theabroma

Well, off the top of my head, roll out a sheet of it (it is quite thin, yes?) and spread it with a mixture of mascarpone, or mascarpone mixed with ricotta, chopped toasted walnuts or hazelnuts, and chopped, good, bittersweet chocolate. Spread 'er on and roll 'er up. Chill and slice into pinwheels. - or leave out the chocolate and add cardamom. Theabroma

As long as it has been nixtamalized, it will work. Like so many cultures around the world, the white corn product (white bread, etc.) is more highly valued as a more upperclass product. If it has not been nixtamalized (list of contents on the bag/package should include "cal") then it will not behave in the same way. Regards, Theabroma

There are times in one's life when one is grateful for the age one really is, to wit: I mourn for you in that you only know the latkeria @ 57th. The times & urban development 86'ed Rattner's and the other dairly delis on the Lower East Side - now those were LATKES, though cooked in oil to maintain kashrut. Latkes as I know them were cooked in schmaltz - chicken or goose fat. They were ethereally crisp and delicious. Heaven forbid they were cooked in butter ... unless, of course, it had been clarified to its oil-essence to preserve the ability to turn out crisp, elegant golden coins of shredded potato, onion, and finely minced parsley. Latkes without schmaltz are like sex without passion ... mere potato pancakes. Cheers, Theabroma

What size are the tarte tins? 8", 9", 10", etc. and how wide are the plates .. are they flat, or do they have a shoulder/rim? Do you want the tarte sitting in a puddle of coulis, or a pond of it? Puddle would be about 1ozl/2T and a pond would be at least 2ozl/4T depending on size of plate. Then I would have 6 or so ounces extra just in case. Theabroma

was it naturally soured or acidified? the latter is often grainy. sometimes, also, when it is frozen and thawed, the stabilizer(s) come back grainy. Theabroma

Or .... you could make some killer creme fraiche ... which will keep much longer, and which makes verrrrry interesting ganache (if you can keep the spoons and fingers out of it!) Theabroma

I believe El Rey's Icoa is fabricated entirely from Venezuelan cacao ... so would there not be an origin source available? Regards, Theabroma

I finally learned to do it by using: a) a good-quality (ie: sturdy) turntable, b) a long, granton-edged slicer, and c) two or three - one for each cut layer - cardboard cake circles the size of the cake, or wider. Put the cake on a cake circle and put that onto the turntable. If you want to measure and use toothpicks for guides, go for it. Put your non-knife hand flat on top of the cake and position the edge of the slicer against the cake side, where you want to make the first cut. Engage the edge of the knife about 1/4" into the cake, and then Holding the knife level and steady, begin to turn the cake/turntable with the hand positioned flat on top of the cake. As you turn the cake you can press the knife more and more firmly against the cake. Do NOT move it back and forth - just hold it level and even. You will be cutting the cake by moving it against the knife, not by actively moving the knife back and forth through the cake. The cake will layer will have been cut by the time the knife blade passes the center of the cake. Slide the knife out of the cake, slip one of the cake circles under the freshly cut layer, and set it to the side. Repeat with the next layer(s). I helps is the cake can be very chilled when it is cut. The slicer needs to be very sharp. This will work wonderfully on finely crumbed cakes, especially genoise and certain sponges. It does work - but less smoothly - on very gooey or cottony spongy cakes ... like angelfood backed in layers. Regards, Theabroma

If the chocolate contains anything other than cocoa butter, it won't temper the same. I am tempted to just say that it won't truly temper, since that process plays off aspects of the strcture of cocoa butter fats, which despite the name, have nothing in common with butter. You're looking for cacao, cacao butter, and sugar - with the addition of milk solids in the case of milk chocolate, and cacao butter & milk solids in the case of white 'chocolate.' There may be vanilla. If there is any fat other than cacao butter, you are not going to really get a temper - even though it may eat well. Lindt may well produce a chocolate for the trade that contains only cacao butter ... you might want to contact a rep to find out. But the stuff containing butter won't do it. Regards, Theabroma

depending on variety and just how unripe they are, have you considered poaching them in vanilla syrup, wine or port? Pears poach best when slightly underripe, so you don't wind up with pear butter! Regards. Theabroma

