Top Chef: Restaurant Wars

Tonight is the restaurant wars episode of TopChef 4! This is definitely one of the fun episodes each season. This one will be extra nice for me. You see, yesterday we dumped TimeWarner (yes, we were in the stone age for a bit) and got Direct TV. Yay! Yay!

Now instead of waiting until 10p.m. to watch it comes on at 7p.m.! Woo hoo! Let the party begin!

What a Tart!

I just spent the last four hours making 300 tarts. 240 of them are for my sister. She is hosting a thank you dinner on Friday and wanted something different. She has a love for good, buttery pastry and wonderful fillings and knew I could help her out.

In the past I have shared our families' love of these tartlettes. They have become a signature dessert at family gatherings. They are only two bites so are a nice treat without the over indulgence of some other desserts.


S'mee is pairing them with fresh strawberries and cream, chocolate ganache, lemon curd and cream, and then a banana filling with a slice of banana and cream. It sounds so good! I wish I could go, but I'm not on the invite list, so I will just have to use some of the extra tartlettes and make my own!

If you don't have me as a neighbor or a sister and want a treat just like these I can recommend two alternatives. One is to go buy yourself a copy of Sweet Miniatures by Flo Braker. I have spoken before of my love for Ms. Braker. She is a culinary dessert genius in my book! You'll be able to use her recipes for all kinds of wonderful things, including those lovely tartlettes!

Your other alternative is to go here: Clearbrook Farms. I ran into this company at the Fancy Foods Show in January and omitted them from my write ups! Oops! They make the best tartlette shell you can purchase anywhere! They are made with the same fine ingredients I use and you can tell when you taste them. Most tartlettes sold taste a lot like the boxes they come in. Not Clearbrook Farms varieties. They are very good and you will not disappoint anyone when turning to them, rather than baking your own. They also have a great line of preserves and fillings from which to choose.

I've got a question for you.

This question is seemingly simple. But as I think about it, maybe it isn't. Will you please help me out and vote in the poll on the sidebar? If you'd like to leave a comment explaining your vote, that would be fine too. I am going to use the information in a presentation I am making. I know how I'd vote, but then again, I'm not everybody!

My question comes about after a discussion with someone. Does the fact that a "treat" you are enjoying is healthy make you more likely to eat it other than something else? The treat being a good chocolate mixed with nuts, that both have deemed to be good for you in recent years. If the package stated these health benefits, would you be more or less likely to buy it over something else equally as scrumptous?

See, I told you it wasn't simple.

Rice, crisis? Really.

I have read with interest about people walking in to their closest market or big box store and finding rice being rationed in some areas of the country. This caught me by surprise as I had not heard there was a problem with rice production in the U.S. So I decided to a bit of research.

The California Rice Commission (ask me about agricultural commissions sometime) there is no shortage of rice. California rice that is...
You see we are growing lots and lots of rice here in the rural community state. (Yes, guvner Schwarzenegger, most of us here in California live in rural areas. Not big cities, and that mouthful of veggies you're enjoying, some country/rural bumpkin grew it for you.) Where the shortages are taking place are in places like India, Thailand, and China. U.S. farmers grow 90% of all the rice U.S. citizens eat. While the U.S. rice farmers grow 90% of what we eat, they only priduce 1 -2 % of all the rice eaten world wide. Wow. There is a lot of rice being raised elsewhere too! That's where the problem begins.

You see there is this evil group out there selling "premium" rice seed. It is being sold to poor farmers in poor nations. It is being sold to them with lies. The farmers that are buying this "premium" seed are being told it will produce a heartier crop, and they will have a great harvest. Well, it does. The farmer, like all good farmers, save a portion of their crop for next year's planting. It help defray the cost of planting and makes sure the farmer can produce a consistent crop. But oops! Did we forget to tell the poor farmer that when they plant that second year, using seed they saved from last year's harvest won't grow! Oh, we did leave that out poor farmer. It has been genetically altered to only produce one time. It is called a terminal seed. One time shot, and we have taken away the gene the great creator put in it to produce itself year in and year out. Because if we didn't do that, you would have no need to buy from us again. And we really want you to be able to only do business with us. Because we did something else too. We put a genetic marker in our seed that will pollute you fields. It will tell us that no matter when you plant again, you will owe us money. Yep, good business, good business indeed. Well, for us at least.

So when the farmers world wide planted the rice crop they thought would grow, it didn't. And now that they crop didn't produce a harvest, the world is short rice. And people are starving. We only have Monsanto and and the rest of the GMO kings to thank.

It's time for another giveaway!

Bag Giveaway, originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

Yes, Matthew over at The Penguin Group has given me the opportunity to do another giveaway! This time it revolves around the newly published book "Comfort Food" by Kate Jacobs. Some of you may know her book The Friday Night Knitting Club. She's written another great book and I get to giveaway 5 copies and 7 tote bags! The totebag is gorgeous! It's 11x18 with a copy of the bookcover on it and made of nice quality canvas.

