tammylc

Wow - it's been almost 2 months since I posted here. I feel so neglectful... I haven't been cooking anything new - just lots of reruns of old meals. Tonight I'm making Tortilla Soup, which is always a favorite. Although the pecan-crusted tilapia has moved above it in terms of people's favorites in my repetoire. I have to cook again in less than 2 weeks - Monday February 5. I could trot a classic back out, like the jambalaya, but I'd like to try something new. Anyone have any ideas for me? For a Monday night, I'll need something that I can cook in my two hour window - I'll have to work that day, so don't have the option of starting early. However, since it's Sunday the day before, I could potentially do something that needed to be marinated or otherwise prepped in advance. Oh, and one of my neighbors stole one of my meals! She's now put my sesame noodle recipe on the menu twice. But she's a good friend, so I forgave her and gave her my blessing to keep doing it. But that puts me down one recipe in my stock rotation (although that's one I usually cook in the summer anyway).

Well, it's sort of like a restaurant week... Announcement in the Freep: The direct link to the dining page is http://www.winterblast.com/2007/dine.html. Not much information there yet.

For the strawberry balsamic ones I made, my pate layer was about 1/4 inch thick and it turned out I was using a 7 inch square pan, not an 8 inch as I thought I was using. I aimed for a ganache layer that was equal in thickness, and used 6 ounces of chocolate and 4 ounces of cream plus 1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar.

Thanks so much for the tips. I'm hoping that this will really ease production for me! Not to mention helping keep my chocolate at good working temperature in the cold kitchen I'll be working in. How long can I expect it to take for 3 kg of dark chocolate to get to the 2/3 melted stage?

I won a 3 kg melter on eBay last week. Not a Mol d'Art - the brand name is Felchin, IIRC, but it seems like basically the same thing. I'm still waiting for it to arrive, but in the meantime I thought I should start learning how to use it! What do I need to know? What methods work well? Thanks!

I started basically where you're at, and am now in the process of starting my own business. I attended a truffle making class and thought "this is easy" so I decided to make my own and sell them for Mother's Day. That's when I learned that there's a big difference between making a few dozen chocolates for family and friends and producing and packaging a couple hundred on a production schedule! But it was addictive anyway, so I offered them for Father's Day, then Halloween, with around 200-250 pieces ordered each time. Then at Christmas, I made over 400 truffles. Now I've decided to go legit so I can start advertising more freely, and so that I have the option of selling to restaurants or stores. I'm doing it as part of a larger food related business offering customized tasting events (visit www.tammystastings.com to check out). Michigan has pretty strict laws governing food businesses, so there are a bunch of hoops to jump. When I started, I sold mostly to friends, neighbors and coworkers. I'm fortunate to live on a cohousing community where I know all of my neighbors, and they were great early supporters of my chocolate making. Now they're telling their friends and passing out order forms for me. Definitely do the math. I undercharged a little bit on my first time out, mostly because I didn't investigate the cost of packaging. Not to mention your time! But you do have to take into account your market. I live in Ann Arbor and we have Zingerman's, which sells all manner of artisanal chocolates, so I had a ballpark as to what this community would be willing to pay. My chocolates start at $2.50 per piece in boxes of 2 or 4, with discounts for boxes of 8 or 12 or larger custom orders. I need to review my pricing now that I've started making molded chocolates instead of hand-dipped truffles, as they are a little smaller and thus use less chocolate/ ingredients. But there are differences in labor and materials as well, not to mention the overhead involved in starting a business. Good luck with your new venture!

I cooked the caramel to only 242 degrees, so it's a little softer than one you'd cut. Plus the Epicurious recipe is pretty soft as it is. When it's done, I let it cool a little, then pour it into a piping bag and let it cool some more there. You don't want to put it into shells until it reaches 85 degrees or so, so that you don't put your chocolate out of temper. It takes quite a long time for the caramel to cool to room temperature, so you can make the shells before or after making the caramel. Once it's ready, I just pipe it into the shells. You need to cut a large hole and it requires a fair amount of hand strength, but it goes in pretty well. Let it sit for at least several hours after that to smooth out and fill in all the cavities, then cap as usual.

