texts:
We've had these spice mixes for a while, one is for "Meat Masala" and one for fish. The ingredients and directions for the meat masala powder can be found here. The instructions are rather cryptic, though. "Required" salt? Curd?

The directions don't look like any recipe for Tikka Masala that I've ever seen, though perhaps this is some other dish? I'm not really familiar with Indian cooking.

I've made this recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala before, but I'd like to be able to use these spices with it. How should I modify that recipe to use these spices?


texts: How can I address watery eggs in a microwaved breakfast sandwich?

texts:
My blessed wife fixes me batches of breakfast sandwiches consisting of a sandwich thin, some ham and egg whites and freezes them. It's a great breakfast, except for the fact that as it defrosts in the microwave, the egg whites release a huge amount of water and soak the sandwich thin.

It seems to me that the problem has to get solved pre-freeze, but if someone sees another approach, that would be great. Somehow commercial folks get around this with packaged breakfast sandwiches...if anyone has any idea, any help would be appreciated.


texts: The last batch of challah (bread) that we made had a very chalky undertone and aftertaste. This time, the dough has a faint smell of the chalk (we didn't bake it yet). The flour has no odor and was kept in the freezer until now, and the yeast is not expired and didn't smell off. Could it be the addition of honey to the dough? Any ideas?


texts: How can I stabilize Sriracha in sour cream?

texts:
I make a spicy Tzatziki inspired sauce to go with certain cuts of lamb, and I've been having some trouble getting the spicy part to be consistent.

I use cucumber (no seeds or peel), sour cream, fresh mint leaves, Sriracha, cinnamon, salt/pepper and garam masala. When I make the sauce, it tastes perfect, and continues to keep consistently for about 30 minutes chilled.

After about 30 minutes, the pungency of the Sriracha starts to disappear in the sour cream, to the point that it's almost undetectable even two hours later (chilled, all the while). I realize this is what milk fats do when they encounter the work of capsicum :)

Is there any way I can slow down that process without altering the flavor of the sauce? I can't make it sweeter, or it would overpower the lamb. I'm just hoping to extend the shelf life of the sauce in the fridge a few days, right now I just add more Sriracha after tasting the leftover sauce cold, which is kind of hit-or-miss.

I've tried using finely chopped bird's eye chilis without seeds / ribs, but it's quite overpowering initially though it mellows out a day or two later. I'd love to not need to make the sauce that far in advance.


texts:
I would like to be able to make sorbet with whatever ingredients I have on hand without always looking up a recipe. I understand that it's important to get the correct balance of sugar, liquid, and other ingredients for the end product to have the right texture.

There seem to be a couple options for testing your sorbet mixture: syrup density meters and refractometers. Before I spend money on one of these tools, I'm wondering:

Can I reliably make sorbet without one of these tools?
What techniques do you use to make sorbet with each of these tools?
Are there advantages/disadvantages to one way or another?
What do I need to know about the different scales (Brix, Baumé, specific gravity, other) and what readings should I target?
Are there other things to consider regarding ingredients (purée v. juice, effect of additives such as alcohol, etc.)?


texts:
I bought chicken thighs from a large super market, portioned them and froze them for future use. (bought 2 weeks ago) I defrosted a pound in the fridge today, and as I was getting ready to trim the fat and dice the thighs, I noticed bright red blood "forming" a gritty film on top. These are boneless, skinless mind you, and there wasn't blood on or in the chicken (that I saw) when I froze, then thawed them.
To make it more unusual, it was like a film that I could peel and scrub off. As I was scrubbing the blood off under running water, I noticed one of the thighs looked like it had a rash maybe? I don't know now to explain it.. Like it had blisters that have been sloughed off or healed? Divots in the skin, in round circles, in a couple of patches.

If I scrub or cut away that part of the chicken, is it still ok to eat? I've honestly never seen this before in my 35 years.

Thanks!


texts: How did grease get in under cooktop on stove?

texts:
Even though I don't fry things often somehow there is grease all along the gap between my gas cooktop and the rest of the stove (above the knobs) which I suddenly noticed. The cooktop does not lift up so I will have to clean what I can from the front.

There doesn't seem to be any hole big enough where the gas comes out for grease to go down so I don't know where it came from. But I do sort of worry since my stove is about 15 years old what if there was plant matter such as garlic in with the grease? Or could this be from cleaning the surface and grease getting stuck in the gap? It's still puzzling since I rarely fry things. And the grease is mostly at the edges of the stove rather than close to the burners.


texts:
I recently got the 18cm lodge cast iron pan that comes pre-seasoned. I wanted to take the pre-seasoning off using a scourer and baking soda. I then dried it and put canola oil onto it and rubbed off the excess and put it in an oven preheated at around 410F/210C for an hour and let it cool in the oven. The pan ended up looking weird like in the photos I've attached. All photos are of the same pan under different lighting-the first is in natural room lighting, the second directly under sunlight and the last one is under my yellow cooking light. Is it rust? I'm concerned about any potential health risks if I cook with it like this.

Click for full size


texts: Best cut of meat to pair with Gorgonzola?

texts: I've often enjoyed lightly seasoned beef or venison steaks paired with Gorgonzola cheese. Is there any cut of meat that goes particularly well with that particular cheese, or does it not particularly matter?


texts: When I was a kid, there was a dessert that would frequently be at pot-lucks that was a brownie-like dessert. It's been a long time since I had it so don't remember the details exactly but it was like a brownie with a greenish mint cream/marshmallow layer on top and then a thin chocolate layer on top of that.  I'd love to make it again but have no idea where to find the recipe.  Does anyone know what this dessert would be called?


texts: How to keep Indian curry made with condensed milk from separating

texts:
The Chicken Korma recipe that I've been making always seems to separate near the end of preparation. This ranges from small lumps forming too yellow water raising to the surface.
I read through the advice at How do I prevent coconut milk from separating in Thai curry? and was careful to keep a low simmer.

The recipe is basically:

Fry butter, onions & spices in stages
Add cubed chicken breasts and let fry
Add 1 cup tap water (perhaps the culprit?) and plain yogurt (not low fat) let fry
Add 1 can 2% Condensed Milk reduce heat and simmer

I'm using a coated steel wok on a large element. For steps 1-3 I use just over medium heat and switch to medium-low, low for 4. After 2-3 minutes, the sauce starts to break.


texts: Can putting frozen food in a hot ceramic pan cause a thermal shock?

texts: Can putting frozen food in a preheated ceramic coated non-stick pan cause a thermal shock and ruin the pan?


texts:
I bought and cooked these mussels today. I'd like to know if there is anything wrong with the left hand mussel. Is the color, size an indicator for freshness? I'm guessing it was 'captured' (OK, collected) longer ago than the one on the right.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a batch that came out like the one on the right.


texts: Can nuts be frozen in order to keep their flavour, and if so, for how long?


texts:
My gravy making technique is hit-and-miss to say the least.  I tend to get the best results when roasting beef because it's rare.  That is, it's just roasts enough to cause the juice to come out.  What I find with other meats, especially chicken and pork (which need to be cooked for much longer) is that the potatoes and other veg that I roast seem to absorb the juices (which I see as a good thing), but then I have no juice left.

So, my question is this: how can I roast my potatoes and veg with the meat, but keep enough for gravy?  I really don't want to start roasting the veg in a separate pan.

I'm in the UK.  I mention this because I have visited America once, and the gravy seems to be far thicker there (more like a sauce than a gravy).


texts: Why is my garlic brown and slightly translucent?

texts:
I have a whole garlic where almost all cloves are slightly brown, a bit translucent and soft. This is a photo of one of the cloves:

The cloves are also a bit sticky when peeled. It reminds me a bit of how pickled garlic looks like:

These are not brown spots, so it doesn't seem bruised. Tastewise the garlic seems less strong than regular, light yellow garlic.

Does anybody know how these cloves ended up like this?


texts: Meaning of the term 'tack' in bread making?

texts:
I have a recipe for oat and honey bread and it mentions the word 'tack'. Please can you tell me
what this means? It says the following; "It should start coming together and getting more tack and less sticky after about 5 minutes"


texts: Best way to cook rice to serve cold later?

texts:
I thought it wasn't possible to find a prepared rice that is worth being eaten cold, but I tried a prepared meal from a catering which came with tender and moist rice (even without reheating). Mine gets dry and bland.

I think it should depends on the fat added during cooking and the cooling method (covered vs uncovered, and refrigerated vs at room temperature).

I want to replicate it for preparing meals to take out.


texts: Does blending oil (for vegan butter) make hydrogenated oil?

texts:
I recently figured out the recipe for garlic vegan butter which is made primarily by roasting garlic, then whipping it in a blender with coconut and olive oil, and cooling in the refrigerator. It's delicious, textured similarly to butter and, as far as I know, not terribly unhealthy.

Then my father mentioned to me that that is similar to the process of making hydrogenated oils. I DO remember once reading something about whipping oil being a bad idea. Is that true? Am I basically just quaffing hydrogenated fats?


texts: How long past the "buy before" date do ham hocks keep? They've been refrigerated, have no mold or off smell.


texts:
I recent backed a pie that included glucose and the recipe pretty much only said melt glucose...nothing about how to use it which lead me to much agony :)

So the question is ... is there a common ratio of glucose/water that you should use? I clearly failed in the beginning thinking that it should just be thrown into a pot and then heated...it sticks together into big blocks :S In the end I put in some water, but I assume that was a bit to late since it never dissolved 100%


texts: Queso fresco / queso latino is raw food?

texts:
In Spain, you can find "Queso latino" in the supermarkets (at least in DIA). It comes in sealed plastic bags as it contains a lot of water and quite soft. I understand that in other locations it's name might be "queso fresco". I've found here some photos of the product and it's varieties here.

My question is, if this variety cheese can be considered raw food.

I think that a good definition of raw food cheese is that it's made of unpasteurized milk and it's not heated above or 40°C


texts: The cooking pot just keeps smoking when I put it on the element and I don't understand why because I used it on my moms stove before without any trouble. But when I put the temperature to MAX it starts smoking and setting off the smoke alarm. When I take the pot off and look at the bottom it's white but it goes away when I wipe it off. I THINK it's a cast iron pot, so is this normal to be smoking? Because when I put the temperature to 7 it cooks fine with no problem.


texts: Is pork for bo ssam made entirely without oil?

texts:
According to all the recipes, we have to leave the salted and covered with sugar pork in the fridge over night. In the morning we wash it, wipe it dry and put it in the oven - so no oil. I'm not used to cook without the oil, so I'm interested in if that's ok?

