texts: Which is the best way to cook a sugar pumpkin for pumpkin puree?  I've read that you can either steam or bake it, but which way yields the best taste and texture for a pie or other pumpkin treats?


texts:
Last week I successfully made my own greek yogurt! I was and am very excited that I finally got it to work. But now the problem is, the yogurt I am making is just not very smooth. Store bought greek yogurt (such as Dannon Oikos and Fage) is silky smooth, thick and creamy. This texture is one of the biggest reasons I enjoy it so much.

My DIY greek yogurt has a rough consistency closer to ricotta cheese. It also has very small (1 mm) cottage cheese like curds in it. I found out that you can make Ricotta simply by heating up whey. That causes the albumin protein to turn into ricotta. The first step to make Greek Yogurt is to heat up the milk to denature albumin protein. Apparently this results in the protein staying in the  yogurt instead of the whey. So I thought if I didn’t heat the milk up as hot, it would keep more albumin protein in the whey and the result would be a smoother yogurt, and a higher yield of ricotta from the whey. What I ended up with was  more whey and less yogurt. More importantly, the yogurt had the same texture as before.

Does anyone know of something I can change in the yogurt making process that leads to a more silky smooth consistency?


texts:
Hi I have recently really been getting into cooking however the girl I am dating has allergic reactions to vinegar, which is in a lot of sauces and stuff.

Looking for possible substitutes that might work when recipes call for this, currently use lemon juice but sometimes that tastes weird (For example I tried to make ketchup since she can't have kraft ketchup which she use to love, however lemon juice tasted quite horrible for my try at it).

Let me know what I should be using! thanks:)


texts: How to cure beef jerky with a minimum of salt?

texts:
I just made a batch of jerky last weekend. I used the packet that came with the dehydrator. Marinade for 4 hours, dehydrate at 160 for 14 hours (12 for smaller peices) It turned out excellent! (I did not use the beef jerky gun)

My question is, since I only have 2 more packets left and I want to try my own flavors, what do I need to use to create a cure?

I'd like to stay away from salt if possible or at least reduce the salt content (possibly sea salt?).

What exactly is the cure doing?


texts: Chemical process behind hardening ice cream

texts:
We made a simple ice cream by mixing whipping cream, sugar, and Nutella.

After 5-6 hours (surely enough time for the ice cream to cool to the temperature of the freezer), it was soft (mechanically soft, while getting it out with a spoon). After 20-30 hours it became hard. Is there some chemical process involved? What is it?


texts: What is an optimal way to make tandoori roti and naan in big green egg?

texts:
Big green egg (and other kamado style ovens) can be used for many kinds of different breads. What is an optimal way to bake naan and/or tandoori roti in an egg( large size)?
Traditionally clay ovens is India have long hollow cylindrical structure where the bread is stuck, not sure how we can replicate the same behavior in Big Green Egg. Use in on the plate setter or use a pizza stone or stick it on the inside of the upper some?
What should the temperature be? How long should it be left? Any other useful information regarding this?


texts:
I've been practicing puff pastry turnovers from scratch (doing the whole chill and turn method with 6 turns) and have had some issues.

The first time I did it -- it turned out well. Was able to fill with caramelized apple and was fine, could see the puff and was tasty.

The following times I've had the following issues:

When I fill the turnover and bake it, there is some level of puffing, but the inside becomes gummy / wet. It doesn't bake through and puff up
I tested to see if it was my dough by just cutting a square piece of puff pastry dough and baking it by itself. It would puff up very nicely and be flaky and have good texture

I'm speculating that the inside steam from the apples and such is causing it not to bake, but I'm really not sure. I don't know what I did right the first time and why it doesn't work anymore. Am I doing something wrong at the dough level or the filling level? Thanks!


texts: When I melt 16 oz of chocolate I add 4 oz of oil how long can I keep this and how should it be stored. Someone said something about botulism ??


texts:
When I cook this particular sauce in this particular pan it leaves this weird red (slightly purplish) reside that doesn’t wash off with soap but does come out in oil. The ingredients in the sauce are “tomatoes, tomato purée, less than 2% of: salt, basil oregano, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, citric acid, natural flavors. (Brand is giant foods which is a regional supermarket chain). The pan is a nonstick.
Does anyone know what this residue might be?
Also no idea what the tags should be.


texts: Is there a principle for when to use a bain marie or when to steam?

texts:
Both bain marie and steaming are indirect methods of cooking but are they interchangable or are there cases where one should or shouldn't be used? It seems that some recipes call for one or the other but no reason is specified for the choice of method other than:

The benefits of indirect cooking e.g. better temperature control or gentler cooking.
That's just the way it is done.

I wondered this after reading about how to make silken tofu. Some methods steam it, others heat the milk and slowly let it cool but I found none use a bain marie, though I can't see why not?

I have not found any direct comparison in my searches so any insight would be much appreciated.


texts: Can I use chicken brine as a base to make a broth?

texts:
I just brined 2 chickens which I am about to roast.  Once the roast dinner is over, I anticipate there will be some chicken and carcass left-overs which I will boil in a pot of water to make a broth, and then probably chicken soup.

Can I reuse the brine that the raw chickens soaked in to boil the left-over chicken carcasses in?

Is this safe? (I assume so, since everything ends up boiled)
Will this be tasty?  I anticipate the brine is quite salty, so will need watering down some.
Are there any off-flavours that come off the chicken during brining that I would want to discard?


texts: Do you need to break up a large dough ball into smaller balls for optimal proving?

texts:
I often make homemade pizza making the bases by hand from scratch. I'm going away with a group of friends and plan on making a very large batch of pizzas one night. I'll use a full 5kg (11 pound) bag of bakers flour.

With a pile of dough this large, would it need to be broken up into smaller balls while rising or is it fine to leave in a single large ball (I have a very large saucepan that would fit it)? I'm concerned maybe air wouldn't make it into the base of such a large mass of dough or that the weight would prevent the dough at the bottom rising.

Commercially, how are large quantities of dough proved?


texts: Substituting maseca (corn flour) for ap flour in waffle cones

texts: I want to make a maseca based waffle cone but I am not sure what to use as the binding agent in substitute of flour. My first assumption was to mix in a .7% ratio of vital wheat gluten. Any suggestions on binders/stabilizers? The end product will be served warm around 52-55c (120-130f). Ideally I would like it to have the same crunch as a standard cone but with the corn flavour. The sweetness is not an issue but because the overall dish will be savoury I hope to have it no sweeter than a basic cone is now.


texts: How to pick a good mango at a local store?

texts:
Simply just like the title says. I LOVE mango. But the thing is I don't know how to pick a good one at the local store. I read some tips somewhere from Googling (long time ago, I don't remember its exact url) said to smell it, but I'm not sure what smell should the good mango have? My family and I often must wait for our mangoes in the fridge for more than 5 days just to make sure that they're ready to serve.

Advice? Help? Thanks!


texts: How to keep dust and cat hair off cast iron pans?

texts:
I live with three long haired cats that shed in the winter, and my place gets dusty at times too. I have a fairly new cast iron skillet that I use once every one or two days. I don't have any shelves in the kitchen big enough to store it so I have to hang it.

There's always cat hair and stuff stuck to it because I store it in the open. So then I have to clean it which is making seasoning difficult.

How can I store this pan in a way that is both convenient and protects it from the environment? I have found covering it in foil to be somewhat effective but tedious and not perfect, and also wastes a lot of foil. Plastic is difficult because I have to let it cool, although if the oven is off I can let it cool in there. I can't really store it in the oven because I use the oven often. The design of my house makes it impossible to keep cat hair and dust out of the kitchen.

I also don't understand the physics and chemistry behind how the seasoning layers develop so I'm not sure what storage techniques are bad for the condition and "development" of the pan.

Is there a good way to store it that keeps it clean and in good condition?


texts:
I have made chicken tikka masala recently and it turned out alright. I got the texture and look properly, but, however, the taste seems a bit off. I have used the chicken tikka masala, onions, cihlli powder, heavy cream, tomato puree and orange peppers, as per directions.

However the taste is not satisfying as I had in restaurants. Anyone can suggest anything to improve my taste? Any spices that I can add or something?

Thanks!


texts: Just found this in my donner kebab, can you identify what it is?

texts:
I was just eating a donner kebab, not sure if it’s something to be alarmed about ( looks like a worm to me ) or if it’s just spice that is tricking me.

It’s about 2/3mm across and is very hard. I can’t see anything moving... yet [grin]

Thank you for your help in advance, hopefully this is in-topic :)


texts: I've got an old (~1920's) fruit salad recipe that calls for Malaga grapes. My grocery store has "white" and "red" (and occasionally "black") -- which would be the appropriate substitute? Or is this not referring to a color, but rather a region that grows a lot of particularly nice grapes? (I'm finding lots of Google hits for Malaga wines...)


texts: Why do my huge bone broth ice cubes become tiny puddles when melted?

texts:
I made some bone broth soup and froze it in ice-cube trays.

When I melt these huge ice cubes (via microwaving), they melt down to a tiny puddle of bone broth.

What gives?


texts:
I was talking to my butcher today who told me that lamb is a fairly recent favourite at Easter and that turkey used to be traditional (in England)

I spoke to my mum and she confirmed that her parents always used to have turkey then too, though she didn't realise it was a tradition.

I can't find much info on this online. I'd like to know. What are traditional accompaniments to an English Easter turkey.

I'd assume that they are sufficiently different to Thanksgiving and Christmas as there is more spring produce available.

My grandparents were from Hampshire and London and my Butcher is from Kent, so this was at least a south of England tradition, but I have not been able to find much about easter turkey from any region online.

Any links and references would be greatly appreciated as my Google-fu has failed me with this. I can find repurposed Christmas recipes but nothing specifically for Easter. For what it is worth, ham and goose used to be more popular with my grandparents than turkey at Christmas.


texts: Why do some sorbet recipes call for egg whites?

texts:
Frozen sorbet recipes are generally simple, with only a few ingredients. For example:

fruit puree
water
sugar
egg white!

Why is the egg white present? And why is this not consistent in the sorbet recipes from a single author; what would make you put egg white in one sorbet but not another?


texts: Do all cheeses change their taste during their shelf life, like Brie or Camembert?

texts: Brie and Camembert go through 3 stages of ripening and changes in taste. Does it happen to blue, or any other type of cheese?


texts: Do I need to wash my tongs between handling raw meat in pan?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How can I ensure food safety if my cooking utensils have touched raw meat?

