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Hot on the heels of STRMB is a new and equally difficult acronym to pronounce ie. 'books that rock my shelf', it will be another ongoing blog topic that i'll also try to keep food related and PG rated. BTRMS #1 Frozen Deserts by Francisco J. Migoya the book is rather comprehensive including the history and evolution of frozen desserts. ingredient profile including dairy products, sugars, stabilizers, emulsifiers, fruits, and flavors. The type of equipment that i'd love to get my hands on like churning machines and production equipment etc. Also information on production and serving techniques. There are a few recipes for dairy-based frozen desserts, non-dairy desserts and aerated still-frozen desserts, some of the recipes that ill consider perusing are piquillo pepper sorbet, black and tan ice cream (yes, using beer!) port ice cream, espresso-cardamom ice cream and roasted black mission fig gelato. Each recipe chapter covers both classic and modern sma...

I thought i had better get on board with the acronyms, its not really a trait of my generation but i have to jump on the band wagon once in a while, enter 'sites that rock my browser' STRMB, it will be an ongoing blog topic that i'll try to keep food related and pg rated. so here we go.. STRMB #1  Ideas in food This couple Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander Talbot have such an amazing way of looking at food and flavor, I'm constantly reading there blog for inspiration. More often than not I find myself being struck by how easy they convey their thoughts, feelings, and principals. They help me look at food from a completely different angle,  and push me to elaborate on their thought processes. really really good!

With the massive influx of chestnuts the other week things got a little out of control. personally the highlight was the tarts (2.0) the low point was throwing out a 2L bucket of puree that had turned sour. Not far from the bottom rung of the ladder was some shit chestnut chocolate cookies i made. I just dont know, I veered too far of course, yogurt was added and nowhere near enough sugar, they were just shit. They resurfaced whilst doing another re-arrange/cleanup of the cool room on Friday, on Saturday they surfaced again and the guilt set in. They all made their way into the blender and turned into cookie crumbs. then into the Hobart with some softened butter, sugar flour a cup of water and became the base to some pretty snazzy chestnut chocolate ricotta and honey cheesecakes. the actual recipe for the base will always remain a mystery but i quickly jotted down the cheese part down for future reference, enter iota carrageenan , aka irish moss. This enabled me to set the che...

Chestnut and Chocolate Tart. These tarts are best made in autumn during chestnut season but can also be made with frozen or tinned chestnuts. Prepping the chestnuts can often be a laborious task but I find that if you initially halve them, boil them till just soft, then squeeze the nut out of the shell with a pair of spring loaded pliers, it makes the job a bit easier. From there you can roast them, then turn them into a puree, candy them, etc. For the pastry: 200g plain flour 100g peeled roasted chestnuts 200g butter 100g caster sugar Pinch of salt For the Chestnut chocolate ganache; 250g melted chocolate (55%cocoa solids) 200g peeled roasted chestnuts 100g water 100g caster sugar For the garnish: 100g sour cream 30g icing sugar Pastry: In a blender combine flour and chestnuts and blend for 1 minute. Add butter and blend again until butter has just combined. Add sugar and salt then blend again for 20 seconds. Wrap the pastry in cling film ad refrigerate for at least half an hour. Mea...