Making panna cotta has reminded me once again what a truly remarkable substance gelatin is. It has the ability to turn virtually any liquid into a wiggly, trembling semi-solid. Something for which my 2-year-old daughter will be forever grateful. How can a mere protein powder be responsible for feats as spectacular as these? Because of […]
READ ONJust took a moment out of a full day to get the caramel sauce made for the panna cotta (company ETA: 7:00 PM). It’s nice. Light…aromatic, it’ll be a perfect match for the cream. There’s just one thing: it isn’t actually a caramel sauce, it’s a syrup. It plays at being a caramel…it’s got the […]
READ ONBut then a little of the sweet stuff never really hurt anything. And anyway, I don’t want to get branded as some sort of pastry purist, a Quaker with a whisk. I’ve been known to drizzle any number of condiments on a panna cotta. Caramel is a classic match with dairy, followed closely by fresh […]
READ ON…and why is it called “malt” when it’s really barley? Because malt isn’t really a type of grain like the the beer adds seem to imply (we use nothing but the finest malt and amber hops…). It’s a process. “Malting” just means “sprouting”, like when you make your own bean sprouts or start the Chia […]
READ ONOne fun thing about Food Network recipes are the comments people make about them. Much of the time, a click on the “Reviews” button takes you to a bizarre universe of praise, cheap shots, rants, non-sequiturs, and slow-motion arguments that take years to resolve. Amusing as they are though, they’re almost never useful. Especially when […]
READ ONThis week’s theme is foods with double consonants. In that spirit I have two Italian offerings for you. This week’s pastry project is a simple-but-elegant Italian stand-by known as Panna Cotta This week’s bread is the same as last week’s because well, I did absolutely nothing with it. Ciabatta I promise I’ll make more headway […]
READ ONThis week’s pizza’s not even out of the oven and I can already tell it’s going to be too bready for the missus. I had misgivings about keeping the overnight dough fermentation step in the process. Cutting the yeast amount down to a 1/4 teaspoon doesn’t really matter if you give it plenty of time […]
READ ONGot an email asking what fondant is. Basically, it’s sugar putty. A soft, all-sugar candy that you can form into various shapes, or roll out into sheets. It can be colored and/or flavored in just about any way you can think of. Cake makers roll it into sheets and drape it over cakes to give […]
READ ONFriday afternoons and work just weren’t meant to go together. Yet I’m having an extremely tough time goofing off. It’s pouring down rain right now in Lousiville, and that put a stop to the Blue Angel practice session that was in action (they’re in town to help kick off the two-week party orgy that is […]
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