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[Cosmic Bus]

Dang sucks to hear that, I'm guessing you aren't considering corporate jobs too?

Honestly I've dealt with the shitty pay for almost 6 years now, don't know how I've done it but I'm finally making moves to really make some decent money (or go bankrupt doing it), so fingers crossed.

Well, even though I'd probably be able to do pastry in some kind of corporate setting, that assembly line work is really joyless and not what I could be happy with. Not to mention my skills have shifted primarily to bread now, and that's definitely not a "big business" area.

Just gets frustrating when I'm pushing 40 and still making under $30k, which is about what I made back in retail management years ago (but at least I don't want to kill myself everyday after making bread, hah). Gotta do something more than scrape by at this point.

 

[InfiniteBento]

Thanks everyone I'll post pictures as I go. I'm also going to Chicago this upcoming thursday so I have a list of over 20 bakeries I will be checking out and plan on blogging about them I'll post more about it closer to then.

Good luck and have fun. I will say, though, I hope you aren't in it for the money... I'm currently looking at my options to get out of the industry because the pay is so awful.

I'm looking to get my degree to start my own business with pastry art. Not necessarily a bakery but at some point, I will ideally open up my own coffee shop since I am also a connoisseur of coffee (3 and a half years professionally trained as a barista). I have a few incredible ideas I'm going to experiment with.

EDIT: I see the post above me explains more. If you are skilled enough in pastry, have you considered starting your own pastry business? I've discussed with locals around me and all the permits to sell food are about $500 for all of them. You could get a small cart, design a simple but beautiful logo, find the local farmers markets around you, and sell some beautiful pastries ! Even if its just a side thing, it'll get you out there and eventually people will start to be curious about you making pastries for events and such ! Getting involved locally is an incredible way to get yourself out there no matter how old you are. People love craft foods made with love

Anyone has a suggestion for something to do with apples that doesn't involve adding more sugar?

Maple Apple tarts !

This recipe uses 2 tablespoons of sugar and the custard is maple flavored (you can always change that to simple vanilla if you prefer)

Or

Apple & Brie stuffed french toast ! (uses brown sugar but you can always reduce to preference !)

Apples pair well with honey, cheese, and other savory foods so you can even do stuffed empanadas or dumplings or pasta even ! You can also use them in salads

 

[Ether_Snake]

Oh yeah good idea, I forgot about the apple brie toast, I used to do that.

And the tart could be a good idea to use most of the apples.

Thanks all

 

[Zyzyxxz]

Well, even though I'd probably be able to do pastry in some kind of corporate setting, that assembly line work is really joyless and not what I could be happy with. Not to mention my skills have shifted primarily to bread now, and that's definitely not a "big business" area.

Just gets frustrating when I'm pushing 40 and still making under $30k, which is about what I made back in retail management years ago (but at least I don't want to kill myself everyday after making bread, hah). Gotta do something more than scrape by at this point.

Well good luck. Can't say I forsee a need for a bread baker in my operations in the future but I don't suppose you can startup your own bread baking operation and sell at farmers markets for now.

A few people here in LA started in their own homes and some have actually made their way up the ladder to supplying some of the best restaurants in LA.

 

[BriareosGAF]

Did you cook the polenta directly into the cast iron pan?

Sadly, no, although the transfer was pretty much from the pot to the skillet for finishing with the cheese and mushrooms (which were also roasted separately, so this is not really a low cleanup dish).

 

[le-seb]

I need to try cooking polenta, it looks delicious.

As I've got two crèmes left, I'll try one with some iron I've got but never used, and the other one under the grill.

Welp, using the grill was a total failure, the crème was warmish.
So I guess I'll have to find a better torch...

 

[Funky Papa]

I'm really, really not a fan of polenta. It may be the blandest things in the world right after grits.

Sorry, Italy/Brazil-GAF.

Spoiler

But maybe I just had terrible polenta.

 

[BriareosGAF]

I fucking love grits. Just the right amount of butter, salt and pepper. Mmmmm.

