IndyRob

For lasagna, I might choose shiny side down only because, if there's cheese on top, it will tend to stick less to the smoother surface (although negligibly so). However, in this case the foil is used primarily to stop (or slow) premature browning. Is this by blocking direct radiation, or by creating a humid zone? I don't know. If it's the former, then perhaps the added reflectivity of the shiny side would better on the outside. But I suspect it's the latter. In that case, the heat energy spent turning water into steam will have a cooling effect that will dwarf the conductivity/reflectivity of the foil.

Well, that's an unfortunate turn of events. I remember it well from a day trip to Chicago a few years ago. They had a lot of interesting stuff you don't see everywhere. I kept saying "Oh, lookit that...". It reminds me of our own local Roselyn Bakery (est. 1943) that went down in 1999 under very similar circumstances.

I haven't been to a CiCi's, but I'm familiar with $5 Little Caesar's large 'Hot & Ready' pizza's. By any normal pizza standard, these are pretty awful. However, I wouldn't have to look very far to find worse at places who advertise themselves as being much better. And their new $8 Deep Dish pizzas are actually pretty good, IMHO. But even a good pizza can be a really cheap thing. When I costed out my pizza using bulk pricing, my dough cost came to about 19 cents (food cost, not including labor). Tomato sauce is cheap, as well. I buy my Mozz & Provolone blend in bulk at a bit over $2/lb. I use about 10oz for a large pie, so let's call that $1.40 for cheese. So, say, $2 for a large cheese pizza. At home, I use the Hormel pillow pack pepperoni for convenience - that's the budget killer right there. But I think with a proper deli slicer, the news would get much better. I'd like to think I could hit between $2.50-$2.90 for a large pepperoni pizza. Now, I wouldn't want to sell that pizza for $5 (and it's certainly not a single serving one). That would be over 50% food cost, which would be insane. But if I could give you some lettuce and dressing and hope you'll eat only 1/3rd of a pie, that could be a winning proposition.

Many, if not most, instructions of cooking pasta do not specify a vigorous boil, but rather, just above a simmer. But ultimately, this is just a matter of degree. The oil layer, whether disrupted or not, will be at the top. And when the pasta passes through it on its way to the bottom of the pot, the oil will prefer to stick to the pasta rather than the water it hates so much. If we were in agreement that this was an effect we'd like to promote, we could probably find ways to make this even more effective. But I think we'd both agree that this is not a goal for either of us for this application. But this is a distinction that becomes useful when we do want to break the rules.

I think you are absolutely correct in that the amount of water is the answer, and no oil is needed. However, I think the explanation that adding oil doesn't do anything because it floats to the top may be flawed. There are painting techniques that rely on floating a thin oil paint layer on of top water and dipping objects into it to achieve a sort of swirl paint covering (or in some cases, even intricate patterns). That's not to say that it's a good idea for pasta, just that the reason may not be accurate. I think a better reason to avoid oil is to allow the sauce to stick.

The James Beard award must've been a shocker. And not claiming it must've been brutal.

I like the idea of filling a void in this way, but it sounds like a legal nightmare. The biggest issue I imagine (and I must stress that I Am Not A Lawyer) will be liability. When that guy breaks up with his GF and storms out in a huff and crashes his Lambo into a schoolyard, his lawyer is going to be looking for someone to blame. Preferably, someone with deep pockets - which probably means your benefactor. That's why it can be really hard to use someone's commercial kitchen to bake bread for the County Fair, much less slinging Mai Tais on premises. The local community might also be an issue. Often, a liquor license is granted based on some limitations demanded by the local residents. I've seen this in drugstores that just want to expand a bit of shelf space for expanded adult beverage offerings. The most recent case is Dollar General (of all things) offering beer and wine. Lot's of accusations of broken promises there in the zoning hearings. So I'm saying that if the liquor license seems underutilized, there might be a reason for that.

I'm losing interest in anything Ramsay, but he does seem to work harder at it than anyone on this list. Not sure if that's a good thing or not.

