jackal10

Locke Ober http://www.lockeober.com/functions_privatedining.htm I'm also fond of Durgin Park, - certainly informal but historic.

I'd use 185F/85C for 30 mins and add some butter or oil but I prefer to roast them.

Towel is just the surface water. You need to leave them in a dry atmosphere (a fridge is convenient, or a sealed container with a silica gell dessicant) for say 24 hours between each step

I like them darker so I finish fry for longer...

The basic problem is there is not enough money to go round, no matter how its divided, and even less in these hard times. To elaborate on the example above: 40 covers, 50% occupancy average spend $30, 2 sittings open say 300 days/year Income (excl tips): 40*2*30*300/2 = 360K per annum Food and beverage costs: say 30% = 108K Overheads (heat, light, rent, insurance, breakages, linen, advertising, printing etc) 30% = 108K Wages: say 10 hour shift x 300 days BoH say 2 chefs @$16 and a porter @$8 : 120K FOH say 2 @ $2.83 = 17K Total costs _ 108+108+120+17 = 353K, or a loss of 3K This does not include any costs for management, interest on bank loans or financing etc. The restaurant is operating at slightly below breakeven. It can't last without reducing costs or getting more people in. They can't afford to pay the staff more, and if they put up the prices to cover increased wages even fewer people will come. The customers are feeling poor as well, so eating out less and giving minimum tips are one of the easiest places to economise. In these tough times its only places where the costs are sunk, so no borrowing or rent that will survive, for example established family places in freehold property, otherwise the fixed costs will kill them when fewer customers come through the door. OF course there will be a few exceptions where there is a niche market or fashion that fills the place, but they will be rare. It will get tougher yet...most serious predictions I see (and I do this professionally) say its a 4 year slump, with a peak to trough of 50% in say the value of your house or of the stockmarket. That says we have another 1-2 years to go before signs of recovery, and then recovery will be slow. This is assuming no disasters or civil unrest. There are more pessimistic predictions as well.

Fries go limp because the moisture migrating from inside dissolves the glassy sugars in the crisp exterior. You need to dry and dehydrate them more before the finish fry.

You say you have 40 covers (not counting the upper floor), with an average spend of $28. Lets say 50% average occupancy - any lower and the viability of the restaurant is doubtful. You don't say how often you turn a table in the 6 hours you are open, but lets say 3 times. So 40*28*3/2 = $1680 take, 20% tip is $336 15% is $252 Thats $42/hour Tipping out 40% still leaves $25/hour plus basic. You may also get some tips in from the shared pool - it goes both ways. Yes I am a cheapjack, but it seems to me that you are complaining not about subsistence wages with starvation and eviction f I pay 10% rather than 20%, but a take home much above that. It is a low paid industry, You are in a position where your wages are variable depending on how many customers you serve, but where you don't have control of things that influence that like advertising or pricing. Maybe you should talk to the management about gettting more customers through the door, so your tips go up, rather than hassling customers to pay you more In Russia they had a system where the kitchen sold the food to the FoH who resold it at whatever price they chose. I don't advocate that either. If service is part of the cost of a meal then it should be in the price; anything else is dishonest advertising. I don't buy groceries only to be told at the till that the price is 20% more or just "expected" to pay the till person an extra 20%... Why should I in a restaurant? I can see we will not agree, and the cutures are different. Lets agree to disagree and leave it there.

They are cooked potato, so yes you can hold them in a fridge. I would cover them after 12 hours or so. Much longer than a couple of days and they will start to stale, like old cooked potato - oxidise, taste off and the starch degrade. I think they will still be wholesome, just not as nice. It will take longer, maybe 3 or 4 days if they are kept cold for bacterial degredation or for them to start or for them to start to ferment Up thread Dougkas Baldwin mentions pre-cooking them sous vide at 185F/85C for 40 minutes. If you do not unseal or puncture the bag, the contents are effectively sterile, like canning and will keep for a week or two in a cold dark place.

Coughs modestly to point out the deep frying section of The Potato Primer: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=31701 Unfortunately the pictures seem to be broken. For French Fries (called chips in UK) I peel and cut the potatoes, preferably King Edward, par-boil them, then dry the outside, for example on a rack in the fridge. Then par fry, drain, and finish fry. I find duck fat the best frying medium, making a real difference, and not that expensive.

Katie: I'm not denying that you make your living from tips. However I don't see how you can justify expecting me to pay you at a rate that gives you double what the chef gets, or that a job like a nurse earns. Saying its a lousy system but since its common we must use it is a poor argument. That way it will never change. Banker's bonuses are justified the same way. There is a better way. I still can't make the sums work.

Shows the foolishness of a fixed percentage. I agree the numbers are different for a place where the average spend is $20. However if the spend is $20/head I am unlikely to need 3 hours of the servers time, more like 1 hour, So lets do the same sums with these assumptions. 4 top x $20 x 4 tables = $320 spend. 20% =$64/hour. Still not bad. If I am going to tip so the wage is comparable to the chef then $16/320 = 5%. Lets say there is only on average 50% occupancy, so 10% is maybe fair. 20% is still excessive.