I'm also interested in the answer to Kerry's question, as I've been having trouble with the foot chocolate shattering even when not tempered. I also found that the quantities recommended in the book created a much too thick foot, and I could minimize the breaking by using less and making as thin a foot as I could. Any tips about making the foot would be really appreciated!

The basic ratio I've been using for my ganache filled chocolates is 8 ounces of chocolate to 6 ounces of cream, plus 2-3 tbsp of liqueur or other flavoring. Once you've got the basic ganache made, you can add your flavoring a little at a time until you get the flavor you're looking for. My favorite so far uses Patron XO Cafe, a coffee liqueur made from tequila - it makes the absolute best chocolates - much better than Kahlua or something like that. For my caramel filled chocolates, I'm using the Fleur de Sel caramel recipe from Epicurious and only cooking it to about 242 degrees, then piping that into the shells once it's cooled. There's a couple of ideas for you - other people will no doubt have more!

And I can report that I tried the hazelnut praline, and it's great. Really nice flavor and texture.

I filed me DBA with the County clerk's office, and submitted for my sales tax license. I'm waiting for a package from my insurance agent about what kind of insurance I need. I filled out my form with all the information for the food establishment license. Now I just need to write a check and mail it in - I meant to do that today but caught up with a bunch of stuff. It usually takes 30 days to do the food establishment license. I'm hoping it will go through faster. I don't know what I'll do about V-Day if it doesn't...

Success! 5 oz strawberry puree (from 1 lb strawaberries and 1.5 oz confectioner's sugar) 4 1/4 oz sugar 2 1/4 tsp Pomona's Universal Pectin 1/8 tsp citric acid Good flavor, good texture. Works well with the ganache. Dead easy to make, too. Thanks all for ideas and advice!

Working on the last couple of experiments before deciding on my Valentine's Day selections. After lots of tinkering (documented in the g pectin thread), I have a strawberry pate de fruit/ balsalmic ganache I'm happy with. Well, actually, I'll add a touch more balsalmic in the final iteration, but other than that I'm happy with it. And here's the hazelnut praline recipe from the Shotts book: Please excuse the HORRIBLY thick shells - my chocolate and I were having a little fight last night. They're usually much thinner than this. But the filling is really tasty!

I've eaten at that Chef's table, and it does give a nice view of the action. We didn't feel like we were too in the way at all.

Because its a "healthy" dining program. I was told to remove the skin, but even if I wasnt told that, I would have removed it. It's where the majority of the spice was placed. Additionally, I had to layer the chicken in the other roasting pans, and the skin didnt crisp up. It was flabby and white. ← Ahh, I missed the healthy part. That makes the meat and potatoes focus even harder!

Just curious about why you took the skin off the chicken? It's my favorite part.

I was going to respond to your earlier comment about cooking the rice pilaf style with a caution against it for exactly that reason, but then I finished reading the thread and saw that I was too late. With my bulk meals, I have found that I get the best results cooking the rice in advance and then mixing it, just like your previous cook suggested. This is how I do the jambalaya I serve quite regularly, and it turns out great. I do the vegetarian version all in one pot, and even only doubling the recipe I end up with some overcooked and some undercooked rice, and I have to be extra cautious not to burn the bottom of the pan. Congrats on pulling everything off, even if you weren't entirely pleased with all of it.

