texts: I know, the hard and fast rule is to wash all your produce, but I have the hardest trouble washing raspberries. They inevitably get waterlogged and lose so much texture no matter how gentle I am. I see raspberries on cooking shows and online recipes and it's obvious the raspberries have not been washed. I have a very discerning eye. (wink) So should they be washed or not?


texts:
Last week I made etouffee for the first time, and it came out pretty good.  Unable to find crawfish or raw shrimp, I used pre-cooked cocktail shrimp, which worked but was a little bland (and the double cooking made them a tad chewy).

I'd like to take a second stab at the recipe, and I'm thinking that I want to try something other than shrimp/crawfish, both due to the availability issues and because it's a lot of extra work.  Would scallops work?  Or some kind of whitefish?


texts: Should I trust my Instant Pot or my ThermPro digital thermometer for temperature?

texts: I cook sous vide in my Instant Pot Ultra (which lets you set a precise temperature), but when I check the water temperature with my digital thermometer, it is a few degrees off (I believe the thermometer reads 3-4 degrees higher). This temperature difference can change how done meat gets, so which which one should I trust?  My instinct is to trust the thermometer, since it was made for a single purpose, but is that right? Should I trust the instant pot instead because it's more expensive?  Which would likely have a more accurate thermometer?


texts: Mung bean sprouts developed a slight purple color on day 3?

texts:
I've been sprouting my beans for three days now; yesterday I noticed some had developed a slight purple coloration while rinsing them, photo attached. One of them even went blue-ish, but there is no brown or signs of mold. Is this normal or should I worry?

Here's a picture of the sprouts:


texts: What is the best place to store garlic in the kitchen?

texts:
I've been at a friend's house. When I looked for the garlic I the fridge my friend said garlic doesn't go in the fridge. But another friend said garlic lasts longer if placed in the fridge, even when it hasn't been peeled and placed in plastic foil / film.

What's the best place to put garlic in the kitchen and why?


texts: How do I replace sugar with golden syrup in a cookie recipe?

texts: I made Toll House Cookies using this recipe this recipe. They turned out fine, but you could feel the sugar crunching under your teeth (I used half brown, half normal granulated sugar). Next time I want to try for a more chewy texture and I read that this can be achieved by using golden syrup instead of sugar. What is a good ratio for replacing sugar in my recipe? I'm assuming that by adding syrup (= more liquid), I could be throwing off the balance between wet and dry ingredients. Also, should I use powdered sugar instead of granulated. Or maybe I just didn't cream my butter with sugar properly?


texts: Oat starch to sugar conversion in oat milk

texts: I noticed recently that some commercial oat milks do not have added sweetener but rather say that their sugar content comes from oat starch which was converted to sugar.  Is there some reasonably gentle way one could replicate this with home-made oat milk?


texts:
I love cheesecake, however I despise the acidic, tangy taste associate with cream cheese and yogurt. I recently purchased some that didn't have that taste at all, just smooth an delicious.
I'd like to know how to make cheesecake without the tang it generally has.


texts: I want to substitute barley for 1/2 cup of macaroni in a soup. How much barley should I use?


texts:
Is sour milk, soured milk, and milk that has gone sour, all the exact same thing?
Related to this question:
Is buttermilk another term for sour milk or some part of sour milk?
and especially this answer to it:
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/115571/93811
and two of the comments appended to that answer, specifically:
"Is soured milk the same as sour milk as in, 'I kept this milk in the fridge too long after opening, and now it is sour, although it was okay yesterday, and so I need to chuck it out and buy some more'. – Matthew Christopher Bartsh yesterday
@MatthewChristopherBartsh Not exactly. “Kept in the fridge and something grew” is the problem - you don’t know what grew. Way back before commercial milk production, there was a good(-ish) change that something desirable grew - souring meant “let stand, it’ll be thick by tomorrow” or it meant “add some of the existing product and let the microorganisms from that multiply and do their thing”. It’s too complicated for a comment to explain why exactly the former is less likely to work today than back in our (great...)grandparents’ time. – Stephie♦


texts:
I recently purchased a cast iron wok made in China. It is manufactured in a way that is supposedly very common in China. However, I'm puzzled by the differences between this cast iron wok and other cast iron cookware I've seen.

My wok is not pre-seasoned, but it has a very black color in the interior. Further, I don't think the black material is just a coating, because I rubbed a spot with a green Scotch-Brite scouring pad and it didn't remove the black material. My wok is also much thinner than other cast iron cookware. (see below)

On the other hand, the cast iron that I'm used to always has a grey color when it is unseasoned. (see below)

Why is my cast iron wok black despite being unseasoned? And why does it have what resembles cracks and brush strokes?

Update: if it helps, here is a link to the exact product description.


texts: How to roast peanuts on the gas stove without getting the brown spots?

texts:
I have the iron kadhai and gas stove.

When I roast the peanuts (without exterior shell) they get the brown spots on them. Of course I do keep on moving the peanuts in the kadhai but still I can't move my arm terribly fast since I have to move it continuously for 10 minutes. I get tired.

What can be done so that they do get roasted properly without the brown spots?


texts: I've recently started making 100% whole wheat sourdough breads and have experienced trouble that the dough wouldn't rise much. I have discovered that this is because of the bran cutting the gluten strands whist they are developing. The solution I have found to this is to sieve the flour and soak the bran, and later incorporate it into the dough. Is there any other method of solving this issue (that doesn't include adding any extra ingredients)? Would just soaking the flour over night do the same?


texts: This evening I intend to grill a 3 pound turkey breast over indirect heat. I've brined the turkey and am intending to inject it with a butter injection concoction. Does a brined and injected turkey breast need to be basted?


texts: I know that salt is not soluble in oil. I've tried seasoning oil with it and the salt never dissolved. I was wondering if MSG behaves the same way as salt in oil?


texts: How far in advance can I prepare vegetables without it detracting from their flavour/ texture etc?

texts:
I've seen there is a related thread about restaurant practices and how long to retain food, but I don't think food safety comes into this as I'm only talking about cut vegetables kept for maybe 3 to 4 hours? It's more the issue of the effect on flavour I'm concerned with.

I'm a keen beginner, so my knife skills aren't yet good enough to prep veg quickly. As such, if I'm cooking for others, I try and prepare as much as possible in advance to serve food up in a reasonable time. I'd be very grateful if anyone can tell me:

How far in advance can I slice/ dice things like onions, celery, carrots etc without it having a detrimental effect on the flavours and textures?

Once they are sliced/ diced is it better to refrigerate them or might that make them wet/slimy?

If preparing the veg in advance does have a detrimental effect on the flavours and textures, are we talking a small difference that hardly anyone will notice or does it have a dramatic effect?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I'm trying to find a substitute for garlic in a chicken pulao recipe. The masala paste calls for 4 cloves of garlic, which are ground with the other ingredients into a paste. I'm already substituting radish for the onion. (My sister has celiac disease and is very sensitive to/finds it difficult to digest onions and garlic and related -- no chives, shallots, etc. Even garlic and onion powder are out.)
I'm not sure what to substitute here. If it was a small quantity, such as one clove, I'd be ok in just omitting it entirely. But 4 cloves is not an insignificant amount. Further, the canonical 'onion and garlic subsitutions' question suggests a lot of other ingredients still in the garlic/onion family -- which are all out. Asafoetida, which it suggests, I've only ever used as an onion replacement. And even in that other question it says to fry it in hot oil first. My current use is as part of a paste which is used to marinate the meat overnight prior to cooking so I'm not not sure how having to fry it in hot oil first would work into that (assuming I can even find it in a store.)
I don't want to use ginger since the paste already includes ginger. Can I use horseradish? Garlic adds a certain kind of 'umami' and sharpness/pungency that I'm unsure how to replace in a marinade like this.
Basically the recipe is to grind a bunch of ingredients into a paste, coat the chicken, and let sit overnight. The coated chicken is then cooked with rice and spices to make the pulao. The other ingredients in the paste are onion, ginger, yoghurt or buttermilk, and spices.


texts: Why do you add couscous to boiling water?

texts:
All recipes for couscous I've seen instruct to add the couscous to already boiling water.

Why is that so? What difference does it make if it will be added to boiling water or cold water on the stove?


texts: How long does it take for buttermilk to go bad?

texts:
I love making buttermilk pancakes but I can never seem to use up my buttermilk before it passes the expiration date. The thing is, if I take a solid whiff of the "expired" buttermilk it smells great (even up to a month after the expire date).

How can I tell if it's still ok to use?


texts:
I would like to make my own mix for "mug cake" -- that is to say, prepackaged instant cake mix you dump into a mug, add liquid, and microwave.

Is there anything special about mug cake that makes it cook in the microwave better? Will ordinary box cake scaled down work?
I'll want to make my own mix. Is there anything about boxed cake mix that's special beyond just sifting dry ingredients together, maybe throwing in some powdered milk so I don't have to use milk as my liquid? And can I do anything about requiring eggs -- for example, using some kind of powdered egg?
Are there any types of recipes for which this simply will not work? I kind of suspect Angel Food cake won't work in a mug :)


texts:
I recently blanched and peeled the "skin" off 500g of shelled pistachios and 500g of almonds.

For the pistachios I poured boiling water over them, waited a minute, strained, and then rubbed the nuts in small batches in a clean cloth to pull the skin off.

For the almonds, I tried the same strategy as the pistachios. But this was not so good. The skin starts to dry too quickly. So I poured more lukewarm water over them.

Then I dried them in an oven preheated to 150C for about 10 minutes. They are still a but soft, so I may have to do this again later.

My question is, is there a better way? That took a really long time.


texts: How do I get softer peanut butter cup ice cream?

texts:
This is similar to this question, but a very different base so I'm asking this separately. I make ice cream fairly often, I have a very reliable base I add flavorings to, like mint extract, chocolate, nutella, strawberries, etc and I always get a nice, scoopable result after hardening in the freezer.

The base is:

650ml whole milk
225ml double cream (UK cream with 50% fat content)
170g sugar
5 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp guar gum
1/2 tsp salt

I make the base by heating the milk and 2/3 of the sugar until steamy, whipping the yolks with the rest of the sugar, then drizzling the hot milk into the egg-sugar mix so it doesn't cook before heating it all up to make the custard. I then add flavorings, for example 200g of nutella, and the guar gum, leaving the salt out if I'm adding anything which is salty already like Nutella or peanut butter. I use a stick blender to mix it all thoroughly.

