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Is garnish meant to be eaten? Are sprigs of plants decorating meat dishes, or the slice of lemon/olive in drinks meant to be consumed? Are they at least safe to eat? <Q> Garnishes should always be edible - there may be laws depending where you are, but in general anything on your plate should be edible or very obviously not meant to be eaten (like a skewer or a paper wrapper). <S> Depending on the specific case, it might not necessarily be meant to be eaten, though. <S> The defining characteristic is the appearance. <S> Springs of parsley or stronger herbs might not always be too pleasant to eat on their own, so there's nothing wrong with skipping them. <S> I don't think whoever cooked your meal is going to be too upset if you don't like eating sprigs of parsley - but eat them if you want! <S> With lemon on a glass, you can enjoy the scent as you drink water without actually eating it, or you can squeeze it into the water if you enjoy that little hint of acidity. <S> So probably the best garnishes are ones that look good and are pleasant to eat. <S> For example, a dish sprinkled with something small (finely chopped herbs or cheese or nuts or anything else that's already in the dish). <S> Some garnishes are really all about the appearance, though. <S> You'll have to use your judgment to figure out which is the case for whatever dish is in front of you! <A> I would expect that whatever is on my plate or in a drink could be consumed and in the case of a Lime, Lemon or Olive garnish in a drink, highly encouraged. <A> Garnishes aren't just for show. <S> You can eat lemon slices or other citrus garnishes only if they are peeled and can be eaten with a fork.
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Garnishes brighten the plate, give a clue to the flavor of the meal, complement the taste of the dish or fill empty space on the plate.
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Does "American" Food exist around the world? In America, foods generally considered to be of foreign origin are referred to by the country or region which they are originally from. For example, " That Italian restaurant just opened, let's try it. ", there are many Italian restaurants in America which serve food generally considered to be Italian. For countries other than the United States, is this still the case?This example demonstrates the question, Would this ever be used in a country other than America? " Let's go to that American restaurant for dinner tonight ". <Q> The "big chain" type certainly exists basically everywhere by now. <S> There is a reason why the Big Mac Index is suitable as an economic indicator: you can calculate it for almost all countries in the world, because you can buy a Big Mac in almost all countries in the world. <S> A second type of "American restaurant" is much harder to find. <S> It is the kind of small diner which serves grilled cheese sandwiches, thick pancakes and other American style food, without being a chain. <S> I have seen this in places with large expat populations, but most Europeans will probably spend their lives without ever having been in one. <S> I can't talk about other continents. <S> A third category of "American food" would be American homemade food. <S> Chicken pot pie, eggplant parmesan, Southern biscuits, that kind of stuff. <S> I have not seen it served in any restaurant in Europe. <S> I have never seen an "American home food restaurant", nor an "American fine dining restaurant". <S> They could exist, but as I've visited many large European cities and lived in places with a large number of American expats, they are likely to be quite rare, or maybe clustered somewhere <S> I haven't been. <S> What I have seen more in later years seem to be fancy burger places - they are sometimes chains, sometimes not, but I would distinguish them from fast food chains because they tend to have things like mushroom-and-arugula burgers on sourdough bread. <S> Also, you nowadays see more burgers in restaurants which are some sort of middle tier without special relation to a specific cuisine - more of a nonfrench equivalent of a bistro. <S> Also, Starbucks style chains (including Starbucks itself) are pretty established - while Europe had an extensive coffee culture before them, the type of drinks served there is pretty distinctive. <S> American packaged food such as marshmallows or pumpkin pie filling can be also found in specialized grocery stores selling American products, and as a seasonal article in large European supermarket chains like Lidl, who tend to have "American week", "Greek week" etc. <S> in rotation. <S> A few selected American products are also found as staples in most stores, such as Snickers bars or Coca-Cola, or are less available but still within easy reach, such as Jelly Belly candy. <A> I have to mention "Hard Rock Cafe", "Planet Hollywood", and other movie/music themed restaurants that pay homage to this particular aspect of America. <S> There seem to be at least one of these in each major city. <S> There were smaller, less chain operations that did this at one point but <S> the ones that I visited years ago have all apparently closed. <S> An interesting note is Hooters. <S> Not only is it heavily American themed, but I visited one a number of years ago in Europe where the waitresses were brought over from the United States. <A> I actually know a couple in continental Europe - cowboy/Texas themed, serving large steaks. <S> There are also some American-inspired burger restaurants - proper ones, not McDonalds. <A> But of course. <S> Why would there not be? <S> There are McDonald's in almost every country around the world... along with many other American chain restaurants including Chili's , KFC, Subway, and many others... <S> In fact, all of the 12 top world food chains are American based. <S> Cool image from this foodbeast article : <A> While traveling abroad, I have encountered "American Inspired" sections on a menu. <S> While not a full fledged restaurant, it was a unique look at how the rest of our world views what "American" food is. <S> The Salisbury steak sushi and cheeseburger sushi I had in the Philippines was definitely an experience. <A> We go to an amazing deep Southern place in Brisbane (Australia), but not sure if we'd refer to it as American food, maybe Southern food though.
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As others have mentioned, American owned restaurants are prevalent around the world, though the exact menu they serve in different countries varies based on local cuisine and preferences.
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What is the difference between acetate sheets and baking paper when making chocolate deco? I would like to make chocolate decorations with melted chocolate. After searching on the web, however, I am not quite sure I could find acetate sheets. But I can find baking paper. Would there be any substitute, like baking paper, parchment paper? What is the difference between them? I want to make melted-chocolate decorations like those around this cake: <Q> Acetate sheets posses a firm and rigid shape, with a glossy coating that assists the removal of decorations such as chocolate decoration. <S> It also can be shaped without being indented at any point which baking parchment most frequently fails to do. <S> Baking parchment is very agile, this fails to support decorations as a mould, and would consequently lead to breakage of the decoration should the parchment not retain a flat edge. <S> It could also bend in frequent points, misshaping the chocolate. <S> This is what makes it suited towards cakes, as as it can be ripped off. <S> I would therefore conclude that it would be most suitable for you to use acetate sheets. <A> They're also shinier, and as a general rule, the shinier the surface that you put the chocolate on, the shinier the chocolate will be. <S> You could use baking paper but the result is not going to be as good. <S> Like other people said, acetate is clear plastic. <S> You can often get it from arts and crafts stores if there isn't a fancy confectioner place you go for supplies. <S> It's probably easiest to buy it online though, if you don't mind waiting. <S> Make sure you search for food grade acetate. <S> E.g.: http://www.countrykitchensa.com/shop/essentials/acetate-sheets-12-x-18/40/582/617/629475/ <A> I wonder if the disposable cutting sheets they sell at dollar tree and other stores are the same thing or wood work. <S> They are ment to cut up fruits and vegetables on without cutting the counter. <S> I'm assuming they are safe for food.it might be worth looking into. <S> I think the are sold at most grocery stores too just more money.
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I think generally acetate sheets are used for this kind of thing because they're a bit stiffer than baking paper.
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What is the most time efficient way to serve food fairly to ~100 people? I'm the food manager at a student cooperative residence with 140 residents. A cook crew of 5 residents cook dinner every night, and usually 60-100 people attend dinner on a given night. Right now, people line up to serve themselves from a large table that has all the dishes. This method is very slow and it can take 30 minutes for someone at the end of the line to get food. Since we are a cooperative community, we need a method that is equitable to residents. Our current method is accessible, but not time efficient at all. In comparison, a different house but of similar size to ours uses a "mad rush" method to serve food, which essentially results in residents forming a mob and grabbing the food until it runs out. In this method, the food is usually distributed unevenly; some residents get more popular food items, (such as meat) and some get very little or none of the popular items at all. This method privileges members that are physically stronger and bigger and is very obviously not accessible to residents with physical disabilities or residents that are claustrophobic/have social anxieties. Their method is very time efficient though, with food being served in under 5 minutes. I am looking for any ideas (no matter how novel) on how to serve food to the house, as long as it is accessible , equitable (all residents get a fair share) and time efficient . Edit:To clarify, we usually have ~4 dishes per meal and served in steel insert pans (or if it is a soup, straight out of a pot). Meals consist of at least one starch item, one vegan protein, and one vegetable dish. Meals may additionally have a meat dish, a soup, a dessert or additional starch/vegetarian dishes. <Q> Seems like a good use for "family style". <S> Bring platters or bowls of each dish to each table. <S> Then at that table expect decent behaviour such as passing the platters around so everyone gets some. <S> It shouldn't take long to fill and distribute bowls or plates of things. <S> Carving meat into slices might take a while but would have to be done even if people were lining up to get their individual portions. <S> If some people weren't good sharers you could use assigned seating and put the non sharers at a table that gets its platters last. <A> As Kate said, "family style" seems ideally suited to this situation. <S> The problem with "family style", though, is that you need a lot of serving dishes. <S> If you have 8-person tables (which tends to be the standard), for ~100 people you need at least 12 tables. <S> Multiply by 4 dishes per meal, and you're at almost 50 serving dishes (and the same number of serving spoons), which all need to be acquired, filled, distributed, and then washed. <S> If you don't have the resources to accomplish that, the other option is to scale it back a bit: have multiple serving stations, just not quite that many serving stations. <S> Even just utilizing both sides of the serving table (either with identical but separate dishes and spoons on each side, or just orienting the larger hotel pans crosswise and putting spoons at either end) should cut your serving time almost in half. <S> Oddly enough, the biggest problem with this is training people to actually use both sides of the table, especially if they've been used to the one-sided method. <S> If you add another serving table, again using both sides, you will have theoretically cut your serving time down to 7 or 8 minutes - not quite a 5-minute free-for-all, but way more equitable. " <S> Two tables, both sides" can be achieved with 8 hotel pans and 16 serving spoons, which ought to be well within your resources. <S> The drawback is that you now need to have two queues, and you can end up with one table running out before the other one does, and other such "messiness". <S> One trick that can be used no matter how many serving stations you have is to not put all the food out right at the beginning. <S> Instead, periodically replenish the serving dishes as they start running low. <S> People are less likely to take more than their share if doing so makes a noticeable dent in the amount left in the pan. <S> This way, even people at the end of the line will have a chance at the desirable items, and there may even be food left for second helpings. <A> two ideas come to mind. <S> can you create a 2nd serving area? <S> If you can have two tables where people help themselves instead of one, should cut the time in half. <A> Since it is a cooperative, could you devise a plan for a rotating cooking/plating/waitstaff? <A> Unless the "more popular" items are all more expensive to make, why not make sure that roughly the right amount of each dish is prepared in the first place, taking popularity into account? <S> If "food runs out", take note and prepare more next time, if there are significant leftovers, prepare less of that item next time... <S> "Fair share" sounds elusive with perishable food since what people want is the amount of each preparation they want to eat that day. <S> A "fair share" distribution would be more applicable if you gave them universally useful materials or money... <A> The more I think about it... <S> wait staff is your answer. <S> Example: West Point Military Academy feeds 4,000 in one sitting. <S> They do it with wait staff .
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I dont know how many dishes get prepared, but if it's a limited selection, perhaps you can have someone prepare plates and people just have to come up and pick up a plate rather than standing there and picking up individual items.
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How do I make my pizza crust go from limp to crisp? Been in business for 30 years but my crust is mostly limp,like when you pick it up it takes two hands to hold it up so you can eat it. I want to pick it up with only one hand. What am I doing wrong? <Q> Some bulleted advice without knowing your techniques and tools... <S> I made pizza professionally for a little while (don't ask me where, it's embarrassing) <S> Use higher temps underneath the pizza, not just the air. <S> If your equipment doesn't heat the bottom, get stones with feet so you can have a hot bottom. <S> don't over-knead the dough, <S> or you just make it tough rather than crispy. <S> don't load the pizza up with too much stuff, it stays wet and cools the pizza down while it's cooking. <S> avoid center loading, the cheese pulls everything toward the center which makes the center more soggy, Leave a 1 inch hole devoid of cheese at the center and focus on even distribution of cheese right to the edge of the crust. <A> Not a professional pizza maker, but a self confessed ny pizza snob. <S> One piece of advice i can give you, which may not apply here, is that i've seen many pizza's go limp because right after they come out of the over and are steaming hot, people put them down on a metal (or other non-porous) surface, at which point i think it's own steam <S> causes the crust to become soggy again. <S> If yours is coming out soggy out of the oven <S> then escoce probably gave you better advice than I can. <S> good luck <A> "Crust" is made by searing out all the moisture from top layers of the dough. <S> In short, make sure you have the "top layer" well formed, e.g. by stretching the doughball's surface before you flatten it into a pizza more temperature helps. <S> Turn it to 100%, pizzas can easily survive initial temperature around ~300 Celsius (550 Fahrenheit) <S> If you don't have a professional oven, try to bake on a preheated clay brick or something similar that holds temperature well <S> (difference in dough rise and final texture is more than noticeable) and prevents initial temperature drop. <S> steam in the oven doesn't "put moisture back" into the dough in such temperatures. <S> The steam is useful only to make the dough crust dry slower (to aid dough rise) and prevent burns from high temperature. <S> after taking the pizza from the oven, make sure the steam can vent off easily. <S> I usually put it on a fine steel grid for around 3 minutes just above the oven (so it doesn't get cold). <S> do not use baking powder (I have no justification for this, but everytime I use baking powder the crust gets out weird) <A> I have observed a fine pizza shop owner cook the pizzas on a grid/screen and then allow them to cool a minute on the screen after the oven. <S> Then off the screen and into the box or serving tray. <S> The oven is a 2 inch stone base oven at 550 Fahrenheit. <A> You might try using 00 (double zero) flour, available at stores that sell Italian groceries. <S> An employee of an Italian deli told me this flour is for pizza and has a little less protein than other flours. <S> it is to make the dough light and the crust crisp. <S> Hope this helps. <S> Andrea
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thinner crust let the pizza dough rise some more, or adjust your dough recipe to rise a little more.
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Is it possible to reduce without boiling? I would like to concentrate flavour by reducing the water content but I do not wish to alter the temperature of the liquid. Is there a way to reduce the water content without boiling? Apart from waiting days for evaporation? <Q> There does exist a culinary vacuum rotary evaporator , for only $9,999.95 by special order! <S> Note that it also captures the vapor to condense, because often the flavor you want is actually volatile aromatic compounds, which evaporate faster than the water does, so trying to evaporate/boil away water is futile. <S> So if what you want to concentrate is aromatic, you're probably out of luck for home purposes. <S> If you just want something non-aromatic dissolved in the water (dumb example: reducing sugar water into syrup) then boiling/evaporation can work, though. <S> You could certainly speed things along by using as broad a surface as possible (a large pan), gently heating, and blowing a fan over the surface. <S> But it's still going to take an awfully long time without actually boiling. <A> You could put the container of food into a bigger closed container also containing a strong desiccant like zeolithe or silica gel - these will probably needed to be dried in a hot oven before use, but that has nothing to do with heating or not heating the food. <S> Make sure the desiccant is kept from contacting the food directly. <S> The desiccant will constantly strive to dry the air in the container, whilst the food will try to do the opposite and thus lose moisture... <A> There are no practical ways to do it quickly and without heating. <S> If you want to go with room temperature dehydration, agitation will help. <S> There are products meant to stir food for you (I used to have a nice one by some British startup, it ran off 4 AA batteries), or you could use a stand mixer. <S> When you use a very slow setting, the temperature rise through friction will be negligible. <S> Combine that with a large surface and a chamber of very dry air as suggested by rackandboneman for even quicker evaporation. <S> This should shorten the process significantly. <S> But it will still be a "set it up and come after a long time" thing, not a "cook it up quickly" thing. <S> And you'll probably be within the danger zone for any usable amount of food, so you should only use it with shelf stable liquids, unless you can afford to set a refrigerator aside for the process.
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It's not necessarily a practical home kitchen answer, but rotary evaporators do this, by lowering the pressure over the liquid and circulating the liquid to increase surface area.
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Avoiding over-mixing when using a stand mixer I've been having a problem when I try to make baked desserts using my stand mixer: cookies come out flat and cakes come out too dense. I've tried several recipes and had them come out great when mixing by hand instead, so I'm pretty confident it's not a problem elsewhere. I'm using the slowest setting and running it only as long as necessary. I don't know baking chemistry that well, but I'm guessing that the power of the mixer is starting the baking soda/powder reaction too early, leaving it without enough reaction left to do its job in the oven. Does that sound right? Any ideas for how to fix this? <Q> It could be a lot of things. <S> Cookies in a stand mixer can suffer from gluten production and there would be no really good way to reverse this effect. <S> However, if you are not mixing the cookies for more than a couple minutes, this is not likely the issue. <S> Other things can effect the texture of cookies that might be a byproduct and not a direct result of the stand mixer. <S> One example might be that the solid fat that is used in the recipe was over mixed or out too long. <S> Soft fat will make a denser crisper cookie. <S> Refrigerating the cookies for a while would help fix this issue. <S> Another cause could be a minor substitution. <S> See the blog link below for how different substitutions affect a cookie recipe. <S> http://www.handletheheat.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-chocolate-chip-cookies/ <S> Along with the above make sure to check things like the expiration date on your baking powder. <S> They lose potency pretty quickly after expiration. <S> This could also cause dense cookies. <A> Separately in a bowl, scramble or stir you eggs and mix any other liquids together. <S> While the mixer is running, pour the liquid ingredients in and use a spatula to keep the dough from creeping up the sides of the bowl. <S> If you get dry crumbs at the bottom of the mixer and need to mix more, then it really means you need to tune your mixer so that the mixing attachment is closer to the bottom of the bowl. <S> A properly tuned mixer should push a US dime (ten cent piece) around then bowl a little bit at a time. <S> This assures that the ingredients at the bottom of the bowl are being mixed and picked up by the wet dough. <A> Because you say the recipes work fine when you hand mix them, I'll assume that your issue isn't aging ingredients or substitutions. <S> Honestly, I'd say that running it on the slowest speed is probably part of the problem. <S> A higher speed for a shorter period of time is probably going to incorporate ingredients better because they get thrown about more. <S> With my Kitchen Aid, I generally start cookies by creaming the butter and sugar together on medium-medium high (6-8) for 2 minutes. <S> Then adding the eggs and liquid flavorings (vanilla, almond extract, etc) and beating until combined. <S> In a separate bowl, I will have combined all of the "dry" ingredients (flour, leaveners, salt) by whisking them together to aerate the flour and mix them (I rarely sift flour). <S> When the wet ingredients are ready, I dump in the dry ingredients and start the mixer on "stir" to keep the flour from flying out of the mixer and, when mostly incorporated (10-15 seconds), I'll bump it up to medium low (4) to fully combine (20 seconds). <S> If there are other ingredients like chips or nuts, those will get a quick stir in at the very end (5 seconds or less) with a last turn with a spatula to make sure everything is incorporated. <S> Using this method, I've never had an issue with tough cookies. <S> Cakes are more difficult to explain because there are vastly different methods <S> but I'd encourage you to try a higher speed, shorter duration mix in of your dry ingredients. <A> for a light and fluffy cake, i mix all ingredients in my stand mixer slowly and thoroughly, pushing down the sides with a rubber spatula until everything is wet. <S> then i mix on high for a few minutes, imparting air to the batter for a taller, lighter cake. <S> works for me.
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One technique you can use to minimize the amount of mixing needed is to put all the dry ingredients in the mixer and let them break up and blend before and liquids are added.
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Best way to clean a countertop if you are preparing food on it Just had my kitchen remodeled and this is the first time I've had a kitchen with enough counter space that it's big enough to roll dough etc on. Plus it's the first time it's not a tile countertop so clean up is much easier. I've been cleaning the counter tops using soft scrub with bleach - and I'm guessing any residue from that will not taste good, or be good for your health :) What would be the best solution for cleaning a countertop that will come into direct contact with food? Just dish soap and water? <Q> There is a difference between cleaning and sanitizing. <S> Cleaning <S> If you have something greasy on the counter then you need some sortof detergent to solubilize the grease. <S> (You might want to then use a vinegar solution to be sure and get all the detergent off the counter.) <S> If you were doing something like kneading bread, then you needsomething a bit more abrasive to scrub the countertop to get offstuck bits of dried out dough. <S> Sanitizing <S> A diluted bleach solution works well. <S> (Say if you leaked some juice from raw meat on the counter.) <A> You routinely prepare food on cutting boards which have been cleaned just with soap and hot water, even after being heavily contaminated with raw meat. <S> So thorough cleaning with diluted soap and water should be sufficient here as well. <S> Just make sure that you use the same standards you would for your cutting boards, namely, that you've removed anything that might be stuck there. <S> However, if you're really worried, the FDA recommends using bleach to sanitize counters <S> *: <S> One teaspoon of liquid chlorine bleach per quart of clean water can also be used to sanitize surfaces. <S> Leave the bleach solution on the surface for about 10 minutes to be effective. <S> (Pardon the "Food Safety for Moms-to-Be" title on <S> that page - obviously people besides mothers can cook and be safe as well.) <S> I think the point is to be safe against routine incidental contact, not for deliberate food preparation on the counter, but making one safe should make the other safe too - <S> and it's clearly a step beyond soap and water. <A> White vinegar will very effectively clean and sanitize your countertop, and it's completely non-toxic! <S> I keep a decanter on my counter, making it easy to splash some out, and wash down the counter with a paper towel. <S> In addition, baking soda is an excellent scouring powder, and also completely non-toxic. <S> (Baking soda can also extinguish a grease fire, which is another reason to always keep some handy.) <S> The acidity of the vinegar will kill many pathogens, though not as effectively as chlorine bleach. <S> The vinegar will mostly evaporate when it dries, but a final wipe with clear water will leave the countertop sparkling clean for kneading dough.
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If you do use bleach or other toxic cleaners, washing down the counter after with vinegar will help remove any chemical residue.
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Gloves for newbies pulling sugar? I have an upcoming project which is going to involve pulled sugar. Everything I've read on the project suggests that I'm going to end up blisters or at the very least first degree burns (similar to sunburn) until I've built up some callouses. Are there any heat-resistant gloves that are good for pulled sugar work? I'm okay with some loss of control -- I'm only making a few arches, nothing really of fine detail. If not, at the very least, are there materials that I should favor or avoid in this sort of work? <Q> My preference for sugar work is to either use a pair of rubber-coated cotton gloves like this: or to use basic cotton gloves and put latex or nitrile disposable gloves over them. <A> Personally I just use 3 layers of food preparation latex gloves. <S> It's far from 100% heat resistance but you can still feel what you are doing and be protected enough not to blister and cry. <S> Cheapest option to as a box of 100 latex gloves is in the £3 region. <S> Also the same goes for trying to pull fresh out the oven pork or beef. <A> It would be hard to do fine work with them on, but they do seem fairly flexible, considering.
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I just bought a pair of silicone BBQ gloves on AMZN that might work well for your application.
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When to add vegetables in slow cooker? I'm doing a nice beef roast in the crock pot today. Normally I roast the carrots and potatoes together in the oven but due to other things I need the oven for I'm going to add them with the roast. I really want to avoid mushy vegetables but not sure how long before the roast is done that they should be added. I'm using "baby" carrots and diced potatoes about the size of a golf ball. I'm looking for cooked but firm. I have very little liquid in the bottom of the slow cooker as well. <Q> I've been trying different ideas on this for a while now. <S> I can't get it done <S> well <S> so I've started to cook the vegetables separately. <S> It only takes about fifteen minutes to gently boil them. <S> I've been thinking about a second crock pot for the vegetables but have not done that yet. <A> Don't forget that opening the slow cooker to add stuff will add significant amounts of time to the overall length of cooking, especially in a fairly dry recipe. <S> If root veg isn't immersed in liquid it cooks extremely slowly in a slow cooker, so I'd be more worried about underdone than overdone in that case. <S> You can cook jackets in there <S> but I've never done it myself. <S> I would suggest adding them at the beginning; even then they may not be done if they're above the minimal amount of liquid you're using. <A> There's a trick that you can use to avoid mushy vegetables -- add acid. <S> America's Test Kitchen mentioned this trick when they made Austrian potato salad . <S> Serious Eats specifically mentioned : <S> Might as well just add the vinegar to the potatoes after they're cooked, right? <S> But there's a very good reason to add a little vinegar to the potato's cooking water: it prevents it from overcooking, something I learned a while back when I was on my quest for French Fry perfection. <S> Pectin breaks down much more slowly in acidic environments. <S> A tablespoon of vinegar per quart of water was enough to allow me to boil my potatoes without having to worry about whether or not they'll overcook while I'm distracted by the dog. <S> ATK mentioned that too much vinegar would prevent the potatoes from softening at all. <S> Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any resources that spell things out on specifically how the acidity affects cooking times. <A> This allows you to get the flavors and better texture, but does introduce some waste. <A> Keep it simple while maintaining vitamins and nutrients. <S> Microwave the vegetables until they are about 80% cooked...take a bite to test...they should have just a little crunch to them. <S> Then add them for the last 30-45 minutes in the crock (cooking on high in this example). <S> Microwaving vegetables is the best way to cook them as it is the quickest. <S> The quicker you can cook vegetables, the more nutrients they maintain. <S> So having them in the crock the least amount of time is the idea here. <S> Most suggestions I've found say to cook the vegetables for 3 to 4 hours. <S> Even in the official Crock-Pot manual they suggest that cooking vegetables takes longer than cooking the meat. <S> Bad advice. <S> If you follow this advice you will be eating vegetables that don't contain most of their vitamins and nutrients and increase your chances of waste. <A> I agree with what most of the posters are saying. <S> Especially "The quicker you can cook vegetables, the more nutrients they maintain". <S> However my 1st concern is flavor profile <S> so I kind of combine a lot of what people are saying into one method. <S> 1) I typically sear the meat in cast Iron Pan to lock in the moisture and flavor. <S> 2) I often make "yankee" style pot roast which often calls for diced tomatoes (Acid also helps break down the meat). <S> 3) I grind herbs in mortar (Lightly) releases more flavor. <S> 4) I add a moderate amount of diced veggies and a few small diced potatoes at the beginning (I want these veggies to break down <S> so they add complexity to my liquid). <S> 5) @ <S> 1 <S> Hr before the dish is complete <S> I saute the veggies and add to the dish (I prefer this over microwave because microwave veggies tend to taste bland IMHO.) <S> I saute them on higher temp until they are crunchy and underdone yet outside is slightly caramelized. <S> It takes a little practice to get the veggies just right <S> but when you do you will be rewarded with an awesome flavor profile that can not be duplicated in any other way. <S> PS <S> To the original Posters concern <S> - If you cut the potatoes in half they saute well. <S> in the above method.
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I've recently tried a technique where I would add some vegetables at the beginning, removed the vegetables from the pot after a few hours and added a fresh batch of vegetables for the last 45min-1h.
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How can I bake crunchy chocolate chip cookies? Since I'm British, I'm used to biscuits that are crisp, dry and crunchy all the way through, with no soft chewy centre. Most chocolate chip cookie recipes are trying to do the exact opposite. How can I bake chocolate chip cookies with a more British texture? Essentially, I want the exact opposite to the answers to this question . <Q> The best way to achieve what you are looking for is to lower the temp and lengthen the baking time. <S> Lowering the temp will slow the edges from getting burned while the center is allowed to continue to cook. <S> Allow the top of the cookie to brown before removing from the oven. <S> For soft cookies, the moment it starts to turn brown is the moment you are just a little too late for the cookies to stay soft after they've cooled. <S> If you let the cookie brown just a touch, the cookie will harden on the cooling rack. <A> It shouldn't be too hard to find a crispy chocolate chip cookie recipe if you want one, but if you're interested in experimenting with an existing recipe, here are a few ideas for things to change: <S> Mix in melted butter instead of creamed soft butter. <S> That will greatly reduce the amount of air trapped in the dough. <S> The dough will not loft while baking; it will spread out, allowing for more evaporation. <S> ( Not chilling the dough is a related tip: <S> the faster it melts in the oven, the more it will spread.) <S> Cool them entirely on the baking sheet instead of transferring them to a rack. <S> This has a strong effect on the finished cookies' crispness. <S> Use white sugar instead of brown . <S> Brown sugar is used in baked goods when you want them to be soft, because it is even more hygroscopic -- pulling water from the air and holding onto it -- than white sugar. <S> Change the egg ratio to decrease the amount of yolk . <S> While the whites contain a lot of water, they also contain much more protein than fat. <S> The fat in yolks will diminish gluten formation and increase tenderness and "fudginess". <A> If what you want is a classic crunchy cookie with some chocolate chips thrown in, use your favorite crunchy cookie recipe and throw a few chocolate chips in. <S> As you said yourself, the American "chocolate chip cookie" is a totally different thing, characterized by a soft texture. <S> It makes no sense to use a recipe for that type of cookie if you don't like it. <A> Obviously, omitting all leaveners will help as well, but you can get an even flatter cookie by adding extra leavener , which will over expand and then collapse the dough.
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Melted butter (or browned butter better yet!) will make a crispy cookie.
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What would make a custard turn out looking like scrambled eggs? I made a batch of custard cups at home and they came out beautiful. When I followed the recipe at work, using the same method and a still oven like at home, the results were a disaster. The custard had the texture of scrambled eggs. Any ideas on what went wrong? <Q> I've had this exact same issue when making Creme Brulee. <S> I have figured out that if I gently jiggle the pan a few minutes before it is supposed to be set and you will see a slight wobble. <S> Repeat this for the next few minutes until it wobbles less, then remove it immediately <S> This is the method that works best for me. <S> There are so many variations due to the oven, altitude, number of eggs in your mixture, etc. <S> to give you an exact time. <S> It took me at least 15 tries to finally get my creme brulee recipe right <S> but now I know what to look for when its done. <A> When you heat egg yolk without proper tempering you'll end up cooking the egg into a solid. <S> If you're baking custard, which is sounds as though you are, you should cook in a hot water bath to avoid direct heat. <S> If you did use a water bath and did temper your yolks then perhaps lower the custard on the baking rack to avoid too much direct heat, as you want to cook it primarily with ambient heat. <A> I have had this happen stupidly following a recipe that said to drizzle the egg yolk into the cream when obviously it should be hot cream into yolks and sugar! <S> I was making a sugar free version and instead of doing what my instincts said and just replacing the sugar with sweetener I just went by the letter... <S> As well as being a bit too hot in the oven, so I got the ‘sweet scrambled eggs’ or curdled. <S> However, I rescued it, whilst still warm, too all the Creme Brulee back into a large bowl or jug and whisk until the texture becomes smooth again. <S> The burnt skin from the tops gave it a lot of brown flecks <S> so I threw some nutmeg <S> i there to disguise that! <S> Texture still a little grainier than a proper Creme Brulee but servable...
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If you heat the mixture too long it will turn to the consistency of scrambled eggs.
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How long should I bake a hamburger meatloaf, and at what oven temperature? I invented my own recipe for meatloaf: hamburger, bread, 1 egg, dried onion bits, Worcestershire sauce, a bit of ketchup. Put into the oven at 350 degrees F. Please advise the ideal oven temperature, and length of cooking time. Also, should I cover it with foil for part of the time? <Q> it will be cooked when it reaches the internal temperature corresponding to the "done" temperature of whatever meat you are using. <S> From the US food Safety Chart : Category................................................ <S> Food......................... <S> Temperature (°F) Ground Meat & Meat Mixtures...... <S> Beef, Pork, Veal, Lamb............. <S> 160 Ground Meat & Meat Mixtures...... <S> Turkey, Chicken....................... <S> 165 <S> I personally don't cover my meatloaf with foil <S> but I have a ketchup mixture I spread on the top <S> so while that caramelizes it doesn't really "brown". <S> If you have a "dry" top you may want to consider covering it, but I do find that covering with foil can increase the cooking time somewhat.. <A> Depending on depth and placement within the oven, 45-60 minutes most likely. <S> You'll have to test it, but once you know then you'll know. <A> 350 degrees for oven for around 40-45 minutes, I top mine with tomato sauce lightly and I cover mine with foil to keep it moist and remove foil the last 15 minutes
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I'd guess that it will take about 45min-75min depending on what size and shape of pan you are using.