Recipe: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/magazine/recipe-momofuku-bo-ssam.html

Thank you.


texts: leaving oil on a frying pan for use later

texts:
I live alone, so I cook for myself. And often times I cook steaks/burgers on a pan, and later in the same day would return to use the same pan/oil without washing/using new oil.

Is this safe, or should one wash and use a new pan before cooking every steak/burger patties? I've actually done this for more than a day once (cooked burgers in the morning, steaks later that afternoon, and then burgers for the next morning).


texts: Could it be bad black olive that I've eaten?

texts:
I tried some black olive on the pizza from a USA style pizza shop and it taste really bad. Given that it is praised as a really good stuff I am wondering if it is a matter of taste or the black olive also have some grading.

What should a good black olive taste like?


texts:
I made homemade yogurt tonight, except it didn't turn out as I expected. I followed this recipe with a few exceptions.

I made it with three quarts of milk instead of 4 (or two). I modified the amount of "culture" I used accordingly.

I also added flavorings after the milk had cooled and the new culture extracted. I added some lemon juice (thought it was lime, mixed up the bottle). And added some Jelly Belly Green Apple Syrup for icicle pops or something.

I also put it in 8 oz jars instead of 32 oz jars.

The jar with the new culture/start in it, turned out fine. Nice and solid. However, the other jars are about half liquid and half solid. Did adding an acid (lemon juice) mess something up? Is this expected?

What do I need to do next time to make sure this doesn't happen. I haven't tasted it yet so I don't know if it's good or not.


texts:
Is there a proper way Viennese coffee should be taken? What is the little spoon for?  When/how should the sparkling lime water be taken? etc.

A video would be helpful.

Was just introduced to the a Viennese coffee shop, and there was some confusion between the people explaining this.

Thanks!


texts:
I put bananas, honey, almonds and skimmed milk in the blender and blended it. When it was all blended the surface had a layer of tiny bubbles and there was a audible fizzing sound, like from a soft drink, both of which remained for several minutes.

Normally I'd assume the milk had turned. However this has happened enough times to rule that out. And it never happens with whole milk.

Does anyone know why this happens?


texts: Is rice vinegar bad for my non-stick rice cooker?

texts:
I have a rice cooker with a detachable bowl with non-stick (I presume teflon) coating on the inside. It looks something like this:

When cooking sticky ("sushi") rice, after the cooking is done, you are supposed to add rice vinegar to finish the rice. Is it safe to add the vinegar in the same non-stick bowl that I cooked the rice in? If possible I'd like to avoid having to do extra dishes.


texts: I have already stored used peanut oil in the refrigerator for one week. I had strained it through coffee filters, and it had looked very clean and clear. Now it looks cloudy and milky. Is it OK to use? I had used it to cook fish and hush puppies.


texts: Are chalk labels on food jars safe to use in the kitchen?

texts: Despite their popularity, some believe that using chalk to label food jars can create unnecessary dust that can get into the food, is this a real concern, or has technology advanced enough where this is not a problem? Maybe the amount of chalk used on the label is not enough to kick up dust? What about accidental contact when handling the jar?


texts: I am making stollen for the first time, and discovered I don't have time tonight to bake the dough. It is on its first rise right now. Can I keep the dough refrigerated overnight and complete the preparation in the morning?


texts: Why do my Eisenhower Cookies turn out flat?

texts:
This was my mother's recipe that my sisters and I have made several years. They use to work now they go flat. We are going nuts trying to figure out why. Any suggestion would be welcomed.

Eisenhower Cookies (really a ginger spice cookie)

2 cubes of margarine
1 cup and 3 tbsp sugar
1 well beaten egg
2 cups of flour (after sifting)
1 tsp cinammon
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp of baking soda
2 small pinch of salt
4 tbsp of yellow label molasses

Make into balls, roll in sugar, bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, depending on oven.


texts: How to get vegan cheese to taste like cheese

texts: I have yet to find a vegan cheese that tastes like cheese. It seems that all recipes use mainly nutritional yeast as flavoring and while it's delicious and has a cheesy flavor to it, it doesn't quite taste like real cheese. My question is how can I make vegan cheese that tastes like actual cheese? I've found some recipes that use fermented tofu as part of the flavor component and that might give it the fermenty flavor, but what I really want is the sharp flavor that comes with cheddar. Is there anything I could add to make it taste like that?


texts: What equation should I use for microwaving food?

texts:
Prepackaged microwave food typically says to microwave on high for n seconds. It usually says that the instructions are meant for an 1100 watt microwave (give or take).
My microwave is only 950 watts.
What is the equation for me to get the new time? Is it time x (1100 / 950)?


texts: How to get the most chili flavour out of a chili pepper?

texts:
I always find myself enjoying someone else's chili dish whether its curry, Mexicana pizza etc, more than my own. It's not the burning sensation that's lacking but more the chili flavour.

What are the guidelines to getting the most flavour out of a chili pepper in any spicy dish?


texts: Turkey broth cooking in a crockpot for two days

texts:
I've left turkey broth cooking on low in a crockpot for two days.
Is it still safe to use for soup. Or should I just throw it out?


texts: If I use frozen and then defrosted bananas for banana cake do I use less water being that the bananas expel a lot of water as they defrost or do I use the same amount of water being that the bananas would expel the water anyways as they cook? (I would have the same question regarding using any frozen and defrosting fruit in cake I suppose)


texts: Does adding vegetables to your brine add any flavour?

texts:
What exactly does adding vegetables to your brine really achieve? Does it add any flavour to your end product?

EDIT:

Turkey brine and Frozen Mixed Vegetables.


texts:
I'll typically bring hot water from the tap to the boil instead of waiting longer for cold water. This hot water comes from water heater with a large storage tank. Is this considered safe?

For example, are heater storage tanks known for festering nasties not killed by boiling? Is different piping used for hot water or different soldering on pipe fittings? Do hot pipes cooling down go through a temperature more conducive to bacteria growth?


texts: Help! Too much salt in my sourdough dough!

texts:
Help! I added three times the amount of salt needed for my sourdough bread recipe (1/4 c. versus 1 T.)
Can I save it?


texts: I moved to US recently from India and I am looking for Plastic jars for storage,

texts:
I generally store lentils/spices in plastic jars/bottles cos they are not heavy and can be handled easily unlike glass ones .

I am finding it tough to get them in Walmart,Dollar Store.Is there any store I can get them.Checked Amazon too but they have only food storage plastic boxes


texts: Canning tomato sauce for the refrigerator

texts:
I buy 3000 gram jars of San Marzano plum tomatoes, and when I open one, I have a lot left over.  This time, I made a basic marinara from the pureed de-seeded/de-stemmed tomatoes with oil, garlic, spices, wine, etc., and I cooked it for about :40m.

When I was satisfied with the taste/consistency, I poured the boiling sauce into mason jars with very little space left at the top, and I used fresh canning lids to cover.  I let them cool for about 30m then put them in the fridge.

I know this is not a canning procedure that would allow me to keep the sauce at room temp, but I would think that this method could give me more than the standard week or so that I'd expect a sauce to last in Tupperware.

Does anyone have recommendations based on actual knowledge or experience that could help me know how long this sauce would keep under constant refrigeration?


texts:
I'm currently trying to learn how to cook and my main problem are the lack of precise recipes. Most of them tell you what to do in very abstract steps but lack a way of verifying if what you do is right.

For example: When cooking polenta you have to mix the corn semolina into water. If you do it all at once the powder chunks but not one recipe I found tells you that.

Do you have a recommendation where too look for very verbose recipes?


texts:
I'm trying to bake a kind of cookies in an oven at 400°F and I need a fruity tasting filling that wouldn't melt at this temp. Any advice?

P.S. Just for reference, the original Russian recipe uses a thing called "povidlo" which is a kind of hard marmalade that you can cut with a knife.


texts: Flavor of wasabi, horseradish, mustard, capers, and jalapeño

texts:
What is the name of the flavor of wasabi, horseradish, mustard, capers, and jalapeño?

Unfortunately, I'm not fond of the taste of the above ingredients.
To me, they taste similar.
I don't mind the heat.
I love a home-grown scotch bonnet or the occasional Carolina Reaper, but the taste of the above ingredients have a certain taste that are very similar and don't taste good for me.
Does that taste have a name? What is it?

Disclaimer: While looking for related questions, I found out that I have not tried real wasabi. But I chose to include wasabi because 'fake wasabi' is based on horseradish, which I assume means that they taste similar.

Related questions that ask for substitutes:

How much of "wasabi" is actually wasabi in the United States?
Substitute for horseradish?
How can I maximize Wasabi flavor?
How can I approximate wasabi taste?
Mustard substitute
Is horseradish and Wasabi the same thing?


texts: Can I double a pumpkin pie recipe for 10 x 2 inch pan?

texts: Can I just double the Libby's recipe and bake the pie in a 10 inch by 2 inch pie pan?


texts: How important is humidity when smoking a brisket?

texts: Recipes for smoking brisket typically recommend a temperature of 225 F. My weber smokey mountain has a water pan to help regulate the temperature. But what if I am able to maintain that temperature without a waterpan? Would it cook the same way or is the humidity necessary when smoking brisket?


texts: What does it mean if human DNA is in hot dogs?

texts:
According to this report on hot dogs by Clear Food, some hot dogs have human DNA in them.

2% of the overall samples had human DNA present.

What would cause human DNA to end up in the hot dogs? Does this have any food safety implications?


texts: brunch for sixty people - how to estimate amounts?

texts:
We will be hosting a buffet brunch in our home for about 60 people, serving bagels, lox, tuna salad, egg salad, kugel, and farmer's salad.

How do I determine many eggs I need for the egg salad, and how much tuna?


texts: Which potatoes are best for twice baked potatoes

texts:
Which potatoes in the US are best for twice baked potatoes?
My twice baked potatoes didn't turn out right. The skins broke, and punctured to easily. I was using Yukon golds of medium size lightly washed, and punctured with a fork.


texts: Whoops- put turkey chili in the crockpot on warm all day. Is it safe once cooked?

texts:
I just called home & hubby said the chili was still raw when he got home . He turned it up to high and is making something else for tonights dinner. He did not  put in thermometer before turning it up.
Is this safe to eat once cooked through? So mad at myself to toss it but don't want to risk getting us sick. Thanks for advice!


texts: Can we preserve garlic and ginger paste?

texts: Its mostly said that we should use fresh garlic and ginger paste as after some time the paste loses its taste? So what’s the best way to preserve it, so that its taste is not lost?


texts: Does adding water back into an over-reduced sauce lose flavour?

texts:
If I over-reduce a sauce (e.g. a tomato sauce for pasta), so that it is too thick, I'll sometimes add some water in to thin it out again & bring it back to the desired consistency.

