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.

I'm looking for a Kolache recipe for the type my Grandmother used to make (in Youngstown, Ohio). It's definitely not of the square or round filled bun/danish type. This was a large jellyroll type kolache (a couple people have made reference to this type here). The dough was not yeast raised (I think), flaky and egg washed. The rolled filling was usually apricot or prune (though Grandma did do a poppyseed or nut from time to time). Anyone know what I'm talking about here?

Just curious what Le Lion D'Or was like. I remember hearing my father mention that he used to go there.

Cheap and good, yes. But a bit obscure? They're everywhere now (with a California Tortilla seemingly right next door to each one).

I got sick of the smoke too. Try the Ducasse method that Patrick S mentioned instead.

I forget which chef I read does this, but taking the baking idea one step further, put the riced potatoes on a sheet pan and put them back in the oven at a low temp to dry out even more. Another little trick that makes the gnocchi even lighter.

I got a free copy of this the other day. Yikes! The pictures instantly reminded me of the Gallery of Regrettable Food. I guess the style is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, but the food looks very unappetizing IMHO.

Nice pictures, Faboo. I took my gf there at the end of May (Sietsema blew the surprise-- I can't believe he picked two weeks before that to review the restaurant!), but your meal looks much better than the one we had. After being served a delicious carrot bread, things went downhill. Overcooking was the main problem (Beef tenderloin done well, a very dry omelet). The low point was the orange sorbet, which was clearly made from oj out of the carton. My gf didn't think it was that bad, but I thought it was a huge disappointment. The owners were very nice and the view is impressive, though.

I've never understood the sugar syrup thing for fruit bases. You're adding water, and thus diluting the flavor of the fruit. How's that a good thing? What's the supposed purpose of using syrup (other than those situations such as lemon, where additional liquid is needed)? Making it easier to dissolve the sugar? I never have much of a problem getting sugar to directly dissolve in the fruit puree/juice

Ricotta mousse is nice, especially flavored with orange blossom water. Whip the ricotta with sugar (about 1/4 cup to 1 cup of ricotta), then whip an equal part cream (and sugar) and fold in. Serve over fresh berries. Simple, but very good in the summer.

I rarely cook anything out of Gourmet, but this blueberry pudding cake was nearly as good as CI's buckle (but not quite).