Posts by Jock

Living in San Francisco I have access to lots of locally grown, seasonal produce, whether at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market on Saturday or the many fine produce stores in the City. And I take full advantage of these...

A friend of mine was laid off about a year and a half ago from his job as a chef instructor at a cooking school. He set up shop in his house teaching small groups. It was an almost instant success. The class sizes (6-8) are just right as...

Ah, not so sure about that. The full name for the dish is pasta a la carbonara and a carbonara in Italy is a coal miner. So, it is pasta in the style of the coal miner. As evidenced by the number of recipes posted here there are many...

So how did you hear about it? It's hard to imagine poaching in oil. If the oil gets hot enough to "poach" the tofu surely it will fry it?? The Chinese deep fry tofu, often stuffed with a pork miture. The texture is as you...

Well, lots of good advice here and just to add my 2 cents worth.... With the reference to [I]summer holidays[I] I'd guess you are in UK as well. If that's the case you may not have access to Julia Child or Jaques Pepin and some of the...

You can Google "Pate Brisee Recipe) and get dozens of hits. The one I use is as follows (for an 11" tart shell): 2 1/2 cups APF 3/4 tsp salt 5 oz cold, unsalted butter cut into 1/4" pieces 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/4...

I second that. Great cakes with all the why's and wherefore's you'd want.

Singer, I think what you are describing is the clasic flakey pie crust. A quiche is typically made with a Pate Brisee crust which is tender and buttery but not flakey. It is made with egg too. Now I think of it I believe that...

Use butter. Margarine is made from hydroginated vegetable oils and that's causing the pie dough (called Pate Brisee) to look and feel oily. The margerine doesn't firm up in the fridge like butter does. Not only that, hydrogenized...

All of which goes to support the notion that cast iron is not ideal for all jobs and nor is stainless, aluminum or non stick. Choosing the best tool in your arsenal for the job is what matters.