

@Katie Meadow too bad about the pecan kringle. What are your favorite items at Trader Joes?

I vacuum seal my boxes of chocolates before they go to the fridge-then-freezer. Works great. I just try to get most of the extra air out. Trick is to cancel the vacuum and start sealing before the box starts to deform. So if your vacuum sealer has a cancel & seal button you should be all set to experiment with freezing your bon bons. I recommend that you get Peter Greweling’s chocolates & confections book, it is a great reference for scientific information, process, and recipes. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470424419/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_WEYKCQZJWPAYM3DN9N5J

Found this video from Eater about Dan Richer at Razza. https://youtu.be/CuBxs1eW0u0

@Bernie back from the eGCI vault… sauces. Images are gone but one can always request that they be restored. Bechamel and other cream sauces… And a recipe for bechamel

For small quantities of hollandaise I use this one yolk recipe from @jackal10

Found out that there is a nearby Fresh Market that regularly stocks them. Unfortunately when I was there the were sold out. Will check again in a week or two.

Last night I raided our freezer for some chicken livers that I purchased from a local farm. Livers are in the fridge defrosting and I’m planning to make a small batch of chopped liver this weekend. Curious to see what I have when they defrost; my first time with chicken livers from this farm. I like a lot of their other proteins.

If Kerry said it, it must be true. @Chocolot I'll be watching for your appearance.

Thank you @Anna N and @Kim Shook. I'm glad to know that they are still widely available! I'll widen my local search.

Has anyone seen After Eight mints recently? Apparently Nestle has not discontinued them but any store nearby that lists them is showing that they are out of stock. They usually appear in the local grocery stores around the winter holidays but I don’t think I have seen them in the last 3 years. Not sure if this is pandemic related, local distribution issue, or something else.

Looking forward to seeing her on the show! So far I really like it.

Whole Food’s 12 days of cheese starts 10 December. Link to their ad, https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/tips-and-ideas/holiday/12-days-of-cheese?ref_=pe_30952010_615276390

How long are you trying to keep the chocolate in your melter in temper? I usually keep mine going for around 6 hours. Now during that time I am making adjustments to my chocolate… increasing the heat, stirring, adding, warmer untempered chocolate — like many things, it takes practice but you should be able to get a feel for what your chocolate needs in order to stay in temper. Might be able to keep it in temper longer but it hasn’t been necessary for my workflow. And now I have switched to melter plus EZTemper and am trying some different techniques to figure out what works best for me. It will be nice when we can get together again for an eGullet chocolate & confections workshop; it is so much easier to ask questions and learn thru an in-person event.

Wow Ruth!!! How many pounds of chocolate do you go thru in a year? I'm beyond thrilled that the cacao butter drops that I have bought have all worked with my EZTemper straight out of the box. Each time I get a new batch of cocoa butter I wonder if I'm going to have to melt it or change the temperature on my EZTemper. I'm sure it will happen at some point.

Great idea! I'm trying that when corn is in season.

Similar story here, I was introduced to ripe mango with Tajin by a colleague with links to Vietnam. I quickly purchased my own bottle of Tajin and have experimented with it on sandwiches, fruit, and avocados. 🙂

Are you dipping in milk chocolate or dark chocolate? There are more issues to overcome if you are dipping in dark chocolate.

Indeed, that should work.

I use Chocolate World mould 2116, which is an 18 gram mould when I make cherry cordials. Full sized cherry and fondant fit without any issues.