tastycakes's Profile
Best Bakeries or Baked Goods in San Diego?
bumping this thread to see if there are any newer additions to the list. come on, sd, there have to be more notable sweets and pastries than this!
ginger creme brûlée keeps breaking - help!
i need to make ginger creme brûlée in a large pan to serve family style, not in ramekins. i am an experienced pastry chef so i can't for the life of me figure out why it keeps breaking. from the looks of the pot, it broke before i even baked it. the finished product had lumps of butterfat all throughout and had a fat slick on top. i tried it once in a water bath at 325 with foil covering, vented. then i tried again at 315 uncovered. any suggestions? i think i'm steeping the ginger too long. does it have an enzyme or acid that would curdle the cream?
need help with 2-day itinerary on a budget please!
we are two food and drink lovers visiting from LA on a budget. we'll be arriving Thursday afternoon and leaving Saturday morning, staying near Sea World, and ready to eat just about anything. we'd also like to take in some of the local attractions such as balboa park and have tickets to a baseball game Friday night downtown. we have a car and don't mind driving but would like to have plenty of outdoor and relaxing time. we definitely want to hit up the mariscos german truck but are not sure which location is most convenient for us. we can get every kind of ethnic food in LA so we'd like to try some really standout local food, but again, can't spend a lot. any and all suggestions are appreciated!!
Love those Blue Crab Hand Rolls! Whose are the best?
no sugar, just succulent, warmed, smoky ono
what are the best foie gras dishes to splurge on before the ban?
i'd rather hit up several restaurants than do a multicourse tasting.
Love those Blue Crab Hand Rolls! Whose are the best?
sushi central does stellar blue crab hand rolls. also don't miss the bruleed ono.
Anyone know where I can find Sushi and Sake Pairings in Los Angeles?
this months' feastiality tasting dinner will have all sake and soju pairings, though i'm not sure of there will be a sushi course. the chef is a sushi chef and usually does other styles for these dinners.
www.feastialityla.com
Does Mariscos Chente still serve smoked marlin tacos?
Had these on a trip south - someone please tell me I can find something that comes close to the Mariscos German truck!
Puerto Nuevo Style Lobster - North of the border
My husband swears by the best tail in town in old town. Great baja lobster plate.
finally! good gyros in hollywood at pita on vine
i've always been disappointed in the lack of flavor in astroburger's gyro, so i'm excited to have this place close by. we found their menu on my door so hubby and i ordered a shwarma plate and a gyros plate this weekend. the gyro meat was plentiful, thickly sliced, tender and juicy, crisped around the edges and not too heavily spiced. the texture was very moist and tender. it came on a bed of average rice (nothing beats the golden, delicious chicken drippings-soaked rice of the predecessor, village chicken), with decent tzatziki and very smooth but somewhat bland hummus. this is a lebanese joint, so they have pickles but not on either of these plates which is fine because i am not a fan and it was always a bummer to order from el wazir or zankou and have your hummus all mucked up with pink juice. the shwarma was nicely spiced, not too heavy on the clove like some places, if a tad gristly, and also a generous portion. we got an order of the spicy fries as well, but they're just ok, crinkle cut frozen and not crispy enough or salted. but there are plenty of other interesting items on the menu including rotisserie chicken with "papillon" sauce which is apparently sumac based, and delivery was quick, the price is right, and everything was fresh and not heavy or greasy.
pita on vine is in the mini mall on the southwest corner of fountain and vine, near el floridita, m bar, atch kotch, and the empanada place that keeps changing names.
Dinner for 4 under $80?
So the in laws want to take the hubby and I to dinner at Marie callenders. There are about 100 other places I'd rather eat and it's not cheap either - $12-18 for entrees. I can't think of anything off the top of my head that's similarly priced and not too noisy. Also not too salty. Any neighborhood between Beverly hills and downtown is fine between the 10 and 134. We like all types of food especially larin and asian. Nothing too scenery or small plates, unfortunately they are foreign, rather stuffy, and strangers to high end dining though this could be an opportunity to introduce them to real food. They don't drink but we'd like beer or cocktails. Thanks!
Disappointed in Susina bakery
I've only had the breakfast pastries before but I stopped in for some pie since the hubby has been craving it. I got my usual ginger apricot scone which was unusually dry. I also tried a couple cookies - nothing special. Unfortunately pies are not sold by the slice, only tarts. The lemon meringue was decent, but the crust was bitter, dark and overbaked. The banana cream was truly a bummer. I adore banana cream and this one sounded promising with the addition of caramel and chocolate. The crust suffered from the same overbaked taste and the bananas were so overripe they made the whole thing sickeningly sweet. The caramel and chocolate were nearly undetectable with all that mushy banana taste going on. Very sad day for this pastry lover. :(
are there any good bakeries in east county? good brunch? like the kind you'd drive out of your way for?
i grew up out there and was saddened to hear on my last visit that most of the places i used to enjoy and that my family shopped at when i was a kid are now closed. i'm wondering if it was because they weren't all that great and memory serves me wrong, or because the area can't support that kind of business.