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Is there such a thing as "sweet" carrots? These days I am trying to get my wife to eat her carrots. Usually we are just boiling them, and adding some spices and butter. But she swears that she used to eat sweet carrots, but she can't say how long ago. Supposedly I should know the difference, but I don't recall such a thing. It must be that my sense of taste is weak. In any case, is there a sweet variety of carrots? Or is there a common recipe to sweeten them up? <Q> Carrots get sweeter if they are left in the garden till after the ground freezes (generally under mulch to facilitate winter digging.) <S> Then again, I personally consider cooking carrots a good way to ruin them, as I find them far better raw. <A> There are many recipes for glazed carrots Google - glazed carrot recipes . <S> Generally using brown sugar or honey and butter, sometimes adding additional flavorings such as orange, bourbon or herbs. <A> There are varieties of carrots that have been bred for extra sugar, but you won't find them in your typical grocery store. <S> Most of the grocery store carrots have been bred for color, shape, production and storage. <S> In grocery stores that sell loose carrots, you can sometimes find 'winter carrots'. <S> They're quite large (nearly 2" / 5cm across). <S> These are carrots that have been left in the ground over the winter -- they are typically much sweeter than carrots that are taken out of the ground in warmer weather. <S> I have seen larger carrots at the latin markets and restaurant supply stores near me, but I've never done side-by-side taste tests to confirm if these are sweeter than standard grocery store carrots. <S> There are also seed companies (eg, Baker Creek , Burpee , Johnny's , Territorial , etc.) <S> who sell varieties bred specifically for their sugar content, much like what's being done with corn. <S> If you grow your own, you can seek these out, or you can check to see if any of the farmer's markets near you carry them. <S> Much like heirloom tomatoes, they're often a bit stranger in color and shape than what you get in the grocery stores <S> -- they might be short and stubby, or have a dramatic taper that isn't useful to make 'baby carrots') <A> While I'm not on the organic band-wagon this is one case where I've found that buying organic does generally get you a better product as the carrots are grown better and allowed to mature, most cheap store carrots are picked before the sugars develop. <S> The best carrots I ever had were fresh from someone's garden, they were amazingly sweet, almost sugary. <S> I haven't had much luck growing them myself - in dense clay soil <S> they end up looking like nuclear mutants - but I will try again as the result was amazing. <A> I find that there actually are (or maybe I got lucky as my sample size has been small... <S> ).Where <S> I live there is a type of carrot that is usually sold massive in size, it is around 2"-3" in diameter at the stem-end of the carrot and it stays fat and thick all the way to the tip (usually about a foot long). <S> Some of the larger grocery stores carry them but the asian markets all have them too. <S> (In the normal grocery stores they are nearer to the things like bok-choy than to the rest of the carrots. <S> Growing up, larger carrots were always bitter and woody but <S> the few carrots I have tried from whatever this variety is have always been abnormally sweet and very tender.
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While some carrot varieties are naturally woody in taste most carrot varieties have a natural sweetness to them, especially when they are well grown and fresh.
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How do I cook large quantities of sliced bacon? This question is pretty straightforward. Are there ways to take a sliced slab of bacon (i.e. a whole large package) and effectively cook all the slices to be used in standard scenarios, like breakfast? Non-microwave methods are strongly preferred. <Q> You might also need to drain the grease part way through. <S> If you're willing to take a loss in flavor ... you can separate it into slices and simmer it. <S> It won't crisp up, but you can par-cook it, and then finish it using some other method. <S> If you have the time & equipment to sous-vide it as moscafj mentioned, I suspect you'd get a similar effect as simmering, but wouldn't lose as much flavor. <S> I'd also recommend splitting it up some to increase the surface-to-mass ratio as much as possible while still fitting in the bag, to decrease the cooking time. <S> If you want strips, the easiest bulk method is cooking it in the oven . <S> If you have multiple sheet pans and cooling racks (or use a broiler pan), you can cook a whole pound of bacon at once. <S> It can take an hour if you're cooking it slowly, but it's mostly unattended. <S> (although using a broiler pan requires flipping them over a few times). <S> If you do go with the simmer method, save the water for some other meal later (eg, beans & rice). <A> I must say... <S> Although my method still takes some attending <S> I cook about 900 grams of bacon in approximately 4 minutes. <S> It gets crisp but not brittle. <S> " <S> How?" you ask... <S> I deepfry it. <S> It's amazing! <A> If you mean to cook it together as it comes out of the package rather than by separating each piece, then I would say no you don't want to do this. <S> The pieces will get glued together, and the finished product will be more like salt pork rather than bacon that you are accustomed. <A> When making bacon for a group, I generally just take about half the slab, drop it into a pan, and separate it with a fork while the pan heats up. <S> If you had a big enough pan and don't mind crowding, you can use the entire slab at once, but I find half at a time simpler. <S> Maybe grab two pans? <A> Cooking bacon at high temperatures causes the fat and muscle to contract at more divergent rates, yielding crinkly bacon. <S> Plus, bacon has plently of fat, none has to be added! <S> So, for large batches, I usually just place a large wire wrack of bacon in the oven over a pan to catch the drippings. <S> 425 F for 20 minutes, plus/minus 2-3 minutes depending on the cut thickness. <A> Try a double griddle. <S> The middle is not going to cook as fast but just let it cook a little longer. <S> As you lay them down you can overlap a bit as they will shrink. <S> Overlap with fat side on the grill for faster shrinking. <S> Start on far side for less grease splatter on you. <S> Thick slices will be less slices for the same weight.
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It really depends on how you're planning on using the bacon: If you're going to be crumbling it anyway, you can cut it across the strips, and drop it into a pan and slowly render it, then turn up the heat to let it crisp.
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Sushi in lunch box? Sushi rice preservation I want to make maki rolls for my 10 year old's lunch box. As I will be making the sushi rice the evening before, I will be refrigerating it until the next morning when I will do the maki rolls with smoked salmon (it's for a 10 year old). Obviously my primary concern is food safety over texture and I have come upon conflicting information on whether or not to refrigerate the sushi rice. Any thoughts or ideas? <Q> There are some people who say that leftover rice shouldn't be kept at all, because there's a risk of Bacillus cereus multiplying between the time that you cooked the rice and got it chilled down. <S> As such, you should cook your rice, cool it down to make the sushi, and then either consume it, or refrigerate it immediately. <S> Also possibly of interest <S> (although I don't know if it would work for sushi), scientists have found that adding coconut oil when cooking rice, then chilling it can convert sugars to a non-available form , if you're concerned about diabetes risk. <A> I think four hours out of the fridge is no problem at all. <A> As sushi rice is marinated it can not be kept for more than few hours regardless of refrigerator. <S> Japanese do not keep sushi rice, and even supermarket sushi has about 4 hours best before.
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If your primary motivation is food safety, then you shouldn't keep rice at room temperature for extended periods of time. You can always isolate the lunchbox with a towel, to keep it cool, but given that there are millions of japanese that do exactly what you are planning to do, and given that they are alive and kicking, even that seems unnecesary..
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Does commercial sour cream still contain live bacteria? Does commercial sour cream still contain live bacteria? A family member cannot consume them, so I am looking for a way to recognize sour cream without live cultures. <Q> It's hard to get a straight answer online, unfortunately, as most sour cream manufacturers don't mention either way. <S> Daisy brand, for example (one of the mass-market brands that is relatively unprocessed) doesn't mention it on their website, nor do they on their containers, though some people have said they do contain live active cultures - but nothing reliable that I see indicates that. <S> Breakstone's mentions that their cottage cheese has prebiotics , but nothing about sour cream, leading me to think they probably don't. <S> A few brands pasteurize and then add back in the L. Acidophilus and Bifidus Regularis (or similar) cultures afterwards, presumably to improve taste as they continue to break down the lactose (similar to how some mass-market yogurts do so); for example, Organic Valley mentions on their website : <S> Our sour cream is a cultured blend of nutrient-packed organic cream and skim milk. <S> When the sour cream is pasteurized and homogenized, active cultures acidophilus and bifidus are added to boost the tangy flavor and create a consistently dense cream. <S> The active cultures also serve as probiotics to improve the microbial balance of your digestive tract. <S> Any brand that does not mention it on the label may or may not contain them. <S> The indication of live and active cultures is not mandatory, as far as I can tell; the National Yogurt Association has a voluntary compliance process involving a seal that indicates live and active cultures, for example, but it is strictly voluntary. <S> I don't think there's a reliable way to prove they don't contain them. <S> Fat-free sour cream is also unlikely to contain live and active cultures ( <S> as it's not really sour cream, it's a flavored gelatin product more or less). <S> Alternatively, you can cook the sour cream yourself (or only use it in cooked applications) to ensure the bacteria are not live, though in this case you should talk to your doctor to find out in what applications this may be safe. <A> Joe M.'s answer is correct that it's difficult to get this information, though you can always try contacting the manufacturer directly. <S> But in general I would assume that commercial sour cream still contains at least some live bacteria. <S> In the U.S., food packaging laws require sour cream produced with bacterial cultures to be labeled either "sour cream" or "cultured sour cream." <S> Sour cream produced without bacteria by law must be explicitly labeled "acidified sour cream." <S> ("Acidified sour cream" usually has an inferior flavor and generally tends to show up as ingredients in other things or occasionally in low-fat or non-fat varieties. <S> In any case, "acidified" here only means that acids were used at some point to help the process along, so it doesn't guarantee that cultures were NOT used.) <S> To my knowledge, sour cream is generally NOT heat treated after culturing (unlike some yogurt), which means that active cultures are probably still present in significant numbers in most "cultured" sour cream. <S> And even if it is "heat treated" as some yogurts are, I don't think sour cream could actually be "re-pasteurized" without ruining the texture, so <S> Products explicitly labeled with a "live and active cultures" designation have to meet a standard for a minimum of bacterial concentration, but other products that are "cultured" without that designation likely still have residual live bacteria unless proven otherwise. <S> Another thought to make a determination <S> is to try to culture with the cream yourself. <S> Put a tablespoon or two of the sour cream in a few ounces of fresh pasteurized milk (or some fresh cream), and let it sit out at room temperature. <S> If the sour cream has active cultures, it will likely start to thicken significantly in 12-18 hours. <S> If the milk hasn't noticeably thickened within a day or so, it's less likely that it contains a significant number of active cultures (though not certain). <S> This is not a definitive test to rule out bacteria, but if the milk thickens noticeably, it's pretty likely <S> the sour cream has some active cultures. <A> Most do not because they have been pasteurized. <S> You may also find "contains live cultures" on the label. <S> This goes for yogurts as well. <S> You may want to try looking in a grocery store that has a good sized natural food section or a health food store. <A> They usually do, but those are probiotics generally.
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it's very unlikely to find a "cultured" sour cream that has no live bacteria in it. If you're looking for a brand that specifically does contain live active cultures, you should look for a mention on the label. You would need to look for an all natural "raw" product for it to contain beneficial probiotic bacteria. However, searching for a brand that does not contain live active cultures, your best bet would be to contact the manufacturers directly.
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Why do BBQ sauce recipes specify that you must cook the sauce? Most BBQ sauce recipes specify that you cook them, why is this? Would it not suffice to just mix the ingredients together as they will be cooked when you use the sauce on the grill anyway? <Q> Most of the popular ingredients for BBQ sauce (vinegar/ketchup/sugar etc.) tend not to mix very well together. <S> I know whenever I've made BBQ sauce, placing all of the ingredients into a pan together they tend to separate and are difficult to combine. <S> Heating up the ingredients, however, causes them to combine better, and after a short time cooking they will bind together and give a more consistent texture/taste. <S> Otherwise the different ingredients may continue to separate even when mixed, and you may find clumps of sugar that have not dissolved into the liquid etc. <S> It's quite possible your BBQ sauce recipe <S> doesn't need cooking, so long as things are substituted (like sugar for sugar syrup or honey) in order to combine better, but this may well give an incorrect texture because of the change in ingredients. <S> Therefore if the ingredients you use can be combined without being heated, it's likely that it doesn't need cooking, however you may end up with an uneven flavor. <S> As pointed out in a comment by @ToddWilcox, there may also be constituent ingredients that do require cooking, such as garlic or onion, in order to achieve the correct flavor so that they do not taste raw. <S> Some sauces may also specify being cooked simply to make them thicker or more concentrated, as adding thickening agents such as flour may affect the taste, particularly if it is uncooked. <S> So whilst there are some BBQ sauce recipes that may get away with being uncooked based on their ingredients, there are others that will definitely require cooking. <A> There are some sauce recipes where you need to thicken them to the point where they'd stay on whatever it is you're grilling. <S> If you didn't cook them down, they'd have the consistency of a marinade, and just drip off. <S> Sometimes you need to evaporate out some of the moisture, but other times you're actually creating chemical changes ... cooking sugar to a new stage in the case of most barbeque sauces. <S> For starch thickened sauces (not as typical in barbeque sauces), you'll often need to bring them to near a boil so the starches will start their thickening. <S> As barbecue sauces may also be used cold (after you're done cooking / when serving), it's also not guaranteed that it'll get cooked otherwise. <S> In those cases, even if the sauce is a bit viscous after mixing, you might warm it to help the flavors blend better. <A> Most sauces that I make require cooking because they have sugars that need to be heated to blend properly in the sauce. <S> Spices that are added also need to be cooked to blend into the sauce evenly. <S> BBQ sauce is mostly added at the end of the cooking process or at the table as a condiment.
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If it's not cooked first the spices and sugars would give the sauce a raw flavor that I'm sure no one would enjoy.
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Can I reduce a prawn/shrimp broth I have a freshly made shrimp broth. Onions, parsnip, tomato paste and white pepper corns along with shrimp shells. https://www.msc.org/where-to-buy/product-finder/products/cfpsproduct-19BA7EBA-B7E7-40E4-8C33-8566D3AF25A0 is similar to the shrimp I have used. It was simmering for about 15 minutes, then I strained it. It is my experience that more simmering makes it turn bitter or too compact (I'm lacking a better word). Can I simmer/reduce the liquid to about half without imparting any off flavours? <Q> Remove anything you suspect might affect flavour negatively (or, more simply, strain the whole caboodle), then reduce to concentrate flavour. <S> For fish broth, you shouldn't simmer the fish bones / heads for more than half an hour <S> and I assume a similar rule applies for shrimp. <A> After reducing the liquid to 50% at a low temp, I noticed no off flavours. <A> If you just want a shrimp broth to serve as a soup with noodles etc <S> If you want to use it as the base for a sauce or bisque then it may be useful to reduce it to concentrate the flavour, however you will want to strain out the liquid before you reduce it and bear in mind that you will be balancing the strength or the reduced broth with other flavours in a sauce to the base stock doesn't necessarily have to be something that you would want to drink by the cupfull. <S> Also with shrimp/prawn broths it's especially important to fry <S> the shells <S> well before you simmer them as it's this caramelization which creates the flavour that you want. <S> This is a bit different from meat stocks where you need really long slow to break down the proteins.
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the there is no need to reduce it a lot, just simmer it until you have the depth of flavour you want and then strain and serve.
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How can vegans alleviate the effects of spicy food? It's well-known that if you eat spicy food, you can neutralize the flavor (and thus stop your mouth from burning like a forest fire) by drinking milk. This is due to casein. Simply drinking water or something cold does not achieve the same effect. But I'm vegan, so I don't drink milk. So what else can I consume (that's vegan) to quickly neutralize spicy flavors? This is not a duplicate of How can I wash down spicy food? , as the advice there concentrates on dairy products. <Q> I have done no testing of this at all <S> but I was surprised to find on this site that they recommend trying a spoon full (or cube of) sugar. <S> Perhaps the easiest way of calming down a flaming mouth is by sucking on a sugar cube or holding a teaspoon of sugar in your mouth. <S> This helps by absorbing the spicy oil that is coating your mouth, as well as giving you a different, strong taste to concentrate on. <S> A bit of mind-trickery and science combined! <S> Other things I've eaten in the past include starches, like bread or rice. <S> Here's a fun infographic and most of the items on it are vegan: from here <A> Avocado would be the classic answer IME (often in the form of guacamole, but not required to be in that form.) <S> AFAIK <S> it's the fat effectively diluting the hot pepper oil in either case, (where it's unaffected by water since it won't mix) rather than any enzyme. <S> ... <S> and then there's not making the food so spicy <S> it's uncomfortable (horribly unfashionable, I know, <S> but I care less and less about fashionable as time passes.) <A> There's a great answer to this from Vietnam, where super-spicy food is popular and dairy generally isn't. <S> Here's one example recipe and pic . <S> Note that in Vietnam, they love (non-vegan) condensed milk and tend to add it to everything - just skip the condensed milk, and in its place add more coconut milk and a little more sugar. <S> It has everything you'd want to cool chillies: creamyness, crushed ice, liquid, fats, sugars, along with a very mild non-clashing flavour and lots of nutritional value. <S> I've seen various variants on this which are even more cooling and soothing by adding aloe vera or blended cucumber - or give it a slight kick with some lemon juice . <A> Try a nut milk (almond comes to mind), soy milk or coconut milk. <S> Here's a highly rated recipe for vegan "Sour Cream". <A> I've always liked the bread solution more than the dairy solution. <S> It somehow feels to me that bread "mops up" the spicy stuff from my mucosa, while dairy dissolves it, but also spreads it around in my mouth. <S> Maybe it's just a matter of personal preference, but when you can't have dairy, and even when you can, bread is worth to try. <S> Just a piece of fresh white wheat bread without anything on it, no butter etc. <S> Fluffier is better. <A> Im surprised not to see raw cucumber here <S> - I thought it was a standard go-to. <S> Sliced, or just munch on one raw, <S> depending on how much of your mouth is on fire :-) <A> Obvious answer is strong alcohol like vodka. <S> It doesn't contain any animal products <S> so I suppose vegan can use it. <A> You could also eat spicy food more often, that way you'll get used to it and won't need to wash away the spice. <S> Your tolerance will get higher pretty quickly. <A> If you are preparing the spicy food yourself, the easiest way to mitigate the Capsaicin "burn" is the well tried Szechuan method of adding some sugar to the cooking. <S> Rather than drinking anything which will just wash the Capsaicin further down your digestive tract, the rice will quickly absorb the enzyme in your mouth, thus reducing any further ill effects. <S> Both these methods will work for vegans and non-vegans. <A> Tofu works amazingly well, especially fresh and cold from the fridge. <S> I just tried it for the worst mouth on fire, and it worked immediately! <A> One possibility is to take a small amount of coconut oil in your mouth and let it melt, then swish it around and swallow. <S> It should absorb the capsaicin oil and take it along out of your mouth. <S> Trader Joe's organic virgin coconut oil would be my particular recommendation; it has a well-rounded, sweet coconut flavor and good texture. <S> It's not explicitly marked as vegan as far as I can tell, but I'd think it would be fine. <A> My Family are usually Water Drinkers at a restaurant since soft drinks are pricy. <S> However, one time my Dad was eating out as part of a Business Luncheon and out of the blue he decided to order Cranberry Juice. <S> A little while into the meal he had something spicy and when he took a drink of his Cranberry Juice, the spiciness seemed to leave. <S> I think he tried it again by eating the spicy food & then drinking Cranberry Juice right afterwards. <S> I think you could try having Cranberry Juice and luckily it's a popular enough drink that you won't have trouble finding it in your Grocery Store! <S> :)I've also seen online that sucking on a citrus fruit could help with this!
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It combines many of the other suggestions into something wonderfully smooth and soothing: Avocado and coconut milk smoothie I generally eat yeast bread, but if your dietary restrictions don't permit it, I think chemically leavened bread should work sufficiently well. If you are dining out, the way I have mitigated the "burn" after more than a decade living in South East Asia and Sri Lanka, is to eat a spoonful of plain steamed rice.
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How can you maximise the shell life of milk in milk bags, after having opened them? My grandmother buys milk bags as they cost less, stores each milk bag in a pitcher as such , but can drink only 1/4 of the milk bag daily. So after opening each bag, she must close and fasten the milk bag, and to do so she has tried using a rubber band and a binder clip. The problem: Rubber bands and clips fail to be secure enough, since the milk always start to spoil on the 4th day. So what else can be used to close the bag, to increase the endurance of the milk in the refrigerator? <Q> Nothing at all. <S> It doesn't matter how you close the milk, 3-5 days in the refrigerator is the time it will last in the refrigerator. <S> If your grandmother wants to spend less money on milk, she will have to buy it in smaller packages. <S> Even if they cost more per unit, she'll have to calculate the price when taking in account the waste from the bag. <A> When she opens a bag, she could pour half of the milk into another container and freeze it. <S> Then she could move the frozen milk back to the fridge a day later <S> so it can start thawing. <S> That should get an extra day or two out of a bag of milk. <A> Like rumtscho I don't think there's anything you can do to reseal the bag and increase its shelf life. <S> My mom is in a similar situation, she prefers to buy bag milk as it offers the cheapest unit price, but she doesn't consume that much of it. <S> The first is to buy fine filtered milk. <S> This is milk that goes through an extra filtering step that removes almost all bacteria, and increases the shelf life in the fridge up to 10 days. <S> The second thing she does is freeze the unopened bags. <S> She never has to throw away milk this way, and from the sounds of things she doesn't go through as much milk each day as your grandmother.
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Instead of trying to reseal the bag, she does two things to ensure her milk lasts. If anything resealing the bag just make things worse as the extra handling of the bag can only end up transferring more germs.
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How close are store bought broths and stocks to the real thing? Many of the sauces I wish to make require broth or stock. I quite fear the preparation which requires lengthy cooking and dedicating more precious storage space for the finished ingredient. Is using store bought broth or stock a good alternative? How close does it come to the real thing? <Q> There's a great deal of variation in the quality of the pre-made stocks you get from different sources, so there's no clear-cut answer. <S> Here's the types you might find: Stock cubes: these are dehydrated stock, or sometimes just chemicals meant to taste like it. <S> It's the lowest quality option. <S> There's a lot of variation here, I've found some brands (knorr for example) to be better than many others, but still not close to the real thing. <S> I rarely use these Stock powders: similar to cubes these are loose rather than cubed powder stocks. <S> The advantage of them over cubes is they dissolve much faster Gels: these are more recent, they are super-concentrated stocks in a gel format. <S> They come in little mini tubs, you peel the lid off and squeeze/spoon the contents out. <S> I'm not sure these have made it over the pond to the US yet. <S> They are IMO much better than cubes or powders and closer to the real thing, and I use them more often than any other alternative Canned/bagged stock: Most of the time these are concentrated, there's a lot of variation in quality between brands. <S> These are the best alternative but can be expensive <S> Personally I rarely make stock, and when I do I use it right away. <S> When I need to strengthen the flavor of a broth, or I need stock I use knorr stockpots (one of the concentrated gel products), or if I only need a little flavor, I spoon of powder. <S> There are a few cubes rattling around my cupboards for emergencies too. <A> All excellent information, but can I answer bluntly: none of them come even CLOSE to the real thing. <S> Once you use fresh stock, you will never, ever go back. <S> Really. <S> Making stock is easy, cheap, and as said above, unattended time. <S> Stock forms the base of the kitchen, <S> once you have it, you will notice the taste of everything you make improve so much. <S> Get some bones (most butchers will give the away for free, just become friends) <S> cold water, bring to boil, throw away the dirty water, start again with fresh water. <S> This saves you the trouble to skim the grey foam, which is the white blood cells and other bitter tasting substances. <S> It is also much more effective as skimming. <S> And it results in a clearer, better tasting stock. <S> When you do it, you will see what I mean straight away. <S> I even rinse the pan Add onions and celery, and basically all the cut-offs of all your vegetables. <S> pepper corns, bay leaves, unpeeled garlic cloves, <S> whatever you like. <S> You dont need to peel the onion. <S> The fuller the pan, the better the stock. <S> On your storage problem: two solutions. <S> Big restaurants do not store, they just have a big pan boiling night and day. <S> Small scale: after a hours or a night of slow boiling or so, remove bones and veggies. <S> Cool. <S> When fat is solid, remove and use this for frying: fried taters, etc. <S> Now boil down the broth, really down to say 20 percent. <S> You have a demi glace now. <S> Put it in ice cube trays, and freeze. <S> When frozen, remove, and put in bags. <S> You have now concentrated fresh stock that takes up no space, and you can use in any quantity you require. <S> Please try it. <S> Again: NOTHING comes close to the real deal. <A> Quality varies. <S> It would be worth it to purchase a few samples and find one you like. <S> I would look for something with little to no salt, as it is better to control for that yourself, in your final product. <S> Having said that, making stock yourself, particularly using a pressure cooker is easy, and can take as little as 30 minutes. <S> Strain and freeze. <S> Without a pressure cooker, the process takes longer, but it is mostly unattended time. <A> The problem is: Bought stocks tend to have a long ingredients list, and create a "shadow recipe" effect easily - important or problematic ingredients get carried into the dish via some bought product that they were arbitrarily mixed into, confusing recipe writers, learners, recipe followers alike. <S> For example, a lot of vegetable stocks carry turmeric and arbitrary, sometimes counterintuitive herbs and spices, which you would either want or not want in a dish. <S> Talking of dried vegetable stocks, they create a paradox: The type that is fortified with some umami source (yeast extract, HVP, MSG...) matches that description of a mixture of things that do not need mixing unless it is meant as a condiment or ready to eat product, the type without (unless it uses eg plenty of mushrooms as a umami source that you would include in a homemade vegetable stock) in the end is more of an aromatic/spice salt than a functional stock. <S> One thing that is occasionally worth doing, if using such stocks, is boiling a big kettle of water and making and tasting a cup of each brand you have, and taking notes about the differences. <S> (Recently developing a strong opinion on things recently that are mixed from what needs not mixing, especially if not by a well recognized recipe, and are meant as an ingredient...) <A> Nothing compares to well made home cooked stock. <S> Almost all commercial stock flavors, cubes, boxed stock, better than pastes, College, Kitchen, Rachael, etc., come from one manufacturing plant. <S> The basic difference is the salt content.
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I have yet to find a store bought equivalent to homemade, but there are adequate products. They have a long shelf life, and don't require refrigeration Fresh stock: you can sometimes find fresh stocks in the refrigerator section of the supermarket, or at a butcher/specialist food store.
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I want to know if beet juice without the beets is available for making pickled eggs We have been making pickled eggs recently. To do that we buy cans of cooked beets and just use the juice in the recipe. It is a waste of the beets (you can only eat just so many cooked beets). Is there a source for JUST beet juice? The only products I am able to find are of the health food variety and they have other things in them such as carrots and other vegetables. <Q> The "juice" in a jar of pickled beets is pickle brine and flavors leached from the beet by the vinegar. <S> To replicate in bulk, without wasting a lot of beets, make a batch of pickle brine following any recipe that tickles your fancy (lots of them on the internet!), and then add beet puree or juice to suit. <S> You can make your own puree by roasting, blending and then straining beets, and juice by doing the same to the beets raw - or just send them through a juicer if one is handy. <A> Love Beet juice is available in the UK, 99% beetroot juice, 1% lemon juice. <A> Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the only function of beet juice in pickled eggs is as a colorant (even if this is not true, you could still do the following). <S> It would be fairly easy and inexpensive to purchase a small amount of beetroot, cook it, then puree it in the blender with some water. <S> This could be strained and used in your recipe.
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In the US from what I can see its mostly adulterated, however you can buy beet juice in a concentrated form which claims to be 100% Beet juice.
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how to regain moisture into already made cold rolls/spring rolls I made some cold rolls with carrot, cucumber, capsicum and chicken in rice paper rolls. we ate some yesterday but had some leftover. We put damp kitchen towel into the bottom of a container and one on the top of them. Now they are hard and chewy. I was wondering if there was a way to get the moisture back into the rolls. <Q> You can't regain the original texture in the rice paper once it's changed. <S> Spring rolls need to be eaten pretty much the same day they are made. <A> Guess there's no way for you to regain the moisture in the any left over spring rolls especially after putting them in the fridge. <S> Putting damp towel only helps to temporary soften the skin while they are in the fridge for a while but the inside of the vegetable still gets dried up. <S> The best is still eating them freshly after they are being deep fried. <A> You can try dunking them in water, even pricking at the skin and letting sit wet for a while, and then heating them. <S> The heat lets things move, and combined with a very moist exterior will sometimes wick moisture inwards (into equilibrium). <S> Of course, sometimes you get hot, slimy, and still tough instead - its a possibility, not a certainty.
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Moisture from vegetable dries up very quickly even in room temperature let alone putting them in the fridges.
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Can fish stock be left simmering for a long time without damaging the flavor? After reading this question regarding how to make a Cantonese fish soup I was considering adding an answer expounding on the fact that fish stock shouldn't be left simmering for too long, or you'll get a "glue flavor" in your soup because of bad tasting compounds being released from the fish trimmings. However, upon googling for some sources to validate my claim I came upon this article , which among other things claims that If no flat-fish bones are used, the stock can cook for four to six hours; this slow cooking extracts all the gelatin from the bones and makes a wonderful, rich broth. Is it correct that it is only certain kinds of fish / fish trimmings which will create a bad tasting stock if left to simmer for too long? If so, are there any other kinds of fish than flat-fish which can create this bad taste? <Q> I am a European trained chef. <S> This is a very interesting question and there are quite a few answers. <S> In my opinion and experience, the simmer time of a good fish stock is 100% based on the type of fish bones that you are developing the stock with. <S> I remember asking the question many times on my travels through Europe and North Africa. <S> I will share my preferred methods for a few species of fish. <S> Turbot, 20 minutes after it comes to the boil, bay leaf only in the stock. <S> Dover Sole, a full mirapoix, simmer for 30 minutes. <S> Salmon, bring to boil and shut off, a full mirapoix is needed Northern Hake, 45 minutes full mirapoix John Dory, 45 minutes full mirapoix, white wine may be added if desired. <S> I hope that helps you out. <S> Regards. <S> Michael <A> From experience I cannot say because I never simmer stock beyond 20 minutes. <S> I follow this rule because nearly every master chef(no not the television show) I've read says so. <S> Michel Roux states that in his book Sauces. <S> And James Peterson, a former chemist, states it in his book Sauces, and he teaches at the French Culinary Institute. <S> Michel Roux makes the statement that for certain bones, less time is better. <S> Jennifer McLagan, in her book Bones, only states that flat fish bones are preferable because of their higher level of gelatin. <S> As regards to time, she only states that fish bones "yield their essence quickly." <S> One would think that James Peterson would have commented on the chemistry of this, but he doesn't, despite talking at length of the various chemicals released when making veal and beef broth. <S> If Jennifer's comment on the issue gives us any clue, it would lead us to hypothesize that because fish bones yield their essence rather quickly, they must be delicate and probably burn or change after those 30 to 40 minutes of continuous heat. <S> We do know that stocks expire, so we might conclude that fish stocks are more susceptible to time and also to heat. <A> I'm not sure about a glue flavor (I kicked the habit in kindergarten ), but I made a stock with king mackerel bits, including the head and tail fin <S> and it made an amazing base for gumbo. <S> Be prepared for the smell to linger a bit though. <A> I have never heard about the "glue" taste but <S> the broth that is extracted from the bones is a very tasty broth just like bone broth from meat.
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I always try to simmer my stock for a long period of time and have never gotten a bad taste.
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Can I heat and then cool Shiitake mushrooms, and eat cold one day later? I want to cook them, then keep them in the fridge and eat them cold one day later. I have heard of some mushrooms becoming poisonous one day after heating, and you cannot eat Shiitakes raw. Will it be a problem to eat them cold? <Q> If you enjoy eating them cold, go for it. <S> Just keep in mind that like any other cooked food, they can spoil if not stored properly (I have some leftover Chinese mustard greens stir-fried with shiitakes in my fridge right now, and have been eating them for days). <S> However: There is a rare allergic reaction in some people called Shiitake Dermatitis which is brought on by eating uncooked or under-cooked Shiitakes. <S> Note that this does not mean it is poisonous, it is a food allergy for all purposes like any other (think shellfish, wheat, soy etc.) <S> In addition to that , If you look, you will probably find advice to cook all mushrooms before eating (this probably has more to do with digestibility than anything though). <S> Although I believe this is really aimed more at wild harvested mushrooms, in his wild mushroom identification book "All that the rain promises and more", David Arora can be quoted as saying: "With very few exceptions, mushrooms should not be eaten raw. <S> They are safer, more digestible and more nutritious when cooked..." <S> Personally, I would not shy away from eating Shiitakes raw for any safety reason, but you then may be robbing yourself of some of the nutritional value. <A> Shiitakes are not poisonous and are fine eaten cooked, uncooked, cold, or as leftovers. <S> Poison's mushrooms contain toxins which cause their effects. <S> Some of these toxins will break down when cooked, but there is nothing I can find about the opposite happening (toxins activating when cooked) <S> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom_poisoning <A> I guess that you heard about the advice not to reheat mushrooms of any kind and thus, to toss the dish if it is not eaten right after cooking (at least I read this advice in a book along with the advice not to reheat spinach and this advice is/was quite popular in Germany). <S> This statement is true if the food will be stored at a place which is not sufficiently cold (<4°C) or <S> not sufficiently hot <S> (>60°C) . <S> Mushrooms basically consist of proteins and water and bahaves food-safety-wise like any other (lightly seasoned*) cooked protein like cooked meat: They spoil pretty fast. <S> If you can cool the mushrooms within 2 hours to 4°C or below and store them at this temperature, they will be fine. <S> Another bad advice is that spoiled food will be fine aber being reheated. <S> It is not . <S> In the opposite case, if the food is safe to eat, it is (food-safety-wise) <S> okay to eat it both hot and cold. <S> * not enough salt, sugar, acid, alcohol ... <S> whatever preserves the food
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Shiitake mushrooms are certainly not poisonous, either raw, cooked or as you posit in your question, after being cooked, stored in the refrigerator and consumed later. If the food is spoiled, eating it neither hot nor cold is okay.
