IndyRob

Yes, specifically, morel mushrooms. They have a very meaty taste.

I hope they put that old woman on the next judges panel.

I'll try to keep this simple. What dish do we (or many people) still eat today whose origins are most distant in time. To qualify it has to be a specific preparation that has maintained its character. Not something general like roasted meat, pasta, beer, olive oil, etc. I'm starting the bidding at 700 (oops, make that 400) years ago.

I think there would be a progression. Wiley Dufresne or someone might perfect a method of printing the perfect, repeatable, marbled steak. He might have to charge a ton for them. But with that advancement, a market would be created. Then specialty butcher shops could get into the act. Eventually, a supermarket chain could offer comparable products.

Factories tend to use the simplest machine possible for an application. But there are more flexible 'bots that adapt to the task coming down the assembly line. Or 5-axis milling machines that can go from job to job with minimal adjustment. But I agree that some of the prototypes in the article are a little too much like bread machines. That's what led me to think about the Food Fab Mart. It could have dedicated slicing tables that could do all sorts of slicing and dicing, but leaves other tasks to other machines. But again, the ideas - especially the 3D food printer - go beyond mere automation, into completely new kinds of techniques and food.

I liked everything about this episode with the exception of having to have contestants do front of house. If Casey had done her dish all the way through it may not have been inedible. Regarding Tom's performance, his blog is particularly good this week. He only knew two days before the shoot that he would be doing this. He had only made a walk through of the kitchen prior to shooting.

You could probably adapt a method I've used to good effect for ribs. Put some aluminum foil in a pan, put some barbeque sauce on it, then the ribs and more sauce on top. Then fold the aluminum foil over the top to cover and put in a 250 degree of for a couple hours, then sear with grill or broiler. Still a braise as far as I'm concerned, but done in a different way. Instead of barbeque sauce, maybe some mushrooms, wine, garlic, etc.

I'm with you here. I've been thinking about this for a while. But the automation is out there in the industrial food world. It's just that our (consumer's) standards are not high enough. After all, we're just discovering things like sous vide that the industry has been using for decades. It's just that industry is more concerned with the marketplace than the individual dish. It used to be that computers filled the basements of huge companies and did taxes and censuses. Now, with personal computers, they're playing music, and movies, and LOL cats - along with encyclopedias, sous vide charts and instructional videos. I understand the artisanal aspect. I myself have knowingly overcooked things because I was just a little too damned contented with my music, glass of wine, and simmering pot. But as we all know, it isn't always so idyllic. But it's not just about that. The possibilities with 3D food printers are nearly endless. With these and other tools we create dishes that are today unfathomable. But we could also see more efficient means of using fresh product. The half tomato I don't need for my BLT could be immediately redirected to someone else's caprese salad. Less waste, less garbage - more, and better food.

For some reason the phrase 'restaurant death watch' came to mind. Not expecting much, I googled it and was surprised to see some relevant hits. You might try that. Perhaps if you find one before it goes under you can have some control over what stays (and see what kind of problems they're having).

Well, leave it to the folks at MIT to make food even more geeky. Here they present several new robotic prototypes that could point to a world where things such as Sous Vide and Spherification might be viewed as positively rustic. I doubt we'll all be able to afford Digital Chocolatiers or 3D Food Printers. But, perhaps instead of investing in the Viking range, Polyscience circulator, and/or Blodgett combi oven - as well as our stocks of ingredients - we'll just invest in a pneumatic tube (with the optional beverage delivery tubes) connected to the neighborhood Food Fab Manufactory. We'll do our 'cooking' online and replace the exchanging of recipes with the sharing of programs. The software involved would have to identify dangerous practices or combinations to prevent viral epidemics. Sure, the act of cooking may become less soulful, but c'mon, how are we going to compete with our high-tech robotic minions with their infrared eyes, marinade injecting Thermapen fingers, and sub-millimeter precision? Hell, they're even impervious to the worst imaginable Gordon Ramsay tirade (and if they did take offense, they'd probably just inject some boiling marinade into his skull). If we miss the smells of cooking we can order up some pork roast smells to be delivered through the pneuma-tube when it's not actually delivering product. Our video walls could display idyllic scenes of sauteeing onions or simmering stocks. Of course, there will sure to be a counter cultural backlash creating the next phase of culinary evolution - one likely to be embraced by Anthony Bourdain, for one.... Punk Food.

