texts: Is there a significant difference between Indian and Chinese star anise?

texts:
I’ve just bought some star anise, but I'm not sure of its origin.   It smells zingy which kind of reminds me of Chinese food.

Taste-wise, is there a difference between Indian and Chinese star anise? I wanted the Indian one, as per a recipe, but I’m wondering if I have the Chinese one and if that will give the same taste the recipe intended?


texts: Is it possible to make a jam-setting gelling agent at home?

texts:
Many jam and marmalade recipes call for a gelling agent in order to solidify the fruit-sugar mixture. While some fruits (like apples) may contain enough of a gelling agent (pectin) to solidify themselves while cooked for a long time I wonder what I can do with other fruits if I don't have a gelling agent at hand (they are quite hard to get a hold of where I live).

I read about adding orange, lemon or apple peel or cores as well as boiling down apples in order to extract the pectin but I'm curious if there are other, maybe more foolproof and accurate ways, to imitate a gelling agent (pectin or anything else which works for a jam).


texts: Uneven baking in a convection microwave oven

texts:
I'm just starting to learn to bake. I have a convection microwave oven and I've read at a lot of places that a convection microwave can be used for baking. But, everytime I bake something, it gets baked unevenly. I have never baked in anything but my own convection microwave oven. So, I don't know that the uneven baking is due to the oven or not. If anybody has ever faced a similar problem and has a fix for it, please reply.

Could it be because of rotation inside the oven?
Thanks.


texts: Sous vide pasteurization for pregnant wife

texts:
long time StackOverflow user (and home cook). My wife is now almost 5 months pregnant, and whilst initially I didn't want to serve her sous vide food (she didn't want any) 5 months of non sous vide meals has taken its toll on her!

After looking into sous vide pasteurization it would seem that as long as food is pasteurized, it is super safe (if not safer than any other method).

So am I right in thinking, that as long as food has reached its pasteurized temp for the right time, there are no food safety issues (regarding pregnant women etc).

So technically I could serve her a rare(ish) steak, cooked at 136F, if I slow cooked it over say 8 hours?

Likewise, the first meal I was going to attempt was sous vide ribs, 8 hours at 164F (to be safe).

Thanks!


texts:
How useful is the discworld cookbook to people in our world for cooking purposes? In other words do they use real world ingredients? Any notable successes?

I’m mostly curious & I don’t think it’s been covered on this stack before anyway


texts: Why do people say that cooking in a cast-iron pan will build the seasoning, while also saying that you should never cook to the smoking point?

texts: A very common claim is that once you start cooking with a cast-iron pan, you never really need to season it again. As you cook, the seasoning just builds up. However, the way I understand it, seasoning only happens when you heat the oil so much that it starts to smoke. However, smoking oil has many carcinogens, and you're not supposed to eat it. So how does the seasoning build up if you never heat the pan enough (while cooking) for the seasoning process?


texts: Can "cream-style" corn substitute for creamed corn in cornbread?

texts:
I was searching for an extra-moist cornbread recipe, and found several that said the secret was to add some creamed corn. From the descriptions/quantities involved, it seemed clear that they meant canned creamed corn, not the homemade variety. However, all I've ever seen in the grocery store is cream-style corn, which does not generally involve cream, or even dairy products of any sort. (The ingredients are usually corn, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.)

Thus, my question is twofold: (1) is actual creamed corn available canned, and I just don't know about it? (2) If I use cream-style corn, will it have the same effect of adding extra moistness to my cornbread, or should I substitute something else instead?


texts: Can I replace pine nuts with other nuts in a pesto sauce recipe?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is a good pine nut substitute for pesto?

Pine nuts are very expensive here. I'm wondering if I can substitute any of the following:

Walnuts
Sunflower seeds
Almonds

Would any of these be appropriate in a pesto sauce?


texts: Is there a resource on food prep times for labor costing?

texts:
The Culinary Institute of America released an excellent book on food costing - The Book of Yields: Accuracy in Food Costing and Purchasing. In it there are lookup tables on yields on over 1000 foods. The thing it's missing are average time estimates for achieving those yields, say like "it takes about t minutes to trim 20 pounds of carrots."

Anyone know of a resource like that?


texts:
I'm looking for a cooking method which retains fat and oil.  When I grill, boil, simmer etc I notice most of the oil leaves the meat.

Which method is best to ensure fats and oils are retained during cooking?

I heard that if you marinade in olive oil before grilling that will prevent fat from coming out.  Is it true?

Can I grill or bake at lower temperatures to get desired result?  will the meat still be cooked to the safe temperature if done this way?


texts: I like the occasional Negroni or Manhattan, but I'm not a heavy drinker. As far as I'm concerned liquor is pretty much immortal, but what's the rule on vermouth?


texts: How do Blue potatoes differ from Yukon Gold potatoes?

texts:
In what ways do Blue potatoes differ from Yukon Golds?  (Other than the color.)

Do they have comparable amounts of starch and water?
Do they have a different flavor or texture?
How should I be prepared adjust my cooking method if substituting Blues for Yukons?


texts: I have been smoking meat recently, and I found out that in Maine people brine lobster in seawater. Can I do the same in Florida with a chicken?


texts:
I have fallen into a slump at the minute where i just don't feel like preparing food when i get home from work, and i would prefer to cut up a larger batch of potatoes in one go and store them in the fridge/freezer in the correct portion sizes, so when i get home i can just throw them into the oven.

The problem i have had with this up to now is, if i put them into the freezer and then try to cook them, the defrosting process turns them to mush. If i put them in the fridge, they have gone off by morning.

Is there a better way to store potatoes that have been cut up?


texts:
When I make Chinese or Japanese style dumplings I often make too many and then store some for the next day

When I reheat them, they always go a bit strange and seem to taste worse then when they were fresh

Are there ways to store or re-heat the old dumplings to make them conserve better?


texts: What can I do to fix store-bought mayonnaise that split?

texts:
My dad brought 2 bottles of mayonnaise from Kuwait. When we opened the box, it looked like water/oil had come up above the other contents.

How can I fix this?


texts:
I just tried browning butter. I placed the butter in a saucepan and heated it. It melted, then started to bubble and sizzle. Once the sizzling subsided, brown particles started forming in the butter. The liquid itself didn't seem to change colour that much.

When the "particles" had a nice brown colour I tried the butter and it had that "nutty" flavour people often talk about. The colour of the liquid itself however was a very light brown at most.

Is this what people talk about when they say "browned butter", the "particles" inside the liquid being brown instead of the liquid itself? I also tried leaving it in the pan longer but the little particles turned black before the liquid became a deep brown (it still tasted ok though but not as good as the butter I took out before).

Cheers!


texts: How can I avoid chocolate truffle mix curdling?

texts: We are trying to make chocolate truffles by heating cream and adding to chopped up chocolate but it keeps curdling. Are there any tips to avoid this happening?


texts:
A week ago, we bought some salmon, that was oddly cheap.  Today, after cooking it, we realized why: there were hundreds of bones in the fish, all waiting to make their way into our throats. We stopped eating it and threw it away. I realized at the same time that even though they were potential hazards, it was such a waste of money.