I will certainly enquire and negotiate a fee for service before I order... Lets see how this stacks up... I expect to dine and engage your services for say 3 hours. I guess you are also looking after 3 other tables. Suppose I pay twice minimum wage, comparable to a nurse or K12 teacher wages, and according to http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Ex...hef/Hourly_Rate comparable to an average executive chef wages. $16 x 3 = $48/4 tables = $12 tip. Can we now order with a clear conscience? Say 4 top x $100 each = $400. 20% would be $80, and for 4 tables thats $320 for 3 hours work, or over $100/hour Not many jobs pay that Why should I "get with the program" and pay over 12 times the minimum wage, and five times the national average wage? I am unlikely to pass by the establishment again, so I have no interest in creating relationships or being ripped off. We change the system by not supporting it. 20% is outrageous.

"is built in as part of the wage structure in more places than it is not." In which case a small notice on the menu would be appropriate " Tipping in this establshment is customarily 15%-20%. Its part of the wage structure for wait staff"" for those of us who come from a place where tipping is rare. Its effectively a surcharge on the prices that the restaurant is not honest enough to state. Finding a price increase after you have bought and paid is strange.

Getting an appropropriate rate of pay is a negotiation between the staff and the management, not the staff and the customer. Begging for your money from the customer is demeaning. I try to avoid places where the tipping policy (and hence the implied contract) is not stated. I have no wish to join in what often amounts to tax fraud. I want my wait person to concentrate on professional service, not on how much they are going to get, and tricks to maximise that. I do not want the personal touch. I have no wish to be their temporary friend, flirt or be flirted with, hear their life story or tell mine, nor do I wish their opinion on politics or the financial crisis. I do not wish the tab to ornamented with hand drawn hearts and cute messages. The last waitress that did that got a severely reduced tip. If I want to give a donation to the low paid I will give to an appropriate charity. Heavens knows how much the waiters job has been de-skilled to plate slinging - rare now is full silver service, or carving the meat or filleting the fish at table, let alone remembering who ordered what without asking, or knowing the menu, cooking methods and ingredients. Ordering and communication with the kitchen is often electronic, with the kitchen portioning and plating. I suppose I should feel honoured if the food and wine arrives in reasonable time, in the right order, without being dropped and at an appropriate temperature. Even that is rarer than it should be.

A tip, at least here, is voluntary. If it is not voluntary it should be included in the price or clearly stated as a service charge on the menu. Personally I think restaurants, like better clubs, should pay staff properly, charge honestly to cover the cost and not expect tips. I hate having the staff beg.

Suas "Advanced Bread and Pastry"

I like them with sherry and mustard. Clean the kidneys as above. I soak them in milk for half an hour Melt some butter or if you prefer put some olive oil in a pan. Soften some onion, add the bacon, add the drained kidneys and cook over high heat, but don't overcook or they will be tough - just until they firm and change colour. Deglaze with sherry, season and stir in some made mustard. Cream optional Serve over rice or noodles or even toast. Devilled kidneys are also good. Add Worcester sauce, cayenne, hot sauce etc http://www.milescollins.com/wordpress/devi...idneys-on-toast adds truffle butter or oil

Sure you could, but the joy of them is the skin - gelatinous if braised, crispy if roast. There is not much meat on them and lots of little bones, so its usual to bone and stuff. You can bone them before or after cooking. I do it after, but professionals do it before as it gives a better shape. Once cooked you can egg and breadcumb and grill or fry, or stuff with a mousseline and poach, or just reheat in the sticky braising liquid and eat...

a) use a little oil on your hands, the worktop and the bowl you put it back in to stop it sticking. If you use a banneton (cloth lined basket) for the final proof rub in lots of rice flour or equivalent low gluten flour - no gluten, not stickyness. b) Don't overprove, then the dough is more robust and will have greater oven spring c) Handle gently - for example turn out onto or prove on baking paper (in a basin), then handling the paper put that in your super hot pan

http://www.gravetyemanor.co.uk/

err... Not true to the original recipe, but I think you would have much more success using two pots. One to mix in, and one, pre-heated to bake in. Pre-heat a heavy casserole or dutch oven in a hot oven. Mix in a basin. Use a little oil on your hands and the basin to stop it sticking When its time to bake if you are careful you can just tip it into the hot casserole (it will not stick), otherwise turn out onto the baking paper, and lifting it by the paper, put it all into the preheated casserole. Slash the top with a craft knife or razor blade. Put the lid on. Put it back into the oven for 20mins. After 20 mins take the lid off. Bake another 20 mins, then turn out

Thy don't keep, but can be reheated. However if you make them light enough and leave them in the kitchen, they evaporate..

SV cook at 55C/130F for 36 hours That will sort it.

For even more accuracy consider using a PID controller such as http://auberins.com/index.php?main_page=pr...&products_id=44

Sure it is, but you do better to seperate the pips and use a liquidiser for the orange pulp. Not pretty but tasty Makes 4 lbs approx INGREDIENTS 2 lb 3 ozs. or 1 kg. thin skinned oranges. 2 lb 3 ozs. or 1 kg. white sugar. (you can use brown if you like the taste) 1 ¾ pt. or 1 litre water. 1. Quarter the oranges. Remove the pips and put the pips in a muslin bag then put in pan. 2. Put oranges in liquidiser in batches with some of the water. Liquidise on low speed for 10-20 seconds until roughly chopped. 3. Put in the pan. Pressure cook for 10 minutes or boil until peel is soft. 4. Remove the muslin bag with pips. 5. Move from the heat. Add the sugar. 6. Return to the heat and boil rapidly whilst stirring. 7. Test for gelling. You are aiming for an end temperature of 222F/105C 8. Pour into jars while hot and seal