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minas6907

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Everything posted by minas6907

  1. How do you use a power drill for these applications? I'm particularly interested in the taffy.
  2. I was looking at a 8" plaster scraper thing, dont know exact name, to use for chocolates for the same reason. My only concern with the one I saw was that it was aluminum, and seemed like it could bend easily, maybe I'll still give it a shot. Other then that, I went to Home Depot and purchased a 4' aluminum angle piece. I just cut it into 1ft sections, cleaned up the edges so they are not sharp, and polished the outside of the angle with a compound, and presto, I had a confectionery frame for $10.
  3. Hi Lior. I just noticed that your in Ashkelon. This particular jar of candy is for a person I know who lives near me, but I made a large batch of this to send back with a friend who lives in Tel Aviv to give to my friends there. And Darienne, I guarantee I have no secrets! I read about the hard candy in Chocolates and Confections, and watched every youtube video I could fine that delt with it. Search for 'Papabubble' on youtube.
  4. Heres a jar of candy I made for a dear friend of mine. Black - Licorice Pink - Raspberry Blue and Purple - Blueberry Orange - Apricot
  5. I have an 18x24 boos block, I usually tend to just pick the items up (such as mushrooms) and place them in the pan. Other things that go in further in the cooking process (like minced garlic/shallot/leek/other very small items) I have a tendency to hold the hot pan below the board and swipe it in with my hand.
  6. Thanks for the replys and knowledge. looking forward to trying this soon, I found some good youtube video that show this process. Heres one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbPlSLVm_D0
  7. Or if you want to go really crazy you can get a Mohs hardness pick set. http://www.amateurgeologist.com/deluxe-mohs-hardness-pick-set.html The scratch tests are used (at least in my field) to distinguish different types of stone. Soap stones will fall into the same basic level of hardness, while some will be harder and some softer, they are still all soap stone, and have the same basic level of hardness. Assuming your counter is already set, I wouldn't sweat anything at all, use the mineral oil, and be happy you dont have a marble top in your kitchen.
  8. Hey Everyone. I was watching this video on youtube, and was wondering what kind of pasta your would call this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xB7V8I94mY At 6:13, a pasta is being made, then, it does happen quickly, but it looks like the filling is piped out in a straight line and folded to make these very nice pockets. Would you call these raviolis? Anyone have any details on how to make these? I make raviolis on a semi regular basis, but the way they were doing it in the video, it seemed like it could be done very fast and made into a nice shape. Anyways, just wondering if anyone's seen it done like this before.
  9. You'd measure softness by basically scratching the material in an inconspicuous area, like the backslash in a corner. Use a piece of metal, like a razor blade, but regardless, I'd be very surprised if it didn't scratch. Basically, I wouldn't worry about the softness of the stone, you'd treat all soapstone's in basically the same way.
  10. Hi guys, I just happen to restore stone counters/floors/other surfaces for a living. That is true that the soap stone wont etch, but not so to say that nothing will soak into it. The 'natural darkening' is basically an even staining of the stone over time, if nothing could soak into it, it wouldn't get darker. Its accelerated with mineral oil because the mineral oil is soaking into the stone, its acting like a sealer, but having mineral oil soak into the stone is basically pre-staining it, thus the reason it why darkens, and makes it more resistant to other stains, because it already has been stained. I also would be cautious about touching it with sandpaper unless you absolutely know what your doing. I repair too many counter tops because the home owner thinks they can refinish their stone top by themselves, which sometimes they may be able to, depending on the size, but most times you need very specific tools. The sandpaper thing on the soapstone could work very well sometimes depending on the location of the piece of stone, if its near a window where light shines directly on it, I know I'd be able to point out the treated area, it wouldn't have the same finish, I'd be able to point out the swirl marks from the sandpaper. Of course it would help hide them by applying the oil, but in direct sunlight you'd see some swirls. The only way you wouldn't see them is if you refinished the entire piece with a hand polisher, using sandpaper by hand wont leave it with very consistent results. Also, dont apply beeswax to your kitchen counter, you will regret it. It will wear over time, again, I've seen it too many times, its ugly.
  11. Haha, check out this review: "Finally a cook book that tells you how to complete the human digestive process. After your meal has been processed by your body, only waste remains. "Cooking With Pooh" shows you how to take that waste and recycle it into delicious treats. I had no idea that pooh could be used in so many dishes! Every recipe is low in fat although they all taste like crap." I love the last line.
  12. Heres some hardy candy I made today at a friends house for the kids, the flavor of choice was blueberry.
  13. Heres my list: 1. On Cooking (My general go to book) 2. The Professional Chef 3. The Professional Pastry Chef 4. The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef 5. Sauces, Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making (This was one of the first cook books I got, I dont use it much anymore though) 6. Garde Manger from CIA (I dont know why I got this book, it was a bit disappointing) 7. Foie Gras, A Passion (Love the pictures) 8. Europes Master Chefs (I saw this book a long time ago at a Barnes and Noble and found a used copy online) 9. Chocolates and Confections (Probably my favorite book right now) 10. Joy of Cooking 1975 edition (I always thought this was a good book to have, and I there are many copies on Amazon for just a few dollars.) 11. Mastering the Art of French Cooking (This is a very very old copy I found on my Grandfathers bookshelf) 12. A Taste of Tradition (Book on Jewish cooking, given to me by a close friend from Israel) 13. The Multi-Cultural Cusine of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean (Given to my by a friend from Trinidad and Tobago) 14. Modern Greek (Given to my by my mother) 15. Culinary Artistry 16. Cooking Basics for Dummies 17. Bartending for Dummies (Got this when I turned 21) 18. Food Lovers Companion 19. Best Czech Recipes (Given to me by my Czech friend when he visited the Czech Republic)
  14. Well I guess I just answered my own question. http://cupcakeheavenbyterry.blogspot.com/ Search for "craft heat gun" on the page to see a picture.
