sugarbuzz's Profile
Top Chef Vegas Ep. #2 - 08/26/09 (spoilers)
Speaking of Blais..did he get a nose job? or something done? That pic on his Bravo blog looks really weird & not like him at all!
Berkeley Bowl West officially open
The customer service in the cafe is bad though. At least it was today. My daughter & I plus another guy standing by the gelato counter..waiting...and waiting. The guy was too busy yapping with the cashier. He saw us standing there but still no attempt to help us. I finally gave a loud throat clearing & a nasty eye contact & he was on his way.
I have to say it was nice to find parking within 1 minute upon entering the lot. To not have to navigate around people who leave their cart in the middle of the aisle so they can look at something at the opposite end of the aisle was nice. I was confused about the separate organic produce because that's the first thing I saw was produce so I assumed it was all one section..until I saw the prices. No big deal..now I know.
I was ready to check out & didn't have to wait 15 minutes in line..in fact I just walked right up to the cashier & was checked out in less than 5 minutes. Granted it was around 3 pm on a Tuesay but what better time to go.
Zackary's Pizza: how is the Stuffed Deep Dish?
What's absurd is that people actually like Zachary's.
Toddler birthday tea and dairy-free cake
Wherever you choose to go see if they have an in house pastry chef & ask if they will make a dairy free cake for you. You'll pay a little extra but usually it will happen unless they are really really busy. If so I'm sure a pastry chef would know where to find a dairy free cake through the grapevine.
I usually get requests for dairy or vegan desserts & with the right amount of notice I will usually do it.
Otherwise here's a few bakeries I know of that do dairy free..some are in the east bay so you can check about delivery fees to wherever you are staying.
http://www.eatmyloveforyou.com/index.html
http://www.loveatfirstbitebakery.com/menu.html#cake
http://www.haveyourcake.org/celebrations.html
http://www.anandafuara.com/html/menu/main_menu.htm This may seem like an odd choice ( a vegetarian place)but they have good vegan cakes here & if you don't mind a nice walk & eating vegetarian it's near Civic Center & they have stuff like veggie chicken nuggets, pizza, nachos..etc for kids. If you called ahead I'm sure they could make you a small vegan bday cake.
Top Chef Thanksgiving Episode (Maybe Spoilers)
eh. I would have sent Danny? home. I'd rather have a bad s'more than undercooked potatoes.
Really easy traditional pecan pie recipe?
I usually cut the sugar ratio down. The karo recipe is good just too sweet. Another thing I do is to toast the nuts with a little butter & spice mixture. Toss nuts with ginger, cinnamon & cloves & a little melted butter. Toast in oven. Gives the pie a nice warm flavor.
Ace of Cakes & Hygiene
I noticed that this season there are more comments on how good the cakes taste. They probably have been reading sites like this where we all wonder if it's all style & no substance. I wonder if customers who appear on film are told somewhat indirectly to say on camera how good their cake is.
Artisan bread in 5 min a day
I'm not saying to beat the hell out of it. I know a thing or two about bread as I'm a pastry chef.
My dough was really wet..so wet that i had most of it on my hands. So I sprinkled some crushed garlic & rosemary on it, added a bit if flour & gently kneaded it until it formed a loaf shape.
If you're not familiar with handling bread or tweaking recipes then don't do what I did. Follow the recipe exactly.
pumpkin cupcake or cake recipe needed
These are from Tartlette. They're very good.
http://tartelette.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=50
Scroll to the Nov 29 entry
Artisan bread in 5 min a day
My dough was a bit wet. I hastily made it by hand before heading out the door. So I figured ..why not? It turned out great anyway.
All Mom wants is a carrot cake
Tish Boyle's The Cake Book has the BEST carrot cake I've made ever.
Artisan bread in 5 min a day
I was skeptical to say the least. You make a simple dough with more than the usual amount of water. Let it sit at room temp for 2-5 hours, refrigerate for up to 5 days(if it lasts that long). Pull off a chunk of dough. Shape, proof, bake & you have a loaf of crusty bread. Here's a link to the article where I found the recipe. I might just buy the book after making this bread.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/386357_bread05.html?source=mypi
I didn't have a bakers peel or tile so I just used a sheet pan with some flour & cormeal mixture. I put a pan of hot water on the bottom of the oven rack & threw some ice cubes in for steam. Since the dough needs to be kneaded a bit before shaping I kneaded in some roasted garlic & rosemary & it was seriously just really good crunchy bread.
Has anyone else tried it?
I should've put this in the home cooking section..sorry.
Kitchen Nightmares UK - Piccolo Teatro
Ramsey hired her to work in one his restaurants.
Whatever, martha
Has anyone seen this on Fine Living? Martha's daughter & her friend pretty much watch a Martha show & proceed to mock the hell out of her. It's kind of funny just because I know my friends & I would do the same thing when watching her show.
Example. S'mores. Martha proceeds to whittle birch branches & tie them up in pretty ribbon & also drills holes in them so she can hang them up. Meanwhile while all of this is going on you hear Alexis(her daughter) & her friend talking in the background. " Why Martha! We have to whittle in order to eat s'mores! Just take the damn marshmallow & shove it on a stick..your done! We have to whittle now?!"
Is Bourdain's baby girl a culinary savant?
Why would that be hard to believe? Not everyone gives their kids bland mushy baby food from a jar.
I love the fact that at age 5 I could take my daughter with us out to eat any cuisine. Indian, thai, mexican..etc. We didn't have to limit ourselves to eating at a place that had a kids menu..in fact she hates the kids menu because all they ever have are chicken fingers & pizza. Boring!
One of her favorite snacks for school is laura chenel goat cheese w/ chives on crackers!