I'm wondering what I'm missing here. I'm assuming that you're referring to my last post, since prior to that, piping has only been mentioned twice (including once by you with regards to packing multiple piping tips). I'll admit that I haven't done 80 of these things, but I have done 10. And even at my amateur level, having pieces fly across the room because the filling didn't release, and/or constantly admonishing myself against licking my fingers, I think I could manage somewhat better than 40 seconds per piece. More like 5 or 10 seconds. For confirmation, I've just looked at a few Youtube videos of pro's doing it at well over twice that clip. I'm not talking about piping fleur de lis, or roses here. Just fill a small cup. A tray of thirty pieces should be done in about 5 minutes.

Just for the sake of brainstorming... some little puff pastry cups could play a few roles. Stamp a bunch of 1" diameter discs out of puff pastry. Then stamp a 1/2" hole in two-thirds of them ('donuts'). Stack two 'donuts' on top of one 'disk' (some egg wash 'glue' might help but is not required - a pre-test is recommended, of course). Put these all on an oiled sheet pan. Make four spacers by stacking some pennies to the proper height and wrapping in aluminum foil. Place in each corner of the pan Set another sheet pan on top (with the bottom oiled). Bake. The top will keep the cups constrained to a uniform height and limit their tendency to curve. Repeat until you have enough. Carefully package and freeze these. They'll thaw quickly and can accept savory or sweet fillings - piped in with a bag. You could replenish trays quickly just by grabbing the bag with whatever filling is most in demand at the moment (or progress from savory to sweet).

I think I'd be sorely tempted to buy some supermarket shrimp rings. If they were nestled amongst other offerings it might camouflage the cheesiness somewhat. That's one item done in a few minutes that may not draw raves, but is extremely unlikely to fall flat. Or, almost as easy would be to buy the pre-cooked, shelled, deveined, frozen shrimp, thaw them in a fridge and serve them in dramatic bowls over crushed ice with a variety of dipping sauces in separate bowls. The sauces could be the stars here (and could all be done well ahead of time). I don't see that we have a dedicated cocktail sauce thread here, but surely many variations are out there.

And again with the potatoes, my first thought was little blini like potato pancakes under the scallops (or to the side). Or, perhaps, some grated potato bathed in a seasoned egg, parm, and cream mix (and from Paul's sig above, add some diced sautéed Morels - because, you know, they're a good thing to have). Put in a scallop sized ring mold, sear on both sides and finish in an oven.

South Park was here way before us. I'm not gonna link it directly - NSFW. Really, NSFAnywhere. But, well, it's South Park. They don't live by the same rules.... You'll just have to click twice.... Tolerant Rednecks

But I think this is a little bit backwards. The products are not produced for the brand. The brand is applied to the products. Consider this page at Amazon. Note the bullet point that says "Paula Deen and Teflon are registered trademarks used with permission". Okay, so there is some actual Dupont Teflon used in the product. But no Paula Deenlon. These aren't her products. There's no Paula Deen in the product. She herself is merely a latter day Aunt Jemima.

Well, if we're going to go outside the box (as it were), I kind of like rotary graters. The little one I got as a gift is nice for grating a bit of parm on some pasta. I also have a larger one that does a medium grate. I wouldn't mind having a Rambo-sized one for bigger jobs if such a thing exists. They're also dishwasher safe (which, really, I think all of the options mentioned so far should be).

They'll move on to The Next Food Network Star. It's not like she was creating the next iPhone. She was licensing her name and image to be used on products that would have been produced anyway,

With the possible exception of some of her personal assistants, I think the industry will be able to weather the demise of the Paula Deen brand.

The Flavor Bible seems to speak to what you're interested in. I don't own it and haven't read it, but it's a title that has intrigued me - but also made me a bit suspicious. It seems to be well reviewed by customers though.