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How many kilos of bread can I produce with one kilo of flour? I wish to calculate how economic a breadmaker is compared to store bought bread. Does anyone know how many kilos of bread can be made from one kilogram of flour? To make it simple, let's say generic white bread and basic simple white bread. <Q> In my experience, it doesn't really save money, but it's still worth it because it's fresh and better <S> than store-bought at the same price. <S> For me, 1kg of all purpose flour yields 1.6kg of bread (as two loaves). <S> Each 13x4x4" (Pullman) loaf weighs about 800 grams after cooling and yields between 24-30 slices depending on thickness. <S> The cost per loaf is under $1.00, and includes all ingredients, tax, and electric for mixing/baking/slicing. <S> I've made a few hundred loaves based on variations of this formula: % <S> grams <S> cost cals fat protein sugar sodiumall purpose flour <S> 100 <S> 500 <S> 0.417 <S> 1833 <S> 0 <S> 50 <S> 17 <S> 0 <S> instant yeast <S> 0.8 4 <S> 0.067 <S> 16 <S> 0 <S> 0 <S> 0 <S> 3 nonfat dry milk <S> 4 <S> 20 <S> 0.203 <S> 70 <S> 0 <S> 7 <S> 10 <S> 109 canola oil <S> 10 <S> 50 <S> 0.072 <S> 429 <S> 50 0 <S> 0 <S> 0 sugar <S> 4 <S> 20 <S> 0.019 <S> 75 <S> 0 <S> 0 <S> 20 <S> 0 <S> salt <S> 2 <S> 10 <S> 0.006 <S> 0 <S> 0 <S> 0 <S> 0 <S> 3933 <S> water <S> 56 <S> 280 <S> 0.000 <S> 0 <S> 0 <S> 0 <S> 0 <S> 0 dough total <S> 176.8 <S> 884 <S> $0.783 2422 <S> 50 <S> 57 <S> 47 <S> 4045 <S> To be clear, I no longer use a bread machine. <S> My answer focused more on how much bread can be made with 1kg flour. <S> The Pullman loaf pan was $25, and the electric knife was $20. <S> So for 300 loaves, that adds 15 cents per loaf. <S> The mixer and oven are used for other things besides bread, so I don't really consider them in the overall cost per loaf. <A> It would depend greatly on the recipe used. <S> However, for example, this recipe from Jamie Oliver for "Basic Bread" yields 1 loaf of bread and utilizes 1kg of flour. <S> Additionally if you are comparing for economic reasons, you'd also need to take into account the cost for yeast, salt and any enrichments (egg, sugar, etc as specified by recipe). <S> The average loaf of store bought bread weighs <S> either 16oz or 24 <S> oz here in the US which would be 453.6g or 680.4g respectively. <S> I know that until 2008 bread in the UK was required by law to be sold in specified units so they were commonly sold in 400g and 800g sizes. <S> Most of my bread books specify that on average bread dough loses 10-20% of weight during baking/cooling. <S> So some "back of napkin" math gives us 1kg flour = <S> 1000 <S> g <S> 625ml <S> H20 <S> = <S> 625g <S> 21-30g yeast = <S> 25g (average) 2 tbsp sugar = <S> 30 <S> g <S> 1 tbsp salt = <S> 15g <S> Total dough weight = 1695 <S> g <S> 1695 - 169.5 <S> = <S> 1525.5g ( <S> 10% loss during cooking) <S> 1695 <S> -339 <S> = 1356g (20% loss during cooking) <S> (1525.5 + <S> 1356)/2 = <S> 1440.75 <S> g average cooked weight. <S> So we can estimate that the average weight of a cooked loaf of bread from this recipe would be 1.44kg. <A> Basic bread requires flour, water, salt and yeast (nothing more). <S> The salt and yeast contribution to the weight is negligible. <S> Water, in my experience, shall be - before cooking - about 70% in weight with respect to flour; the actual quantity depends mainly on the kind of flour, but 70% is a reasonable average estimate. <S> Loss of total weight during cooking is due to water evaporation and can be estimated between 10% and 20%; the bread will anyway continue to loose water even after it reaches room temperature, but this is slow. <S> In conclusion I would say, for example: 1 kg of flour + 0.7 kg of water (I use kg <S> , I am Italian) = <S> > <S> 1.7 kg dough <S> 1.7 - 1.7*15% kg = <S> > <S> 1.445 kg <S> In Italy flour can be found for sale at less than 0.50 €/kg,yeast (for 1 kg of flour) <S> 0.15 <S> €, water, salt, electric power: negligible cost; Total 0.65 € <S> /1.445 kg = <S> 0.45 <S> €/kg <S> = 0.45 <S> € <S> /kg; In comparison 1 kg of bought basic bread is around 2.5 to 4 €/kg. <A> flour/water : 100:50 - 100:65 <S> as you like the dough -> <S> 1kg flour : <S> 1,5kg -1,65kg dough. <S> You have 10% loss of weight by backing. <S> Thats all. <A> Here in the UK, I can use 1/3rd of a 1.5kg bag of strong white bread flour (95p/3=32p) and 1 sachet of dried yeast at 11p to make a loaf for 43p, and that gives me a loaf equivalent to this 800g supermarket sandwich loaf at £1.00. <S> Tastes better, too. <S> So that's better than double, in my experience. <A> 25geggs 2 <S> fl ounceskimmed milk 15 g water 700 g
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For me,1 kilo will yield 2 kilograms of bread,,,ex.for 1 kilo I put 700 grams of water,plus the ingredients, here is my example; Marikina bread 1 kgsalt 75 gsugar 155 gshortening 85 gyeast 80gimprover If you do not take into account oven, etc and the work needed , in Italy it is very convenient to make it by yourself!
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Breadmaker bread not remaining fresh long enough I have an issue with the bread we make in our bread maker. My wife claims it is not fresh enough to eat if it is more than 1 day old; however, she will eat shop brought bread that is 2 days old. This leads to the birds in our garden getting fat! Is there a way to make (or keep) the bread so it is perceived by my wife to be fresh so we can use it on a 2nd day? <Q> I assume you're trying to extend shelf life for a couple of days, not weeks. <S> Most can be very easily incorporated into an existing bread machine recipe. <S> There are a variety of possibilities , and you can also buy commercially available dough enhancers that combine various helpful additives for you. <S> I'd personally buy a dough enhancer formulation first, see if it made a difference in how my spouse liked the results, and then start experimenting with other (less expensive!) <S> additives such as lecithin, gluten, powdered ginger, potato flakes, buttermilk, or more. <S> Searching for "dough enhancer recipe" brings up lot of suggestions which I can't personally vouch for, so I won't include one here :) <S> Changing the storage method can also help improve the longevity of a loaf. <S> This is covered in another question ; suggestions include covering the cut end (moisture escapes more easily there than from the crust), and pre-slicing and freezing the portion you know you won't get to. <A> Leaving the bread out uncovered overnight is likely one of the larger issues with staling. <S> All bread will start to stale immediately after it's come out of the oven -- commercial bread <S> simply has other ingredients to help slow this effect. <S> (and I know we've had a question on this topic) <S> They also package the bread in plastic to hold moisture near the loaf to slow the staling. <S> You might want to consider how you're storing it . <S> If you're in a dry area where bread stales (rather than going moldy), consider getting a bread box , or bagging the bread before you leave it out overnight. <S> At the very least, wrap it loosely or place in a paper bag to allow steam to continue to escape, but still keep moisture near the loaf. <S> And before you throw the bread to the birds, you can either revive it by placing it a damp paper bag in a medium low oven, or make it into any number of things: <S> french toast <S> bread pudding / strata <S> Panzanella salad fondue stuffing / <S> dressing panade for meatballs or meatloaf bread crumbs <A> Do you use any fats in your mix? <S> On this page there is the suggestion that adding some fat -- say, 50g of butter or oil -- can extend shelf life. <S> Fats (butter, oils, milk, eggs). <S> Fats enrich and flavor the bread. <S> They also soften the dough and preserve it: whereas a fat-free loaf of bread like a French bread goes stale after only a few hours, a loaf of bread with a small amount of olive oil or butter (like a sandwich bread) retains moisture and will stay fresh longer. <S> Fats increase the bulk of your bread. <S> Rarely do you get the kind of large, irregular holes inside an enriched bread as you do in a fat-free bread. <A> A few options: Add a bit (or a bit more) sugar to the dough. <S> Use a sourdough starter instead of yeast. <S> The ideas in Sourdough in Bread Maker? <S> might be helpful. <S> Add lupin flour, as mentioned in "Why add lupin flour to white bread?" <S> Store in a paper bag. <S> If you're not using a breadmaker, leaving the dough overnight to have the yeast really do their job would also help. <A> I would like to share some tips for crispy bread and keep it for a long time Letting a few slices of sliced apples or a few slices of potatoes together with a loaf of bread will help keep the bread longer than usual. <S> To get inside a plastic bag containing one to two stems of vegetables, tighten the mouth of the bag. <S> To do this, 2 to 3 days of preserved bread is still delicious. <S> Pack the bread in a covered nylon bag and put it in the freezer of the refrigerator. <S> Keeping this way can leave bread all month long. <S> Want to save bread for a long time but still soft, should use oil paper or nylon bag, tightly packed inside to have a lump of sugar and then to cool.
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One possibility is dough enhancers, many of which improve shelf life.
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How do you clear food that sticks to the cutting knife? I am now typing this with 1.5 hands because like a moron I cleared parsley that stuck to the knife with the edge towards my hand. After a quarter cup of blood it is a powerful lesson to never clear the knife with the edge towards my hand. But how then do you clear the knife? My first guess is to always point the edge away from the hand, but even the greatest knife masters will forget every once in a while to clean with the edge in the opposite direction. How then should you clean the food that sticks to the knife? <Q> even the greatest knife masters will forget every once in a while to clean with the edge in the opposite direction <S> No, they won't, not after cutting themselves a couple of times. <S> It's natural to cut yourself while cutting food , occasionally, but I have never cut myself while slipping food from the blade. <S> Always keep the edge away from you, place the side of your finger against the flat of the blade keeping it absolutely rigid and straight , and run your finger down the blade. <S> It's that simple. <S> Using the side of your finger reduces the chance of you curling it around the cutting edge. <A> Always push from the back (non-sharp) side of the knife to the front (sharp edge). <S> So long as you only go in this direction, and move your hand away from the knife before pulling it back in, you shouldn't cut yourself. <S> (at least, not from doing this). <S> The same rules apply when washing you knife -- only wipe in that direction, or at a diagonal to it. <S> Never wipe along the sharp edge of the blade, or back towards the blade. <A> Well I think you answered this in your question. <S> Face the cutting edge away from you. <S> Sometimes however if I am pushing food off the cutting board into a bowl or skillet, I'll run the sides of the knife on the edge of the cutting board and knock-off <S> what little gets stuck to the board with the knife again. <A> With some food that gets stuck it is possible to whack the knife hard on the cutting board with the edge down (or the turn it and whack the spine of the knife to not blunt the knife), making the food fall of the blade. <S> Another solution is to try to minimize the need of wiping it in the first place. <S> How to prevent sliced vegetables/roots from sticking to the blade <A> One thing that may help - pinch the blade between your thumb and forefinger (near the base), and run those fingers down the blade. <S> With your fingers bracing off each other, the edges of your fingers should never hit the edge of the blade - the sharp edge will run in the open air where your fingers curve away from each other, either in the space above the webbing of your thumb, or else pointed away from your hand. <S> If you run them down the center of the blade, this is perfectly safe. <S> If you are clearing food from an edge, or your fingers start running off the edge - go with it, make sure your fingers move towards the edge of the blade, never back towards the center. <S> That way, even if the pinch of your forefinger and thumb hit the blade edge, they are not being pulled back against the blade. <S> Or to put it another way, the movement from center-to-edge of a knife is always pulling away from the sharp blade, never towards it. <A> I do both. <S> I'm right-handed, so I hold the knife in my right hand and brush the left side (the side near me) with the edge pointing at me, and the right side (the side away from me) with the edge pointing away. <S> For the near side, I move the pad of my finger along the spine of the blade, moving from the handle to the tip. <S> This means the edge of the blade moves backwards up my finger and can't cut me. <S> I also arch my finger a bit so the edge isn't really touching my finger. <S> For the far side, I keep the pad just above the edge of the blade, pushing slightly out as I run my finger towards the tip. <S> In either case, if my finger moves and I miss some food, I take my finger off -- moving it down the blade towards the edge -- then start over, rather than trying to reset while half a millimeter from the edge. <S> I do occasionally get tiny microcuts in the skin this way, but I've never had a major cut from it. <S> I find it easier than switching hands to clear each side, and safer than trying to clear the near side with my left-hand fingers pointing down the blade (which requires odd contortions or twisting the knife so my finger is under it <S> and I can't see what I'm doing). <S> On the other hand, I picked up a stack of salad bowls two weeks ago and had blood spurting everywhere because someone set the bowls down too hard and broke one, and the sharp edge of the broken bowl put two giant slashes in my finger. <S> Safety is relative, I guess. <A> For some it is easier to hold the finger still and move the blade against it, making sure that the blade movement is always backwards in relation to any edge. <S> Also, keeping a plastic(!) bench scraper nearby and using it for such work is a very safe and sometimes very efficient option.
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Run your fingers right off the blade edge, and reset your grip if you must, as long as you're moving from center of the blade to edge you won't have any pressure at all backwards against the blade edge to cut yourself on.
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Does it matter when you add the salt? Spices create aromatics so it is important when to add them. But what about salt? Is it critical if you add salt to the flavor base instead of adding it to the tomato paste, or adding it to the finished soup? <Q> Salt is very soluble in water, and during the cooking process will tend to diffuse within the liquids of the food and permeate inside. <S> Having a salty flavor throughout the food I find tends to help curb salt usage. <S> A good example is pasta, where if you add salt you can achieve a salty taste for the pasta and largely decrease salt you add at the table. <S> My grandmother always said add the salt while you are cooking so you don't have to add twice as much later. <A> <A> Salt adds flavor and causes chemical changes in food. <S> The sooner you add salt <S> more time salt has to penetrate the food and the longer the chemical changes have to work. <S> Whether that's desirable or not depends on the effect you want. <S> Here are a few examples: <S> When boiling potatoes if you add salt at the beginning of cooking the salt flavor will get through the potato, when you bite into it the center will be seasoned. <S> If you add salt after cooking the inside of the potato will be bland and the outside salty. <S> I always salt the water when I boil potatoes for this reason <S> When sauteing zucchini I add some salt at the beginning of the cooking process as salt will draw moisture out, changing the texture of the flesh in a good way and making it cook a bit faster If you chop tomatoes and add salt to them they will shed a lot of moisture, which can sometimes be what you want <S> There are times when it doesn't really matter when you add the salt, for instance cooking pasta. <S> You can add it 30 seconds before you take the pasta out and you won't tell any difference to taste or texture. <S> It's also important to remember not to oversalt at the beginning. <S> You can put salt in but you can't take it out, so always put in less at the beginning than you think you need when making soups, stews, etc. <S> Towards the end taste the food and add more salt if needed.
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Salt is sometimes used to modify how moisture is drawn from aromatics while they are being sauteed, taking advantage of the fact that salt "wants" to be dissolved in water but is insoluble in oil, eg adding salt upfront to get onions to brown more quickly.
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Reducing sweetness of packaged cookie mix I have a Betty Crocker cookie mix and I find it too sweet. Is there a way to adapt it and make it less sweet? I'm not an experienced baker so I don't know if simply adding more flour will work. <Q> Probably there is no such way, at least not one that's worthwhile. <S> First, there is the problem that designing a recipe well is a skill which very few people have. <S> Experienced bakers can progress to it, but inexperienced ones can make 100 trials but won't understand what went wrong with any of them. <S> Unless you're in it for the fun of it, it's easier to find another recipe which works for you <S> (you might have to bake through 4-5 failures to find a good one) than to redesign an existing one (might have to bake through 25-30 failures to make a good one). <S> Second, you're not starting from a recipe, but from a mix. <S> With standard ingredients, you know what went in, and can change the ratio easily. <S> With a mix, you have no idea how it works and how changing something will tip the balance. <S> A simple addition of one more ingredient (e.g. flour) will certainly not cut it. <S> If you add enough to make a change in sweetness, you won't like the change in texture, which, for flour, will be rock-hard cookies. <S> And this brings us to the third problem. <S> Sugar is not a sweetener in cookies. <S> It is a bulk ingredient which gives them a cookielike texture, and the sweetness is a side effect. <S> If you combine the same ingredients but with less sugar, you'll end up with tiny cakes instead of cookies. <S> Proposed course of action: forget these cookies. <S> You don't like the taste, and you can't keep the texture while changing the taste. <S> Baking cookies from scratch is not much harder than baking from mix. <S> Go to a good recipe site, find a well-reviewed recipe for the type of cookies you prefer, and bake away! <A> Balancing the sweetness with something that adds textural or flavor depth can mitigate the cloying, one-note sweet sensation. <S> Amchur or Anardana could work too, given they are solid sour flavorings, have not tested. <S> Sodium acetate, the vinegar flavour used for potato crisps, would probably too... vinegary. <S> Careful with sour liquids, there is probably baking soda in the mix that you might prematurely activate that way ;) Try the classic baking spices (cardamom, nutmeg/mace, allspice, anise; cloves and cinnamon could work but could also make it appear even more sweet). <S> Try hot spices - ginger or even (little!) <S> chili pepper or black pepper. <S> Gingerbread, for example, can be rather sweet and uses both baking (all of the above ;) and hot spices - ginger and not infrequently black/white pepper. <S> Try adding unsweetened chocolate. <A> "Thinking out loud" here. <S> Wonder what a tablespoon or two of almond flour might do? <S> I always sprinkle the top of brownie batter very lightly with coarse ground salt. <S> The whisper of salt with the chocolate is really delicious. <S> I wouldn't be afraid to add 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper to the batter while mixing either. <A> I have a Ghiardelli brownie mix I found too sweet. <S> I removed 1/4c of the mix and replaced it with 1/4c cocoa powder. <S> I also replaced the called for 1/3c of water with the same amt of coffee. <S> Turned out very good for me!
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Try sour (or perceived sour) flavorings like citrus zest or mahlep. Try adding ground nuts - not too much, otherwise you will mess with the recipe chemistry.
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How does gumbo spoil while still cooking? I'm new to new to New Orleans style of cooking. I heard that gumbo spoils while still cooking. Is this true. I'm confused. Any answer would help. <Q> I believe in this context, spoil is not referring to food safety issues such as dangerous pathogens, but rather that the dish does not fulfill its culinary promise. <S> For example, any soup or stew that is cooked on too high a heat will become burnt on the bottom. <S> You won't get sick from eating it, but from a flavor aspect, it's spoiled . <S> Not being an expert in cooking gumbo, I can't cite all the specifics, but there surely is an optimum heat and time that it should be cooked. <S> Stray too far from the base recipe and technique, and you may spoil the gumbo. <S> From your comments, it sounds like the recipe calls for cooking the gumbo to a point of "doneness", and then turning down the heat so that it stays below the boiling point. <S> In other words, if the fully cooked gumbo continues cooking at a full boil, the recipe will be spoiled . <A> "Spoiled" is a common term used for judging whether food is fit to eat. <S> It is supposed to apply to food which is full of potentially pathogenic bacterial colonies, but of course, it is impossible to see bacteria. <S> However, there is one quite sure sign of bacteria: slime. <S> Bacterial colonies tend to produce slime on usually-dry food items. <S> So, people have learned to associate slime with bacteria. <S> If somebody is not very discriminating, he or she may decide that every slimy food must be spoiled. <S> Gumbo frequently contains okra, one of the rare foods which releases slime when cooked. <S> This has nothing to do with bacteria, the compounds which create the slime are produced by the vegetable itself. <S> But as a result, you can have slimy gumbo. <S> Now, if you have a person for whom "slimy" is equivalent to "spoiled", either because they think that "spoiled" is the same as "dangerous" and that "slimy" is always "dangerous", or because they know the difference, but dislike the texture and feel that any slimy food is unfit for eating, it is very probable that this person will call a slimy gumbo "spoiled". <S> Is this correct or not? <S> For some definitions of "spoiled", it is correct, for others, it isn't. <S> In any case, gumbo does not become infested with dangerous levels of pathogenic microorganisms while cooked. <A> By spoiled I mean stock that had been prepared ahead of time but left out over night and refrigerated 16 hours after the time it was prepared or seafood that was stored in the fridge after it had spoiled. <S> Both have happened to me at different times unfortunately. <S> Very expensive lessons learned.
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To answer the question in the purest sense of the possibility of it happening, I can say that gumbo will indeed be legitimately spoiled when the pot is turned off if: a) you may have used stock that was already spoiled or b) one of your seafood ingredients may have already been spoiled.
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What is the function of this shallow, 19-divoted, eared cast iron piece? This piece was given to me a few years back by someone who picked it up at an estate sale. At the time I cleaned it up, re-seasoned it, and promptly forgot about it. At first blush I thought maybe it was an escargot pan, but on further attention the divots seemed too shallow; each of the 19 holds approximately 1/2 t to 3/4 tbs (7-11 ml). There are no discernible markings on the reverse nor the ears to give me anything to work with. Someone said it might be an Æbleskiver pan, or a drop muffin pan, but in comparison with the samples I have on hand I don't believe it to be so. The divots on this pan are shallower and the bottoms are relatively flat (disc-shaped rather than hemispherical). Does anyone one know what the purpose of this cast iron piece? Is it even a piece of cookware? <Q> There are nearly identical pans on sale here . <S> The Wikipedia article talks about them more specifically: <S> Poffertjes are a traditional Dutch batter treat. <S> Resembling small, fluffy pancakes, they are made with yeast and buckwheat flour. <S> Unlike American pancakes, they have a light, spongy texture. <S> Typically, poffertjes are served with powdered sugar and butter, and sometimes syrup or advocaat. <S> And an image from a recipe page : <A> That pan is identical to the one used to make a Thai dessert that is made out of a coconut mixture. <S> I live in Thailand and see them almost every day. <S> It is called Kanom Krok and is very popular throughout Thailand. <A> This kind of pan seems to be used in many cuisines. <S> In addition to the Dutch poffertjes, and the thai desert mentioned in another answer, an identical pan is used to make a south Indian dish called Puddu or Paniyaram. <S> From the Wikipedia article: Paddu or Kuzhi paniyaram is an Indian dish made by steaming batter using a mould. <S> The batter is made of black lentils and rice and is similar in composition to the batter used to make idli and dosa. <S> 2 <S> The dish can be made sweet or spicy depending on the ingredients jaggery and chillies respectively. <S> There is also a Japanese dish made in a similar pan. <S> Again, from Wikipedia : Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan. <S> It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion <A> In Norway this would be used to make munker , although a smaller 7 hole variant is vastly more common. <A> Although the others answers do look convincing, I suppose it could also be used to produce a varient of Blinis , which I just learned is a bad translation from Russian for other markets. <S> But they look like <A> Being from the Netherlands I'd say a poffertjes pan (mini pancakes indeed).
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They look like the Dutch "mini pancake" pans... they're used to make poffertjes .
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Is this canning method safe to use for spaghetti sauce? (Boiling the sauce in the jars in the oven) This technique has been used by my family for decades but I'm wondering how safe it is to kill Botulism spores. Step 1, cook the spaghetti sauce in a large pot (tomatoes, meat, fruits, vegetables, sugar, spices, etc). pH unknown. Step 2, Fill mason jars with water. Bring them to a boil by putting them in the oven. Step 3, Put the boiling sauce in the jar. Step 4, Put the mason jar lids on but not fully closed. Step 5, Put the mason jars in the oven and bring the sauce again to a boil. Step 6, Close the lids and wait until the lids become sealed. Step 7, Wait until they cool down before storing them at room temperature. Thanks in advance! <Q> No, it is not safe. <S> You need a pressure canner. <S> That's what the USDA says about anything containing meat: <S> There are no safe options for canning these foods listed below in a boiling water canner. <S> See <S> http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/soups.html <S> for a table of pressures and processing times. <A> In general (if it is about random sauce): Unless the sauce is so heavy in sugar (unlikely - 120°C would mean you are making a tomato syrup that will be as thick as honey when cool), oil or thickeners that it will reach pressure-canning temperatures when heated by an oven - NO. <S> The cans are at ambient pressure, so any mixture in them that is dominated by water WILL NOT reach much above a 100°C, since heat energy will be used up for boiling off water and not raising the temperature of the sauce. <S> 100 <S> °C will kill any practical live bacteria to hell and back, but it will not kill spores. <S> Fully closing the cans would get you higher internal temperature - DON'T, they will likely explode very violently. <S> Specific to tomato <S> sauce: <S> Tomato sauce can be acidic enough that you don't care about botulism spores - but that is tricky, since it depends on the variety of tomatoes used, how well the acid will penetrate other ingredients in the sauce, and other factors. <S> In this case, research a recipe that uses that technique and which is currently recognized by food safety authorities to be safe. <A> My work-around is to use shredded zucchini to add protein to my sauce, and then to add ascorbic acid (vitamin C) powder — or, more rarely, citric acid if ascorbic isn't available — to acidify the tomato base, making heat-canning a safe option.
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It is not safe to can anything containing meat without pressure-canning.
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Making toad in the hole with duck eggs I've been keeping ducks for a couple of years, and therefore I cook with duck eggs, since they're effectively free. They're Indian runner ducks, which aren't very large, and the eggs are pretty much the same size as a large hen's egg, so I just switch them one-for-one, although the duck eggs have a bit more yolk and less white than a hen's egg. And they're better than hen's eggs for most purposes, with the exception of toad in the hole. I use the Delia Smith recipe with double quantities of batter, and it always comes out big and fluffy with hen's eggs, but flat and stodgy with duck eggs, and takes 50% longer to brown properly. What's going wrong, and is there any way to fix this other than switching to hen's eggs, which I would have to buy specially? Use three whites and one yolk? Use different quantities of the other ingredients? <Q> Toad in the hole batter, which is the same as yorkshire pudding batter, uses eggs for lift and partly as the binding agent. <S> Lift comes from expansion of gases, including water vapor. <S> Egg white is 90% water, yolk is somewhere around 40% water. <S> A large egg is usually somewhere around 60g out of the shell. <S> With a hen's egg 2/3rd of that is white, so call it 44g of water in total (36 from the white, 8 from the yolk). <S> A duck egg is usually about 1/3 white, so about 34g water in total (18 from the white and 16 from the yolk). <S> So using duck's eggs you get 20g less water overall in a doubled delia recipe. <S> Given that there's 260ml of water and milk already this isn't much of a difference, maybe about 6-7% total water content. <S> This doesn't sound like much <S> but it can make a big difference. <S> Fat-wise <S> there's about 10g more fat in 2 duck eggs than hen's eggs. <S> A hen egg yolk has roughly 5g of fat in it, and a duck egg double that. <S> Protein-wise white has a higher percentage of protein (7%) than yolk (5%), but that's not much so not likely to be causing issues. <S> It's probably the combination of less water and more fat which is causing your problem. <S> Less water and more fat means less expansion, less expansion will mean it takes longer to cook and has a flat texture as you describe. <S> As for the remedy I think you should definitely try 3 whites and one yolk, that should bring the balance back just right. <S> One trick recommended by a few chefs is to wait until your toad in the hold or yorkshire batter is fully expanded, then open the oven for a few seconds to let the water-saturated air out. <S> This will help the batter to crisp up. <A> I always used to use 4 hen eggs, 140g plain flour, 200ml milk + seasoning, and that always worked well. <S> When I substituted the hen eggs with duck eggs they never raised very well. <S> After a little experimenting I found the following works well... Pre-heat oven to 180degPut <S> a little olive oil (not extra Virgin) into a Yorkshire pud tray - 12 Yorkshire’s <S> Mix together <S> ..2 large duck eggs90 <S> g <S> plain flour110ml <S> whole milk50ml waterSalt & pepper Bake for 10 minutes, then <S> open oven door for 2 seconds to release moist air & close again. <S> Then bake for a further 6 minutes. <S> Done Hope this works for you. <S> I use an electric fan oven for this. <A> Duck eggs are high in fat and for a cake to rise it needs to be low in fat or no fat. <S> Try halving one of the duck yolks and see if this makes any difference.
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I have ducks and have been experimenting with making Yorkshire Puddings using their eggs.
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Glass baking lid broke - what to substitute? The glass lid for my pyrex 10x10 baking dish broke. What can I substitute? Tin foil doesn't work -- nothing cooks! Ideas? Thank you. <Q> It is heavy enough to make a moderately decent seal. <A> I usually using a big plate for this (but make sure it can handle the heat or slowly heat it up) or as previously suggested use a bigger lid. <S> Sometimes a flat baking form like for a quiche does work as a lid as well (a friend of mine even used a frying pan once). <S> Just be creative and look for something that is heat resistant and large enough to cover the top. <A> I don't think there is something readymade which you can substitute. <S> Other dishes, plates, etc. <S> as suggested in other answers are somewhat usable, but tend to 1) not fit well, and 2) not have handles. <S> The result is that, when you are taking the hot pan out of the oven, you risk a hot porcelain plate sliding and landing on the floor breaking, or on your lap and burning you. <S> Whether you first try lifting the "cover" with mitt-clad hands, or getting the whole package out of the oven, it's a tricky situation. <S> Unless you happen to have a second dish with a very convenient shape which holds well to your pan, there is no low-effort solution that would be worth it long-term. <S> If you don't want to buy a lid, you can try creating one yourself, but that would require advanced skills in pottery, metalworking or something else appropriate to the chosen material, and cost you more time (and possibly more money in material) than a new lid. <S> The second question is, we don't know what you are cooking. " <S> Tin foil doesn't work - nothing <S> bakes" sounds like you may have a situation where you need a high radiation (Toaster oven? <S> Something like a lasagna which needs a crispy crust?) <S> and then nothing but glass will help if you are baking with a lid 100% of the time. <S> If this is the case, try baking longer with a less-penetrable lid on and then doing the last 10-15 min without a lid, possibly on a "grilling" setting.
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One "hack" to try is to put a larger glass baking dish on top (e.g. 9"x13" over an 8"x8").
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Why add sugar at the end when making strawberry preserve? What happens when sugar is added to cooked fruit near the end of cooking process? Why sugar is added to cooked fruit near the end of the cooking process? <Q> You need the juices from the fruit to release so the sugar can melt into it. <S> If you add it before then the sugar will burn. <S> In making preserves, there are only two steps, cook fruit till juices release, then add sugar and stir till dissolved. <A> If you are using pectin in your recipe, you want to minimize the the cooking time of the combined pectin and sugar (overcooking lowers the gelling power of the pectin). <S> When using liquid pectin, you cook your fruit and sugar together and add the pectin at the end of cooking. <S> If you are using powdered pectin, you cook the fruit and pectin together (so the pectin dissolves), then add the sugar at the end. <A> This might be a desirable (if you want to just get the juice out and thicken it) or very undesirable (if you are trying to caramelize instead of stew the fruit).
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If you add lots of sugar to the fruit early (whether you are already cooking it, or before cooking), you will create osmotic pressure and draw the juice out MUCH quicker.
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Does honey actually tenderize meat? I was recently reading a cooking manga named Shokugeki no Soma, in which the protagonist uses unconventional methods to cook specific dishes. In one chapter, he uses honey specifically to tenderize meat in a short amount of time. Here's the chapter page specifically: I tried it for myself but can't seem to replicate the same thing he's done, if anything the beef remained relatively hard, and not soft as the manga describes. While some scenes are somewhat outlandish there is a certain truth to most of the cooking terms thrown around in the manga, so I'm curious: does honey actually contain proteases that tenderize meat quickly? This article on LIVESTRONG.com seems to support the other fact in the same page which claims that pineapple can be used to tenderize meat, but it doesn't make any reference to honey at all. If you're curious, this is the anime version of it: https://youtu.be/5GCUzTyp9sE?t=6m36s <Q> Based on the description given in the manga (specifically "I rubbed it on the meat before boiling " [emphasis mine]) <S> I would guess that this is not actually an effect of tenderization at all. <S> Instead, the effect is possibly closer to that of velveting . <S> The velveting technique is typically done with a thin coating of corn starch, and my working theory is that this seals in the natural juices of the meat while preventing the outer layers from drying out. <S> Being thick and viscous, honey might have much the same effect. <S> As a result, the final product seems more tender, but that's just because it's been more delicately cooked - not due to any special tenderizing power of the honey itself. <A> not honey flavored rice syrup or sorghun syrup as most cheap honey is (Chinese Honey exports mostly) and <S> B. <S> It must be raw and unfiltered honey. <S> Bees eat a mixture of pollen proteins and honey and thus create and excrete special proteins that help breakdown other proteins. <S> These protein enzymes are mixed with the honey because of the processes that occur in its creation, transportation, and preservation within the hive. <S> Depending on the type of honey the pollen inclusions can also play a role in protein degredation. <S> However, processing the honey often involves heating which denatures the native proteins rendering them ineffective. <A> I have used a honey and olive oil based overnight marinade for decades and <S> in my opinion it definitely tenderises. <S> I dont pretend to understand the science but in practice I find it works, and is extremely tasty.