Would the resulting sauce be the same in the end as if I reduced it the correct amount originally? Or is there some flavour lost by adding in fresh water later on?

Intuitively, it feels like adding water in would be diluting the sauce, but as I understand it physically, the only thing I've lost by over-reducing is steam, which is pure water? (e.g. if I've made it on stock, any flavour that this has brought has been retained)


texts:
I recently bought a bottle of verjus and used a little of it as part of a non-alcoholic cocktail recipe.  I assumed that, due to its high acid content, it would be shelf-stable like vinegar.  Turns out it's not!  A week after opening, it's got a few floating spots of white mold on the surface.
Now, with some liquids (like molasses or vinegar) I could skim any mold off the surface and the remaining liquid would be safe to use.  But I don't know if that's true about verjus, or if I need to throw out the entire $22 bottle now.
Anyone know?


texts: Madhur Jaffrey recipes - Indian/traditional names?

texts:
My girlfriend recently bought me "Curry Easy" by Madhur Jaffrey and I've been making some of the recipes from it but would like to know the Indian or traditional names for some of the recipes. All the recipes are listed like "Roasted Moong Dal with Mustard Greens" for example.

Does anyone know the proper names of these:

Cucumber salad, North Indian style (peeled + chopped cucumber with seasoning, lemon, mint leaves and chilli powder)

South Indian potato curry (potatoes, spices, curry leaves + coconut milk)

Karhai broccoli (wok-fried broccoli with asafoetida, cumin seeds + mustard seeds)

Ideally I would like a traditional/proper name for all in the book but not sure if that's possible :)


texts: Procedure for sous vide potato salad prep

texts: For the upcoming christmas eve I need to prepare a large quantity of Czech/German style potato salad. That involves preparing a lot of diced cooked root vegetables (carrot, celery root, parsnips) and potatoes. My question is how can I use sous vide to achieve a potentially superior result and time savings. Is using sous vide practical at all in this case?


texts: Why do some ingredients in baking recipes need to be at room temperature?

texts: I've been starting to bake more cakes and cookies recently, and many recipes say to have some ingredients that are usually stored cold, like milk or eggs, to be added at room temperature. Why is this? Will having cold ingredients affect the outcome of the baked goods much?


texts:
I always wondered about this seemingly static rule:

  Never add cheese (especially, but not limited to parmigiano reggiano) to a dish with fish.

Italians would never, ever add parmigiano reggiano to a pasta with fish. But they have many other fixed views on food (e.g. sweet and savoury is a no-no, which is allowed at least in Austria and Japan).

I obliged until now, but I wonder where this rule comes from. To be honest, I would never add cheese to frutti di mare, but I'm open to trying other combinations. Is there some evidence that the two ingredients don't mix well? I hear there are some exceptions: Tuna with parmigiano reggiano is okay, but I only tried that as a salad and it was good. Also, I once saw a recipe of fish with mascarpone.

  Did you ever have a professional cook serving you fish with cheese?

Please, I'm not interested in your personal opinion, but I'm trying to understand the rule and the exceptions.

EDIT:

Status update: Thanks for the brainstorming so far. I'm collecting the intermediate results:

Most importantly: It seems to be a regional thing (w/ Italy at its heart)
@Walter, @TFD and @Joe all agree on tuna as the prime counter example.
However, they disagree on the reason: We have @TFD's opinion, that tuna is strong and thus is not outplayed by strong cheese and @Walter's italo-centric opinion, that tuna is a particularly 'unfishy' fish.
@Carmi mentions umami as one/the possible reason.
@Todd has entered the discussion and disputes the highest voted answer: The umami claim by @Carmi. I'm delighted, because I'm still cautions about umami.
If you provide further examples, please include a detailed descriptions and a reason why you think the particular combination is a "allowed".

I would be extremely interested in opinions that favour the motion/rule. Is there anybody willing to take a stance and (maybe even) explain the origin?

And what about seafood with cheese? Is it unthinkable?


texts: Buttermilk / Cream Cheese glaze – food safety

texts:
I am baking some cinnamon rolls for a party. The glaze consists of cream cheese, powdered sugar and buttermilk.

Since the party will be held outside, I am a bit worried about food safety here. What will happen to the glaze after being out of the fridge for a few hours? Will it be safe to eat, maybe even the day after?


texts: I know it is possible to make lasagna a day or so ahead of time but I would like to make only the sauce ahead of time, let it cool and then refrigerate. Then bake the lasagna the next day. Any thought on this?


texts: Can dried peppers get hotter with aging?

texts:
I have some dried hot peppers which are over a year old.  These are hybrids, part chile de arbol, but less hot so that I can use them for mixed company.  A friend grew them for me specifically because of their medium hotness.

After around 16 months in doubled ziplock bags, I used some of these in a couple recipes last week, including a Mexican squash casserole.  The dried peppers were partly rehydrated prior to use.

While I remember being able to use 2 or even 3 of these peppers in a recipe when I first got them, even one of them made the dish so hot I had to quickly make something else for two of our guests.  This happened three times over the last couple months, so it's not just which individual pepper I pulled out.  It seems like these peppers got hotter with ageing, something I'd think was impossible ... shouldn't they lose capsaicin as they age?

So, my question is:

Is it possible for a dried chili pepper to become hotter with ageing, instead of losing flavor?
If so, what causes this?

I'm guessing that it's just my faulty memory, but I'd love some verification.  Thanks!


texts:
I am going to marinate some chicken for an Indian dish. I will cook it sous vide.

now I wonder whether I should vacuum seal chicken with marinade, or marinate and then vacuum seal? what is preferable and why?


texts: What is the point in combining sucralose and acesulfame potassium?

texts:
What is the point in combining the no-calorie, artificial sweeteners  sucralose and acesulfame potassium?

I'm asking as I have seen some products doing so, e.g. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein Powder, Extreme Milk Chocolate:

  Ingredients: Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Peptides), Cocoa (Processed with Alkali), Natural and Artificial Flavors, Lecithin, Creamer (Sunflower Oil, Maltodextrin, Modified Food Starch, Dipotassium Phosphate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Tocopherols), Salt, Acesulfame Potassium, Aminogen, Sucralose, Lactase.


texts: Olive oil is extremely bitter - has it gone rancid?

texts:
I recently bought some organic certified extra virgin olive oil from Tunisia.  However

It is a cheap brand (only $10 a litre)
The manufacturing date is Dec 2012 so its over a year old
It is packaged in a heavy, dark green, glass bottle and states it is best before 36 months from date of manufacture
It is extra virgin and organic certified by EcoCert
It tastes extremely bitter (almost as bitter as bitter-melon - if you've ever tried it )

Has the oil gone rancid? Should I throw it out?


texts: How much sugar and corn starch is in commercial icing sugar?

texts: If anyone knows about the percentages of sugar & corn starch to make icing sugar for commercial purposes, please let me know. How important is it for these percentages to be accurate?


texts: What's the best way to get roasted garlic out of its skin

texts:
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?


texts: Do restaurants regularly disinfect baskets and trays?

texts:
I certainly hope the answer to this question is yes, but do restaurants regularly disinfect baskets and trays?  Even if they are covered with paper wrappers or placemats?

Are there fairly universal state laws requiring this?  Any data on noncompliance rates?


texts: Using muffin/cupcake pan for basque burnt cheesecake

texts:
I've seen images of regular cheesecake (crust + filling) baked in muffin tins,

Will basque burnt cheesecake be as creamy as the original in muffin/cupcake pan?
Here's the pan I'd like to use, each tin around 7.5 cm/3 inch:


texts: how to grind pistachio nuts so that they stay dry

texts:
I've become a bit obsessed with making macarons and have actually managed to make them come out nicely, so I'm looking to take them to the next level and start using different nuts from almonds.

When I tried to grind up pistachios (or hazelnuts) into a fine powder they become more of a paste (i'm presuming due to the fact that they are more moist), and was wondering if there were any tips for grinding nuts into an extremely fine powder without them becoming a paste?

Thanks!


texts:
If you're eating snow crab, do Kanibiru hazard humans'  health? What if you accidentally taste or swallow them?
Along Sea of Japan, it’s snow crab time

Kanibiru, the eggs of a leech-like parasite which are sometimes attached to the crabs, are seen as an indicator of quality rather than a blemish. As the local sea bottom is muddy, there are few rocks to attach eggs to, leaving the crab shells as one the few available hard surfaces. Thus, authentic Sea of Japan crabs are more likely to have them. Additionally, a heavy accumulation may mean that months have passed since molting, indicating fuller meat.

A Connoisseur Speaks on Seasonal Seafood「A Taste of Winter Snow Crab」 : SHUN GATE

Select crab with kanibiru (deep sea fish leech) eggs
Hashidate crabs have kanibiru eggs on their shells. Yuya says, “It looks bad but the meat actually tastes better.”


texts: Is it possible to make yogurt and cheese from spoiled milk?

texts: I get raw milk and to somehow pasteurize it, I boil it. The milk strongly curdled showing that it is spoiled and rotten (definitely, not suitable for drinking). Is it totally bad milk and I should throw it away? or it still can be used for making yogurt and cheese?


texts: Question about new sourdough starter, specifically smell

texts:
I'm trying to start my first "successful" sourdough starter. I posted a question about getting it started here:

Initial Question

Since I asked that question, I started a second starter according to a book suggested by one poster. Once started, it was a 1:1:1 ratio of starter/whole rye flour/warm well water. I also let my other flour, which is the same ratio, but with all-purpose flour, sit for a few days. It got a slightly alcohol smelling liquid on it. The rye didn't rise much but got solid, puffy bubbles fairly quickly. I fed both when the rye was bubbly and the all-purpose had some liquid on top. I poured off most of the liquid and then fed both in their separate containers at about 10pm.

Low and behold, I wake up for work the next morning and they've both doubled. I repeated the process of feeding them at night and they've doubled by 6:45am and started to fall by then, as well. As per the suggestion of many posters on this site, I've been smelling my starters often. The rye smells funny on it's own, but I think recently, that it's been starting to smell more yeasty. However, I wake up in the morning and smell the all-purpose. By that point it's started to fall and it has almost no smell at all. It's fully risen and then fallen by about a quarter at that point.