Question is, how do we best efficiently filter out fish bones from fish that have tons of them? In other words, is there an easier way besides manually pulling out the bones one by one?


texts: Culinary use for the green parts of lemongrass?

texts: In most recipes/applications I've seen only the white part of lemongrass is used. Is there any culinary use for the upper/outer green parts?


texts: Will newspaper covering a cake pan catch fire in the oven?

texts: I need my cakes to bake flat. I have been told to cover the cake tin with newspaper secured with sellotape, but wouldn't this catch on fire in the oven?


texts: Will terrible things happen if I replace part or all of the refined sugar in this recipe with malt extract?

texts:
Behold the recipe: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/giant-mars-bar-recipe-milky-way-bar/

I'm planning to make a cake based on the Zero Candy Bar for father's day, because it's my dad's favorite and they aren't always available in stores around here.

The nougat in the Zero bar is slightly chocolatey, but has a much stronger malt flavor and is very chewy as well--especially compared to the nougat in a Milky Way bar, for example. So I've been trying to research different nougat recipes. I've found different chocolate malt nougat recipes using malted milk powder, but I don't have any of that. My mom's a home-brewer, so I have actual powdered Malt extract.

I might try the recipe as stated first--to see if it's good enough as is, but what might happen if I replace part or all of the white sugar with my malt extract? I know they're different chemically which means they might (will?) react differently to heat, but I can't find much information on malt extract being using to make candy at all. Does it have a hardball stage?

The only nougat recipe I could find using just malt syrup/extract does not say anything about its resulting texture.

Can anyone give me solid information before I go flying off into the great molten-sugar unknown this weekend?

The more of my egg white stash I waste, the longer it will be until I can make macarons again, and that's no joke.


texts: How can I attach printed rice paper decorations to cakes / cookies?

texts:
I bought some printed rice paper decorations (flat circles of rice paper printed with edible ink) for my son's birthday party. I'm not sure what the best way is to attach them to cakes / cookies and I don't have a lot of spare time to experiement.

The options I can think of are:

make my own cookies and press them in to the cookie - either before
baking or more likely after baking but while still warm and soft
place the rice paper circle on top of a pre-baked cookie or small flat-topped cake and pipe some form of icing or frosting around the
edge to hold it in place
pile butter cream icing on top of a small cake, press the rice paper circle onto the butter cream icing

What I ideally want is to be able to do this the day before they are needed, so as well as being held properly in place, I also would like the rice paper not to go soggy / curl up and the ink not to run or leak out of the rice paper.


texts: What to do with the fat rendered when making beef stock?

texts: I just made beef stock and after cooling the stock in the pot I skimmed the solidified fat off the surface and the walls of the pot. Since I often read 'keep duck fat' when making duck stock/broth and because lard is probably something similar from pork, should I keep that beef fat instead of throwing it away? Or does it lack the 'quality' of duck fat (for instance)?


texts:
I saw at the store there's a new cooking oil composed of 80% canola oil and 20% olive oil.
They offer it for frying and seasoning.
What would be the smoke point for such an oil?


texts:
I've been working on Croquettes and I still don't get it. There are a good number of things too keep in mind for making them right. However, my last batch was a mess, again.

I'd like to pose a wiki like question on how to make the most awesome Meat-Velouté-Croquettes.

1- Broth. Take a knee-bone, knuckle meat, carrots, leek, celery, laurel, ... cover with cold water, bring to a soft boil and simmer for about two hours.

2- Make a Roux. Melt butter, stir in flour, let the mix simmer for a couple of minutes.

3- Mix the broth in with the roux and let that simmer for some time.

4- Taste. Cool.

5- Make Croquette rolls, pass them through flour, egg and breadcrumbs.

6- Cool or freeze.

7- Fry.

My problem was that I mixed too much broth with the roux. So, I mixed more roux and put that in with the Croquette mix. Then I mixed some more roux... After the cooling, it was impossible to make the croquette rolls. The mass would not roll, but kind of tear apart. Like the structure was too strong to establish new connections.

My wife thinks I should have left the mix simmer for longer than I did. Any suggestions?

Edit - I think the problem is in step 3. Now I just let it simmer until the mass gets 'cohesive'. After the cooling, shaping is not a problem any more.


texts: Why did I have to coat my veggies with flour?

texts:
I made a corn chowder this evening containing corn, potatoes, onions, garlic, and some other good stuff. This particular recipe instructed me to add a little bit of flour once I softened the onions and garlic in butter and oil. The instructions specifically said to coat the veggies in flour before adding vegetable stock.

I understand the flour's role in thickening the chowder, but what's the reason for adding it at that stage? Would it not work as well if I added the flour after bringing the veggie stock to a boil, for example?


texts:
I have a recipe that asks for "a ladleful" of something. The recipe book usually uses imperial weights and volumes, that I can convert to my metric units that I hold so dear.

As I understand it, a ladleful is the volume necessary to fill a ladle - but how much is it? A ladle can take on various sizes, so I guess it wouldn't make much sense to not normalize it in any way (like, a cup is eight ounces).

EDIT:
As suggested in the comments, I want to mention it is "a ladleful of sourdough starter" that I should add to 2 pounds 7 ounces / 1.1 kg of rye flour and 2.5 cups of water. I'd normally go with about 500g of starter, but that seems like a big ladle to me.


texts: I have a De'Longhi 7 qt. stand mixer that I believe is now manufactured by Kenwood in America. I would love to make pasta but the attachment is no longer available. Can I use those made by KitchenAid? Will they fit?


texts: looking for an idea for "fondue alternative" dish, that can be served in a buffet

texts: I'm looking for an idea for a dish with fondue taste (mainly the combination of cheese and wine \ beer), but which can be served in a buffet (without constant heating, and something that can be eaten standing up)


texts: Used Sweetened yoghurt in savoury dish - how to correct?

texts: While making lamb and spinach curry, by accident I used sweetened natural yoghurt, instead of unsweetened. How can I disguise the sweet taste? I have added more spices, and also lemon juice.


texts: Is it safe to use calphalon when the aanondized coating begins to wear?

texts: Is it safe to use calphalon if the anodized coating is beginning to wear?


texts: What influence does the properties of fat in vegetable oil affect emulsification of oil?

texts:
I am trying to make vegan mayonnaise. In my first attempt I used soy milk and corn oil as the major ingredients. I tried adding lemon juice instead of vinegar as the emulsifying agent and used the immersion blender to blend. However I could not get the creamy texture. The resultant product tasted like mayonnaise (at least in my imagination) and was white in color (due to soy milk?) but was watery in consistency. The volume did not expand.

Most of the recipes online calls for avacado oil or soy bean oil. I am wondering about the relation between length/saturation of the fatty chain and the ease of emulsification.

Are long chain fatty acids difficult to emulsify as compared to medium chain and short chain fatty acids?
How does the degree of saturation affect emulsification?


texts: What method should be used for caramelizing chopped lime?

texts:
I was making this recipe from Andrei Lussman the other day, but I was having some issues with one part of it:

  Finely chop the remaining half of lime and cook gently in a separate pan to release the fruit sugars, until caramelised.