After chilling in the refrigerator I churn it in a kitchen aid attachment which is a frozen bowl with a dasher, usually about 16-18 minutes, adding any drizzles or chunky ingredients in the last minute. Then I scoop it all out into a plastic container and freeze it to harden up.

I've used this recipe and method many times and I've never had a hard ice cream yet, this time I decided to do peanut butter cup ice cream. I did my usual base and blended 200g of salted smooth 40% fat peanut butter into it. Towards the end of churning the kitchen aid started to struggle as the mix got very thick, much thicker than usual. After hardening up in the freezer I had to practically chisel the stuff out into bowls, and even after warming up again it's still not pliable like ice cream should be.

What's causing my ice cream to be so hard, and what can I do to fix it? I thought it may not have enough fat, but the peanut butter is nearly 50% fat so that doesn't make sense. I added more sugar than usual to offset the unsweetened peanut butter, and 5 egg yolks should be plenty. Should I be adding more stabilizers or different types of additives? I churned it for the same amount of time as I always do, but it only seemed to get really hard towards the end, should I churn it less?


texts: How long can cooked potatoes last in an air-tight container at room temperature?

texts: When stored out in the open they can last up to 2 hours at room temperature, but how long can they last in an air-tight container at room temperature?


texts: What kind of apple fermented drink did I just make?

texts:
I got this (dutch) recipe on Twitter a few months back. Translated it's called: apple with bubbles. I made it, and it was nice, simple process, and produced a nice summer style drink. But I was wondering, what did I make, and which parts can I try to vary with?
Translated recipe:

Put in a big jar: 1 apple (small chunks), 1 slice of lemon, 500ml water, 1 tsp honey, 20gr sugar, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 cinnamon stick
Cover jar with cheesecloth
For 3-4 days, put it somewhere without direct sunlight, stir/shake it twice a day. (So get some nice fermentation going)
Transfer/filter through cheesecloth liquid into a bottle
Leave the bottle outside the fridge for 2 days, make sure to releave it of pressure.
Put the bottle in the fridge for 2 days minimum. After that you have a week to drink it

So, uhm, what did I make, and which elements are essential for the process?


texts: Incorporating capsicum oil into a chicken breading

texts: How can I incorporate capsicum oil into chicken breading?


texts: Making real soured milk - what sort of lactobacillus culture to get?

texts: I am looking to make an antique recipe (amish milk pie) which calls for thick soured milk. I can get my hands on raw milk, but it's iffy whether or not it will have the correct lactobacillus present to make proper soured milk. So, I was considering purchasing a lactobacillus culture and mixing them (similar to fermenting just about anything else). The question is, what lactobacillus species culture to get? Lactobacillus is a pretty huge genus, and I haven't been able to find anything beyond, "lactobacillus." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactobacillus alone lists easily more than 50. And like most critters, a little difference in the strain can have HUGE consequences when consuming them.


texts: How do you develop the knife skills to properly use a Chinese cleaver?

texts:
So I have recently been moving into the world of Asian cuisine, and I recently learned that the Chinese use a cleaver as though it is a chef's knife.  Apparently, it is a great multitasker but requires a completely different technique set to use properly. Where do I go to find out about this?

Update I should mention that I am already highly proffiecent with a chef's knife. I was mainly looking for what I need to learn from scratch and what will carry over.


texts: How do I make soft caramel for homemade Caramel Apples?

texts: I am making Caramel apples using, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and condensed milk. The caramel is coming out very thick and sticky to the extreme.  How can I make a nice caramel that is not hard to bite into?


texts: Do scratches on electric range burner elements affect its performance or function?

texts: My electric range is about 5 years old and over time the burner elements have become scratched- it looks like coating is being worn off- is that normal and does it affect the performance or function of the burner?


texts: Is it safe to boil sweetened condensed milk in the can to make duche de leche?

texts: Is it? I am talking about metal poisoning not the explosion risk, will the can leak dangerous metals into the dulche de leche product when boiled or is it safe to eat? (I am hoping it is because it is very convenient but if its not what to do safety first)


texts: OK to "recook" partially cooked poultry?

texts:
Cooking a leftover turkey. Took it out because it looked done and meat thermometer said it was done. It was sitting on the counter resting for about an hour, and when I carved it the meat at the very inside of the bird was still uncooked. Is it OK to pop it back in the oven until gets back up to 165° or so? Or is it ruined?

It was still warm when I carved it. It had been frozen and thawing in fridge since Saturday. Thanks in advance!


texts:
Last night I made sushi rolls for the first time.

The issue I encountered is that the rolls would open up when taking them with the chopsticks. The rice was super sticky and held very well, but the rolls would open up on the edge where they were supposed to close.

Any idea why this would be happening?


texts:
One of my favorite uses for overripe bananas is to make a simple jam from them. I combine the bananas with a bit of water in a large pot, adding a splash of molasses, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cooking it down until thick and caramelized, the resulting jam is surprisingly sweet and much more flavorful than you'd expect.

The problem is that the color. It is, shall we say, a bit too biological. This problem is only made worse if one adds other mild-tasting fruits, like apples or green figs.

It's easy enough to fix this by dramatically changing the taste--by adding berries, say, or lots more molasses. But without actually turning this food into something else, is there a way that I can make it much darker or much lighter without adding artificial chemicals to my jam?


texts:
I made a try of creme patissiere with 250 ml UHT milk at 1.5% fat (yes, hence I called it a try), two egg yolks, 22g corn starch, 70g sugar and vanilla. Direction as classic. Beat yolks with vanilla seeds and sugar, add starch. Meanwhile warm the milk and the vanilla bean and just before boiling add a part of it to the yolk mixture and stir; add more and then move everything back to the heat and stir until thick. Cool down in an ice bain marie. Let it sit at room temp with either film on the surface or a sprinkle of granulated sugar.

After less than an hour at room temp, I notice that the product is no longer creamy, became too solid and took the shape of the container. Far away from a cream. Can it be due to the lack of fat in the milk, it being UHT or too much time on the heat?


texts: I've heard that sugar, and especially brown sugar, loses its flavor over time. Is this true?

texts: I've heard that you can revitalized lumpty or hard brown sugar, but also that doing so doesn't recover the actual flavor.  Does baking with other brown sugar that is "revitalized" really impact cookie flavor?  What about white granulatd sugar?


texts: Spare Ribs: spacing out the soak and the grill

texts: A specific recipe I like for preparing ribs involves a slow four hour soak at 250 degrees in the oven and then a grilling period. I was wondering, how badly is it going to affect the end result if I do the four hour soak the day before, and then placing them in the refrigerator to be grilled the next day?


texts: What actual effect does a Parmesean rind added to soup have?

texts:
The answers to this question state that adding a Parmesan rind to a cooking soup will add a cheesy flavor to the soup.

How much flavor does a rind really add?  Does it flavor the soup to a degree that it will replace freshly grated Parmesan?

Does it thicken or cloud the soup?


texts: What can I do to make wood dust for cold smoking?

texts:
In order to cold smoke, you need a fine wood dust.

I work with wood and have obtained, using a band saw, a very fine wood dust. The wood this dust comes from has been well seasoned.

Is it OK to use this wood dust in a cold smoker?
What can I do to prepare this wood dust for use in a cold smoker?


texts:
I have this nice recipe of chocolate-matcha pie in which the ganache is made in the following way.

boil 1dl milk with 2dl cream
add 50g sugar and let it melt
cut the fire and add 200g dark chocolate
mix well until chocolate is melted
wait 10min and add two eggs and mix well

The resulting ganache is then to be put inside an almost cooked dough, and then cooked for 20min at 150°C.
My problem is the following.
The original recipe said to add 1 ts of matcha tea powder at step 5.
The result is good but the flavor of matcha is weak, almost vanishing. I tried adding it at step 4, but same issue. I don't know if I should add more of matcha powder or what could be the problem.
Also : I am filtering the matcha before putting the ganache inside the pie. Obviously the taste would be stronger without this step but then I fear the consistency would be wasted by some lumps.


texts: Slow-cooker burns mash potatoes instead of keeping them warm

texts:
Another question regarding mashed potatoes. I have prepared my (vegan-friendly) mashed potatoes, and now I want to keep them warm.  I decided to place them in a slow cooker on the 'LOW' setting, thinking that would keep the mash warm and not over-cook them. However, after 1-2 hours, I saw burnt red-brown marks on the pot and around the mash.

I have never seen potatoes by themselves burn and turn red, so I assume this must be due to either the salt, or the Earth Balance margarine that I was using in the mash. However, I am clueless as to why margarine would burn at such a relatively low temperature, considering that the smoke point of the vegetable oils used in margarine are very high.

These are pictures of the burn in my pot:

This is the model of my pot. A Booney  3SC65R slow cooker model.


texts:
I have pickles that have been fermenting for 3 weeks now, which in my experience is the ideal length of time.  When I checked on them,  there is mucousy slime in the brine.  There's no unpleasant smell, and the pickles are crunchy and taste like pickles. There is some yeast on the top of the brine,  but this is something I've seen fairly frequently.
Can anyone identify this slime,  and confirm if these pickles are safe to eat?


texts:
We found a recipe online for homemade sriracha hot sauce.

3lbs red jalapeños
1 cup brown sugar
⅛ cup salt

Everything was blended together, then set in a dark closet. The lid is not airtight but has an elastic band holding it shut. This was to let pressure escape as the recipe suggested.
It was supposed to be left for 2 weeks in a dark place. It has been one week but I am worried about the mold on the top.
After about 2-3 days it had a white layer. I read this might be yeast so ignored it. However, it now has fuzzy black mold and I am worried.
Most hot sauce recipes I see need vinegar or something to keep it from rotting but apparently this fermentation method works fine.
Is this sriracha still ok? Can we scrape the mold off after 1 more week?


texts: I tried to make some sort of liqueur with homemade lemonade. I added lemon juice, sugar and a little vodka. I left it for 2 months in a dark and cool place and as soon as I opened it turned out it contained gas (a lot of it). I tasted it and it's like sparkling lemonade with alcohol. Where did the gas came from and is it ok to consume?


texts: I am cooking some meat for tonight, and my girlfriend put the saucepan into the oven. It seems to be working fine, but I wonder what the advantages and disadvantages of this method is compared to just using the stove?


texts: What is the target internal temperature of pork back ribs for maxium tenderness?

texts:
Although there are many variations for how to cook 'baby back' ribs, there seems to be scant information concerning the target internal temperature of the meat when finished.