After employing the Googling Device, it looks like this phrase must be a hot key assignment in a Microsoft Word restaurant review template.

"...and that's a shame because..." I guess I would like to know what was a shame. I think it might be key. Taking a shot in the dark, perhaps a well placed, fun establishment, in the shadow of a sports stadium, that's serving food that is out of place?

Yeah, I've been looking at a lot of sfogliatelle videos today. There's definitely close relationship. And a lot of slightly different ways to accomplish the same goal. Here's my favorite vid of the day. A very fastidious formation of the shell (which I think is the key). 3 minutes to show what these pro pastizzi (sfogliatelle) folks are doing in about 5 seconds.

Okay, I've just made my first attempt at replicating my stovetop HB egg method in my immersion non-circulator (a Presto Kitchen Kettle and a thermapen). The only purposeful variation I made was to use a larger water to egg ratio, so that we could be sure we're talking about a larger bath. I had about four inches of water for two eggs. I settled on 200 F for 10 minutes and then into an ice bath. Almost constantly, I measured the temp with the Thermapen at various locations. Although I occasionally saw measurements of 199 or 204, I'd say 90% of the readings were 200-201. I purposely took one egg out at the 9 minute mark because I knew the difference I should see. Conclusion: The temp was just slightly too low, but the results were good. Not for HB eggs, but something between HB and SB. In the 10 minute egg, the yolk was just solidified all the way through, but was still gelatinous. The 9 minute egg yolk had a gelatinous exterior but a 'molten' core. The whites in both cases were very good and tender. In fact, just trying to pick up one end of half of the 10 minute white caused it to break in half. I think I'd want to replicate one of these results if I just wanted to eat a boiled egg. But a hard boiled egg probably needs around 205F. [Edit]Oh, and the eggs were right out of the fridge.

Or, I believe, a hard-boiled egg. Unless someone here can say otherwise, I cannot find a method for making good hard-boiled eggs for deviled eggs LTLT, despite what several sources suggest. Julia's method (at least 1" cold water above the eggs; boil for 30-40 seconds; take off heat and sit for 16 minutes, stirring now and then to center the yolks) gives solid whites, soft yolks, and no green. I think that we're talking about a continuum here, not really separate techniques. At issue is temperature regulation and transfer with a package containing (at least) two different elements with different properties. But there's no reason we couldn't do a hard boiled egg in an immersion circulator. The method I use for hard boiled eggs is to put the eggs in very gently simmering water, cooking for 10 minutes, and then plunging the eggs into ice water. It works very well. In this method I use a visual cue to maintain a constant temp. Julia's method uses the self-regulation of boiling as a starting point and then a repeatable fall in temperature - kind of like the problem posed in the Beer Cooler Sous Vide topic. I think these methods have been developed and handed down to us because they have formulas based on visual cues that do not require precise thermometers. But if you have the technology on hand, it should certainly be welcome if it's as convenient. But I think it leads to a problem in classifying sous vide as LTLT. Sous vide can be LTLT, but it doesn't need to be. If we can acheive our goal in 10 minutes, there's no reason prolong it. Keller's sous vide lobster poached in a beurre monte just takes around 15-20 minutes. Lines begin to blur when we look at things really closely. I started a Sous Vide vs. Poaching vs. Confit topic to try to explore this but it didn't get much traction.