I tend to be over careful when handling raw meat when cooking. However, I think it is simply ignorance about what is safe within reason.

My actual question in this case is one that I've wondered for awhile now—when doing stir fry, I use raw chicken and cook it accordingly. After each time I use the tongs to move around the chicken throughout the cooking, I wash the tongs with soap and water. Is this really necessary or can I use the tongs the entire time as I cook the meal without washing them. I keep thinking that the raw juices are going to stay on the tongs and get on to the parts of the meal near the end before I serve it. Am I just being overly-paranoid?


texts: Problem with gummy-bears being too much like jelly

texts:
I've been trying a simple recipe I found on the internet, which is a simple recipe consisting mostly of gelatin.

The problem is that the end result is basically just a fruit-flavoured jelly (Jell-O?), rather than the more chewy gummy-bears (Haribo) style of jelly confectionery.

Can anyone suggest what I need to do to make them less springy and more chewy.  It's all difficult to articulate!

Here's what I used for the first test-batch:

12 tbsp sugar
12/3 cup fruit juice
8 tbsp Golden Syrup
8 tbsp gelatin

soften the gelatin in 1/2 cup of cold water.
place sugar, syrup and the juice in a pan and gently heat until sugar dissolves.
Stir in the gelatin and stir until dissolved.
Pour into moulds and wait until set.

Thanks


texts: I remember some eggs which the egg yolk is solid and black, but forgot the source(seems like preserved), what is it?(if any)


texts: Is there any tri-ply cookware where all the steel is 18/0?

texts: I like the characteristics of try-ply cookware but don't like cooking in 18/10 stainless steel because of the nickel (nickel allergy and concerns about persistent health effects). I notice that many try-ply brands out there use 18/0 on the outside to be induction-compatible (because it's the ferritic 18/0 stainless steel is magnetic), but they use non-magmatic austenitic 18/10 stainless steel on the inside. Are there any tri-ply cookwares out there that use 18/0 everywhere?


texts: Did I do anything wong when making fries?

texts:
I bought these Maris Piper potatoes. In the instructions for deep fry to make chips, it says put in a bowl of water for 30 minutes to remove starch, dry, then fry for 6-9 minutes.

I did so however when eating the potatoes they tasted a bit sweet on the inside. I'm not sure but does this mean the inside wasn't cooked properly?

Usually I believe you need to boil potatoes before frying. Since it didn't say to do this I didn't, would that have caused the result?

The outside layer was quite brown and I think I left it in too long(9 minutes). I also only left it in the bowl for 15 minutes to remove starch.

Does anyone know if I did anything wrong besides maybe leaving it too long which made the outer layer brown?  Does the sweet tasting inside mean anything?  To be honest, the end result tasted like the sweetest chips. I never really experienced it like that before so I'm guessing I did something wrong?


texts: Sourdough starters with different smells - is this normal?

texts:
I am very new to sourdough baking and gaining an interest in the subject so please forgive what may seem like newbie question.

I have two starters on the go at the moment. The first starter came as part of a "sourdough kit" which I was given as a present. It seems to be quite mature off the bat and has a somewhat 'yeasty' smell.

The second starter I got going from scratch. Just flour, water, a jam-jar and my daughters heat pad from the snake tank. (The snake died so the heat pad was going spare). I am running the heat pad at about 25 degrees celcius. Both starters are being fed daily and stored on the pad. The second starter has a more sour smell - almost stomach-acid in aroma.

Both have similar properties - they bubble up in the same way although the second starter has patches where the bubbles are a lot smaller. The second starter started life in a small plastic cup and was transferred to a jam-jar as it grew.

So I am wondering what is 'normal'. The 'stomach-acid' smell or the 'yeasty' smell? Or is there variations on what is considered normal?

Feeding at the moment is morning and night with about 70g/70ml flour/water.


texts:
How to quickly prepare fresh snails?

I've heard snails must be soaked in salted water for a few hours in order to remove the mucus but a friend of mine suggested that the ones in shells can be simply thrown into the hot ash and after a dozen of minutes they can be taken off the shell and eaten.

Was he right? What is the fastest way to prepare snail for eating? I mean, fastest way to prepare them so, that they would be safe food (killed parasites etc.)


texts: Can gelatin change color of butterfly pea tea?

texts:
I can't find the answer for this question anywhere on the internet. My friend and I made butterfly pea jelly with gelatin and we used the same recipe. Mine came out fine with blue color of butterfly pea flowers but my friend's changed its color to dark purple after adding gelatin.
My friend lives in Asia and me in Europe, so I think our source of ingredients (gelatin, water, flowers) is different. Plus, our method is slightly different. My friend heated the tea to melt gelatin while I stired gelatin over hot water to melt it and then mixed it up with the tea.
My friend is pretty sure it was because of gelatin because she didn't have this problem when trying with agar agar. Although I know butterfly pea tea is very sensitive to pH, I just can't find a good explanation for this. Is it really because of gelatin?


texts:
The word pasteurized is written on the milk packets (like the ones shown here). They have a use before date.

Assuming it's been refrigerated the whole time, and it's still before the use before date, is it safe to drink the milk straight away from the packet? Or does it still have to be boiled to kill bacteria and make it safe?


texts:
My oven is a Westinghouse. The serial numbers are as follows:-
POL660S*02
230-240 V a.c.
SERIAL: 52610542
APP NO: S/91

The problem is that it cooks unevenly and burns the base of everything no matter what rack I use.
The heating element is on the bottom and fully exposed (which I have never seen in previous ovens I have used.)  As I am in a rental I cannot replace the oven.
Is there a solution to this problem?  TIA


texts:
Residential freezers are reasonably set to just below 0 degrees C: any colder doesn't preserve food any better.  But if I want to chill a liquid without overly diluting it -- say, bringing a sauce down to room temperature, or a martini to drinking temperature -- one ice cube at -100 degrees is better than twenty at -5 degrees.  (Dry ice (CO2) wouldn't cause dilution either.)

So what's a practical, not overly expensive (under USD 100?) way to store a small quantity of ice (or dry ice) at home for, say, a week before it warms up from such extreme temperatures?


texts: How do I mimic trader Joe's (dark) Chocolate covered Espresso Beans?

texts:
I'm trying to mimic the thick, rich, dark chocolate covered espresso beans made by Trader Joes. These sweet morsels have a thick chocolate coating that easily gives in when bitten. The beans inside shatter into the chocolate when under any pressure, and don't have an imposing taste. In my own tests the espresso beans have had too significant a bitter taste and the chocolate hasn't clung to the bean.

I see a need to reduce the bitterness of the bean and increase the clumpiness of the chocolate.


texts:
I'm trying to find cold alternatives to hot soup. A friend pointed me to gazpacho. I tried that, and we really liked it.

However, I will be cooking for someone who does not eat cooked tomatoes (ketchup, tomato sauce, and tomato juice), and the recipe I have for the gazpacho is based on tomato juice.

What can I use as a replacement for the tomato juice? I was thinking carrot juice maybe mixed with some lemon juice or vinegar (for the acidity that tomato juice has), but wanted a more "professional" opinion before doing so.

What can I use to replace the tomato juice in gazpacho?


texts: Can you make french toast without eggs and gluten?

texts: I have an allergy to eggs and gluten. But before getting the allergy my favorite breakfast food was french toast. I've tried gluten free bread dipped in soy milk but it's not the same and doesn't taste very good either. Is there a better way of doing it?


texts:
Some recipes call for whole peppercorns. Why not crack them and use a lot less? In a cooking show I watched recently the host specifically said "Do not crack or grind them" but he did not explain why.

The only reason I can think of is to make it easier to take them out of a sauce or soup if you want the taste of pepper but not the texture/appearance.


texts: How can a burned sugar caramel icing be doubled?

texts: My icing recipe yields enough for a three layer cake. It covers between layers, sides,and top of cake. I would like to use 4 layers, so how would I do that? Ingredients are: white sugar, water, butter, milk, white Karo syrup, vanilla. Cook to soft ball stage. Cool to 110 degrees, then beat til spreading consistency. I've always been told not to double a candy recipe. This is essentially a candy recipe. What do you recommend? Don't want to risk ruining ingredients on such a time consuming recipe!


texts:
My wife just harvested our first batch of beans and is wanting to dry them, so that we may use them for cooking goodness.  How can we dry the beans once they have been picked?

Most of what I've found online talk about waiting and letting them dry on the vine.  Good to know for the future, but we have a bag full of picked beans to deal with now.

I found one site that talked about putting them in the oven at 120F for and hour, turning it up to 150F until they are "almost dry" and then turning it down to 130F... until they are dry, I'm guessing (the instructions didn't tell me what the end condition was).  Does this jive with what other are familiar with?

Thank you for any advice!


texts: Are there ingredients I should avoid in a brine?

texts:
I see good answers to What brine ingredients are effective?, and I am looking to really push the envelope. I realize that there is some debate as to the effectiveness of brine to add flavor to the meat itself, so I'm going to experiment to answer that question for myself. My intention is to brine a big (6 lb) chicken overnight in a 5% salt brine adding tons of flavor to the brine. After brining I think I'm going rinse and dry the chicken and throw it on to my "set-it-and-forget-it" counter-top rotisserie. When the chicken is just about done I'm going to glaze it with a very basic soy-based glaze Mr. Yoshida's.

Some of the ingredients I'm considering, just because I happen to have them on hand, are brown sugar, finely minced preserved lemons, powdered ginger (I'm out of fresh), hot pepper flakes (lots), crushed fresh garlic (lots), any combination of the myriad of whole spices I used in my recent successful pho (star anise, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamon, fennel), Ras el Hanout, harissa, onion, dry sherry and even fish sauce.

I'm confident that I can play with those ingredients (selectively, of course) and create a brine that tastes good at that point. One of my concerns is the tendency of some ingredients to become more powerful over time. For example, if I use star anise to flavor the brine I will fish it out before I add the chicken. I don't want the final chicken to taste like licorice. Another concern is the possibility that a particular ingredient might cause a chemical change that I don't want. Alcohols and acids come to mind.

Are you aware of any particular ingredients that should be avoided in a brine, or any caveats concerning specific ingredients?


texts: How to clean the rubbery skin from monkfish before cooking?

texts:
I really like the tender parts of monkfish.  I buy the fish gutted and decapitated and i tear the slimy gross skin from the back.  Then I cut it up into small chunks for frying.  However, removing just the outer slimy gross skin still leaves the 2nd layer of skin that's in between the outer and the meat -- that is very hard and rubbery. The problem is it seems impossible to clean before cooking as it is almost integrated into the meat.