The question may be slightly more complicated because it seems that simply getting the meat to a target temperature is not enough to get the meat to literally "fall off the bone" (meaning, many of the bones may actually be pulled out of the meat); there is probably a time element for how long the meat is held at the target.

Rather than quote a time and an oven temperature, as most recipes do, I would like to know what the meat temperature profile is for recipes that delivery super tender ribs.

In other words, if a recipe produces a super tender result, what is the meat temperature profile (i.e. meat temperature is held at between X and Y degrees for Z minutes).


texts:
I make a very simple BBQ sauce for chicken that's composed of butter, vinegar, and an assortment of dried spices (lots of paprika, some cayenne, salt, etc).  My problem is that the spices won't remain in suspension; they drop to the bottom very quickly.  I have to stir a lot before each application, and even if I do the last bit in the pan is much more concentrated than the first.

I'd like to be able to make larger batches and refrigerate it for future use, but that's out of the question since it would harden with all the spices at the bottom.

How can I get the spices to remain in suspension without affecting the taste?


texts:
I've been using this recipe but I can't get the centers cooked without burning the outside. Does anyone have any suggestions? What am I missing?

I cook the muffins in a 10-inch skillet on a gas stove over medium heat.

Here are the techniques I've tried:

first time, heat was too high, and the outside began to burn. Turned it down, flipped it, and cooked the other side for 6 minutes. Mushy inside.
lower heat. Cooked each side for 8 minutes. Surfaces were dark brown, but not burnt. Mushy inside.
still lower heat. Cooked each side for 10 minutes. Surfaces were dark brown, but not burnt. Mushy inside.
same heat as 3; online suggestion was to finish in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Outside edges were crisp instead of soft. Mushy inside.
still lower heat. Cooked one side for 6 minutes, flipped, cooked for 6 minutes, flipped, 6 minutes, flipped, 6 minutes. (total 12 minutes per side). Surfaces were dark brown, but not burnt. Mushy inside.

When I say "mushy" I mean that it's undercooked in the middle.

In all cases, I let the muffins cool completely before I cut them open, to use the residual heat to finish cooking.

I've been broiling them after cutting them open, and we really like the flavor. But cutting each muffin open and toasting it immediately after griddling just isn't right. <g>


texts: I have been soaking mandarins segments in vodka at room temperature for 20 days in sealed preserving jars. 500mls vodka to 1 kilo mandarins.  the fruit began to rise in the jar as I think it was fermenting. Is this bad and is this useable liquid. My aim is to make mandarin schnapps. Obviously I'm a beginner at this and would value helpful suggestions


texts: Retain chilli powder taste till end of cooking

texts: When I add chilli powder to an Indian curry, and let it lid-closed for next 5-7 minutes, by the time it's cooked, it loses it's taste and the curry becomes bland. What should I do to retain the spice and colour (as even a pinch of Turmeric and 2 spoonful red chilli powder makes the curry yellowish? Why does it become bland??


texts: straining methods for liquids to be used in whipping siphon

texts:
I'm starting to use a whipping siphon and in a previous question some comments mentioned that "it's really easy to clog the dispenser" and "if you can perceive particulate when the mix is on your tongue, it's still too chunky for the whipper."

Which devices (e.g. "cheesecloth" or "strainer of Brand X/style Y") would be best to use to make sure that the mix is smooth enough to minimize or eliminate the risk of it clogging the whipping siphon?


texts: How can I toast rice without using an oven?

texts: Rice can be toasted for adding more taste and flavor. The recipe I have uses an oven to toast rice. I want to find out another method which toasts rice without using an oven.


texts:
I've noticed that some of the Hawaiian/Okinawan purple sweet potatoes I boil will have brown spots inside the flesh, while others do not. What causes these brown spots? Are these safe to eat? I've tried to be careful when selecting the ones I get from the store, insuring there is no visible mold, discoloration, abrasions, or soft spots, yet I keep getting potatoes like this.

Brown spotted potato on left, normal color potato on right in the image.


texts:
I am doing a web app to filter recipes based on user's health information.

So if an admin adds a recipe of Friend egg(sunny side up).

Normally, based on how i cook my egg.

I would only need,

Chicken Egg (whole, commonly Large)
Seasonings (mostly salt, say 1g)

How would i be able to make my own nutritional facts based on those 2 ingredients on my Sunny side up recipes?

I have a current Table named ingredient i use as a reference whenever inserting a recipe every ingredient of that recipes goes through this to reference its information.

The Columns are as follows:

  Name - Description - Calories - Carbs - Fat   - Protein -      - Sodium -
  Sugar - Group

Group refers to the food group, as for the above ingredient of egg, it should fall under poultry. Since chicken is poultry. Then salt, should be seasoning.

I'm not professional nor knowledgeable in terms of nutritional values.

I will greatly appreciate it if someone whose knowledgeable in the field could offer/show me  a simple way of making a nutritional facts.

My due is next week. I'm so confused and desperate.


texts: why is cooking in oil or fat considered dry heating?

texts: Why is cooking in oil or fat considered dry heating, while cooking in wine is considered moist heating?


texts: How can I store brown sugar as it always gets hard before I can use it all. How do you store brown sugar? Does it need to be refrigerated?  Also, How can you make hard brown sugar soft again?


texts:
After seeing this question I started to think more about my meatballs and wonder how can I keep them round?

I have always been under the impression that you should first brown the outside and then cook them through.  Problem is during the browning in the frying pan I end up with flat sides.

What can I do?  Help my meatballs!


texts: Why does apples bought at the market feel sticky?

texts:
When I buy apples at the market, they always feel sticky. When I buy apples at the supermarkt they feel smooth. When I was younger we had an apple tree, and also that apples did not feel sticky in my memories.

The apples taste fine, but no matter how good I wash them, they keep feeling sticky, like there used to be coating of stickers on them.  Is there a reason for this? And should I clean them with a towel after washing? (The only way I can get them less sticky)  I assume there is nothing wrong with the apples?

I live in the Netherlands, if that matters.


texts:
What kind of canning does fresh preserving refer to, or is it an all-encompassing sort of thing (e.g. water bath canning, pressure canning, freeze-canning, lacto-fermenting, etc.)?

I see the term used when you go to buy canning jars on Amazon and such (as well as at freshpreserving.com, obviously).


texts:
Since a few hundred million eggs have been recalled, I'm wondering how salmonella gets into eggs in the first place.
Is it getting on the shells from the environment (or the hen)? Is it inside the egg?

This is mostly a curiosity/science question, so please don't take it as fear mongering, FUD, or any such non-sense. I realize that many eggs are perfectly safe.


texts: Diet coke chicken recipe safe when heating the artificial sweetener contained in the diet coke during the boiling process?

texts:
I'm on the Atkins induction week, which means my food choices are limited. One of the recipes I found suggested a recipe which involved Diet Coke chicken. Which basically is boiling chicken in diet coke.

Since I want to try something new, I was all open for the idea, but then I was wondering if it's safe considering you would be heating up the sugar replacement in the diet coke (my case is pepsi max)?


texts: Can I season a stainless steel frying pan?

texts:
After the advice I gave about seasoning a cast iron pan,  one would think I knew. I don't though. I have 2 large cast iron pans I use regularly but I'd love my good quality small stainless steel pan to have the same hard lasting seasoned non-stick coating my iron pans have. I've injured my wrists many years back so I'd like a pan that's easy to move without the strain. I don't want to use anything like spray Pam either.

Considering how seasoning works, it sounds do-able except for one problem. The top layer of a cast iron pan isn't completely smooth but slightly porous. That's why an oil film is able to initially stick to the pan. I'm not sure a stainless steel pan's surface is porous.

The way most people think of a new stainless pan being seasoned in preparation for use isn't what I mean. That's not a long lasting finish. I want the tough finish you get seasoning a cast iron pan by multiple oiling, heating and cooling. So has anyone tried and if so, what were your results? I don't want to experiment on my one good small pan.


texts: Why does a pizza stone make my pizza dough bread-like?

texts:
I have an aluminum pizza pan with a perforated bottom. It looks like this:

Not long ago I purchased a pizza stone, which I got mainly because everyone raves about them. However, the results have been quite disappointing. The aluminum pizza pan consistently produces a thin, crispy crust. But the pizza stone produces a much thicker crust with a bread-like consistency -- not at all what I'm looking for. It's not soggy or anything, just thicker and more bread-like.

The dough recipe is straightforward: flour, water, salt, yeast, and a slow overnight rise. I make two pizzas from the recipe and do one on the stone and the other on the pan. The oven and stone are preheated to 550F/288C for 45 minutes before cooking. I do one pizza at a time, both on the top rack. So all the factors are exactly the same except the stone vs. pan.

Why does the stone produce this thicker, bread-like texture? Is there any way to counteract that or do I now own a heat sink and I should stick to using the pan?


texts: Roasting multiple turkeys (cooking time estimation)

texts:
We tend to aim for large Thanksgiving gatherings, and thus tend to roast the largest turkey we can find.  Last year, we ended up roasting a couple extra turkey legs so we had enough meat.

This year, at the suggestion of a local butcher, I'm considering roasting two smaller birds.  He suggested smaller birds are younger, and would have more tender meat.  Depending on exact sizes, I could possibly get both birds in a large roasting pan, or two smaller roasting pans into one oven.

This leaves me with an odd question, though:  How do I estimate the cooking time for multiple birds?  Do they cook like their combined weight, or more like their individual weights?


texts: Having difficulties seasoning my new cast iron pan due to the coarseness of the texture. Please help!

texts:
I just bought a new cast iron casserole pan that is only enameled on the outside. I tried seasoning it earlier today by pouring a tablespoon of flax seed oil on the inside and spreading it around with a paper towel. Sadly, I realized shortly after that the texture on the inside of the pan is quite coarse and it causes the paper towel to "shred" leaving very little pieces of paper behind everywhere around the pan. These pieces are obviously instantly soaked in oil and become quite hard to remove. It's almost impossible to do a good job at covering the whole pan in the oil because of this. Something similar happens when I use a kitchen towel, except rather than leaving pieces of paper behind, the coarse texture of the pan causes little "hairs" from the fabric of the towel to be left behind on every wipe.

