achevres

Thanks, but this doesn't help me. One batch is made with 1 1/4 cup lt brown sugar. My spring scale is not accurate enough to measure 15% of that. Does someone have a volume amount?

I also have made this toffee to rave reviews. And one awful time it was more humid than I thought and it crystallized . It's really good and looks and tastes totally professional. Ladybug, how much corn syrup for one batch? 1 ts? 1 tb? Thanks in advance.

Thanks! I didn't know about Food Network Canada--another site to help me procrastinate . It's definitely worth a look. About 60% of the shows are on US Food network, but the others are different and some look very interesting, like Cook Like a Chef and Great Canadian Food Show and a reality show that seems right up egullet's alley: Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares.

Dee, I have searched the Canadian Living website top to bottom and also googled for it, but I can't find the cake you are referring to. On the website, the Oct '04 issue has a pumkin pie on the cover, but sometimes magazines put out different covers. In any case, I can't find the recipe on their site. Could you post a link for us?

These are all great tips. Thanks to everyone. I can't make them again until next week, but this this is what I have so far (all attempts to take moisture and air out of the coating): 1. Dry the meat extra well 2. Season every step (meat, flour, egg, crumbs) 3. A little oil in the egg wash, no whipping air into the egg, no skimping on eggs 4. Dry the coated meat in the fridge, on paper towels and uncovered and dry both sides. 5. A lot of us like panko crumbs How long should I dry coated meat in the fridge?

Thanks Suzanne! Here is my original question:

I have almost started a new topic for this question, but I think this is a good place for it. How do you keep the breading stuck to the meat? I have done flour-egg-crumbs and just egg-crumbs and also corstarch-egg-cornstarch (for a lemon chicken recipe) and the breading always separates when the meat is cut into. I have had improvement by partially freezing the coated meat--but not complete success. Should I freeze completely? Commercial breaded meats, like chicken fingers, do not have this problem. Does anyone know the the trick?

For cooking liquid try 1/2 water and 1/2 chicken broth--adds a lot of base flavor without being chickeny. I also do this for grits. They can be creamier or stiffer, or in between. They are a lot like mashed potatoes, like Busboy said. Butter, cheese, blue cheese all make it even better. To my taste, however, polenta has an affinity to tomato sauce that mashed potatoes don't have. My favorite way to eat polenta is with Italian sausage in a tomato sauce, from a Marcella Hazan recipe. She calls for Luganesa (sp) sausage, which I've never found, but it's delicious with regular Italian sausage. The recipe is in either The Classic of Italian Cooking or in More Classics of Italian Cooking.

I had manti in Turkey at a restaurant and this recipe looks like what I had: Manti The dish was very rich because of the butter and the whole milk yogurt. They spell it "manti" in Turkey. I'm not sure of the size of yours, but what amazed me about the manti was their tiny tiny size--about 1/2 inch each. And they are made by hand!

Light and Fluffy Pancakes from Cooks Illustrated "The Best Recipe." In fact, they are too light for me as written and I put 2-3 tbs whole wheat flour in the measuring cup and then complete with the AP flour. So far my favorite from-sratch pancake recipe. I made my daughter's chocolate chip and came up with this method to avoid the melted chocolate on the skillet: Pour the pancakes and sprinkle on the chips, then dab on a bit of batter on each chip before turning each one. Any improvements on the above method welcome. And Smucker's Light syrup.

I also want to add my thanks for a fabulous Q & A. Your responses were erudite, eloquent and most patient.

The "Napoleonic Seal" caught my eye... A French seal of approval for pizza? After reading the post I realize you are talking about the "Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana," from Napoli (Naples). There is an interesting article about it here: Forbe's article on Pizza

Peter, I have a chef connection that may get me a can of Stanislau. I was looking on the web and Stanislau doesn't have a "6 in 1" product. They have 7/11, Pizzaletto, 74/40, Full-Red PizzaSauce, Saporito and Al Dente (and also plum tomatoes). Which sauce were you referring to? A company called Escalon makes the "6 in 1" sauce. From another board I get the impresion that 7/11 or the Full-Red sauce are similiar to the "6 in 1". Escalon will ship a "small" order of 3 cans. What do you think? Both brands are fresh-packed.