I figured it should have a really yeasty smell then, like when you activate instant yeast. It just smells flat. Then when I go to feed it that night, it does have a stronger smell, but it's more alcoholic than yeasty. Am I just missing the window of good yeast smell or does it need longer to get established.

I started the all-purpose starter on 9/5/15 with the method described in the linked question. Today is the 4th day it's doubled in size. It didn't start doing that till the morning of 9/15/15. Up until then, I did get bubbling, but no noticeable rise. I figured using the initial method of feeding every 12 hours and replacing half was just removing the yeast I'd grown, so I let it sit till it got that "hooch" on top and I figured that meant yeast activity and after feeding I did get a good rise.

So it's now technically been going for 13 days, it's only been vigorously rising for 4 days. Even though it rises and there are a lot of bubbles, they aren't big huge bubbles. So my question is, that given how I've been handling it, does it just need more time to gain that yeasty smell (I think it should have enough with the way it's rising), am I just missing the time when it smells really yeasty, or am I doing something wrong? Thanks.


texts: Salad packaged with raw meat: is it safe?

texts:
Sometimes I see in supermarkets (in Italy) packages in which rocket salad is sold together with raw beef, like in this picture:

This is clearly meant to be prepared in the form of tagliata con rucola, an Italian dish made with beefsteak cut in stripes and rocket:

As you can see, the salad is normally served raw with tagliata. The supermarkets seem OK with that, but this practice triggers my food safety alert: is it safe to consume salad that has been in contact with raw meat? Should I worry about eating it?
EDIT: further information:

these packages are found in the refrigerator aisle.
the bottom label says (among other things) "store at 0--4 degrees Celsius [32-39 Fahrenheit] -- cook before eating". It is not clear from the wording if this warning applies to the salad as well.
the label in the top right says "20% discount -- the marked price already includes discount". It doesn't specify if it is discounted for quick sale or for other reasons. In any case, I have also seen regular packages without the discount tag, and with the current day marked as packaging date.
It is not customary here to put salad or other edible items as decoration -- I have never seen this done with other fresh food on sale.
upon request, full translation of the white sticker. The notes in brackets are mine.

Il gigante [supermarket name] - the fresh food specialists. Corso Marche [address of the supermarket]
Net Wt 0.354 kg   price 4.43 EUR
tare 0.032        EUR/Kg 12.50
prepackaged on: 04 August 2014
Tagliata con rucola [name of the dish, see picture above]
Meat preparation NC16 [not 100% sure about the code, it's blurry. No idea what it means, I assume it's some bureaucratic category for the meat]
Ingredients: bovine meat, rucola, sunflower oil, salt
Store at 0-4 degrees [32-39F]. To be consumed after cooking. Cooking suggestions: in pan, 3 minutes each side. In oven 175 degrees [350F] for 30 minutes. Produced and prepackaged for immediate sale by "Il gigante", Turin.

Note that I did not take this picture myself; this one comes from the internet. I can take a similar one the next time I visit my local supermarket, but it's probably going to be 7-10 days from now.


texts: Removing turmeric colour from mortar and pestle

texts:
We have a large granite (I think) mortar and pestle, and while keeping it clean generally doesn't seem too difficult, I have absolutely no idea how to avoid it staining when it's used with turmeric powder when cooking curries.

Generally, we'll ground the spices then add garlic and a little water to create a paste which is then fried; the only solution I can think of to avoid the yellow stain is to add the turmeric separately to the pan and leave it out of the mortar entirely. Would this work satisfactorily, or is there a way to get the colour from the mortar?


texts:
I was watching Bruno Albouze's video on Beef Bourguignon, and I noticed that in order to get rid of the alcohol, he flambés the wine (https://youtu.be/DPB4jvHiVec?t=38) . I always thought that wine couldn't be flambé'd, so how does he do that ?
I'm curious about this method because last time I made Beef Bourguignon, I found the sauce to be a bit too "alcoholy" to my taste.


texts:
I have read that one important role of eggs in cakes is to add proteins that denature with heat and then link together giving the cake structure.  Given that proteins are so varied and abundant in nature, I was wondering whether there are vegan sources of protein that can perform the same function.  Has anyone experimented systematically with this?

EDIT: This is distinct from the question of whether there are vegan egg substitutes that can be used in cakes.  Since eggs do multiple things to cakes and since these roles are emphasized more or less depending on the cake, there is not going to be a single answer to "what is a good egg substitute for cakes?".  I asked this question to try to learn specifically about whether there are ways to mimic the protein network that eggs create in cakes using vegan proteins.


texts: Is heating rate important with sugar syrups?

texts: I make hot fudge syrup ; heat  chocolate , sugar , butter, etc, to 240 F ,then put in half and half . I end up with a spoon-able viscosity at room temperature but warming to 100 F makes it pour-able. Does it make any difference how fast I heat it ? I don't need it to firm up into fudge.


texts: How to determine the alcohol content of a mixed-drink?

texts:
Title says it all: How do I determine the alcohol content of a mixed-drink (Cocktail, Longdrink)?

Note - I know the alcohol content of all ingredients.


texts: Is there a way to deliberately explode other food than corn kernels?

texts:
Since popcorn can be tasty, I started to think if other kinds of food could be modified to explode when rapidly heated.

Corn explodes because of the water vapor pressure inside it finally exceeds the level that the hard and mostly moisture-impervious hull can take, causing it to rupture violently.

Is there any edible substance that could be used to coat other small pieces of food (say, pieces of apple) to achieve a similar effect?


texts: How are mass-produced maraschino cherries pitted? I looked on wikipedia, but it doesn't mention much about pitting.


texts: Making pickles using dill weed: ideas for containing the particles?

texts:
I had to substitute dried dill weed for dill seed in a recent batch of refrigerator pickles because I'd run out of the latter. They came out fine and I like the slightly different flavor. However I find the dill weed particles floating in the brine and clinging to the pickles rather unappealing.

Is there any technique for avoiding this? I am thinking of trying a sachet "tea bag" sort of thing, perhaps made from a coffee filter but am wondering if it would allow the flavor to get distributed sufficiently.


texts: How do I make a cheese, sausage, cracker spread?

texts: I'm not sure what types of cheeses, crackers, sausages are needed for a holiday spread. What types of cheeses and sausages are acceptable use for this type of thing? What will give me a decent variety? Would it be better to have a cheese spread instead of the traditional sliced cheese?


texts:
OK, warning: this is a little "local."

Until earlier this week, anyone in New York City's 5 boroughs could follow @phrosties on Instagram, text the phone number included in the profile, and receive a cooler full of colorful frozen alcoholic beverages delivered straight to your door.

(photo credit: sara_jane_triplett)

But then the beverages blew up - everyone heard about them, including Senator Chuck Schumer, and the enterprise was shut down.

So now we're left to guess what was in Phrosties (Adam Platt says "This is just pure sugar and grain alcohol."), and how we might make them ourselves.

Anybody had one? Anybody know how we might make one?


texts: There is an asian grocery nearby and I've seen foot long lengths of aloe vera plant in the produce section.  I have an aloe plant at home. What do you suppose people do with aloe as a ingredient?


texts: How does vacuum packing affect safe meat storage time?

texts:
I recently bought some vacuum-packed pork back ribs, with a sell-by date more than two weeks after I bought it. I don't think I've ever seen a date that far out on meats and I'm not sure how to interpret it. I assume it has something to do with the vaccum-packing.

I gather that meat isn't necessarily good until the sell-by date, because home refrigerators aren't as good at what they do as what the store uses. How long can I expect these ribs, and similar products, to last before I must cook them?


texts: How do I know if a frying pan is suitable for a glass ceramic cooker?

texts:
I had a set of great looking frying pans with layered bottoms that I was unable to use on my glass ceramic cooker.

The problem was the bottom would bend when heated up and lose close contact with the cooker surface. Once that happened it would take an hour to boil the amount of water that is normally boiled within five minutes - heat would just not go into the pan, so using the pan was just a waste of energy and time.

I got rid of that pan and instead used the cheapest most basic pan with single layered bottom; it doesn't bend too much and maintains contact with the surface so it works alright.

However if I want a more advanced pan than the most basic one I use now (for example, with ceramic coating), the local retailers only offer pans with layered bottoms. And of course it'll be close to impossible to return a pan just because doesn't accept heat well on my stove - that hardly counts as manufacturing defect. I'd rather not risk buying a pan if there's reasonable chance that it bends while heating up, making it unusable to me.

Is there a way to be sure that a frying pan with layered bottom won't bend too much when heated and that it is suitable for use on a ceramic glass cooker?


texts:
In an article - What's Cooking America; How To Cook With Wine - I found that wine has three main uses in the kitchen – as a marinade ingredient, as a cooking liquid, and as a flavoring in a finished dish. The alcohol in the wine evaporates while the food is cooking, and only the flavor remains.  Boiling down wine concentrates the flavor, including acidity and sweetness.

The function of wine in cooking is to intensify, enhance, and accent the flavor and aroma of food – not to mask the flavor of what you are cooking but rather to fortify it.

My question is how does wine in cooking intensify, enhance, and accent the flavor and aroma of food? What is the chemistry behind?


texts:
I just put the roast beef in the oven and I don't know if I ruined it already.
So, what happened:

I lavishly applied a rub of salt, black pepper, dried rosemary, and fresh garlic to the meat prior to searing. Then I tried to sear it in the pan. The crust of herbs got darker and darker but the meat underneath was still quite raw, until finally the kitchen filled with thick smoke as the herbs started to blacken and got charred. And I feel kind of dumb that I didn't see that in advance.
I tried to make the best out of the situation, scraped the burnt herbs off, applied fresh herbs and put it in the oven at 90°C as planned.

Now the catch: The order of operations was dictated to me beforehand.
I painstakingly followed the rules set forth by my girlfriend - the rules for roast beef haven been handed down from one generation to the next in her family from ancient times, apparently Pharaoh Sethos I invented these rules and who am I to question them?
And the rules say: rub before searing.

Now I want to put the following question to the community:
Rub roast before or after searing? What would you do if you were not bound by any questionable ancient wisdom and a proto-sumeric curse?


texts: What causes gaps/holes in homemade bread?

texts: And how can I avoid them? This happens a lot when I make just regular white bread and almost every time I make cinnamon swirl bread. The top swirl creates a really big gap no matter how tight I roll the dough. Thoughts?


texts: What is the best oil to use when cooking in a wok?

texts:
I like cooking a lot of stir-fry which I generally cook in a wok at high temperature. I generally use vegetable oil but I've also heard peanut oil is better for wok cooking because of it's high smoking point.

