Chef Cindy Sez...

Did you like my Creme Brulee?

cwerth — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:26:20 +0000

Social media forces and the concept of “crowdwisdom” are dynamically shaping our service-based economy and our professional lives. I recently commented on a Technologizer article entitled “Bundle.com Crowdsources Reviews, Without the Crowd Knowing They’re Reviewing Anything”. This article is about data mining the social media motherload through analysis of real/near-time customer opinion. Wish I could “mine” opinions in our dining room! The Likert 5/7- point psychometric scale is common in the hospitality industry (cf. today’s Los Angeles Times 3.5 Star Restaurant Review of Tom Colicchio’s Craft Los Angeles). Since my desserts have a decided advantage over other dinner courses because they are last, an unbiased metric of a guest’s expectations based on the menu compared to actual dining experience would assist me in controlling quality in the bakery as well as suggesting dining room menu items.

As a Pastry Chef, I am always concerned with our product consistency (reliability); I secondarily focus on comparisons to other fine dining on the Las Vegas Strip. Does my over-the-top deep rich chocolate mousse rescue a mediocre entrée and thus make the credit card charge seem “worth it”? Conversely, if I “burn” my Creme Brulee, do I not only “torch” the server’s tip but forever destroy goodwill toward our restaurant’s brand? This Technologizer article reports that Bundle.com software technology able to analyze “crowd wisdom” not in terms of what the people say but what they do; they analyze, for example, credit card receipts. Furthermore, they mention the future launch of similar technology for the hospitality industry, a Restaurant Recommender site in New York City. Comments by piplzchoice, (AmplifiedAnalytics) reinforce the usefulness of this testing methodology and offer their own opinion-mining software.

There is definitely a place for psychometric measurement in the hospitality industry. As a chef, I need reliable information regarding my performance so I can adapt in order to improve customer satisfaction. Evaluating ”foodie” crowdwisdom by counting not opinion but action is a highly predictive metric; dare I say “putting your money where your mouth is”?

Gingerbread house tip #7 – royal icing

cwerth — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:00:08 +0000

Royal icing is what holds everything together. I have used both royal icing made with egg whites and meringue powder and have found the end results to be the same. If you plan on eating the house, use the meringue powder since the egg white version is made with raw eggs. Be sure to keep your unused royal icing covered. I use a damp cloth laid directly on top of the surface of the icing, then cover the container with plastic wrap. Also make sure your pastry tips stay covered or you will find yourself constantly having to unclog them. Remember, royal icing dries quickly and hardens like cement. When using the icing to glue together the houses and adhere the candy, make sure it is not too thin. It should be stiff but still workable and not too dry. Store unused royal icing in the refrigerator. It may be necessary to beat it a bit to obtain the proper consistency after it has been in the refrigerator for awhile.

Gingerbread house tip #6 – baking your gingerbread

cwerth — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:16:51 +0000

I have found that the best way to bake gingerbread and keep distortion to a minimum is to bake it on some sort of silicone baking sheet, such as a Silpat. I transfer my frozen gingerbread to the Silpat, making sure to remove any parchment paper on the back. Keep similar sized pieces together on one sheet for even baking. I always bake my gingerbread so it will harden to a crunchy state once it has cooled. You will have problems if the dough is still soft after it has cooled. The moisture will cause the pieces to sag and the candy may fall off. Allow your pieces to cool completely before trying to pick them up from the baking sheet. This is VERY important if you have pieces with a lot of cut work. If you try to lift it too soon, you will break the cut work.

Gingerbread house tip #5 – making the most of your cutting

cwerth — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:00:58 +0000

If you are familiar with sewing, you know that when you cut out a pattern the idea is to lay your pieces out on the fabric in such a way as to use the least amount of fabric to get all of the pieces cut. The same holds true when cutting out gingerbread. When I cut out my pieces, I plan how to get the most out of each sheet of the gingerbread I rolled out. My motivation is simple – I don’t like rolling out the dough! A basic house has three pattern pieces: the roof, the front/back and the sides. To make the basic house, you need to cut two of each piece. I cut out my front first, though the order of cutting makes no difference if you have taken time to plan the layout. My second piece would be the back and I would lay it out so it has a side wall in common with the piece I already cut. This saves me time because it is one less cut to make. When I cut the roof and side pieces, I will use the same logic and lay common walls next to each other. When making long cuts such as roofs and house structures, using a long French knife and cutting with a rocking motion instead of a pulling motion helps keep distortion to a minimum. I also try to cut my pieces out on a cutting board so I can constantly move and turn it as needed. Cut smaller pieces out of scraps to minimize waste.