Well, since I don't (yet) have any g pectin, I've been continuing in my experiments with adapting the recipe to use Pomona's. When last we left our pate de fruit maker, she had tried using 1 tbsp of pectin, and found that although the texture was no longer like fruit leather, it was still a little too firm. So yesterday, I tried a batch with just 2 tsp, plus 1/8 tsp of citric acid for flavor. Much, much nicer texture - soft, but still held it's shape. But I'm worried that this leaves too much free moisture. I was just tossing these in sugar for serving on their own, but the sugar didn't stay dry and they got all sticky. While I love the texture and the flavor, I'm concerned that if I tried to dip them at this consistency, that I'd have trouble with my dipping chocolate seizing. Anyone have any sense of whether the "sugar test" would indeed be an indicator of that problem? Would leaving them to air dry for the recommended overnight after cutting address that concern anyway? Anyway, this weekend I'll probably try a batch with 2.25 or 2.5 tsp, and actually finish them off, making another batch of ganache and doing the dipping too. The nice thing about pate de fruit is that it takes next to no time to make - as a very busy mom, I love that!

You should keep playing around with the Pomona's then, Vanessa, as its claim to fame is that it can work with very low sugar or artificially sweetened jellies, jams, etc.

Thanks Kerry. I don't have any kirsch, but I'll see if any of my neighbors do. When do I add the citric acid and/or kirsch?

Alanamoana - Yes, the recipe did call for powdered sugar. I too was wondering if that has some impact on the amount of jelling. John - I think it's going to vary a lot between fruits based on the calcium content of the puree. With non-calcium rich fruits, I suppose you'd need to add the calcium solution that comes in the package too. According to the Internet, 166 grams of strawberries have 23.24 mg of calcium. On this page they say that 1 cup of cherries has 17.6 mg of calcium, but they don't specify what kind of cherries they are talking about. My taste testers mostly like the flavor, but feel that the texture of the pate de fruit is a little too hard. I've not had a chocolate with a layer of pate de fruit it before, so I'm not sure what consistency I'm aiming for. And obviously, there's going to be a limit as to how soft it can get and still be dippable. Anyone have any experience with the subject to share? I think I'll try using just 2 tsp of Pomona's in the next batch. At Kerry's suggestion, I want to try some citric acid to pump up the strawberry flavor. But I've never used it before - any guidance to what amount I should start with?

Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner. Using just 1 tbsp of the Pomona's instead of 2 seems to be just about right. Now I'm waiting for the dark chocolate balsamic ganache to set up, and I'll be able to assess how it all works together. And then I'll have to see how it dips, and if there's any problems with the pate de fruit during that.

Lovely!

The Pomona's worked well. Too well, I think, as the consistency was far too thick to pour or spread into a pan or frame. Here are all the details: The strawberry puree is made from 1 pound of strawberries and 1.5 oz of confectioners sugar, pureed in a food processor and strained. The pate de fruit calls for 5 oz of the strawberry puree, 4.25 oz of sugar, and .5 oz (2 tbsp) of pectin. You mix the puree with half the sugar and bring it to a boil. Combine the rest of the sugar with the pectin, and whisk into the puree once it's boiling. Bring back to a boil and cook for 2 minutes, then pour into an 8" square pan lined with plastic wrap. Clearly the consistency is supposed to be more liquid than what I ended up with, since it calls for "shaking the pan to spread it into the corners." After chilling it in the fridge for the suggested 20 minutes, I ended up with something that's near to the consistency of fruit leather. Yum. (Not!) Actually, the flavor is not bad, and that's even without Kerry's suggested additions of some citric acid and/or kirsch. But the texture is totally wrong. (My husband the strawberry addict is happily eating it, however.) Tuesday I'll try again with half the pectin and report back. John - what was the ratio of Pomona's in the recipe you made (might help me know if half is too little).

Regular grocery store pectin is citrus pectin, I think. I have the Pomona's Universal Pectin, and I'm going to give that a try. It comes with two parts - the pectin, and a calcium solution to make it gel. Seems suspiciously like this g pectin thing Kerry found, so I'm going to try using it just as the Shotts recipe calls for (ie. without adding the calcium liquid as per the box instructions) and see what happens.