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Yes honey tenderizes meat, though not to the degree shown and only if it is A. real honey
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How can I get the smokey flavour in Hor Fun? I made Hor Fun (not the linked recipe in specific) the other day for my girlfriend who loves the dish. However, her critique was that it lacked the distinctive smokey flavour of the dish. When it's made traditionally it's done over a massive fire and this gives it the smokey flavour. In a standard kitchen the gas burners are far smaller than that, so how can I achieve the same smokey flavour for this dish? <Q> Another option is Smoked Paprika . <S> As Jolene wisely cautions, those liquid smoke products are very strong. <S> And even though it might be "natural" smoke flavor, it can lend a "synthetic" taste to delicate foods. <S> Smoked Paprika has a much more subtle smokiness. <S> Of course, it will also add color and additional flavor of its own. <S> It sounds to me like this would work well with the recipe you linked, but you might try adding it first to just a small amount of your dish and see if you like the taste. <S> In any case, Smoked Paprika is an inexpensive addition to your spice rack that can be used to enhance many foods with a bit of smokey flavor. <A> To add smoky flavor, you can add a drop of liquid smoke. <S> Do it drop by drop <S> - be careful, it's easy to use too much and not be able to taste anything else. <A> While the some of the other answers point to liquid smoke or actual smoke,I would suggest that the flavour doesn't primarily come from the smoke generated by the fire/stove, but by the wok, the oil and technique itself. <S> Real smoke penetration is a inherently slow process. <S> Stir frying is an extremely fast process. <S> On one of those woks as pictured in your image, the food is cooking in seconds. <S> Having grown up with the dish, I've had plenty of it that was cooked well but not done on a professional wok burner. <S> I can also guarantee you that none of it ever had liquid smoke, paprika or coffee. <S> I think what you'd lose from changing the dish's flavours would be worse than the added "smokiness". <S> If you do have a good wok and stove, you want to get it screaming hot. <S> If your stove doesn't get hot enough, and your wok is oven safe <S> , you could try preheating it in the oven <S> (Chef Ming Tsai demonstrating this solution). <S> If you can't do any of the above, I would try a flat skillet as the closest western equivalent. <S> You want to get it really hot and recover the heat quickly while you're cooking. <S> A skillet will be better for that than a wok and a under powered stove. <S> From there it just comes down to finding the right balance of sauces, seasonings. <A> I would suggest either using a commercially available liquid smoke product added after the stir-frying stage. <S> The proper proportion would require some experimentation. <S> so there is fat in the noodles to hold the smoky flavor). <S> For what it's worth, if you cannot easily obtain a commercial liquid smoke, there are many results found on google with instructions on how to make it yourself. <A> Another, non-commercial option is to add a bit of strong coffee. <S> I learned that trick making chili-con-carne. <S> You wont have to buy it in, and it will not add a strong additional taste like smoked paprika (which will alter the taste of your dish quite substantially...). <S> Now, if you like the taste of paprika, you can use fresh sweet peppers, roast them in the flame of a gas burner until they are black, peel them and add them to your dish. <S> That will give a fresh paprika and smokey taste, much more vibrant than using powder. <S> But you will change the dish, of course. <A> Here’s what I do: Once you finished cooking, put the noodle in a dish and separate about a 1/4 in a separate bowl. <S> Then wash the wok. <S> Heat the wok dry to super super hot. <S> While it's heating combine 1/4 cup of oil (peanut, ricebran, whatever...) and combine with a teaspoon of sesame oil. <S> Toss it into the piping hot wok, then set it alight with a stove lighter (or if you’re good tip the wok to the flame to set it alight), and immediately put the flame out with the 1/4 bowl of noodles. <S> Keep stirring and add the other 3/4 of the noodles. <S> It's almost authentic in smokiness. <A> You left out the oyster sauce. <S> If you can't buy liquid smoke locally there is no way you bought oyster sauce. <S> I think that is the flavor she is missing. <S> You could call it smoky <S> but it is more than that; it dense, dark and really good. <S> Instead of ordering liquid smoke order some high end oyster sauce. <S> If that is the flavor she likes, it is good in lots of other things too. <S> A spoonful of oyster sauce makes lots of things good. <S> Try it in barbecue sauce!
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Liquid smoke is actually made by distilling smoke and it really does add a flavor much like putting the food in a smoker (or a big fire). Or you could try using a stove top smoker to smoke the meat & (dried) noodles beforehand, (perhaps something par-cooked similarly to the way instant ramen noodles are
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Sweet sauce for Peking Duck? I've always wondered what sauce they served with Peking Duck at various Chinese restaurants (at least in Australia anyway). Whenever I order Peking duck as takeout, they normally provide a cute little container with a dark liquidy sauce which has a rather sweet taste. I'm inclined to believe that it could be sweet bean sauce as suggested at various places on the internet but from what I can tell, it's supposed to have a thick consistency. However, this is not the case here. Any ideas what it could be? It's consistency and colour is very reminiscent of soy sauce but the taste is sweet, like black bean. <Q> In America that sauce is hoisin sauce or possibly (very much less likely) <S> duck sauce or plum sauce . <S> Any of these can be found for purchase easily, or they can be made from scratch. <A> Okay, all these answers have strange spellings, it should be spelt Hoisin sauce , and should say 海鲜酱 on the bottle, it means "Seafood sauce" though contains no seafood, it's about 50% sugar. <S> In Australia this is what you'll find in restaurants, and you'll be able to find the Lee Kum Kee brand at Chinese shops, and probably also in Coles: <S> Actually, traditionally, 烤鸭 (originally called 烧鸭子) was served with sweet bean sauce (甜面酱,) not Hoisin sauce (海鲜酱) and you will find the restaurants in Beijing still serving it with the traditional sauce. <S> Pretty sure Hoisin is used in Chinese restaurants in Australia because they're mostly Cantonese (not Beijingers) and used a sauce familiar to them. <S> North vs South, you know. <S> Also, Hoisin sauce is sweeter than sweet bean sauce, and so more closely aligns with the Caucasian Australian palate. <S> Note: <S> Peking = Beijing. <S> Furthermore, since it's less viscose than it's supposed to be, I believe it could have to do with one of two things: the heat has made it less thick, <S> and/or they water it down so it doesn't cost as much. <S> I probably wouldn't eat there <S> lol <S> >_< <A> My grandson adores duck pancakes <S> so I tend to buy Sweet Hoisen Sauce in a squeezy bottle from the Asian supermarket. <S> However, assuming this isn't easily available you can take any shop bought Duck / Hoisen sauce and customise although they tend to be very strong. <S> I find mixing in some runny honey works best to counteract the strength. <S> Ideally, heat a little of the sauce <S> (very very careful microwaving essential) then add the honey a little at a time to your own taste. <S> I also do a dipping sauce the kids love. <S> Light soy sauceDash of MirinTouch of Oyster (or Black Bean for a variation) <S> Sauce Chopped chilli, spring onion, ginger, garlic - all to your own taste. <S> Ideally marinate overnight. <S> Hope this assists. <A> Hoisin Sauce is really thick, and Duck Sauce isn't a dark color. <S> This sauce will be the base sauce for some of their brown sauces by adding additional seasoning. <S> So the Chicken and Broccoli dish and the Szechuan Chicken dishes will usually start from the same sauce base. <S> To me it sounds like the sauce you had is the restaurant's sweetened "house" brown sauce. <S> This sauce is usually also served with dumplings. <S> And often times contain sesame oil. <A> Can't believe none of the answers got it right. <S> Traditionally (at least in Beijing or China in general) <S> Peking duck is eaten with sweet bean sauce . <S> If you go to authentic Chinese restaurants abroad, it'd be the same!
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It is true that traditionally Peking Duck is eaten with Hoison Sauce or Duck Sauce, however based on your description it doesn't sound like either of these. However I know that a lot of Chinese restaurants have special base brown sauce they use by combining (different ratios for different restaurants that is very similar to how mexican restaurant have their own unique salsa)soy sauce, hoisin, oyster sauce, meat stock, and other sauces.
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How should burger patties be prepared in terms of mixing and flavourings? In this article by Kenji from serious eats he discusses forming the patty to a bare minimum so the strands of ground beef are still visible. He also recommends only salting the beef just before making it. Both strategies to avoid toughness. In this video by Gordon Ramsay (and other burger videos by him) he completely mushes up the mince to turn make it completely consistent. He also adds salt and a bunch of other flavourings, which a lot of people don't recommend. So who's right? Assuming Kenji is right in his assertions, why would Gordon do that to his burgers? Is it true that the meat should be just formed and otherwise left alone? <Q> Neither is right nor wrong, it simply depends on what you are trying to accomplish. <S> The way I make a basic burger is to try and pull off the right amount of ground meat from the package and shape it right there as is without kneading it at all. <S> Literally just enough handling to shape it. <S> However sometimes I want a seasoned burger, and that's more like making a patty shaped meatball <S> and you can't really avoid mixing/kneading it in the case. <S> Sometimes seasoning the outside of the burger is all that's needed. <A> There's no right or wrong answer as there are advantages to both <S> and it's about what you want out of a burger. <S> The advantage of the minimal disturbance method is that the strands of the meat give the burger structural strength. <S> It also gives a pure beef flavor as you aren't adding anything to it. <S> The mix up method breaks up the strands of meat which come out of the grinder which makes patties more fragile, however flavorings are distributed evenly. <S> Some people add binding agents like egg and breadcrumbs to hold it together when using the mix up method in which case it becomes more of a flat meatball than a burger. <S> My personal preference is the minimal disturbance method as it is fast, the patties hold together, and I like the flavor of pure beef. <S> After forming the patties I salt them on both sides. <S> After the final flip I grind fresh pepper on the cooked side - pepper gets bitter when burned. <A> From a traditionalist perspective, Kenji is right. <S> I didn't click through to the Ramsay video, but from your description of him adding lots of stuff, and mushing it up, his burger could more accurately be called " Salisbury Steak on a Bun." <S> Not that that is a bad idea.
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If I did want to add flavorings I would grind my own meat for the burgers and add the flavorings then.
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Where can I buy fresh, live yeast for making bread? (NOT active dry yeast) Where can I buy live yeast? Who sells it? Can I buy it non-commercially? Does anyone sell it online? I've found it difficult to find, at least in the United States's grocery stores. <Q> Another option-- <S> if it is available to you-- is a grocery store in an area with significant population of recent Eastern European immigrants. <S> There was a Polish store in Ann Arbor, MI (until it closed last year) where the live yeast was available by weight (cut from a big block, of the same consistency as cake yeast). <A> This traditional form of yeast is found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. <S> Due to its short shelf life, it is available in limited areas only . <S> (Fleischmann's) <S> Cake Yeast is available in limited markets in the midwest and northeastern U.S. <S> (Red Star) <S> If you happen to live in those states, remember that fresh yeast needs refrigeration, so it will not be in the baking isle with other dry yeast types, but in somewhere in the refrigerators. <S> Ask the shop assistants. <S> Some users in other forums report that, according to their observation, some stores stock fresh yeast during typical baking seasons like Christmas, but not during the rest of the year. <S> I can not comment on the correctness of that claim, but as I read it in various places, there might be a grain of truth in it. <S> Even stores "in the fresh yeast area" are taking a small financial risk stocking it - <S> it's perishable and the standard consumer buys the dry yeast they are familiar with. <S> If you are out of luck (geographically speaking) <S> I suggest keeping your eyes open for small ethnic or artisan bakeries. <S> Fresh yeast is available in larger units. <S> If you find a bakery using it, asking very nicely might get you the desired ounce or so. <S> Note the conversion rate - you will need about 3x the amount of dry yeast by (weight). <S> Buying fresh yeast online is probably a futile attempt - where the manufacturers refrain from shipping truckloads of the stuff, an online retailer would have to go through an unreasonable amount of trouble to ship 2oz yeast and keeping it cool while doing so. <A> Try a homebrewer's supply store, or ask at a local bakery if you can buy some of theirs off of them, or (even better/cheaper) <S> you could make your own sourdough starter. <A> For those who have said that dry yeast is the same as fresh yeast: it depends upon the recipe. <S> I have my grandmother's recipe for Refrigerator Rolls. <S> I'm 62 and the recipe is much older than me. <S> I have tried dry yeast in this recipe and it just plain doesn't work. <S> Someone even gave me some instructions to adjust the recipe and it still didn't work. <S> So, every year I go on the hunt to find my fresh yeast. <S> I have found though that you can freeze it, right away, and it keeps a while longer. <S> But, once you thaw it you have to use it right away. <S> I have found it at some Giant Eagle stores. <S> Mina
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Both Red Star and Fleischmann's produce fresh cake yeast, but as it is a perishable item with a limites shelf life and a need for constant refrigeration, they limit their sales area and state so on their websites:
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How to prevent olive oil container from getting oily outside? I'm using this kind of container to add just drops of oil on top of my food or whatever: Problem is it's always oily so after using it I have to clean my hand. Any trick to keep it clean and non oily outside? <Q> Something like imaged, with the right-sized bottle. <S> Because it has separate tubes for liquid and gas, you usually pour out only what you need. <S> The trick here is that is sounds like you use as little oil as possible, and this method tends to be best for more generous usage. <A> I don't own such a bottle and thus can't try it myself, but probably the following method works. <S> While standing upright, squeeze some air out of the bottle . <S> Keep it squeezed while adding the desired amount of oil to your dish. <S> Loosen your grip to let the air flow back into the bottle, and simultaneously tilt it back upright . <S> The thought behind this is that the back-flowing air will push the oil back into the bottle and in this way prevent drops. <S> If you try it, please let me know via comment if it works. <A> Can't say that I've done this, but what about creating an absorbent ring by rolling a piece of paper towel into several layers and securing it to the top of the bottle with a rubber band? <S> That way any drips would be soaked up. <S> Cheap, easy, replaceable. <A> Choice of nozzle can help, but due to the Viscosity coupled with the LACK of skin effect, you'll always get a little bit on the edge even if it's a quarter drop and it will slowly drip down the side. <S> So...really all you can do is keep it clean.
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I've worked in a couple kitchens, one of the better methods I saw involved snagging a used pour bottle from the bar, cleaning it out and using that for oil. Not really except to clean the outside after use.
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Hamilton Beach 5 qt Slow Cooker Bad taste and smell I have purchased a Hamilton Beach 5 qt slow cooker. Made Wild Rice Chicken Soup in it for 7 hrs on low and after 4 hours I checked it and tasted. Delicious. 3 hours later I shredded the chicken and shut it off. It smelled and tasted delicious. Left it on warm and when I opened the lid 2 hours later, the smell was so disgusting that I gagged. The smell was a cross between melted plastic and something rotting. My hubby thought I had gotten sick in the kitchen. The smell lifted somewhat to just smelling like plastic. We couldn't eat it though because it still smelled and tasted like melted plastic. I had no problem with it the first time I used it. I could find no burnt or melted plastic anywhere on the cooker. What would have caused this. Would any ingredients do this. Wild rice, balsamic rice and normal soup stuff. I am returning the cooker but don't want to have this problem with another one.Made <Q> It sounds like the cooker malfunctioned. <S> Various electrical parts can give off strong acrid odors when this occurs. <S> It's possible that the nature of the fault was such that its circuit only came into play when you switched the unit to "warm". <S> However, assuming it's a typical slow cooker with a ceramic bowl and glass cover, I don't know how the taste would be transferred inside to your cooked food. <S> Perhaps the odor was so strong and held in the air such that it affected your taste buds. <S> In any case, you are wise to return the unit. <S> Whatever happened to yours is likely an unusual occurrence. <S> Hopefully it won't happen again to its replacement. <A> What ElmerCat said is correct. <S> As for your question about a specific ingredient causing the problem -- no. <S> This has nothing to do with the ingredients, and everything to do with the appliance itself. <S> Typically, electronics either fail after only a few uses as there was some sort of a manufacturing mistake, or they take some time to fail. <S> They may also fail if abused for some reason (eg, dropped, heated abnormally, tried using it without warming up after it had been in freezing temperatures, etc.) <S> If you're lucky, they just fail to turn on, or work sluggishly. <S> When you're not so lucky, they burn up internally and may catch fire. <S> It sounds like you were somewhere in the middle, but more towards the bad side. <S> (and if there are capacitors involved, the smells can get quite interesting ... and not in a good way) <S> And I'd also recommend posting a review on Amazon, even if that's not where you got it from. <S> Enough people post reviews on there that it might help people identify if there's a particular model that's known to fail fast or in spectacularly bad ways. <A> Find out how these things fail, and if there ever was a danger of that failure mode causing a fire. <S> Base your next purchasing decision concerning that make and model on the results of that. <S> Should you throw it away, before or after examining it, cut the plug off so nobody finding it can mistake it for something that might be serviceable.
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An electrical fault inside the unit may have caused a short that caused some component to burn. Unless the cost of that thing is significant to you, do not return it but take it to an electrician and have him examine the cause, or take it to an electronics savvy friend and take it apart with him.
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Is my "non stick" pan kaput? I have a Circulon frying pan I've been using for a few years. I got it second hand in good condition. The non stick factor was great when I got it, but when I fry with it now, I find I need to use quite a bit of oil or it sticks. I've tried hard to clean off what seems to be a kind of oily residue, but I'm wondering if it's the last of the non-stick coating I'm trying to remove! Other than the stickiness, it's a great pan. Are this pan's non stick days over? Or otherwise, what can I do to restore it? <Q> Let's just mention that there are health controversies about using a broken nonstick coating and/or bare aluminium surfaces, and see them as controversies that are off topic here. <S> Non-stick wise, this pan is wrecked. <S> It seems that some spray-on products used to exist, but these were not actually teflon based even if they were sold as teflon repair sprays, and did not give an equivalent result to industrially applied coatings. <S> There are professional refinishing services, but the price of the refinishing plus shipping costs is about the price of a brand new medium quality pan, and even this could only work with a piece where all non-heatproof fittings can be dismantled from the pan itself; the refinishing process will involve baking it at a high temperature. <S> The only thing that would be possible to do yourself, IF the base material of the pan is either stainless steel or carbon steel/cast iron/wrought iron, would be to completely get the damaged coating off and use the cookware as a stainless steel, or seasoned iron, piece. <S> But with most non-stick cookware, the base is aluminium, which is not useful as an uncoated or seasoned cooking surface. <S> EDIT: <S> It seems there are seasoning techniques for some types of bare aluminium, they might or might not apply. <S> As I mentioned, there are health controversies about it, so make informed decisions. <A> I had (actually still have) the same problem. <S> I have a non-stick teflon frying pan. <S> Scrubbing with the rough side of the sponge didn't help and I could scratch the oily residue with my nails off the pan. <S> The solution I had is to rub very gently the polymerized oil with steel wool off the pan. <S> It was easier if the pan is absolutely dry. <S> There is a chance that you'll ruin your pan - <S> but I think the stickiness of your pan can't be worse than now. <S> If you can see the bare metal peeking through the teflon coating, then your frying pan is already at its end of life. <S> Then there are two options: Either buy a new pan or sandblast the whole coating off and then season the pan on a kettle grill (the latter only if the metal is suitable for this) :) <A> I recently cooked eggs sunnyside up in my nonstick pan, for 15 minutes. <S> Once the smoke cleared, I noticed carbon deposits on the pan. <S> They look remarkably like what you have on yours. <S> Boiling a strong solution of baking soda in the pan for 15 minutes, then letting it sit til cool <S> let me get the carbon off with a plastic scrubby. <S> Sadly, although it looked nice, the pan was no longer non-stick. <S> Try the bicarbonate treatment on the pan, but don't expect it to work. <S> Most organic compounds carbonize at around 500°F, and your pan is likely rated for only 450°.
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There is no practical way to fix a modern nonstick coating to original state yourself at home.
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How to replace marshmallows in rice krispies cakes? I'm making rice krispies cakes, but I just realized I'm out of gelatin and marshmallows. My mate suggested mixing normal granulated sugar with some water and it will give me the stickiness I need. Is he right? If not sugared water, what else could I use here? <Q> There are plenty of recipes for rice krispie cakes without marshmallows in them. <S> Rather than trying to substitute in your recipe, you'd be better off making something slightly different <S> but that's been tested. <S> Here's an example from tesco . <S> The recipe we use is based on golden syrup, but isn't online. <S> A search for "rice Krispie cake -marshmallow", possibly with the addition of "-chocolate" will find you a decent selection. <A> A version without marshmallows would be those that bind rice krispies (or cornflakes) with chocolate. <S> See for example <S> bbcgoodfoods (using cornflakes) or a site for kids . <S> The base procedure is to melt chocolate, optionally thin it a bit with butter and/or syrup and fold in your cereals. <S> If you want light rice krispie treats, use white chocolate instead of dark or milk chocolate. <S> Adjust the chocolate : cereal ratio to your liking, but use enough to bind the individual grains together. <A> Sugar water will just make your Krispies soggy. <S> Anything but gelatin and marshmallows will make them taste funny, but sufficient peanut (or other nut) butter, to make the stuff stick together, plus an egg might give you something tasty and edible after baking. <A> If you had some chocolate chips on hand, you could technically make Crunch bars. <S> I would melt 1.5 of chips per 3/4 cups of krispies. <S> Other than that, a good basic recipe is to melt 1/2 cup nut butter and 1/2 cup <S> honey(or maple/glucose/sticky syrup) together in a pot, then mix that into 3 cups of Rice Krispies. <S> I personally like tahini (sesame seed) butter and maple syrup. <A> Sugar water will indeed make your rice krispies soggy - however with the magic of cooking, you can apply heat to the sugar water and turn it into a toffee/caramel, which will not only bind your rice krispies well, but will set nicely so that you have a crunchy slice. <S> A version of this is common in NZ/Australia and is normally made with honey, butter and sugar to make the toffee <S> I have also had great success with a date mixture , which I find is best refridgerated, but works well at room temp too.
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A good basic one is honey and peanut butter, though. Pouring sugar water - even with a very high sugar: water ratio - over the rice crispies will have basically the same effect as pouring milk over them in your breakfast bowl: A soggy mess within minutes.
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Should you ever add aromatic veggies to a dish without sauteing them first? Many recipes and cooking blog posts emphasize the importance of sauteing aromatic veggies to release their flavor and reduce the bite. This gave me the impression that when aromatic veggies are involved, the order of saute>raw is always preferred. I mean - why would you ever NOT want to release the aroma in a veg? Yet for example I see many cooks that add the onions to a dish without sauteing first. Is there an advantage to not sauteing aromatic veggies, or is it always preferred to saute them? If so, how can you tell according to the dish? <Q> If the recipes were truly interesting in 'releasing the flavors', they'd be sweating the onions, not sauteing them. <S> Sauté is a higher-heat method that will cook the vegetables to create other chemical compounds, thus changing their flavor. <S> In the case of garlic and onions, this cooking makes them dramatically sweeter. <S> But sometimes you don't want that <S> -- you may want the sharp bite of the garlic, and to do that, you need to add it near the end of cooking, without it having been cooked. <S> Also of note is that if you are cooking in an acid (such as tomatoes), the acid will slow or possibly stop the vegetables from softening ... <S> so if you want your onions to dissolve into the sauce, they need to be cooked first. <S> If you them to add some chunkiness and the possible burst of onion when someone bites in, you want to add it later. <S> As others have noted -- in many cases, you'll add a given ingredient twice <S> -- maybe some garlic to mellow out at the beginning of cooking, and then a crushed clove or two towards the end of the cooking. <A> That is really a matter of choice. <S> but they taste different. <S> Especially if using onions. <S> and especially if you sautee long enough to brown. <S> Not browning bones and veggies gives a light boullion, browning them a brown bouillon. <S> To give you an example: Marcella Hazan gives in her Classic Italian Kitchen cookbook different tomato sauces: 1) just chop an onion in half 2) dice onion and vegs but dont sautee 3) dice and sautee <S> In fact, to sautee or not to sautee is a great way of making dishes taste a bit different, while using the same ingredients. <S> Nice for variation and for more refined combination. <S> And, yes, with saute I also mean "sweating". <A> Thai soups (Tom Kha, Tom Yum etc) are an interesting counterexample - where shallots, peppers, onions ... are just thrown in the broth in many recipes. <S> Moreover, there are lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and other more specialised aromatics that are almost never sauteed in these, even if the same ARE sauteed (as part of a curry paste) in other dishes. <S> Also, I have seen good dal recipes where onions, garlic, ginger are just thrown in with the rest and boiled for hours. <S> And garlic is not infrequently added late and raw to tomato sauces, in addition to sauteed garlic at the start... <S> EDIT: <S> Frequently, aromatics added raw are crushed, likely so that some of the aromatic juices get expelled easier. <S> Also, if they are themselves inedible, cut in such a way (eg fanning) that they stay in one piece but have maximum surface exposure (lemongrass and galangal, though I find milder/younger types of galangal deliciously edible when they've been stewing in the soup :). <S> What not to do: <S> Add vegetables the same color as whole hot peppers when you have sensitive guests, or black cardamon (more a whole spice than an aromatic) with raisins :)
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If you cook the veggies for a while, they will also release their aromatics....
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How to make homemade pinto beans taste like canned refried beans? I see plenty of advice out there on how to make canned pinto beans taste delicious, but does anyone know how to recreate that cheapo refrito taste? I've tried countless combinations of freshly cooked pinto beans, salt, garlic, chili powder, onions... They always seem to be missing some crucial element, and I don't mean the sitting-in-a-can-forever-flavor! <Q> Lard is the fat of choice in many "el cheapo" canned refried beans, and could be what you are missing. <A> My first guess would be: more salt than you think. <S> This is probably the main "secret" for most processed foods. <S> Ortega Traditional Refried Beans have 560 mg of sodium per serving (that's a serving of 131 g, making 3.5 servings in a standard can). <S> A 1/4 tsp of table salt has 590 mg. <S> If you're making the equivalent of 1 can of beans, you would have to put in a little over 3/4 tsp of salt. <S> If you're making a biggish pot, starting with 1 kg of dry beans (makes about 2 kg cooked), that would be about 4 tsp (9.5 g) of salt. <S> Yeah, it's a lot. <S> You can think about whether you really want to do that. <S> Other suggestions I have heard: sugar and cinnamon. <S> Haven't tried it myself, though. <A> You're missing fat in the equation. <S> The previous member suggests bacon <S> but I don't know how you feel about the smoke flavor but fat will do you good. <A> but you can't taste the cumin. <A> You might be missing epazote . <S> IMHO an absolute must in any Mexican bean dishes. <S> Do not overdo it though. <A> Lard. <S> It's all you need. <S> There is usually a tub of it in the same part of the store as Crisco (vegetable shortening).
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Try mashing the beans with butter and bacon drippings along with just a enough cumin so you can "tell" it's different
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How can I remove burnt smell from white sauce? I was preparing white sauce from milk. I started with boiling one half litres skimmed milk for the above.The bottom was getting burnt as I was not stirring continuously. Finally the white sauce for pasta had the pungent smell of burnt milk. I have tried adding peeled raw potatoes but no idea if it worked as the burnt milk smell and taste prevailed.Then, tried adding sugar step by step while stirring...still the smell was persisting.I have tried increasing garlic and onion but the taste and smell remained. Please let me know how the burnt smell of milk can be removed in these kind of sauces.Thank you. <Q> Really. <S> Don't even try. <S> Throw it out and start over, being careful not to burn it this time. <S> For some foods, there are various tricks <S> you can try for removing the burnt taste, but they all start with removing the burnt bits . <S> With a sauce where you've already thoroughly mixed everything together, that just isn't possible. <S> A side note: you don't need to boil the milk for white sauce. <S> Of course, in that case you need to remember to not burn the roux, but for Béchamel/white sauce, you're basically barely cooking the fat+flour before you add the milk, so it shouldn't be an issue. <A> I'm not sure your exact recipe or method, but you cannot get rid of the burnt taste or smell <S> and you will need to start over with fresh ingredients. <S> You don't need or want to boil the milk at any part of the process, just to heat the milk enough to activate the thickener. <S> In the case of a classic flour roux thickened sauce you start by cooking the roux for a short time to cook the flour, then add the milk and stir while gently heating. <S> Your sauce will start to steam a bit and then within a minute will thicken and get bubbly, at which time the sauce is done. <S> You can take it off the heat or keep it warm on low after that point. <A> Your best bet is to change the pan for a clean pan, but I doubt if you can really get rid of the taste. <S> Depends on how burnt it all was. <S> To my knowledge, you cannot add things to burnt food to get rid of the taste.
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There is nothing you can add or do to your sauce to remove or mask the burnt taste. If you have trouble with remembering to stir the milk while it's heating, just use a method that involves adding cold milk to a hot roux.
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Does resting fish before serving affect its texture or taste? More and more recipes seem to turn up that tell you to rest fish before serving. Not for very long, but still. That seems not right to me. You rest meat to reabsorb juices and relax,so it seems more tender. And to even out temperature differences. Fish is a completely different kind of "meat", and I don't see why resting would help here. For one, the cells have less tough walls, so it is tender anyway. And the temp issue seems less important as well, being less dense than meat. You could argue that dense fish flesh, such as monkfish, is more like meat, and therefore resting is necessary, as I have heard. But that seems a very dubious reasoning to me. But the chefs on the same level as Ramsay propose to do this...not that these chefs are necessary right and up to date with the WHY's of what they do, of course. Would resting fish change the its taste or texture in any noticeable way? <Q> Would resting fish change the its taste or texture in any noticeable way? <S> No, in short. <S> The only mention of 'resting' of any fish is from the Lophius genus (aka Monkfish, Angler fish). <S> It is suggested to allow the monkfish to rest if you are going to slice it before serving to reduce the amount of liquid released. <S> I would suggest to portion the fish before cooking, and serve asap after cooking. <S> I think mainly the term 'resting' for fish is inappropriately used, as the fish is actually undercooked and <S> the carry over/residual heat completes the cooking before it is consumed. <A> I can't think of any other reason. <A> Resting meat so that it will reabsorb its juices is a myth and results in cold meat. <S> There is a big difference between resting meat, that is letting it cool, and holding meat in a warming oven, which should be avoided. <S> There are many reasons why you should not rest meat: 1. <S> it continues to cook, 2. <S> it can get rubbery, 3. <S> it does nothing for the juices unless you get it cold enough that it will congeal, hardly what you want to do when serving meat, 4. <S> usually the meat will spend considerable amount of time on a plate in front of a diner before it is eaten. <S> I never rest my flank steak or any of my other steaks when serving them at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops. <S> And those steaks always come out juicy and delicious. <S> Keeping this in mind, I never, ever rest my fish. <S> Why? <S> Because I want it out to the diner while it is still hot, while it is at its peak. <S> (Pet peeve is when diners wait to eat the food put in front of them until everyone of them is served. <S> Usually at my restaurant, we have tables of no less than 8 to 12 people and this will mean cool food.) <S> If you want juicy fish, or meat, for that matter, cook it right. <S> My fish is always juicy and tender and perfectly cooked, not overcooked from resting. <S> I am careful how I cook any meat but <S> doubly so when cooking fish. <S> I always take it out when it is 5 to 10 degrees cooler than my target temperature. <S> And with delicate fish, I often use a coating or a cooking technique such as en papillote or en croute to protect the fish, which are also coatings of sorts. <S> And don't forget, <S> the slower you cook a piece of meat, the less bunched the protein will be. <S> Cooking meat at high temperatures, makes the protein bunch into a hard "knot". <S> Slow cooking allows the protein to stay stretched out and tender. <S> Also, with roast, cut against the grain. <S> With fish, do not overly handle the fish. <S> Avoid turning if you can. <S> I hope this helps. <S> See: <S> http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_resting_meat.html for reference and also see this article as a counter example: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/how-to-have-juicy-meats-steaks-the-food-lab-the-importance-of-resting-grilling.html <A> Fish needn't be rested unless you are sure it is slightly undercooked, and then you should transfer the fish onto a warmed plate and cover with foil for a few minutes. <S> Cooked meat is rested typically because it spikes in temperature. <A> Yes! <S> If you've cooked the fish just to the point where it "flakes easily with a fork", then you need to let it rest for a minute or two at room temperature to let it firm back up a bit. <S> You don't want to have to eat it with a spoon!
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I rest fish so it isn't as dry and has time to soak up some of the seasonings in the juices.
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What is a non-pork substitute for Italian sausage? We do not have genuine pork Italian sausages here in Israel. When a recipe like Ragu or Bolognese calls for Italian sausage, what meat could be used as a substitute for ground pork, and what seasonings should I add to match the seasonings that are commonly found in Italian sausage? <Q> By "Italian Sausage" I think you mean the seasoned pork sausage available in many supermarkets throughout the US. <S> I've found that a 30-70 mix of beef and turkey/chicken works reasonably well as a substitute when pork is not available. <S> Beef is too strong a flavor and turkey too weak in its own. <S> Flavor-wise most italian sausage has red wine, fennel, and oregano. <A> If you have not already looked, check the vegetarian section of where-ever you get groceries. <S> At least here in the USA there are several varieties of Italian "sausage" that are entirely meat free and kosher. <S> YMMV, but I find them to be an entirely satisfactory substitute. <A> Traditional ragus don't have sausage at all. <S> The usual recipes call for minced beef or minced calf meat as a primary ingredient; to it you can add a quantity of minced pork to add more flavour (by adding fat), balancing on your taste between 50% pork/50% other meat, to 100% other meat plus a bit of bacon, to no pork at all. <S> We even have duck ragu, rabbit ragu, wild boar ragu... <S> really, don't let yourself be limited by pork. <S> Traditional Bolognese is also totally without pork.