Is there any way for me to clean monkfish so that I can enjoy the tender portions without the rubbery part?


texts: I will be preparing a dinner which includes chicken which will be stuffed with different types of cheese, tomatoes and spinach but before that I have to marinate the chicken. In one of the recipes it was asked to marinate the chicken for 2 hours,  but the chicken I bought is pretty thick. So how long should I marinate it?


texts:
I'm following a recipe for making dough for a challah bread, and the recipe calls for warm water. How warm should the water be (in degrees)? Do I need to heat it, or is room-temperature good enough?

And, whatever the correct answer is, does it apply to all recipes that call for warm water?


texts: Should I brew at full strength, allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating, or should I brew at a higher strength and “shock cool” over ice?


texts: How do I adjust cooking time for dense fruitcake in smaller pans

texts:
I'm making a fruit-laden very dense fruitcake.  The original recipe is for 2 standard loaf pans but I'm using 4 small loaf pans (all I know is external dimensions are 6.875 x 3.625 x 2.125)

Recipe says 3 to 3 1/2 hours (check for toothpick comes out clean after 3 hours) @ 275 degrees.

I assume a smaller cake will cook in less time but other than checking all the time with a toothpick, I have no idea how long they will take.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.


texts: What ingredient should I add to my cookies to increase shelf life?

texts: What ingredient should I add to my cookies to increase shelf life. I need my cookies, 6 months later to still be fresh (expiry date in 6 months).


texts: Can milk from beans other than soy be curdled to make a tofu-like product? I know that black beans work, but I am wondering about kidney or pinto for example (or any other). Has anyone experimented on this, before I try to reinvent the wheel? Thanks! - Judi


texts: How do I prevent an egg cracking while hard boiling it?

texts:
Sometimes when I cook hard boiled eggs they will crack in the saucepan, and some of the egg will seep out into the water.

Am I boiling the water too vigorously, or can I add something to the water to prevent it?


texts: Does the preparation of chicken liver mousse require force feeding of chickens?

texts:
The force feeding of ducks or geese required to prepare foie gras (French "fatty liver") is widely known and banned in some states. I was at a restaurant last night which offered "Chicken Liver Mousse." It was creamy, delicious, and quite reminiscent of foie gras. In fact, many chefs are turning to this as a foie gras alternative.
The only discussion I've found on this is from this Reddit post. Other sites' preparation instructions do not discuss initial chicken treatment to get such a liver texture.
I'm curious if chickens are force fed to marbleize their livers in much the same way that ducks are. Have we just transitioned from one bird to another?


texts: What is the purpose of sifting dry ingredients?

texts:
What is the purpose of sifting dry ingredients (esp. with flour)?

I heard in one place that it was because this is the best way to mix them well. I heard somewhere else that this is a carry-over from when flour used to still contain some chaff. What's the real reason? When does one still need to do this?


texts: My pasta pot/steamer did not come with directions telling me how full to make it.  It seems to boil over or not have enough water to cover the pasta.  It is a large pot with the pasta strainer included.


texts: Fruit identification - Fruit bought in China

texts:
Does anyone know what this fruit is? I bought some from a lady in Yangshuo, China. It’s sweet and crunchy. Tastes a bit like an apricot mixed with a peach... Fruit and seed shown in picture.

I have asked locals who say it is a type of plum, and another who said it was maybe a hybrid plum-apricot. I was thinking it might be a loquat but the seed is too small.


texts: Are Chia Powder and Ground Chia the same product?

texts: I've found a few recipes involving Chia powder, but locally, I've only found Ground Chia. I want to know if these are the same, and if it's safe to use ground chia in these aforementioned recipes (and vice versa).


texts: What would result from not adding fat to pastry dough?

texts: I'm preparing some form of pastry. The usual ingredients: flour, water, and shortening. What would happen if I don't add shortening?


texts: Laotion (Thai/Viet) Style Sticky Rice, after making sticky rice do you knead the rice in something specific?

texts:
I have been trying to replicate some sticky rice that I ate during my childhood.  I know you have to rinse the glutinous rice several times and let it soak for a good period of time.  I then used my rice cooker instead of my bamboo steamer and it did a pretty good job.
(I am using calrose rice)

After removing from the rice cooker the rice is extremely sticky, I remember watching my friend's dad prepare this every morning and he would knead the rice in a substance on the counter top.  I believe that it was rice flour.  Any ideas on if this is what should be used to knead the rice in?  I am not talking about sushi rice.  I will make that some other time.

I have read all the posts on sticky rice on Seasoned Advice but have came up with nothing regarding this.  (Also, searched the web)


texts:
When I make juice from vegetables and leafy greens about 1/4 of what comes out of the juicer is froth.

Is it possible to mix this froth back into the juice rather than throwing it away? That would save me a lot of leafy greens (which cause most of the froth because they are least juicy).

Advice I have read is:

get a juicer with a better blade
use a juice press (good ones are pricy)

The truth is even better juicers put out froth, so is there a way to turn it into juice? Simply stirring it with a spoon doesn't seem to do the trick.


texts: How much water to add to rice cooker when cooking brown rice?

texts:
I usually use 1.5 cups of water for every cup of 'white basmati' rice.

Today I used 4 cups of water for 1 cup of 'brown basmati' rice and it came out a bit watery.  however i did add more of the water after one round of cooking so maybe that had something to do with the visible water in the rice cooker?


texts: Is there any concerns (food safety, quality, otherwise etc) with storing dry goods [spices, protein powder], or bottles [wine bottles, pop cans] on top of a refrigerator unit?


texts: What do I need to know about temperature and food safety?

texts: What general rules do I need to follow to keep my food safe? How do I know what temperature to cook something to, or whether my food is safe at room temperature?


texts: I notice when I bake cookies (usually chocolate chip or peanut butter) the recipe often says "place on baking rack to cool". Because I don't have one, I just place them on a plate after removing them from the pan. It doesn't seem to do any harm. What is the point of buying this special piece of equipment?


texts: Does a GRILL in a UK recipe refer to a BROILER in US?

texts: In a recipe from the UK it says to turn the GRILL to high and place food on baking sheet as close to grill as possible. This sounds like a Broiler in US. Am i correct?


texts:
Up until today I only knew about one type of corn for popcorn. Searching for Peruvian food I found out that in Peru there are different "popcorn" varieties.

So that made me think: is it possible to make popcorn with just any variety of corn? If not, what properties do these corn varieties have that allow then to be popped and not any others?


texts: Making brigadeiros in Portugal similar to the ones in Brazil

texts:
There is a famous Brazilian sweet called brigadeiro (I've seen a few questions related to it around here) that is basically made of condensed milk, cocoa or powdered chocolate, and butter.

I've been making it my whole life using Brazilian ingredients (especially condensed milk) and it has always come out with a shiny caramelized texture, as follows:

I have just moved to Portugal and the results from using the local condensed milk are sightly different in texture: it's a lot more grainy (as if it had flour added) and less shiny.

As from the products labels, it seems that the local condensed milk has more proteins per serving. It makes sense, since I thought that those grains could be small curdles of protein. Also, by having a smaller ratio of sugars, it could be that less caramelization (which is important for the texture) occurs.

So, before I start experimenting and wasting food, I would like to know if anyone knows a way to make this work.

My first guess is to increase the ph a bit by mixing some baking soda before heating as it may inhibit the formation of curdles. On the other hand, maybe just adding more sugar could help, but these things already are damn sweet, it seems wrong to put even more sugar into it!

Any insights on this?


texts: Why does melted asiago impart a strong numbing mouthfeel?

texts: I've put asiago in a couple dishes as of late (mac and cheese as well as a risotto) and always tend to get a strong taste accompanied by an almost ... numbing sensation in the mouth. Is this normal of asiago?


texts: How to make a strong mug of filter coffee without any Coffee machine?

texts:
The filter coffee that I have purchased contains 53% Coffee and 47% Chicory.

Since I don't have a machine yet, what I did is as follows:

Spoon measure: 6 ml

I put heaped Coffee spoon in a steel glass.
Added 60ml boiling water to the same, stirred and kept in untouched for 6 minutes.
Then I added 200ml hot milk to the same with 2 spoons sugar.
Filtered the mixture using a strainer.

The result was NOT strong Coffee.

Questions:

Do I need a Coffee with less amount of Chicory?
Do I need to add more Coffee OR steep the same amount of Coffee for a much longer duration?


texts: When frying garlic in olive oil, it usually turns translucent after a while. This time, it quickly turned black. Why? Was the pan too hot?


texts:
I have not seen millet for sale in local supermarkets (Massachusetts).

What does it taste like? Does it taste similar to a lentil?


texts:
I love pitas, but I've never been able to wrap them properly. Whenever I attempt to wrap them they always come out in a crescent-moon shaped, making it a lot more difficult to eat, and the toppings being too spread out. I initially thought I was just putting too much into the pita wraps, but after some experimenting this doesn't appear to be the case.

The end result I'm looking for is something similiar to the picture below. Where the toppings are put inside the pita, and the pita is tightly wrapped, and each bite allows me to get a good mix of topping, instead of only getting one type of ingredient in each bite.

What are the effective ways to wrap a pita?

although written instructions would work, a video or written instructions making use of a diagram would be ideal


texts: When to add diced vegetables when cooking rice

texts:
I like to add diced vegetables (or peas) when I make rice in my rice cooker, but I'm not sure when is the best time to add them. I find if I add them too early they get mushy and flavorless, but if I wait until too late they don’t cook at all.