I few things I've learned after making (rather well received) potato salad over the last three weekends.... Russets can work well. This is important to me since my local markets don't sell individual potatoes other than russets (I can't use a full 5lb bag). But you have to dice them first and watch them like a hawk while they cook and pull them just before they're completely done. It's similar to the al dente pasta thing. Again, like pasta, cook them in salted water so they taste good on their own. I would never use russets for larger batches (larger than, say, 6 servings). That would be futile exercise in flavored mash. Eggs can be boiled along with the potatoes but, while it may be a clever shortcut which may save a pan, it imposes a timer on the potatoes, which conflicts with rule #1. Earlier in the thread there were some mentions of deviled eggs and that made sense to me. And that's become my general concept - chopped deviled eggs with potatoes. Just enough extra mayo to coat. Looking for an alternative to bacon (which I didn't have), I rummaged around and came up with some pepperoni slices. Minced and microwaved on a plate, I had some nice little crunchy bits and a little bit of grease. The fennel flavor from the pepperoni worked well with the lemon juice I used for the acid.

Paula Deen may have revealed herself as the poster child for the racially insensitive, but I think it would be wrong to ascribe any malice to her motivations. She isn't alone in having an overly romanticized view of antebellum plantation life. Did anyone catch the latest episode of Chef Roble & Co.? Phaedra Parks' method of choosing servers may not be racist, but.... Of course, as a commercial concern, The Food Network has no choice but to show her the door. They can't risk damaging their brand, or those of their advertisers like, um... Aunt Jemima or Uncle Ben's

The assertion I challenged was your claim that "the authors say in their concluding paragraphs that their project is meaningless.". I don't think any reasonable reading of their rather carefully worded conclusion could be construed as such. Not proven? Ok, perhaps. Meaningless? That's a claim you have not supported. Without data, you appeared to be dismissive. With data, you appear to be on a mission with your own pre-conclusion in sight. Confirmation bias cuts both ways. My comments were based upon a rather interesting turn that this debate may take. Into the court system. There, the sorts of arguments you present may well come to the fore. And ultimately, the final decision may rest with a panel of nine distinguished persons with impeccable academic pedigrees and a lifetime of practical experience in the field of jurisprudence. People who have been schooled endlessly in our most important founding document, and all of the arguments and decisions that have occurred regarding it over the past two centuries. Truly constitutional scholars. They'll make their wise decision on the back of all of this. And then they'd likely disagree in a 5-4 split. In the hard sciences we try not do that (or at least try to rectify it through further exploration).

Really? You interpret the following as an admission of futility?

Ok, sorry, I missed the paragraph where you said you tried many combinations of time and temp. I added the steam option above as a result of a lingering thought train. But if it comes down to "what else can be tried?" then it's a brainstorming session.... Cover the pan for the initial part of bakingCover the pan for the end of bakingExperiment with the height of the coverPar-bake with a microwave for 10(?) seconds prior to bakingCan you get one cookie to bake properly under convection bake? Then you could slowly scale up, observing the different results closelyWhen you do a full load, are any of cookies properly cooked? If so, there's a data point. Look at the cookies around it.Could you slow down the convection action a bit? Partially block the convection fan with something?There are probably recipe tweaks too, but I wouldn't blame you for not posting yours.

I think you're just going to have get to testing. In my experience with pizza, reading and trying endless variations, the one 'law' I have developed is "Your oven is not my oven". In general, most advice about ovens should be dismissed - except for the underlying reasoning. This is not about good ovens vs. bad ovens. They just all have their own personalities. I think this is why we so often see suggestions that we should be buying oven thermometers - and even move them around the oven to learn its characteristics. Perhaps this isn't so important if we're talking about specific models. But if the question is really "Should I invest in a convection oven?", make sure you nail down the specific model. But if you already have the oven you intend to bake with, then just go for it. Even with the low overhead of being able to bake at home, you'll probably wind up going through more capital on incidentals (packaging, labels, legal and accounting expenses, etc.) than a few batches of cookie dough. BTW, thanks for mentioning the cottage food law. It appears to be a movement I was unaware of. It may deserve its own thread if we don't have one already. ETA: Steam?

Right, I say "Stop with the mixer already." Cooling it down shouldn't need a mixer (I wonder if this might be scaled down from a huge pastry shop batch). At the volume you're working with in this recipe, you should just need to set the ball aside for 5-10 minutes. Yes, there may be some elbow grease required, but not that much.