However, after having chopped the lime it mostly resembled lime juice with some chunks in it, and leaving it on the heat it just reduced until it was a very sour mix. Turning up the heat a bit, it looked like it might start to caramelize a bit, but mostly just in a thin film which stuck to the bottom of the pan. Adding a little bit of water and vigorously stirring made it release from the pan, but it still didn't have any sweet taste, just condensed lime-flavor.

I ended up with a very sour glob of semi-solid lime remains, which really didn't work well with the rest of the recipe.

Does anyone have some experience with caramelizing lime, and if so could you explain in some more detail than Lussman how to do this in order to achieve the desired result?


texts:
I've been cooking lasagna at least twice a week, but I still haven't been able to come up with a flavor that makes me "happy".

Is there a particular way to stack lasagna for full flavor? Say:

first veggies, then sauce, then cheese, then protein, etc?

I'm asking this because when I'm cooking lasagna, its taste is pretty "plain" at best, I can taste the pasta and the sauce, but that's about it, I can never get to taste the other ingredients.


texts: How to prevent sliced vegetables/roots from sticking to the blade

texts:
This is especially problematic with garlic, but onions, roots and other vegetables are sometimes just as bad.

When making thin slices, with the problem worsening as the portions are cut smaller, the garlic clings to the blade and I have to wipe it off after each go. Are there any tips or tricks used to prevent this?

I've never seen a chef on a cooking show do anything special to their blades beforehand, and they never seem to have the problem. My knives are high quality and very sharp.


texts:
I just got a frozen ham. I have never dealt with a ham before.

If I don't need to eat it now, should I put it in the freezer or refrigerator? The package says "keep refrigerated". Does it mean it can be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature higher than 0°C?
If I want to eat it now, should I thaw the ham first by putting it in the refrigerator or outside at the room temperature?
After it is thawed, is it easy to use a regular knife to cut it into pieces? Note that the ham weighs about 4 lbs.
Since it is smoked, does it mean it is already cooked thoroughly or is it still raw? Do I need to cook it, and if yes, how?


texts: Is there a reason for storing ground spices separately (unmixed)?

texts:
I always use the same spice mix for dal. Instead of taking 1-2 tsp of each, I would rather keep a special container for the dal of the ready made mix in the proportions I want.

Is there any reason not to do so? Shelf-life, aggregation, ..?


texts: Is this type of vegetable peeler effective?

texts:
On eBay there are cheap ceramic vegetable peelers like this:

Do they work well? Right now I have a simple, knife-like peeler with a hole in the middle which I hate and I'd like to change. Does this type work better?


texts: I only want to buy two knives, which two types to get?

texts: I plan on cooking pretty simple foods and will need a knife for things like stir fry, the occasional meat dish, soups, casseroles, basically just standard fare. What brand and type will get me good value and all-purpose use?


texts: Is it safe to cook wine or vinegar in cast iron?

texts: I want to cook a beef brisket, following a recipe that suggests baking it on a bed of onions and red wine, or red wine vinegar.  I'd like to use a cast iron dutch oven, but am concerned about the interaction between the wine and the iron.  I've read tomatoes and iron is not recommended, but what about wine or vinegar?


texts: What are techniques to make homemade pasta without a pasta machine?

texts: I would like to try making homemade pasta, but my significant other won't let me buy a pasta machine. It's understandable, they are expensive. What are good techniques to make homemade pasta without a rolling machine?


texts: Oxtail soup, what is the normal simmer time?

texts:
I have recently made two very successful attempts at an oxtail soup.

First boil/simmer:

1.2 kgs oxtail
Yellow onion about equal in volume, maybe slightly less
Carrots about 1/4 the onions, so 2 - 4 carrots depending on size.

I Brown the meat and precook the onions and the carrot.

My first attempt simmered for about 5 1/2 hours. (The "recipe" called for three) and when I got the tailbones out I had to use my hands a lot to get the meat off of the tails. Digging in good. I had to use a knife to get the gristle off.

My next attempt I added celery root and tomato puree in the first boil. After  3.5 hours I could easily get the gristle off by just thumbing it off. The meat came off the bone like pork cooked to well done + 5 hours.

They both tasted awesome, but behaved very differently. This does not seem to be a fire and forget dish.

Why did they come out so differently?

The soup is completed by using the broth from the first cooking, a good idea is to sift with a cloth. Add the meat, some veggies that you like, celery, mushrooms, carrot, season to taste and you have an amazing soup.


texts: Are there any negative effects to kneading bread dough longer?

texts:
Is there such a thing as over-kneading bread dough. From what I understand, kneading the bread dough is what allows the gluten strands to align and form the beautiful gluten networks that create bread with all the little air bubbles.

If that is the case, is it always, "the more you knead the better", or are there any negative effects that occur if you knead it longer than what your bread recipe states.


texts: Why are my homemade Manicotti Shells doughy?

texts:
I handmade fresh pasta sheets for my manicotti recipe.

Without cooking the pasta sheets in boiling water I stuffed the sheets (shells) with the cheese filling, topped with tomato sauce and cooked for about 60 minutes.

The pasta was doughy and soft, almost undercooked.

Do you advise cooking the fresh pasta sheets first? Why was it undercooked?


texts: Are there any differences between the commonly recommended types of woods for chopping boards?

texts:
I'm a bit overwhelmed by the number of options for the type of wood in a cutting board.  I've tried searching Google with every combination of phrases that I could think of, and I don't feel like I've found conclusive information explaining how different types of wood would affect the qualities of a cutting board.

Between some of the popular options (perhaps maple, cherry, and walnut), will there be any tangible difference in the use or upkeep of a cutting board? Or is the difference, for all intents and purposes, only visual?


texts:
The way I currently cook kidney beans is to soak them overnight. But still they have to be cooked for a long time on gas before they get tender enough to be edible.

Anything that can be added or be done in a different way to reduce the time over heat?


texts: Can I store a soup in my cast-iron in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours in the cast-iron pot?

texts: Can I store a soup in my cast-iron pot for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator?


texts: Why did my grandfather-in-law salt his beer?

texts: My grandfather-in-law was born in England in the 1920s and fought in World War II. Somewhere along the line he acquired the habit of salting his beer before drinking it, which persisted for the rest of his life. I'm as curious about the cultural genesis of the practice as the food science of it – was there perhaps something about wartime beer that made it unpalatable without salt? I know there were other wartime food customs like bread and scrape so it doesn't seem implausible, but the "why" of this one isn't so obvious.


texts: Caffettiera (Moka Pot) is not making coffee properly

texts:
I have fairly large Italian Caffettiera used for making coffee. I think it makes about 8 cups. The thing is it sits on my lit gas stove for at least 15 minutes and nothing comes out.

Any ideas?

PS. Yes, I put water in it ;)


texts: How can I make zucchini bread less moist?

texts:
I made zucchini bread, and it turned out very tasty but too moist. It was very dense and somewhat sticky - not in an underdone way, though. I actually baked it for 5-6 minutes longer than the recipe called for (and I know my oven temperature is accurate). It was moist but cooked through when I took it out of the oven (and when I ate a piece about 10-15 minutes later), but as it cooled, it sank in the middle and was much stickier and less bread-y.