 

[mmazurkiewicz]

that apple and brie french toast looks awesome. gonna try making it.
i usually make french toast using challa. would challa work in this case?

also, anyone have a recipe for that apple tart pictured above?

 

[InfiniteBento]

I linked both the french toast and apple tart in my post with the pictures. The links are right above the images

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Was staying Sofitel Mumbai (by Le Accor Hotels), 5 star hotel. Had their Signature Set Lunch and it was outstanding. Costs 4000 INR so around 65 USD (in USD doesn't seem too bad).

Started off with some Lamb Shorba which was delicate and so good with perfect spices

Appetizers. King Prawn Tikka marinated in Curd, Lamb Chops, Fish Ajwani Tikka, and Chicken Tikka. So good, Lamb, Chikcken and Fish were the best. Prawns a bit dried out.

Main Course. One part was their Special - Lamb Chops braised after being marinated for 24 hours. I have been back in India 14 months and this is the first time I have found a place that knows how to cook Lamb properly.

Other parts of Main Course - Spinach Sabji, Paneer Labadar, Chicken Makhani (in bowls left to right). On plate - Braised lamb and Lamb Chops Curry

Desert - Kulfi and Gulab Jamun

This was so fucking good.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

holy crap that looks so good!

 

[Keen]

holy crap that looks so good!

Agreed, looks fantastic.

 

[jay23]

Any other cooking channels on YouTube like food wishes?

 

[Haly]

Tons.

Food Wishes is one of my favorites.

Cooking with Dog is another: https://www.youtube.com/user/cookingwithdog

 

[Silkworm]

that apple and brie french toast looks awesome. gonna try making it.
i usually make french toast using challa. would challa work in this case?

also, anyone have a recipe for that apple tart pictured above?

I like making bread pudding using challah.... so good! I've wondered if french toast or bread pudding would work equally well using brioche? Seems likely, just haven't gone to the trouble of trying it.

 

[jay23]

Tons.

Food Wishes is one of my favorites.

Cooking with Dog is another: https://www.youtube.com/user/cookingwithdog

Thanks

Same here, I like how simple chef John makes all his recipes look.

 

[Coriolanus]

Needing some tips on octopus.

Namely, boiled that thing for nearly an hour in salted water with onions and garlic until it was soft, then tasted it.

Not particularly good.

Added lemon and the flavor was much improved, but left me wondering if octopus is indeed considerably dependent on things to cover its natural flavor, or if there's a better way to prepare it (besides tenderizing the crap outta it like in that one episode of No Reservations with the crazy sardinian chef).

 

[Cosmic Bus]

I like making bread pudding using challah.... so good! I've wondered if french toast or bread pudding would work equally well using brioche? Seems likely, just haven't gone to the trouble of trying it.

Brioche can be a little too soft for bread pudding unless it happens to be day old/semi-stale. Bread pudding teens to be better, imo, with a sturdier and/or crusty bread that can absorb the liquids and still maintain some structure.

Needing some tips on octopus... if octopus is indeed considerably dependent on things to cover its natural flavor, or if there's a better way to prepare it (besides tenderizing the crap outta it like in that one episode of No Reservations with the crazy sardinian chef).

In all honesty, I have yet to make octopus any other way besides with that tenderizing pre-boil (although I've never done anywhere near an entire hour). Cut it up, finish it in a cast iron skillet; I like to reduce some of the cooking liquid afterwards to use as an ingredient in the sauce, along with olive oil, lemon zest, herbs, maybe some capers. Doesn't really needed to be fancied up too much.

Grilled octopus is great, but we don't have a grill, so...

 

[CRS]

I love grilling it (after boiling it.) Then I drizzle some olive oil, fresh lemon juice, oregano, and a little bit of parsley.

 

[le-seb]

I like making bread pudding using challah.... so good! I've wondered if french toast or bread pudding would work equally well using brioche? Seems likely, just haven't gone to the trouble of trying it.

Can't say for pudding, but brioche works very well for French bread, but not fresh brioche.

