Those French

For our food culture project, I chose France. I'm making ratatouille. I found a recipe that looks like the movie so I'm going to use it

Steak with powdered bacon

1. pan sear some steak
2. in a small bowl measure out 1/2 cup of maltodextrin
3. while whisking, whisk in 4 tablespoons of bacon fat
4. serve with a bacon piece. 

Mad (food) scientist

I am really getting into chemicals as I cook. Things such as Sodium Alginate, Maltodextrin, and powdered lecithin. Cooking for geeks has a really good chapter on it. Its very hard to explain but if you get interested, http://www.lepicerie.com/catalog/index.html, and http://www.shopchefrubber.com/ are good sources to check out.

Pie

The pie was good. I liked the crust the best. The trick is alcohol. This is because alcohol doesn't produce gluten, which toughens the crust :( Next time you make a crust, use a 1:1 ratio of vodka and ice water. Also it is crucial to chill your fat overnight. It makes all the difference.

Pi

I just finished baking a blueberry pie. After I eat it, I'll post how it went.