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Bar Akiva, you are very lucky as this is a really easy problem to solve: just don't use sausage in your ragu!
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Do you achieve better results from marinating if you poke holes in the meat beforehand? Usually when I marinate any kind of meat (usually chicken or steak), I always just stick the whole piece of meat in marinade and let it sit for X hours. My question is, is it possible to achieve better (more flavorful, or juicy) results from marinading if you poke holes in the meat before marinating to allow the juices to flow INTO the meat? What are the benefits and drawbacks of said approach? For the purpose of simplicity, lets keep the discussion to cuts of chicken and steak, cooked on a gas grill. <Q> https://youtu.be/_yTLjYRDDwI?t=51s (at 51s Ben talks about the brine for a pork shoulder, and speeding it up by injecting it. <S> They have other videos for beef, and chicken, and frequently advocate injecting brine/marinade into their meats.) <S> This is effectively the same as poking holes in the meat and letting the marinade seep in more effectively. <S> It would depend on the size of the holes you're creating, if you're jacquarding the meat the holes will be larger than a needle. <S> Benefits: <S> speed up marinating, more effective marinating. <S> Drawbacks: <S> Depending on hole size, you could ruin presentation and texture. <S> Depending on the marinade, you could be affecting the colour of the meat, too. <A> Most flavor molecules from marinades don't penetrate much below the surface of the meat. <S> (Salt and to a lesser extent sugar are exceptions: they will gradually work their way in deeper in long marinades.) <S> Anyhow, if you actually want your marinade flavors to penetrate more than about 1/8" into the meat, the only real option is injection. <S> But if you don't want to do that, poking holes or even gashing the surface with rough knife cuts will help a bit. <S> You can see some photos at this link , showing how a colored dye (whose molecule size is as big as typical flavor molecules) doesn't get below the surface, but gashes and holes can help carry it deeper. <S> I don't know that there are any real drawbacks to the method, other than having a craggy surface on the meat. <S> As Jolenealaska pointed out in comments, the idea that significant moisture loss occurs from piercing is mostly a myth. <S> (For more detail on that, see Myth 6A here .) <A> Have not experienced with chicken, but for steak normally I don't poke holes in it because all the juices will come out when grilling. <S> For cheaper steak cuts though, I think it can help to poke it and even help to put some tenderizing elements to it. <S> I've read somewhere that it is okay to poke as long as you avoid poking across the grain as it causes the meat cells to tighten. <S> To achieve what you want: More flavorful - longer hours in the marinate = more flavorful. <S> I've tried leaving a chicken in a salty marinade overnight and the next day it turned out really really salty. <S> Juicier - depends on the quality, cut, and doneness of the steak. <S> Some parts are juicier than the other.
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ChefSteps inject their cuts of meat with their 'brine', a marinade of salty water, liquid smoke, etc., before putting the entire thing in that brine to speed up the process (6-7 days down to 1-2 days)
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What cheeses work well for pizza that will be refrigerated and reheated? I make pizza pretty frequently, and I always have leftovers. I have a few go-to crust recipes that reheat well after being refrigerated, but I'm never happy with the cheese upon reheating. Usually I use freshly grated, part-skim, grocery store mozzarella and the leftover pizza never gets good and melty again. What other cheeses might give me better results when I reheat the pizza after a day or two in the fridge? I'm open to outside-the-box choices; I can tweak the other ingredients to complement the cheese. What I am looking for is a texture in the reheated pizza that is as pleasant (although, not necessarily the same) as it was fresh from the oven. <Q> It isn't a perfect match for the flavor and texture of regular pizza cheese, but soy cheese (Daiya mozzarella shreds, specifically) reheats beautifully and is even good cold. <S> We switched cheeses because of a dairy intolerance, but found the storage properties to be a great side benefit. <S> It does end up being a noticeable change to a pizza's flavor profile, but may be less of an impact if there are lots of other toppings on your pizza. <S> If you find the flavor and texture of the Daiya cheese acceptable when the pizza is fresh, it will still taste the same when reheated. <A> While there are many cheeses to choose from, I find that provolone both heats and reheats well. <S> Also, the flavor profile works nicely with most Italian dishes, pizza included. <S> I've used smoked, unsmoked, mild, and sharp. <S> Whether smoked or not, the mild tends to be a little "meltier", and more suited to the flavor I'm looking for. <A> I've found that lower fat cheeses tend not to reheat particularly well. <S> Full-fat mozzarella would be better than part skim. <S> Also, keeping the cheese in bigger chunks gives better results than shredding, so slicing may be a better way to go. <S> I've been thinking that the reason for this is water loss, and that the reason for the texture of shredded cheeses and lower fat cheeses after cooking is that they get dried. <S> It may be worth trying semi-skimmed cheese in strips or thin slices and see whether that fixes your problem rather than changing cheeses. <S> Maybe next time do half shredded, half sliced and see what you think.
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I use full-fat soft mozzarella which I pull apart or slice rather than shredding, and it has a much better texture when cooled and reheated than hard mozzarella, which tends to get a waxy look and texture.
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How can I remove moisture from my onions? Currently, I prepare onions to put on a pizza by using a food processor to chop them, then strain them and let them dry. Then, I put them in containers before use. However, the onions have been too moist lately, and make the pizzas soggy when they're put on them. How can I remove some of the moisture so they don't do that? <Q> Then give them some time to sit, preferably in a shallow layer. <S> The salt will extract water from the vegetable, due to the osmotic gradient between the salt outside and the vegetable inside. <S> Some of the salt will go into the vegetable, but much will remain outside; you'll need to figure out how much salt you can get away with using before your vegetable is too salty, but it's typically a large amount in my experience. <S> Once enough water has been extracted, rinse the vegetable off (to remove the excess salt), and pat it dry between two parts of a towel (or two paper towels). <S> The vegetable will now have much less moisture in it, which will both lead to crispier and quicker frying, and less moisture coming out in the cooking process. <S> A second option, in your specific case, is to store them in open containers. <S> The refrigerator will dry the onions out over time. <S> This is usually a bad thing, and you intentionally close containers to prevent this; but in your case, depending on the length of time you're talking about, it could be a good thing. <S> I wouldn't do this for more than a few days (as it will really dry the onion), but it might be worth testing to see if it helps. <S> This may leave your refrigerator (and its contents) smelling like onions, of course. <S> Alternately, you can store the onion on a mesh or grate which allows moisture to slip down below the onion; it may help prevent some moisture re-absorption and improve your results. <A> Or you could try saute em before hand <S> then just drop em on few minutes before your pizza is done? <A> You could, of course, actively dry them, in a food dehydrator or one of the many improvised versions of the same thing. <S> You don't need to completely dehydrate them (unless, as @mrog does, you find that you like that) though if you do you can skip refrigeration. <S> I often partially dry apples when making apple pie to get the "pie juice" thicker without resorting to corn starch or tapioca. <S> I also mix fully dried apples with normal apples. <S> I see no reason that the same techniques should not apply to onions and pizzas. <S> That would be easier with sliced rings rather than diced/chopped onion, which will tend to clump and probably be difficult to dry. <S> I guess mixing purchased dried onion or garlic with the diced/chopped onion might work, if rings are not an option.
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One technique for removing water from a vegetable, which works very well for onions, is to salt them liberally.
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What does it mean when a jar lid pops? When opening a glass jar of prepared spaghetti sauce, (with the seal flat), and it makes a loud sound when opened, is that bad or good? <Q> When being canned (or jarred as in this case) the ingredients are put into the jar hot before a lid is put on. <S> When the ingredients cool it creates a suction that pulls the lid down. <S> When you open the lid and hear a pop what is happening is that air is coming in to fill the low pressure inside, which indicates that there was a good seal. <S> This is definitely a good thing. <S> Either way it means that it's not safe to eat. <A> The popping is used to indicate 1 of 2 different things have NOT occurred. <S> 1) has it be opened previously or didn't have a good seal. <S> 2) spoilage, even if the seal was perfect, if spoilage occurs it will create gasses that will increase the pressure inside the jar. <S> Caveat: we had one question in the past where someone opened a jar of sauce, used a small portion and within an hour or two fizz started pouring out of the jar from the unused portion, so spoilage can still occur without indicators. <S> I think that was a 1:1,000,000 occurrence, but it can still happen. <A> A loud sound (like a pop) is the sound you get when the Jar has not previously been opened. <S> The quality of the sauce, however, depends entirely on the brand and the ingredients. <A> The pop is vacuum sealed for freshness through heating, steaming, homogenizing, pasturizing. <S> It pops when you break the seal like popping a can of coke or pepsi. <S> No pop, no seal, not fresh (probably spoiled). <S> There are pops for both vacuum seals and pressure seals. <S> Vacuum seals suck the air out. <S> A pressure seal is hot food, sealed, then placed in cold bath.
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If there is no pop that means that there is no longer low pressure in the jar, this could be because it was never sealed properly, or the contents have gone off despite the seal and created gas inside the jar. I define that as "good".
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What can I use to substitute for Italian sausage to make it appropriate for vegetarians? I want to make a butternut lasagna which calls for sausage. Is there something I can substitute the sausage with to make it vegetarian that will still taste great?? <Q> the principle flavoring spices of Italian sausage are caraway seed, sage and sometimes paprika. <S> If you want to add an umami element (meaty taste) substitute all salt with soy sauce, and perhaps add a little extra soy (experiment) to get the level of taste you want without making the lasagna over watery. <A> One thing always worth trying when sausage or bacon is called for is smoked tofu. <S> It usually comes very firm, which suits the purpose well. <S> I would recommend shallow-frying it before adding it to a sauce/filling if using big pieces, or putting it in the oil a few minutes ahead of other aromatics if using brunoise/small dice-size pieces. <S> In the second case, try adding brunoised/diced standard mushrooms and maybe some (fresh or reconstituted) shiitake too; also make sure these are well fried. <A> Depending on your locality, you can certainly substitute in vegetarian Italian sausage made with something like soy instead of meat. <S> This will give you a really similar taste and texture to the sausage and won't add a bunch of extra water, which would be an issue with some other vegetable options. <S> Other options for true "sausage" substitutes would be to follow a recipe to make your own, like this one , made primarily out of mushrooms and black-eyed peas or <S> this one made from vital wheat gluten (though it can be difficult to find for some people). <S> As a note, I do not endorse any of these products or recipes as I have not tried them myself. <A> The rest is a matter of taste. <S> Let me give a few suggestions. <S> If you want to stay close to the meaty idea, you could use garlic, rosemary, sage, and cumin (cumin goes really well with squash, countless recipes and cultures make this combination). <S> I would put in some nuts as well, preferably pistacchios. <S> Anything really, except peanuts. <S> Or you could go the other way and use spinach or kale. <S> Or perhaps Cauliflower puree.
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You can substitute the sausage meat itself with any suitable veg that's normally used as the star of a dish, such as eggplants or firmer squashes, however if you want that sausage taste Brands to check out are " Tofurky ", " Lightlife " and " Field Roast ", even some stores offer their own in-house options including Trader Joe's. The answer to this is: anything, except meat.
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What is the difference between granulated cane sugar and granulated sugar? I see two types of sugar in the baking aisle that I can't differentiate: "granulated sugar" and "granulated cane sugar". The latter is considerably more expensive. So, what is the difference between granulated cane sugar and this (unspecified) granulated sugar, and why would I want to choose one over the other? As I understand it, cane sugar is extracted exclusively from sugar cane, while the other kind (the one that is not labeled as cane) can be a mixture of sucrose from several sources. Is this difference enough to make one a better candidate when cooking? baking? sweetening tea/coffee? <Q> There is no real difference between types of granulated, white sugar. <S> The options you are likely to see are cane sugar and beet sugar. <S> Granulated sugar from sugarcane is often considered "superior" to beet sugar by Americans, but the idea that cane sugar is in any way superior to beet sugar has no basis. <S> Swapping them will cause no issue. <S> By the way - this is sugarcane: <S> These are sugar beets: <S> I'd post a picture of the granulated sugar made from each, but it seems kind of pointless as they look the same. <S> On this question (almost an exact duplicate), some posters see a small difference. <S> I never have. <S> The difference between beet sugar and cane sugar <A> In some regions, processing methods for commonly marketed sugar types are known to use or not use refining techniques using animal-derived ingredients. <S> Some vegetarians will prefer the types not using such technique, or even avoid those that do. <A> Cane sugar does not contain galactose which is in beet sugar. <S> This is of important consequence to people who are galactosemic. <S> Beet sugar has also been processed using sodium bisulfite, and the residue may bother those allergic to sulfites. <A> Beet sugar is made from sugar beets, which in the US are often treated with pesticide that cane sugar is not. <S> Traces of said pesticides, minute though they may be are found in cane sugar. <S> This is why beekeepers will only use Cane Sugar to supplement their bees over the winter. <S> Beet sugar can contaminate the honey. <S> Additionally, many beets are now GMO crops, while sugar cane is non-modified. <S> https://www.gardenfork.tv/honeybee-sugar-syrup-why-use-only-cane-sugar/
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Granulated beet sugar and granulated cane sugar are completely interchangeable and indistinguishable.
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How do you prevent salmon from falling apart when frying? I have tried frying salmon filet and besides the fact it was very raw on the inside it fell apart when I tried to flip it over. Why? *Skin was on. <Q> I start the fish on the stove, skin down, then I finish cooking it in the oven. <S> You need an oven safe frying pan of course, cast iron or a high-temperature non-stick works well. <S> You get a nice crispy skin this way. <S> If you are set on flipping then you need to be gentle, think of it as turning over, not flipping. <S> Get your spatula completely under the fish and lift it off the pan a bit, then putting your fingers on top of the piece <S> roll it over, last let it gently drop onto the pan - keeping your fingers off the surface of course. <A> Ok so you said salmon fillet. <S> So my first question is how big is the filet. <S> Fish don't develop protein chains to hold together the same way red meat has. <S> So the flakes don't really hold together if pulled too hard, so I wonder if your fillets are too big. <S> When I cook fish, especially salmon I try cut the fillet into serving sizes portions, maybe 2 inches across (assuming a full sized fish here). <S> This helps keep the fish to a manageable size. <S> There is also a tool that is very aptly named because it was designed for this use <S> and it's called a fish turner. <S> This is a thin and springy or turner that would better with fish because when scooping up the fish it doesn't force the fish to reshape itself to the more rigid spatula and therefore you get less fish breaking apart. <S> Do not turn the fish too many times. <S> Leave it on one side and let it do all the cooking on that side that it needs, flip it once and let it finish. <S> This will produce a nice crusty finish. <S> As far as getting it to cook through the center, well that takes patience. <S> Cook on a medium low heat but cook it for longer, like 8 minutes on each side (experiment, don't rely on my telling you 8 minutes). <S> Then when you take the fish off the pan, put it on the plate and let it rest for a few more minutes. <S> The fish will still be cooking on the inside and will finish up if you don't serve it too early, but of course don't wait so long that the fish cools. <S> You want to serve it while it's still hot, but not scalding hot. <A> are you keeping the skin on? <S> If you take the skin off it's likely to fall apart. <S> If you've kept the skin and it's falling apart <S> I suggest it's overcooked.
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The best technique I've found for frying fish is not to flip it at all.
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What would cause the albumen of a hard boiled egg to turn purple? The albumen of my hard boiled eggs turned purple. What would cause this and is it ok to consume? <Q> Everything you need to know: Google for "Purple Deviled eggs". <S> But if you didn't pickle it, then beware . <S> Pink or iridescent egg white (albumen) indicates spoilage due to Pseudomonas bacteria. <S> Some of these microorganisms—which produce a greenish, fluorescent, water-soluble pigment—are harmful to humans. <S> Source: <S> United States Department of Agriculture <A> Is it purple throughout or is there a layer near the yolk that's really more of a gray? <S> If the latter, it's simply because the eggs were cooked too long or at too high a temperature. <S> It's a reaction between sulfur and iron. <S> Perfectly safe, but try putting the eggs in room temperature water then bringing the water to a boil. <S> Once at the boil, turn off the heat and leave the eggs for 11-13 minutes. <S> You can then remove the eggs and run room temperature water over them to stop the cooking. <A> My Great Aunt makes a casserole every year, with purple hard boiled eggs. <S> The reason for this is she is using a solid aluminum, from the 40's or 50's, pot to boil the eggs in. <S> I don't know why she doesn't use a different pot, go figure, she knows what it does. <S> No one these days has aluminum cookware <S> so it isn't an issue. <S> Apparently, back in the day, it was a common enough occurrence. <S> That generation generally isn't internet savvy, if you were at a church function and asked this question, chances are, all the greatest generation ladies would immediately answer. <S> They are fine to eat or use in cooking. <S> There is something that goes on between the egg and the aluminum that makes it change colour for some reason. <S> I wish one of the science guys would pick this up and do a show on it and explain. <S> Hope this helps!
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In recap, there is nothing wrong with the eggs.
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What can I do with vegetable water? I just steamed some vegetables and the water below is greenish-yellow vegetable sweat basically. I don't want to waste any thing unless I have to for a valid reason. Any suggestions? <Q> Make bread with it (let it cool enough that you don't kill the yeast,first.) <S> Make soup with it. <A> I've read that if you can't or don't use it for your own consumption, that houseplants really love it (after it's cooled, of course). <A> I usually add some other veggies "disposable parts" to that water before boiling, so i make a vegetabel stock, and then use it to make risotto <A> When steaming vegetables, I'm often making something that tastes good with stock or gravy. <S> The vegetable water makes a great base for both. <S> If you use instant granules, you can just pour the steaming water into the powder for extra flavour. <A> Vegetable water is totally harmless and can often be used as a base for a broth. <S> If meat is an option, fortify it with chicken broth..or better yet, use it to make your own beef/chicken broth. <S> If desired, you can also fortify it with more savory tasting vegetables. <S> Celery and carrots usually impart a nice flavor. <S> Just make sure u strain the solids. <S> You can also use the veggie water as a substitute for water in your morning smoothies, especially if there's color and flavor in it. <A> I like using vegetable water to cook pasta, particularly when I'm going to not use a thick sauce (e.g. tossing the pasta with olive oil, dried herbs, and some grated parmesan). <S> I also use it to cook rice, in the same vein as above (i.e. not with thick sauces). <A> You practically have vegetable tea. <S> Options related to its condition are: Actual state: Just drink it at your preferred temperature. <S> You may be able to sense its flavor, but it is as satisfying as normal water anyway. <S> Hydrating water: <S> Some salt, Sodium bicarbonate, citric juice and Aid is ready for your training, excercise, Hangover. <S> Flavored water: <S> Lemon juice can make it a good meal companion if you are fine with unsweetened drinks. <S> You have two more options there. <S> Plus of Herbal tea for a more focused flavor (Chaya leaf [Cnidoscolus aconitifolius] is simillar to brocolli water taste). <S> Temperature is your choice. <S> A little of salt and chilli powder* if you are related to the joy of drinking the broth made by eating picks of square chopped aliments (fruit, sausage, cheese, chips, corn, etc.) <S> as a snack. <S> Preferrably warm/hot. <S> Consommé: <S> Chilli powder <S> *, soy/hot sauce*, lemon juice, salt, peper, garlic, matching spices, chopped onion and green chilli, milk products and dressings, make it a good clear soup to drink it warm/hot just as it is. <S> General purpose Broth: <S> The consommé serve as a great seasoning for grains, legumes, meat, seafood and vegetable hot soup. <S> Don't consider only wheat flour to make bread with the water. <S> Corn and other wheats can serve great for making good complements such as tortillas an other region specific (ussually salty) bread shapes. <S> This is as far as I go by experience and wide taste. <S> Would be nice to know experience of a rice and brewing adventurers. <S> *Good chilli product brands are Tajín, Valentina/Tamazula and Tabasco. <S> A nice and bitterseet (commonly not considered hot) sauce is called Chamoy .
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You can also add some complements in little pieces like bread (croutons), solid cheese (Panela, Gouda, etc.), more vegetables or even use it to cook your ramen noodles.
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Soft dinner rolls always taste bland or flat I proof Granular Rapid Rise yeast in mix of milk/water/honey/touch of flour and 100 - 110 degrees, adding the yeast. Always proofs really well, doubling etc. I have made these so many times, you would think I would give up,, I cook alot, bake a good deal, and always seem to get a great shiny dough, buttered and rises with all the unpredictability yeast dough can - moisture content, temp. etc I like a softer dough, not quite sticky, and punch down, and rise a second time. I know the times that I've allowed rises to happen too quickly - but generally an hour for each rise, almost double rise first time, and 3/4 rise the second time. I use eggs, milk, water, King A. Unbleached AP Flour, some sugar* and some salt*. sometimes I mix in butter, sometimes mix of shortening/butter, and like tonight, very little butter, with heavy cream instead of milk. I think the texture is good, very consistent crumb, soft crusts ( egg wash or butter), and they look great. Trouble is the taste: Seems to me that butter helps, but really salt and sugar will affect the flavour/taste the most. Would you agree with this? I like a sweeter dinner roll, and with the sugar in the proofing liquid, I may only add another couple of tablespoons no more. Perhaps salt is my weakness, I love salted things, and try to add as much salt as I feel I can, but worry so much about harming the yeast, am I just not putting enough? tonight, I put a total of 1.5 tsp in dough of 4 eggs, 4 cups flour, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1/2 c. water, 1/2 cup whpping cream, for a total of 1.75 cups of liquid. Dough was predictably soft and sticky, but came together, so while kneading added approx 1 more cup flour until just soft, shiny, and smooth. I kneaded by hand for about 2 - 3 minutes until I felt the dough was not too elastic, smooth and formed a nice soft ball. The rises were as mentioned above, pretty good. I have half of the dough in the refrig. to perform a slower rise, which I understand develops a better yeast flavour - I hope so, but now I realize that the finished rolls are just bland. Like just the flour taste, maybe a touch of the honey, but otherwise, flat, cardboard flavor. Hard to throw them away when they look so good, texture is great and all that unsalted butter waiting to go on them! I need advice please - what am I missing or doing too much of? Do you think longer rises? More salt? less yeast? Sorry for the long question - wanted to give you as much info as possible! thanks, Brad <Q> You've answered this question yourself. <S> Flavor in bread comes from: <S> salt <S> yeast action and to a lesser degree fat sugar <S> Obviously you have plenty of fat and sugar. <S> As you suspect, your yeasty flavor will be improved by letting it rise longer in the fridge. <S> Flat flavor in bread is almost always because of not enough salt. <S> I agree with you that you don't have enough. <S> As the saying goes: "Bread without salt is insipid" <S> For how much salt is good, see this question: Amount of salt in bread <S> About 2% of the flour weight. <S> In your recipe with 5 cups of flour (600g) that would be just over 2tsp of table salt (12g). <S> I use kosher salt and would probably use closer to a tablespoon for a batch of bread this size. <A> In addition to more salt you should consider a few things to improve your flavor. <S> One primary piece of advice would be to try other flours. <S> AP flour is the dullest possible base for bread, and even with more salt, sugar, fat, and a long rise in the fridge there's only so much flavor you are going to get. <S> Malted barley flour, malted wheat flakes, and oat flour all have a natural sweetness and complexity. <S> Rye, whole wheat, spelt, and others add more of a nuttiness. <S> If you want more flavorful bread start with more flavorful flour. <S> Another suggestion would be to start by making a sponge. <S> A sponge is made by mixing some of the flour and water (say 1/4 or 1/3 of each) from your recipe and your yeast, then letting it sit awhile. <S> This gives you an active and healthy yeast base, but also creates flavor, especially if you let it sit overnight in the fridge. <S> What else is available depends on your location, but there's plenty of options you can get off the web. <A> For me, this works: 1) before adding the yeast, I rest the dough with sugar added for and hour or so. <S> The french call the autolyse. <S> No salt. <S> 2) I add yeast. <S> Knead. <S> Then I add salt. <S> (Salt hampers yeast). <S> Adding fats (butter, olive oil) result in a finer crumb. <S> I find that olive oil gives more taste, butter is more well, cake-like I suppose. <S> Proof a long time, a day and night. <S> Even in the tropics, I leave the dough outside the fridge. <S> I use a bit less yeast than normal, because of the long proofing time. <S> You can smell the yeast building up complex tastes. <S> I shape it in its final form, and proof for say a final hour before baking, until it has risen as much I want (or it wants). <S> so, I think: do an autolyse, use long proofing time on relatively high temp, dont use too much salt and first mix the yeast in, use long proofing, and use olive oil. <S> If you want it salty, an option is to sprinkle salt on the surface before baking, so you do not destroy the yeast.
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You could also try other strains of yeast, or natural yeasts. The yeast you buy in the store is reliable and fast, typically at the expense of flavor development.
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How to keep pork crispy during transport to venue? I want to cook Lechon Kawali (filipino food) for my officemate for lunch but I'm worried the pork skin won't be crispy when we eat it. I'm going to cook it in the morning. Any ideas how I can make the pork stay crispy in time for lunch? It's going to be eaten around 3 hrs after cooking. I'm going to put it in a container to bring it to the office. <Q> Being Filipino, I totally applaud you for such an excellent choice of an entree. <S> The enemy of all fried food is moisture. <S> Think of...potato chips. <S> I would store the lechon in a non air-tight container, like a KFC bucket/box with parchment paper. <S> Paper bags are good options as well. <S> After the food has substantially cooled, feel free to refrigerate. <S> Don't put your lechon in a sealed tupperware container while hot, as condensation from water evaporating from the meat while it is hot will often form and make your food soggy. <S> Bring on the Mang Tomas and have at it. <A> In Chinese roast pork, Cantonese style, kosher salt is placed on the pork skin before roasting to absorb the moisture. <S> (I have also used aquarium salt). <S> My recipe uses vinegar instead of a lemon before the salt goes on. <S> Once the skin has crackled I then remove the salt before serving but you could just leave it on, or if you're not using this method, then place it on the skin and remove it once you want to eat it. <A> I recently read a blog entry where the author mentioned the pork belly was still crispy the day after. <S> Recipe: <S> http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/roasted-pork-belly-with-crushed-butternut-squash-and-apple-and-walnut-salsa-shop <S> Secret of crispyness: <S> Scully thought he knew all there was to know about getting a good crackling on his pork belly until , in 2009, at a food show in Sydney, he learnt the real secret. <S> It was passed on to him by a woman in her late 70s. <S> Scully didn’t get her name <S> but he did get her secret of rubbing half a lemon all over the pork skin, squeezing out the juice as you go, before sprinkling the salt over. <S> It paves the way to crackled glory.
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Immediately after you fry, make sure you let the food cool at room temperature before packaging.
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How can 100% peanut butter have more protein than 100% peanuts I am looking at: 100% peanut butter (no added salt, sugar, oils or anything else) 100% roasted peanuts (no added salt, sugar, oils or anything else) When looking thought different sources, I can always notice the following: Peanut butter has more protein (as % of calories) than peanuts example sources (I've looked through a dozen more, but please check others, maybe mine are not representative?): http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-5588-Waitrose+LOVE+life+roasted+peanuts http://shop.wholeearthfoods.com/collections/award-winning-peanut-butter/products/whole-earth-100-nuts-crunchy-peanut-butte-227-g Why is this? If no ingredients are added, how is it possible for the macronutrients to change (as % of the calories). Different levels of roasting cannot be the reason because they should not change macronutrients disproportionally. The only explanation I can think of is if in the process of making peanut butter, some part of the peanut is removed and that part contains a low protein amount. Some sources say that when peanut butter is made, the 'bitter heart of the peanut' is removed. Could that explain it? If anyone has some insight I would be very interested to learn. <Q> There's definitely some rounding going on because the peanut butter has 100.1g of nutrients per 100g of product. <S> This isn't enough to explain the discrepancy. <S> Adding up the nutrients on the roasted peanuts gives 95.4g. <S> I think we can assume the other 4.6% is water. <S> So perhaps more water has been driven off the peanut butter. <S> What I think is more likely <S> (though could be additional) is that there's significantly <S> less fat in the peanut butter (48.1% vs 51.7%). <S> While this could be down to different varieties of peanut, I suspect some fat is removed in the processing, perhaps to avoid an oil slick on the surface. <S> Most likely of all is just different source data. <S> Different peanuts may have been used in the calculations -- whether that is consistent with the actual ingredients used is another matter. <S> In fact if you look at nutrition information for raw peanuts online, you'll get a range of values. <S> There's nothing special about peanuts, the same is true for bananas. <S> I'm sure if you look at the scientific literature on any foodstuff, you'll find a range of values published, reflecting natural variation as well as measurement variabilility -- this will then propagate to the values published to the consumer. <A> That's like sea salt that is 100% from the Atlantic Ocean. <S> It still contains a smaller amount of water (and consequently a larger amount of sodium) than the Atlantic Ocean does. <S> Or 100% pure orange juice which fortunately omits the orange peels. <A> Presuming that the nutrient labels are accurate (for some value of "accurate"), I can think of two reasons for the difference. <S> Nutrient labels are rounded very aggressively (as in, to the nearest multiple of 10). <S> Thus, doing math on the numbers is likely to result in so much error propagation that any differences are meaningless. <S> Peanut butter generally does not include the paper skins, whereas roasted peanuts generally do include them. <S> It doesn't seem like a large difference, until you try peanut butter that didn't remove the skins. <S> (Hint: it was awful.) <S> The differences you see are probably mostly due to reason #1, with maybe a little bit of reason #2 showing through the inherent inaccuracies. <A> There are at least a dozen varieties of peanuts. <S> Some are better for whole peanuts and others for peanut butter. <S> Possibly there are some nutritional differences between varieties. <S> Also the preparation could come into play, dry roasting vs oil roasting. <A> Different roasting techniques result in different protein amounts(as per this chart). <S> https://www.healthaliciousness.com/nutritionfacts/nutrition-facts-compare.php <S> I would also guess that this is a result of the many different types of peanuts> <S> Certain varieties are more likely to be peanut butter and others roasted and eaten by the handful,while other varieties are grown solely to be put into candy bars. <S> However as the chart leads you to believe most of the data for different varieties may be averaged together. <S> Also fun fact: <S> oil roasted peanut butter tastes better as Alton Brown has explained in Good Eats and on his blog with youtube videos. <A> The reason is this; It was shown on an episode of Food Unwrapped. <S> Peanuts are very high in fat but because of how we chew them and swallow we do not break down the structure enough to release all of the fat in them. <S> So when testing fat content for peanut butter the fat content is higher because the nuts are broken down more thus releasing more fat from them. <S> so in fact when people say nuts are fatty and bad for you they aren't actually that bad because you only get about a 3rd of the fat out of them <A> In addition to the other answers, different brands of 100% peanut butter contain rather different amounts of protein, fat etc per 100g. <S> Aldi's has 26g protein, 47g fat, of which 6g saturated, 9g carbohydrate, of which 4.8g sugars, 8g fibre, 6mg sodium and 650mg potassium. <S> Sanitarium's has Per 100gEnergy(Cal)612Protein (g)30.2,Fat (g)49.4,of which saturated 4.8, trans, 0.0polyunsaturated <S> 3.9monounsaturated 41Cholesterol (mg)0.0Carbohydrate (g) 9.4, of whichSugars (g)5.6Dietary Fibre (g)7.1Sodium (mg)5.0Potassium (mg)720. Link to Sanitarium 100% peanut butter ingredients <S> Sanitarium's no sugar, no salt peanut butter (but oil is added) somehow has more protein per 100g than their 100% peanut butter. <S> enter link description here Speculating about the causes, could be different sorts of peanuts, different ripeness, different roasting (makes more or less nutrients absorbable by the digestive tract) or <S> just plain errors/lying about the ingredients.
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My guess is that the peanut butter is 100% peanuts but not 100% of the peanuts are being used in it. Thus, the difference is probably due to specific data for the specific varieties used plus the specific techniques in preparing them.