I was fascinated by the concept of sous vide eggs. My first attempt was interesting but unappetizing - a partially cooked white around a gelled yolk. I immediately thought that the 'right' way would be to separate the yolks and whites and treat each separately. I wondered about lowering an intact yolk into a bath. But then again, if you break the yolk you can season it (maybe adding some chives). I've looked for chocolate molds I could use to mold the yolks and cryovac, but haven't found anything suitable yet. But I think I'll experiment with some plastic condiment cups with plastic wrap on top. My goal would be to cook the yolk until just it holds its shape in a gel form. Whites, to my mind, could be done in a variety of ways. I think they're more forgiving. Ultimately what I'm going for is a reconstructed mini eggs benedict. A crouton with some prociutto then a layer of white topped with the molded yolk. Oh, and some squeeze bottle hollandaise action. The shape could be simple, or whimsical, or avant garde. Perhaps a single bite, but the yolk would not drip so it wouldn't need to be.

I just looked at Douglas Baldwin's egg pictures. Interestingly, the highest temp he shows is the temp you started with, but he kept it constant for 75 minutes. Looking back through the pictures, at around 12-14 degrees cooler, the egg is looking pretty raw. So I think you'd have to start with a significantly higher temp. I'd probably try 15 degrees higher to start with. Yolkwise, the ending temperature of the bath is probably more relevant than the starting temp.

Yes, this looks like a similar method from another earlier pastizzi video. I likened it to strudel (stretching dough over a whole table). It had the same melted butter application that I thought a little dubious. I tried it and I think I made two mistakes. First I failed to cut off the edges. Then I failed on the forming of the cut pieces. In this vid it's clear that he mashes down on the cut end to make the disc which is then formed around a filling... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr-yaD1Gc1Y [ETA] Ooops, that one didn't want to be embedded, but this one sort of unifies the whole theme....

Courtesy Chattacha @ Wikicommons. It's been over 40 years since I was in Malta and experienced my first pastizzi. This was probably followed by at least 50 more. I honestly can't remember a single other foodstuff while I was there. For those that may not know, pastizzis are ricotta and egg filling (among others, like a pea & meat filling) in a Pâté feuilletée-like pastry. Puff pastry produces a rough facsimile, but it falls far short of the real thing. I've occasionally been trying to make proper pastizzi ever since. Every so often I've searched the internet. I know I've been lead down the wrong path several times, but now it looks like more credible info (and videos) are available. There are even travel packages now where you can go to Malta and be schooled on site. But I don't think I want to go quite that far. I originally thought that the ricotta mixture was important, but I've since decided it isn't the critical element. I've made my own ricotta from cow and goat milk, but in testing one of my failed attempts at making the pastry, I found a little bit of the essence hiding somewhere in the decidedly non-flaky pastry. The secret is in there, I'm sure. I'm gearing up to make another attempt and want to try to minimize the mistakes. I found two videos that appear to corroborate other.... Commercial Aussie Operation.... Someone's Grandma...(much longer) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8454701352872277913# So now come my questions. It looks like the four in the first video is "BAKERS EXTRA FLOUR" which does seem to be an Australian product. It looks like the second is using King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose. Would these be roughly equivalent? Would one want to develop gluten in the dough? It doesn't appear that any special precautions are taken to keep things cold. Wouldn't this be desirable? Maybe they're working so fast that it isn't an issue. The pastry layers are made by rolling the dough into a long snake which is cut up. At around 0:58 in the first video, it looks as though a thumb is plunged into the cut edge of a piece which then is worked into a cup-like shape into which the filling goes. Does this technique exist elsewhere in pastry making, or is it unique to pastizzi?

I suspect that it's a bit of different equation for each person. As noted, Kevin wan't interested in proving anything. Spike, on the other hand, has benefited from his participation in my eyes because of this very thread. When it was mentioned that he seemed to be doing well, I had to go look to see what he was doing. I think that Jen being sent home early-on pretty much removed any disgrace that might be felt by those eliminated. I could be wrong, but I don't see Jen as someone who wants to put herself out there commercially, but does in a professional sense. I think she was there to win - which only added to her disappointment. Anyone from the earlier seasons that haven't found their final calling could only do well to get back into spotlight and claim the 'All Star' association.