Is peanut oil the best option for wok cooking or are there better oils to use?


texts: Why does unsweetened tea get colder, faster than sweet tea?

texts:
Mostly, I drink unsweetened tea.  However, on the rare occasion that I get sweet tea, I have noticed that it doesn't seem to cool down as quickly as unsweetened tea.  Is there a reason for this, or am I just imagining things?  I was wondering if it had something to do with the cooling properties of natural sugar, but that's just a  guess.

Typically, I put quite a bit of ice in the tea and I use a straw so I'm drinking from the bottom of the cup.

As an experiment, I pulled the straw to the top of the cup (in the middle of the ice) when drinking sweet tea and the tea felt considerably colder.

Any thoughts?


texts: What can I use in place of Quinoa flour? The recipe calls for Quinoa flour, but I don't have any.


texts:
I bought a bag of cocoa beans and it is written "Nut Free" on it. I always thought seeds/beans where the same a nuts except we called them this way because there is more than one in one fruit.

So is it right or wrong to say a bag of cocoa bean is nut free ?

(Extra question) Is there any potential nut allergy with theses beans ?


texts: Can you make milk chocolate bars with fresh milk or cream?

texts:
I have a bizarre idea that milk powder is bad tasting, therefore I wonder if it could be possible to make chocolate bars with fresh milk or cream.
If not, are there some top quality milk powders?


texts:
Long ago, I ate at someone's house and was served pieces of meringue on chilled crème anglaise.* The hostess called it îles flottantes, but I have since heard it called oeufs à la neige. Meanwhile, I've seen île flottante used to refer to a single meringue atop crème anglaise. So are these same dish, except for the size of the meringue? Are the two terms interchangeable? Or are there other differences?

*I didn't know at the time that that's what it was, because I was a kid; I've learned it since.


texts:
I'm trying to make sweet fried plantains (maduros) but I'm not having much success.  I've tried frying on low, medium, and high heat and with varying amounts of oil.  The plantains never come out soft and sweet but dry (depending on cooking time) and starchy tasting.  I suspect it is because the fruit is either not ripe or bad quality.

Compared to a ripe banana, how soft should the plantain be before peeling? Once peeled, how soft should the flesh be?  Also, should it be sweet prior to frying?  The pic below shows a fruit prior to preparation.  Does this look ripe enough?  I have also tried letting it ripen until the skin was almost completely black but at that point the fruit seems to have gotten bad.


texts: Can condensed milk be safely used after it's 'best before' date?

texts: It's just that I have an unopened tin of condensed milk which is a couple of months past it's best before date. And I don't feel like throwing it away :(


texts: Can I use a china oven dish to make a sponge cake?

texts: I want to make an ordinary sponge cake.  The recipe says I need to use a metal cake tin.  Can I use an (ovenproof) china oven dish instead?


texts: I've purchased a 30 pack box of these delicious noodles and I'd like advice on how to cook them properly. From past experiences, I've either used too much water which made them soggy and very soft which doesn't retain the Thai flavor. So any advice would be nice (how much water to use, drain the water out afterwards, cook for how long, temperature etc). Help?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Rubbing eggplants in salt

I've heard that salting an eggplant (aubergine) before cooking/frying it is necessary not only to reduce the amount of liquid in the result but also to rid the eggplant of some bitterness. I see, online, some support for the claim that the taste of salt removes bitterness, but that would not require pre-salting: one could simply add salt to the dish. And that same Web page also says eggplants on the market generally lack bitterness anyway. On the other hand, various other Web pages (example) matter-of-factly describe pre-salting eggplants to rid them of bitterness. So my questions are: Is it true pre-salting reduces bitterness to an extent that regular salting of a dish does not, and, if so, are eggplants on the market (in the States, say) bitter enough to make bitterness-reduction advisable?


texts: How long do vitamins last in multivitamin juice?

texts:
I like to drink multivitamin juice similar to this, but it takes me a 3 or 4 days to drink whole carton.

How long will these added vitamins last, when kept in the refrigerator?

How long will they last, when I keep the juice in a room temperature?

I'm not asking how long the juice will be safe to drink, but only about the vitamin content (A, C, and various from the B group).


texts: What kind of paste do I use to form shapes to decorate a cake?

texts: What do I use to create forms and decorate a cake? Like the minions seen here:


texts: How do I choose frozen fish so that it doesn't release so much water?

texts:
I bought a package of frozen, individually wrapped, vacuum-sealed pacific cod fillets (about 150-200 grams each) from what I thought was a reputable brand (and not the lowest price) in my nearest supermarket, and attempted to pan-fry it. I defrosted it by running cold water in the sink as advised in this answer (it took about 15 minutes). When I opened the package, a large amount of water had separated from the fish. I carefully dried the fillet with towel paper, coated it with flour and put it in a hot pan over maximal heat as explained in this other question. Despite my efforts and the hot pan, the fish immediately started releasing even more water, dissolving the flour and turning into a small 75-100 grams of boiled, chewy fish fillet instead of a nice fried, tender one.

So I am looking for advice on how to properly choose frozen fish in the first place. I know that it should be properly vacuum-sealed and from a reputable source (whatever that means). But even then, some frozen fishes will loose a lot of water (it was obviously the case here). What qualities should I look for when buying it? Can I tell by the fish aspect or something else if it's good or not? Are some species better than others?


texts: Ratio to subtitute mesquite liquid smoke for mesquite smoke powder?

texts:
I'm making some seitan sausage and there's a new recipe I want to try but it calls for mesquite smoke powder (1 1/2 t for flavor). I only have mesquite liquid smoke, which I'd like to use instead. I'm aware I'll likely have to adjust the dry ingredients slightly since I'll be adding another wet one, but my question is:

How much liquid smoke do I use in place of the smoke powder to achieve the same flavor?

I've never used the powder, but liquid smoke is pretty strong, so I doubt it would be a 1:1 swap. Does anyone have any experience in trying such a substitution?


texts: Is Indian sandwich bread meant to always be grilled or toasted?

texts:
In India, there are brands of commercially available white bread, specifically labelled and sold as "Sandwich bread". They are available as square and triangular shaped slices.

These breads differ from the 'regular' breads in that they are rougher and harder to chew. So you can't simply start eating them even if you put some vegetables or mayo between the slices. It tastes and feels raw and awful.
The 'regular' white breads (sometimes called 'milk bread') are soft, sometimes sweet and can be eaten as-is; without even any butter or jam. Even commercially available brown bread is soft.

I've also noticed that when "sandwich bread" is grilled, it becomes more 'chewable' and palatable. Sad part is, that many people I know, simply take "sandwich bread", put some raw cucumber, onion, tomato and capsicum slices between it and serve it to us.

So my question is...are you aware of any requirement of rougher breads to necessarily be grilled before being made into a sandwich? Are they deliberately made rough so that they'd be able to absorb the wetness of jam or chutney?


texts: Cooking time for vegetables in plain water versus in a soup

texts: I have consistently observed that a given vegetable simmering in a soup (that is, with multiple other vegetables and herbs, and usually salted) takes five to ten times longer to get soft than when the same vegetable is simmered alone in plain water. This especially pertains to root vegetables. Why is this?


texts: How can I cut the flavour of Worcestershire sauce in a completed Asian dish?

texts:
I was following a Chicken Yakisoba recipe that looked good. I ended up doubling the sauce because I had added extra cabbage and other vegetables. The sauce called for:

  1/4 cup soy sauce
  1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
  2 Tbsp ketchup
  up to 1 Tbsp sriracha hot sauce
  1 Tbsp sugar

I double all there except I kept the sriracha sauce to 1 Tbsp. I was wary of adding 1/2 cup of Worcestershire but I only really started cooking recently so I do not have experience to know better. The resulting sauce was powerful to say the least. While it is edible it is not something I am super proud of. Next time I will reduce the amount. After reading comments on this some other people had similar issues.

For now I have 4-5 servings of this dish that I do not want to throw out. I hate waste. However I would like to try and salvage the dish.

What can I do to try and cut the Worcestershire sauce in my already completed Chicken Yakisoba?


texts: I would like to try out sous vide, but I don't want to invest in the gadgets, until I have tried it and decided I want to keep using it. So I have thought about the best way to try it with no budget. Online, one of the method suggested is to use a beer cooler and zip bags. Would it also work to use a thermo bottle (a bottle, which keeps your tea / coffee warm) for this? I recently used my thermo bottle for 12 hours+, in the winter, and even after 12 hours it provided fairly hot tea. Would this work or would it be too small as container? I am pretty sure, that it could hold the temperature well. Or would it be better to simply use a pot on the stove and stir occasionally? I am not trying to achieve amazing results here, just to get a taste of the technique and see if it really is beneficial for me.


texts: Why does my olive oil smoke/burn when I fry with it?

texts: I see many chefs/people in food channels who use olive oil to fry stuff (like salmon). However, when I add olive oil for frying it quickly burns releasing dark smoke. Is there a specific type of olive oil that they use for frying that doesn't burn? or am I just possibly doing something wrong?


texts: How do I keep cookies from burning on the bottom?

texts: Every time I make cookies they burn on the bottom. Is there a way to prevent this?


texts: My Cream Pull Candy doesn't always cream

texts:
Anyone familiar with Cream Pulled Candy?  It's a traditional Appalachian (Kentucky) candy where sugar and water are cooked to the soft ball stage, then milk, butter or cream and a small amount of baking soda are added and the mixture cooked on to the hard ball stage.  It is then poured onto buttered marble, a small amount of vanilla is sprinkled over and the mixture cooled until cool enough to handle, then pulled taffy fashion until light in color and very stiff.  It is cut into small pieces with scissors.  At this stage it is still very much like taffy (chewy and elastic), but normally after a period of time it transforms into a soft, chalk-like consistency (think of butter mints) with a hint of caramel (caused be the effect of the baking soda on the milk or cream added) and vanilla flavor.

My problem lately is that my candy is failing to cream; rather it remains hard but chewy like taffy rather than undergoing the creaming process.  Any idea what could be going wrong?  I haven't changed ingredients (cane sugar only) or the pot or cooking method either.  Any clue what's happening (or not happening)


texts:
I am going to be cooking for someone who, because of Crohn's disease, is unable to eat pretty much anything from the allium family (ie. onions, garlic, shallots, chives, scallions and leeks; this includes garlic and onion powder), as well as spicy food (so that excludes chilis and piquant spices). I have seen Substitute for onions and garlic but because the suggestions there are pretty much other alliums, it is not very helpful for my purposes.