Gingerbread house tip #4 – making lasting pattern pieces

cwerth — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:00:41 +0000

Make pattern pieces that you can reuse year after year by cutting them out of poster board or heavy card stock. Mine are cut out of cake boxes and I have been using them for 7 years. Unlike paper, the strength of the poster board will allow you to easily follow the pattern and make your cuts without damaging it. Cut out all of the details on your pattern pieces such as multi-paned windows using an exacto knife and change blades if the cuts start to get jagged.

Gingerbread house tip #3 – rolling & cutting out the dough

cwerth — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:08:06 +0000

Most recipes will tell you to refrigerate your dough, then roll it out and cut it. My suggestion goes a step further. Roll the refrigerated dough out into pieces the size of a baking sheet, put them on parchment or waxed paper, lay them on the baking sheet and freeze them. Using frozen dough will allow you to cut the intricate details out easier. When you pull the dough out of the freezer, quickly cut out the piece. Next cut your details using an exacto knife or a very sharp small knife. Gently hold down the pattern piece while you make your cut. I suggest dipping the back of the pattern piece in flour before laying it against the gingerbread to prevent sticking. Pull out unwanted pieces of dough after each cut. I usually use the tip of the knife to pull out the unwanted pieces. If the dough starts to soften up before you can finish all of your cuts, simply put it back in the freezer for a short while to harden up again. This is especially important when you are cutting out details such as a stained glass pattern on a church window. Since I work with frozen dough, I am able to lift the finished pieces and put them on my baking sheet without distortion but the dough MUST be frozen.

Gingerbread house tip #2 – dough color

cwerth — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:05:03 +0000

When making your gingerbread dough, you must decide whether you want a light or dark colored dough. If you want your dough to be lighter, then stick with using light brown sugar and/or light corn syrup. If a darker dough is your preference, then use dark brown sugar and/or dark corn syrup.

Gingerbread house tip #1 – selecting a recipe

cwerth — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:02:19 +0000

When making your gingerbread dough, select a recipe that doesn’t use any sort of leavening such as baking powder or baking soda. Use of a leavening agent will cause your cut pieces to puff up and distort while baking. The results will be heartbreaking if you took the time to cut a lot of detail on a piece. Most likely you will have to re-make the piece, wasting both time and ingredients. One recipe I can highly recommend is in the book “Gingerbread: Things to Make and Bake” by Teresa Layman and Barbara Morgenroth. Whatever recipe you select, always bake a “test piece” to see how the dough performs.

Raspberry Lemon Bar Cheesecake

cwerth — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:47:07 +0000

Raspberry Lemon Bar Cheesecake

On Saturday October 3, 2009, the Girl Scouts of Frontier Council held their 4th annual “Dessert Before Dinner” fundraiser. This year the chefs had to work with the Lemonade cookie. My entry was a raspberry lemon bar cheesecake. The crust was made of finely ground Lemonade cookies, a bit of fresh lemon zest to bring out the lemon flavor and some melted butter. Once the crust was baked, I piped a small amount of raspberry jam on top and poured on a lemon bar cookie type filling. After that layer was baked, I added a white chocolate lemon cheesecake batter and baked it again. I finished it off by covering it with a thin layer of white chocolate lemon ganache. My dessert was selected as the “first runner up”. I was pleased it was so well received!

Raspberry curd

cwerth — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:00:52 +0000

I was at work trying to come up with another filling idea for a project I was working on when I came across something on the internet that mentioned raspberry curd. It sounded interesting so I decided to search for a recipe. I found several that were similar so I took a bit from each to come up with the recipe I used. The ingredients were as follows:

1 cup raspberry puree, seeds removed
1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
4 ounces butter
a few drops of red food color

I combined my ingredients in a metal bowl and cooked everything over a double boiler until the desired thickness was achieved. As a side note, I use the same procedure for making lemon curd. After cooking, straining and cooling, I anxiously tasted my concoction. I found the flavor to be good but the texture was a bit grainy. One of my employees tasted it and told me the flavor was reminiscent of raspberry sherbet, though he agreed it was a bit grainy. He felt, however, that the good flavor overshadowed the graininess. When I have time to try the recipe again, I think I will cut back a bit on the butter in the hopes of reducing the graininess.