And mmazurkiewicz, just in case you were asking for my tart recipe, it's as simple as slicing some apples, putting them on some rolled out pastry dough, optionally adding small cubes of butter here and there if you like it tasty, and a bit of caster sugar if you feel the apples are not sweet enough. Then bake in oven for around 20 minutes at 180 °C. To give it a glossy look, heat some apricot or apple jam with a pinch of lemon juice, and apply with a brush.

 

[BriareosGAF]

Can't say for pudding, but brioche works very well for French bread, but not fresh brioche.

Right, my favorite bread pudding is made with day old croissants.

 

[Silkworm]

Thanks for the feedback Cosmic and le-seb! The recipe I've used for bread pudding involves drying out the cubed bread in a 325 F oven for about 15 minutes. If I follow this step wouldn't that help firm up even a softer bread like brioche? Just curious I'm fine with using challah which has worked perfectly fine in the past. Besides if I go to the trouble of making brioche I'd rather just eat it out of hand rather than turning around and using it all up in another recipe.

 

[Coriolanus]

I love grilling it (after boiling it.) Then I drizzle some olive oil, fresh lemon juice, oregano, and a little bit of parsley.

In all honesty, I have yet to make octopus any other way besides with that tenderizing pre-boil (although I've never done anywhere near an entire hour). Cut it up, finish it in a cast iron skillet; I like to reduce some of the cooking liquid afterwards to use as an ingredient in the sauce, along with olive oil, lemon zest, herbs, maybe some capers. Doesn't really needed to be fancied up too much.

Interesting. Thanks for the tips. Got 7kg of cephalopod left, so might as well experiment a lot. Tried pan-frying in butter after softened and was decent. Gonna give the herbs route a shot.

 

[zbarron]

My refrigerator died for a bit and ruined pretty much all of my food. It started running again but we aren't sure if it'll crap out again at any time. Because of this we are only buying groceries one day at a time for now so if it does die we lose a lot less food.

Does anyone have any suggestions for cheap meals that either every ingredient is safe at room temperature or if needs refrigerated is in such small quantities that there will be no leftover ingredient or food?

One of the main ways I stay on budget is buying in bulk and reusing ingredients so there is no waste.

 

[BriareosGAF]

Does anyone have any suggestions for cheap meals that either every ingredient is safe at room temperature or if needs refrigerated is in such small quantities that there will be no leftover ingredient or food?

Dried pasta in various shapes
Canned tomatoes
Olive oil
Garlic
Onions
Shallots
Salt
Pepper
Crushed red pepper
Fresh basil and parsley in water

Every day buy some new vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, etc.) to grill/roast to add to the sauce. Can do aglio e olio to switch it up. And I don't eat it myself but I'm guessing tinned fish plus some white wine lets you expand this palette too.

Rice
Canned beans in various types (black, red, etc.)

You can make various rice & bean variants (traditional Cuban, Lebanese ful, etc.) till the cows come home.

A huge percentage of my college caloric intake was from the two above variants .

 

[zbarron]

Dried pasta in various shapes
Canned tomatoes
Olive oil
Garlic
Onions
Shallots
Salt
Pepper
Crushed red pepper
Fresh basil and parsley in water

Every day buy some new vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, etc.) to grill/roast to add to the sauce. Can do aglio e olio to switch it up. And I don't eat it myself but I'm guessing tinned fish plus some white wine lets you expand this palette too.

Rice
Canned beans in various types (black, red, etc.)

You can make various rice & bean variants (traditional Cuban, Lebanese ful, etc.) till the cows come home.

A huge percentage of my college caloric intake was from the two above variants .

Thanks. I actually made a tomato sauce a few days ago that got ruined in this incedent. It used fresh Hydroponic tomatoes that I fire roasted over an open flame and then took the blackened skins and put them to steep in a pot of Cabernet Sauvignon which I then reduced and added to some minced garlic and onion sweating in olive oil. I then added the peeled tomatoes and after letting them warm for 15 minutes took a potato masher to the sauce. I finished it with a splash of vodka near the end for any alcohol soluble flavors.