An interesting, and long-departed, restaurant in Austin on Congress Avenue - name forgotten, but not the food ... used to serve a very interesting dessert: an intense dark chocolate creme brulee - really more of a pot de creme, together with a glass of Liefman's Frambosenbier. Now, Liefman's is a Belgian beer, and creme brulee and pot de creme are French, and chocolate is definitely Mexican, but .... Being that there really aren't any Oktoberfest konditorei treats - other than the above-referenced sausages poached in beer, or schweinhaxe, or pig's knuckles in sauerkrate - I think the Liefman's and pot de creme combo is a fair suggestion. The dessert was not very sweet, and the beer had a tartness to cut the richness of the dessert. Otherwise, apfel strudel or some kind of sweet dumpling would be the next best choices. Or possibly a German version of a Hungarian sweet: Hexenschnee - 'the witches' froth'. Freshly made, lightly sweetened applesauce, laced with cinnamon, is folded into a common, or French meringue, and further lightened with whipped cream. It is served in bowls or champagne coupes, topped with brandied cherries. Myself, I vote for the beer and sausages! Gut appetit! Theabroma

Listed in 'Openings & Closings': we've lost Doughmonkey. They closed all business as of Saturday 9/20. A sad, sad state of affairs ... Theabroma

Doughmonkey closed Saturday, September 20, 2008. I hope & pray that Rhonda and Michael will not return the whisk's wires to the piano or beat the tempering machine into a plowshare and depart Dallas. Until they resurface, however, it is a terrible, terrible loss. Que viva! Theabroma

It is made from the dried flowers of Hibiscus sabdariffa. It is known in Mexico as "flor de jamaica" and is served in a sweetened infusion, chilled and iced, as agua de jamaica. It is known as "roselle" on the island of Jamaica, whence it's (generalizing here) South American and Mexican names derive: "rosella/roselle" and "jamaica." It is also the "red" in Red Zinger tea. Jamaica/Roselle/Rosella is purchased dried, by the ounce/pound or gram/kilo. Toss roughly a large handful into approx a quart/liter of boiling water, simmer 5 minutes, cover, and remove from the heat. Allow to steep. Strain and sweeten to taste. As for the jam, you will either need to utilize pectin or combine the flowers with a pectin-rich fruit, such as apples ... especially crab apples (which may necessitate additional sweetening). Regards, Theabroma It has a very tart, spicy flavor, and is rich in vitamins A & C ... aside from being very refreshing.

Kim, there is another trick with phyllo strudel, which will result in a more traditional type of strudel, but is a bit more work to put together. It does tend to result in a crisper strudel: put a clean sheet on a large table, and tack it underneath. The table I used was 8' long, by 3.5' wide. Mist the sheet with cornstarch. Lay out an overlapping (by 1") series of single sheets of phylo, 'glued' together with a light brush of butter. Then do a second row, similarly glued and overlapping. And on, and on, until you have an overlapping quilt of a single layer of phyllo sheets. Brush the whole lightly with melted butter. Sprinkle the sheet lightly with fresh breadcrumbs. Starting at one narrow end, put the filling in a line, about 4" in from the edge, and from side to side, with about a 2" margin on each side. Untack the sheet, and standing at the filling end, gently pull the sheet towards you, rolling the strudel into a log as you go. If you have a large baking sheet, butter it and roll the strudel onto it. Otherwise, if you are going to cut it in half, leave a gap in the filling in the middle of the line - 3" or so, and once it is all rolled up, roll each half onto the sheet pan. This type of strudel is traditionally dusted with confectioner's sugar once it has cooled a bit, and served with a pregnant dollop of whipped cream. This patching and rolling will result in a crisper, more traditional strudel. If you want to give it a really smooth look, you can cover the final rolled log(s) with a single sheet of phyllo --- to cover up the "joints". You can, alternatively, lay down a single sheet long side towards narrow end of table, and put another sheet at the edge, and so on until the dough is about 11" wide (length of phyllo sheet) and 6' long. Put an appropriate amount of filling 3" into the narrow end, and don't forget to leave at least 1.5" margin on each side. Roll that bad boy up, and you will have a smooth, small strudel. You can make several instead of one huge one. Oh, and be sure to brush it very lightly with butter prior to baking. Regards, Theabroma