Because onions tends to be in a lot of things (if nothing else, as half of a mirepoix, which tends to appear in many recipes, and is also the base of stocks, which makes things complicated -- I am not 100% sure if the two degrees of separation from onion to stock to whatever the stock is used for is enough to make it "safe", and unfortunately I won't have time to make an onion-less stock), I am not really sure what I can use instead.

I realize that it might be hard to substitute onions and garlic with other similar tasting ingredients without using other alliums, so instead, I am looking for suggestions to replace onions and garlic with things that will still let me cook flavourful food (that doesn't necessarily need to taste the same as it would with alliums, though).

For example, I was thinking about roasting a chicken and making a couscous dressing, but the chicken would sit on mirepoix (can I replace the onions in it with something else?) which would be used as a base for the sauce as well; and my couscous dressing recipe uses shallots (as well as sage, thyme, oregano and pine nuts). General suggestions would be useful as well, though.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


texts:
Having been around the Caribbean a few times I got used to eating Roti from street vendors.  Normally young guys and girls who would make them at home, put them into an insulated box and sell them on the street for a few dollars (ec).  The wrapper that these delicious and filling snacks is what makes them so fantastic.  Light, and almost translucent, they somehow manage to contain the spicy/curried contents even whilst the eater devours it.  Now, we can argue about what is truly a Roti, flat beads etc...  but I am not interested in that, I want to know how (and what type of flour to use) to make the covering for what is considered to be a Caribbean Roti.  PS:  The best ones always seem to come from Grenada.

Wikipedia has this, but somehow it is not quite right for what I want.  I have tried looking into rice wraps, not quite the same as they are more Asian. Please help...


texts: What's an easy to use juicer that juices oranges as well as other fruit?

texts:
I would like to buy a juicer for making fruit juice, including orange juice.

But the juicers that I've seen fall into one of two categories:

Work for all fruits, but you have to peel oranges.
Work only for oranges without peeling (just juice half an orange at a time).
Ideally the juicer should be electric rather than manual (easier) (new requirement)

Is there any combined juicer for these two functions?

Ideal other features are easy to wash (dishwasher), gets a good amount of juice out of each fruit and long product lifetime.

(Backup info on question: Can I ask a recommendation question?)

Update: thank you for the answers so far. Based on that, I've added the electric requirement.


texts:
I cooked a chicken dish with a watery gravy. The dish is already fully cooked and flavoured well, but the gravy is thinner than I would like. I know that gravy can be thickened with cornstarch, but I would prefer not to add cornstarch to the dish.

Is there any other solution to thicken a thin gravy?


texts: Making fruit syrup less viscous while retaining flavor

texts:
I'm making snow cones from real fruit syrup that I'm making myself - the problem is that the fruit syrup comes out too viscous and it tends to set on top of the snow cone ice.  Is there anyway to make sure the flavoring is just as sweet, but less viscous?  The fruit I'm having the most trouble with right now is strawberry.

And related to this (especially strawberry) is there a good way to strain out small particles.  I wish I could shove the strawberry syrup through a coffee filter, but I don't know how this can be done.


texts: How to apply ascorbic acid ppm in bread baking?

texts:
According to Effects of different doses of ascorbic acid on alveograph and bread making quality of wheat flour with average quality as starting material  :

  the best dose of ascorbic acid that can be added for the improving average flour quality is 50-70 ppm

If I want to add 70 ppm to my flour comprising 600 grams of whole wheat flour and 100 grams of bran and wheatgerm, how many mg of ascorbic acid do I require?


texts: Why do I need to cook milk in a cast iron pan before first usage?

texts:
I bought a cast iron grill pan from a famous Swedish four-letter store. They suggested boiling milk with some vegetable oil before starting to use the grill.

Why is this necessary, and what's the difference from just washing it with water?


texts: Baking bread - stainless steel or potless?

texts:
I am an absolute newbie to baking bread. Just started baking veggies recently.
Before I buy any baking pot, I would like to ask a few questions about bread baking.
Is it always better to have a baking pot of cast iron (or the materials specific for baking)?
In the bakeries and all I see people baking without pots. So, why do we need baking pots?
Is anything made of stainless steel good for baking bread? If so, what should be it's thickness?
Thanks in advance!


texts:
I am trying to make Challah using this recipe, and the bread tastes good, but the braids are melding together like this:

What is going on here? I am kneading using the slap-and-fold technique without adding any extra flour, and I am testing the gluten formation using the window pane test. I am a novice baker, so I cannot rule anything out though. I am withholding some flour to use while shaping, but I usually have about 1/4-1/2 cup left over. Is the dough too moist?

I have posted this gallery showing some of the process, so hopefully that is helpful. Thanks!


texts: How can I keep brownies from sticking to the pan?

texts: Whenever I bake brownies they stick to the pan. Is it because I don't use a  non-stick pan, or is this related to the thickness of batter? Maybe there is some other reason.


texts: Gluten Free Thin Crust Pizza - Tips and Explanation?

texts:
we have a gluten-free pizza crust recipe that works out pretty well. Since I'm relatively new to GF (we recently found out that my wife has Celiac), I'm curious as to how the recipe works and what difference some of the changes we've made have on the outcome. I'm also looking for any pointers to help make the crust a little less "scratch the roof of your mouth like Captain Crunch." Overall, it comes out nice and crispy, but perhaps just a little too much.

The recipe:

Ingredients
-----------

> Yeast mixture
1 1/3 cup warm milk
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons rapid rise yeast
    - we've taken to using 1 tablespoon of pizza dough yeast instead

> Dry Mix
1 cup tapioca flour
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder
2 teaspoons dried italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons xantham gum
1 1/3 cups brown rice flour

Directions
----------
First, I mix the yeast mixture. Pizza dough yeast seems to work better and give a
slightly better crust than plain rapid rise.

? I've always had trouble getting the yeast to really dissolve completely, there's
usually chunks left in the milk unless I whisk for a good 15 minutes. Can I use a
kitchen mixer to achieve a better dissolve?

In a separate bowl, I combine the dry ingredients. Then, I mix the yeasty milk into
the dry ingredients and finally mix in 2 teaspoons olive oil and 2 teaspoons apple cider
vinegar.

? We accidentally mixed in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and apple cider vinegar once,
but didn't really notice a difference. What exactly are they helping with in the recipe
and why didn't such a gross overmeasurement make a difference?

Next, I butter and flour a baking sheet and then plop the dough down. I flour my
hands and the dough and spread it until it's nice and thin across the sheet. I rub olive
oil into the patted down dough and then cook untopped for 10 minutes in a 450 degree
oven. Remove and add toppings and return to the oven for 20 minutes.

Any tips and maybe some general explanation of what's going on here would be appreciated - so far this has been the quickest and best thin crust GF recipe we've done.

Edit: We also mix everything by hand - would using our mixer and/or dough hooks make any noticeable difference?


texts: Safety: Keeping sous-vide cooked chicken in vacuum

texts:
My Problem

I have sous-vide cooked some chicken breast, forgot about it, and kept it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. The chicken breast was thoroughly cooked (63c for 1 hour) and kept in good vacuum.

I have re-cooked it in the sous vide at 63c for and additional 1.5 hour, and finished by frying it in the pan. I am not sure whether it is safe to eat or not.

What Have I Tried

Google Search
Meat and Poultry Charts at foodsafety.gov
Read How long can I store a food in the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer?, but it features general rules, not sous-vide specific ones. I want to know whether sous-vide cooked chicken would last longer.

My Question

For how long can I safely keep cooked, vacuumed and refrigerated chicken breast?

Images

Refrigerated and vacuumed

Recooked and fried


texts: Why is eating pretzels safe when they are bathed in lye?

texts:
I read many recipes of pretzels and they required to dip the raw dough in a bath of lye. As anyone should know for their own safety, lye is caustic and shouldn't be ingested.

What is the process involved that make them edible?

Edit: I am aware of the action of the lye. I wonder how the non-edible lye on the dough is transformed into something that is safe to eat.


texts: How does pepper enhance/increase the saltiness of a dish?

texts:
I have found that after adding ground pepper (any type, color, or heat level), some dishes seem to be saltier. This sometimes occurs with other spices, as well. Note that I am not using anything else that contains salt.

I always taste as I go and something will seem to have the perfect amount of salt. But almost immediately after adding pepper or other spices the dish will seem to be too salty.

Also, I have cooked something that seemed to be perfectly seasoned, but if one adds ground pepper at the table, it seems to be saltier.

Another example is that when I cook certain types of curries and use a wide range of other spices, a minimal amount of salt is needed, and the dishes do not lack any salt flavor.

I have learned over time that when other spices are to be added to decrease the amount of salt, so it's not an issue. (I can always add more, if needed.) However I am curious as to why/how this happens.


texts: Can I use yogurt cheese in cheesecake by substituting the cream cheese?

texts: It is very hard to find cream cheese or mascarpone where I live in India, so I just wanted to know whether I can make a cheesecake with yogurt cheese or not?


texts:
Most recipes I have seen for mousse require you to use egg yolks and don't involve any cooking of the egg. It's my understanding that when an egg's yolk is still soft (or not cooked at all in this case), it hasn't been cooked long enough and can contain salmonella.

Is there any way I can still use eggs in my recipe but somehow ensure that I don't need to worry about salmonella?

I've tried looking for pasteurized eggs, but couldn't find them at any of my local supermarkets.


texts: How to make a batter that is hard and hold up to sauce

texts:
I am trying to recreate Beijing Beef like they have at Panda Express.
Most copycat recipes are recommending a batter made from some combination of cornstarch and flour.  I am finding that the batter is too delicate and quickly turns to mush when mixed in with the sauce.

The batter on the Panda Express beef is quite thick and hard, almost like a rock so it holds up to the sauce well, although I would say it is not the most crisp of batters.

Do any of you have any ideas of ingredients/techniques that can produce that kind of heavy and hard batter?


texts: What would be the best order for folding whipped egg whites and yolks into cookie dough?

texts: What would be the best order to mix them in without deflating the batter/dough(along with flour, baking powder and soda)? Should I add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar and then add the whipped yolks and whites mixture at the end, or add the mixture to the creamed butter and sugar and then add the dry ingredients last?  Thanks!


texts: Why does dough break when kneading, and how to prevent/ameliorate it?

texts:
I'm very new to bread-making in general; don't assume I'm necessarily doing anything right.