It was different since I didn't measure anything and was heavy on the Cab Sauv flavor but one of the best sauces I've ever tasted. So much flavor.

I used minced garlic and a thing of Gourmet Garden Basil Paste for both convenience and the fact that buying fresh basil around here is prohibitively expensive and the Gourmet Garden keeps well in the fridge. Now that I am out of those I can't make another sauce. I think I may swallow my pride and at least do a jarred sauce or two for this week.

Rice and beans are a great idea though. I hadn't even thought of those. It doesn't get much cheaper and whether dry or canned for beans they don't need refrigerated. Thanks.

 

[le-seb]

You can add some eggs to BriareosGAF's already excellent suggestions.
Most fresh vegetables and fruits can be kept out of the fridge for few days, too, so it's not necessary to buy fresh ones every day.

Looking in my own cupboards, here are the things I also regularly use to cook:

/mostly for cooking asian dishes/
- dried noodles
- canned bean sprouts
- canned coconut milk

/mostly for making salads/
- canned asparagus
- canned corn
- canned palm hearts
- canned tuna fish

/miscellaneous/
- dried mushrooms (boletus)
- canned pimentos del piquillo (bell peppers)

When you're bored with rice and pastas, think omelets and salads.

 

[zbarron]

You can add some eggs to BriareosGAF's already excellent suggestions.
Most fresh vegetables and fruits can be kept out of the fridge for few days, too, so it's not necessary to buy fresh ones every day.

Looking in my own cupboards, here are the things I also regularly use to cook:

/mostly for cooking asian dishes/
- dried noodles
- canned bean sprouts
- canned coconut milk

/mostly for making salads/
- canned asparagus
- canned corn
- canned palm hearts
- canned tuna fish

/miscellaneous/
- dried mushrooms (boletus)
- canned pimentos del piquillo (bell peppers)

When you're bored with rice and pastas, think omelets and salads.

Thanks for the suggestions. What country do you live in by the way? While looking it up I found that in the UK for example they immunize the hens for salmonella which is why eggs are often unrefrigerated there. We don't often do that here so they recommend keeping them in the fridge at all times. I have several cans of vegetables I use to make the soup I posted a page or so back but I am worried about creating leftover with how large one batch is. I may not wait the whole week to go back to normal. If it stays fine for two or three days I think it should be good. Food budget is just tight this week since we probably lost about $200 worth of food between the refrigerator and freezer.

 

[le-seb]

I'm from France (and living near the Spanish border, so will gladly pick up some of their delicious specialties).
Eggs are almost always sold unrefrigerated here and I'm pretty sure they don't get any preservation treatment.
They'll last longer if you can keep them stored in a cool room, but as long as they're out of direct sunlight and heat, you should be able to keep them for at least a week.

If in doubt, there's always the freshness test (dive egg in a glass of water):

Floating: rotten, don't eat.
Half-sinking: good to eat, but better cook them hard.
Fully-sinking: fresh, can be eaten raw or only lightly cooked.

And yeah, I should have specified the tin cans I buy are mostly 212 ml ones, so there's hardly any leftovers.

 

[BriareosGAF]

Floating: rotten, don't eat.
Half-sinking: good to eat, but better cook them hard.
Fully-sinking: fresh, can be eaten raw or only lightly cooked.

As someone who has his own laying hens, let me add that the reason we refrigerate here in the US is also because eggs are washed due to regulations, and this destroys the protective bloom on the egg that protects against bacteria, etc. Correspondingly, if you do a dunk test, you're similarly affecting the egg and should consume the ones you intend to eat immediately.

 

[le-seb]

As someone who has his own laying hens, let me add that the reason we refrigerate here in the US is also because eggs are washed due to regulations, and this destroys the protective bloom on the egg that protects against bacteria, etc. Correspondingly, if you do a dunk test, you're similarly affecting the egg and should consume the ones you intend to eat immediately.

This regulation sounds a bit counterproductive, huh?

So, keeping eggs unrefrigerated in the USA is probably not safe, better forget about this option.
I bet it must be nice having fresh eggs everyday, though, I envy you.