I imagine I don't have to sand down a brand new pan just to get it to a point where I can season it properly, right? It's my first cast iron pan so any help is appreciated.


texts: What is the technique for Vacuum Flask Cooking?

texts: I read an article about Asian cooking involving a Vacuum Flask so I was looking for some techniques involved in cooking with it.


texts: Does cauliflower have to be parboiled before cauliflower cheese?

texts: Most online recipes suggest parboiling. However, what are the benefits as it will be roasting for 30 minutes in an oven?


texts:
Typically the only way I've found people consuming wheat grass sprouts is through juicing. Can this item be used in cooking, preferably as a main ingredient?

(Please keep in mind that I'm vegan.)


texts: Paillets Feuilletine, dried caramelised crepes. I have looked and cannot find any method for the making of this product. As it is in many of my books and recipes but not readily available in australia, im looking for some information on the making of it.


texts:
What techniques/recipes exist that are utilized specifically to considerably reduce baking time (to between 1 and 2 minutes) of, say, chocolate chip cookies - without perceptibly diverging from the  taste, texture and shape/size/weight, of a typical such cookie?

More generally, I'm asking is there a way to make the baking time of common pastries 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, etc. times faster…successfully ?

Cheers!


texts: I am using a recipe for pork tenderloin that calls for 2 pounds of meat cooked for 1-2 hours in a slow cooker to 145 degrees.  I want to increase the amount of meat in the slow cooker to 6 pounds of pork tenderloin.  How do I estimate how long to cook for?  I can keep checking the internal temperature, but I'd like to have some sort of reasonable estimate.


texts: How do I pound chicken (or other meat) without making a mess?

texts:
Despite my best efforts, my kitchen (and sometimes the chicken) always looks like a war zone after pounding 8 or 10 breasts.  Maybe this is just a messy job, but I think there must be something I'm missing.

I've tried using mallets, both metal and wooden  The meat always gets stuck to the pounding surface and the mallet.  I've tried putting the meat inside a plastic sandwich bag or freezer bag; the bag is always ripping and falling apart before the meat is flat.  Wax paper is about the same.

I've also tried rolling pins.  Even got a "non-stick" one.  This way is even more hopeless for me, because the meat either slides around on the surface or sticks to the pin (doesn't matter if I use flour).

Surely there must be a combination of tools and techniques that would allow me to complete this task without requiring 20 minutes of constant cursing and an extra hour of cleanup.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?


texts: Can I microwave cooked and peeled prawns?

texts: I brought these marinated cooked and peeled prawns from Tesco for my lunch at work. Can I heat these up in the microwave so I can enjoy them warm/hot, and if so how long will they take to heat?


texts:
I am trying to make a homemade Neapolitan pizza in a regular home gas oven. I preheat the oven for 1 hours to max oven temperature 240 C. Place the pizza dough on a parchment paper add the tomato sauce and mozarella. Place the pizza in the oven for 15 minutes in the top tray of the oven.
The tomato sauce dries out and the pizza is hard and not chewable at all.
How can I resolve this problem?


texts: How do high-end restaurants promote such intense flavour in vegetables?

texts:
Yesterday I was lucky enough to eat lunch in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

One course consisted, as far as I could tell, of nothing but a selection of lightly cooked baby beetroot and deep-fried shallot rings. Yet the flavours in both vegetables were enormous, so intense that they were enough to carry such an apparently simple dish all by themselves. Furthermore I could easily differentiate between the different varietals of beetroot on the plate, something I don't think I've experienced before.

While no doubt expertly seasoned, the dish was not overly salty: I drank no more water than usual during or after the meal. And since the beetroot were just halved, they cannot have been reduced in any way to concentrate the flavour.

What do high-class restaurants do to their ingredients to promote such incredible flavour? Given the semi-raw state of the beetroot, I can only imagine it's down to selection of the best, most in-season produce. But at the same time I find that hard to believe. What else could be at play here? And where do I have to look in order to find produce of that quality for my own kitchen?


texts: How long, optimally, should you marinate chicken or beef?

texts: When cooking meat, marinating is a frequent technique. However, what's the optimal amount of time that one should marinate your meat? Is it different for different kinds of meat? What are some guidelines, generally, for marinating meat in different circumstances? E.g. when preparing steaks for grilling, or chicken for baking, or cubed beef for stir-frying, what are optimal times for marinating?


texts: Making Banana bread but short on flour: can I use pancake mix?

texts: I'm making banana bread I am a half a cup short of flour what can I use to substitute? I have pancake mix could I use that to replace the half a cup of flour I do not have?


texts: Do Morrocan-stye pickled lemons really need 5 to 10% salt?

texts:
I want to make Morrocan-stye pickled lemons, but I was only able to find one site with an explicit ratio, and it says:

In On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee suggests that a solution of five to 10% salt is needed to achieve a good North African-style preserved lemon

I make sauerkraut with 20 grams of salt per kilogram of cabbage,
so 2%. So lemons taking much more salt than cabbage is surprising and confusing; since they start out acidic, I would expect them if anything to require less salt.
I'm not worried about harmful microbes growing; I'm worried about the fermentation microbes not being able to grow. It's my understanding that higher salt concentrations with cabbage not only slow down fermentation, but actually seem to encourage surface mold growth.
One commenter on that site had the same issues:

I've never quite understood the need for such excessive salting when making preserved lemons. They still ferment great at normal levels of salt, and you then need to worry less about them being overly salty to use in future recipes. As far as I can tell it's solely from tradition.
Also, from checking out On Food and Cooking, it seems that McGee only points out that originally they are done with 5 to 10% salt content. I'm curious where you read/saw that he recommended such?

Does anyone have any text- and/or experience-based opinion agreeing or disagreeing with the "5 to 10%" figure?


texts: I would like to know how many milligrams of caffeine are there in a gram of dried matcha powder.


texts: How do I choose between shredded and finely shredded cheddar cheese?

texts: I use shredded cheese for spur of the moment enchiladas or to top burgers with.  I learned the hard way that my supermarket store brand sharp cheddar does not melt well, so my next purchase will be for a mild cheddar. They have both "shredded" and "finely shredded" and I'm wondering what the optimal use case is for each. Obviously finely shredded will melt faster so I'm wondering is there any reason not to get that? (Btw, I know hand shredding block cheddar is best for melting but I like the convenience of having a bag of preshredded cheddar in the freezer I don't have to worry about molding over.)


texts: Has the storage duration of packaged "fresh" dairy products increased in the last 30 yrs?

texts:
Has the general shelf life / storage duration / packaging hygiene / of pasteurized milk, cream or yogurt significantly increased in the last 30 years in western Europe (or the US)?

Or has there been any trend in reducing the best-before date?

Background:

I live in Austria, a developed country, and I like to think it was a developed country even 30 yrs ago when I was a kid :-)

Still, I distinctly remember supermarket milk (we mostly have tetrapak style milk here) or liquid cream, or yogurt to be "off" from time to time, even one day prior or at the best before date.

However, in the last 8 years (2010-2018) I cannot recollect one single instance where milk went bad in the fridge (and, given my kids, I do consciously check this) even a few days over the best-before date.

Note that this is for "normal" pasteurized milk, not what they call ESL milk.


texts: A friend of mine told me how great Beer-Butt Chicken is. Apparently you take a chicken and beer flavors it in well, the butt. How can I cook the chicken like that while keeping the beer in the chicken?


texts:
Context
My physic teacher told a story where he bought some beef, put them into
a vacuum (separated), measured their weight and put them into the freezer. Some days later he wanted to cook one of them but he couldn't see a difference between the beefs and his other meats. So he decided to weight them since he wrote their weight down before. Surprisingly none of them had one of the noted weights, he told that they were completely different. His biggest beef weighed about 1.300g but now it weigh less (I can't remember the number anymore).
What's your question?
What could be the reasons that the beefs lost their weights, although they were packed in a vacuum and put into a freezer?


texts: Manufacturer "best if used by dates" - how long that container has been on the store shelf

texts: I bought a jar of grated Parmesan cheese that has a "use by date" three months from today.  Has that jar been on the shelf a year, six months, three months, how long? Do Kraft, Sargento, Signature Kitchens, etc. all have to use the same amount of time between packaging and "use by" dates, i.e. for Parmesan cheese 1 year, six months, etc., or can they just pick a shelf life out of the air based on their "calculations?"  Please note: this has nothing to do with how long it lasts after I open it, but instead, how long has it been on the shelf.  Thanks


texts: Would there be an advantage or disadvantage to using clarified butter to making hot sauce? Often, a recipe calls for butter to be mixed in with some pepper sauce. I'm wondering if clarified butter would give a richer taste?


texts:
I have been trying to make homemade cannoli filling, but I can not find Impastata Ricotta anywhere. I have tried using regular Ricotta, leaving it to drain in a cheesecloth overnight and then food processes it, and I've also tried with powdered sugar but it is very runny, and very little moisture comes out in the cheesecloth.

Does anyone know:

How to make Impastata Ricotta?
Where I can buy it in Phoenix, AZ
How to treat regular Ricotta so it is similar to impastata? And also which brand to start with.

Thanks!


texts:
What is or what was a cocavello drink? Does someone know, what ingredients it contained and if it is still used (drinked) somewhere around the globe?

What I managed to find out so far is:

Mentioned in part III of Polish Positivist novel "Nad Niemnem" (On the Niemen) and this cocavello can be "found" in the end of 19th century and somewhere on the Neman river or far east of Congress Poland (current western Belarus). Or, to be more precise: "is set in and around the Polish county of Grodno after the 1863 January Uprising".
Mentioned as a drink similar or quite opposite to drinkable cacao (mentioned as: "She was drinking cocavello, because of her dislike toward cacao" or something similar -- I don't have access to English text of this book).

I haven't found any reference of this drink, neither here or actually anywhere (searching with Google). Can anyone shed some light or maybe recognize this drink under a different name?


texts: Sourdough starter - Have I been doing it wrong?

texts:
I made my own starter a couple weeks ago: flour and water, and left it on the top of the fridge.  I have been feeding the starter each day for the past two weeks.

I have not discarded any. Now the more I am reading I see I should have discarded half of the starter before each feeding. (Still not clear if that is only the first week or always?)

For each feeding I used the same amount of flour and water like I did on the first day, regardless of the growing amount of soupy starter in my super large jar.  It has smelled fine, I have even baked with it a few times.