During my last attempt at making quick (baking-powder-based) flatbread, I was attempting to flatten and knead the dough after having let it rest.  What happened was that rather than bending or spreading as one would expect, the dough kept cracking/breaking into pieces here and there.

I have several questions related to this, feel free to answer any/all of them:

(a) What mistakes might have been made ahead of this point, in the recipe or the technique of preparing the dough, to cause this?

(b) On the other hand, what can be done to prevent it from happening in the future?

(c) Given a hunk of dough with this tendency on the table, what can be done to salvage and/or rectify matters?  This can be in terms of kneading technique, or adding anything to the dough to make it more cohesive.


texts: How to get breading to stick to chicken?

texts: I made a simple breaded chicken recipe last night (mixed butter, mustard & bread crumbs together), but the mixture wouldn't stick to the chicken - any tips?


texts: Why do you add sugar last when boiling soups?

texts: When I read recipes involving boiling a soup/dessert and adding sugar, they often say to add the sugar towards the end of the boiling.  Why is that?  Are there consequences of adding sugar early?


texts: what to do with fish steaks that still have scales on?

texts:
I am in Montreal and the Portuguese community here has a few grocery stores; Portuguese frozen fish is also for sale in quite a few places. It's very inexpensive and I think I now know why. I bought a kilo of redfish (with some research I think it's most commonly called ocean perch*).

It's described as bland fish and apparently best to cook in a sauce, but the steaks still have scales on them! I hate scaling, and during scaling the scales get all over the meat, I can't see them and after adding butter and orange juice and poaching the fish in the oven, they made it to the final dish and the sauce.

Obviously, the fish with scales is best to cook whole, but I have the steaks. Any advice on how to cook them unscaled and still use seasoning/sauce?

[*edit] apparently also known as rockfish


texts: Will a hood vent increase rate of evaporation?

texts:
I'm boiling down some maple sap this year on the stove top.  A bit late but thought I'd give it a whirl even if it only yields a quart or two of maple syrup.

Will keeping the hood vent on increase the rate of evaporation?

Conventional logic makes me think yes, but I just read a few threads on this topic and left feeling a bit confused since some people indicate that the hood reduces the surface temp and creates an inconsistent boil which can decrease the rate of evaporation.

EDIT:
Since there has been some discussion below in regards to the type of hood vent being used so I'll add this: It's a fairly standard residential hood vent that vents to the outside through the ceiling (not the recirculating kind).  When it's on it is definitely pulling steam out of the kitchen — I can see the steam flowing up through the vent.

Also, the pot is on at a simmer. The amount of steam being produced here is not a large quantity and the hood seems to do an adequate job of removing all of it. For purposes of answering this question, please assume that the vent is removing steam.  The question in this case is, will removing steam at the rate which it is produced increase the rate of evaporation.


texts: Is it safe to eat freezer food with bad odours?

texts:
I accidentaly switched my freezer off for a week.  This lead to spoilage of food, pool of blood inside freezer etc.  Trays are unremovable and difficult to clean.  I have thrown everything away and tried cleaning with baking soda, bleach etc but smell hasn't fully gone.

I'm assuming its just the smell of blood and I don't want to buy a new freezer straight away. If I freeze food in the meantime
1. will it absorb odours?
2. If it does will the food be safe to eat?
3. Can you suggest how else I can clean the freezer or should i go and buy a new one?

Thanks


texts: Would these ingredients work for a Gift In a Jar?

texts:
I am planning on making a Gift In a Jar for a cake. An example of a Gift In a Jar can be found here. Basically I would be putting the following ingredients in the jar:

Flour
Cocoa
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Cinnamon
White sugar
Brown sugar
Chopped Almonds

The recipe just calls for me to put all the ingredients into a bowl, mix and pour into a pan. No seperation of dry and wet ingredients here. The other ingredients that aren't included in this list is shredded zucchini, orange zest, milk, vanilla, eggs and oil.

Would this work together?? Are there any specific ingredients that I should leave out? How far in advance could I put it all together?


texts: What is the difference between Shao Xing and Shao Hisng Chinese cooking wines?

texts:
Some people say that Shao Xing and Shao Hisng are different names for the same thing yet others say Xing has added salt.

Could someone please shed some light?


texts: What is the difference between St Louis ribs, Memphis ribs, and Kansas City ribs?

texts:
I know that St Louis ribs are a subset of side ribs.
What cut of ribs are Memphis ribs and Kansas City ribs from? Side or back?


texts: Pizza dough didn't rise, maybe yeast cells were killed off

texts:
I made a pizza dough and I left it to rise until doubled in bulk. However, it didn't rise at all. After reading here I can just guess that I killed the yeast cells:

  Yeast Is Too Hot. Recipes that call for active dry yeast direct you to dissolve that yeast in warm water. Sometimes the recipe calls for the liquid to be heated with fat and then added to the yeast. Either way, if the liquid is too hot it will kill off yeast cells. Yeast is pretty picky. It doesn’t like it too cold and it doesn’t like it too hot.

If this is the case and after waiting more time, it still doesn't rise, is there something I can do with the dough? I wouldn't want to throw it away.

Thanks


texts: How do I add healthy fats to my daughter's diet?

texts:
My daughter is going through a growth spurt right now and having trouble sleeping through the night.  I asked this question on ParentingSE and based on what I wrote, the advice I have gotten is that a little more fat in her diet might help.

Can you suggest some ways to add healthy fats to the cooking I already do so my daughter can get what she needs?


texts: Are refrigerator section pickles (Clausen) safe if left unrefrigerated?

texts: I bought some Clausen Pickles, not knowing the jar said "always refrigerate'". I mean they were in the refrigerated section at Kroger. But They stayed up in my cabinet for about a week and a half, before I put them in the refrigerator. Then after about 2 days, to let them get good and cold, there was a film in the juice and some on the pickles. But it wiped right off of the pickles. But the film in still in the juice. Would you say they're okay to eat? I need some opinions. They still taste the same.. Maybe a little different.


texts: How far in advance can I prepare a fruit cup?

texts:
My work used to sell fruit cups that were simply just plastic cups filled with cut fruit pieces, no syrup or anything. I quite liked having a mini fruit salad like that, and would usually buy ones containing pineapple, grapes, apples, and/or strawberries depending on the season. But they don't have them anymore :(

Obviously cut fruit doesn't last very long, even in the fridge. I could probably prep a cup the night before to take with me in the morning. But is there any way I could prepare it on the weekend to use sometime during the week? Do any of the fruits I like freeze well? Are there any fruits that would work better? What if I vacuum-seal the fruit? Can it in syrup like you find at the supermarket?


texts: I am looking for criteria to tell whether food has mold on it. Some classic cases are easy to distinguish (unbaked flour vs bread mold). However in case I don't know what the product is supposed to look like, it is almost impossible to tell. Here is a recent example, mold or crystallized sugar?


texts: I was thinking about all my favorite tomato dishes and wondering if there were a way to infuse more tomato flavor into my chili, spagbol, and bloody mary. I've heard that the tomato vine contains a lot of the aromatic compounds we associate with delicious tomato flavor, but the vines themselves are not safe to eat. However, many inedible things can be used in infusions to carry the aroma only from something, such as how wormwood is made into absinthe. My goal is not to discover the next psychedelic. But can I infuse tomato vines in vodka as an additive for sauces and drinks?


texts: I am trying to estimate the quantity of usable meat four pork shanks will yield. I need to feed 10 people and I have two front and two hind shanks that weigh a total of 5Kg. I am hoping to get half of that weight in cooked meat so that I am left with 250g per person. I will braise them at low for a few hours and I seem to remember that they don't shrink that much. Can someone advise on whether that 50% yield by weight is realistic?


texts: What is the name of a dish where meat is doused with brandy and lit on fire?

texts: In about 1972 as a new bride, I made something with beef in the oven (had to have been from a cookbook) and then poured brandy over it and lit it on fire before serving.  As we were college students, it would not have been an expensive cut of meat.  I have searched using words like beef, brandy, flambee, fire, etc. but come up blank. Does anyone recognize the dish? Would love to serve it for our 45th anniversary next month!


texts: Sous vide top side beef joint - set temperature lower than it should be

texts:
I am new to sous vide and am currently cooking a relatively cheap cut of beef (~1kg of top side beef joint). The beef is in a vacuum sealed bag and has been cooking for about 5 hours at a temperature of 54.5°C with an aim 18-24 hours total. I have not pre-seared the beef.

I've just looked at the cooking times again and I've noticed I should have set my machine to 56°C instead of 54.5°C. I've read that prolonged cooking below 55°C is not good for health reasons and now I'm worried I've ruined tomorrow's dinner. Is it too late to raise the temperature a couple more degrees or does it not matter?

Edit

I've raised the temperature to 59°C as I'm now paranoid but need to go to bed. If this is unsafe, please let me know.


texts:
I packed chilli powder to transparency polythene bag. It expires very quickly. But when I put chilli powder into plastic bottlle I can remain it for long time. How can slove this?
  Thanks


texts:
There is a lot of information on how to tamp espresso before pulling a shot, so it's a little hard to make sense of it all.  What I currently do certainly works, but perhaps there's something better out there.

What is the best technique for getting a good, consistent tamp?  Also, it'd be great to know how to diagnose common tamping issue.


texts: Can I use cream of tartar in place of tataric acid

texts:
I have an old recipe for Green Tomato/Ginger Jam , it needs 3/4 tsp tartaric acid, can I substitute cream of tartar and if so how much?

Green Tomato/Ginger Jam: Skin 1 3/4 lbs green tomatoes by plunging them into boiling water for 8-12 minutes. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, sprinkle with 3/4 lb sugar, 1 1/2 tsp,powdered ginger and 3/4 tsp tartaric acid. Leave to stand over night. Next day, add 2 oz root ginger and 3/4 tsp lemon essence. Place in a pan and simmer until tender. Add a little extra water if the tomatoes are very hard. Add another 1 3/4 lbs. of sugar. Stir until dissolved and boil in an open pan for about 5 minutes.

Green Tomato Pickles: Slice 3 lbs green tomatoes into a pan with 1 lb onions, sliced, 1 tablespoon salt and 3/4 pt vinegar. Cook about 45 minutes. Add 8 oz brown sugar, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp dry mustard and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, and cook slowly for 1 hour, stirring constantly. Bottle while hot and then seal immediately.


texts: Tried making gel-type candy, it recrystalized as it cooled?

texts:
I wasn't sure if it would work anyway, but I always used to love the tubes of squeeze candy you could get when I was a kid. I tried to make it by modifying a hard candy recipe. I boiled it for about ten minutes at about 220 degeees F.