If I make this again, how can I make the texture lighter and drier? I’m considering lessening the amount of zucchini used, but do I just add more flour in a 1:1 ratio for whatever zucchini I leave out? Or do I need to adjust the other ingredients, too?

This was the recipe I used, made in a single large loaf pan: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2010/06/25/recipe-zucchini-bread/


texts: Why Is My White Sweet Potato Turning Black?

texts: I started cutting a white sweet potato. But within minutes an area on the outside of the potato started turning black/brown. Other sides of the cubed chunks didn't seem as affected. Here's a photo with the black and better bits separated. Even the good ones were rapidly browning and oxidizing in a speckled fashion.


texts:
How does one make Douchi (Chinese fermented black beans) from scratch?

I've tried searching the web and haven't found anything. I imagine it can't be too hard, since it's mainly just fermented soybeans. Anybody have any idea of how Douchi is made? Or at least resources that will point in the right direction?


texts: Recalling poultry known to have Salmonella

texts:
In the recent news, there was 91k pounds of turkey recalled because it was known to contain Salmonella,  If I've always been told to cook my poultry to full doneness to kill off Salmonella and other baddies, so why is meat often recalled if its known to have Salmonella?

I always treat each step in the prep and cooking as if it could make me sick, so it seems like a waste of 6000 or so turkeys when the meat can easily be cooked safe to eat.

What am I missing?


texts: We have had our own chickens for over 20 years and feed them on crushed grain and laying pellets and they eat greens in the fields. The fresh eggs have always been plump in the centre when cracked. Lately the yolks are flat and even if carefully broken into the pan they tend to rupture and leak as the egg is frying. Just like old eggs. what could be the explanation?


texts: What is this type of hot plate and how do I use it?

texts:
We have this type of hot plate in our house. It has a raised centre section that depresses when a pot is placed on it. The temperature control has 10 graduations compared to 6 for the other 3 hot plates, which do not have the centre section.

We just tried use it to boil some oranges to make orange cake. The water started bubbling over so we turned it down to 3 but it still kept supplying a high heat. What is the centre part and how does this hot plate work?

Edit:

The other three plates do not have this centre section.


texts: I cannot understand how to properly fry seafood

texts:
I don't understand how to properly fry something.
I tried the basics: Use a shallow pan (ceramic), place it on the stove (induction), add oil (sunflower), wait until it gets hot and add something (thawed seafood in my case).
In the advertisements the chefs just swirl the mussels, shrimps, and octopus pieces around and produce some tasty browned pieces. In my case the seafood leaked a lot of water and the oil disappeared somehow. Since the pieces were stuck on the pan I needed to stir with a scraper. All I got were some barely made pieces with a thick brown layer sticking on the pan.

What did I do wrong and how can I improve?
Update
Your suggestions worked.
Yesterday I made about half a kilo of seafood. I dried the seafood, used a bit more oil and prepared it in batches in a non-stick pan.
Thank you all!


texts:
I've read that one should hand-wash knives, and I mostly buy that. I've also seen advice that one should dry them immediately and put them away.

Why shouldn't knives air-dry? Aside from the unsightly water stains, is there any downside to letting knives air-dry?

Edit: We have Henckel full-tang knives. Rust is a real concern -- we had them sharpened, and the shop did a lousy job -- the edges are ragged.


texts: Are some flavour pairings known to work better than others (and if so, why)?

texts:
It is commonly known that there are five "primary" flavours:

Sweet
Sour
Bitter
Salty
Savory (AKA Umami)

That leaves 10 possible pairs of two, 10 possible sets of three, and 5 possible sets of four.

My question is, are some combinations known to produce more favourable tastes than others?  And if so, why?  Are there objective reasons or does it vary by culture?

Also, are there other, "secondary" flavours (piquance, fattiness, pungency, etc.) that pair particularly well with any of the primary flavours?

I ask because I do seem to see certain combinations far more often than others.  Sweet and sour are often found together, and bitter and savory foods are often accompanied by saltiness and pungent foods such as garlic and onion.  As of late I'm also starting to see the "sweet and hot" combination more (chocolate and chili).  Yet it's rather rare to see, for example, sour combined with savory or bitter flavours, unless other flavours are added to the mix (as in Five Spice).

Knowing the most common/appropriate pairings would, I think, make one better-equipped to tweak seasonings, make substitutions, and improvise when necessary.  So, how does one determine whether a given pairing is destined for the gullet or the garbage?

N.B. This is somewhat related to Flavour combinations - structural analysis, but that question is more about how to pair foods, which is typically done by choosing ingredients that share basic/primary flavours, whereas this is specifically about how to pair the flavours themselves in an abstract sense.


texts: Strange bacteria-like substances in honey

texts: We bought honey from the store today. I just realized there are strange bacteria-like substances inside it. What are they? Is it safe to eat?


texts:
I use Gulab Jamun mix of the Gits company. http://www.gitsfood.com/gulabjamun/

The problem is that even on low fire the balls get brown from out side, but don't get cooked "properly" within.
When I try to cook it for a longer time, they tend to be hard.

What can I add to the mixture so that it cooks "properly" within and remains soft too?
Sodium bicarbonate? or something else can work too?


texts: What flavor (besides chocolate) goes well with hazelnut?

texts:
I have a family recipe for a to-die-for hazelnut torte with chocolate frosting. I want to bake it for an occasion coming up, but there will be at least two, possibly three people there who are allergic to chocolate. (No, none of them are related to each other. Just one of those things.) What sort of frosting can I make that will go well with the hazelnut, but which doesn't involve chocolate?

The cake is pretty sweet — equal parts sugar and ground hazelnuts, plus egg whites — so I usually make a bittersweet chocolate frosting by combining a good half or two-thirds cup of dutch cocoa with 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar, 6 tablespoons water, and 8 egg yolks, cooking until thickened, and when cooled mixing it with two sticks of unsalted butter. I'm thinking if I leave out the cocoa, I will have to substitute something for the volume as well as the flavor.

I often see raspberries paired with hazelnuts and chocolate. Do raspberries still go well with hazelnuts if there is no chocolate involved? Also, unsweetened raspberries tend toward the sour, while unsweetened chocolate is bitter; how would that affect things?


texts: Can I substitute store-bought puff pastry dough for phyllo in pumpkin pastry?

texts: I want to make a pumpkin filled pastry for a potluck thanksgiving.  I found a great recipe for pumpkin & feta pastries, but it calls for filo/phyllo dough.  Can I use puff pastry dough instead, to make it more 'turnover-like'?  If so, how will it alter the preparation?


texts: Keeping consistent quality of marinated meat throughout the day in a restaurant

texts:
The issue I need help with is knowing how to serve marinaded meats consistently to customers. I have found that for my recipe, the marinaded meats taste good after three hours of marinating. Of course, this is not possible to have the meals served after three hours consistently to patrons. For example, if I place the meats in the marinade at 6:00pm and start serving at noon the next day, they will have one texture and taste. If I start them in the morning, 9:00am, they are ready at noon.