What are you baking these days? January 2012 [old]
That's the one. The curry shortbreads in the same article are delicious as well. They can go sweet or savory - I like to use them for hors douvres topped with goat cheese and mango chutney or smoked chicken and apples etc.
What are you baking these days? January 2012 [old]
the triple citrus yogurt cake on the food and wine magazine website is fantastic. it will certainly do your pans justice. i'll be making this with blood oranges and meyer lemons since they are in season.
does anyone use brewer's yeast or yeast flakes in baking?
i want to make these cookies that are supposed to help nursing mothers produce more milk and the recipe calls for brewer's yeast. what would be a good brand to use?
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate
Anything from Madame Chocolat, or try the new Vosges boutique.
What are you baking these days? December, 2011 [OLD]
I made the pumpkin chocolate chip bread from the king Arthur flour book, added a streusel on top. It's so good and stayed moist for a week.
Thoughts on Hot Stuff Cafe?
The atmosphere is kinda low key but the food is very upscale. Lots of Asian flavored with French technique. The food is great but the space and location do make an odd match.
Dogfish Head's 120 min IPA
I've seen it at whole foods on 3rd and the oaks gourmet market in hollywood
Apple pie filling: to prebake or not
i do it 3 different ways for different reasons -
par-cooked for a more caramelly, brown sugary taste, usually with a mixture of tart and sweet apples like granny smith and gala or fuji. i saute the apples in butter without sugar until they have a bit of color, then add brown and white sugar just til melted and thickened, and then degalze with calvados or brandy.
raw and sliced very thin with tart baking apples like pippin plus a bit of flour added as a binder, with sugar and cinnamon of course, for a more fresh apple flavor. for this style pie you want to choose apples that don't break down as much otherwise you get that big gap between the crust and the fruit and no one likes to be fooled by a big empty space in their pie.
for crostata or galette, i slice the apples very thin, macerate in sugar, and drain the liquid, cook it down, and then add it back in to the filling along with some lemon juice and creme fraiche, that way the crust doesn't get soggy.
Help finding a chicken liver pate recipe
i make this with duck livers and it's phenomenal. i've made it with the cucumber gelee as well as a sauternes wine gelee.
critique our itinerary!
for dinner on the 1st day, fig in santa monica or ray's at LACMA would be my choices, or as mentioned you could take your chances on a walk-in at mozza or sit at the mozzarella bar on the osteria side.
after your griffith park hike i would do best fish tacos in ensenada over ricky's.
for a real club experience, saturday nights at avalon for house music.
What are you baking these days? October 2011, part 1 [OLD]
souschef, i realize i'm tooting my own horn, but consider trying my cornmeal scone recipe. it's tender, slightly crumbly, moist, and nubby with a slight crunch.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/807325#6844822
What are you baking these days? October 2011, part 1 [OLD]
i work at le cordon bleu in california. every student makes their own batch of whatever we are learning that day. today we are doing scones, doughnuts, and cinnamon rolls. i have the great pleasure of baking almost every day at work, but of course it gets repetitive so i bake pretty often at home - especially with the weather getting cooler - to be creative and experiment.
What are you baking these days? October 2011, part 1 [OLD]
i taught 2 laminated dough classes today so i have dozens of danish and croissants on my counter emitting the most glorious fragrance. if you could bottle it, you'd make a fortune and men would be following you everywhere you went. i made ham and gruyere and chocolate almond croissants, and fig-almond, apple butter, and strawberry rhubarb cream cheese danish in addition to the regular flavors like apricot and raspberry. i hope i can make room in my freezer.
"spider pig" pizza from mozza 2 go = WOW
we ordered from mozza 2 go last night and found this listed on the specials page:
Spider Pig Pizza- nduja, paprika salami,fennel sausage,tomato, mozzarella
being simpsons fans and fans of pork in general, we had to try it. i've been curious about nduja - a soft style salami that had the texture of mexican chorizo that you get in the plastic tubing, but with italian spices. it was easily the best mozza pizza i have tried. and i've tried almost all of them. the flavors meld so perfectly and the spice builds so slowly in your mouth that you don't notice the sweet burn until two slices later. so good. seriously my favorite thing about living in the pit of despair that is hollywood.