  15. I have a question for anyone that owns a heat gun. I know using a torch is ideal for this, but will a hot heat gun give the same/acceptable result?
  16. Very nice Snickers! I love the uniformity, the layers look very even with just a thin coat of chocolate, perfect! Heres some turkish delights I made that I was very happy with, I was surprised. I'm very picky with things I make, and especially these ones. I'm half Greek, so I've been eating these things since I was a child. Anyways, I followed the recipe from Chocolates and Confections At Home, and they came out a little softer then what I was used to. After they dried for 2 days, the texture did improve, but just a little bit soft. Although I was very encouraged by them not sweating. I made the recipe again (both times I did a half recipe) and added a 1/2 oz. more cornstarch to it, made sure to cook the starch paste fully so it gels properly, and instead of cooking the mixture for 20-25 min like the book says, I cooked it for 40 min, the gel was much thicker. Let it cool overnight in a frame, cut and coated in the morning, and two days later, the texture was perfect, not too tough, but not so soft, the candy had a little bite to it. Anyways, and now I'm enjoying them with some Turkish coffee (ooooo, look at that crema) :-)
  17. This is funny you mention this about the tomatoes. I had a very similar thing happen to me a few years ago, although I cant really remember exactly what I did. I was trying to make a tomato aioli by first making the mayo, then I think I tried to add some canned tomato sauce, thinking I'd blend it together then put it through a chinois, and the stuff separated beyond repair. I never attempted it since, I thought maybe it had to do with the canned sauce.
  18. Thanks alot, Kerry, I appreciate that. Can I ask you, where did you get your recipe for your delights on this topic? http://egullet.org/p1221340 Also, does anyone have a recipe that they found reliable? I have yet to try the recipe here: I would prefer an all starch recipe, and no gelatin, but eh, we cant have everything :-)
  19. Hi Everyone. I was wondering if someone who has Chocolates and Confections At Home can tell me if this recipe for Turkish Delight is any different. Heres the link: http://www.coco-cooks.com/2010/06/almond-rose-turkish-delight-and-a-giveaway-for-substituting-ingrediants/ I'm not really interested in the inclusions, but I just want to make sure that it matches what is in the 'at home' book. I was thinking about buying the book, but decided I really dont need it right now, and this is one if the few candies I want to make but dont have the ingredients for as written in the regular Chocolates and Confections book, anyone who's familiar with it will know I'm talking about the thin boiling starch. If there is a difference in recipe or instructions in the above link then what appears in the 'at home' book, would someone be so kind as to fill me in? Thanks a bunch in advance! :-)
  20. I dont know if you'd consider it show stopping, but a ratatouille came to mind, that can be served at any temperature, and goes fine with a crusty baguette or toast points.
  21. Hmmmm, these are interesting sites. What I've been doing (ever since I've noticed my copy of "The Professional Pastry Chef" has been showing its age and is getting tattered) is everytime I want a recipe from any of my books, I just scan the pages I need to .jpg's on my laptop, crop them in photoshop so they arent crooked or anything, then just print them, and if I need them again, I can just print them again rather then making another copy from the book (none of my cook books make it into the kitchen, working off of scanned pages keeps the books clean). By now I have just under 200 scans of recipes organized into categories (Breads, Cheesecakes, Confections, Cookies, Ice Creams, Sorbets, and Misc) Has been working fine for me. I also make some excel spread sheets of recipes I commonly use and keep a copy of that in a plastic sleeve in the kitchen.
  22. Hey thanks for the compliments! Heres an almond nougat I made today using the recipe from "The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef." I was trying to come up with a few designs to put on the top in chocolate for a friends wedding, I have a few better ideas then these. I like the lattice up top, not too crazy about the one on the bottom.
  23. Hey Everyone! I'm back with more from my obsession with hard candy! Here's some watermelon candy I made, hopefully you make semi make out the details. I wrapped up some long thin black strands into a red sheet of the candy, then wrapped that in green. The sheet of green for the outside was (I found out) a bit too thin, so the color on the outside isn't very pronounced. But they turned out ok, I was hoping they would look better, but I'm very happy, though, with the flavor, I took Darienne's advice from my thread on this topic a few days ago, as well from watching this video: Notice at 1:00 how he adds the flavor, for some reason I was concerned I'd be adding too much moisture to the candy, but realized theres no water in the candy oils, and it all worked out well, just a little flavor went a very long way. And concerning the shape of the candies, I pulled them into sticks and cut them in the same way as they do at 3:42 in this video: And heres my candy, I tried to make them look like little watermelons.
  24. Hey Thanks Kim, I appreciate it!
  25. Haha, no, I'm in California. Hmmm, if I were to estimate by volume, I wouldn't say its more then 3 cups. Ok, well I'll keep experimenting, thanks a lot!
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