Chicago Blues Cafe in San Leandro has Italian Beef Sandwiches
I'm so glad to hear that! The pics in the Chron looked not so good. I guess Chowhound took down my link to the story for whatever reason.
I hope you guys make it. Why anyone would go to a Popeye's instead is beyond me. I really was not looking forward to losing my beef sandwiches.
Applebee rethinks menu-NYT
The employees don't call it Crapplesleaze for nothing. I had a friend who worked at one in Jersey..crap due to heart attack inducing food & sleaze for the way management treats them.
Nectarine dessert at Zuni is just that
I'm sure I'm one of the many who sent this along to Eater SF. How could I not? Hoping that it would snowball so that Zuni could tell us why they think it's ok to charge $8 for a piece of fruit. It doesn't matter if it is the best nectarine in the world..8 bucks..seriously?
When someone wants a fruit plate where I work I would never send them a couple of wedges of whatever. I give them a variety of every fruit I have in the walk in & a small bowl of honey creme fraiche. All of it sliced & presented in a way that's nice to look at but also easy to eat. Would it really have killed someone..even the pastry chef or assistant to take 30 seconds to slice a nectarine & fan it out on a plate with some honey?
If all I had were nectarines I still wouldn't have charged $8 for it though
On the Topic of TV Host Bashing
Thanks Apple..you hit it right on the head. I think it's sad that someone like RR is so damn popular. The food she turns out is crap to say the least. If I wanted a meal in 30 minutes i would just order some Thai food. I like to take my time when I cook. The more prep the better. It gives me & my kids time to talk.
Even when I come home from work after 12 hours(and I work in a kitchen) I can whip something up in about 60 -90 min & not feel like I cheated myself.
I know you RR lovers or toleraters can say "well then just ignore her"..but how can I when she's all over like a bad heat rash.
Malted Milk Powder
I use Horlick's which I think is from the UK. You can possibly find it at a British food specialty store. It has a sweeter flavor than Carnation's.
What is your favorite chef worth a year?
Why is rachael ray even on this list..she should be on the same list as Paris Hilton. Isn't that the list for people who have no god given talent but still are hugely popular & make millions of dollars!?
I would think that Puck makes more than her..what with his own line of food & pizzas.
Flay only 1.5? What about all of his endorsements & his own line of cookware?
Something is way off on that list.
Yelpers making threats to get comped?
her original nasty review was taken off Yelp..I think because her "friend" at the local magazine is also a friend of the chef's & a compromise was made.
This is what she posts"Having restaurant owners and sommeliers within our circle of friends, this is generally the appropriate courtesy in such situations,"
So..you have an elite list of friends including restaurant owners & that entitles you to treat restaurant workers like crap,call the person who won't serve you after hours a c***s****r, lie about it to make yourself look like the victim & get a free meal worth about $125.
Yes..I hate yelpers
Yelpers making threats to get comped?
Guess who just got a comped meal for her "troubles" !!
My chef is a great guy but he got suckered into that one.
altering sorbet texture
Use simple syrup & a little light corn syrup. The texture will be smooth & almost ice cream like.
Food Network "Food Detectives"
Exactly..who doesn't know that milk puts out the fire!? OOH..I just ate a habanero pepper..give me something carbonated..quick! Come on!
And the people who were the test subjects?..really bad acting. I doubt they really ate a habanero salsa. Someone hit it on the head with the Nickelodean thing..I was waiting for the losers who picked the wrong beverage to get slimed.
Ted is so much better than this show..I wonder how he got suckered into doing it?
What's your favorite take on Mexican-style cole slaw?
i use whole milk yogurt & process it with cilantro,jalapeno,lime juice, garlic & salt. Jicama, red cabbage, carrots & some shredded zucchini. Radishes would be good too.
Chicago Blues Cafe in San Leandro has Italian Beef Sandwiches
I stopped by today on my way home. They've really cut back the menu. dogs, polish, beef, pizza, sides..that's about it...although there was no pizza. The waitress said they'd have it next week. No breakfast menu anymore, no drinks! they were making smoothies last time I was there.
I don't know if it had to do with their electrical problems Their register was down & everything was added up w/ a calc. Cash only because of it. It also took about 20 minutes to get 1 beef sandwich & 1 plain hot dog & some onion rings. The beef is still good..although it seemed a bit on the dry side. I had it dipped but I think they could let the beef sit in the juice as well.
I almost thought it was closed when I drove up. It looked really bare bones. I'm thinking they're losing money and scaling it back to the basics. I mean ..if you can't afford to supply you're own bags & are using Wal mart plastic bags to put orders in..well, I dunno.
I'm hoping they can get their stuff sorted out because I really feel they could make it. The just chose the wrong location.
If my credit weren't so screwed I'd open up my own Chicago style place.
What's your favorite thing to do with chevre?
Emily Luchetti has a really great goat cheese cake..not a cheesecake but like a souffle cake. Great with some fresh berries & chantilly or some fresh figs & honey
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/goat-cheese-cake-with-mixed-berries
The 5 best EVER dessert cookbooks?
For cookies I'd definitely pick The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle. I'm a pastry chef & every single recipe I've made works. It's my go to cookie book if I need a recipe in a hurry. I know that no matter what recipe it is..it will work & taste great.
Rose Levy's Cake Bible has some good cake recipes..& her Mousseline Buttercream is the only one I use but some of the other recipes aren't that great.
Ditto for the Pie & Pastry Bible..a few great recipes ..but otherwise..eh.
Stars Desserts cookbook by Emily Luchetti..out of print but you can find some in Ebay. Her ice cream book..A Passion fro Ice Cream is good as well.