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Coconut milk looks like water with butter chunks I bought a can of coconut milk (or a cream really, it is rather fat, around 17%) for my piña colada. I have never bought coconut milk before. It was weird inside. Upper half was like butter paste and lower like water. I mixed it in a shaker thinking it would become homogeneous. But no it looked like you blend butter with water, chunks of coconut fat are floating and it is not homogenous at all. I heated it up a little (in hot water). Fat apparently melted and it because more like what I needed. But once I cool it or mix with ice cubes fat immediately precipitates and become totally unappealing. My question is did I buy some defect product? Or wrong product? Or I am doing something wrong with it? <Q> There can easily be some confusion regarding the terms cream of coconut, coconut milk, coconut cream, coconut water etc. <S> It is normal and even often desirable for coconut milk to separate, and for the fattier part (the cream) to clump. <S> Since that is generally not a great quality for mixed drinks, read on. <S> For Pina Coladas, the most commonly used product is Cream of Coconut , the sweetened, emulsified variety. <S> Two common brands in the US are Coco Lopez and Goya. <S> Coconut milk and coconut cream are totally different products from each other and from cream of coconut, so read the label carefully. <S> When in doubt, check the ingredients. <S> The product you want will have added sugar and emulsifiers. <S> Goya Cream of Coconut ingredients: <S> Ingredients: Coconut Juice, sugar, polysorbate 60, salt, citric acid, mono and diglycerides, propylene glycol alginate, sorbitan monostearate, guar gum and locust bean gum. <S> Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut ingredients: <S> Coconut, Sugar, Water, Polysorbate 60, Sorbitan Monostearate, Salt, Propylene Glycol, Alginate, Mono and Diglycerides (Emulsifiers), Citric Acid, Guar Gum, Locust Bean Gum. <S> These products will not clump like what you have experienced. <S> In grocery stores in the US, cream of coconut will be with other bartending mixers like margarita mix, not anywhere near the coconut milk. <S> If you have any problem finding it, ask at a liquor store. <A> There is nothing wrong with your coconut milk. <S> I've found that coconut milks and creams vary from brand to brand. <S> Coconut oil is solid at room temperature. <S> You have a few options: <S> Remove the fat This would solve your texture issues but would be a shame. <S> The fat is delicious. <S> Emulsify the fat Like making a mayonnaise, you can blend the melted fat and water with an emulsifier and they will stay mixed even when cool (but not too cold). <S> Picking an emulsifier that will work with a sweet drink might take some thought. <S> Soy lecithin has no flavor and would work well <S> but it not something most people keep on hand. <S> Use a different product <S> Coconut creams (or creamed coconut) are thicker and higher in fat. <S> Creamed coconut is also sweetened and is often the product of choice in beverages. <A> So, for what it's worth, your description is exactly consistent with what I see in <S> my Coconut Cream ([sic], @Jolenealaska makes good points about the abiguity of terminology here) <S> cans - that the coconut oil (which solidifies) and the coconut water separate. <S> Since my wife is non-dairy, and we're both keen on cocktails <S> , I work with this quite a lot, and I've found that heating it can work very well. <S> I open the can, place it in a small saucepan with water half way up the can, and heat it until all the oil has melted. <S> Whilst it heats, I prepare the rest of the cocktail (normally Brandy Alexanders, in our case) putting the ice and all the other ingredients in the shaker first. <S> Once the oil has melted, I run the side of the can briefly under the cold tap for 30-60 seconds, to remove a bit of the heat, and then add the cream to the shaker. <S> Then I immediately shake it. <S> We find that as long as the melted cream isn't left sitting in direct dry contact with the ice (i.e. as long as you added other liquids first, and start shaking with 10-15 seconds of adding the ice) then it works just fine. <S> The shaking process (and I imagine the alcohol?) <S> emulsifies the cream well enough that it doesn't precipitate at all.
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Your milk has a good portion of coconut oil in it.
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How do I make candy apples not sticky? When I candy-coat apples and let them sit out, the candy coating becomes sticky. I live in the Southern U.S., so humidity is usually pretty high, but other people in my area make them as well. <Q> You may not be getting your candy to the right temperature. <S> If you go too low, the candy never hardens completely. <S> Are you using a candy thermometer? <A> Consolidating some of the other answers. <S> The problem is that you're either Not getting the sugar up to Hard Crack <S> tempeature <S> Storing them in too-wet of an environment <S> Adding too much of something (i.e. cream) after the sugar has reached temperature, so it's keeping it from getting hard. <S> If you're not sure about the temperature of your sugar, that's the first place to start. <S> You say only gets sticky when sitting out, which I assume means it wasn't sticky before it was sitting out, so this seems unlikely. <S> If your environment is just too humid, which sounds pretty likely, there's not a whole lot you can do about that. <S> Maybe try making them on a dry day and storing them in a sealed container until you need them? <S> Commercial confectioners use things like carnauba wax to coat their candies so they resist stickiness in humid environments... not sure if a home-cook equivalent exists. <S> Edit: <S> just spoke to an old classmate who has made a lot more candy than me— she suggested putting a some food grade mineral oil on a paper towel and lightly wiping the apples down with it right after the shell hardens. <S> If you're adding something to the sugar after its done cooking, such as cream, use a lower-moisture ingredient (for example, butter instead of sugar) if it's available, or use less of it. <S> Good luck! <A> Try and coat the apples with icing sugar after they reach the point of being sticky. <S> I do the same with hard candy <S> so it should work with apples if you don't mind a powder coating.
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You might also want to try rolling them on sugar (if the issue is with the entire coating) or setting them on a layer of sugar (if the issue is presentation), which can help reduce the stickiness (and doesn't look bad). If they're fine at first, but turn sticky later, you could try storing them in a drier place (don't put them in the refrigerator, of course).
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How can I add flavor to meatballs which taste stale from being frozen too long? My pre-cooked meatballs must have been frozen too long, they taste stale. I tried mashing them up and making sloppy joes but they still tasted stale. How can I season them to make them more edible? <Q> Whenever I have freezer burnt or really old frozen meat, my go-to solution is to use my slow cooker. <S> Find a recipe that sounds appetizing to you and has a long cooking time (6-9+ hours on Low), and go for it. <S> For example, here's a Meatball and Vegetable Soup recipe (which I'm not endorsing, it's purely as a "this is the style you're looking for"). <A> I've never had much success using old frozen meatballs (or other frozen ground meat products) in their original shape. <S> I agree with mech though that a slow cooker recipe infuses flavor and restores tenderness. <S> If you don't have one, or aren't in the mood to use it, there's another way to achieve the same result. <S> Choose the recipe you want, put all the ingredients together with your meatballs into a tall pot. <S> Cover it, put it on the stove and simmer at a low level heat for a few hours. <S> As for me, I generally mash old meatballs up, just like you did with the sloppy joes. <S> Then I treat them as I would fresh meat, and add whatever seasonings I'm in the mood for. <S> I don't have a very adventurous palate, so my go-to choices are usually mild, like onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, parsley and basil. <S> Some of my friends use cumin, ginger, curry or other types of spices. <S> (You may have done this with your sloppy joes, as I haven't seen your recipe.) <S> For instance, sautè some chopped onions, peppers, mushrooms, garlic, and whatever else you like, then mix in the meat. <S> The new ingredients do a decent job of making an older product taste fresh. <S> I also like cheese in everything, so depending on the preparation, I'll add grated cheese to the pan or baking dish, or sprinkle some on the finished dish. <S> I like aged parmigiano-reggiano or asiago , but there are spicier cheeses that also help mask the flavor of stale meat. <A> The stale taste is because when food is frozen for too long, it can dry out. <S> You want to add egg to the meat to moisten it. <S> Make sure to blend the whole egg into the meat so that it can be thoroughly absorbed.
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Another thing I do with mashed meat is add a few fresh ingredients.
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What is the best chemical cleaning agent clean tough stains out of a microwave other than vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice? I have seen this question posted on here before but the answers are always always water, vinegar, baking soda, or lemon juice. I have tried all these methods and including boiling and steaming each one. Despite it's flammability, I have also resorted to nail polish and no luck. Any other suggestions? I'm a neat freak and prefer my kitchen looking clean. Thank you <Q> Bar Keepers friend is a powdered cleaning agent that contains oxalic acid as its main active ingredient, along with abrasives. <S> It's great for removing many kitchen stains, including the polymerized oils that get baked onto pots and stovetops. <S> Acetone (the nail polish remover you have been using) is highly flammable, and toxic, so should never be used anywhere near food. <A> Heat a reasonably damp, but not dripping / soaking, kitchen cloth in the microwave for a minute. <S> The steam produced will soften most deposits and then a bit of elbow grease and it's done. <S> Do on a daily basis or after each use and the interior, especially the roof, will remain clean. <S> Beware of the cloth when removing it! <S> Use another to hold it as it will of course be at the temperature of steam. <A> The cleaners you mentioned are generally safe to use and should have been able to remove normal food soil. <S> It sounds like you have something that is particularly stubborn <S> and/or has baked onto the oven over time. <S> The next thing to try would be ammonia, but be careful because it's caustic and noxious. <S> Take care to avoid skin contact with these cleaners, and don't breathe in their fumes! <S> Once you've thoroughly cleaned your microwave, it will stay clean if you take care to cover food while cooking. <S> When splatters do occur, they're much easier to remove if cleaned up immediately. <S> Otherwise, the splattered food hardens and the stains get baked on.
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An aerosol lye spray oven cleaner would be even more powerful, but also more hazardous, so use that only as a last resort.
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How to eat this kind of cheese I have seen so many of these cheeses but I don't know how to cook or eat them. I am new to Europe, and have never seen this in my country of origin before. Could you tell me how to cook the cheeses? Is it just a matter of cutting and eating? By looking around, it sounds like this is called Gouda Cheese (but I am not sure) <Q> Whatever you do, don't eat the wax rind. <S> You may think this goes without saying, but the number of times I've seen people unfamiliar with a wax-coated cheese slice and eat with the wax still attached might surprise you. <S> (Source: lived in the Netherlands for 5 years, across the street from an incredible cheese shop.) <A> Where I live, we most often eat it on a slice of bread, use it on top of pasta, and a lot of other uses. <S> (I often find the Gouda cheese abroad lacking taste, so I prefer the 'real' Dutch brands) <S> I like to eat them with some sambal badyak when I eat them with some Dutch table snacks. <A> Most cured wheel cheeses are great on their own--slice and eat. <S> Generally, the "drier" the cheese, the more it needs to be paired with bread/meat, while sweeter/spongier cured cheeses are fine on their own.
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That being said, at least where I'm from we usually slice them, then put them on bread (on Pa amb tomàquet , to be precise), and often pair them with sliced cold-cut/smoked meats.
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How to prevent chocolate from melting? It is tough to store chocolates during summer season. Is there any way to prevent chocolate from melting ? <Q> I store mine in the freezer. <S> It keeps it hard and thaws without an issue. <A> If those aren't an option for some reason, then try finding a cool, dark place that won't get too much hotter during the day. <S> A couple ideas: 1) <S> A cellar. <S> Cellars often stay 10-15 degrees cooler than the house they're attached too. <S> 2) <S> Cupboards - if choosing this option, pick a cupboard that has a tight fitting door, is somewhat large (so there's more air in there to stay cool) and that is close to the floor. <S> All of these will help it stay cooler during the day. <S> 3) Pack in an insulator - putting it in a cooler or surrounding it with styrofoam packing, for example. <S> Alternately, you could try to find another insulating material/food already in your kitchen (maybe packing it in rice or flour might work? <S> You might just end up with chocolate-y rice/flour). <S> Really, the fridge is your best bet if you have one. <A> For optimal chocolate storage, you shouldn't really store it in the freezer or the fridge. <S> Chocolate is sensitive to temperature and the taste does change if it's cooled too far. <S> Not to mention condensation usually occurs on the chocolate afterwards, and water and chocolate are generally non-mixy things. <S> But then again, you might not care too much about that, and I suppose it depends on what you're using the chocolate for (baking, eating, decorating, etc.) <S> as to whether it would matter all that much. <S> Personally, I would suggest a microwave. <S> It can act as an insulator of sorts. <S> You could also use it to keep things warm too, sort of like a vacuum flask. <S> Works for me.
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Fridge or freezer are both good places to keep your chocolate so it doesn't get melty.
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How is one supposed to properly eat multi-level hamburgers? Well my question is exactly what is says in the title. I come from a culture that has hamburger-style meal. Unlike hamburger, our plyeskavitsa (or pljeskavica using another type of transliteration) tends to grow in diameter when the portion size increases. That is to say, when I order a small plyeskavitsa, the patty will have (for example) diameter A and thickness B. When I order large plyeskavitsa, it will have diameter 3 A and thickness maybe 1.5 B. This way, the eating procedure is same for all sizes: You start biting at one end, you bite off a piece through the bun and the patty and basically repeat the procedure until it's consumed. If you buy a bigger portion, you'll just need to repeat the procedure more times. On the other hand, with American burgers, when the portion size increases, the diameter will stay the same, but the thickness significantly increases as well as the number of patties (for example let's think of say BigMac or BigKingXXL). When I try to apply procedure for plyeskavitsa or say regular hamburgers, what happens is that when I bite down, the middle layers get pushed out of the sandwich, making a total mess of everything. So my question is: How am I supposed to eat thick hamburgers without having the middle part spill out? <Q> It may take a big of practice to get right, but it's something most eaters of hamburgers seem to do instinctively. <S> So much so I can't really describe the technique in a lot of detail, but the basic idea is you're both making the burger somewhat smaller and holding it together firmly. <S> You want to grab it in both hands with your thumbs underneath. <S> Your fingers should be spread out over the top, compressing it down, while your thumbs pin everything in place. <S> If you watch pretty much anyone eat a hamburger, even normal sized ones, this is how they'll eat it. <S> There's really nothing special in how you need to hold it, the trick is applying the right amount of pressure. <S> Bigger burgers will need a more firm grip, while normal sized burgers can be held fairly loosely (though you'll still see people crushing them anyways). <S> There's a limit to how big of a burger you can eat this way though. <S> It should work with pretty much any burger normally sold by the big fast food chains like McDonald's or Burger King. <S> There are however restaurants that sell enormous burgers that can't really be eaten in any sort of normal way unless you have really big hands. <S> I should also point out that you sometimes do have the option of going wider rather than taller with hamburgers. <S> For example the Big Mac has two 1.6 oz (45.4 g) patties, while the Quarter Pounder with a single 4.25 oz (120.5 g) <S> patty is both bigger and easier to eat. <A> A somewhat strange but effective technique is to fix the contents by piercing one or two toothpicks through the entire burger, before taking the first bites on the opposite side. <S> When you approach the middle you can take them out, at this point the filling should tend to slip in your mouth rather than the other way. <A> I have witnessed and used the following techniques when it comes to eating large hamburgers: Cutting it like a pie (i.e. in slices) using a serrated knife, so you get manageable sized sub-burgers that you can eat from the center out. <S> I favor this method whenever available. <S> Depending on burger diameter and height, 2 to 8 slices will work best--experiment! <S> Holding the burger (or sub-burger, if slicing) upside down, which puts the thicker bun (which hasn't been drenched in grease by gravity) on the bottom, allowing the burger to hold its condiments far better. <S> This is my go-to method when knives aren't available. <S> Using a waxed paper wrapper as a pocket to hold everything in place, only unwrapping as little as possible to take a bite. <S> Think exoskeleton, but for your burger. <S> Best used when getting the hamburger from a fast food place (i.e. it's already wrapped), and it's already a half mess.
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The trick to eating a large hamburger the size of a McDonald's Big Mac (or even a Double Big Mac with four patties) is to grip the burger firmly while crushing it down a bit.
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What are the key differences between lemons and meyer lemons? "Meyer lemons" are advertised as a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. The flavor is basically what you'd expect from that cross. Is it reasonable to use them as direct substitutes? What are the important differences to keep in mind when substituting one for the other? How will those differences affect the recipe? <Q> Lemons are quite sour, while Meyer lemons are much sweeter and less acidic. <S> If you substitute directly, it'll have a dramatic effect. <S> For example, suppose you start out with a dessert made with lemons that has enough sugar added (or little enough lemon juice) to make it the right sweet/sour balance for you. <S> So unless you want that big change, you'd probably want to reduce the sugar and/or increase the Meyer lemon; exactly how you decide to do that would depend on the dessert. <S> If you substitute in the other direction, Meyer lemon to lemon, you'd likely have to reduce the lemon and/or add a bunch of sugar to keep it from tasting more sour. <S> Either direction, I don't think it really seems like a good direct substitution. <S> It's a big change, so whether it's a good idea totally depends on whether the original recipe suited your preferences and whether you're okay with a broad range of sweet/sour or have something more specific in mind. <S> The only things where a direct substitution seems like a good idea to me are things where you're only using the zest. <S> At that point citrus is pretty much all interchangeable, just a different flavor. <A> When I've used Meyer lemons I haven't noticed Mandarin orange flavors. <S> Meyer lemons are much sweeter and less sour than normal lemons. <S> I use them in recipes that strongly feature lemon fruit, not just juice. <S> For example, shaker lemon pies are made with thin slices of whole lemons, including the peel. <S> Regular lemons are overwhelming <S> so I use Meyers. <S> On the other hand, I wouldn't use Meyers in recipes where lemon juice is used for its acid. <S> For example as a condiment in a lentil soup. <A> They are harder to juice than regular lemons, at least with reamers or unaided, because the skin breaks apart much more easily (like a plump mandarin orange).
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If you replace the lemon with Meyer lemon, it'll be way more toward the sweet side, and won't have the sourness to counteract it anymore.
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Looking for a tasteless emulsifier, or a method to mix oily substances into water I've been experimenting with blending flavors into water based drinks, but these experiments have largely ended up with a thin oily layer on top of my watery liquid. What I require is an emulsifier to stabilize my oil-water mixture while: 1) Not adding any additional taste, 2) Not sequestering the taste of my flavor compounds, 3) Will preferably not turn my solution milky. Some examples that do not work include adding sodium citrate (adds sour salt flavor), PG/DPG (bitter taste), ultrasound sonication (too expensive), and simply waiting for natural diffusion to occur (time-intensive). Example flavors I am working with include beta-damascone (fruity, petal, apple flavor) and muscone (sweet, musk, vanilla-ish). Some possibilities I can think of but have not tried include polysorbate, maltodextrin, and using a blender. Any helpful tips would be appreciated. EDIT: I'd like to add that the flavors do mix if given enough time, albeit slowly, taking at least several days to weeks. <Q> Use soy lecithin powder. <S> Cheapest and easiest place to find it is in the drugstore where drink supplements such as Ensure nutritional drinks are kept for those unable to eat solid food. <S> It lasts forever and has no taste whatsoever. <S> It is the perfect emulsifier when egg yolks or mustard aren't an option. <S> Start with about a teaspoon for your average vinegrette recipe. <S> Can also be used to make vegan mayo in place of egg yolk. <S> The proportion needs to be more precise, however. <S> Too much can collapse foams, but when done well, it will last as a foam for hours good luck. <A> It looks like there's some confusion, and many people wish this to be answered. <S> The correct answer is Polysorbate, a sucrose ester, with the number after e.g. "polysorbate 20" denoting chain length in an arbitrary manner. <S> From Wikipedia, [Polysorbates] are often used in cosmetics to solubilize essential oils into water-based products. <S> This is the solution for making aromatic chemicals miscible in water without adding a portion of alcohol or other organic solvent. <A> Egg yolk might work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphatidylcholine <S> It is not tasteless, however you should only need a really tiny amount to make it work even for large quantities. <S> You can do liters of mayonnaise with only a couple yolks.
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Lecithin can also be used to make foams.
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How do I concentrate the flavor in orange juice? I poured squeezed orange juice over my meatballs and I thought how well it complements them, but that it's too watery to enjoy with meat. I proceeded to reduce squeezed orange juice on the stove with and without starch and it just did not work - it's either too watery, or when reduced to a proper texture it's like sugar paste with orange flavoring. How can I enjoy the flavor of orange juice on meat as a condiment while reducing it's wateriness? <Q> How about using orange zest instead of the juice? <S> That way you'll get a lot of the aroma and flavor we think of as "orange" without really changing the sweetness or acidity. <A> You may or may not wish to strain it after letting the zest cook for a minute or so. <S> If you do this, take care. <S> I believe cooking it too long will make the zest overly bitter. <S> Alternatively, you could use frozen orange juice concentrate. <A> You have a couple of solutions: <S> Use something like jam or marmalade <S> The latter might be to close of the sugary paste you dislike. <S> However agar agar contrary to starch has a really wide range of thickening. <S> You can just make things from a tiny bit thicker than water to jelly. <S> More over the boiling needed will reduce it a bit already. <S> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agar#Culinary <S> You might want to experiment a bit with it to find the right dosage. <S> Jelly cubes between your meatballs would work rather well. <S> As contrary to a liquid sauce they won't spread, keeping flavors separated. <A> The only good way I know of to concentrate fresh orange juice and maintain the flavor is by removing the water. <S> But not by heating it, as the heat will destroy the flavor. <S> You need a vacuum distiller or freeze dryer for your orange juice. <S> Pulling a vacuum will boil the juice at room temperature, removing the water without adding any heat. <A> If you have enough time, you could make an orange extract. <S> Just peel pieces of zest from several oranges (avoid the white pith) and soak them in vodka for a couple of weeks, then filter it. <S> Then you could add it to the pan like wine, boiling off the alcohol (assuming you don't want alcohol in your sauce). <S> You could also follow a homemade orange liqueur recipe, but they might add too much sugar for your use ( Here is one from Serious Eats ). <S> It's probably easier to just use zest directly in most cases, though. <A> I've poached white fish in orange juice with hot chili peppers (I used dried chipotle or even habanero, but I think the recipe called for fresh). <S> I reduced the cooking liquid a bit, and poured some onto the rice <S> I served the fish with. <S> It was pretty potent, esp. <S> the time I made it with habanero, though! <S> There was some nice orange flavour, and the heat of the chilis made the sugar of reduced orange juice not a problem. <S> (It was juice from concentrate, not fresh-squeezed. <S> I maybe could have mixed up concentrate with less water instead of reducing for as long after taking the fish out. :P)
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You might try zesting the orange, reducing the juice a bit, and then adding the zest to the syrup and then cooking it down a bit more. Make it thicker with agar agar instead of starch
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How do I bring out the garlic flavor in an oil base? I make a lot of Indian food, so the preparation begins with a base made of onions, ginger, and garlic. I start by frying the onions in oil and then adding ginger and garlic as the onions begin to brown. Then I cook both until the onions are thoroughly browned and the citrus smell of the ginger fades. I can't taste the garlic in my food though. I am careful not to burn the garlic... is there anything else I should look out for? <Q> Yes. <S> Pre sautéed the garlic or add whole cloves to the cooking oil, crush down the cloves to release flavor and then remove. <S> Proceed as usual. <S> P.S. NEVER store garlic submerged in oil. <S> It can produce botulism toxin introduced from the growing soil. <S> Botulism bacteria are anaerobic meaning they survive without air as is the case when covered in oil. <A> Sauté the garlic separately and allow it to rest in its cooking oil until the other herbs are completely cooked. <S> After you have added the other ingredients of the recipe, add the garlic for the last stage of the cooking. <S> The earlier you add the garlic, the more it will get cooked into the other flavors and vice-versa. <A> Even I love Indian recipes to the core and prepare it on a daily basis. <S> Coming to your question, I am sure garlic flavor is infused well with your curry, but that you are unable to highlight it. <S> That should be it. <S> Nevertheless I am pretty sure the amount of garlic usually used does its job. <S> You can experiment it by making a curry with only ginger, and the same curry with garlic added. <S> The latter though you can't taste garlic highlightedly , you can find much difference between both of the curries. <S> Also try reducing ginger a little bit. <S> Ginger is so strongly flavored and adding a little bit is enough. <S> So try adding more garlic and reduce the Ginger quantity. <S> I understand your concern as I am myself a garlic lover. <S> Try the tricks mentioned and see if those work. <S> Happy cooking!
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If you really want garlicky flavor more, simply try adding it more than usual.
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Why does my English muffins package say to use a fork or fingers instead of a knife to open them? I bought some Thomas English muffins and on the back it says for "Toasted perfection" the muffin should be split apart by hand or with a fork. Why does it not suggest to use a knife? <Q> If you cut it with a knife, you'll tend to get a very smooth surface. <S> If you tear it open, whether by hand or with the aid of a fork, it'll tend to break on more natural places in the crumb, giving a bit rougher surface. <S> When toasted, that tends to result in more contrast of texture - the bits sticking up will brown more and get crunchier. <A> WhatJefromi wrote. <S> Illustrated: <S> Knife Sliced Fork Split <S> For a muffin with spreads like butter and/or <S> a jelly : the texture of the fork split muffin has nooks and crannys that many people prefer. <S> They provide an uneven spread delivery that can be enjoyable. <S> The higher more toasted peaks also offer texture variance. <S> For sandwiches (think Egg McMuffin): <S> The fork split may or may not be worth effort. <S> Knife sliced might suffice. <A> Because the whole point of English Muffins is the create nooks and crannies for the toppings to pool into, giving it a unique flavor and texture. <S> You can't get that from slicing or tearing.
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Fork-splitting is the original method but now there is an English Muffin splitter that achieves the fork-splitting texture so much quicker, which is great so you can split them quickly and eat them while they're still steaming and so fluffy!
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How to cook flatbread without oil? Here's the thing: I am currently experimenting with a Oshawa diet #7 and I discovered that I can make these tasty flatbreads in my frying pan. However, the issue is that after each flatbread is done I have to wash the pan with a wet sponge, as either flour or small parts of the dough will get burnt and stick to the pan. This means that I have to then wait for the pan to reheat again and this, together with the washing, makes the process a lot longer. Here's what I tried so far: I've tried removing any excess flour before frying, but some dough parts still got burned and got stuck. I put baking paper on top of the frying pan. This worked, but the baking paper got burned after each flatbread and I had to replace it each time. I also tried baking them in the oven. Although, it did work, the flavor and texture are different. My final attempt was buying a stone-effect frying pan, hoping that the cleaning process would be almost zero. True, it is far easier to wash than my previous pan, but it still takes a lot. Now, what I would like to know is if there are other ways cooking these flatbreads (without oil) what would make the process faster and more efficient. Thanks in advance for the help! <Q> My family always made these Chinese flatbread-like pancakes and we cooked them on a cast-iron pan (although it was more like a frying surface or something, it was flat, round, had a handle, but no conceivable border) without using any oil. <S> Now it is true that a little bit of the flour kept sticking to the pan, but we also had a little broom made of spliced bamboo (I think) with which we just swept the excess flour off. <S> This of course is rather messy, but we only had to clean the stove after the cooking was done. <S> I think this worked so well because the dough was not too wet (but also not too dry) and we covered the surface of every flatbread with a little bit of flour, which helps in making it less sticky. <A> A wide enamelled dish on top of the stove might work nicely. <S> I've got a le Creuset that I use for all sorts of things, but my excuse for buying it was flatbreads, which it does very nicely. <S> They don't stick at all unless they're much too wet, and any split flour can just be dusted out between breads. <S> As it's cast iron it also has a nice even heat, which reduces burning. <A> When you tried baking them, did you use a baking stone? <S> How did you bake them, exactly (i.e. time and temperature used, did you preheat, etc.)? <S> I suspect using a baking stone with sufficient preheating <S> ought to give you the texture you are looking for. <A> Have you tried putting them in the microwave to heat through and then just putting them either in a bread toaster or toaster oven for that crispness? <S> Or placing the bread on aluminium foil to protect the pan or in a toaster oven? <A> I make flatbreads on a really hot cast iron griddle -- but I don't cook them all the way through if I'm cooking for multiple people. <S> I cook them until they're charred enough to release, and then I move them to a moderate oven to finish cooking through. <S> This might allow you to speed up your cooking and minimize burning. <S> If you do need to clean the pan between batches, I'd recommend finding a stiff-bristled brush that can handle high heat. <S> I have one that has wooden bristles that's just labeled 'pot brush'. <S> It allows me to quickly knock off any loose debris that doesn't require much scrubbing without needing to wet down the griddle. <S> I've also been known to take a metal spatula to scrape down the surface if needed. <S> (I've filed down the corners of my spatulas to reduce the chance of gouging the surface). <S> (a real grill, just just a grill pan). <S> Any loose flour would just fall into the flames below. <A> A change in technique might help, at least to keep the dough from sticking. <S> As for random dustings of burnt flour, they can probably be brushed out dry or just left till the cooking's over - even burnt <S> it isn't harmful. <S> Disclaimer, I'm more familiar with chapatis or tortillas, so there might be some other differences with your specific flatbread and its dough, but the basic technique is pretty helpful. <S> I've found, when making chapatis or tortillas, it helps if the surface is quite dry (like dusted with flour, and brushed off). <S> It helps a lot to hold one side of the dough, and sort of slowly sweep the other half over the hot pan, then do the other half (of the same side) before settling the dough on the pan, that side down, spend a second or so moving it around in the pan, skittering it with my fingers, to make sure it won't stick before leaving it to cook. <S> What exactly these few seconds do I'm not quite sure, perhaps warm or dry the surface a bit better or form the lightest crust, but it does seem to keep the dough resting lightly on the surface... and if it doesn't stick in the first few seconds, it isn't likely to stick at all. <S> As I said, if any flour dusts off it can be swept off with a brush, paper towel, etc, or else it can just be left till you're done and cleaned then. <S> It won't encourage sticking, <S> well not any more than the pan's actual surface <S> will, if it won't come off brushing it isn't likely to come off on your flatbread, and it isn't harmful in such small amounts. <A> We made Dutch boys this weekend. <S> It's a sort of baked pancake (quick bread) that includes no oil in the recipe, but it does rely on a heavily buttered cast iron pan, so not sure this is the answer you were looking for, but thought I would offer it. <S> Search for Dutch baby pancakes on the Google.
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Another option would be to cook the flatbreads on a grill.
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Ingredient substitute for sriracha hot sauce Asian Glazed Chicken Drumsticks I would like to try making this recipe. But I don't like anything super spicy. What could I use instead of the sriracha hot sauce and get a similar flavor with out the extra heat? Ingredients 8 medium chicken drumsticks 1 cup water 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce 2 teaspoons honey 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 teaspoon fresh, grated ginger <Q> the ingredient is only (mostly) for flavoring, just reduce the quantity; the recipe will still work and be less spicy. <S> If not wanting to be spicy at all, you could use a regular red bell pepper paste (blend/puree some red bell pepper with a little bit of olive oil (or no oil)), or maybe use a tablespoon of tomato paste. <A> Sriracha is primarily red chili pepper, it is used for heat. <S> If it were me, I would reduce the amount of sriracha using only a 1/2 teaspoon or so. <S> You would get a little heat without it being overwhelming. <A> I'm going to assume that you wouldn't want to buy a bottle of sriracha if it's something that you find too spicy ... <S> and it's impossible to find something that's truly 'similar' in taste without it being hot. <S> So instead, I'd consider basing the sauce off of "Sweet Chili Sauce" that you can often find in the Asian section of American grocery stores. <S> (sold by a few different companies -- Mae Ploy and Lee Kum Kee are typically available near me) <S> Although it also has garlic in it, it's not quite as strong as Sriracha. <S> In other recipes you might want to add a little to compensate, but the recipe already has three cloves in it, so you likely won't miss it. <S> You'll also need to reduce your sweeteners (it's sweet chili sauce, after all). <S> I'd try making it without the honey, as the chili sauce is likely going to add the sweetness of about 1 to 2 tsp of honey. <S> (if needed, you can always add a bit after tasting).
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You could replace it with a something like this Ortega Mild Taco Sauce .
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What's the best way to get roasted garlic out of its skin I am quite fond of oven-roasted garlic , but I always spend ages getting the meat out of their skin. In addition my fingers get rather sticky when I follow the method described in the linked recipe, which is to "press on the bottom of a clove to push it out of its paper." Are there any tips or tricks on how to easily get roasted garlic out of its skin, preferably without making too much of a mess? <Q> Cut the garlic head in half, add a little oil if you like, put halves back together, wrap in foil, roast, unwrap, cool, squeeze roasted garlic out of halves. <S> The idea of cutting in half ensures that most, if not all of the cloves are cut open, making removal of roasted garlic easier. <S> Placing the cloves back together, avoids the potential problem of a crust forming over the cut end, which also may make removal easier (though I've never tested this). <S> You do need your hands, so one way to avoid stickiness, particularly if you are doing a lot, is to wear rubber gloves. <A> You will find things much easier if you cut the garlic in half at <S> it's widest point. <S> If you cut the tops off like in the link provided then you are restricting the cloves from coming out of their wrappers. <S> I think the point with cutting the tops off is to be able separate the cloves and use them as individual applicators, kind of like ketchup packets in a way. <S> Cutting the whole thing in half means that the garlic should pop out with a gentle squeeze. <S> The garlic needs to be very done for this method or using your fingers work though. <A> Squeeze the roasted garlic between the MIDDLE of strong tongs. <S> This also works for juicing citrus fruit. <A> I use a different method of roasting garlic, roasting it whole - it's really easy with this method to just peel the cloves and pop them out of their skin, they're soft and sticky, but a little drier and easier to handle. <S> Oil can be added to whatever I'm using the garlic with, afterwards - it isn't needed in the roasting, it just adds some flavor, and some mess. <S> So, what I tend to do is just pop the garlic head in the hot oven, and bake it (turning once or twice) till I can see browning on the white papery peel and the head has been evenly turned. <S> The head of garlic can store better this way, too, since it is still wrapped in its peel and hasn't been exposed to the air. <S> When I want to use the garlic, it's easy to peel the skin off, and break individual cloves off the head. <S> To peel, I just grab one of the bottom edges (there are ridges where the clove attached to the head), use my thumbnail to break the brittle dried skin, and yank upward, pulling the dry skin off one side easily. <S> A clove will usually have a square or triangular base, but pulling the skin off two sides is usually enough to slip the roasted clove out of the peel - especially since the skin is usually stiff from the roasting, and the clove is soft and a little slippery. <S> I can understand the appeal of roasting the garlic with oil, the flavors go well together and will meld very well <S> , I just usually don't find it necessary when oil can be added later - and since the peel is intact, i don't need foil either - and I'm attracted to the convenience of it. <S> Depending on how long you roast <S> (or how long you store the garlic) some of the smaller cloves might end up a bit dry, even sticky and chewy - it isn't something that bothered me - but the larger cloves were still soft and roasted and give good flavor, and they are much easier to peel this way. <A> Take the entire head(s) of garlic (can remove some of the outer skins first), put it on a pan, and roast it in the oven for about an hour at 350 degrees F. <S> Some recipes say to drizzle oil, but that is completely unnecessary. <S> Let it cool a bit. <S> Then you pull off the softened garlic cloves from the head, and when you squeeze it the roasted paste will come out of the bottom of the clove, where it used to be attached to the bulb/head. <S> Still a little bit sticky, but not excessively messy.