Do I have to start over or can I use this?


texts: Oven baked cashews taste good but not cripy

texts:
I tried roasting cashews twice. The first time i added tamari sauce (just a savoury soy sauce) and roasted them. The tamari got a little burned but overall the taste was good.

Except the nuts were not cripsy of crunchy, not rubbery per se but just not the expected 'brittle-nes' of roasted nuts.

Next time I was inspired by this and this receipe, to soak the nuts in salty water with some lemon juice prior to draining, seasoning and roasting them. (Which again added both flavour and moisture to the nuts) The nuts tasted good but were not crispy.

How do i get my oven-roasted cashews salty and crispy?

EDIT: Tried the same with almonds with similar results. Soaked them for 2 hours in water, lemon juice and tamari sauce (soy-sauce). Then roasted them for 25 mins at about 150degrees. Taste good but no crisp.


texts: I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I couldn't find this information, I looked for two days. How much omega-6 do sprats have, does anyone know?


texts: Common term for "roughly-grind Semolina" (as used to make couscous)

texts:
A course common in all North-African coast cuisines is Couscous, which is made of "roughly-grind Semolina" lightly cooked or steamed with a bit of water and salt;
Very often, a vegetable based stew is poured upon the Couscous and then served.

A more accurate description of "roughly-grind Semolina" would be in my opinion:

Level 2 grinding of Wheat grains which is named:

Samid(un) [سميد] in Arabic
Solet [סולת] in Hebrew
Both Arabic and Hebrew terms brings Google translate English translation as simply Semolina
In Berber/Amazigh it is called SOMETHING; as of December 2019, Berber/Amazigh isn't supported in Google translate; it's a bit ironic because Berber translation should appear first in the above list

If one accepts the grinding level description in its full form:

Level 1 is Bulgur; Bou[rgh]oul (برغل in Arabic)
Level 2 is SOMETHING (in Berber)
Level 3 is Semolina ("thinly-grind Semolina")
Level 4 is Flour

The question remains: What is the standardized name for the level 2 product?


texts: What are marshmallows and how are they made?


texts:
I like making and especially eating hash browns, but they take quite some time to cook. Could I make all of my hash browns in advance by cooking them but not all the way and then finishing them off right before I want to eat them?

I'd cook them first till they are cooked through and then finish them off till they are crispy. Are there any difficulties with this approach?

Is this the way you could make them for a large group of people?

(Just to be clear, I mean the grated kind.)


texts: What is the sous vide botulism risk if storing meat post-cooking at home?

texts:
So I understand that cooking sous vide has a potentially high risk of botulism due to the anaerobic environment (vacuum). As such, you need to be careful with time and temp combinations. If you are storing food for service later, you need to flash chill it and then keep it in a fridge below 4C. This is easy enough at a restaurant with a walk-in, but is somewhat difficult in a home fridge as opening the door creates wide temperature swings.
Douglas Baldwin proposes the following temperature / time guideline for "safe" wrt botulism:

[S]pores of Clostridium botulinum, C. perfringens and B. cereus can all survive the mild heat treatment of pasteurization. Therefore, after rapid chilling, the food must either be frozen or held at
below 36.5°F (2.5°C) for up to 90 days,
below 38°F (3.3°C) for less than 31 days,
below 41°F (5°C) for less than 10 days, or
below 44.5°F (7°C) for less than 5 days

So a couple of questions about those guidelines:

How big should I expect the swings in my home fridge to be with normal usage?
If I have a second fridge and the door rarely opens, what will the temperature swings be there?
Since the botulism concern is due to the vacuum, am I correct in thinking that this concern will disappear if I remove the meat from the vacuum to store it? Obviously, this approach would reintroduce all the normal safety concerns with storing cooked meat.


texts:
I have thought of a funny concept on what makes things taste like this, taste like that, and it kinda looks like this:

Sweet = Sugar (C6H12O6)
Sour = ?
Salty = Salt (NaCl)
Bitter = ?

What I'm trying to figure out is what is the simplest substance that makes this taste like that. That's why it clearly defines that sugar is the simplest substance that makes things sweet and salt makes things salty. I wonder what substance makes things sour?
What is the substance makes things sour?
BONUS: Figure out what makes things bitter.


texts: Help Identifying a pale green, spherical squash-y like vegetable

texts:
Got it from the local co-op, no idea what it is! I assume it's some sort of squash.
It's about the size of a medium-large orange.


texts: Cooking guide for individual ingredients (not full recipes)?

texts: I'm on the hunt for a cooking resource (website, app, or book) that focuses on individual ingredients, rather than full recipes. Something where I can just type in / look up the thing I have (filet of salmon, beets, whatever) and get instructions on different cooking methods for that food. For example, right now I have some brussels sprouts and I would like instructions on how to roast them (prep steps, how long, what temperature, seasoning tips), but I don't need or want a recipe for a full meal (e.g. a chicken entree with brussels sprouts on the side). Googling kind of works but the results are hit and miss — I thought there might be a more vetted resource out there. I am happy to pay for this. Any ideas?


texts: How to make the sour cream that some restaurants serve with quesadillas?

texts:
I live in Belgium and I can't find where to buy SOUR cream, which is amazing with quesadillas.

Is there a way to make it myself?

http://foodies.blogs.starnewsonline.com/files/2010/05/cosmic_quesadilla.jpg


texts: Is it a myth or a fact that mixing cake/muffin batter too finely can lead to a hard finally baked cake/muffin?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Over-stirring muffin mixtures

From here: http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/bakingdesserts/r/plainmuffins.htm

  The key to making great muffins is not overmixing the batter. Once the liquid ingredients are added to the dry, mix the batter by hand just until the flour is moistened, for no more than about ten seconds. Too much mixing can cause the muffins to be dry, tough or misshapen.

and

  The batter should be visibly lumpy, and you may see pockets of dry flour. That's OK! It's extremely important not to overmix the batter, or the resulting muffins will be too hard.

Is there some scientific reasoning behind this claim?


texts:
I've just returned from a year-long trip abroad, and now have some interesting recipes to try. I was thinking of making Indonesian kelopon but I'm having a hard time finding one ingredient.

The ingredient I'm having trouble with is pandan extract. It's an extract of the pandan leaf. While cooking in Indonesia and Malaysia, I was able to get small squeeze bottles of it -- between the sizes of a squeeze bottle of food coloring and a small bottle of vanilla extract, up to maybe 2 or 3 fluid ounces. This is what I'm trying to get my hands on.

Back in the states (I'm in Baltimore for a month), I'm having a difficult time finding this. I've found that McCormick sells a correctly sized bottle that the front claims is pandan extract, but the ingredients label indicates it's primarily propylene glycol, water, and sugar, with some imitation pandan and food coloring. This is the only thing I can find in brick-and-mortar stores.

On the internet (Amazon, really), all the small bottles of extract turn out to be imitation with similar ingredients as the McCormick. They do have real extract: but only in 14.4  ounce cans. Since the ingredients are only water and pandan (and sometimes sugar), it's not shelf stable. It's also more extract than I'd use in 10 years.

So. Is it possible to buy small quantities of real, non-imitation pandan extract (preferably without added sugar but I can live with it, definitely with no propylene glycol) in the US or on the internet to be shipped to the US? Do they even sell such small quantities?

Or, alternatively, is it possible to convert the pandan paste or dried pandan leaves to extract form without overly-specialized equipment?


texts: Is it possible to reduce without boiling?

texts: I would like to concentrate flavour by reducing the water content but I do not wish to alter the temperature of the liquid.  Is there a way to reduce the water content without boiling?  Apart from waiting days for evaporation?


texts:
Many years ago (35+) my grandmother received a container of a 'sponge cake improver' from a family member whom was a commercial baker.
She describes it as looking like a thick amber liquid or paste.

The method of using it was to put two teaspoons of this improver into a mixer with all the other ingredients, beat on high, and then turn into the cake tin. The result was a high quality sponge, every time.

I've tried searching for what this product might be called, but turned up short.

Without resorting to scouring a commercial baking centre - can someone identify what this commercial sponge cake improver would be?


texts: Why did my sponge cake go moldy so quickly?

texts: I made a no-oil sponge cake for a swiss roll. I filled it with fresh whipped cream and then stored the cake in the fridge. It has gone moldy within 4 days of filling it.  Since filling it, it has been stored in the fridge. Why did it go moldy so quickly?


texts: There seem to exist two different camps of people when it comes to cinnamon rolls and their filling.  Some say to use regular granulated sugar, cinnamon, and butter while the opposing view states that one should use cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter.  Why would one choose one over the other?  What advantages or disadvantages does it bring to the cinnamon roll by adjusting the items within the filling?


texts: My wooden rolling pin has a rough patch on it due to the grain of the wood. When I roll out pastry with it, the pastry tends to stick to the rolling pin at that point and lift. Is there anything I can do to get a smooth surface all over the rolling pin or will I have to buy a better one?


texts: Does glutinous rice flour function differently from regular rice flour as a coating?

texts:
I am going to try making wasabi peas despite a dearth of recipes online. I've read the list of ingredients of several brands, most (including my favorite) contain glutinous rice flour. Others contain rice flour, still others only tapioca and/or corn starch.

My favorite wasabi peas have a very crunchy coating that really looks like it should contain egg whites, but doesn't. Wasabi Peas I've never achieved a coating like that on anything using any starch I'm familiar with, so I'm wondering if glutinous rice flour is key?


texts: How can I get chewy chocolate chip cookies?

texts:
My chocolate chips cookies are always too crisp. How can I get chewy cookies, like those of Starbucks?

Thank you to everyone who has answered. So far the tip that had the biggest impact was to chill and rest the dough, however I also increased the brown sugar ratio and increased a bit the butter. Also adding maple syrup helped.


texts: What should go in an Italian Sub sandwich?

texts:
I think its provolone, salami, ham, prosciutto, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, oil and vinegar.

But I know that is just one variation.

Is there a standard Italian sub that all are measured against?


texts: How to increase spiciness without abusing hot spices?

texts:
It's easy to make food more spicy by dumping a bag of ground hot pepper in it, or adding a pound of sambal, or pick one of the capsaicin concentrates and add a few drops.

I'm interested though in methods/additions to spicy food that make it more hot - which are not (or only mildly) spicy in themselves.