 

[Cosmic Bus]

Keeping US eggs out at room temp is perfectly safe - I know people and business that have been doing it for some time with no issue - but we're also ridiculously over-cautious with our regulations and (yes, often counterproductive) safety measures.

 

[Milchjon]

Anyone wanna let me in on the secrets of a great roux?

Temps/ratios/time?

Mainly looking to get rid of any flour taste/texture and to stop making way to much of it cause I underestimate its power.

 

[thespot84]

Anyone wanna let me in on the secrets of a great roux?

Temps/ratios/time?

Mainly looking to get rid of any flour taste/texture and to stop making way to much of it cause I underestimate its power.

2 tbsp roux (1 fat/butter and 1 flour) will thicken a quart or so in my experience. Medium high heat in a sauce pan, add the fat/flour at the same time and mix together. move it around a little for 5 or so minutes until you can smell the nutiness coming from it, and then pour your sauce over it.

If it's still not thick enough at the end, wondra does a good job if sifted slowly into a stock, or just reduce it to thicken.

 

[le-seb]

Use the same quantities of fat/ butter and flour.
Count 30 to 50 grams (1.05 - 1.40 oz) of each for 50 cl (2 cups) of liquid.

Other than that, that's how I'm doing:

1. melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat
2. get the saucepan out of the heat (to avoid lumps), add the flour all at once and stir well
3. put the pan back on the heat, and keep stirring until the mixture is frothing and colored as desired (when making a brown roux, be careful to stop as soon as it's light brown)
4. get the saucepan out of the heat; if you're using cold liquid, pour it all at once and stir vigorously; if you're using hot liquid, pour it little by little (and stir) until the desired consistency is reached
5. reduce to low heat and bring to boiling point for about 5 minutes without stopping stirring

 

[zbarron]

Keeping US eggs out at room temp is perfectly safe - I know people and business that have been doing it for some time with no issue - but we're also ridiculously over-cautious with our regulations and (yes, often counterproductive) safety measures.

I am usually willing to take risks with this stuff at least with what I personally eat but I think egg shells are porous and with the other stinking rotten food that was in my refrigerator I may just spend the $3 on new eggs.

 

[InfiniteBento]

Finally have a little down time to post about the food places I've visited in Chicago since I've moved here.

Checked out Antique Taco today in Wicker Park and it was fucking amazing. Best tacos I've ever had, tbqh.

(I'm standing there in the backpack :X )

Also had Furious Spoon's furious ramen and it was incredible !

We also went to Stan's Donuts and Coffee. The donuts were great and the coffee is amazing too.

I admit the food in Chicago is my absolute favorite. I'm hoping to venture to Eataly tomorrow and scope it out too.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

I'll tell you what, I have learned a TON since I've started my new job. I had like, no foundation in classical (Western European) cooking and now I'm getting a really good foundation. Our saucier alone is ridiculously good and has taught me a bunch of things.

It's been cold front after cold front here as far as weather goes... my yuzu plants haven't really grown since there's been no sunlight.

Ordered 2 new knives. One a scimitar-style fillet knife, the other a petty version of my main chef knife. I am excite.

 

[Keen]

So I made some ramen yesterday. Made broth in the pressure cooker with a bunch of bones, chicken wings, carrots, ginger, garlic, spices. Slow roasted some pork belly.
Ate with Udon, baby pak choy, chili, mushrooms, silken tofu, spring onion and coriander.


Crispy skin pork belly:

Bowl:

Dressed:

Soup:

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Finally have a little down time to post about the food places I've visited in Chicago since I've moved here.

Checked out Antique Taco today in Wicker Park and it was fucking amazing. Best tacos I've ever had, tbqh.

I admit the food in Chicago is my absolute favorite. I'm hoping to venture to Eataly tomorrow and scope it out too.

Tell me you have been to The Girl and the Goat?

I had dinner there with my cousins December 2013, and it was truly the tastiest dinner experience I have had ever. The food is just marvelous.