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I have used the flat of a chef's knife to squeeze the garlic out rather than using my hands and it works pretty well.
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Why are my macarons cracking on top? I've tried to make macarons eight times in a row and I failed. I used this recipe (text version is in the description below the video). They all cracked on top and the surface collapsed as you see in the picture. I did some research and watched youtube videos to find out what I am doing wrong. As I figured the following factor could be the reason behind ugly macaroons: I read somewhere that the time you let the batch sit and dry before putting i the oven is an important factor. I let it rest for 45 minutes to one hour instead of 20-30 minutes, but the result was the same, if not worse. The other factor is beating egg whites to stiff peaks. There, I think this is where my problem come from. So I beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to medium peak stage, then add in the sugar in 3 batches while mixing with hand mixer. After watching several videos I know what stiff peaks look like, or at least I think so. But trying the recipe keeping that point in mind it still had the same result: What else is important in making macarons that avoid them crack? What am I missing? The weird thing is, my first batch was a success without precise measurements and so on! Here is the picture: <Q> You had too much air in your batter. <S> The excess air expands in the oven and creates a hollow shell that then collapses. <S> The macaronage is really the trickiest thing about macarons - it is very hard to convey in recipes exactly what the texture of the batter should be after the process. <S> It just takes practice and experience. <S> It is hard to get out of the sponge-making mindset of gently folding ('must retain air, must not overdevelop gluten!'), but you must in fact beat the air out of the batter like nobody's business. <S> Knowing when to stop so you don't end up with batter puddles is the key. <S> For what it's worth, I have tried many macaron recipes over the years, all with varying degrees of fussiness regarding age of the egg whites, texture of the almonds, stiffness of the peaks and so on, but the best recipe I have ever used is the one that does away with most of that nonsense <S> - you can find it here . <A> Mine used to fail, but now they always turn out well. <S> The climate doesn't matter. <S> But you have to keep them away from water. <S> I use following measurements: 35 g almond meal 50 g icing sugar <S> 30 g egg white <S> 30 g sugar <S> Beat the egg whites with the sugar until stiff on low speed, and have patience, as beating on high doesn't stabilize them. <S> Next, fold the other ingredients until the batter flows, the same consistency as the ice cream in McDonalds. <S> Pipe the macarons, then tap them to let the air out. <S> And then, to make a nice skin, use a hair dryer . <S> Set it on hot and blow at the top of the piped out macarons. <S> Try to blow as much as possible without getting them out of shape. <S> For me, it takes 5 minutes for the shells to dry. <S> The surface becomes like silk cloth, not sticky. <S> It resembles smooth marshmallow skin. <S> If you don't get that skin, you will get cracks. <S> I bake mine at 135 degrees for 23 minutes, but that varies with oven. <A> If they are not getting dull and dry, they are not ready to go in the oven. <S> If you touch it and it wiggles around a bit, leave it to dry longer. <S> It sounds like humidity shouldn't be a problem, as you have already tried letting them dry out longer, but if it is, here are some ideas. <S> Allow the macarons to dry for longer. <S> Heat up the oven to dry out to the room or use a hair dryer to dry the macarons. <S> Or turn on the heater or air conditioner to dry out the room. <S> The top of the macarons should be very dry to the touch prior to baking. <S> Add 2tsp corn starch or potato starch to the batter if it is humid in your area. <S> This will add some extra tackiness to your batter and should dry out your macarons. <S> Another issue could be the temperature is too high when baking in humidity. <S> Lower oven temperature when higher humidity levels. <S> In dry weather, I bake for 11 minutes at 350. <S> In medium humidity, I bake for 12 minutes at 325. <S> In wet weather, I bake for 13 minutes as 305 degrees. <S> 99.9% of the time, cracks are because you did not dry the macaroons out long enough. <S> The 0.01% is that you overmixed or undermixed the batter.
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I suspect high humidity or overbeating. This isn't a result of beating to much, but rather insufficient macaronage after folding in the sugar and almonds.
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Does pressure cooking preserve alcohol? I use my pressure cooker a lot and for one recipe I'm practically bathing a few pork loins in white wine. I know that pressure cooking only reduces liquid by less than five percent, and I know that cooking only reduces alcohol by evaporation not breaking down of molecules (or at least I think so). So does pressure cooking only reduce alcohol content by ~5% (since the stuff that evaporates will probably be mostly alcohol? Or will the alcohol content in the steam be much higher? Even in that case, if I let it sit before releasing pressure, most of the steam will turn back into liquid. Basically, can I add "helps get you tipsy" to the list of my InstantPot's many features? <Q> In fact, even when cooking in an open pot, a large amount of alcohol will remain in your liquid( Wikipedia:Cooking_with_alcohol ). <S> While it is true that alcohol has a lower boiling point than water in their pure forms, a mixture of water and ethanol will boil together, with both water and alcohol vaporizing. <S> Wikipedia: <S> Raoult's Law <A> Assuming your pressure cooker doesn't vent a ton of vapor, this should work. <S> In that case, all you're losing is the vapor that's inside the cooker when you open it. <S> It is true that the vapor will contain a higher concentration of alcohol than the liquid, e.g. 5% alcohol liquid might produce 25-35% alcohol vapor. <S> (I had a little trouble finding exact numbers for the elevated pressure, but I don't think precision is necessary here.) <S> But the vapor itself is only going to be in the ballpark of a gram per liter. <S> So depending on the amount of open space in the pressure cooker, you might lose a few grams of an alcohol-water vapor mixture, at worst equivalent to losing a few mL of 80-proof liquor. <S> I assume that's small compared to the amount you're putting in. <S> On the other hand if it vents significant vapor, the loss could approach the same ballpark as the usual loss from boiling . <S> I'm not sure how to estimate the vapor released from a pressure cooker, but this does mean you could potentially lose upwards of half of it depending on how long you cook. <A> The boiling point of alcohol is 173° <S> F - your pressure cooker will reach temperatures of up to 240-250 <S> °F. <S> My husband is in the "sensor" business and he equipped my kitchen with a gas detector. <S> I often pressure cook risotto with 1/4 cup of wine and when I release pressure the alarm goes off signifying a large concentration of ethanol in the air. <S> In fact, pressure cookers are used to distill alcohol at temperatures lower than pressure cooking. <S> I did some research of Scientific Journal Articles and did not find any specific studies that measured exactly HOW MUCH alcohol is evaporated during pressure cooking - but my educated guess says is that it's quite a bit!
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Since a pressure cooker does not release any vapors, all of the alcohol will remain in the pot until you open the lid.
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How can I reheat leftovers without a microwave? We are swearing off our microwave for our own personal reasons. Aside from running the oven to warm up leftovers are there other appliances or cookware that use less energy to warm food up? We use a toaster oven for some things but it's not practical for everything. Example: I want to warm up leftover roast and potatoes. The large oven seems like overkill to me. The toaster oven seems to re-cook things and overdo it, or might just be too small. What else could be used to warm that up? <Q> We are in a similar situation, while the house gets remodelled we didn't want to buy another one. <S> The microwave we have is the combination microwave and exhaust fan model that's 10 years old, which can't be moved out without a lot of thought. <S> But we find that it is a rather indispensable modern workhorse for reheating leftovers. <S> This being said, we have gone to using a pot and some bamboo steamers on the stove top to reheat most if not all of our leftovers. <S> The steamer is pretty quick if you have an induction cooktop, which boils water extremely fast. <S> We can reheat several things at a time, by adding more steamer baskets. <S> The bamboo keeps excess water condensation from dripping on your food, so no need to really cover it with anything. <S> It reconstitutes dried out food more moist and it doesn't overheat it. <S> But it doesn't work well when you want something crisp and warm. <S> For this we use a convection toaster over, with the door slightly open. <S> We find that our particular oven gets really hot even with the convection fan running it tends to just burn things. <S> So having the door slightly open keeps the food from burning but still heats up. <S> We might also heat up a pizza slice on a cast iron grill or pan with a lid or a sheet of aluminium foil on top to keep the heat in. <S> Also keeps any splatters inside. <S> As for your particular foods, roast and potatoes. <S> I might try cutting it into smaller pieces and start with the steamer and then putting it in the toaster over just to crisp up the skin. <S> As for the potatoes I guess it would depend on how they are prepared. <S> But I think the combination of wet heat and dry heat will reheat nearly anything you got. <S> But I do think that the microwave is a pretty ingenious way to reheat food. <A> When you don't have a microwave, it might actually be easier to convert a given meal into something else -- for instance, your example of a roast and potatoes: If you cut it up, added a liquid and some other vegetables (carrots, onions, green beans), you could very easily turn that into a soup or stew by simmering it on the stovetop. <S> Cut it up, and add it to a pan with onions, bell peppers and maybe a few eggs and you have a hash. <S> Depending on the state of the potatoes, you could turn them into a potato salad that wouldn't need reheating ... and then serve it as a side with roast beef sandwiches. <S> Quiche and frittatas are well known ways to use up whatever leftovers you might have in your fridge. <S> ... so don't think you of your food as leftovers that must stay in that same state to be served (as you would with microwaving) -- consider how they could be an ingredient to make something else. <A> Nothing is going to replace the speed and convenience of a microwave. <S> You will just have to plan your life a little differently. <S> The oven and toaster oven that you mention will be best (what did people do before the microwave?), but a couple of ideas come to mind... <S> though neither will be as practical as the microwave. <S> There are various models of solar oven, which, of course would save on energy, but would be less reliable and could only be used at certain times. <S> Secondly, you could use an immersion circulator and water bath (sous vide), which does a nice job of warming leftovers, but I am not sure how it compares to a microwave for energy efficiency, especially because you would have to run it longer. <S> Finally, there are a variety of combi-ovens on the market... <S> some home counter top models, though most are quite expensive. <A> I would get a counter top convection oven. <S> They can come as large as your microwave, so it can do tasks <S> the toaster oven cannot. <S> Or, if you're in the mood for an entire new range: some have convections as well. <S> Convection ovens use less energy, cook faster and result in great product (the swirling air browns nicely, and baked products all brown at the same rate). <S> Side note: if you were using microwave popcorn, check this out: Alton Brown Stove Popcorn . <S> It's very good. <A> Just place your food in pan, add a bit of water, low heat and cover it with lid. <S> Depending on the food - this may take 3-5 min. <S> You may need to add bit more water but with time you will get the right amount each time. <S> It is the fastest way without burning food. <S> Good luck! <S> ;)
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As long as the foods you are reheating have some kind of water/moisture it will reheat in the microwave very well. Many things can be converted in casseroles and baked.
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How can I cook 1/2 a cup of rice? Almost every time I make rice, I make it for just me and my partner. We've found that the right amount for us is 1/2 a cup (125mL, a regular cup not a rice cooker cup) of uncooked basmati rice. I make it in the microwave, with 1 cup of cold water, uncovered, 10 min on high and 5 min rest, but it's never as good as when I make a whole cup. I've tried varying the cook and rest times, but it only seems to get worse (dryer). What other ways could I cook such a small amount of rice? <Q> When you microwave on full power you are likely boiling off all the water before it can be absorbed by the rice. <S> I prefer this method as I like the texture you get and once it's cooked you can eat it straight away without any extra process. <S> I would suggest you mimic this method with your microwave by starting on high until it boils and then turning the power way down until it is cooked. <S> On the stove this method requires you cover the pot, not a practical option in the microwave <S> so you need to add some water to make up for the moisture loss. <S> Another way to cook rice on the stove is to add much more water than you need to cook the rice and boil it until the rice is done, then drain the rice while discarding the extra water. <S> You could also try this method in the microwave very easily. <S> The drawbacks to using this in the microwave is that if it boils over you will end up with a puddle of water on the bottom you have to clean up, and you still have to drain it. <S> So my advice for dorm room rice is the first method, you just need to experiment with water levels and power settings. <A> After much experimentation my partner found the answer: <S> ½ cup basmati rice <S> 1¼ cup water 10 minutes on high <S> The extra 25% water means the rice is cooked through perfectly. <S> I assume with such small quantities the steam vented out of the microwave is more critical and so extra water is needed. <A> In this case, do you have anything against a very small rice cooker? <S> Most companies will make on that is ideally for 1-2 people. <S> Just checked on amazon.com, and they have a 1 cup model for $35.00. <S> This would be ideal as you only have to add the rice and a set amount of water, press the cook button. <S> Voila you have fresh cooked rice and it will keep it warm. <S> If you make rice at least 3 times a week, I think this would be a good option. <S> I have a travel rice cooker, which would cook this amount of rice, and even heat something else on top of it. <S> I think it is called "takeru", or "takaru". <S> It is meant to be a very small rice cooker that plugs into the wall. <S> Makes great rice <S> and it takes all of 15 minutes to have a fresh pot of rice. <S> It was on sale at my local japanese market for $12.00, it was just something I had to have at the time. <S> If you must use the microwave, they actually make microwave rice cookers. <S> It seems by your post that you don't have one that is custom built for the microwave. <S> They too are on amazon.com for under $20. <A> Your biggest challenge is the very small amount you're cooking, especially at full power. <S> I've been trying to lessen my children's intake of rice, while not leaving their appetites disappointed. <S> I also use basmati (or occasionally a higher quality dinorado) and to avoid them sneaking 'snacks' of rice, I simply don't cook more than 1/2 a cup at a time. <S> What I do is make a pilaf of sorts, with quinoa or sometimes couscous filling the other half a cup. <S> I always use a good stock instead of water, preferably one that still has a tad bit of fat in it. <S> Rice, quinoa and couscous use approximately the same measure of liquid by volume to cook <S> , what you have to watch out for is the cooking time. <S> Quinoa and rice cook at pretty much the same time, couscous and risoni (orzo) require shorter and longer cooking times respectively. <S> So, this is what I recommend you do: <S> Turn down the power level on your microwave in favor of longer cooking time, even though you're cooking a full cup (even though it's only 1/2 rice). <S> It's too little rice for too much power for too short of a time. <S> Get some fat in there, even if it's just a smidge of butter. <S> Cook the stuff you want in your pilaf separately, first, at 50 - 60% power to figure out how long they actually take to get to the right doneness and consistency. <S> Make notes. <S> Finally, you should have a pretty good idea of how to cook the pilaf <S> You don't have to make the pilaf, you could just go with plain basmati at a lower power / longer cook with a bit more liquid, but that's still an awfully small amount to cook using microwaves. <S> The root of it is, you need a bit more substance in the dish for it to cook properly using that method. <S> I have a small 3 - 4 cup rice cooker that I normally use, but even it won't do 1/2 a cup very well, so I still use the microwave for such small amounts. <S> I just put more into it, so it cooks properly and evenly. <A> Despite all your 'good' advice received, it is quite easy to cook 1/2 cup of rice in the microwave. <S> I cook for 1 <S> so I only do 1/2 cup at a time. <S> in my microwave, which is 1,000 watts, its 4 minutes. <S> I use only jasmine rice <S> so its the only kind i have tried. <S> I throw the rice in any handy bowl. <S> Nothing fancy. <S> add 1 C. water & cook 4 minutes. <S> Leave sit a few mins for to absorb all liquid & finish up. <S> I cover it loosely, you want the steam to escape. <A> One thing that may work is a small aluminum mug-like pot that are readily available in Asian groceries. <S> They are sized 2 or 3 cups and have lid too, and costs around 7 bucks.
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When you cook rice on a stove a common method is to bring it to a boil and then turn it down to low, cooking it until the rice is done.
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Oats with milk without microwave What is the best way to make oats with milk when there is no microwave available? I am not sure how I can warm it up without either burning the milk or making it taste bad. <Q> A stove would be the traditional method for making oats and it doesn't require a microwave. <S> It takes longer than the microwave but it works just fine, if not better (but this will vary by personal preference). <S> Some recipes have you add the oats and liquid at the same time and bring to a simmer together... either option works. <S> Make certain to keep the temperature low enough to not burn and stir occasionally to move them around. <S> Milk is mostly water (about 87% in whole milk, higher in lower fat milks), so as long as you're not using extremely high heat and leaving it unattended for long periods of time, you should be fine. <A> Contrary to what most people believe, it is not necessary to cook oats. <S> There is a type of oatmeal called "overnight oats" in which the oats are stored with milk and other fruits and spices for at least 8 hours and up to 2-3 days in the fridge. <S> The oats will soften overnight and have a nice texture the next morning. <S> The main difference would be the fact that the oatmeal is cold rather than hot. <S> Check out this site for more details and some ideas. <A> I regularly eat steel-cut oats for breakfast, but I don't nuke them. <S> Instead, I dry toast the oats in a saute pan and eat them either in cold milk or over Greek yogurt (sometimes with honey and frozen fruit + a teensy pinch of salt). <S> Yum!
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Add milk to a small pot, bring it to simmer, add oats to the pot, cook for recommended amount of time depending on the type of oats you're using (see package for times) or until they reach your preferred level of doneness.
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For patting dry meat, what is a substitute for paper towels? Patting dry with paper towels is really wasteful. I would like to pat dry meat with something reusable like a kitchen towel, yet I fear some of the bacteria will remain on it and make it contaminated. Is there a substitute for paper towels? Also, do not confuse this question with: Do you use paper or clothe towel This is about the safety of using a reusable drying material, not it's culinary efficacy. <Q> There are only four ways that I know of other than towels (paper or otherwise) to dry meat: <S> Air circulation Time (in a relatively dry environment). <S> Heat Momentum <S> Most people avoid the heat approach, as you'll start to cook it once it's hot enough to be safe for long-term storage of meat. <S> Some recipes may start in a low oven to dry the surface, then remove it, let the oven pre-heat to a higher temperature, then finish cooking. <S> (as it's difficult to give recipes that know how quickly your oven heats up). <S> For momentum, you basically have to flick the meat such that the water gets flung off. <S> Which is prone to lots of problems (letting go of the meat, plus the spraying of contaminated liquid everywhere). <S> For the airflow, you can set it under a low speed fan ... avoiding high speeds so you don't end up aerosolizing the moisture and flinging it through the kitchen. <S> Or you can place the food in a ventilated container and leave it in your fridge overnight ... possibly with a battery powered fan in the fridge to improve airflow. <S> As all of these ideas have drawbacks (food safety, time, etc.), most people just accept the waste of using paper towels. <S> There are a few times when one of the others might be used (food dehydrating, trying to get a glaze to set up (eg, peking duck), dry brining, etc.), but they're relatively rare. <A> if you use a kitchen towel to pat-dry meat, then you have to discard (wash) <S> it after a single usage, not really practical if it is not wash-day at your house. <S> or if you decide to wash it (more or less) on its own, then it is a waste of water/detergent/energy. <S> If it is about safety, use paper towels; dry the meat, trash it. <S> It <S> it convenient cheap, safe, (more) ecological if made with recycled paper. <S> Instead of using "white" paper towels, you could use brown paper rolls, which are cheaper and do the same work. <A> Although I haven't tried it, I think using a muslin to pat the meat dry would be a good solution. <S> It's a nice, clean material, <S> with little to no loss of fibers ("hairs", "fluff", don't know what term to use exactly) than a kitchen towel, and I imagine it would still get the job done. <S> To clean it, you would have to put it in boiling water, and (perhaps?) <S> add a drop of bleach to it, so it's sterilized again. <S> A good quality muslin will has plenty of life in it, and take quite a lot of abuse (including cooking, and using it as a wringer for squeezing out fluids). <A> I would say you have two options: 1. <S> 2. Plan ahead. <S> Put an open box of baking soda in your fridge and leave it there. <S> Remove the meat from its wrapping at least an hour to an hour and a half before you plan to put it in the pan. <S> Place the meat on a wire rack in your fridge and let the cold, dry air remove moisture from the surface of the meat. <S> Et voila! <S> Bone-dry meat avec no paper towels. <A> Brown Paper lunch bags will dry your meat. <S> Crumple it first to soften. <S> Even better, place the chicken in the bags and press lightly.
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You could use a salad spinner, but if you did, I'd recommend keeping a separate one for meats, as you don't want to risk contaminating other ingredients that would be eaten raw. Buy cheap paper towels made of recycled material, and then recycle those after they've been used.
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Edible straws that look like plastic ones I'd like to make some root beer float cupcakes. The recipe suggests garnishing them with a decorative (non-edible) straw. But I'd like to kick things up a notch: is there such a thing as an edible straw that looks sufficiently like a drinking straw (i.e. same width, preferably striped like an old soda fountain straw)? I know there are various edible straw-like things available, but they all seem noticeably wider that a drinking straw. I don't require that they be hollow inside, but the width is my main concern. <Q> Pirouette cookies (here by Pepperidge Farm) are rolled wafer cookies. <S> The inside is stuffed with chocolate, chocolate hazelnut or vanilla. <S> Here's a recipe that includes a picture using them in a manner similar to what you're asking. <S> You could follow the recipe, but tweak it to look more like a straw and with colors and flavors that suit your purpose. <A> Stick candy would be an option. <S> They even usually offer it in many flavors including root beer or sassafras . <S> Obviously, the root beer flavored ones are sort of boring looking but the other flavors come in many beautiful color combos. <S> They may be slightly wider than what you want <S> but they're pretty close. <S> They're similar to the wider straws for shakes. <A> Pocky is probably about the right diameter, but doesn't have that spiral of color that would really look like a straw. <A> I was considering rolling chocolate or fondant and lo and behold some googling turned up these fondant straws made for use atop cupcakes, along with instructions on how to make them: <S> https://bakearama.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/pink-lemonade-cupcakes/ <S> The short version: Twist together "snakes" of red and white fondant to make straws. <S> They will harden as the fondant dries. <A> It's the wrong flavour but something like a candy cane with the curved part cut off might look the part. <S> I've seen many flavours of seaside rock sold in some shops, I think including the thin type about the diameter of a straw. <S> This is in the UK, I'm not sure whether you can get it where you are. <S> Anywhere calling itself an "old fashioned sweet shop" or selling fudge cut up to order would be worth a try. <S> A quick look online didn't show sensible quantities. <A> It looks like a product called " lollistraws " by squire boone village might work. <S> They're lolipops shaped as drinking straws. <S> I do wonder if you can take some homemade candy cane or lolipops, dip them on a lubricated/foiled dowel and then pull out the dowel. <S> Or more insanely, a small cylinder of ice.
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Candy Sticks look right, but the available flavors might not be a great match for your root beer cupcakes.
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What is the best USDA rated beef best for stew in a pressure cooker? We all appreciate how delicious USDA Prime beef tastes, but there is a point where the pressure cooker will do just as well with a lower quality. Should I go for USDA 'Choice', or should I buy the cheapest or 'Select' grade and save money? Thx <Q> So, understand that MANY recipes were developed to make poor choices of food products chew and taste much better. <S> Stew is one of these that allows a tougher cut of meat and some older veg stored in the root cellar to be made tender and tasty. <S> However, all other things being equal, no matter why a recipe was developed, using the highest quality of meats and veg will always produce a superior product. <S> One more however though. <S> There are diminishing returns on goodness versus price. <S> You don't need prime beef for stew. <S> It will be amazing, but is it worth spending $40 for the beef rather than $20? <S> That's up to you and whether you want to 5 star your stew that was really designed to make halfway inedible stuff decent to eat. <A> The grades are primarily concerned with the marbling of the meat ( http://meat.tamu.edu/beefgrading/ ). <S> If you use a cut with a high amount of connective tissue (anything from the chuck), then you'll get great results in the pressure cooker even with the select grade. <S> I should clarify that when you mention the pressure cooker, I'm picturing something like pot roast. <S> If it's more exotic than that, YMMV. :) <A> There are many factors which go into the grading of beef, simply put it's a measure of overall quality taking into account general condition and appearance as well as marbling. <S> Choice grade is a wide range of beef, there's choice that's almost good as prime and choice that is barely better than select. <S> Select grade meat is really not very good <S> and I would not use it even for stewing. <S> When choosing meat you want to consider cut and quality. <S> Tough cuts come from the working parts of the animal and have more connective tissue, but more flavor as well. <S> Examples of this are chuck and leg meat, which can be delicious after low and slow cooking provided the quality is good in the first place. <S> Meat from an animal which has been fed poor quality food, not cared for well, and is old is not going to come out tasty <S> no matter how well you cook it. <S> In general I find that medium grade working cuts give better results than medium grade tender cuts. <S> Going for choice grade is fine if you want to pressure cook, braise or stew - just be sure to shop around and get good choice grade meat as there's a wide variance in quality. <A> For stewing I have had awesome results using cuts and grades of meat that you would normally consider "chewy", "tough", "stringy" or otherwise undesirable. <S> The grade, at this point, doesn't matter much. <S> The grades are too varied along the lines your looking for, for a good stew meat. <S> As others have stated, the grades just aren't made for stew meat. <S> There made for shorter cooking times. <S> So what I look for is "work" parts. <S> Chuck, shoulder, shank, and others that, if fried, would be as tough as shoe leather. <S> I try to find as dense and "stringy" a meat as I can find. <S> There needs to be a little fat, but not as much as a brisket or roast. <S> Essentially, the more muscular the meat the more flavor it has, but also the tougher it is. <S> The meat softens as you stew it though so it's a great way to use meats that are just to tough for other cooking methods. <S> What I try to stay away from is "old" meat that should be a better grade but has been "downgraded" because there's not enough fat, or the animal was too old. <S> You want naturally fibrous meat, and not meat that is fibrous because it was past <S> it's time. <S> Unfortunately, the grades don't lend themselves to this measurement well. <S> I usually end up with something from the select or choice ranges. <S> Again though those are mostly meaningless when you talk about a stew. <S> Prime meats are usually pointless and often detrimental. <S> They may loose their texture and/or flavor before you ever get done stewing them. <S> Nothing is worse then spending $50 on a stew and having it taste worse then a $15 stew.
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So the best beef meat to get for a stew would be prime grade beef, and fresh veg is the best to use for the best flavors and textures.
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How can I use up a large quantity of egg? (This is not a recipe request, as I will try to make clear.) It's Easter egg season in our household, and my 5 ½-year-old niece is going for quantity, not quality. This means that we have an even-larger-than-usual quantity of the blown-out innards of all the eggs we've dyed with food-safe dyes. 1 So, we're talking whole eggs, not fully scrambled, but not exactly in a separatable condition, either, and with the occasional streak of purple or pink. 2 At this point, we're all deathly sick of scrambled eggs and omelets. We've even gotten tired of the Hungarian harbringer of spring, tojásos nokedli , which is basically spätzle with a scrambled-egg sauce. What other types of things could we look into cooking that would most efficiently use up all these eggs? By "efficient", I mean things that don't require a whole lot of other ingredients. Obviously, I've eliminated the most efficient use, i.e. just cook the eggs (=scrambled eggs), but there's got to be other things we could do. 1 We try to stick to food-safe dyes around kids, because they're not terribly good at not sticking their hands straight in the dye, and from thence in their mouth. 2 e.g. if an egg was accidentally left in the dye overnight, which never happens, no sir, not here, never. :) <Q> Perhaps some breakfast strata would do the trick. <S> I don't know how many ingredients you're looking for, but the basic recipes would (in addition to eggs) include bread, butter, cheese, milk or half-and-half, and a few meats, vegetables, and/or herbs. <S> I've seen variations that use potatoes and rosemary, some that use bacon and scallions, some that use spinach or asparagus. <S> Quite a variety. <S> My favorite ones are behind a paywall, but if you subscribe: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/506-breakfast-strata-with-sausage-mushrooms-and-monterey-jack (Cooks Country also has a strata-inspired recipe called Featherbed Eggs that I love.) <S> Otherwise, you can find strata recipes anywhere: <S> http://www.food.com/recipe/ham-asparagus-strata-85885 <S> Another one I quite enjoy is called Eggs Piperade, which is essentially scrambled eggs with a stir-fry of peppers, onions, and tomatoes. <A> One of my family's Easter traditions is pizza rustica -- it's a pie with a quiche-like center, but there's enough sausage and other stuff in it that it's not as blatantly eggy as a quiche. <S> (unless you also add hard boiled eggs into the mix). <S> ricotta pie'), made with citrus zest to lighten it up. <S> (and sometimes wheat berries & citron, but I'm not a fan of that variation) <A> If you're willing to occasionally toss in a few eggs in separable condition, you might think about making baked custards. <S> Cakes may be another good option, if you can stand all the sugar and fat (a.k.a. "where the flavor's at!"). <S> It's also pretty hard to go wrong with a quiche <S> (I don't think you need to toss in an egg yolk to get a yummy quiche), IMHO, and there's nothing wrong with the odd fritata every now and then! <S> If you've got a taste for southwestern or latin cuisine, might I recommend chilaquiles or migas ? <S> Gato's Scrambled Eggs may provide you with an interesting twist on the notion of a scrambled egg. <S> ALSO! <S> If you're willing and able to get a bit technical, you might think about hacking together your very own water oven and setting the yolks around 70 deg. <S> C (). <S> The still-runny whites will then perhaps be separable from the ever-so-creamy yolk. <S> Saucy notion, eh? <A> Egg breads, some of which are even traditional Easter foods. <S> You can, in fact, simply replace all the liquid in a yeast bread recipe with eggs (it will, of course, be quite different than with other liquids or a mixture of egg and other liquids) - but it will be bread, and since the point is to use it up in some manner that is not scrambled/omlet, there you go. <S> Then you can take that when it goes stale and dip it more egg (and a little milk) for french toast. <A> A solution for a different place in the process: why do you only color blown-out eggs? <S> I know that they have some advantages, but you also end up with a lot of raw egg at once. <S> My family always colors hard boiled eggs only. <S> That way colored eggs get disposed of, instead of staying around for months and taking up space <S> the person who breaks an egg usually eats the contents, no reason to make tons of eggy dishes three days before a feast when somebody has had enough of eating eggs, they don't go on breaking more eggs. <S> The (whole, boiled) <S> colored eggs can stay for weeks in the fridge and wait for your appetite, or a day of egg salad. <S> You don't have to switch to boiled eggs only, but a mixture of both will reduce the amount of raw egg contents on Maundy Thursday. <S> If you still end up with tons of egg contents: Easter breads have a very high egg content, make one of those. <S> They are very tasty and keep for a long while, my grandma used to start with 3 kg of flour for a family gathering of 6 adults and 3 children. <S> You can also start making French toast with them if you haven't eaten them within the first 4-5 days, although the egg contents won't keep that long out of the shell - you should make a separate question about the suitability of frozen eggs for French toast (they are no good for other stuff such as custard).
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Another high egg count dish we serve for Easter (that doesn't require hard boiling, or separating the eggs) is Italian cheesecake (aka. ' Custard would be another approach.
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Sous vide - add liquid or no in the bag? I'm the proud owner of a new-fangled sous vide instrument. So far, I've seen mixed statements about adding extra liquid (brine or some other concoction of my choosing) to the bag. When grilling, I'm a dry rub man. But I wanted to try a marinade and thought my sous vide adventures would be a good place to start. Is this a bad idea? Are there any recommendations, like avoiding overly acidic due to bag leeching? <Q> A lot depends on what you want to achieve and the specific cut or protein you are cooking. <S> There are several ways you can go, but dry-rub or marinate... <S> pat dry or wipe off... <S> quick sear... <S> bag <S> ...cook... <S> final grill or final sear...is often a good practice. <S> A vacuum sealer is nice to have for extra long cooks, when you get into the multiple day range, but is not really necessary for most applications. <S> There are many online resources you can check for guidance. <A> Salty marinades work best, both for altering the flavor profile of the protein and for adding liquid to the cut. <S> Since sous vide is a technique that works in a vacuum-sealed bag, liquid doesn't evaporate from the cut during the cooking process. <S> I would say do this: 1. <S> Brinerade the cut for a short period of time (depends on the size of the cut) 2. <S> Dry <S> the meat really well. <S> 3. <S> Sous vide the crap out of that tasty cut! <S> 4. <S> Re-dry the meat, if necessary! <S> 5. <S> Sear the cut (browning adds flavor) in a rippin' hot pan to form a crust. <S> 6. Enjoy! <A> There is only one reason to add liquid into a bag, and that is to displace air. <S> In short, liquid conducts heat much better than air. <S> Think insulated windows, two layers of glass with one layer of air between to prevent heat transfer. <S> The increased heat conduction is essential if not using a vacuum sealer, as extra liquid can displace packets of air. <S> However, if you'd like to avoid adding extra liquid to meat in a sous vide cooker, that is fine, as I am sure meat juice will leak out and fill up those cavities.
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Generally speaking meat that is cooked sous vide does not have marinating liquid in the bag, though a small amount of fat (oil or butter, for example), might be added to help with air displacement.