One way I know is to make it literally hot; the sensations add up. Another common one, though not applicable frequently is alcohol, which acts twofold, washing off any isolating substances like thin layers of oil etc off your taste buds, and increases blood circulation making absorption of substances faster.

What other ways are there to make food feel more hot than its capsaicin content would suggest?


texts: Is “ghee” clarified butter or beurre noisette?

texts: Reading the Wikipedia pages on “Ghee,” “Clarified butter” and “Beurre noisette” has left me somewhat confused as to what ghee is. Some statements on the pages seem to suggest that it's always clarified butter, some that it's always beurre noisette, others that it can be either of the two depending on regional variations, and then it also might just be something in-between. Can someone clear up my confusion? Does it make (much) of a difference for cooking Indian recipes (I presume not, as ghee plays a less prominent role in a curry than beurre noisette does when it's used as a sauce).


texts: What is the proper technique for making fried rice?

texts:
I've tried my hand at making fried rice a few times now. I seem to be getting these things wrong:

Texture of rice
Browning of rice

I've been cooking the rice, stir frying some veggies, and an egg in a separate pan. Add rice and egg to veggies, stir fry a couple minutes, eat. How can I improve this?


texts: Iron cast cookware: rust-ish or black coat even on new cookware, is it safe?

texts:
Some time ago I got iron cast dutch oven, alomost right away I noticed that when I wash it (just water, no soap) when I wipe it with white paper towel I get something black on it (see pictures).

Today I got a new cast iron fry pan (same manufacturer, Lodge) when I washed it with hot water and wiped with paper towel - I got rust-ish coar on the towel (see pictures).

Similar thing I saw in Martha Stewart's video where she shows how to season a fry pan, on 2:25 when she wipes just seasoned pan.

I notice this thing every time I wash my dutch oven after cooking (and I put oil on it when I store it), it it should not require seasoning, looks fine and oily. And fry pan... wel it is brand new and supposed to be preseasoned...

So the questions:

Is it safe?
Is it even possible to get rid of it?

I am seasoning my cookware while writing this post, will see in couple hours when I will have a chance to wash and wipe it again, but I am not sure it will change anything.

UPD: So I seasoned fry pan, one layer (like in video below) and tried to fry some meat and potatoes on it - it suck and burn a little :) I didn't want to use washing liquid so i scraped it with tools i had. After that - i got the same black residue on my white paper towel, same as on photo I took wiping my dutch oven.
So, I guess I will have to season it again, this time couple of layers.


texts: How much salt should I use for dry brining a steak?

texts:
I tried cooking a steak a few days ago. Having watched quite a few videos on YouTube, many of them suggested to salt the steak and leave it uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours or so, on a cooling rack.
Any video I've seen says to salt liberally, and that if you think that you've put enough, you didn't. I salted my steak liberally, and I don't think it was too much, it certainly seemed to be a lot less than what those videos showed. The idea is that with a very long period with the salt, it will draw out moisture, and some of the moisture will be reabsorbed, but with higher salt content, thus seasoning the deeper part of the steak as well.
At the end I managed to get a beautiful crust and an incredibly salty steak. It wasn't disgusting, but it was on the upper limit of what I'm willing to eat.
I am guessing that the main failure is the difference in weight. Most of the videos are cooking one of them huge steaks, 500g slabs of meat, or even more (I'm not counting the weight of the bone in tomahawks, clearly). My steak was about 250g or so.
Is there a formula, or some suggestions, as to what would be a good amount of salt based on the size of the steak, so that the next time it won't be terrible? And how would that formula change based on the length of the dry brining process? I understand that an hour on the counter is very different from 24h in the fridge.


texts: How to prepare mutton so it's not tough?

texts:
I had a mutton shoulder and I wanted to prepare it in a way which imitated to some point doner kebab, so the meat was sliced into thin pieces and fried on a pan. However it was a bit tough.

I'd marinaded the meat for 24h in sour milk and spices - it didn't help much.

The meat wasn't low-quality and it tasted very well, the only issue was it wasn't tender. Any ideas what to do about that?


texts: Can I use a tagine on a glass cooktop, and do I need a heat diffuser?

texts:
I somehow ended up acquiring not one but two tagines recently. Unfortunately, I have neither a gas nor charcoal stove (the ideal cooking surfaces for tagines, AIUI), only a smooth glass cooktop.

I've already tried using the W-S tagine, with a heavy cast-iron skillet as a makeshift heat diffuser. It worked out okay — the dish turned out great, but it took forever to cook, much longer than previous times I've cooked the dish using a cast iron Dutch oven. In the end, I had to turn the heat to high so that the dish would finish in a reasonable amount of time. This also resulted in stripping the seasoning from the skillet, which I'd rather avoid every time I want to cook a tagine.

Is there a better way to use a tagine on a cooktop?

Should I be using some sort of heat diffuser (which variety?), or can I place the tagine directly on the burner, and just keep the heat low? I'm hesitant to try the latter: both tagines have a small rim around the bottom, so the area of direct burner contact would be very small.

Should I give up and just stick to using the tagines in the oven?


texts: Rice Cooker Technology Best Suited for White Basmati Rice?

texts:
This is my staple food and unfortunately my 25 year old National rice cooker just died.  The crop of new models are bewilderingly complex--most troubling is that few seem to have a "Non-Sticky" or "Long Grain" option (which my old National did and which worked great).
I'm really just looking for set and forget convenience and decent quality rice and would appreciate any input on what's most appropriate for white Basmati:   Simple Micom, Pressure Cooker, or Induction Heating?


texts: What should I look for in a new kitchen knife set?

texts: We've had the same knives for a very long time now, and we need a new set. What should I look for (or avoid) in a new kitchen knife set?


texts: can I freeze chicken defrost it and eat cold for lunch?

texts: Recently, I have started to eat healthy and got into bodybuilding. I see a lot of videos of people cooking in bulk for the week online; this would save time for me as I'm very busy in college and work. I was just wondering if I could freeze meats such as steak and chicken then take them out of the freezer and eat them cold when defrosted? I would like to have them to eat on the go.


texts: To a 3 oz. box of orange jello I added 1 cup of boiling liquid (mandarin orange), then a pint of orange sherbet and finally the drained oranges.  The jello had a bubbled effect on top and did not set well.  Vanilla ice cream worked just fine; do I need to change something in order to use sherbet?


texts: Why should a stock be simmered and not boiled?

texts:
Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook says that a stock should NEVER be boiled, why is this?  Does the higher heat extract bitterness or something else undesirable?

It seems a little strange because the bones used to make the stock were previously roasted in a hot oven.

I've only made stock once, well I guess it was a broth (see this post) but would like to improve on my technique.


texts: What is the advantage to using a knife beveled on one side only?

texts: In European tradition, knives are beveled on both sides of the blade; coming to a point in the middle. In Japanese tradition, however, the bevel is only formed on one side (usually the right-hand side). What is the purpose and/or advantage of this?


texts: Substitute glass jar for Mason jar in pressure cooker

texts:
I'm trying to make a recipe in my Instant Pot that calls for ingredients to be placed inside a Mason Jar, which is then put in the Instant Pot filled with water.  I have a glass jar with a metal screw on lid--similar to a Mason jar, although a little wider in comparison--but I'm not sure if there's anything specific about the construcion of a Mason jar that makes it uniquely suited to withstand a pressure cooker.

Can I use my glass jar in the Instant Pot pressure cooker??


texts:
I've noticed that sometimes when eating salad the first bite can taste quite bitter. Is this just the natural flavour of particular leaves and my palate adjusting to it?

Is there a possibility it's caused by poorly washed salad that has not had the pesticides cleaned off?


texts: What is the ratio of molassas and pineapple juice for a non-alcoholic rum substitute?

texts: If molasses and pineapple juice can be used as a non-alcoholic substitute for rum in baking, what is the ratio to use?


texts: On a recent visit to Miami I fell in love with Cuban coffee. It's a great mid-afternoon pick-me-up, but not available where I live. How, if at all, can I approximate it at my office? (There is no stove in the break room, so a stovetop moka pot is not an option, and for a number of reasons I don't want to invest in an espresso machine for the office.)


texts:
I've seen some recipes call for chili peppers to be roasted until the skin is charred but not burnt, and then peeled.

How does this change their flavour? (Do they become hotter?) Should the skins be discarded, or do they contain some flavour on their own?


texts:
I've just purchased some locally reared organic duck breasts from a local farmers market and have decided to cook them according to the Five-spiced duck breasts with honey and soy   recipe.

My concern is that having not cooked duck breasts before (yes, I know, shameful! =) and having picked the recipe based on the fact that it sounds good and appears to have fairly detailed instructions, my inexperience in handling duck could result in a poor end result. So:

Are there any tips, things to look out for or techniques when cooking duck breast to obtain a great outcome?
Are there any glaring mistakes in the method for cooking duck breast in the recipe detailed?


texts: What does karate chop in a french bread dough mean?

texts:
http://www.steamykitchen.com/75-baking-the-perfect-loaf-of-french-bread.html

  Now do a little “karate chop” lengthwise down the middle of the bread and stretch out the long ends again. Fold over in half. The karate chop helps get the middle tucked inside.

I didn't understand this "karate chop" thing. What exactly does it expect me to do after I fold the sides of the dough?


texts: Is it possible to effectively dissolve chocolate into coffee?

texts:
The combination of milk chocolate with coffee is very good. The classic strategy is to take a bite of chocolate, chew it for five seconds, and then sip some coffee.
This strategy can be inconvenient at times, so I thought of dissolving the chocolate directly into hot coffee. However, this did not work very well due to the chocolate's fat content. How can I effectively mix chocolate into coffee? (Sometimes there are some tricks for these situations; for example, when you make hot chocolate, the trick to effective mixing is to make a slurry first.)


texts: How do I make 1/3 cup liquid glucose for toffee apple recipe?

texts:
I'm about to make Toffee Apples for the kids and have chosen this recipe:
https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipes/toffee-apples-recipe/22mx42pc
I don't have or can buy the liquid glucose.
How can I make ⅓ cup?


texts: How to ensure that eggs get hard boiled on a gas stove?

texts:
I used to determine the state of eggs by their shell i.e. if the shell is cracked, the eggs have been boiled. But sometimes I have found that even though the shell is cracked, the egg whites are somewhat runny!

Is there a special way of boiling eggs on "gas stove"? Is it necessary to cover them while boiling?

