runwestierun

Gift boxes? Do tell...

I make alot of pistou, kind of a pesto without the cheese or nuts. It never turns brown. What in the cheese and/or nuts could be turning it brown?

At my local grocery they tag the fennel bulb like you would a piece of clothing--they shoot a plastic fastener that is T shaped at both ends into the fennel bulb with a tagger gun and then hang a tag from that. The bulb is bruised brown all the way through where the fastener is shot through. Makes me CRAZY! Also stickers on pears and nectarines, impossible to peel off without removing skin. Grrr...

Pizza pops! http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/pizza-pops/

Ok, so if the horsepower measurement is misleading because it's peak HP, is the same also true of watt ratings for KA mixers? Like when they say the Artisan is 325 watts, is that "peak watts"? Is there an immutable measurement by which to compare mixer power?

OK I had an old Kitchen Aid mixer that I LOVED. It was an old professional series, I don't remember the wattage--maybe 600? Anyway the new husband took a metal saw to it to make it "better" (=broken) and then got me a new one after he saw what he had done. The new one is an Artisan and it isn't even a shadow of my former mixer. It cannot knead the majority of doughs. I am embarrassed I own it. I got an email today from Williams Sonoma about a new KA mixer that is 1.3 horsepower. Wouldn't that make it about 1000 watts, or is there something I am not understanding? Anyone know anything about this machine? It's exclusive to WS. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/kitchenaid-stand-mixer-7-quart/?pkey=e%7Ckitchenaid%2Bmixer%2B1.3%7C34%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C7&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_- It seems heavy duty but I was so burned by the last one...

I use KAF's rye bread improver. My rye bread is brickish without it. I've found I can use more rye flour with it, too. I live in a rural area and the only way I could get rye flour was in a 50# bag. must. use. up. flour.

I also cook pizza on my Weber quite regularly. I use a round aluminum pizza pan with holes in it. I spray it with Pam and stretch the dough thin over it. I preheat the grill wide open for 15 minutes to get it as hot as I can. My grill will hit 750F. I place a wok ring on the grate and place the pizza pan on that. It takes between 4 and 6 minutes for the dough and cheese to brown thoroughly. Then the pizza has to come off the pan onto a peel within 30 seconds or it will burn because the pan keeps cooking it. My Weber cooks the pizza much more like a wood oven than my Kitchen's oven. I have found if I don't use the wok ring, the dough burns before the cheese browns. My neighbor has a newer Weber than mine. When she heats hers wide open for 15 minutes, it will only get to 550F, so her Weber with the same setup makes pizza that tastes like it was cooked in an oven--no lovely blackened dough bubbles like mine.

How about using a chalkboard for specials and printing the menu?

It's Costo! Buy it, try it, if you don't like it take it back. IMHO that's why you pay for a membership!

Bao! Bao bao bao! I have never found a kid who didn't like them, once they were forced to try them. There are 2 Asian things I always make and keep in my freezer, ready for a quick steam: bao and siu mai. They both keep in the freezer really well. I made 200 bao this past weekend, just because I love having them out on the deck for lunch in the summer. They go from the freezer into a bamboo steamer for about 11 minutes and they're perfect. Same with the siu mai.

Only little teeny serrated plastic handled knives. Nothing over 5".

We have to compare like products. This isn't a debate about the best tomato brand. The question is: do Pomi tomatoes in boxes taste better than the exact same Pomi tomatoes in cans?

My God I love Eat Your Books. I want to make some Vietnamese salad rolls but in a smaller size. I need to find a recipe for rice paper wrappers since I can only buy them in the large size. A search of the internet proved futile so I tried my own cookbook library index at Eat Your Books and lo and behold--there was the recipe! In Alford and Duguid's Flatbreads and Flavors, certainly a book I would not have thought to search. Yay! For any of you that are unfamiliar with it, Eat Your Books is an internet site that creates a master index of all the recipes and ingredients in your personal cookbook library. It has proven to be an invaluable resource to me. I am especially looking forward to using it as all the summer produce becomes available. What have you found in your own cookbook library using EYB?

The new husband is single handedly keeping Costco in business by buying cases and cases of this stuff and keeping it out in the fridge in the shop. I swear if I could ever get a word in edgewise of his constant amped-up blathering I might tell him to think about maybe reining it in a little. Lord. I personally don't drink this stuff because somebody in this relationship needs to be level headed and in possession of a working super-ego and able to say, "No, dear, that is most certainly not a good idea."

I love the Jaccard and use often, it works better than anything. If you are thinking of purchasing one, the Jaccard brand is much better than the knockoffs (the "crappards"). Also, I much prefer the one that has a removable cassette of blades for super easy cleanup. This one's my favorite http://www.amazon.com/Jaccard-45-Knife-Meat-Tenderizer/dp/B000A3I3G0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309545710&sr=8-1 The blue button slides to the side and the blade cassette pops out. There is a good thread on the Jaccard here:

Weight gain.

Creme fraiche. I would kill for creme fraiche. I live in the boonies where such luxuries, which don't start with "Chef-Boy-R", are nonexistant. So that's a good idea, but that's out. I noticed that my powdered buttermilk on further inspection says "sweet cream powdered buttermilk" so I am going to mix some of that up and maybe make it a little thicker than it calls for. I'll let you know how it goes. The cake is for a birthday tonight.

I want to make Tartine's devil's food cake recipe that calls for 1 1/4 cups of full-fat buttermilk. The problem is, the only thing that's available in my teeny tiny town is low-fat buttermilk. I always thought that buttermilk was naturally low-fat. I'm afraid I don't know how to substitute low-fat for full-fat. Should I add a little heavy cream to it? Melted butter? I do also have Bob's Red Mill dried buttermilk on hand. Any suggestions?

Me! Me! Me! I want to see! I'm interested! THank you for such an interesting and beautiful blog. I wonder, did Schwa give any reason for cancelling your reservation?

There is an excellent table in Modernist Cuisine comparing batter ingredients and crispiness.

I think they'll get soggy, well, maybe not soggy, but wimpy. They will be made more than an hour before, right? Because an hour before is when you arrive at the first event. Crostini with toppings just don't keep. Would it work to toast the bread and arrange it around a little dish of the layered spreads? That would keep.

My god these guys make me laugh. And I love that they get recognised going through the fast food drive-thru getting "ingredients" for their epic lasagna.

Make sure you let them know that this isn't just a job for you, it's your vocation. It's what you love to do, what you've trained to do, it's what you want to do for your whole life. You want to do your best and always get better, learning and growing, making the restaurant better. Good luck.

Hey, Dorie, congratulations on winning the IACP Cookbook of the Year award. To celebrate, I'm going to go bake a big flat giant cookie and break it into a bunch of pieces! Yay!