When is the best time to add vegetables to a pot of rice or the rice cooker?


texts: Fish bone broth separating after long long boil

texts: Right then.. just had my first go at making fish bone broth. Boiled/simmered bones, heads, skins for 8-9 hours, strained and then next day simmered the strained liquid for a couple of hours. When I returned to check on it, it seems to have separated into what looks like leather/pork crackling and 'oil'? What's happened? is the leathery bit solidified collagen and the rest fat?


texts: What is causing my homemade soy milk mayonnaise to have a different consistency than one made from store brought soy milk?

texts:
The mayonnaise I made from the store bought soy milk was creamy and thick tasting, while the one made from home made soy milk has a bit of a watery feel to it. The store bought one's ingredients are soybeans, water, oligofructose (dietary fibre) and vanilla flavour. I wonder if I added different amounts of oil each time.
Recipe used-
1)Take about 150 ml of cold soy milk in an electric blender jar.
2)Add a pinch of salt and half tablespoon of sugar and blend for 10 seconds.
3)Add two tablespoons of oil and blend for 30 seconds.
4)Repeat step 3 until a thick emulsion is reached.
5)If oil becomes excess and the mixture becomes liquidy again, add two teaspoons of soy milk and blend again.


texts: Chocolate: difference between "Cocoa Mass" and "Cacao"?

texts:
There isn't much diary products in my country. So cheese, double/heavy cream, baking chocolate etc are hard to find.

Some shops that specialize in baking sells this relatively expensive "72% cocoa mass" chocolate. While the supermarket has cheaper, baking chocolate that has "100% cacao". I don't remember the brand but it is something like this one.

How do i compare "100% cacao" to "72% cocoa mass"? Are they the same, and hence the 100% one has higher cocoa/cacao content?


texts:
I am using this recipe Serious eats pie dough

Every thing went well until I added the water. I have put everything correctly (weighed) and the dough came out sticky. I tried adding flour but to no avail. What could have went wrong, and can I salvage the dough?


texts: What are recommendable coffee roast types for Aeropress?

texts:
Many tutorials on brewing coffee with the aeropress cover the optimal water temperature, water volume/weight, grind, for making a decent cup of coffee.

What none of them seem to cover is what type of roast is recommendable (dark roast/light roast) or what coffee bean type (Arabica or Robusta/Arabica mixture) is well suited for the Aeropress.

For example, the compression of the result suggests that Espresso beans/powder may be suitable, which are fairly darkly roasted, but fine ground when bought as powder. Then there is the standard coffee powder, which is medium ground and medium roasted. And finally there are also special Mokka coffee powders available, which are coarse ground but dark roasted.

What I can tell so far is that a medium/coarse ground, medium/light organic roast coffee powder tastes not so well in the Aeropress despite the fact that filter coffee made with it is actually quite OK.

Note that concrete brands listed here probably would not help (me), unless they are available in central Europe. Others may find them useful, though.


texts: How to substitute oranges in a mango mousse recipe?

texts:
I'm looking for a recipe for orange mousse without eggs, but hopefully with gelatine. I've tried to search for some recipes on google but didn't really find anything too good. I have a very delicious recipe for mango mousse that I found on google that I've tried a lot of times. It would be great if someone could guide me with substituting it with orange rind/juice. I know that Orange recipes can become a bit bitter if not handled properly.

Here's the Mango mousse recipe, which is a part of a mango mousse cake.

450 gr. mango
75 gr. sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 1/2 teaspoons gelatin
500 ml. heavy cream.

Puree the mango flesh with the sugar and lemon juice. Strain to remove fiber from mango.
Put one third of the mango puree into the pot and stir in the gelatin. Let the gelatin soften, and warm over low heat, stirring until dissolves. Remove and add remaining mango puree, and allow to cool. While cooling, whip the cream. Stir in mango into the whipped cream, transfer into containers and chill.


texts:
One might not think of tofu as a processed food, but it seems to follow the definition found here:

  Food processing is any deliberate change in a food that occurs before it's available for us to eat.

Is tofu considered a processed food? If so, in the 'continuum' chart, which would tofu fall under?


texts:
Someone left me a jar of maggiorana and I have no clue what to do with it (other than pass it on to someone). Wikipedia says "marjoram is synonymous with oregano", but the stuff I have tastes and smells nothing like oregano. smells almost like tea and is almost tasteless.

What purpose does it serve and where can I use it?


texts:
When shopping for chopped garlic at my local grocery store, I noticed that although there were several brands there were basically two price points.  Looking more closely, I saw that the less-expensive brands were all packed in olive oil while the more-expensive brands were not.

Does the fact that the garlic is packed in oil somehow relate to its quality and therefore price, or is the olive oil just an inexpensive filler that brings down the price per weight?

Edit

Brands and ingredients:

Botticelli and Badia:
Garlic, water, extra virgin olive oil, citric acid, sodium benzoate

Victoria:
Garlic, filtered water, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, natural flavor

Bellino:
Natural garlic, water, phosphoric acid

I didn't see Joe's comment in time to check whether some are imported.


texts:
Can anyone identify this RED GINSENG CANDY?  Do you know where to buy?

In 1992, a realtor in Edison, NJ, gave me one of these wonderful candies.  She didn't know where to buy more because the Asian supermarkets (in Edison, NJ) stopped carrying them.  I searched the internet, shoppes in Chinatown and Flushing, NY, but saw no candy with similar wrappers.  (My wife says that the non-English writing on the wrapper is Chinese for "Red Tea".)

BTW, there are similar candies available from many suppliers, including Amazon.  Instead of a different manufacturer, I'd enjoy knowing the original brand or company name that produced or produces candy with this wrapper.  Perhaps the original company is still in business and makes something similar to these candies in the photo -- the best ginseng candies made!


texts: What are speed ovens (combo microwave / oven) good or not good at?

texts: We're considering a speed oven as a 2nd oven, probably 27". Our main range is an all gas 30" range. What are those microwave / traditional ovens combo good at? What are the best uses? Conversely, what should they not be used for?


texts:
I am an amateur hobbyist cook. So a lot of the time I will toss in a dash of something, taste the dish, and add a bit more. Experimenting sometimes with disastrous results... but I learn :)

One spice that I am having a hard time figuring out is the bay leaf. I use it when called for, and have sometimes experimented with it, but I can't seem to place the "effect" it has on the dish.

So my questions:

What is the general flavor of a bay leaf, is there a dish that exemplifies this?
How long do I need to cook with a bay leaf before it has an effect?

I think part of my quandary is that I can't simply add some to a sauce, stir it in, and taste it to see the difference. Am I wrong to believe that it takes awhile to permeate the dish?


texts: What's the correct way to garnish with greens?

texts:
So a number of dishes I've constructed have called for me to garnish the final dish with a bit of parsley or mint or something similar for color or taste or overall visual appeal.  However, it seems my technique in this area is slightly off and it always ends up looking like I just trimmed the hedges over my plate.

How to best do this? Chop them into tiny bits? Whole leaves? Large pile in the center?


texts: How much fresh potato to substitute for instant potato flakes when baking?

texts:
I would like to bake hamburger buns from a recipe that calls for instant potato flakes, only I can't find instant potato flakes.

This is the original recipe:

1 cup lukewarm water
1/3 cup (3/4 ounce) instant potato flakes
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 tablespoon honey
2 1/2 cups (11 1/4 ounces) bread flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

How much fresh baked potato should I substitute for the instant potato flakes?


texts: Why does my homemade pasta stick to itself whilst cooking?

texts:
I make a fair amount of homemade pasta (Mostly Tagliatelle or Linguine), and I tend to cook it fresh, rather than drying it and cooking from dry; however, it tends to clump and stick together in the pan when cooking. What can I do to minimise this, and make my homemade pasta behave a little more like store bought fresh pasta?

For reference, I'm using a fairly standard recipe of one egg per 100g of 'OO' flour; and I add salt and a little olive oil to the pan when cooking, as well as following all the normal steps that give successful results with store bought pasta - Could it be that I'm not working the dough enough, working it too much, or just down to not using the "correct" type of flour (semolina flour doesn't appear to be available in my area)?


texts: Does meat need to be washed before preparation?

texts:
I don't even remember where I have learned that, but I've always thought it common knowledge: Before a piece of meat gets seasoned, or malleted for tenderizing (sorry, don't know the English word for that), or marinated, or thrown into the pan, or ground, it should be first washed under the faucet, and then patted dry. When I think of it, it also makes sense to me, because the bacteria are always on the meat surface, never inside. So I don't think it is a vestige of the time one got bloodied cuts from the village butcher, but that it applies to the modern meat pieces sold on absorbent pads too.

And then I read this question, which presumes patting (but doesn't mention washing). Most of the answers and comments seem to indicate that patting isn't always considered necessary, and there is no mention of washing the meat or of the dripping water from the washing. In fact, the answers and comments wouldn't make much sense if one assumes that the meat has been just washed.

So is washing compulsory, is it optional but a good idea, is it plain useless, or does it even have disadvantages for the meat?


texts:
I have a gas cooktop with 4.25" burners and it is propane and so it burns hot. The problem is that it is difficult to cook things in small saucepans, like the typical 5" saucepan because the flames do not heat the bottom of the saucepan, they go up the sides of the pot and scorch the sauce residue that is on the sidewall of the saucepan.

Is there any solution to this (other than getting a whole new cooktop)?


texts: How can I make a raw vegan shrimp paste substitute?

texts: I would like to make a raw vegan shrimp paste substitute. I have seen people suggest using mushrooms --  yes, but.. how would you make it taste like Thai shrimp paste?


texts:
Is there any traditional recipe that uses béchamel (white sauce) and pomodoro (tomato sauce) mixed, making a new (orange-ish) sauce?

Is there a name for this sauce?

I often do this mixture but I've never seen it in any recipe.


texts: Baking Jiggly Cheese cake in microwave oven convection mode

texts:
I am planning to try out this recipe..

http://renilskitchen.blogspot.com/2018/11/jiggly-fluffy-japanese-cheesecake.html?m=1

But the trouble is, it mentions changing the temperature midway through the process. I have a microwave oven(Samsung) with convection mode and I am not sure if it is possible to get this recipe right.. what  do you guys think ? Anyone with experience baking Jiggly cheese cakes? Specifically in a convection microwave ??


texts:
It's my favorite but its getting a bit worn and I've been trying to order a replacement online. I've tried "spatula with scooped sides" and "spatula with angled sides" but nothing leads to what I want. Everything I look for just leads to a regular flat spatula, or sometimes a rubber spatula, an angled spatula or even a fish spatula.

It's a slotted spatula with slightly angled sides to help scoop up food.


texts: How long can you safely store home-prepared vacuum packed food for at home?

texts:
I have a consumer-grade vacuum sealer (Aicok) which I regularly use for sous-vide cooking with the manufacturer supplied bags. Under these different scenarios, how long can I keep food for, sealed and refrigerated properly, prior to and after cooking? I am concerned that a lack of air and the different ingredients (e.g. garlic, oil or dairy) pose a potential risk of botulism and decrease safe storage times. Conversely, will the vacuum sealing extend the shelf-life despite being a consumer, rather than a professional product? My estimate is 24 hours top for a marinade and 24 hours storage after cooking, but I realise this is probably extremely conservative.

