cjsadler

8. Heavy Pre-salting

I've had the same experience-- this dressing is almost always the same, even in bad restaurants. It's like some secret that's known to all Japanese restaurants, but we can't figure out.

Ok, so the cooling rack is clearly what to use when baking with silicone molds of any sort. You get far, far better heat distribution. The canneles (at 400 degrees, about 1 hour) came out with a uniformly crisp crust, especially after sitting for awhile. However, my the issue is now with the thickness of the crust. It definitely needs to be much thinner, but I've about reached my limit of experimentation here. I'd love to be proven wrong, but at this point I don't think it's possible to produce a great cannele with silicone.

Been experimenting lately with the [bleeping] silicone cannele molds. The one clear finding is that the crust is terrible (chewy and not crisp) at any temperature with any recipe if you bake on a sheet tray (except the bottoms of the canneles, which get enough heat to make a decent crust). Trying the cooling rack idea with a couple of different recipes at different temps and will report back.

My shrimp are bigger than yours?Seriously, though-- thanks for the tip on this place, as there isn't much out that way.

Just curious-- has anyone ever tried a Swiss meringue macaron?

I sympathize with your problem, as this has vexed me for awhile too. I've tried just about everything you have tried or thought of. The egg wash isn't going to help too much-- the key is getting the shell crisp in the first place (before you apply any 'sealants'). Ultimately, my solution was simple: cover the outside edge of the tart shell with a foil ring and blind bake the hell out of the crust (on the bottom oven rack)-- until the bottom of the shell is very golden brown (I usually start with weights, but remove them and bake alot longer). If it doesn't get totally crisp during this stage, it'll never be crisp I've decided. Allow it to cool completely before filling and continuing to bake.

Yikes-- I'm scared of some of the ideas here. However, reworking prosciutto/melon sounds like it has possibilities. What if you infused the proscuitto flavor into a bavarian/mousse (easy on the sugar)? Perhaps this would create a pleasing foie gras like richness. Then layer it with a melon gelée?

It involves 15 apples and a 6 hour cooking time-- looks intriguing. However, I remember reading somewhere here on eGullet that there's something seriously wrong with this recipe. Besides being in the Jean-Georges collaboration with Mark Bittman, the recipe is also now in that new Bittman vs. the Chefs book.

I was at Lolita the other week and had this Waloo dish as well. Any idea what was in that sauce? My guess is fish stock and pomegranite molasses, but I'm not sure. Really enjoyed that dish.

Now that I've started honing my brioche skills, I'm wondering what other dessert uses it can be put to. Obviously, there's bread pudding and french toast, but what else can be done with it?

Interesting... I'm not a big fan of the eggy taste of clafouti-- I'll have to try eating it cooled.

I've been thinking about getting one of these (6 quart) since the price is so much lower than LC. Just went over to Amazon and the 'secret price' (where you have to put it in the basket to see the reduced price) for the persimmon one was $62. And free shipping (for today only it says)! No-brainer on that deal for me-- I got it.

Have a look at the latest Saveur (the one with the big feature on Ireland). The recipe (and picture) for Rhubarb Financiers looks great. I plan on making them soon.

Great. This must be the regional Ohio version of kolache, as I've never seen it like that anywhere else.