I removed it from the heat, mixed in my flavoring, and it was pretty much the desired texture when it started cooling. I put it in a container on the counter overnight and it seems to have just returned to the state of its base ingredients? I'm not sure why this happened, or how to prevent it in the future. Any advice?


texts: Is lamb chops cooked in frying pan considered hot (Yang) or cold (Yin) by Chinese culinary standards.


texts: Cheap/DIY approach to compressed powder candy

texts: I'm interested in making tablet-style compressed candies (like sweet tarts or specifically the sticks from lik-m-aid), and while I can find ingredients on store packaging and figure out from there, I don't know how to compress the candies at home. I'd appreciate any advice anyone has on how to do this. So far the only even related recipes I've found have been for making molded candies out of granulated sugar, but I think I need a more technical/high-pressure approach for powdered ingredients to hold together and be hard enough (I am aiming for the hardness of a mint lifesaver basically). Does anyone have any experience or resources?


texts:
Can I culture yeast in dough without the dough going sour?

I mean instead of adding new yeast everytime can I take a bit of raised flour and keep it for the next time?

In this situation will the flour go sour? Will new organisms grow in the flour?


texts: Looking for advice on making halva w/ allulose - first attempt came out gummy and taffy-like w/ oil separation

texts:
I'm trying to create halva, and my first attempt ended up with something that wasn't crumbly like halva is supposed to be - instead, it ended up a hard, taffy-like confection that was tasted like halva but had none of the correct texture. I also had oil separation - when drying, the end product sweated out a lot of the tahini oil, so the end result was more dense than I wanted. Looking for advice/pointers on what I can do next time.

Note: I'm using a different sugar called allulose that very similar characteristics to regular sugar (sucrose). http://allulose.org/reformulating-products-allulose-considerations-flavor-profile-freezing-stability-sweetener-compatibility/

The (seemingly very simple) recipe I tried to follow from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64_ckmBf01M:

Ingredients:

2 cups of granulated sugar (the recipe calls for granulated sugar, and allulose I bought was in powdered form, so I actually used 1 1/8 cups powdered allulose for equivalency)
1.5 cups of tahini
1 tsp vanilla extract
0.5 cups of water

What I did:

Heated water, allulose to 160 degrees F.
Warmed up the tahini. It was supposed to be heated up to 110 degrees, but I accidentally let it go to 150 F. Added Vanilla extract to tahini.
Turned off heat.
Slowly mixed warmed tahini into sugar (well, allulose) solution.
Transferred the whole concoction into pan for cooling.

Everything looked good while I was doing the cooking, but as I mentioned above, the end result was more like taffy than crumbly, which is what I expect halva to taste like. The fact that the thing I ended up with released (sweated?) a bunch of oil was also off-putting. The taste wasn't offensive and the result of my experiment is perfectly edible. Just not halva.

I know that I overheated the tahini a bit, but I didn't think that should have mattered. Or was this my mistake? Maybe I should add more tahini or more sugar? Or is there a specific timespan to mix the two together? Why did the mixture release all the oil instead of setting correctly?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Thanks,
Greg


texts: Cooking "purple sweet potatoes" or "purple yams"

texts:
I recently bought something that was labelled at the grocery store as a "purple sweet potato". They were larger than what I am used to for sweet potatoes, but looked similar, although they had a purple skin on the outside and white flesh on the inside. I figured since they were  labelled as "sweet potatoes", I would prepare them the same way I like to prepare regular sweet potatoes, by boiling them first (for about 40 minutes), then removing the skin, slicing it into wedges and then pan frying them. I have done this many times with normal sweet potatoes, and it works quite well.

However, after I boiled the purple sweet potatoes for 45 minutes, I pulled them out to take the skins off, and they were soft and stringy and incredibly off putting - they felt the same way as a gummy mashed potato would feel, and they fell apart all over the place.

Are they more like a potato, requiring less boiling time? Or is there something else going on here that I am missing?

Edit: I went to the grocery store today, and they are now labelled as "purple yams". I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I also got a picture of them, to make my description a bit clearer.


texts: Why aren't my chocolate chip cookies coming out the way I'd like them?

texts:
I'm making chocolate chip cookies. Am I doing something wrong if my cookies look flat on top, and soft, and brown on the bottom. They're soft on top and are crunchier at the bottom. They taste fully cooked and good, but not exactly like cookies should right? Am I undercooking them or preparing them a wrong way? Or is this normal?

Here's the recipe I used, and the picture that's on the page.

Ingredients:

1 1/4
    cups granulated sugar

1 1/4
    cups packed brown sugar

1 1/2
    cups butter or margarine, softened

2
    teaspoons vanilla

3
    eggs

4 1/4
    cups all-purpose flour

2
    teaspoons baking soda

1/2
    teaspoon salt

1
    to 2 bags (12 oz each) semisweet chocolate chips (2 to 4 cups)

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl with electric mixer, beat granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and eggs until well blended. Beat in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.


texts: Why buy ground cinnamon instead of cinnamon sticks?

texts: Ground cinnamon is less expensive then cinnamon sticks. I've read that it is also more flavorful. However, cinnamon sticks last a lot longer. Also, ground cinnamon is likely to have mystery ingredients. Will I (a cinnamon nut) be disappointed if I stock up on cinnamon sticks instead of ground cinnamon?


texts: Possible to get Sugar Syrup and Coconut Oil to solidify together (Emulsifier needed?)

texts:
I'm trying to make a 'magic-shell' like topping from burnt sugar syrup by mixing burnt sugar syrup (sugar + corn syrup heated until dark copper color, cooked with water until smooth) with coconut oil. The idea being to serve on ice cream and have a crispy or at least hard shell that tastes like burnt caramel.

When I tried this the first time, the result was a layer of hardened coconut oil on the ice cream, and a pool of syrup at the bottom of the ice-cream dish.

It feels like I need a better way to keep the coconut oil and the syrup emulsified so that when the coconut oil hardens up the syrup is 'locked up' in the solid. Is there something that I can add to the mixture to encourage this happening?

Thanks!


texts: During my move to a new home a 10lb bag of granulated pure cane sugar had some vegetable oil drip onto it. After 2 days when I observed that I took the sugar out of its paper bag and put it into a large zip-lock plastic bag that appears to be airtight. Is the sugar safe and for how long? How can I tell if it goes bad?


texts: What was the mysterious ingredient in making of Japanese sweet bean paste (an or あん) from the movie?

texts: The Japanese movie Sweet Bean (あん) shows the process of making red bean paste in one of the scenes. The cook uses a clear gelatinous substance which presumably is the sweetener for this paste. What is it exactly?


texts: Preventing chocolate from burning, when its used as the crust of a New York style cheesecake

texts:
I am using this flour-less chocolate cake recipe as the crust of a New York style cheesecake. Cake recipe
The full recipe is in the youtube description, if you didn't feel like watching it, and the only alteration I am doing is switching out the alcohol with Malibu Rum.

The cheesecake recipe is here Cheesecake Recipe

What I do is bake the cake first, then I pour the cheesecake over that and follow it's baking directions.

The problem I am having is that the chocolate burns in a couple of places at the bottom of the pan. How do I prevent this?


texts: What defines a gui chow dish in Chinese cuisine?

texts:
A restaurant near me makes a delicious dish they call Gui Chow Beef, which I want to reproduce. I've found some alternate spellings as "gui zhou" and even "aui zhau," but I've yet to find a recipe that represents what I've eaten.

The beef is thinly sliced and limp -- not battered or deep fried. I think there are bamboo shoots and celery. They use enough Szechuan peppercorns to numb my tongue; that's one of the most important ingredients to me. The sauce is dark and sour and there is always orange grease left on my plate when I'm done.

So. What am I eating, and how can I make it at home?


texts:
This recipe calls for boiling Yukon gold potatoes with their skins on, then peeling them. I don't really know why, I just decided to follow it.

I find that I am unable to peel boiled potatoes in any reasonable amount of time because they are soft, slippery, and very hot. I have tried:

Sticking a fork in one end to hold it down as I peel. Cumbersome and potatoes generally split on the fork while I'm working.
Holding the potato in my hand as normal. Result: 1st degree burns, 2nd if I'm really being stubborn.
Wearing a silicone oven mitt. Cumbersome and mitt gits in the way.
Let them cool. But this takes a long time and also, then they're cold...

So, two questions:

Anybody got any tricks for this?
Why boil then peel, won't I get the same results if I just peel them before I boil them like I usually do when I need cooked, skinless potatoes?


texts: can i use yeast instead of baking powder in a cookie receipe?

texts: I currently have no baking powder in the cupboard and I'm just wondering if i can use yeast in a cookie dough recipe instead of baking powder


texts:
I'm familiar with the proper steps in making rough puff pastry but I have difficulty rolling out the dough. I'm hoping someone can make suggestions or explain how to do it better.

I find it easy rolling out softer doughs - pastry dough or yeast doughs. Rolling out chilled rough puff pastry dough is very difficult though as the butter is hard, making the dough hard too. It takes a lot to push on the rolling pin to roll to size each time. Raising the my height to apply more pressure helps some but not enough.

I'm pretty new to making rough puff pastry so maybe I'm doing something wrong? It's not something I plan to make that often but it would be nice as a dough for Guinness Irish stew.


texts: Is it possible to use Coffee Mill for other grain?

texts:
I'm in Argentina here I cannot fing buckwheat flour so I bought instead buckwheat grain and I want to
mill it to get flour....

but I don't arrive to find a tradicional Mill (at a cheap price)
I want to know if with a machine like this cofee mill I could get good flour?


texts:
I have attempted to make coffee flavoured gelato.  I have run into a problems specifically when the beaten egg yolk/sugar mixture is heated with the cream/milk mixture - until "it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon".

I used two recipes - one with just plain cream and one with cream/milk.  Both times - the final mixture, when heated, would not thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon.  The mixture was heated once to 74° C and then again to 98° C.

I used chicken egg yolks the first time - they seemed too small.  I used duck egg yolks the second time.  Still no luck thickening.

I guess I would like to know when I should stop and take the mixture off the stove.  If thickening doesn't happen after 20 minutes on medium high heat with a temperature of 98° C - then what?


texts: How can I prevent the top layer of sauces from discolouring?

texts: We also make home made sauces especially chillie. And I noticed that the top of the sauce tend to turn a darker colour when it stands on the shelf too long. How can I stop the discolouring?