By easy to work, are you talking about kneading or stretching/rolling (or both)? I guess they're related, but during kneading you can work through it by force (either by using a modern machine, or using the Julia Child method of beating the dough against a board as though employing a medieval flail against a belligerant Huguenot). Chicago Deep Dish doughs are a joy to work with because you don't want to develop much, if any, gluten. Just mix to incorporate. The result is something like biscuit dough that readily mashes around in a pan. But for regular pizzas you want the gluten development. Hydration is a factor as well. Highly hydrated doughs will be looser and seem to be easier to work, but they can be stickier - and sneakier - contracting over time (especially on an oiled surface). So that 12" round you rolled out may well be 10" by the time you check back on it. Rest is probably the most important factor. Once a dough seems to be working against you, give it the cold shoulder and walk away for 5 minutes. It will relax. Then you can sneak up on it again and impose your will. I think tossing probably came about as a way of coaxing the dough with minimum violence and a maximum of finesse. Although tossed pizzas aren't generally my favorites, the technique does seem sound (and is impressive when performed well). One afternoon I devoted some time to learning this technique. Just as I was starting to see some indications of success, I realized that an 8 foot ceiling just wasn't going to be sufficient.

By intimidating, I meant for the reader. All that will expand to a copious amount of text. What if one created a sort of summary article for eggs that listed all these considerations, but didn't try to answer them all - but instead linked to relevant existing content? e.g. Egg An egg is a [blah, blah, blah] Egg Dishes There are at least 100 dishes that feature eggs as a main component[blah, blah, blah], but the egg also [blah, blah, blah] Some of these links could certainly go to eGCI, or sometimes even eG threads. Over time, the wiki nature could bring these 'in house' so to speak, by creating better content based on that original inspiration, but that fits it into the framework better. Sometimes, a better 'in house' version may not be feasible (for instance, some 'HowStuffWorks.com' content is really well done) but it could be a symbiotic relationship.

Spike outstrategized himself. Early on I noted that there was an unusual focus on the strategy of putting out the weakest dish first to neutralize the other teams' strongest dish (normally, what strategies and tactics there may be are closely held). But I was never clear on why the other team would necessarily put their strongest dish first (presumably, everyone would think their dish the strongest). Why give a point away right off the bat? Anyway, I figured the strategy would play prominantly in the results somehow. Regarding the challenge, Collichio is pondering the same thing. As a game, this was a fun twist. As a serious competition, not tasting everyone's food was lame.

Well, I may cause some eyes to roll, but if we're talking vegetarian and not vegan, there are some pretty big loopholes to take advantage of. In fact, despite being a meat loving individual with little love for veg, on more than one occasion I've reflected on the fact that for two weeks straight I had eaten a vegetarian diet without even thinking. Imagine a table laid out with spaghetti carbonara, lasagna, pizza, bread and butter, gnocchi, etc. I don't think most people would think vegetarian. Dairy and eggs are allowed, but for cheese you'll need to find cheese made with vegetable rennet. Pasta, crepes, cheese, bread, butter, cream sauces - all legal. So cheat (well, it feels wonderfully like cheating to me). Oh sure, you can add some veg - combine a marinara sauce with a bechamel. Oh, wait tomatoes are fruit, not veg. Fine, eggplant then. Or is that a fruit too? Also, see if you can plea bargain up to pescetarian, which could give you fish and possibly crustaceans. [ETA] Oh, and for me Morel mushrooms are the most meaty non-meat thing I've ever tasted. Not a particularly seasonal bit advice, but perhaps if you're still at it come spring.

Oh, okay. I thought you were getting one anyway. In that case, I would assume that sous vide wouldn't work. Like Alton Brown, I'm a big fan of multi-taskers (like my Kitchen Kettle), but am not a big fan of combination products. I got a Cuisinart combo Blender/Food Processor once. It was merely adequate as a blender and inferior as a food processor.