chezcherie

brownies.

i was in a wal-mart today (for the second time in my life!) and they had a black bag displayed on the customer service station that read "paper? plastic? neither." i didn't even see the walmart logo on it, and if i had not already gone through the check-out line, i woulda bought a couple. sadly, at this rate, and with my (non)proximity to wal-mart, i will not have another chance until the next millenium. i am in trader joes, however, nearly every day. while i have a few of their reusable bags, i mostly use their paper bags, and use them to gather recyclables during each cooking class, then recycle the whole ball-o-wax...seems like a reasonable trade off to me, but i'm not sure how that affects my "carbon footprint". (as i am leading a group of students and friends to tuscany next week, i think my shoes are getting larger by the moment...)

pre-scrubbed (maybe??) potato, wrapped in saran, to stick in the microwave. really? realllly? is that what lazy looks like? i hope to god they pre-poked a hole too, 'cuz we all know that's the tricky part of microwaving a spud....

i would take it out of the brine, rinse it and put it back in the fridge. you should be fine roasting it tomorrow.

i am really enjoying this: nerf-like knife block no slots, so any knife can go anywhere you like it. it is oddly satisfying to stick the knives into. i need another one.

i've rolled it thinner. it won't puff as much, but that's okay for a tart tatin, anyhow!

lovely...just lovely. thank you!

surfas isn't called "a chef's paradise" for nothing. it's in culver city...looks like you will be in a big triangle of freeways, anyway, going from alhambra to irvine to glendale...i would try to triangulate my way there, for sure!

made the amaretti torte last night. even unglazed, it is dense, but moist, with a great almondy, chocolatey flavor.

i think they should replace padma, who replaced katie-lee-awful, with casey next season.

this is so interesting...i wonder if there are honeycrisps and hoenycrisps...or if local (as usual) makes a diff....i'm in CA, and will pay more attention tot he darned sticker when i get more honeycrisps tomorrow...could be that they don't travel well or store well. as i said, i'm not an apple eater, but these are sooooo good (to my palate). the descriptor bland makes me think we are getting different apples, rather than having different taste receptors. curiouser and curiouser...

reallllly? i wonder if the ones you are getting are not the current crop? although, the farmer's market ones sure should be... i really don't even like apples, eaten out of hand, and the first time i tasted a honeycrisp (not due to the hype, which i heard about later, but because i was on a diet), it nearly blew my tiny mind. so crispy-crunchy, so juicy, so sweet-tart and such layered flavor. now i look for them as soon as the kids go back to school, and have a little "fall moment" when i take that first bite.

i have a small camera, and i photograph nearly all the meals when i travel. in france, the only time an eyebrow has been raised is when the tables are so close together that you nearly feel related to the diners at the next tables. in those cases, i've found that a smile and a quiet "pour le journal" always brings a nod and a smile in return.

no red and white tins with either name...except the black pepper.

lol....i sure wouldn't fire the marketing folks if they got you thinking about replacing everything!!! i can see how the ad could be interpreted the way you did, although it never occurred to me until your post. (just to add to confusion, i did a little research, and it seems that schilling IS mccormick...i guess ala best foods-hellmans?) so now i'm off to the grocery store, and will see if my memory of those red and white tins is ALSO 15 years old! i could swear i've seen them recently, but now i'm thinkin' it's just the pepper....and WHY would they retain that packaging JUST for that product? so many questions now....)

my every day olive oil is from trader joe's (which i think you have in milwaukee). it's a california oil, in a manageable size (i don't like to buy a gallon at a time as it's too bulky for my storage set-up, and doesn't improve with age). i like the flavor, and especially like the bottle--tall and pretty, with dark glass to keep the sunlight from hastening rancidity. (i go through it pretty fast, but i AM guilty of leaving it out by the stovetop, rather than proper dry, dark, cool storage...) in fact, most of my olive oils are tj's--i like their spanish one when doing tapas, and they have an unfiltered italian (can't recall if it's tuscan or sicilian) that's also tasty.