Bottom line, what is the best practice for a food establishment that serves marinated meats on the menu (chicken, pork, lamb) without having different tastes and textures for patrons?


texts: Is cooked fish as perishable as raw fish?

texts:
I know that leaving raw fish out of the fridge for more than a couple hours makes it totally unsafe to eat. Most cooked meats are okay to pack in a lunchbox and hold at room temperature for the hours between breakfast and lunch, but some foods are considered unsafe to store at room temp even after preparation (like mayo-containing potato salad).

If I cook fish in the morning, let it cool, and pack it in my lunch, do I need an ice pack in my lunch or will it still be safe to eat 4-5 hours later when kept at room temperature?


texts: substuting cottage cheese for cream cheese in a cheesecake

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Can I use cottage cheese instead of cream cheese when making a cheesecake?

Can I use cottage cheese and ricotta cheese together for a cheesecake which needs to be baked. I bought cottage cheese instead of cream cheese for a recipe, can I substitute?


texts: What all fruits/crops can be stored in natural temperature for a long time?

texts: I want to know about foods (fruits/crops) which can be stored in room temperature or natural temperature (20 degree centigrade) for long time (for a year)?.


texts: Why does my chopped beef come out too tough?

texts:
Whenever I try cooking chopped beef for stews or curries, I can't seem to get it right: It always comes out too tough and tastes like dog food.

I usually get beef labeled "for stir fry" or "for stew". It comes pre-sliced, and it seems like it's pretty good quality.

I pat it with paper towels to get excess liquid off, season with salt and pepper (like one would with a steak), put it in a pan over medium high heat with oil until it turns brown. At the end of this, I try tasting and it comes out inedible.

Is there some trick to cooking beef like this - is the important thing here how long it's cooked, or the seasoning, or how lean the beef is? Or is it a combination these?

In response to comments: I live in the southern US. I buy meat from the supermarket; the quality has been very good for steaks and burger patties, but with stew beef I am somehow having this issue. I haven't tried just buying a good steak and chopping it up myself, I'm asking here about beef that is already chopped in the package.


texts: What are some flavours associated with Canadian cuisine?

texts:
Canadian cuisine has often been described has having no real cohesion or identity, often consisting of a blend of cuisines from other cultures. A big part of this is due to the combination of the vast size of the country, combined with less time and isolation usually needed to develop a distinct culinary identity. While a few dishes and flavours come to mind, such as poutine, bannock, Montreal seasoned meats, pemmican, and anything maple, these aren't exactly widely representative of Canada.
Are there any other flavours or seasoning blends that come to mind that are somewhat authentic and exclusive to Canada? For the scope of this question, I am primarily interested in flavours that can be incorporated into dishes, as opposed to foods on their own, such as Bison, Elk, etc. Furthermore, I am interested in flavours that originated from other regions, that have developed a more Canadian identity over time. Thanks!


texts:
Something I have been making recently is brownie cupcakes (much the same as the molten cakes without the fudge). Using a standard box of dark chocolate brownies, I pour the ingredients, post-whisk, in a cupcake pan.

 I came up with an idea to have frozen peanut butter balls inside of these cakes.

The typical peanut butter ball calls for peanut butter, sugar, and butter then refrigeration.
Now the issue arises: Would freezing the peanut butter and allowing it to melt in the oven, while the cupcakes cook, cause any issues (peanut butter through the bottom)?

This is part 2 of a question asked previously.


texts: How do I separate my melted rock candies?

texts: I recently bought a a jar of rock candies and after one night, they have melted and all stuck together. How do I separate them again to eat them? (I tried freezing, it didn’t work!)


texts:
All the experts insist that a meringue must be made with room-temperature eggs. Why?

I ask because my experience runs completely opposite, at least when it comes to flourless/nut-based desserts where the principal (possibly only) ingredients are egg whites, sugar, and nut meal. If I fold the nuts into a meringue that started with room-temperature eggs, it collapses dramatically. If the meringue started with cold eggs, it still loses some volume when the nuts are added, but not nearly as much. Also, baking the cold meringue is much less likely to result in a runny mess.

Am I doing something wrong, or is there a secret exception to the room-temperature rule that people neglect to mention?


texts: I have a bottle of unopened 23 year old corked spanish white cooking wine

texts: with laurel leaves steeping in it as well. I bought it at the Placio De Espania in 1992. Would it still be safe for use?


texts: Doubling a soup recipe with a smaller than necessary pot

texts: In doubling a squash soup recipe, I've got all the ingredients in the pot except for the doubled amount of liquids (broth and water). I wonder whether I can wait to add the remaining 5 cups of liquid until I reheat before serving, or should I add it during the overnight storage of the soup? Or should I divide what I've got so far and add the remaining liquid and heat it up before storing? My concern is for the flavor melding aspect.


texts: Partially defrosted chicken in cold water, then defrosted the rest of the way in the fridge

texts:
I thought I wanted to cook chicken last night, so I put the frozen chicken breasts (in original packaging) in a bowl of cold water to defrost. After about 30 minutes, I realized that to make the dish I wanted to make, the meat would need an hour to marinate after defrosting, so I decided to wait 24 hours to cook the chicken. I then popped the chicken breasts into the fridge.

My question is: since I started the defrosting process in the bowl of cold water before putting the chicken into the fridge, is the chicken still safe to cook and eat today?


texts: Why do the Japanese eat a lot of raw fish?

texts:
Was trying to answer this question for a school age child writing an essay about Japan. Short of Wikipedia's "hundreds of years ago, you arranged for fresher fish by transporting it live" nothing meaningful popped up in my searches - and that doesn't offer explanation because of course you can cook fish after you transport it live.

So, is there some reason why eating raw fish became so popular/prevalent in Japan's seaward areas specifically (compared to other sea-adjacent areas of other nations)? Was it some specific quality of fish native to Japanese sea waters? Or just an accident of culture?


texts:
An answer* on another one of my questions sparked this: What is actually happening to the cheese on a molecular and chemical level as it ages?  What processes are going on and why is there an upper limit to it?

("It has already aged for over year and has changed pretty much all it's going to.")


texts: Can one use a mix of white rice flour with regular white flour sourdough to make a pizza crust? If so then what ratio might be the best?

texts: I have a regular active sourdough (comprising 50% fermented white wheat flour and 50% water by weight) which is obviously not really malleable as a dough but rather liquid-ish, and I did not like the idea of adding more (non-fermented) flour to it make into a malleable dough. I am aiming to cook it in an oven to make a pizza crust. Would white rice flour be a good substitute for the non-fermented flour to add to the sourdough in order to make a malleable dough out of it? If so, what ratio might possibly achieve the best results?


texts:
I recently read that one of the methods for keeping the (non-blind-baked) bottom crust of a pie from getting soggy is to preheat a baking pan with the oven and bake the pie on it so the bottom crust essentially bakes before it has a chance to absorb too much liquid (http://www.thekitchn.com/5-ways-to-prevent-soggy-pie-crust-tips-from-the-kitchn-212434).