Thanks again!

I can never get that NY pizza sauce taste. What are the secrets? Thanks!

I read that you like restaurants to dim the lights and I would like to know your reasoning. I can agree that a restaurant dining room is not an operating theater and that some mood lighting is appropriate, but so many times the lights are dimmed so much I can barely read the menu, and I'm only 44. In the low light my contact lenses dry out, since I have to keep my eyes open more. I often wish for more light when I'm dining out, so I can read the the menu and, especially, so I can see the food! Has it ever been too dark for you? What did you do? I have also read that in Italy the restaurants do not dim the lights. Thanks in advance.

Redsugar, thank you so much for the different recipes. I just need one clarification. Do you use the medium-grind oats in the recipes for the Floridian oatcake and your father's favorite oatcake? Is it like the Oatmeal of Alford (http://www.oatmealofalford.co.uk)? Thanks.

Good writing about food--I'm sold. I'm ordering a back issue today!

Mainly Stayman Winesap (my favorite apple), mixed in with some grannies and golden delicious. I did not know, until today, that there were separate varieties called Stayman and Winesap. I will be on the lookout for Northern Spys, Greenings and the other fine apples others have mentioned.

OK, I found a few recipes for the oatcakes, if that is what you were looking for. This one has pictures. It calls for (just) one tb of lard. I have nothing against lard, but don't keep it on hand. I wonder if clarified butter could substitute. Also, what, specifically, is "medium oatmeal"? I know it is a grind of the whole oatmeal, but what would be the product in the US? Scottish Oatcakes

Are you referring to oatcakes, such as Walker's Oatcakes? I would also love a recipe for these, but made without shortening.

Amccomb, I've had a great time reading this thread. Thw suspense! What will she do? Will the cakes torte OK? Her mom changes her mind! She likes shortening frosting. Freezer full of cakes. Getting a wedding cake from a place called The Donut Bank is still making me laugh. You do have a great attitude and I hope you have a great time at the wedding. Pinneapple upside down cake (from scratch) is one of my favorites.

Try this Puerto Rican coconut curd. It is delicious and uses up yolks. It is made in other Latin-American countries as well. Notice the Arab influence present in our cooking--the lime peel and the cinnamon. Bien Me Sabe (Tastes good to me) 2 cups coconut milk (or full fat kind, can be canned) 1 1/3 cups sugar 6 egg yolks a 2-inch piece lime (or lemon) peel 1 stick cinnamon In a saucepan cook the coconut milk, sugar, lime peel and cinnamon until it boils. After it boils, lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes, or until a candy thermometer registers 220 deg F. Remove the syrup from the heat and cool for 1 hour. Add the beaten egg yolks to the syrup and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it boils again. Remove from heat, strain and store in the refrigerator. I can't tell you how long it lasts, but it keeps a lot longer than lemon curd. Serve as a sauce over pound cake or other similar cake and/or ice cream. Edited to clarify: It's not really a curd. It's a thick, unbelievably delicious, sauce. sauce

One of the many great things about egullet is that someone can post a request that opens a whole taste world for me. Gorgonzola ice cream certainly sounds amazing to me and many obvious complements come to mind right away, like a port reduction sauce, fig anything, caramelized walnuts, etc, that its a wonder we don't see blue cheese ice cream more often. This is just the kind of flavor I got an ice cream maker for. I don't have a recipe, but I think I found the article that chappie refers to, "Deconstructing Richard", about chef Richard Carstens and his restaurant Bijoux, located in the Western Cape in South Africa. I enjoyed reading it. It also describes a salmon baked alaska, with salmon ice cream, and that also got my taste imagination going.

Homemade mascarpone? I had to find the recipe. Here are the two I found. The basics are the same, but one has simpler instructions and the other one more detailed instructions. The simpler one: Homemade Mascarpone And this one from Giuliano Bugialli is more detailed: Giuliano Bugialli's Homemade mascarpone