EDIT 1:
Today I punctured the egg top with a pin, but still the egg cracked on boiling :(

EDIT 2:
Today I added a spoon vinegar in the water, and the eggs did NOT crack at all. :)


texts: Some recipies call for beer to be added, but why?

texts:
I've seen some recipies that call for a can of beer to be added, but never have I seen them specify a specific kind or brand. That leads me to believe its less for flavor and more for chemical reaction.

My question: why is no type or brand specified? Is it left to the cook to decide what type/flavor beer would be best, or is it simply a chemical process that any beer can facilitate? If the latter, are there other ingredients which could be safely substituted?


texts: What cookbooks do you always come back to?

texts:
Like me, there are probably a lot people on here that have a lot of cookbooks, but I find I keep coming back to the same 1 or 2 books to give me the basis of most of the stuff I cook.

For me, I find myself coming back to the Jamie At Home book and Jamies Italy but I'm interested to see what other cookbooks others have as their "go to" cookbooks?


texts: Why do I need more gelatin in a half fat cream cheese cheesecake?

texts: Why do I need to add extra gelatin to my cheesecake recipe if I want to exchange full fat cream cheese for half fat cream cheese?


texts: Is the un-moldy part of tomato paste still safe to eat?

texts: Today when I was making Bolognese sauce, I removed the moldy part of the tomato paste and use the non-moldy part in the sauce. After searching on the internet, I found out that I can get sick from it. But I already added the tomato paste in my sauce, and it's a huge waste to throw the sauce away. Because the sauce has to cook for about an hour, is it possible to destroy the mold effects under high temperature?


texts:
For the cake we needed melted chocolate with some extra sugar.
However, instead of sugar we have added salt.
Is there a viable way to separate the salt?

The chocolate has 60% cocoa in it, and there's also some butter in the mixture.


texts: How long and at what temperature do the various parts of a chicken need to be cooked?

texts: I'm interested in baking thighs, legs, breasts and wings.  How long do each of these items need to bake and at what temperature?


texts: When changing recipe size, do I proportionally change bake time?

texts: I'm making chocolate cupcakes and halving the recipe. Do I halve the baking time as well? I'm not changing pans, it's a normal cupcake tin.


texts: Is the cover of Parmigiano-Reggiano edible?

texts: It seems that the "cover" is harder than the other parts...


texts: I bought a blue fish caught in Maryland. Can I eat the entire fish, or are there some parts of it which are not edible?


texts: How do I ensure that pita forms a nice big, even pocket when baking?

texts:
I have the opposite problem as Amir's question about thick, fluffy pitas. Whenever I make pita, it's nice and thick and fluffy, but the pocket is small or nonexistent. I would like to use my pita for sandwiches, so the pocket part is important.

Normally when I make pita, I get a pocket forming on one side of the bread, but the other side stays flat. I end up with a lopsided pita that has a pocket too small to stuff anything into. Every once in a while, I get one with a perfect pocket that evenly puffs up the whole pita, but I don't know why it happens sometimes and not others. Could this be caused by uneven heat in my oven? Or is there something about the technique of rolling out the dough that I'm not doing consistently?


texts:
I recently acquired a Presto pressure canner model 01781 (23-Quart) which comes with a weight designed to regulate it to 15 lbs of pressure. I also purchased a variable weight regulator (part 50332) which allows pressure to be 5, 10 or 15 lbs.  After leafing through the recipes in the instructions I found that they are almost all invariably written with some odd pressure like 6 lbs or 11 lbs.

Can anyone explain how to achieve a stable pressure at one of these odd pressures?  Why would the recipes provided all be written for pressures other than what this cooker is designed to produce? Should I simply can at the next highest pressure, e.g. 10 lbs if the recipe calls for 6?

I considered possibly adding a washer to the weight regulating at some in-between pressure but I'm just a bit confused about why I would even need to do that.


texts: How can I produce a more soggy Neapolitan pizza crust?

texts:
I've been following the Serious Eats recipe for Neapolitan pizza dough(exception I use bread flour), and cooking it on a baking steel. I cook it at 550 degrees(preheated for 1hr) for 2mins exactly, very near the heating element at the top of my oven, with the broiler set to high.

I do not use 00 Flour "Tipo". Instead I have been using bread flour. This is for a few reasons. I have learned that 00 Flour works well above 700 degrees, which I do not have. And it also has a much higher cost for me.

The crust comes out with nice char both on the top and bottom. The toppings are cooked well too. What I don't end up with is a nice soggy crust that I prefer in Neapolitan style pizza. Instead the crust is quite crunchy near the center and could easily stand up to tons of additional toppings(not my preference). The cornicione(edge) of the pizza is puffy, full of bubbles, and somewhat chewy. I'm quite happy with the cornicione but the center should be floppy/soggy/wet and I'm not sure how to achieve that, or if I can at all without a 900 deg wood fired oven.

Some wonder why I would want a soft, soupy, soggy center of my pizza. Having that is one of the main characteristics of Neapolitan pizza. I thoroughly enjoy using a fork and knife to cut and then scoop up the gooey amalgamation of favors in the middle of a fresh pie. As stated on Serious Eats:

  Unlike a crisp-crusted New York-style or hefty Deep Dish Chicago-style
  pies, a Neapolitan pizza will have a soft, tender, nearly soupy
  center. Some folks find this off-putting. I personally like the sauce,
  oil, and whey-soaked bits of tender crust that form down in there, and
  I'll fight my wife for my share of it.

This is what my pizzas look like currently:


texts: My banana Muffins won't rise like I want - Why?

texts:
So I just tried this recipe for banana muffins. They taste great (even directly after baking) and the texture is really nice and soft - like a muffin is supposed to be.

The problem: They don't rise like I want them to do.

This how I want them to look:

And this how they look like (not my picture, but identically):

I already found this: Why don't my muffins rise and develop tops properly?
The accepted answer has many great hints, but I truly don't believe any of these points target my problem. I thought that I maybe didn't fill the forms enough, but the recipe is for 12 muffins and I made, using 100% of the batter.

I baked them on the middle tray of my oven, using heat only from the top and bottom, no ventilation.

So I think that maybe they don't rise that nice because of the banana? Is it possible that the banana makes the dough so heavy that is gets soft but doesn't rise that much? Or do you have any other ideas what could cause this - is it allowed to post the recipe?

Edit: Ok, so here is the recipe:

180 g flour (I used Type 550 wheat flour)
120 g brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
75 g melted butter
4 ripe mashed bananas
1 egg
some vanilla seeds

First I mixed the sugar, the egg, the butter and the mashed bananas together and added the vanilla seeds. Into a separate bowl I sieved the flour, baking powder and the baking soda, then I added the salt. After that I combined the dry-mix with the wet-mix. At that stage I notice some bubbles in the batter which was a good sign I believe. I put the batter into my muffin form and baked it approx. 20 minutes at 180 °C.


texts: Is/are there any difference(s) in batter from French and Italian macaron methods?

texts:
I've kept things simple with the French method so far, and I've always been very nervous about over macaronnage-ing, but I just watched a video in which the host used the Italian method and seemed to just go to town on the batter (once the tant pour tant is incorporated) like there was no risk of over-doing the macaronnage step.

Does the syrup in the Italian method make the meringue more resilient as it cools? Are there any other differences between the results of the two methods than simply how they're achieved?

Any comments about preferred methods would be appreciated as well!


texts:
A popular example of this device is the heavily-advertised Slap Chop tool.

Is there any advantage to buying one of these?  Do they tend to be as effective as advertised, and if so, what features should I look for, and how long can I expect it to last?


texts: I like to make buttermilk syrup in bulk to have on hand. I am wondering if I can can(preserve) it, and if I would need to process it. Or if I should just freeze it.  It has buttermilk, butter, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and baking soda in it.


texts: How can I make onion tomato paste taste more punchy?

texts:
I batch pan-fried a paste of onions and tomatoes for using them in future dishes.

I love the flavour of garlicy onions and tomatoes! How can I make their flavour stronger?

I believe restaurants for all kinds of cuisines make use of it.

This is how I make them right now:

I semi-grind onions, garlic and tomatoes in the ratio of 1 : (handful of garlic) : 1.

Then I roast them on the pan with a little oil starting with onions + garlic, and then once they're translucent adding tomatoes + salt. Next I roast it on a simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I would like to make the onion and tomato flavour a lot more punchy. How can I achieve this?


texts: Which container to use for combined milk?

texts:
My local supermarket was out of 1% milk today, so I decided to get half a gallon of 2% and half a gallon of skim milk and combine the two at home. Now I'm wondering in what I should store the combined milk...

I still have a 1 gallon container from the last milk I purchased which I can use. There's a tiny bit of milk left in there, but it will be finished by today. The only thing I'm worried about is that, even if I wash the container the best I can, it will still have traces of bacteria in there from the old milk. Does this mean, then, that I should treat the expiration date of the combined milk as the same date printed on the old container?

Should I store the milk in some other container (e.g. a pitcher)? Should I temporarily combine the two in a pitcher, then put them back in the two half gallon containers they came with? Any other ideas?


texts: Cheap cheese is tasteless. Can I make it tastier in my mac and cheese?

texts: I used to make mac and cheese with cheddar.  Like many, I'm cutting costs due to the recession and I'm buying the cheapest cheese I can find.  The problem is, when I make macaroni with it, it's just tasteles.  Is there anything I can do to keep using the cheap cheese, but get more taste out of it?


texts: Ingredients to Get Started with Indian Cuisine

texts:
I'm interested in slowly getting started with Indian cooking and building up my store of spices. However, I generally don't have as much time to cook as I would like and really don't have enough space to go out and binge spend on cooking materials for Indian food.

What are the bare minimum ingredients / spices / etc that I would need, to make some tasty  dishes for a wide array of palettes (in case I can convince friends to try my cooking).


texts: What is the name of this Ukrainian bread?

texts:
As part of a welcoming ceremony, Vice President Joe Biden ate a certain type of bread in a salt and bread ceremony put on by the very hospitable Ukrainians in July of 2009.. It was not your every day loaf of bread though- it was very elaborate.

what is the name of this bread?


texts:
I tried just keeping it in a tightly-closed container in the refrigerator, but soon it was moldy.

I've read this question, which seems to indicate that ordinary butter should keep safely for weeks at fridge-temperatures... But my preparation is hardly ordinary butter.