The article is mum on whether this necessitates using a metal pie pan.  I only own Pyrex pans and I generally keep a hearthstone in my oven due to all the bread I bake, so first, do I risk cracking the Pyrex by immediately placing it on such a hot surface and will my hearthstone work just as well as the pan or should I use a pan for some other reason?


texts: If I'm using milk as an ingredient in soup, how can I prevent it from curdling?

texts: There are numerous chicken stock based soups that also have milk as an ingredient  and the milk always seems to curdle - how can I prevent this?


texts:
Most people are trying to make their baked goods lighter and fluffier. I have the opposite issue. I am trying to recreate a recipe my mother made years ago called "tobacco cakes." They're not made with tobacco, but with mincemeat.

Here's the problem: I remember these wonderful bar cookies as being very dense. What I am creating has the same flavor as hers but it is more cakelike.

Here's the recipe I'm using:

  2 cups flour
  ½ tsp salt
  1 tsp baking soda
  2 tsp cinnamon
  1 tsp cloves

  Cream
  1 c butter
  1 ½ c brown sugar

  Add 1 c mincemeat and reserved dry ingredients.

  Put into 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 30 mins.

I've tried taking out the baking soda and that made it a bit more dense, but it's still too cakey. What can I do to this recipe to make it more dense?


texts:
I sometimes put bottles of soda in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to get them near frozen (taste SO much better that way).

If I time it just right I'll pull the bottle out and the liquid will appear completely liquid until I loosen the cap - the liquid will then spontaneously turn into slush.

Can anyone explain why that happens?

(this being my first post on the cooking stack exchange I apologize in advance if it's deemed unsuitable)


texts: Uses for leftover potatoes from a pot-roast

texts: I made a large pot-roast with sweet onion, carrots, green beans, mushrooms and Yukon Gold potatoes (all cooked in the same pot).  All the vegetables except for the potatoes got devoured, so now I have a lot of leftover, slightly beefy, potatoes.  What would be a good use for them?


texts: What impact does the order of assembly have when making cookies?

texts:
What is the impact of assembling a cookie batter in a different manner than that described in the recipe?  What's the best general order for combining the creamed fat & sugar, the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients?

For instance, the Toll House Chocolate Chip cookie recipe says to add the eggs to the creamed mixture, and then the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda).  I sometimes add the dry ingredients, and then the eggs.  What problems might this cause with the finished cookies?


texts: dealing with curved ribs in a flat rib recipe

texts:
I'm trying to make a pork rib ragu, and the ribs I have got are rather... curled. the recipe doesn't really specify which ribs to get, but in the video they're rather flat, making browning them, and then simmering them in stock look much easier.

Should I just roll with my curled ribs, or should I be trying to crack them down to a flat state before browning them?


texts: How would I make a Paleo yogurt-based frozen custard?

texts:
OK, I've been tasked with making a Paleo dessert, and I'd like to try to make a frozen dessert. Here are the ground rules for Paleo desserts: only fermented dairy (yogurt is fine, milk and cream are not), only honey and maybe palm sugar as sweeteners, eggs are fine, nuts are fine, raw coconut oil is fine.

I'm thinking it might be possible to combine full-fat yogurt, strained perhaps, with egg yolks and honey, bring it up to 170 to make a custard, then chill, to get something that would freeze acceptably in a standard home ice cream machine.

Any suggestions? Would this work? I'd think it would taste good, especially with some chopped almonds and berries mixed in, but I'm worried about texture. What issues will I have with using honey as the sole sweetener? Will there be enough fat in the yogurt?


texts: Can uncooked rice be stored in the freezer or refrigerator?

texts: I just bought some Carolina Plantation Gold rice in a sack.  It says to store it in the freezer or the refrigerator.  Can this be right?


texts: What is the binding power of starches vs flour?

texts:
I was surprised to read the answers to a recent question on thickening - two of the three, including the accepted answer, suggested using cornstarch instead of flour to save calories.

I have always assumed that flour and starch are so close in binding power per weight that there is no reason to change any proportions when substituting, and also that the starch source doesn't matter. OK, I know about amylose and amylopectin being present in different amounts in different plants, but my impression is that the same amount of both gives a different thickened texture, not different thickness.

Now the answers and comments there contradict my impression. So, I would like to know: how much is the difference in thickness? If we take some reference, for example

  5 g of cornstarch per 100 g water, mixed and then cooked until thickened

how much of some other starch (potato, arrowroot, whatever) and how much wheat flour (AP or 550) is needed to achieve the same thickness as the reference?


texts: How much of toxins really penetrate melons?

texts:
[realsimple.com:] Cantaloupes often contain five of the longest-lasting chemicals, one of which is dieldrin, an exceedingly toxic and carcinogenic insecticide. Though it was banned in 1974, residues still persist in soils and are taken up through the cantaloupe's roots and absorbed into the edible portion.
[Huffington Post:] Cantaloupe
That's a hard shell cantaloupes boast, so non-organic is fine for this melon. To err on the side of caution, though, you might want to avoid cantaloupes from Mexico, where they can be heavily sprayed by pesticides.)

Realsimple.com asserts 'yes'; please notice that I ask this question for all melons (eg: honeydews, watermelon, etc...) and not only cantaloupes.


texts: I made cherry sorbet according to a recipe, only to find that the cherries I'd bought have a strongly bitter taste to them (not unusual for cherries in my experience). Now the sorbet tastes strongly of cherries I'd prefer not to eat :/ what can I do to improve the flavor, either as a last-minute addition during churning (too late for this batch but useful for the future) or a topping? I'm looking to make it sweeter.


texts: Rye bread in bread machine - crust very rough on top

texts:
This is what I'm using for my rye bread in the bread machine. Overall it's tasty and rises okay, but the top sinks a little bit, and is really rough.
1 ⅓ warmish water
1.5 cups regular flour
1.5 cups rye flour
1 tablespoon fennel
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon yeast

I'm not using a heatlamp, the bread machine model is the
Breadman 2 lb Professional Bread Maker, Stainless Steel, BK1050S (about a month old). The temperature in the house now probably ranges from 67 to 69. I have it on the regular white bread setting in the bread machine.
Any thoughts? Here's a photo - https://imgur.com/a/tU70DRw


texts: Why is rice parboiled? And how does parboiling change rice?

texts:
I have recently been using raw rice at my home. I have noticed that the non-parboiled rice sticks to each other while parboiled rice does not given the same amount of cooking time.

My questions:

Why is rice parboiled?
How does parboiling change rice chemically?
Is it possible to get (unprocessed) cooked rice not stick with each other when cooked?


texts: Is it dangerous or unhygienic to deshell an egg over the bin?

texts: I have been reprimanded at work for de-shelling egg over an open bin. My hand is not touching the bin, as it is opened via the foot pedal. So is it dangerous or unhygienic to deshell an egg over the bin? Anything in a hygiene hand book?


texts: When broths and stocks can't be used interchangeably?

texts: I have seen that sometimes stocks and broths can be used interchangeably in a recipe. I wonder - when can they NOT be used interchangeably?


texts:
I bought a whole pig with a friend. Along with the meat, we each received several bags of skin with ~1/2" of fat.

I figured I'd render the fat for tamales, pies or perhaps make some soap. When a sample batch cooled, I found that another by-product of this is gelatin.

I'll end up with over a gallon (maybe two) of pretty stiff gelatin. Definitely stiffer than any chicken stock I've made. I'd rather not toss it.