Poultry e.g. chicken thighs, marinating in a citrus solution with fresh garlic?
Beef, e.g. steak, marinating in oil and fresh garlic?
Beef or chicken marinating in yoghurt or cream?
Any of the above, cooked sous-vide as appropriate, then rapidly cooled in cold water and refrigerated unopened ?


texts: Why is there a luminous orange hue in this piece of tuna?

texts:
I just sliced this piece of tuna that had been in my freezer for about a week and had been thawed in the refrigerator for a day - to find this luminous orange colour to it. It was on the outside of the slice too but not as much.

This is from the supermarket and I have no idea how long it had been sitting in their refrigerator, although they claim that their product is fresh.

Is this some kind of unusual preservative or maybe the fish has gone bad?


texts: Wouldn’t flash cooling inside a freezer ice cube box be as effective as an ice bath?

texts:
I’ve recently cooked marinated flank steak for four hours and placed it directly in the freezer ice cube box.  By placing the warm item between ice sheets and allowing full contact on the food, allowing the ice to melt around, wouldn’t this effectively be the same desired (if not better) effect of an ice bath?

Edit: I should have clarified that I cooked souse-vide, keeping the meat in the bag, placing it directly between the sheets.


texts: Where do I get weights for a Dutch-style cheese press?

texts:
Many cheesemaking suppliers sell Dutch-style cheese presses, which are also among the easiest type to make yourself.  These apply pressure using weights hung at the end of the arm, or further up. However, no retailer who sells the press that I've tried (out of 6 different ones) also sells weights for it.

I suspect that is because the weights are expected to be easily obtainable locally wherever you are, but for the life of me I can't figure out how.  Where/how would you get appropriate weights for this kind of cheese press?


texts: Wrapping in aluminun foil and place it in a skillet pan

texts:
If I wrap something in aluminum foil and place it inside a non-stick skillet pan while cooking something is that something that could e.g. ruin the pan or ruin the food?
Specifically I had in mind wrapping vegetables


texts: What is the optimal steep time for cold-brewed coffee?

texts:
When cold-brewing coffee (such as a Toddy) at room temperature, what is the best steep time. Would a 1 or 2-hour steep time yield a decent cup of coffee?

Does anyone have any research on caffeine extraction efficiency in water at room temperature?


texts: Difference in technique for cooking with non-stick and standard pans?

texts:
Following up from my previous question, which I'd raised because I have concerns that my non-stick wok will need replacing very soon (again), and was having a think about "standard" pans.

I'm not currently interested in differences in care/cleaning/etc, I think those are quite well covered in other questions.

So, I'm wondering what's the difference in the required technique when using them to cook food?


texts: I live in Indonesia now and there is no wholewheat flour in the shops. You can buy a ground husk 'supplement' to blend with white flour. Question is, how much husk to mix with how much flour?


texts: All of the recipies for Kaju Katli I've looked at says I should make my own cashew powder but I was wondering if I could substitute it with store bought cashew flour. I'm not sure what the difference is if there is any to begin with.


texts: What is the proper word/term/expression to describe a dish that appears to be something different

texts:
I want to experiment with dishes that fool the senses. Dishes that look like one thing but taste completely different from what was visually expected (e.g. Heston's parsnip cereal)

I want to google for these kinds of recipies, but what seach terms should I use? Is there a term of art or word which describes these dishes?


texts: I baked 200 sugar cookies and as I was frosting them the frosting was running together so I put them in a room we don't use to dry, now the cookies taste dry/stale. I have put an apple in with them, is there any other way to get rid of the dry taste?


texts: It's adequate to clean egg shell to cook with it?

texts:
If I want to cook natural farm eggs with its shell at low temperature (65C-150F) for 20-30mins and they have some dirt at shell is better to clean it or not?
If it's better to clean it what's the better way?


texts:
I make a paste using ground fresh basil, ground fresh mint, ground dried ginger, salt, ground roasted coffee, and raw honey (enough to coat all of the ingredients well).  It makes a great rub, and can even be tasted straight as a flavorful herbal concoction.

I know fresh herbs don't last long in general, but I suspect the addition of honey, and possibly some of the other ingredients could lengthen the shelf-life.

How long will this last if kept in an airtight container and refrigerated or not refrigerated?

Specifically:  how long, what will spoil first, what ingredients might extend it, and any other ideas. Thanks!


texts:
Experts tell drinking pasteurized milk from carton is fine. But sometimes, when I boil refrigerated previously opened milk carton with oats, it curdles.
Does that mean it is not safe to drink milk directly from carton without boiling it? Or, is the problem with cooking oats and milk together?
I faced this issue with cow's milk. Will using soy milk make any difference?


texts:
I'm following this recipe.

When they say "brown it," are they saying to just brown the edges....or all the way through? Assuming I just sorta brown the outside (but it's not cooked all the way though), is this safe?

Like the inside of my stew meat won't be cooked, is simmering it for 2 hours or so enough to cook it all the way through? I'm concerned about E. coli and all that nasty stuff.

Thanks!


texts:
I once had a delicious lemon and mint drink on a flight with Qatar airways, but I have no idea what it was or how it might have been made. Does anyone know what it might have been and how it was made?

Edit

I'm not sure if it was made on board or not. It wasn't carbonated but it was chilled when it was served. It did have a slight syrupy consistency like there might have been some sugar syrup in it. There wasn't any alcohol in it and I couldn't make out any other flavours.


texts: How can I store wonton wrappers in the freezer?

texts:
I have found that authentic frozen egg roll wrappers from an Asian food store work well for canneloni and ravioli. Just thaw, fill, and roll. You can cut them to any desired length. Also, frozen wonton wrappers work exceptionally well for ravioli. While I haven't tried it yet the wonton wrappers should be ideal for tortellini/tortelloni.

But I don't always have these on hand and the nearest place I can get them is about 30 miles away. I have tried buying extra and keeping them frozen but they seem to get freezer burned quickly, with the edges being too dry and brittle to use.

I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on how to keep them better. Or does anyone have any other alternatives that would be as easy to use?


texts: Found some spots on dry aged beef, getting slimy. Need advice

texts: I just found that there are some part of the dry aged beef under a rack that became slimy. It has been 20 days at 2°C and humidity around 75%. Is it ok to still consume since I have to trim the outer part anyway or Can I wipe out the slimy part for now to slow down the spoilage process as I aim to age at 28 days. Thanks you all in advance


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Resources for a beginner learning to cook

What's a good way to learn cooking and avoid the current trend of my life that is best summarized by this xkcd comic: http://xkcd.com/854/ ?


texts: Riced potatoes recipe called steurens or steritz?

texts: Trying to find a recipe for my older neighbors.  they think it's called steurens or steuritz... seems to be riced potatoes made into either dumplings or noodles... can't find anything named that online.... has anyone hear of this?  Many thanks!


texts: Is hummus a condiment? What makes a condiment a condiment? What makes something not a condiment? What makes something a condiment vs a sauce/seasoning/spread/ingredient?


texts: What is this flat metal sieve that came with my pressure cooker for?

texts: What is this tool used for and how to use it? It came with a pressure cooker I've bought...


texts:
I forgot a pan with a little sausage grease in the fridge (1 1/2 to 2 weeks). The pork sausages had peppers, herbs and maybe onions in them, the grease is orange from the chilis and peppers. If I cooked them properly (350 degrees for 40-45 minutes) can the leftover grease have any risk of harbouring botulism? (I'm not going to eat it but would like to know how to I clean it safely). Would recooking the pan kill off any toxins, etc.?

It was a metal baking pan and a knife and fork. I am only worried about botulism and I don't know if normal washing is enough if by chance it was in the fat and whether it would contaminate the sink, etc. I read about bacon fat but wondered if sausages might be different with peppers and maybe onions in them.


texts: How long will a refrigerated risotto stay safe to eat?

texts:
First time posting here.

I made a risotto Sunday (Arborio rice, butter, onion, white wine, chicken stock, mushrooms, asparagus, peas, turmeric, lemon, parmesan).

It's been refrigerated since cooling completely. It's now Thursday. Am I better to be safe than sorry and toss the last of my leftovers, or should I be okay giving it a good nuke in the microwave before eating the last portion today?
There is not any notable off aroma.

Edit// There's no information in that wonderfully long detailed list of food storage/safety pertaining to cooked rice whatsoever. Thanks anyways...


texts: Looking for a specific type of pasta to go with pesto

texts:
I was half-listening to a cooking show on TV the other day and heard that pesto sauce should be served with a type of pasta that's made just for pesto. The pasta itself has some potato in it (or was it the dish?) and it's pronounced pro-fee? I have no idea and I around at my local market, and they all just suggested regular spaghetti.

I might have heard wrong from the television, but does anyone know what this pasta might actually be?


texts: Is it safe to store batter/dough that contains eggs?

texts:
I sometimes like to make a large batch of pancake butter or cornbread dough, and fry/bake it whenever I want some freshly made pancakes or cornbread. Both these liquids contain eggs. Is is safe to store them in the fridge, so long as they eventually get cooked? Nothing is being consumed raw here.

If so, how long can I reasonably store the batter/dough before things get iffy? I'm wondering about salmonella in particular.


texts: I've made gnocchi with different types of potato with mixed result. Can anyone recommend a type that is particularly good for making gnocchi?


texts: Thermometer Precision in Different Temperature Ranges

texts: I need a thermometer for a variety of different applications. As such, it has to be fairly precise (plus/minus 2 degrees) at different temperatures. Do I have to worry that, if I buy a thermometer which has a large range (0 to 300 C, for example), that it won't be sensitive to small changes in temperature near 40 C?


texts: I put way too much corn starch into a "random sauce": I was just mixing random things together to dip my carrots in.  It includes whey, honey, and other random things.  It was too thin and I used at least 1/2 a box of corn starch.  It is still too thin, but that is far more easily edible then the corn starch problem.  I was not aware that corn starch could add any taste to anything since it never has before.  Now it tastes like chalk was added.  How do you fix it to remove the "corn starch taste", and no "add tons and tons of the other ingredients" is not the answer - that would require having tons of money and I wouldn't need to ask on the Internet if that were possible.  Just how to remove the corn starch taste.


texts: How do I peel prosciutto from wax paper without it coming off in strips?

texts:
Anytime I've purchased prosciutto from a store it's sold in slices separated by pieces of wax paper, but when I try and peel it off it doesn't peel evenly. The lines of fat in the ham offers less strength when peeling, and the prosciutto often tears along these lines.
When trying to make sandwiches it isn't too much of an aesthetic issue, but if I'm trying to make a charcuterie board having thin strips isn't as appealing. Is there some best way to scrape the meat from the wax paper, peel from both ends simultaneously? Or is this an inconvenience I'll just have to deal with?


texts: Why did my sauce get lumpy after being frozen?

texts:
Two months ago, I made a fish sauce (roux + milk + fish stock + lemon juice + cheese + mushrooms). I made way too much, so I decided to put a good amount (0.5 l / about 2 cups) in the freezer.