 

[zbarron]

I've been trying to make the perfect pancakes for my wife. I made what I thought was a really good buttermilk recipe a while ago but to her it felt too tender and where it almost melts in your mouth made it seem raw to her. Since she seems to like a bit of a bite to her pancakes I decided I would try to make a batter with bread flour instead of all purpose. When Googling bread flour pancakes most of what I got was advice not to use bread flour in pancake recipes. I eventually found this.

https://cookpad.com/en/recipes/150168-bread-flour-pancakes
With two tweaks I am almost at the perfect recipe for her. First I upped the liquid from 225g to 250. I also replaced 50g of the milk with buttermilk. I read that a lot of diners use malt instead of sugar. My next experiment is substituting the sugar for malt.

This is fun. Anyone here ever get really into pancake recipes and have any tips?

 

[Ether_Snake]

Such good food on this page...

I'm on a budget for lunches, so I am making cheap stuff. A whole chicken was on sale for 5$, but chicken is such boring meat without a copious amount of sauce that I bought a jar of Patak's butter chicken sauce, some spicy merguez, and some macaroni. Cooked everything, with onions and green onions, mixed, and that's my lunch for the week.

Thank Vishnu for butter chicken.

 

[InfiniteBento]

Tell me you have been to The Girl and the Goat?

I had dinner there with my cousins December 2013, and it was truly the tastiest dinner experience I have had ever. The food is just marvelous.

I haven't! I've heard great things. I'm hoping to go tomorrow or sometime this upcoming week

What'd you get when you were there? rate it out of 10?

 

[Etrian Oddity]

So I made some ramen yesterday. Made broth in the pressure cooker with a bunch of bones, chicken wings, carrots, ginger, garlic, spices. Slow roasted some pork belly.
Soup:

Looks marvelous!

 

[Funky Papa]

That ramen looks amazing. I would dive into it like, right now.

Anyway, I made dulce de leche brownies this past weekened.

The ramekin was made with some extra batter I kept for breakfast, because nothing beats the early sugar rush from pipping hot breakfast brownies.

It was my first time making brownies and they came delicious, although I made the rookie mistake of keeping them in the oven five minutes more than needed. This resulted in some hardened dulce de leche covering (which tasted amazing, but didn't look that great due to the caramelization) and a more cake-like texture. The brownies were moist, but not exactly fudgy barring the very core of the pan.

Anyway, my friends love them and I plan to improve the recipe so they are perfect next time.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

I haven't! I've heard great things. I'm hoping to go tomorrow or sometime this upcoming week

What'd you get when you were there? rate it out of 10?

We didn't have reservations, showed up at 9:30 and got a table by 10. Let's see what we got...we had 2 vegetarians with us, 3 of us who ate everything so total 5.

The broccoli - I hate broccoli with a passion, but was able to take a few bites of this. The people at the table loved it, I am not the best person to ask how something with a lot of broccoli in it tastes like
Some kind of Peppers - These were good. Like fried peppers I believe.
Cauliflower - Also pretty good.

Grilled Baby Octopus - Delicious. Comes with some nuts and it just went so well together.

Escargot Ravioli - comes with a tamarind -miso sauce. My favorite of the night. The tamarind-miso sauce was so so good.

Then we had some fish and duck too - This was also really good. Don't remember exact dishes and these probably change frequently too.


We had total 8-10 dishes, all were great + bread + cocktails and desert. What a meal it was.

The Ravioli, Octopus, Peppers I would say are a must have. Last time I checked their menu they are still available.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

I'm back mofos. Haven't posted anything in so long but now that I'm freeing myself up from the restaurant a bit more I have time to cook food that is actually photo worthy.

Seared beef tongue over rice.

chirashi with dashi-nori gelee, freshly grated wasabi, salmon and its roe, hamachi, egg over sushi rice.

 

[le-seb]

Wow, so many things looking amazingly good, here.

Will just leave a (rum flambéed) banana roll cake in the corner ...

 

[entremet]

Just picked this up:

It's really great. Can't wait to start making stuff.