Once you have rolled the strudel, brush the outside of it with melted butter. Let it set up a bit, and then tent it with foil or a towel, but don't wrap it entirely. I would just leave it sitting in the coolest, least humid place in the kitchen. Don't know what kind of filling you are using ... but once the strudel is rolled, it is better to keep it dry so it will crisp well when baking. Preheat the oven, and slip it in ahead of dinner ... giving it time to cook plus about 15-20 minutes to cool down and settle prior to cutting and serving. Regards, Theabroma

Aha! It is fairly common that souffles are baked in individual serving ramekins and served, all tall a puffy, to each person who has the responsibility to deflate them. Classically, baked souffles are not unmolded. You would need to prep the hell out of the mold, and probably bake them in shifts of two or so, and have an assistant help ferry them to the table. Alternatively, you can bake one large souffle, take it from oven to table to be admired, and then, using a large dessert or other serving spoon, portion it onto plates at the table and pass around. You could, I suppose, get them out of the ramekin and onto the plate, but unless there are some stabilizer ingredients being used, you will need to cook it towards the popover level of doneness in order to get that sucker to look like a basketball player standing on the plate. Good luck. Theabroma

Timing is everything. Are you cooking individual souffles? Or, one huge big-hair girl? You have a little grace period between the time that you prep, fill & finish off the ramekins (suggest that, if using, you put the collars on last) and the time you put them in the oven. In a cool, draft free corner of the kitchen, probably as much as 20-30 mintues, but no more. Then have the oven pre-heated and the filled ramekins sitting on the baking tray. Figure out how long it will take the souffle to cook, and at that point in the dinner, excuse yourself to the kitchen and put the tray in the oven. And keep track of the time. If you have not previously cooked souffles in your oven a/o are not confident in the heat calibration, you might want to consider a 1/2 recipe dry run. Of course, you'll have to sample the results .... Once souffles come out of the oven, you have maybe 5-8 minutes to get them de-collared and served to ensure that they arrive in all their ephemeral skyscraper glory. You might want to enlist an assistant, both of you armed with mitts or towels, and small knives or scissor to cut the strings and remove the collars. If you intend to sauce them, I would suggest that the sauce be brought to table in a gooseneck or gravy boat, and allow the guests to make the incision and bathe them in the sauce ... not only are they responsible for the quantity of goo added, but they are the ones 'guilty' of deflating the souffle. Alternatively, you can prepare your souffle base - do NOT chill it - and whip the whites until almost ready. At the it will take them to bake plus 5-8 minutes, retire to the kitchen, finish whipping up the whites, fold them into the base, fill the ramekins, etc., collar them (if you are using tall collars, you can either pin them with a straight pin or paperclip them together at the joining edge and you have preheated your oven and set out a sheet pan for the ramekins, havent you???!!!), and put them in to bake. Small souffles are usually done in 12 to 15 minutes - but don't cook them until they are firmly set, because that's just cake. A further thought ... on whipping the egg whites: don't overwhip them. The (French) teachers I've had all whipped the whites to the borderline soft-peak stage - when the whisk is lifted from the bowl and turned upside down, a soft peak will form, and might even drop off the whisk. It is a borderline call: you do not want them truly runny, but remember when you whip whites (or cream) until they are very firm, you are whipping increasing the amount of air whipped into the bubbles. All fine and good if you are not going to process the mix further, with the aim of giving lift to the end product. If you whip the whites to their stiffest peak, they will be more difficult to fold in ... so the mix is uneven and many bubbles are broken, so you lose air and lift in the final product. Also, if you are baking this air-leavened mix, remember that the air in the bubbles will expand as the mass heats. and if you have whipped the max amount of air into the whites (any more and the bubbles burst, and the meringue "breaks"), the walls of the bubbles cannot take the pressure of the expanding air, and will rupture. You will lose lift and height as a result. Ultimately, of course, the air bubbles do pop, but you want that to happen AFTER the structure created by the eggs and the flour in the protein have set up and can hold up the souffle (or cake, etc). Think of the art of bubblegum chewing and bubble blowing: when you get it 'just right' and blow that huge bubble, the temptation to make it even bigger takes over, and with just one tiny little extra puff of air, the bubble .... bursts. Now think of a whole gaggle of 'em all together in a bowl. That's kinda how the bubbles in the eggwhites or whipped cream are. You'll get better results ... lift ... if you don't overstress the whites with too much whipping. Regards, Theabroma