I wanted to use it this week, so I got it out of the freezer, and I put it in a sauce pan on a low heat, when it was still frozen. However, the result after it was fully heated, was not so good: it contained lumps (but not roux-lumps) so not at all the desired consistency.

Why/how did the lumps got there? Was it because I didn't properly defrost the sauce? Or was it a consequence of the freezing itself? What can I do to avoid this the next time?

There were no lumps when I made it.


texts: Does natural {peanut, cashew, almond} butter require refrigeration?

texts:
I have purchased a few different types of natural peanut butter and all have stated that refrigeration is required after opening. However, I recently purchased Archer's Farms Almond, Peanut & Cashew Butter from Target which doesn't say anything about refrigeration after opening. From what I've read on other sites (anecdotal) and some .edu sites, raw/natural nut butters can grow mold and do require refrigeration. Any ideas on why Archer's Farms butter doesn't say anything about refrigeration?

Peanut butter
unopened           6-9 months    Refrigeration not needed. Keeps
opened             2-3 months    longer if refrigerated. Natural
                                   peanut butter must be
                                   refrigerated after opening.

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/fn579-2.htm


texts: Are glass jars from the supermarket oven safe?

texts:
I recently discovered from  the working class foodies video on french onion soup that mugs are oven safe, or at least their mugs and my mugs seem to be by experimentation. I also happen to be one of those people that saves pickle, salsa, etc jars to store food, so I was wondering if these are oven safe too.

The jars in question are trader joes corn and chili salsa, and the bottom has the following symbols and numbers on them, which might hint as to the qualities of the glass.

So, are these jars oven safe? I currently bake my french onion soup at 450°F, but I might want to broil it as well to brown the cheese.


texts: I have a store-bought frozen pie crust but no directions.  Do I need to do anything to the crust (pre-bake?) to use it for a pumpkin pie?


texts:
I have no experience in cooking. So I apologize in advance if this is a simple question.

The first cake of my life that I made yesterday swelled very well in the oven. It had a soft texture when eating. The only problem was the interior was a bit dense.

I've been researching what might cause this. Many people suggest that gluten formation in cake dough is not good and to prevent this, the mixture should be mixed slowly and gently after adding flour.

It is said that gluten is important to keep air bubbles in the dough. Because carbon dioxide gases are expanding during cooking and gluten needs to be strong to avoid air bubbles coming out.

There's a few things I'm curious about. Very strong gluten causes an elastic structure and this will have an undesirable texture especially during chewing in foods such as cakes.

But if we want a fluffy cake, don't we need strong gluten? If I don't have a strong gluten, won't these air bubbles go out and create a denser structure during cooking? Isn't that a contradiction?

What happens during cooking? Is there something I know wrong? Doesn't the expansion of carbon dioxide gas when heated and the presence of strong gluten to hold it make up the fluffy structure in the dough?

Here is my Carrot Cake Recipe;

2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
210 ml vegetable oil
4 eggs room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 cups grated carrots

Note: Firstly I whisked together the oil, eggs and sugar until fully combined.

Thanks for your help.


texts: How well do frozen oranges peel after frozen?

texts:
I was wondering if freezing an orange would make it easier to peal and remove most/all the pith.

I want to make an orange smoothie, so having it frozen would be a good thing, but I have no idea if it would make it easier or harder to peel.


texts:
I found a recipe for homemade ramen noodles that calls for 'baked baking soda'. Based on some research, baking sodium bicarbonate will convert it to sodium carbonate. Na2CO3 is more basic than NaHCO3 and apparently basic water is good for chewy noodles.
Sodium carbonate is also known as washing soda. Can I use store-bought washing soda instead of making my own baked baking soda?


texts: Shredded Coconut as a Substitute for...?

texts: I had a recipe that called for unsweetened shredded coconut and the only package I could find brought a TON of it. I ended up not caring for the recipe so now I have all this extra shredded coconut. Since it is unsweetened, it isn't what most dessert recipes call for. What, if anything, can I use this product as a substitute for? I have tried using it in place of bread crumbs but other ideas would be appreciated.


texts: What is the best temperature to store honey at?

texts:
I was wondering what temperature is suitable to store honey bought from stores?

Now in the summer, it can be around 30+ Celsius, and even nearly 40 on some day. Do you suggest keeping honey while being consumed in the refrigerator? If not, what harm can that cause?


texts: Cooking polenta until it 'comes away from the sides of the pan'?

texts: When you cook polenta, you are instructed to cook it until it 'comes away from the sides of the pan'. Why is this when starch cooks at around 100C? Is it to evaporate some of the water, or to make sure the individual 'grains' of polenta are soft and cooked?


texts:
My cakes get really mouldy/sticky within days if I don't refrigerate them during rainy season or when it's too hot. My cakes pass the skewer test before coming out of oven. This has happened for most of the recipes I have tried.

I try to make my cakes with lesser sugar and wholewheat floor instead of white floor. My temperature knob is wrecked - takes twice as long to bake. Has any of it got anything to do with my cake rotting sooner?

Any thoughts?


texts: Do I have to tie my turkey legs together?

texts:
I forgot to buy twine for tying my turkey's legs together.  How important is that?  I've heard that it's mostly for presentation, but it may also help prevent the turkey from drying out and may help keep the stuffing in.

Is there any validity to these claims?

Also, is there an alternative I might have around the house?  I've thought about sewing thread, but that probably has polyester in it and it seems like it could melt.


texts: Holding sugar syrup at a consistent temperature

texts: Can I hold a corn syrup and sugar and water syrup at 260°F (126°C) for a few hours and still maintain it's soft ball stage. Evaporation of the water would be my concern. Maybe I could cover it with a lid?


texts: Does the yogurt set from 500 ml milk result in 500 g yogurt?

texts:
I want to prepare 500 g yogurt. I have 500 ml skimmed milk.
So, will the resultant yogurt be of 500 g?

If not, then how much skimmed milk do I need to get 500 g yogurt?


texts: Why are the cinnamon sugar bagels I buy becoming so wet?

texts:
Every time I get a bagel box from Bruegger's Bagels, I get a few cinnamon sugar coated ones for the sweet-toothed people in my office. They look fine at first and are great for the first hour or so, and then they start to look damp... and then essentially become completely wet on the outside. To the point where I take it out of the bag and it drips.

These bagels aren't usually warm or heated up when I get them -- they're room temperature. After people take their fill, I put them in into these plastic "freezer" bags that Brueggers give out for storing bagels. They're plastic and see-through and look like the bags that store bought bagels come in. I just leave them on the table and tied off.

I thought that it might could be condensation, but it seems to only happen with the cinnamon sugar bagels (I put the types in different bags). I thought maybe the sugar was melting, but our office isn't warm, it's actually abnormally cold.

Do you know what could be causing this/what the liquid is? I mean, it looks/tastes fine...but it's really odd to eat a dripping wet bagel.


texts: What's a good nondairy substitute for parmesan/grana padano as a salad-topper?

texts:
I'm making a salad that's quite bitter (endives, radicchio, arugula, with a lemon vinaigrette dressing). Normally this salad has peeled grana padano on top of it, which cuts the bitterness, but my co-diner can't have dairy (or gluten, sadly).

Any ideas for what I could add to a salad like this that would cut the bitterness similarly?

Thanks!


texts: Non-coconut substitute for coconut cream?

texts:
I found a recipe for cornbread that I want to try, but it calls for "1 cup Goya coconut cream". Two problems with this: one, I don't have any such creature (I'm not even 100% confident I know what it is), and two, I passionately hate, detest, and abhor the taste of coconut. You won't find me boiling up some grated coconut to make my own coconut cream, which is the only substitution suggestion I've found.

So, given that (as mentioned) I hate, detest, and abhor the taste of coconut, what can I use instead? What role is the coconut cream playing here? The ingredients are:

1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
1 cup corn meal
1 dash of salt
1 cup of corn oil
4 tsp baking powder
1 cup Goya coconut cream
4 eggs


texts: My induction stove does not evenly heat a frying pan. Is it broken or am I doing something wrong?

texts: I have used a Kenmore Elite induction stove after moving about 6 months ago from a gas range and it has many good qualities but no matter what I try I can't get it to heat evenly when frying food. Like when I try to sear a steak  with some olive oil or stir fry something the pan ends up with a hot spot in the middle and a cool outer rim. This applies not only when heating up the pan but also in the middle of cooking it maintains this problem. This happens no matter which heating circle I use. I have tried cast iron, steel, induction element pans of various sizes, and yes they are flat,and always have this problem.  I desperately need advice at this stage.


texts: I have used aluminum foil when I grill salmon because it keeps the oil from running onto the heating element and smoking the fish.  Can anyone suggest a substitute for aluminum foil?


texts: How can I stop chocolate chips sinking to the bottom when I make cakes?

texts:
I love making and eating chocolate chip cakes - both large cakes and cupcakes, but almost always when I make them, the chocolate chips sink to the bottom (or, occasionally, rise to the top).

Is there anything I can do to try and stop this happening? If so, what?


texts:
On a recent trip to France, I had a burger that was still pink in the middle. I know this is incredibly common in France (and it was delicious!) - but, as I understand it, it would never be allowed in the UK.