The book synopsis reads: "Shortly before turning the big 5-0, boisterous party planner and Cooking with Gusto! personality Augusta “Gus” Simpson finds herself planning a birthday party she'd rather not—her own. She's getting tired of being the hostess, the mother hen, the woman who has to plan her own birthday party. What she needs is time on her own with enough distance to give her loved ones the ingredients to put together successful lives without her. Assisted by a handsome up-and-coming chef, Oliver, Gus invites a select group to take an on-air cooking class. But instead of just preaching to the foodie masses, she will teach regular people how to make rich, sensuous meals—real people making real food. Gus decides to bring a vibrant cast of friends and family on the program: Sabrina, her fickle daughter; Troy, Sabrina's ex-husband; Anna, Gus's timid neighbor; and Carmen, Gus's pompous and beautiful competitor at the Cooking Channel. And when she begins to have more than collegial feelings for her sous-chef, Gus realizes that she might be able to rejuvenate not just her professional life, but her personal life as well. ..."

If you'd like to win either the book or the totebag leave your name in the comments section! I'm not keeping one for myself, just passing all these wonderful goodies on to you my wonderful readers! Enjoy!

I'm heading out to a university graduation, leaving the husband at home, and when I get back Monday afternoon, I'll do the drawing.

UPDATE: Numbers have been drawn! If your number was chosen, you should have an email from me (that is if you left me an email address!).

Now for a smoothing lesson. Tutorial!

Crumb coat, originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

Smoothing a cake eludes most cake decorators. It is something you practice and practice. Everyone I know has tried at least six different methods for smoothing a cake. Some shops have specific methods and you learn them or else. The most famous cake smoothing technique I am familiar with comes from Sylvia Weinstock's shop. Her people can smooth a cake faster than anyone I've ever seen! 30 to 45 seconds a tier. Yep, 30 to 45 seconds.

I am not going to say this method will get you to that speed, but if you check the photos on my flickr page you can clock my process on this one. The times are actual and you can see how long it took me to do this, including taking photos of it.

1. Put a piece of non-skid padding on the turntable. Set your cake on top of it and you cake won't slide as you are smoothing it.


2. Start with a crumb coated cake. It should come straight out of the fridge and be well chilled. This makes the process a whole lot easier.


3. Ice cake, sides, top and somewhat smooth it as you apply. Not a lot, though and don't try to make it perfect as you apply the frosting on this pass. At the bakery, we always add more and then remove what we need to in order to get it ultra smooth.


4. Now for the magic! You will need one of these:


it is a painting edge sold at Ace Hardware. I cannot find this kind anywhere else! It is made out of aluminum and is very thin! That's what makes it work so well! I even bought one in Sugar City, Idaho once when I needed one. Thank goodness for old style hardware stores!

5. Holding it in your dominant hand, in a vertical position you are going to spin your turntable while you hold the painting tool close to the frosting. Keep it as vertical as possible as you want an even side surface. Put just a bit of pressure on it as you turn the cake. Now wipe off the excess frosting.




6. You will notice that certain parts of the cake have grooves where the icing isn't as thick as other parts. Illustrated in this picture; notice the bottom of the layer. Add more frosting to those areas. just glob a bit on in places where you feel it is needed and begin smoothing again.


7. This should take some practice. If you want to get good at this, you will need to practice this over and over again. Once you get it down though, it is like riding a bike. It was so much easier today than when I started doing it over a year ago.



8. Check that cake now! It is ready to have the top smoothed.


9. Wipe off your tool and remember to wipe it off every time you touch the cake at this point. You can drag the smoother toward you:


10. or away from you. Use the method that you find most comfortable. For the longest time I pulled the tool toward me. Then one day I decided to try it the other way and got amazing results. The key it to use the lightest touch you can possibly use. Barely touch the frosting at this point. When you begin, you may have to do this for 30 minutes or more to get it right.


You will also find that you drag the tool a bit deep in parts and you edges are wobbly. Keep in mind: unless it is a wedding cake you are going to add a border, so most likely it won't matter if it is wobbly. If you are doing a wedding cake, there usually isn't a top border so you need it to be even. Add a bit more frosting and begin again.

11. You now have a smoothed cake. Add some decoration to it.


12. Add the bottom border.


13. Add a top border and any other decos you wish.


Now go practice. This should take a bit of practice. I started at 1:18 and finished at 1:47. With photos that's 30 minutes start to finish. Once you've got it down, come point me to a few pics of your own! Feel free to ask questions in the comments too.

The delivered cake

wedding cake, originally uploaded by foodchronicles.

Here is a photo I was able to snap just before people started showing up. It turned out pretty well. The bride was ecstatic. Me? I thought the chocolate cake didn't fit in so well, but she loved it all. And that's what mattered. The bottom layer is a red velvet cake with a whipped ganache frosting. Filling? Cookies and cream - whipped cream and crushed oreos.

Middle layers: Lemon with whipped cream and fresh raspberries, second one is strawberry cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Both were iced in the buttercream.

Top tier: Chocolate layer, strawberry layer, cookies and cream filling, buttercream frosting. This tier is going on the honeymoon!

All in all, it went well, was very appreciated and I could do it again. Just not this month.