What can I do with it? There are no bones involved. Stock?


texts: What is meant by "cook until the oil separates" in Indian curry recipes?

texts:
A lot of Indian curry recipes have a step where you're told to cook an onion-tomato-spices mixture "until the oil separates". Despite having tried cooking such recipes a number of times already, I still haven't really figured out what is meant by this. I have several questions:

How can I tell that the oil is separating? I'm never quite sure whether I'm seeing oil or water coming out of the mixture while it's cooking.
How long on average do you need to cook the mixture until the oil separates?
What causes the oil to separate? Is it simply that all the water has been cooked out of the mixture?
Why do you need to let the oil separate?


texts: No Knead Bread comes out a tad gummy only in the center

texts:
I’m using 200g Bread flour, 50g Whole Wheat flour , 50g All-purpose flour, and 60g Rye.  I add 2.25tsp of yeast, 2tsp sea salt, and 1.5cups filtered tap water.

I let it rise overnight or at least 9hrs.  I find that it has risen comp,etely, yet has started to drop by the time Im ready to bake it.

I steam it in a Dutch Oven for 30 minutes at 450, then uncover it for 40 minutes again at 450.  But it makes my loaf crust to hard on the bottom, and my knife a little sticky.  How should I tweak this??


texts: Home made yeast cinnamon rolls deflating?

texts:
I use an old time recipe that uses high-gluten flour, mashed potatoes flakes, sugar, salt, oil, yeast, eggs - I make them very often and lots of times have no issues.  However, lately I'm having issues with them falling after I get them out of the oven.  They come out looking wonderful, but as they sit they fall flat.  Any idea of what is happening?

More details:

I proof the yeast each time to be sure it's alive. I use active dry with 3 tbsp yeast + 1 tsp sugar in 105-115 degree water to proof it. I could have gotten sloppy as mentioned, being in a rush to get them done might have made me try to hurry things a bit too quickly. I will also try putting half the batch back in for 10 additional minutes to see if that cures the problem along with working the dough just a bit longer.


texts: I have some walnuts I found in the back of my cabinet that are probably 5 years old.  The packaging says best if used by 2010.  I tasted them and they taste alright, maybe a little tartish but I don't mind.  I was wondering if walnuts and other nuts actually ever go bad considering that they are dry.


texts: Could someone make their own? Vegemite is a yeast extract made from the remains of commercial beer production. Vegemite has an extreme salt level; a home made variant would probably lower the salt level to some extent. The broad intent would be to use the home made vegemite on toasted cheese sandwiches. A colour improvement would also be desirable: a cream coloured vegemite spread would be my choice.


texts: What gives Indian curries the sweet and creamy taste and fragrance?

texts:
I am experimenting with various curry recipes coming from chefs and roadside "dhaba" cooks on youtube, but i cant figure out what exactly is the ingredient/combination of ingredients that gives the curries the magical pungent sweet flavour.
To start with, i bought home a parcel of my favourite curry - "Kadai Paneer" and used it as a control for my experiment ;)
I tried using a few spice powders - fennel , cardamom and mace -  that, for a brief period of time during the process of cooking,  gave out fragrance that came very close to the control. I could not maintain the intensity of that fragrance in my dish though.
Cashew and cream also give some sweetness to the dish and i managed to get somewhoat closer to the control.
I suspect the presence of some additional sweet flavoured spice/tastemaker that enhances the sweetness of the dish.
I know that these recipes are closely guarded and secrets are not given out easily. Still trying to give it a shot though - maybe some kind soul would like to help as to what really goes in these curries that gives them that exceptionally strong sweet and creamy fragrance.
Cheers !

EDIT 1: Thanks for all the awesome answers here. By my own experimentation and further comparison , i realised that

1) The curry i prepare has some bitterness. Probably because i grind the spices with the tomatos/onions ??
2) Adding more fat(cream, butter) gets my dish closer to the control.
3) There is **not a hint** of bitterness in the restaurant-curry. How come ??!!


texts: why my dishes are always over satiating?

texts: whenever I cook dishes its always over satiating, I believe it has too much umami on it, and whenever I cook I always feel like being full already by just tasting while cooking. Like its too delicious and you cant eat more of it. Is there a way to get rid of that over satiating taste?


texts: Using a wooden spoon to prevent pots from boiling over?

texts:
Someone recently told me that placing a wooden spoon across the top of a pot will prevent boilovers.

Could somebody explain to me why this is the case?


texts: How to decide the baking temperature when recipe doesn't mention it?

texts:
On what factors does the temperature setting depend?

Of course if I have to bake a stone, I would need to set the temperature at 900C perhaps :rolleyes: ;), but in normal cakes where you have a banana or an orange as an extra ingredient, how do you decide the temperature?

Example: How much temperature difference can there be in a plain cake and a banana cake?

If you bake a banana cake on 200C instead of 180C, is that going to make a difference somewhere? In which way?


texts: How long can eggs be unrefrigerated before becoming unsafe to eat?

texts: A friend of mine accidentally left a carton of eggs on her counter, unrefrigerated, for three days. The eggs had been previously refrigerated both at the store and at home. Now she's planning to do some more cooking which requires eggs, and is wondering if it's still safe to use them for baking. I believe she is planning on baking cookies with them, so they would be baked at fairly high temperatures for probably at least 10 minutes. Would this be safe, or are eggs left unrefrigerated for that long not safe for consumption?


texts:
Does anyone have a culinary use for a lettuce which has bolted? Or do I throw it away?

Bolting being what gardeners call that moment when your lovely full bodied lettuce suddenly shoots skywards, in order to produce seed. Once salad crops have bolted the leaves still have a good colour, but they are usually thought of as unusably bitter.


texts: Interpreting a recipe from Mrs Beeton: "carbonate of soda"

texts:
Prompted by a discussion at English.se I may be going to make Mrs Beeton's soda biscuits recipe:

SODA BISCUITS.

INGREDIENTS.—1 lb. of flour, 1/2 lb. of pounded loaf sugar, 1/4 lb. of fresh butter, 2 eggs, 1 small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda.

Mode.—Put the flour (which should be perfectly dry) into a basin; rub
in the butter, add the sugar, and mix these ingredients well together.
Whisk the eggs, stir them into the mixture, and beat it well, until
everything is well incorporated. Quickly stir in the soda, roll the
paste out until it is about 1/2 inch thick, cut it into small round
cakes with a tin cutter, and bake them from 12 to 18 minutes in rather
a brisk oven. After the soda is added, great expedition is necessary
in rolling and cutting out the paste, and in putting the biscuits
immediately into the oven, or they will be heavy.
Time.—12 to 18 minutes. Average cost, 1s.
Sufficient to make about 3 dozen cakes. Seasonable at any time.

[italics mine]
Does she really use sodium carbonate and not sodium bicarbonate?  I know I can bake the latter to make the former but the carbonate is reputed to leave a soapy flavour.  Can we tell from  the need for haste after adding it (a quicker reaction?)  Does the era give us a clue (mid-C19th)?


texts: Is it ok to store peanut oil in the container it came in after being used?

texts: I am starting to get into frying again.  I was wondering if it is ok to store the oil after it has cooled down in its original container or if there is a better option for storage.


texts: Are there negative effects of freezing for bread and cake?

texts:
Are there any negative effects to flavour and or texture to freezing breads/cakes and such?