I'm aware that common wisdom is that mince needs to be cooked all the way through as any exposed surface area can harbour dangerous bacteria (so almost all of it, in the case of mince/burgers). Do the French take any special precautions when preparing food in this way? Is eating this particularly risky?


texts: I want to make bacon powder, I assume the means cooking all of the fat out without burning the meat.  Is this right?  if so how should I do this?  If not what should I do?  How should I turn the bacon into powder?  just in a blender?


texts: is electricity smell from microwave after metal was put in it mean the microwave is ruined?

texts: A spoon was placed in the microwave.  No sparks were noticed but now when you use the microwave for more than a minute, there is a smell of electicity.  The microwave still heats food.


texts:
I bought a small tin of Jacobsen Sea Salt which is all the rage in Portland, Oregon. I left it in my back pack for a few weeks and when I took it out and opened it up I am noticing some rust from the tin on the top of the salt flakes around the edges.

Is it still safe? It's not that much but its still concerning.


texts: I need cumin for everything I make, but its not available where i recently moved. However anise is available, and someone told me that cumin can be substituted by anise. Is this true?


texts: How do you store away freshly peeled and sliced potatoes?

texts: After peeling potatoes and slicing them to your desired size, how do I store them away?


texts: Is there an effective way to remove or neutralize the smell of fried food?

texts:
Meal prep tonight included lots of deep frying (canola oil). Hours later the smell persists very strongly. We have the AC on, but aside from that are looking for a way to neutralize the "fried food" smell that is lingering in the air.
Opening the windows is not an option (some farmer nearby just fertilized their fields, all of the air outside reeks of dung).
Does anyone have advice on how to rid ourselves of this malodorous residue?


texts: I just received my new cast-iron skillet and noticed two little pinholes (1-2mm) in the inside bottom of the pan (see pic below). As I live outside the USA, it is a hassle getting it returned and replaced. Will the pinholes become a food contamination hazard? Are there specific things I should avoid doing or consider doing because of the pinholes?


texts: Why does milk curdle after being boiled with ginger?

texts:
I had heard that raw or simply pasteurized milk does curdle if ginger is put in it before it reaches its boiling point.
Alright, so yesterday I boiled the pasteurized milk at 23:00. Room temperature was around 17 degrees Celsius.
In the morning I put in the ginger and then started boiling it, but the milk curdled! (I had put the plain tea leaves and sugar also along with the ginger).
When the milk had been boiled in the previous night, why did it then curdle with ginger in the morning?
I boiled the remaining milk separately and it was fine.


texts: Should I reshape refrigerated pizza dough into ball again when taking it out of the fridge?

texts:
I made a pizza dough and put it in the fridge until tomorrow. 100% wheat flour, 68% water, 3% salt, 0.3% yeast.
I don't remember where I got the recipe, I kind of obsessed with pizza last year and tried many recipes and this one gives the best crust and flavor for me. But I don't remember how to handle the dough after the cold fermentation in the fridge.
What I do is, mix the ingredients, knead just a little until it's not so sticky. After some rest I fold the dough and give it another rest, I repeat this a few times until the dough is smooth. The last time I divide and form the individual balls, put them in separated closed containers and put it in the fridge until the next day (usually 18-24 hours).
I take it out of the fridge about 8 hours before cooking them, but I don't remember if I should reshape the balls to strengthen the gluten (and then let them rest) before stretching and cooking them. Or should I just take it out of the fridge and not touch it until ready to stretch and cook?


texts:
I have some very pungent roses in bloom at the moment, on smelling them my first thought was that they smelled like Turkish Delight. My Second thought that was it should be possible to use them in a pudding of some sort myself.

I have seen rose water in some recipes, is this the only way to use roses in cooking? What is a good way to get the flavor into food?


texts: How to know if frozen clams are good when cooked

texts: I have some live clams in the refrigerator that I would like to freeze because I will not be able to use them in time. My question is, how will I know which are good when I steam them later. Will they open up like live clams even if frozen and will the bad ones stay closed? Otherwise, how can I tell which are good when cooked? Thank you.


texts: Can you use wine for cooking even after it's past it's drinking date?

texts: They say you should drink your wine in the 24 hours window since you have uncorked it. But what about using the wine in flavor bases to give sauces a sweet taste? Is it ok to use white wine for sauces even 2 weeks after you have uncorked it as long as it does not have a foul taste?


texts: Is it possible to make onion Bhajis without a deep fryer?

texts: I love these things. Is it possible to cook them in e.g. a frying pan if I keep turning them around? Or maybe by just filling up my crockpot a little way with oil (enough to cover the Bhajis but not so much it will spill over or spit everywhere)? Is that safe?


texts: What type of mint are mint leaves from supermarkets?

texts:
I know mint is an umbrella term for different types of mint eg peppermint, spearmint, Orange mint and so on.
However when buying mint from say Tesco’s it Sainsbury’s do you know what type of mint it typically contains?
The packaging seems to just say mint.
Thanks


texts: How can you know that your bread is done?

texts:
Most bread recipes give an estimate to how long that bread must bake. However, I find it hard to check whether it's done or not. I don't have a thermometer, and I don't think the toothpick trick works with bread.

Is there a way to know if your bread is fully baked?


texts: Is it safe to reuse water used to steam corn?

texts: Now that the corn season is underway, someone in the house is steaming corn almost on a daily basis.  Is it safe to leave the pot on the stove(covered) with the water in it and reuse it  2 or 3 times before discarding and starting fresh?  Sugar has been added to the water.


texts: Why is it suggested to freeze Chimichurri Sauce?

texts:
From a fresh herb garden I’ve made chimichurri sauce and when researching how to store the leftovers I’ve ran across several sites such as balls:

https://www.freshpreserving.com/chimichurri---ball-recipes-br3549.html

That suggest freezing but I don’t understand why? Is it because of the garlic and there are no acids to it from going bad? Didn’t see this asked in the eight questions I found.


texts:
I'm talking of the kind of yeast that tastes like cheese. I live in a country where finding or importing nutritional yeast is not an opcion, so I would like to know how to prepare it. I want to eat vegan & inspire people to do as well.

I haven't found the recipe or preparation anywhere.


texts: Pickle Accompanying Hotdogs, Burgers, Sandwiches in the US

texts:
The following was observed in the US --- it may be an American phenomenon.

I have recently observed in my restaurant visits that more often that not, if I order a burger, sandwich, or a hotdog, I am often served, in addition to the dish and side-dish, a single quarter-slice of a long pickle. Why is this done? The pickle is obviously much too large to put on my sandwich or burger --- slices of pickles would be better for this purpose. I also can't squeeze the juice onto the dish. All I can do with the pickle is essentially eat it raw and whole. This strikes me as curious. I don't see why it is included.

Intuitively, it seems to me that this must be a traditional custom. What is the origin of this custom? Why do restaurants do this so frequently?


texts: How to maximize and preserve horseradish potency without vinegar?

texts: Is there a way to pre-grate and store horseradish in a manner which preserves and maximizes its potency without relying on vinegar? Preferred storage time is approximately a few hours, a day at most.


texts: I'm taking my day and a half brined chicken breast out of the brine today.  Unfortunately I can't cook them for 2 days since I won't be home.  Is it okay to cook brined meat at a later date?


texts: Why do my cookies fall flat and not cook on the bottom?

texts:
I'm fairly new to baking, but I've been attempting to make cookies lately. They taste good, but come out looking like this:

The bottom looks like this:

They spread out a lot in the oven (they went in as balls ~1 inch diameter and came out as flat disks ~4 or more inches across) and don't really have a crust on the bottom. I used these ingredients:

1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
~1/2 - 1 cup milk chocolate chips

To cream the butter with the white sugar I let it sit for about half an hour, cut it into small chunks, let it sit a little longer, and then alternated beating them with a fork and a hand mixer with beater attachments. I'm looking into getting a stand mixer. The dough for the pictured batch was chilled in the fridge overnight.

How can I keep them from spreading out so much and develop a crust on the bottom?

Edit: I baked them at 350F, fully preheated, for around 15 minutes on a bare cookie sheet. I peeked after about 8 minutes and then probably two more times after that before I took them out.


texts:
So some cheese products I buy have nutritional information on the outside that say things like "Good source of Calcium", or "Excellent source of Calcium", or "Great source of Calcium".

Are these just buzzwords, or is there a standard for these words (ie, Excellent = ^20% calcium, Great = ^10% Calcium, Good = ^5% Calcium)?


texts:
The other day, my family chose to make something akin to "roast beef" for the holidays. Since most markets were closed, we found a small shop which sold a limited selection of beef cuts. The one we eventually picked up was labeled "Bottom Round Roast". Needless to say, upon roasting it, it didn't exactly turn out as planned. While the end-product was quite juicy and flavorful, it was also also uncomfortably tough. Since this isn't a cut we've used before, I'm curious to know if anyone can help us troubleshoot.

Here's how it was cooked:

Salted about 2 hours in advance
Roasted--mid-rack--in a conventional oven at 225 degrees
Removed from the oven when a thermopen read about 125-130 degrees F, and rested for 20 minutes.
Finished stovetop in butter and thyme, about 45 seconds to a minute per side, until a thermopen confirmed the middle was medium rare.
Sliced against the grain--visibly medium rare.

Does this cut simply need more time? Clearly it doesn't behave like a prime rib. Any tips for next time?


texts: Failed pan sauce didn't thicken and tasted far too much of wine

texts:
I'm teaching myself to cook and I just tried to make a pan sauce to go with my turkey breast. This failed pretty much completely and I decided to abandon the sauce and eat the turkey breast without it.

I used a stainless steel pan, added some canola oil and put the turkey breast in until it was brownish on both sides. I removed the turkey breast and added a 1:1 mixture of white wine and water (I don't have any stock). I did want to put some minced onions in there, but I forgot to put them in before the wine.

I did abort the sauce at that point, I had planned to add some butter, some dried herbs and maybe some mustard.

Even after reducing the sauce a lot it didn't really thicken. The taste was also pretty off, the wine was far too strong and it tasted a bit too oily for me.

I assume that the oily taste is because I didn't spoon off any oil before adding the wine, I though it wasn't too much but obviously I misjudged. But I don't know why it didn't thicken and how I can fix that. Some recipes add thickening agents, but many I found do not, so I assumed this would work. I'm also not sure how to avoid the wine to taste too strong except for using less in the mixture.

Any ideas on what went wrong and how I can do it better the next time?


texts: Making "long(er)-life" homemade mayonnaise

texts:
Most recipes I've seen for mayonnaise suggest that homemade mayo should be kept in the fridge for no longer than between 3 and 5 days.

