akr
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Posts posted by akr
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On 10/10/2020 at 2:24 PM, blueray said:
It was because she put alcohol in, which made it remember-able (which I can't spell lol).
Hermine didn't put alcohol in her butter (at least not that they mentioned)- she soaked the fruit for her sweet bread in orange liqueur for several weeks. (Linda also soaked her fruit for several weeks, in brandy). Mark put a little stout in one of his butters, though, & they did mention they liked his butter.
The butter I found memorable was the one with black garlic - which turned out to be Hermine's! (to go with the salmon bread. They didn't mention what she put in her butter for the sweet bread, just showed her tossing salt over her shoulder after she shaped it into a four-leafed clover). I really like black garlic but haven't mixed it with butter, so it stuck with me. Others, since I went back to check (they all made two separate butters but described few of them): Lottie - rosemary; Linda - Mak's honey since he never got to showcase it; Laura - orange zest (she mentioned it wouldn't go through the piping bag cleanly); Rowan - olives. Lots of them had herbs, and several were dark or mustardy in color.
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I suppose everyone was afraid if they just made a good brownie they'd probably come in last. My sister makes exceptional cream cheese brownies (swirl in towards the top) & I wouldn't have been confident that those would have been enough in this competition, until I saw the results. Maybe a broader parameter - tray bake or something - would have gotten better results.
I'm familiar with babkes, but not from Seinfeld. (I occasionally tried but basically couldn't stand watching it most of the time. Few TV shows have ever made me so aware that I was wasting my time!). There was a bakery where I lived in DC in the 90s that made excellent cinnamon babkes, though, & I've been intermittently craving them ever since; perhaps this will inspire me to try baking one. (I think they made good chocolate ones, too, but it's the cinnamon ones that I miss.)
I was dreading the white chocolate thing (why?) but since they were cakes, I actually thought they all looked good; it's a neutral enough flavor that it can be a good foil for things like lemon & passion fruit & so on, that actually do carry some decent flavor; and then there's room for decoration if you're into that sort of thing. I was relieved to see that there was no dumb interpretive sculpture assignment, and to see things that actually looked like they tasted good. Very sorry to see Sura, go, but unfortunately the outcome seemed pretty clear.
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28 minutes ago, edie3 said:
Didnt she have a BBL? Or was that another teen mom?
She did.
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I'm really enjoying this so far but don't have much to say! So I'll just link to the recipes (they have all 14 signature dishes up, as well as the two winners from the honey immunity challenge). https://10play.com.au/junior-masterchef-australia/recipes
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3 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:
Sederginne talking about she was scared of Abby... Girl whet? Let's not perpetrate the "brown person more dangerous" stereotype.
Did I miss something? All I got was irritation at the gesture (who are you to be so dismissive of the others?).
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2 hours ago, Brookside said:
Has this aired in the US? I thought it was on Fridays, and it is not on Netflix.Sorry, just saw the "Unaired in US" warning.Not everything that is stocked in one country is necessarily readily available in another. (And you'd have to shoot me before I'd eat Hershey's chocolate, and most Brits feel the same.)
I love Rich Teas 🙂
Ruby chocolate was only introduced in 2017. I think that's still pretty new. I've had it once (fancy chocolates) & it was fine but I don't think I'd be aware it existed if I hadn't seen it on a TV show somewhere (Bake Off? Masterchef Australia?). Three years may be old if we're talking fashion, or if you're fairly young in general, but for a new baking ingredient that doesn't change the game really at all, it doesn't seem like something you'd change your baking habits to accommodate unless you were particularly interested in fancy chocolate. Most of the time, even then, you'd just spring for higher quality regular baking chocolate than you'd use for an everyday recipe.
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2 hours ago, Rosenrot said:
A question, now that we have a premiere date for the Junior Masterchef: shall we be talking about it in here? Are people generally interested in discussing about it? I know I am. 😄
Yes, please! I missed the premiere date - when does it start?
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14 minutes ago, iMonrey said:
I'd be interested to know why he replaced Sandi (does anyone know?),
She wanted to pursue other projects & Bajke Off was too time-consuming to allow for that.
"When stepping down from a job it is quite common for people to say they are doing so in order to spend more time with their family. Unusually, I am departing from 'The Great British Bake Off' so I can spend more time with my other work. As my waistline will testify, 'Bake Off' is an all-consuming show." (and then she said some very complimentary things about everyone else involved.)
https://www.heart.co.uk/showbiz/tv-movies/great-british-bake-off/why-sandi-toksvig-quit-replacement/
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I didn't much care how the busts looked (that's not an interesting part of baking to me in the first place, although the contrast between ambition & result was mostly amusing, and handled as such) - but I enjoyed it because they chose interesting people and it was a good way to get everybody introduced (not just, briefly, for who they chose, but also how they went about things). All in all, a promising first episode - I'm enjoying the casting and the atmosphere on set.
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4 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:
I can't get the sound to play on that. Anyone have any suggestions?