My technique is very simple: 200g butter in boiling water and 30g of chopped herb (a mixture of leaves and buds) An hour of boiling, strain the herb with a filter gauze and put the liquid in the refrigerator until the fat solidifies and can be easily separated from the water. (The herb is in my case cannabis.)

Freezing is something I've considered trying, but would this affect the texture, or otherwise damage flavor?


texts: Substitution of applesauce for eggs in a boxed brownie mix was a failure. Did I do something wrong?

texts: Has anyone been successful in replacing eggs with applesauce in a box brownies recipe? I'm trying to stick with a boxed brownie mix but has an egg and we have someone with an egg allergy in the house. When I tried it (1/4cup of applesauce per egg) the brownies came out oily, runny, and wouldn't bake. I am hoping to get a fudgy, chewy final product and not to dry out at all. Has anyone had any luck doing so?


texts: Substitute for coating ramekin in a chocolate soufflé.

texts:
I know that when it comes to chocolate soufflés, the substance to coat a ramekin to help the soufflé climb is sugar.

Here's my question: can I use something else, like salt? Or cocoa powder?

I only ask because sugar can be a little too sweet for me, and I know that salt and chocolate can sometimes work together like in chocolate coated pretzels.

Any thoughts?


texts: What water temperature should be used for instant coffee?

texts: I just put instant coffee in my cup and pour the water. My question is, what temperature should that water be?


texts: Soaked chick peas (overnight) smell like sour milk

texts:
I put chickpeas in cold water last night and let them soak overnight, at room temperature, about 14-16 hours total. Today when I took the cover off, there was white foam on top of the water. I dumped the beans in a colander and got a whiff of a really strong, foul odor, like sour milk or a strong cheese. I know beans can sometimes smell funky, but this was something else.

The beans themselves looked fine and normal, but it took a lot of rinsing to get rid of that bad smell. Is this normal? I rarely soak my beans and I don't think I've ever soaked chick peas, so I haven't encountered this before.

This might be important: I did not rinse them before soaking. I just put them in a pot, filled it with cold water, and set it on the counter to soak. Could that be the reason they smelled so bad after the soak? Are they OK to eat? Or should I throw them out and start over with different chick peas? Thanks.


texts: Could you use other liquors than vodka in pie dough?

texts: Cook's Illustrated has developed a recipe for pie dough that substitutes vodka for some of the water, making dough mixable but developing less gluten (tough pastry). It works! Has anyone tried using rum or whiskey in place of vodka, in hopes of getting a flavored crust, for perhaps a pecan or banana cream pie? If so did it work out for you?


texts:
I made such a soup this weekend (my first attempt) that was very pasty and gritty as an end result.  I believe this is due to the preparation of the roux.

I sauteed onions in a stick of butter then added 1/3 C flour and toasted before adding the milk (instructed all at once).

I believe if I prepared my roux closer to what I'm more familiar with, by using less butter for the roux itself (also adding the milk a little at a time), and using the remainder of the butter to saute the onions separately, then incorporating them later, that the final consistency would be smoother.

Is this the right approach, or is there another way to ensure a cheddar based soup not come out pasty?


texts: Equivalence between fresh coconut and coconut cream?

texts:
I've been enjoying my cookbook Fish Indian Style which I won in the Question-of-the-Week contest here on Seasoned Advice.  However, I'm having difficulty with one common ingredient used in Atul Kochhar's recipes.

Many of his recipes include pureeing fresh coconut meat with water or stock as a base for curry.  As extracting coconut meat is rather ... labor-intensive, I'd like to simply use some spoonfuls of canned coconut cream, which is after all made from coconut meat and water.

Two questions:

How equivalent is this substitution?
If a recipe calls for 250g of coconut meat pureed with 200ml of stock, what would be the equivalent volume of coconut cream?

Sadly, Kitchen Companion does not have this particular substitution documented.


texts:
How long can a pre=packaged, un-opened Brined Turkey last if bought 1 week before Thanksgiving? The outer expiration date on this Brined Turkey states to use or freeze by 12/2/2020.
Was planning to smoke/cook on 11/24/2020 but wanted to know if Turket might be bad or good. There are too many sites with conflicting answers.


texts: When cooking tomato sauce for a long time, should you add water?

texts:
I know tomato sauce should be cooked for a long time to develop flavor. To prevent it burning you have to stir constantly, though I find it burns on the stove (and the oven) too much without adding water.

I wonder however if adding water can stop the sauce from developing flavor since boiling food cannot reach 300+ temperatures required for flavor to develop. Lately I found putting a lid on the skillet reduces evaporation and thus chance for burning, though I think it may defeat the purpose.

When cooking tomato sauce, does adding water to prevent sauce from burning stop the flavor development?


texts: Why do some eggs crack while being boiled?

texts:
It doesn't happen with every egg. It happens with only some of them.

It doesn't have anything to do with fridge. Almost always I take the eggs out of the fridge and put them in water for boiling.  Many times they don't crack. Some times they do.

What is cause of eggs getting cracked while boiling?


texts: Xanthan Gum v. Guar Gum v. Cellulose Gum v. Glucomannan

texts:
Of these four titular ingredients, can someone please help elucidate for me when one would want to use each one? So far the only one I've used personally is glucomannan(konjac root flour), and I have used it in a pudding and in cakes, both of which completely lacked any sort of grain or flour. I'm wondering primarily for making things like syrups, sauces and jellies. I've stumbled across some Walden Farms products and saw that different combinations of these gums seem to appear in nearly all of their products and was wondering what I would want to use to imitate those recipes. I've seen recipes like this online:
http://gwens-nest.com/stevia-syrup-recipe/
And also like this:
http://jamesonwolfffitnesssystems.com/2014/homemade-walden-farms-pancake-syrup/
And am not sure what to expect the difference(s) between them to be. Would I be able to get away with only using glucomannan, or would that only be able to give me a "solid" gel and not a syrup? If it wouldn't work, what would? Any help appreciated.


texts: Au poivre without green pepper, is it good?

texts:
So I am trying to learn different recipes. One I'd like to do soon is the steak au poivre, it's a quite simple one but all the recipes I found say you need green pepper (peppercorn, not bell) and I can't find it in the local market.

I'd like to know what other kind(s) of pepper would be a good alternative (here I can find easily black, white and pink pepper), or if any of them would. I have never tasted green pepper so I don't really know what to expect from it. The dish should look like this:

http://www.cavemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Steak-au-Poivre-KF-1024x682.jpg


texts: A question on the level of water when making tea in an electic kettle?

texts: Suppose I boil water in an electric kettle in order to add hot water in a cup containing a tea bag. Should I cover the metal ring with water or is it ok if the level of water is halfway through the metal ring (the one which heats)? Suppose you only make a small amount of tea (say one cup).


texts: What can I do to make my Cheese & Onion Pie freeze well?

texts:
Here is my Mum's recipe for what she called Cheese & Onion Pie, which was a favourite of mine as a child, and I continue to make occasionally to this day.

Boil some chopped potatoes until soft.
Drain, add milk and butter, and mash them.
Add grated cheese and finely chopped red onion and mix. About two thirds potato, one third cheese & onion.
Transfer it into a dish.
Cover with pastry (I cheat and use ready made pastry, sorry)
Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes.

This works very well. Over the years I've experimented with different types of cheese, and also things like black pepper and garlic.

However, if I freeze it, it does not defrost very well. It comes out watery and with a lot less taste.

I have tried leaving it to defrost at room temperature, defrosting it quickly in the microwave, and putting it straight in the oven frozen. The end result is the same.

I have also tried leaving the pastry out and just freezing the mixture.

There are two issues with freezing it:-  The watery texture, and the taste. Are they connected?

Is there anything I can do to make it suitable for freezing?

To clarify: I make a large pie, serve half and freeze the other half. I'm not making it specifically just to put in the freezer.


texts:
I've seen lot's of questions in regards to the grate on a grill rusting (like this one: Can I still cook on my propane grill with rust?) but my situation is a tad different in regards to the lid. When I rub my finger on the inside top of the grill lid, small amounts of rust particles/shavings are falling down.

I have a 5 burner Kenmore grill and the inside top of the grill lid is rusting. It appears there is actually a heat shield of sorts attached to the inside of the lid that is the part rusting. The bolts appear to be rivets or something that I can't remove. The lid is not made anymore so replacing it is out of the question. Actually the thing is only 3.5 years old and a lot of the parts aren't made which has been a frustration to this issue.

I can't remember the color and metal type of that inside lid cover shield when new but I thought it was stainless steel, however I suppose I was wrong. I'm thinking about taking the pressure washer to the inside of the lid, followed by a wire brush, repeat of the pressure washer, and then dry as a remedy. I'm assuming painting is a really bad idea because of fumes, food, etc.

Is it time to pitch the grill because of that lid rusting, or does some type of maintenance to it seem like a good idea? At the end of the day I don't want rusty burgers and steaks!


texts: Vegan binder for chinese style dumpling fillings

texts:
Common recipes for potsticker/wonton-style (thin wrapper) dumplings use egg as a binder for the filling, to make it easier to work with and to displace air. For comparison, if you make a filling with no binder, it will be hard to place without getting bits of it in the way of sealing the dumpling, and there tends to be too much air inside causing oil ingestion if fried, bad heat transfer if steamed, and bloating/water ingestion if boiled.

Legume flours, flaxseed and other binders good in baking have the issue that they need some cooking time to set - typically longer than you can cook a dumpling. Starch-thickened sauces would be a possibility but the result will be likely too much on the gloopy side.

What non-animal ingredient works well to fill this gap without weighing the filling down too much?


texts: Resources for cooking for a person with type 2 diabetes

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I am a private chef and will have to cook for 16 days for a person recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

The meals I'm required to prepare are lunch and dinner. There will be six people and dinners are served family style.

I have occasionally cooked for the family in the past and the meals have always been simple, eclectic and very healthy made from the highest quality ingredients which I have access to. I have never baked for this family and don't see any reason to start now.

What I need is information and resources on low-glycemic, diabetic diets. We also love to eat creative, fun and interesting foods so that should make it easier. I'm just curious what ideas are there, so please share.


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Anyone familiar with Turkish cuisine know what this is? I had this in Istanbul. All I could gather from the owner was that it is made of milk.

The texture was like a very moist cake. The taste was milky and sweet (but not very sweet). That is definitely raspberry jelly on top.