What techniques or ingredients can be used to increase the shelf-life of homemade mayo? It's probably worth mentioning that I'm not after a solution that'll make the mayo last for the same length of time as commercially produced products, a week or two would be nice though!


texts: Why wait for some hours before filling any food into a new freezer?

texts:
User manuals of some freezers indicate that for the first few hours after switching on the new freezer, one should not put any food into it. For instance, I am looking at a specimen that requires me to wait for 6 hours before starting to fill it.

Note that this is unrelated to letting the freezer stand upright for a while before switching it on.

This rule is alluded to on various non-product-specific websites, as well. Two examples:

"When you've set it to what you want, give it a few hours before you start filling it up with food – some fridges have a light that'll let you know when it's ready."
"It is only in the case of new freezers that you must wait a number of hours before storing frozen foods (You should consult your manufacturer’s handbook for more information)."

What is this restriction based upon?

If I put some frozen food (bought in a frozen state) into a new freezer right after switching it on for the first time, what could happen?

Is it bad for the food?
Is it bad for the freezer?
Is it bad for either of these no matter what, or only in specific circumstances?
Or is it one of those restrictions that are reiterated by many who do not actually remember what the rule was for and under what circumstances it was applicable?

UPDATE: Here are some clarifications, as the scope of this question appears to be unclear.

First, I am not asking for

what the restriction says
what might be a valid guideline if I ignore the restriction
how I might preserve frozen food during the initial period

I am truly looking for the technical rationale behind the restriction as stated.


texts: Are you supposed to stir sauerkraut while it is fermenting?

texts: I am making sauerkraut I have the cabbage and salt in the crock. I mixed it together really well as I did this.  I know it takes several days to be ready to can. Do I stir it some more while it is fermenting?


texts: Can I use nut meal or nut butter as a curry base?

texts:
Does anyone have experience trying to form a curry with nut starch?

Can I make it work at all? Will I need less oil because the nut carries some of it's own?

Background for this:

For the last few years I've been making a Japanese style curry using the "fry flour and spices, then slowly add liquid while stirring" approach, and I have found the results very satisfying, and would like to share them around.

One possible target for this largess is trying to avoid flour in her diet, and my better half suggested substituting nut meal.

I'm a little worried about nut meal being too course to form the proper emulsion, but if I blend it down too much I'll have nut butter instead.


texts: What approach can be taken to create a sugar free Butterfingers clone?

texts: How could I make a sugar free version of butterfingers candy? I’m asking because I’m a diabetic. So any advice on this matter would be appreciated big time!


texts: Can couscous substitute for acini di pepe?

texts: I couldn't find acini di pepe pasta in my nearby grocery store. Can I substitute Israeli couscous (bigger pearls than regular couscous) or do I need to find a store with a bigger selection? What are the differences between the two pastas?


texts: Baking bread with a firm texture that doesn't grow mold

texts: I bake large quantities of bread like 50kg a day. People are complaining that the butter bread, when I slice it, is like a sponge in texture and gets moldy in three days. How can I get a firmer texture and delay mold growth? The ingredients I use are margarine, flour, milk, nutmeg, yeast, vanilla extract, sugar and salt. I don't add eggs.


texts: Bread and butter pickles without mustard seed

texts: I would like to make bread and butter pickles. I already have the sliced cucumbers, onion, and salt sitting in the fridge! However, my son is allergic to all forms of mustard. Can I simply leave the mustard seed out or is there something else it can be replaced with?


texts: My pre soy milk preparation curdled on cooking

texts:
I had soaked some soybeans and kept them in the fridge for two to three days after removing the water. Today, I kept the mixture after blending with water for 3 hours. However, when I kept it on a high flame it curdled.
The recipe was-
1)Take a cup of soaked soybeans.
2)Add three and a half times the water and blend for 3 minutes.
4)Cook the mixture after boiling for 15 minutes.
5)Strain the okara using a cheesecloth

Will this thing be edible after cooking? What caused this curdling?


texts:
I am making moulded chocolates and I followed a recipe to make a mint ganache filling.

I used 175g chocolate, 125ml cream, 10ml mint essence and 100g glucose.

I melted the chocolate slowly and heated the cream and then added the two together and whisked until smooth. Then I added the glucose and mint essence.

My problem is that when the mixture reached room temperature, it was still very runny and I need it to hold its shape so that I can pipe it into the chocolate moulds. Could it maybe be because I didn't use couverture chocolate for the ganache but ordinary shop-bought chocolate?

So I have two questions:

What did I do wrong?
Is there a way to salvage the mixture and thicken it?


texts: What features should I look for in a fireplace grill?

texts:
I recently moved into a new apartment that is equipped with a wood burning fireplace.

I am very excited about this, not only because burning wood on a cool day makes the world seem simpler and awesome, but also because I am interested in the potential culinary applications.

First and foremost, I am interested in grilling. There seem to be a number of different ways to use an indoor fireplace as a grill. Given the limited space of my apartment-sized fireplace, what is the best solution to grill a steak, some veggies, or some hot dogs over my interior open flame?

What features differentiate the various styles of these devices?

Example image:


texts: Can I use Portobello Mushrooms in Lasagna?

texts: I'd like to make a lasagna with mushrooms finely chopped and cooked with some Italian sausage to make the base for the meat sauce. However, all I have are Portobello Mushrooms. Will they work for this?


texts: Which containers to boil dulce de leche for 7 hours?

texts:
I want to make dulce de leche by boiling it. As the store bought cans leach plastics like BPA into the food, I want to avoid using it.

What are jars/cans, preferably reusable that you can put inside some food, close it and boil for several hours and are made from safe for humans material?


texts: When is the right time to pick blueberries?

texts: My neighbor brought over a fresh batch of blueberries.  Some are sweet and some are sour.  He told us to come over and pick some whenever we wanted, but I don't know the right time to pick them so that they taste the best. Any advice?


texts: Adjusting yeast and rise times in recipes

texts: Is it possible to reduce the amount of yeast and increase the rise times for leavened doughs? If so, is there a simple method to calculate the changes? Does 1/2 the yeast mean twice the rise-time?


texts: What general rules should I follow to ensure that my measurements are accurate?

texts:
Can technique really make big enough difference to effect the final result?

There are already excellent questions and answers here regarding specific measuring issues Cup measurements: shake or scrape? but I'm looking more for more general "how to measure" advice.


texts: Can the bacon in homemade "Bacon Salt" be made shelf stable?

texts:
After success making several fancy salts including Sriracha, smoked, and green chili I've decided to try to move in to stranger and tastier territories.  As such I want to make a bacon salt. The commercial products don't use real bacon (or at least the ones I've seen) and all the do-it-yourself recipes claim it not to be shelf stable.

My hope was that cooking the bacon crisp would remove a majority of the moisture, preserving something akin to jerky. Once cooked it would be pulverized and adding have a large amount of kosher salt added to it, many times that than the weight of bacon used. I would hope that these preservation techniques being used two-fold would help make said meat candy shelf-stable.

However I worry that there is risk of some of the greases in the pulverized bacon going rancid. Is there anything I can do short of keeping it in the fridge or heat preserving the entire concoction, or is my plan likely to work?


texts: My sourdough starter stopped growing after day two

texts:
I've tried making my own sourdough starter.

On the first day I added a cup of whole rye flour with 3/4 of cool filtered water. After 24 hours it already started smelling a little sour and had a few bubbles. I took 8 table spoon of the starter and added the same ingredients in the same amounts as the day before. This was at around 21:45

By morning (around 08:00) the starter was very bubbly and over flew the jar (which, admittedly was too small) and filled everything around it. The smell was quite strong and more sour. Can't say it was nice. In the evening I fed it again in the same way (in a bigger jar)

In the morning there was no change in volume and very few bubbles. The smell is still there though...

According to the recipe I'm supposed to feed it twice a day now, but I'm not sure it's good.
Any ideas?


texts: Baked beans still firm after soaking and hours of cooking

texts:
I decided I would make baked beans for a BBQ at my MIL's this past weekend. I've never made baked beans but decided that it was time since I love them so much! I found a recipe for Southern Baked Beans (using Navy beans). It was from a food blog.

During the description/commentary of the dish the blogger said they could be made with dried beans but she uses canned to save time. The recipe only mentioned canned beans. I couldn't find anything to tell me the ratio canned:dried beans so I decide a 1:1 ratio would be good. After putting a 24oz bag of beans in a cake pan (the recipe called for 32oz canned beans), I decided that was A LOT of beans so didn't add the remaining 8oz. I rinsed them first then soaked them for 15-18 hours. I rinsed them again and put them in a pot with the rest of the ingredients.

The recipe said to bake them at 350 for about 40 minutes and they should be done. After an hour and a temperature increase to 400, the beans weren't anywhere close to being done. At this point I decided they were probably very old beans. :( I moved them to the stove after another 30 minutes. They boiled on the stove for another 1 1/2 hours and were still rock hard (I kept adding water so they wouldn't boil dry - and this was on medium to medium-low heat).

We left the beans at my MIL's and she cooked them "off and on" (her words) the next day and declared they were done. They are not done. :(

Now that they've been cooked then refrigerated then cooked then refrigerated again, can I attempt to salvage them? I've read that adding 1/8 tsp baking soda per cup of beans will soften them. Is it too late to try this - add the beans, more water, and a small amount of baking soda and cook them a little more? I've put so much effort into these stupid beans I can't just give up! LOL


texts: Seasoning on Magnalite anodized aluminum fry pans needs to be removed and re-done, what is process?

texts: I bought a set of three Magnalite anodized fry pans(used) and was told they needed to be cleaned out and re-seasoned. What would be the best way to remove the old seasoning?


texts:
I cut open a purple cabbage and there are some strange sort of greyish, slightly yellowish sprout-like masses inside. Is this normal? I saw another post on this stack with a similar question, but my 'masses' look more...moldy, I guess? Is it immature flower shoots as the other post says?
Is it safe to eat this cabbage? Thank you in advance


texts: How to fry an egg without a burnt thin crust around?

texts: Sometimes I fry eggs (1-3 pieces). But they are spread out (blurred) on a pan and where thin egg white burn up. The size of my pans average.


texts:
I had purchased a 14 pound packer brisket a couple weeks ago to smoke for Easter. I put it in the freezer after I got home. I pulled it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge (set at 37 degrees F) this past Sunday, thinking it would take about as long as a turkey.

The thinnest part of the flat are already thawed and I am concerned it may start to spoil before Saturday night when I planned to start smoking it.

Is there anything I can do to slow the defrosting? I was considering putting it into a tub of ice water, almost like a brine, but just plain water.