It seems to be silent. I found a YouTube (searched for Bohemian Rhapsody lyric video). It was 6 minutes but perfectly matched in time if you run them both simultaneously & pause this one at a couple of points. I think this was the one:
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On 9/13/2020 at 6:11 AM, Adiba said:
I really hope the show keeps some of its "rhubarb and custard" homey feel and doesn't get too hipster/slick with the new season. I loved that in past seasons there were bakers of varying age groups, "attractiveness," and backgrounds.
Not only does it seem like they've done a much better job of casting this year than last, in terms of diversity in age range, etc, - but somebody actually uses rhubarb & custard in the very first bake! (that's so generic that I don't think it qualifies as a spoiler).
(Nothing against anyone in last year's group, but I vastly prefer the atmosphere that results from having a full range of ages, & based on the first episode, it seems like this one will have more of the feel of past years).
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6 hours ago, Ashforth said:
So this is apparently legit: https://www.backstage.com/casting/bravos-top-chef-amateurs-365537/
But why? Why, Top Chef? Your brand has always been about professional chefs (except the unfortunate kid thing). I could be wrong. Maybe I'll love it. But this reeks of Food Network. Is that your goal?
Could instead be trying to fill the gap that Masterchef fills in countries like Australia & the UK, where they emphasize skill & talent rather than antics. Since the only US cooking show that really does that is Top Chef, the branding would be a good setup for it.
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12 hours ago, babs1226 said:
So I just binged watched Celebrity Masterchef UK right up to the episode that brought the number of contestants down to 7. I have never watched this series before. What a hoot! I have no idea who any of these people are, but it didn't matter. After watching MC AU, it was a different experience watching some people who don't cook compete in a cooking competition. I felt so bad for the contestants having to work in a professional kitchen almost immediately, but I really felt bad for the chefs who had to host them. I would have been tearing my hair out with some of them, but they were all good sports. I liked seeing the wall challenge, and it was certainly entertaining. I think one of the funniest moments from this series was when the blonde lady comedian went to serve her second dish to the guest judges and said, "I'm glad to see you are all still alive," ROFL! That cracked me up! She's a funny lady! Overall I am enjoying this series, and they do have some decent cooks, so it will be interesting to see who wins.
I just watched the final two episodes - it stays terrific! A great final three & a great winner. I don't know who you are finding yourself rooting for, but I've liked all three of these from the beginning. I'm already looking forward to seeing them together again judging in future seasons.
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24 minutes ago, Blakeston said:
Some rape survivors end up distorting their appearance so that they won't look in the mirror and see the person who was raped. I hope that's not the case with her.
I was wondering about early (first year?) sobriety - sometimes people get on an extreme exercise kick or temporarily get a bit control-freakish about diet for a while.
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3 hours ago, dippydee said:
I wish I didn’t know that! I hope they didn’t do that for the final service. I’d hate to be the one sitting next to him in that case!
There'd be no need for him to taste anything he wasn't planning on eating, so - I assume not.
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53 minutes ago, WhineandCheez said:
At least there is a lot of sisterhood and none of that throwing out the person whose on top--although it seems the producers were hoping to get that result by messing with the format
I thought they were actually trying to defuse responsibility a bit so nobody would pull a Ben de la Creme (& I loved Ben de la Creme & completely sympathized with her decision - it showed what a rotten format it was).
Someone else suggested Cracker was influenced by producers not to boot out a strong competitor, but I think she was just trying to create a little false drama they could use by suggesting she might vote out Shea even though she was never going to do that (Alexis might have, & I think it was why she got booted a round early, but Cracker would be constrained both by a sense that it wasn't fair & that it would cause a backlash and make any resulting win sort of empty. When the strongest competitors get axed prematurely I basically don't feel like the winner was really a winner, just the last one standing, & I couldn't see her as more than that unless she somehow actually beats Jujube & Shea in the finale..) I mean, I'm sure it crossed her mind, as it would any of theirs, but I doubt she entertained the option for any length of time. It just doesn't feel in character to me.
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11 hours ago, Myriad said:
"He's not from Australia, he's not gonna know Vegemite that well. He's gonna know peanut butter, though. Vegemite it is, then!" And bang. Khan isn't from Australia either, mind you. But he has a brain that's something else than a grayish serpent-like mass sitting under his skull.
Agree with everything you said, except that I'd say Khanh is from Australia (as well as Indonesia) since his family immigrated when he was two. I wouldn't expect Vegemite figured prominently in an immigrant family's early fare in the country, but he grew up in Australia, so he's going to know it far better than an outsider. (I'd forgotten about that challenge - that was brilliant!)
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4 hours ago, dippydee said:
A question though, did poor Reece get nothing to eat but dessert? Or was there some unseen vegan option for the guy?
Is he strict about it? I assumed it was mostly for health reasons & general preference but that on occasion he would break with it. I assume Amina couldn't eat the pork, though.