right...again, my interpretation is that they are saying that if you have a red and white tin with mccormick (not schilling) on it, it's 15 years old...too old to have much flavor.

i agree--the way i read this ad is that mccormick is suggesting that consumers go to their spice cupboards and check the containers...if they are in the red and white tin or have the baltimore address, they are reallllllly old and should probably be replaced. i really liked this ad, and then checked my mother-in-law's cupboard, at her request. several of the "antique" containers were discovered. interesting to note, however, that schilling also uses the red and white tin packaging...dunno if they adopted it after mccormick abandoned it, or if they are subsidiaries, or what. i think i have seen those tins on grocers' shelves currently, so not all red and white tins should be pitched. i suggest to students that they write the month and year they purchase spices on the label of the jar (not the lid, as lids can get interchanged if you are using several jars to make a spice rub or something...) that way they'll have a frame of reference for the age of things.

my prediction is that sara is going to take the big prize...not because she's the best chef, but because a woman "needs" to win this season, and they sure as hell can't give it to casey after the onion debacle...so i think sara will come out smelling like a rose!

two quick thoughts-- 1. dana cowin says that duxelle and puff pastry don't go together? really? REALLY? while that particular presentation fell short, i think they can be a tasty combination, if done well. 2. while no howie-phile, i kinda felt him last night...it seemed like during the quickfire, he had the sort of "what am i doing here?" realization that i'm sure i would have had (albeit much sooner), and chucked his crap presentation...probably deciding at that point that this "top chef" thing was not for him, and bailed. while entertaining (sometimes...less and less, tho) to watch, i can only imagine how tedious it must be to actually participate in these shows, and how demeaning these trumped up challenges must become. sure, he knoew, going in, but i gotta give him a little credit for checking out, and serving turned over martini glasses filled with nothing...maybe he shoulda called it oxygen foam? (or, as my nana used to say "air pudding and wind sauce"!)

we do faux-poleans....scatter turbinado sugar on the work surface, lay down the puff, more turb on top....roll out slightly (really just to press the rough sugar in). cut into rectangles and bake off...the turb caramelizes in a really lovel way. you can split the gorgeous pillows if you like...sometimes i use a 50-50 mix of lemon curd and mascarpone to fill them, along with fresh berries...sometimes we'll use a mixture of trader joe's mediterranean style yogurt cheese and apricot jam and apricots (or ______insert fruit jam and ____insert corresponding fresh fruit here). either way...they don't suck.

i do classes based on trader joe's stuff in my cooking school, so i watch what's new there with interest. when i saw that puff in the freezer case (after getting the jgarner "heads up") i literally let out a little scream...i think the customer near me thought i'd seen a mouse! the first 8 or 9 packages i used had two flat sheets and two extra "grandma" pieces...like the piece your g'ma would cut off the pie dough for you to roll in sugar and bake for a treat? i was absolutely enchanted by that little lagniappe piece...talk about artisan style! now, i guess it was an attempt to get them up to weight....but i will continue to think of it as the grandma piece, and wish it was in there....the last few boxes have not contained that little extra strip, so i guess they have "solved" the problem...more's the pity!

i found the laura shapiro book pretty dull, with few fresh anecdotes or insight. the barr one had a few more glimpses behind the scenes, and stories i hadn't heard before. i'll read just about anything "julia"...anyone know if stephanie hersh (her very long-time assistant) is planning a book? how could she not, unless that was an agreement between the two? THAT is one i'd scramble for...RIP, dear julia!

it is the best puff i've worked with, including dufours and homemade. it ROCKS. i only wish they would insert a parchment sheet between the two sheets. if you forget to pop them apart while they are still frozen, they can be a pain to separate. we are using them constantly at my cooking school, and when i extole their virtues, i mention you, jgarner, and how fun it was for you to see your handiwork on the box prototype. it's great stuff...and no surprise, considering where it comes from...great bakery...best macarons this side of paris, and a great croque monsieur!

about the eggs--what i'd do is use 2, then crack a third, mix it up with a fork and use (an eyeballed) half. save the other half for another use, if you are like that... (but i'd only do in once...)