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Effect of the type of oil on a vinaigrette's texture? When I prepare vinaigrette, I always use the same basic technique: first the vinegar (or another acid liquid like lemon juice), some salt, a spoonful of Dijon mustard and then I add oil little by little (not as carefully as with mayonnaise – in that case I use an electric whisk – but not all at once), whisking or even simply mixing it with a spoon or fork. Usually, that's enough to obtain a nice emulsion but in some cases the oil and vinegar never seem to mix properly and the texture isn't right. It's merely anecdotal but I have the feeling that the type of oil I use is the key factor here. Olive, walnut or pumpkin seed oil all seem to work very well, sunflower oil not so much. My question is: Is it really the case? Does the type of oil have a well documented effect on how easy it is to get a good emulsion? And if that's the case, is there some “neutral” oil I could use instead of sunflower oil if I want to avoid the strong flavour of olive or walnut oil? <Q> Add egg yolk or lecithin to your mixture and whisk it again. <S> Here is some theory: To make an emulsion (consistent, not separating oil–water mixture), we rely on emulsifiers – long organic molecules that on one end bind with water, and another with oil. <S> They play role of a glue that does not let molecules of water and oil separate. <S> The most common emulsifier is a lecithin – compound found in egg yolks. <S> There is a more complete list of them I found on this website: Emulsifiers in food <A> Yeah, sure! <S> Vegetable or canola <S> (a.k.a. rapeseed) oil is used in dressings all the time! <S> If you're having trouble getting the dressing to come together, I recommend tossing in an egg yolk to help the emulsification along. <S> If a raw egg yolk freaks you out you can add a teaspoon of mayo to every 3 tablespoons of oil. <S> If someone has an egg allergy, replace the mayo with mustard (Dijon works best, IMO). <S> The standard ratios I use are 1 tablespoon of acid (vinegar) to every 3 tablespoons of oil. <S> I don't worry about slowly adding the oil it, because a brisk whisking with enough emulsifying agent always gets the result I'm looking for. <S> HOWEVER , it's possible that how much whisking you're performing is altering the mouthfeel by pumping different amounts of air into the dressing. <A> Its the ingredients in the premixed mustard which is promoting the emulsification of the oil; have you changed the brand of Mustard you use? <S> Try increasing the amount you use, or as already suggested use some egg yoke.
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To actually answer your question: I've never noticed a textural difference in my dressings based on the kind of oil I use.
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How should I keep the vegetables from flying off the board when I cut them? Whenever I chop veggies like onions or carrots they sometimes just fly off the chopping board into the open space of the kitchen. Carrots do that especially often – I cannot chop them (dicing is also problematic) without the occasional pieces flying off the board. What am I missing here? I try to imitate Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay chopping videos bit by bit. <Q> Use a sharp knife, dull knives don't slice, they split the same way an axe splits logs and that will generate that sideways force that throws carrot bits. <S> You shouldn't be dropping the blade straight down like a axe or guillotine. <S> You should be moving the blade in a orbital movement, so that you are slicing in a forward direction while the blade is on its way down to and through the carrot. <S> By slicing properly much less of your veg will have that energy buildup because they won't "snap" apart but will be sliced apart neatly. <S> Search YouTube for Basic Knife Skills and watch several videos, then practice, and start slowly. <S> You will get faster with time and time only, don't rush it or you'll get sloppy and may hurt yourself. <A> When people come over to my kitchen and try to cut something they are often shocked at how easy it is. <S> If your knives slide off of food (like onion skins or tomato skins) rather than cut cleanly into them, they aren't sharp enough to make slicing easy. <S> The one thing I would add is to start with a long knife, and learn the "rocking" chop motion first with it. <S> That is, keep the end toward the tip of the knife on the cutting board, and only lift the back end of the knife high enough to clear the carrot. <S> With a smaller knife, you need to do what Escoce mentions and make an "orbital" motion rather than straight down. <S> I think that's harder to do properly for beginners, so start with a big knife and rock it until you get the hang of it. <S> I tend to use a 10-inch chef's knife to chop carrots; minimum of 8-inch. <S> Lots of people see such big knives and think they are too scary to use. <S> But they really make chopping incredibly easy, especially if they are kept sharp. <S> With a big sharp knife, you should barely feel like you need force at all to slice quickly through a carrot. <A> Use a bigger, sharper knife. <S> If you're having to apply so much pressure to cut a vegetable that it's flying off into the ether, your knife isn't sharp enough. <S> Furthermore, a blunt knife is a dangerous knife, because it is more likely to slip off the surface of the thing you're cutting and end up in your hand. <A> If you are not bothered about the shape of the vegetables, you can cut the (for example) carrot along its length, then place the flat side against the chopping board. <S> You can then slice, dice or whatever <S> with much less effort, and the carrot pieces won't roll off the board. <A> I agree with the other answers (particularly using a sharp knife). <S> It gives you a reference touch point so that you don't quickly cut through the object and hit the cutting board if you apply pressure. <S> It also makes you cut it at an angle similar to scissors or one of those paper trimmers/cutters that you see in offices. <A> It's crucial to consider the chopping surface here. <S> If you are using a glass or ceramic board you will have problems with slippage. <S> Use a wooden or plastic board, and (as others have said) a sharp knife of a suitable type. <A> Beyond the comments about knives, which is right on, I use cafeteria trays with sides in place of a standard cutting board for the majority of my chopping and cutting. <S> I've never had the dreaded roll off problem <S> and I can carry the trays from place to place without fear of the same vegetable fly off.
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When I'm cutting something that tends to fly away like carrots, I'll keep the tip of the knife touching the cutting board. Also learn to practice your slicing and chopping technique. Both Escoce's and Elendil's answers are great: the key is a sharp knife, and the vast majority of people (in my experience) do not have very sharp knives in their kitchens.
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What methods make tomato chopping less messy? Chopping tomato is real mess sometimes. I just want to know that what is the best chop tomatoes without any mess? One trick I did was to deep freeze tomatoes before cutting them and then used to chop them. But if we don't have time to deep freeze i.e 20 mins then what are other options? <Q> You need a sharper knife. <S> With a dull knife, you'll have trouble getting through the skin, and end up tearing and smashing, releasing a lot of juice. <S> With a sharp knife, you'll get through the skin cleanly and leave the tomatoes much more intact. <S> Serrated knives are another common option: they get through the skin very easily. <S> A dull serrated knife will tear the flesh up a lot, though, so you still do need a reasonably sharp blade, and while a cheap bread knife or steak knife might be better than nothing, it's not ideal. <S> The best ones are probably the ones actually marketed as tomato knives: they're sharp, not too thick, and have a serration pattern that's meant for this. <S> If you're forced to make do with an inadequate knife, you can break the skin with the tip, then extend that with the blade and slice from there. <S> If the knife is so dull that it still makes a mess, you might be out of luck. <S> This is pretty time-consuming, though, so I wouldn't suggest it as an everyday method for a lot of slices. <S> Freezing, as you suggested, doesn't sound like a great idea. <S> If you freeze tomatoes thoroughly enough to make them firmer and easier to chop, then you'll have formed a lot of ice, and once they thaw, they'll tend to disintegrate and release all that juice. <S> It won't affect the flavor, but it's kind of pointless, since if you're willing to mess up the texture that much, you might as well just hack it up <S> whatever messy way you like. <A> Although a sharp or serrated knife are the best solution, there's also a trick that you can use when you're working with less than ideal knives (ie, in someone else's kitchen). <S> Use the tip of the knife to stab the tomato at the spacing that you'll be cutting it. <S> Slice at each of the stab marks <S> If dicing, place a couple of slices on the board, and then slice down through them. <S> When dicing the ends, place the slice skin-side down before cutting. <S> Effectively, you're breaking the skin of the tomato like a serrated knife would to help you get it started. <S> For the other slices, you're not cutting from the skin side, so you won't have the problem with the knife slipping. <A> My favored way is a very sharp cooks knife. <S> Others have said serrated knifes. <S> I also do that if my cooks knife needs sharpening (sometimes I neglect it). <S> Note: there are general use serrated knives, often used to slice bread. <S> Also on the market are serrated knives specifically made for tomatoes . <S> I think the serrations purpose-built for tomatoes are gentler on the flesh and meat of the tomato. <S> I've seen them at decent prices 6 to 8 U.S. dollars. <S> Tomato Knife <S> Here's another <S> (I've never used a knife like this, but it has 400+ reviews and 4.5 stars on Amazon) <A> Use a serrated knife with a long blade. <S> Like a bread knife! <S> When cutting, try not to apply too much pressure (i.e. press down into the berry, or use a vigorous sawing motion). <S> That squeezes out tomato juice. <S> Instead, let the weight of the blade do most of the work. <S> This is why I recommend a long blade. <S> A nice, slow draw from the heel of the knife to its tip across the flesh of the berry should get you most--if not all--of the way through the fruit. <S> Once the interior of the tomato is exposed it should be smooth going. <A> While using a sharp serrated knife, place the whole tomatoe upside down on the cutting block. <S> Cut down through the tomatoe without cutting through <S> (I.e. Let the top of the tomato hold together). <S> Cut as thick or thin as you want. <S> If you want slices, then once you have cut then all then turn the tomato on its side and hold the tomato together with the top toward your knife and slice through and you'll have a neat stack of slices. <S> If you want diced or chopped, then leave the tomato upside down and turn it 90 degrees. <S> Hold the slices together. <S> Slice down to but not through the top again, as thick or thin as you like. <S> Now the fun part. <S> Turn the tomato over onto its side so that the stem points away from the cutting board. <S> Hold the tomatoe around so the pieces don't slide all over, and slice down through the tomatoe starting at the bottom of the tomato for the first slice. <S> You should be gifted with a perfectly chopped or diced tomato, uniform pieces and a top of the tomato being all that's left. <S> Works perfectly for onions too, with the exception of cutting the onion in half through the base first. <A> Get a ceramics blade knife! <S> It's just the best for cutting tomatoes and will stay sharp FOREVER ;)
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If you have a particularly tough-skinned tomato, try using the tip of the blade to make an initial slit, then finish the cut with the serration.
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How to remove cardamom seeds from rice I love the taste of cardamom seeds, as does the family. But I am the only person in the household who doesn't mind chewing the seeds as a part of the rice dish. For flavoured rice, it's quite easy, but fried rice with mixed vegetables etc I always end up missing some. Thoughts? <Q> My typical method to add flavor, but not "bits", is to wrap the ingredients in a cheesecloth bag and remove it after cooking is done. <S> Usually this is larger items than cardamom seeds (e.g. vegetables or bay leaves), but with fine enough cloth you should be able to add seasoning without adding texture. <A> When cooking rice cardamom pods will usually float to the surface and cook on the top. <S> Using black cardamom pods will also help as they are much bigger than green ones, meaning you use fewer of them and they are very easy to spot and pick out. <S> I prefer the flavor too. <A> For stir fries etc consider adding the cardamom seeds to the oil while heating....much as one temporarily adds garlic and ginger. <S> Allow to release their essential oils and then strain out before proceeding with the recipe. <S> It will last indefinitely when stored in a cool dry place. <S> The oil will be infused in a couple of days and ready for use. <S> The sme technique can be used to flavor salt.
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I've found that I can get almost all the pods out in just a few seconds by spooning them off the top of the rice. You can also make infused cardamom oil by crushing the seeds and adding to the oil.
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Why are berries so expensive? I am trying to eat healthier with less processed foods and I'm a pretty smart guy to begin with. But I can't figure this out for the life of me - why are berries so expensive? I love things like boysenberries and blueberries but I almost choke when I see their price in the store. Why are berries expensive? <Q> It is a combination of many factors. <S> To sell you one perfect apple, one perfect bunch of bananas, or one perfect half-pint of berries requires: the land to grow on workers to plant, tend, weed, and pick transportation to market loss allowance for fruit that's bruised or spoils in transit loss allowance for fruit that spoils while at the store and people won't buy it <S> Many of these factors are objectively higher for berries than for applies or bananas, especially given their short shelf life and tendency to bruise. <S> This puts a floor on the price growers and stores can charge. <S> Then on top of that, they are delicious and healthy, so at least some people will pay that price. <S> This removes downward pressure to sell them at a loss to get you in the store. <S> A better question is what can you do about it? <A> There's a variety of reasons I can imagine: They're more delicate than most other fruits, so shipping without damaging is harder. <S> Loss due to crushing is expected. <S> They go bad quickly, which can limit the area they can be delivered to and the method of delivery (planes are more expensive than trucks) but also gives them significantly shorter shelf life in the stores - meaning stores have to charge extra for what they sell because they have to discard anything that starts to rot. <S> They're more difficult to pick because they're tiny and (often) protected by thorns, so the cost to produce is higher. <S> They're in additional packaging... <S> apples are loose in giant boxes, berries are usually in small plastic containers that add cost to the overhead. <A> Think of it the other way around. <S> I got the answer by asking why are bananas so cheap. <S> I live in Michigan, and bananas, even though they have to be shipped from points far south of here, are cheaper than non-cull apples which can be grown locally. <S> The reason (if you remember the Banana Boat Song by Harry Belafonte) is that bananas grow in 6, 7, and 8 foot bunches, meaning that they can be harvested very quickly without a lot of labor. <S> Apples have to be picked one at a time. <S> You will also notice that strawberries are cheaper than any other kind of berry. <S> This is because they are bigger, and therefore take less labor to pick the same quantity. <S> Potatoes and wheat are harvested by machine and therefore cost even less <A> Another answer perhaps overlooked is that they are smaller than fruit <S> Irregardless of cost of production, shipping and storing, a small box of berries with 30 berries in it seems like more value than an single apple, even though they have the same weight. <S> Likewise, the way they are used affects how much people will pay; They are often used more as garnish and decoration. <S> A small box of raspberries can be enough to spruce up a dessert, whereas fruit often needs to be a bigger ingredient.
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The answer is generally to use frozen berries (they don't incur the spoiling and bruising losses) or to eat berries only when they're in season locally and eat other kinds of fruit the rest of the year.
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How do you infuse the flavor of a sauce into chicken? I have cooked some chicken in a pot with honey sauce. The sauce was very flavorful, and while the chicken had a great texture none of the sauce's flavor was in the chicken! It was almost flavorless. I have seared the chicken and put it in a covered pot with some wine and honey as sauce (sauce covered about eighth of the chicken?). What can I do next time to infuse the flavors of a flavor base together with chicken when it is pot cooked? <Q> You can't do it, it's physically not possible. <S> Your meat will always taste of meat, not of sauce. <S> Meat is not some kind of sponge which can soak up sauce, it's a dense muscle. <S> If you want more flavorful meat, you can buy more flavorful meat. <S> Most meat you can get in the supermarket is tasteless, because 1) people don't really like meat flavor if they are not accustomed to it (see the recent mutton question), 2) <S> it's cheaper to raise tasteless meat (young chicken vs. soup hen) and <S> 3) you need a fattier meat to have more flavor, but people prefer lean meats nowadays. <S> Still, the meat will then taste of meat, not of sauce. <S> If you find your food way too tasteless, you can also consider preparations such as a meatloaf, where you can physically mix spices into the protein. <A> There are a couple of ways to flavor your chicken prior to cooking. <S> Three that come to mind are dry brining, wet brining, and marinating. <S> A dry brine is basically a rub. <S> After rinsing and drying chicken, rub with a mixture of salt (usually heavy on the salt), spices, herbs, etc... <S> what ever flavor combo you are going for. <S> If you are going for crispy skin, leave uncovered in fridge for up to 3 days before cooking. <S> In a wet brine, the chicken is submerged in a brine for up to two days. <S> The brine is usually salt based and can include herbs and spices. <S> For larger birds (and turkey) you could take this a step further and inject the brine into the flesh with a syringe...thus "injection brining." <S> Marinating is usually done for a few hours to overnight. <S> Combine these flavoring techniques with careful cooking, and it should improve your results. <A> These days most grocery stores carry a flavor injector, which is essentially a giant hypodermic needle. <S> If your sauce is too thick, dilute with water or any liquid beverage. <S> Best to do before cooking, but should still work afterwards, too. <S> But can't say how that would affect the meat.
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Marinating is coating the meat in a mixture of oil, herbs and spices (though using yogurt as a base ingredient is popular in many cultures and delicious).
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How to figure out where is the best place to store homemade cookies: in the fridge or on the counter, in an airtight container or elsewhere The other day I baked some Nutella cookies (the famous four ingredient recipe which calls for egg, Nutella, vanilla and flour), they tasted awesome but the next day they became hard and chewy. A little Google search and figured they must be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. I bake several types of cookies but I have problem storing them so that several unknown factors don't affect their taste and texture. How do you figure out where is the best place to store homemade cookies to preserve flavor? Does it depend on the ingredients, as in if there is milk, store in the fridge? <Q> If the cookies are baked, I cool them completely. <S> Then, I put them on a plate and under a cake dome. <S> They look nice, don't get smashed or crumbled, keep their flavor, and maintain their texture for a few days. <S> If I don't need to bake all of the cookies at once, my best results come from freezing the cookie dough and baking on demand. <S> I mostly bake chocolate chip or sugar cookies. <S> So, my answer is based on those types of cookies. <A> I worked in a professional bakery and also have baked massive amounts of cookies every year for Christmas for as far back as I can remember. <S> My preferred method of storage is in airtight containers in the freezer and doling out however many cookies at a time as needed. <S> I find that any baked goods that are frozen soon after baking will have the same characteristics as just-baked items. <S> It's the only way that I can bake for a few weeks and give fresh cookies as gifts and send through the mail. <S> There are a few varieties that I do need to layer between waxed paper sheets, like chewy oatmeal, but all the cookies I've ever made through the years come right back to life once defrosted. <A> The cookie jar came into being for a reason. <S> It is a place to keep cookies in a controlled environment that is not so open as to dry the cookie out, but is not so air tight that moisture from the cookie can't escape the container. <S> Hard dry cookies (or at least harder and dryer than intended) are no good. <S> And floppy crumbled cookies from sitting in a humid sealed container are no good either. <S> Hence the cookie jar where cookies can be kept for weeks before completely drying out, but not losing their integrity due to being trapped in with their own moisture.
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I do not store baked cookies in the refrigerator because I have had problems with the cookies becoming dry (even in an airtight plastic bag).
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How do I avoid carrot slices rolling away? When you slice carrots, the slices tend to roll away. This previous question did mention this as part of a broader issue, but didn't focus on it enough to get answers that specifically address rolling. Sharp knives and a fluid rocking/orbital motion don't really help with this; the slices will still stick to the blade, then tend to roll when they fall. So how do you keep sliced carrots (or any other small, round, and hard things) from rolling away as you slice them? (I know cutting them in half works, but let's say I want to avoid that: round slices look nice.) <Q> One option is to cut the carrots slightly diagonally instead of perfectly square. <S> The resulting pieces are not perfectly cylindrical, but they tend to tipping instead of rolling all over the cutting board. <S> (Note that this method only works if the diameter of the carrot is substantially larger than the thickness of a piece.) <A> (You can do this with a sharp knife, or with a few passes of the vegetable peeler). <S> Visually, though, it's hardly noticeable especially after cooking. <A> One thing I've done in the past is use the tendency to roll to my advantage, rather than fighting it. <S> I position a shallow dish to collect the carrots at the "bottom" of the cutting board (the edge furthest away from me), and prop the cutting board up slightly at the "top" end (where I stand). <S> I use a kitchen towel, since that keeps things from sliding around. <S> As I slice, the carrots that roll have a natural tendency to roll into the collection dish. <S> Another strategy : <S> What I have been doing lately instead of propping up my cutting board on a kitchen towel, because I'm lazy, is to slice my carrots on a bias. <S> They are still round slices, but they are slightly elliptical and don't roll as well. <A> Easy-peasy: <S> Use a mandoline: they'll fall mostly on their flat side For the difficult ones that do not fall under the category mostly : place the mandoline over a bowl. <A> I recently discovered that if you put the carrot inside a stalk of celery and slice it, it doesn't roll around. <S> Usually i add celery to whatever disk has carrots anyway <A> That way, when the inevitable freeroller happens, it rolls into the drain and stops. <A> Rotate the carrot a quarter turn and again cut at an angle. <S> This will prevent the slices from rolling off the chopping board.
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If you take a slender slice off the carrot (down the length), then your carrot is no longer round, and it'll nicely sit on that now-flat side. I use a reasonably large cutting board with a "drain" around it (the kind that would also be suitable for cutting meat and has a medium-thickness notch cut around the entire perimeter of the board).
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What plant-based (non-dairy) milk do not separate when making caffe latte? This is a little subjective, but what plant-based milk is best used to make a latte? By "best" I mean one that doesn't separate (like plain soy often does) and has a creamy consistency that best resembles dairy. Preferably this milk should also steam well. Note that answers on making custom plant-milk recipes are welcome as I know that making your own nut milks can produce a wide variety of consistencies and textures. <Q> A good plant-based milk I've had success with is hemp milk. <S> I'd say try coconut and almond milk, but these two are thinner in my experience, and tend to be less creamy. <S> Hemp milk foams well, and is quite tasty. <S> Like most things, don't get it too hot, or it'll break and be less desirable. <S> That said, I never have problems in this regard with soy milk, but using non-soy is probably better for many other reasons. <A> Product availability differs wildly from country to country, but in Sweden we have an oat milk specifically made for latte. <S> It's called "iKaffe", which translates to "inCoffee", and is produced by Oatly . <S> Presumably in response to this product, multinational plant milk giant <S> Alpro launched a foamable soy milk earlier this year . <S> It, too, works very well. <S> The most obvious thing that stands out with these compared to the "normal" milks of their respective brand is that they contain a lot more fat. <A> Just make sure it doesn't boil same as in any other milk.
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I've had great success with almond milk, both for latte and cappuccino.
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How to make cappuccino coffee at home without a machine I do not have any form of a coffee machine. The closest is a kettle… I have tried to use strong/good quality instant coffee, filling half a cup then hot boiled milk in the other half. It just tasted like coffee. So how do I make a cappuccino at home without all the fancy tools? <Q> Do you have a French press? <S> If so, you can make coffee that is quite strong in there <S> and you can froth your milk. <S> For the coffee, grind it course. <S> If it's too fine, too much will go through the mesh and your coffee will be murky and over extracted. <S> Buy a very dark roast, but something that isn't too smoky. <S> Italian roast is too smoky. <S> Espresso beans typically have more of a caramelized flavor vs. smoky. <S> For the milk, warm it a little more than you want for your cappuccino. <S> Put it in the clean press. <S> Vigorously pump the plunger up and down. <S> This will make luscious, dense foam. <S> If there are too many large bubbles pump longer, or you can stir it a little. <S> I don't love specialized or expensive equipment either. <S> French presses are inexpensive and useful for steeping many things. <S> They are also small, and you can use them when you are away from electricity (camping/zombie apocalypse/etc). <A> This isn't no fancy tools, but it is no expensive fancy tools and the results are pretty darn authentic. <S> I make pretty reasonable cappucinos with: <S> A cheap moka pot for the coffee. <S> Makes strong almost-espresso shots of coffee, and doesn't need any electricity, just sits on the stove (good for me because power blackouts are common here) <S> A cheap battery-powered hand frother. <S> Any kind of metal container to heat and froth the milk on a stove. <S> A small saucepan would do, but I find a little pot like the third pic below more convenient, and the shape seems to help with the frothing. <S> Probably, a second mug or a small jug in a microwave would work too, though I've not tried that. <S> Image credits: 1 , 2 , 3 Make a shot or two of coffee the normal way in the moka pot on a stove burner. <S> On another stove burner, heat the milk. <S> I find that if I start preparing the milk after setting up the moka pot, they're both ready at around the same time. <S> Froth the milk when it's hot Pour the coffee in a mug <S> Pour the frothed milk on top, using a teaspoon to get any stubborn froth that doesn't want to come out. <S> The hot milk will mix, the foam will stay on top. <S> I'm no coffee connoisseur but to me it tastes almost the same as a cappuccino from a coffee shop. <A> Well, if you want to make the Viennese original, all you do is combine coffee and sweetened cream, the latter possibly whipped. <S> The coffee can be brewed however you wish, although instant is probably not entirely authentic. <S> :) <S> You can add cinnamon and/or shaved chocolate, if desired. <S> If you want to make the modern definition of cappuccino, it's based on espresso coffee, which, despite all those labels on coffee packages, is not a particular grind, roast, or variety of coffee bean. <S> Instead, it's a particular brewing method , and one that you're not going to reproduce without the specific equipment. <S> However, there's a pretty close substitute available in the form of instant espresso granules. <S> Unfortunately, that still leaves the steamed milk, which again, you're not going to reproduce without the specialized equipment of a steam wand or a milk frother. <S> (A food processor won't work, it has to be a blender.) <S> Careful you don't end up scalding yourself as well as the milk! <S> You can also use whipped cream instead of the steamed milk, but then you might as well call it a Viennese coffee. <S> The third option is to buy a cappuccino mix - a couple years back there was a brand that advertised itself by having a woman make espresso-machine noises in the kitchen while she simply poured hot water over the mix, after which her friends remarked, "We didn't know you have an espresso machine". <S> I don't know how those mixes get the foam to develop, and I probably don't want to know. <A> I've had success with making milk foam using a mason jar. <S> Put a cup of milk (whole, skim, 2%, whichever you prefer) in the jar and close it tightly. <S> Shake the jar vigorously until you have the amount of foam you want. <S> Immediately place the jar in a microwave (removing the metal cap) and cook for 30 seconds on high. <S> Now you can scoop the foam out with a spoon and pour the warm milk out of the jar. <S> It may not be authentic, but it is sufficient for a home-made cappuccino and requires no extra tools! <A> You need something to froth the milk. <S> You can't really do it without some sort of specialist tools but there are some cheap handheld things (e.g. battery-powered whisks - which don't work very well; hand-pumped frothers which look rather like a cafetiere - I've never tried one). <S> " <S> Milk frother" looks like a good search term. <S> Cappuccino should be 1/3 espresso, 1/3 hot milk and 1/3 foam. <S> Ideally the foam is made and the milk heated by pushing steam through the milk. <A> You can, somewhat surprisingly, froth milk with a (clean) French press (aka Cafetière) too <S> (OP says he <S> /she has a French press). <S> So much so that some friends who drink milk in coffee (I don't) have miniature French presses for this purpose. <S> Simply heat a small amount of milk (if you can remove the glass from your French press, microwave it in that), sufficient to fill about a third of the glass, then rapidly plunge and withdraw the plunger, repeating many times. <S> Frothy milk results. <S> You of course also need to make the coffee. <S> A French press can be used for that too.
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You're not going to get an authentic cappuccino flavour with instant coffee, but if you insist on using instant or have no option, try instant espresso powder. You can get sorta-kinda close-ish by scalding milk and then whirring it in a blender at the highest speed you can manage.
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Why was my carrot cake very heavy? I made carrot cake but it turned out very heavy. Is this normal? I followed this recipe: 2 cups all purpose flour 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 tsp each: cinnamon, salt, vanilla 2 tsp baking powder 2 eggs 1 cup each: grated carrots, sweetened coconut, raisins, various nuts 2/3 cup oil 1/2 stick butter 1/4 applesauce Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl, all other in separate bowl. Add wet to dry and stir until combined. Bake for 30 minutes on 350 degrees F. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then get it out and cool it on a rack. <Q> If I had to guess, I'd attribute it to the huge amount of stuff that's in the batter, which makes it more like a fruitcake than like a traditional cake. <S> You only have two cups of flour <S> but you have four cups of carrot, coconut, raisins and nuts. <S> This is definitely going to make a very dense cake and it sounds like it's supposed to. <S> This is pretty common in carrot cake recipes <S> but it's not required. <S> I recommend that you find a recipe designed to be more cake-y (higher flour to stuff ratio) rather than trying to fix this one. <S> I've been really happy with the carrot cake recipe from Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen <S> but it's behind a paywall. <A> Cakes like this one are chemically leavened: baking powder or baking soda reacts with acids in the other ingredients to create CO2 bubbles in the batter (like when you combine baking soda and vinegar). <S> There are a lot of factors that determine the end result, including the protein content of the flour and how much the batter is mixed before baking. <S> One significant factor in this case is the physical weight of the added ingredients (carrots, coconut, raisins, nuts). <S> In a plain cake, the pressure from the expanding bubbles pushes the cake upwards, making it rise. <S> If you add a bunch of stuff to the batter, the bubbles have to physically lift those chunks in order to make the cake rise. <S> The bubbles exert the same amount of pressure, but there's more weight, so it comes out with a dense texture. <S> Another way of thinking about it is in terms of what would happen if you replaced some of the batter with chunks of things. <S> The batter has the active chemicals throughout, and will form bubbles and expand. <S> The chunks contain no bubbles, and just sit there. <S> So with the same amount of cake, you get less bubbles, and hence less lift for the same amount of batter, leading to a dense texture. <A> Brown sugar will give you a richer flavor than white sugar, but its moisture content is different. <S> Brown sugar's higher moisture content will contribute to a denser, richer cake. <S> In addition, most butter-based cakes start by creaming the butter and sugar. <S> This not only assists in dissolving the sugar to create a more homogeneous mixture, it incorporates tiny air bubbles. <S> Those air bubbles are the foundation for that light, cakey crumb <S> you're accustomed to in most cakes. <S> Try replacing some of the oil with butter, and replacing the brown sugar with white sugar (or a combination of the two). <S> Be sure to cream butter and sugar together to get a mixture that looks like light, fluffy frosting. <S> That will give you a head start on a lighter cake. <A> Actually, the cake turned out very good after 2 days! <S> Became lighter and delicious - my family loves it and asked that I make it again. <S> I am also going to try making some adjustments as other answers suggested, such as creaming the butter and sugar first. <S> Thinking of eliminating the oil completely. <S> I will let you know the results.
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The density of a cake or bread largely has to do with the leavening (bubble formation).
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Our oven consistently undercooks food Our home oven consistently undercooks food when we follow the recommended cooking directions. Case and point: We just bought some chicken skewers from Costco. The directions say to cook them at 350F for 25-35 minutes. I just took them out after 35 minutes, and our digital probe thermometer read ~45C; well below the required 76C. To measure, I found the thickest piece of meat I could find, and pushed the probe in, taking care not to go all the way through and touch the metal container that they're being cooked in. I know it's likely not the oven not getting to temperature. It's a fairly new oven with a digital display that shows the current oven temperature (it was at 350F when I put them in). We also have a little bi-metal thermometer that goes in the oven itself. Last time we tested it, it agreed with the reading on the front of the oven. It's also not likely the probe thermometers. We had 2 old bi-metal probes. I didn't trust them though (since apparently they can lose accuracy as the metal ages), so I went out and bought a new digital probe (mentioned above). After calibrating the 2 old ones one via the ice-water method and testing them on some chicken, all 3 probes agreed with each other within 2C. We do live at a fairly high altitude (Calgary, Alberta, Canada [1,045 m, according to Google]), which if I recall, can mess with cooking times. I can't see that having this much of an effect though. What are the possible problems here? The oven: Checking the temperature after it had been in for 45 minutes (10 minutes extra). Note it's only at 47.9C: I just took them out again after 55 minutes, and it was only at 56C. I put them in for another 10 (which in total will have been an extra half an hour). <Q> Oven temperatures are conventions and really mean little. <S> Plus, typical home ovens vary widely, so that when you set the dial to 350, the interior can easily fluctuate between 330 and 370, and that is when your oven is correctly calibrated, which few are! <S> So, it is probably not getting to the temperature that the readout says. <S> An oven thermometer can help get you in the ball park... <S> but... <S> no big deal... <S> You are on the right track using a thermometer to measure the internal temperature of your food. <S> Be sure to calibrate your probe thermometer to make sure it is accurate. <S> Then, you are just going to have to get a feel for your particular oven, by setting the temperature a little higher and/or leaving food in a bit longer. <S> Take note, and you should soon recognize a pattern that you can work with. <A> Especially with a fan oven, opening the door can let a lot of heat out, so checking repeatedly can slow things down further. <S> I assume you didn't test the meat with the door still open, that would make things much worse. <S> When you do check (at nearly the cooking time) anything tightly packed into the container like the skewers in your picture should probably be rearranged, so that those in the middle end up on the outside. <S> If you put a foil dish on a baking sheet to make it easier to lift out, preheating the baking sheet might help, especially if it starts quite cold. <S> It can also take a while for an oven to come back up to temperature after adding something like frozen chips. <S> I also suspect that the middle of the inner skewers may have been very cold still, maybe even icy. <S> I know defrosting in our utility room (not directly heated, probably around 12C in what passes for winter here) can take longer than you think. <S> (BTW defrosting at the back of a fridge or in the meat drawer can take a very long time). <S> This wouldn't be enough to explain the whole delay in cooking. <S> As has been noted in comments, defrosting for hours at room temperature isn't recommended by some guidelines, but I and many others wouldn't think twice about it when the room is cool and the container closed. <S> I suggest that in this specific case a few factors combined to slow things down: <S> the oven a touch under, the food colder than expected, and a lot of heat let out of both the oven and the food with repeated testing. <A> Also remember to take the meat out of the fridge to room temperature well before cooking it, to let it heat up. <S> This will let the internal temperature of the meat reach the required temperature faster, with less oven/pan time and it will get you a better cooking result. <S> If you also use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the meat before putting it in the oven, it will allow you to remove one variable from the equation.
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Whenever you cook something, best to keep the times just as guidelines, and use a meat thermometer to measure what you are cooking.
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