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I don't think they were trying to prop Reynold up, just trying to give him the nicest possible edit for his send off. I actually felt bad for him, even though I was rooting for the other two to make it to the end before the episode started. Successful emotional manipulation by the producers, I suppose. I assumed he was in trouble from the get go because of the attention on him, although Laura's early troubles raised the possibility that they were just highlighting him for suspense, to throw the scent off someone who was going to be a distant third.
If they were trying to give him a boost, I suppose it was by having someone set such a highly technical dessert dish - imagine if instead they'd had the most complicated possible pasta dish! - but really I think this is such a typical Masterchef pressure test that I don't think it was designed to keep him there. This sort of wanky, fiddly dessert, TM @SnideAsides, is part of the reason dessert specialists tend to overstay their welcome, & while I'm sure they expected that it would play to Reynold's strengths, there were challenges earlier that didn't, so I can't say it was unfair even though it sounded way too sweet & unnecessarily technical to me. I wouldn't enjoy watching them do unnecessarily complicated spherifications & foams & such either, but at this stage I know they're going to give them something highly technical with new tricks that the audience at home - the next Jess or such - will want to try out. (Watch for lathes & leaves in our future?)
Kudos to Laura for listening & taking the caramel so dark (& having some sense about how unbalanced the dish could be if she didn't.) Reynold not only ended up with a caramel that was too sweet, but then probably made matters worse by trying to add volume to his apple by slathering on extra.
I'm not mad they gave him a nice exit, though. I see it as a bit of a consolation prize for going out third.
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1 hour ago, Ubiquit0us said:
I liked the Eartha Kitt and Flav O Flav imitations best. I barely remember the others, actually.
I'd say Cracker, Blair & India were memorably bad. I will forget them, but haven't yet.
You're right, though, I have already forgotten what Alexis did. I remember that it was fine but I don't remember who she did, just that she had a good quip after Cracker answered a question that had been directed to her.
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The end of the season is always a little frustrating because some people have gone too early & others lasted a bit too long, but I'm not going to hold it against any of those remaining. I'd prefer Laura or Emelia over Reynold, because I prefer dinner to dessert and they seem to be better all-around cooks. Although Reynold has frequently been bested in the dessert category by people like Emelia who excel at flavors. I think it's reasonable that he's in the mix & I never buy into the conspiracy theories. It did not shock me that Callum was out, as it seemed another example of sort of overthinking what he was doing - cooking for competition rather than for taste. Nothing was bad but sometimes it was muddled because too many things were going on. I doubt he does this in the real world; it seems more a matter of, under pressure, thinking he had to add elements to be fancy enough for competition, but then not having the time to get it all quite right (edit) at the end.
It seems obvious that more time in the industry is extremely valuable. I'd love to see Tessa, Khanh, & Sarah T, for example., face off in five years, & would have loved a final four with those three & Poh (final 6 to include Laura & Emelia, & no particular order amongst them for the finish; Callum & Reynold top 8 I guess, & realistically I would expect the newbies to falter before the old hands at the end). I find the Jess-Reece-Brendan group a little exhausting, even though they're clearly all nice people. It makes me feel like people will think I'm kicking a puppy if someone else is more to my taste. But they're all somewhat limited still (Jess the least, I think), & I'm not actually particularly interested in what they're going to do next (although I'd be happy to try Brendan's dumplings or other Mauritian-Chinese fare, or Reece's tarts, & really anything from Jess, but I expect her focus to remain desserts, & I prefer simpler desserts - taste over presentation - so I don't care how many fancy things she can do.)
I'm glad Celebrity Masterchef UK is on to ease the transition to no cooking competitions. They've got nothing on these guys, of course, but it's good-spirited & some of them have some promise. I'm not British so the only person I've heard of is Judy Murray, (Andy Murray's mom) which probably helps. I don't come in already annoyed at any of them. I'm guessing
Spoilerthe Olympic gold medalist (Sam Quek - field hockey) from a week or so ago
will go far - that competitive spirit has held up well in this competition before & she comes in with good baseline skills & a good palate.
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48 minutes ago, hula-la said:
Thank you @akr for posting the link to the recipe. I just made it, and it is spectacular! It is possibly the best tiramisu that I have ever had. And, it doesn’t make a huge amount, so I don’t have to feel as guilty not sharing It with anyone.
Good to know! I haven't made it, but maybe now I will!
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I think I've been a little unfair to Reynold - today's dessert actually did look like something I'd really like to try. In this one the presentation seemed in service of the taste & overall pleasurable nature of the dessert, rather than just for the sake of effect. I wrote earlier before watching today's episode; I'd seen the twitter updates so I knew it was all desserts, & knew what each had cooked & who had come through, so I wasn't in a hurry to watch, & I was going on how I've felt about his desserts over the last few weeks. This one, for me, wasn't style over substance but style in service of substance.
S11.E04: Chocolate Week
in The Great British Bake Off
· Edited by akr
If Trader Joe's babka was the only babka I'd ever eaten, I wouldn't bother again, either. Too dry, I agree; I don't remember what I thought about the filling. (I like lots of things at TJ'S, & this isn't terrible, just, as you say, not worth it compared to other options).