[Bhc]

My mum just went to a wedding at the Breakers in Palm Beach and raved about the Bearnaise and the Reggiano Tuiles (among other things which we have managed to duplicate).

Mum said the Bearnaise held in a steam pan for about an hour with no seperation, bleeding or skin formation. Was this just an example of culinary alchemy at its best or is there some trick to keeping Bearnaise so silky?

Second, she raved about the "cheese cups" for the salads. I was 100% sure she was talking about frico but I made some and got the ix-nay on their being the right thing. So I looked at the photos and sure enough they were little cookie cups. Anyone have a recipe for the batter? I am sure I could reproduce it but it's getting hot here in New England and I am feeling lazy.....

Many thanks....Bren in MA

[Quinn01]

Im not really sure on the sauce but for the tulies, I beleive you can just shred the cheese you want or grate it try your best to make the best circles you can on a silt or silk what ever its called pad (the rubber baking pads) and bake it for a few min till its lightly golden then take the biggest piping tip you have in your kitchen, after letting it cool for a few seconds but make sure you keep it warm so you can mold it and wrap it around the tip then put it back in the oven for a few more min then let sit on the counter around the tip and after it cools youll be able to slide the tip out and youll have what your looking for.

I Beleive.

I Hope i helped you somewhat I know its a little scrambled.

[Bhc]

Thanks Quinn. That's a frico (or at least that's what I have always heard it called) and that was definitely NOT what these were. I was being rather superior and smug with Mum (should have known better), quite certain she'd gotten it wrong, but they were classic tuiles in that they were batter based and definitely cookie like in texture, taste and appearance and description by the Breakers.

But, for those of you who haven't tried making frico, DO! It is very very easy and such an elegant thing to add to your starters. I pleat them sometimes to create sort of bowtie shapes and have rolled them into slim cigarette shapes and filled with whipped goat cheese and herbs.

[CookingAngry]

The restaurant I work at holds hollandaise and bernaise for 4+ hours. I was told once that fours hours was the limit but our service exceeds that by a great deal so ????? I suppose I'll figure it out when I move from Garde Manger to Saute.

[Quinn01]

Originally Posted by Bhc

they were classic tuiles in that they were batter based and definitely cookie like in texture, taste and appearance and description by the Breakers.

Thats right my mistake. Well tuiles are made from a simple batter. We used this recipe:

4 tbsp. butter
1/3 c. light corn syrup (light)
1/4 c. light brown sugar

Melt it together and line a sheet pan with one of those rubber baking sheets that i tried describing last post. Put your oven at 350 and spoon the batter out. Then when they are lightly golden, I mean lightly golden, removed them and let cool until the cookie can be handled, but is still pliable. Then same idea as the fricos mold them around a piping tip and put in the corners of the sheet pan and put back in the oven until they are golden all around. Then Let cool and slide off the tips. The corn syrup will make it easy to slide off the tips.

The good thing about this recipe is that you can always add anything and everything. At the last restaurant i worked at we used to do plain, black sesame seed, and one with green because we did a 3 type carpaccio/tartar. Good stuff.

Sorry about the confusion. Hope i got it this time around.

[boar_d_laze]

FWIW

Those "rubber baking sheets" are fiberglass reinforced silicone baking mats. One brand mane is "Silpat," by Demarle, and that's the word the thread was seeking. Another band, less expensive and just as good, is "Exopat" by Matfer. These sheets act much like slightly oiled parchment paper, but are reusable. Whoever makes them, they're great!

My experience holding hollandaise and other liaison sauces is that they are best made and served a minute. However, when you have to hold, a thermos works better than a bain marie. Shake vigorously before decanting through a fine sieve. It's possible to hold these sauces for quite some time in a bain marie, but that doesn't make it a good idea. The sauce suffers greatly in terms of texture, it becomes greasy instead of velvety; stratifies so some people get the butter, others get the eggs; and the taste begins to stale almost immediately as the volatile oils evaporate, i.e., the freshness of the acid -- whether lemon, vinegar or wine -- is lost.

No offense intended, but IMO a restaurant which holds its bernaise for several hours says more about the restaurant and its head chef than any technique. Full disclosure: I regularly filled in at a club which did hold its hollandaise.

BDL

[Quinn01]

Silpat. Thanks thats what I was thinking but the name left my mind. And yes they are great. They arent that expensive and can be used over and over and over and over again.

[CookingAngry]

I don't make the decision to hold it. I wouldn't if I were running things. But I wouldn't butcher Kobe with house knives and I wouldn't buy bagged boiled eggs and pre-peeled garlic and pre-made mayonaise and catsup with highfructose corn syrup.

My point BDL is that I don't take any offence to your comment. This restaurant is the best in town as far as product is concerned though and while the practices don't all meet my wishes, I am in no position to challenge the athority.

It's heavily a regional thing. We still crank out better food than almost anywhere else in the area.

[boar_d_laze]

Angry,

Yes. As you know, I know your situation. Well, I ought to know by now. Nu? Actually, your restaurant's menu looks kind of fun from a "boy food" perspective. It's an "I believe I'll have the meat, spinach and baked potato" kind of place and to quote a friend, "the GD steak is so big there ain't no room for the GD spud on the GD plate."

All this knowledge is hurting my head. Do you smell wood burning?

BDL

[CookingAngry]

That's exactly the type of place BDL. Even the Kobe is cut into 14 oz. steaks. But we get to have a little fun with constantly having 4+ off the menu specials.

The steak, potatoes, and more steak menu fits the motif though. There is a cigar bar downstairs that our service extends to. It's called the Wine Cellar and it looks like an old rich white guys' club. My fiancee and I have a couple we are friends with and sometimes we all head down there and split an appetizer then relax with cigars and some drink off the very extensive scotch, bourbon, brandy, or cognac menus.

There is something cool about working at an a la carte restaurant. Maybe I just feel that way because I have been doing so much reading lately and a la carte marked a turning point in food service.