Using the buttered parchment collar tied around the ramekin will allow you to completely fill the ramekin - the collar will act as a brace as the souffle heats and rises, but before the structure is set enough to hold it up. I have also found that "tophatting" the souffle just before I put it in the oven will usually permit an additional bit of rise. Stick the side nail edge of your thumb about 1/4 or so inches into the filled ramekin, resting the outside 1st joint of the index finger on the outside of the rim to stabilize. Turn the ramekin. The thumb should create a roughly 1/4" wide, 1/4" deep "moat" between the souffle batter and the rim of the ramekin. It permits the souffle to rise straight up and not get hung up on the rim. Regards, Sharon

My experience with it in rolled in doughs, and any other product using any appreciable amount of butter, is that it still leaves the mouthfeel (read: lingering coating effect) of other non-saturated fats. It will melt better at body temp than margarine, but there is still that coating effect. So, in fudgy brownies, you might be able to get away with it ... but you wouldn't want to be using really good chocolate in that mix, either - or so it seems to me. And French or mousseline buttercream? Fiyek! Forget it. Patisserie, to me, is and should always be a fine, ethereal, joyous treat. It is, undeniably, a calorie-bomb. But its exquisiteness relies so very much in the quality of ingredients used ... the really good stuff is like a catsuit - there is no place to hide bad fat, poor quality flour, and low-grade chocolate. So cut the portions, be clever about the ratio of butter-dependent items on the plate, rejig your plates and their costs, or find other ways to produce fine quality pastry (search for pastries from non-butterfat consuming cultures), but once you begin cutting corners with the very cornerstones of the art, you find yourself producing palate-assaulting knockoffs. Just my opinion. Regards, Theabroma

Depending on the type of nut (ie: how hard it is) put some in a heavy duty zippable baggie, and zip it 4/5ths closed. Add enough nuts to make one loose layer when the closed baggie is put flat on a hard surface, table, cutting board, etc. You can then roll over the nuts with a rolling pin, or if you have a French dowel-type pin, bash them lightly with the end of the pin, or you can use a meat pounder. You can crack the nuts to the desired size pieces. If you need more, empty the bag into a bowl, and refill it and repeat. Use a heavy duty bag, or double bag it. When you are finished, just throw the bag away. Unless you rupture it with too -vigorous pounding, clean-up is non existent. Alternatively, freeze the nuts and pulse them in small quantities in the food processor. But then you have to clean the fp bowl!! Regards, Theabroma

You're most welcome .... and if you aren't going to send a doggie bag, then please send photos Let us know how it turns out .. Theabroma ←

Yes, they are. Pate a bombe roughly translates to "bombe paste" or "bombe mix" and the appareil a bombe is basically translated as "bombe preparation". Hope that clears it up. Regards, Theabroma

The original Larousse Gastronomique in English is one good source for a bombe recipe - although if memory serves, it is one with 32 egg yolks, so reduction may be in order. I am not where I can get to my library, but you might want to look at Mastering the Art of French Pastry by Bruce Healy and Paul Bugat. Either Frederic Bau or Pierre Herme will likely have a recipe in their professional books. Also, I believe that Bo Freiburg's pastry texts have a recipe. A pate a bombe starts like a classic French buttercream base: hot sugar syrup poured into raw egg yolks as they are being whisked or whipped on a mixer. When the mix is fluffy and cool, copious amounts of cool, soft butter are gradually beaten in to make the buttercream; for the bombe mix, it is flavored prior to use in a bombe construction. Sometimes whipped cream is folded in to lighten the bombe mix, prior to filling the mould. Good luck, Sharon

Cedar Springs-Lemmon-Oak Lawn area puts you in walking distance to several places and within very short driving or feasible taxi distance to many others, inluding the SMU area at Hillcrest and Lover's Lane, Uptown, and the Knox-Henderson area. You are also close - but not walking distance - to several edge of downtown locations. Of course, that does depend on what you mean by 'walking distance'. Regards, Theabroma