I notice many layered cake recipes have to bake a cake cover it in a layer then cool or freeze in the fridge, is there any negative affect to the cake?


texts: Pumpkin Bread that is similar to Banana Bread

texts:
Can you make a pumpkin flavored bread similar to how you can make banana bread? Adding pumpkin to a bread dough mixture similar to how you make banana bread.

Is this what pumpernickel is?


texts: Something I recall from my childhood, but which I last recall seeing about 45 years ago, is long boxes (about 2 feet long, 5" x 5" in square cross section) of spaghetti pasta with very long noodles inside, each bent in the middle making each piece of uncooked pasta about 4 feet long.  Two of the brands I recall (of which I may be in error) were Salerno and Aligheri.  Recently I have been searching the web to try to find this, but cannot even find a reference.  Does anyone remember this, and does anyone know if this is still available?  If I recall correctly, the boxes also had the infamous "pasta number" on them, either "5" or "8", depending on the box.


texts:
I bought was what I thought was a carbon steel wok, but after realizing that it's black color means it isn't a "classic" carbon steel wok, I am trying to find out what it is made out of :)

I am pretty sure that it is this product, which says it is a black oxide coating: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Fry-Pan-Chinese-Wok_254864972.html

Does this just mean it is preseasoned or is it possible this is Teflon/Xylan or something like that?  Anyway to tell if it has a coating or not?


texts: Why does eating cauliflower with spicy food help to take away the spciy burning feeling in your mouth?


texts: Low-sodium alternatives for Asian cooking sauces?

texts: I love Asian cooking, but my doctor wants me on a low-sodium diet. Unfortunately, even the "lower-sodium" or "reduced sodium" versions of sauces (soy, tamari, etc.) are extremely high in sodium. Is there any alternative that can replicate the flavor of these sauces without the heavy dose of sodium?


texts:
I am interested in making roast chicken with a bit of a kick. I'm thinking about adding heat to the brine, but I'm not sure what the best way of doing that would be.

How would brine work with hot peppers?


texts:
Not sure if this belongs here but I've a family recipe that is effectively a pasta bake but instead of pasta you use skinny chips (UK) / french fries (USA).

It came from an Aunt who lived in Canada who came home to the UK. The recipe is as follows:

Chips/Fries,
Onion (fried),
Condensed chicken soup,
Peas,
Sweetcorn,
Cheese,
Cheese and Onion crisps (Chips in the US to add to the confusion),

Basically you mix it all together, add cheese as a topping then the crisps/chips on top and throw it in the oven for 45mins at 170 celcius.

It has been bugging me forever if this is an established recipe, it's great comfort food but I've not been able to find anything online about a "chip/fries oven bake".


texts:
Okay, so this is going to be one of "those" questions.

There was a Chinese restaurant in my town when I was younger. It went out of business, reopened out of town, sold to new owners and they have no idea what I'm talking about. When it was in my town, me and my dad used to get the same thing every time. It was sesame chicken. It wasn't the standard sesame chicken you get most places with a sticky glaze on it, though.

I'm trying to remember back, over 20 years, when I was too young to be paying that close attention. I can't remember if it had any sauce on it or not. I want to say that it was just fried chicken with sesame seeds sprinkled on top and the gravy on the side. That really set it apart though. He would serve it with a brown gravy we'd pour over the top. I remember it being pretty good gravy and I remember liking the sesame chicken with the gravy, way better than with the overly sweet and sticky glaze.

My questions is, does this sound like a normal dish to anyone that I might be able to duplicate at home, or is this some one off that just happened at this restaurant. Maybe the gravy was for something else and he'd just serve it with the sesame chicken.

The closest I can find is a couple of recipes for "chinese gravy". I have no idea what it tastes like, but the color and consistency looks correct from what I remember and it was a chinese restaurant, so it could be possible. It's just that when I google 'sesame chicken chinese gravy', nothing even close pops up as a recipe.

So does this sound like a dish anyone else has had? If so, I'd like some direction in finding a recipe to replicate it. It was really good. Thanks guys/gals.


texts: When I pipe my cake for decorating, some have a complex design so I take at least an hour. But after a while, the whipped cream started separating in the bag. Is this because of the warmth of my hands?? I have no idea why this happens.


texts: Japanese knives for someone who can't sharpen freehand?

texts:
Long story short: I horribly suck at sharpening the traditional way, so I got a Lansky sharpening sytem and I'm very pleased at the results. Now I want good knives, and a friend of mine is traveling to Japan soon and I'd like to give him a shopping list.

As far as I read, Japanese knives are typically sharpened in the 10-15 degrees range, sometimes on a single side, but the Lansky system won't do below 17 degrees.

So is there a 'compromise' kind of Japanese knife that has super good steel, a sharp edge, and yet that is sharpenable in a Lanksy system?


texts: I boiled some beets last weekend but then had to travel unexpectedly.  They have been in the fridge in a container.  They have some light purple watery droplets on them now.  Are they still edible? Here is a photo:


texts:
I have an American recipe that calls for 12oz Hunts Tomato paste and 1.5 cups of water.  The nearest thing I have is Passata.

I don't know much about cooking, but they both seem to be made from tomatoes...is there any way I can use the passata I have in place of the tomato paste?  I'm assuming I would reduce the water or completely skip the water - is there a general guideline here?

My instinct is to just throw it in a pot and, if it seems to watery, simmer until it thickens...but I figured I should ask people who know.


texts: Can fresh citrus juice be reduced to concentrate flavor?

texts: Does reducing fresh citrus juice increase its flavor and will the flavor be damaged if it is reduced too far?


texts: What are the optimal conditions in making wild yeast starter?

texts:
I recently learned that I don't need to buy packets of yeast to make bread. I can create a sour dough starter by utilizing the wild yeast floating around in the air. Take a look at this article for more information:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/sourdough2.htm

What are the optimal conditions for creating a sour dough starter:

Are there optimal locations that has a higher concentration of wild yeast? (such as a cold/warm place or a place with alot/little light)
What type of flour would work best?
I also read somewhere to use acidic fruit juice to help accelerate the process. Is this true? And if so, why?
Some starters call for sugar and milk. What would these additions do?


texts: How should I clean this mess at the bottom of my wok?

texts:
I've been using my wok for about a year now, and recently it's developed a kind of patina around the bottom of the cooking surface.

I've tried to follow the care instructions as best I can, taking care to wipe it down after use, and only scrubbing it with cleaning fluid when it gets really dirty. If I have to scrub it down I typically wipe some oil over it whilst heating very gently in order to "re coat" the wok. I don't know if this is typical wok care procedure, but I'm following the care guide that came with this particular wok.

The wok is made of cast iron, and is sold by Le Creusset, information here.

The patina has gradually become more noticeable over time, but it is not flaky, cannot be removed easily by scrubbing and/or washing up liquid. It doesn't impart any kind of negative flavour into the cooking, so it hasn't put me off using it.

Does anyone know what this is, and how best to remove it?


texts: Last week I microwaved some peanut butter M&Ms for 40 seconds, which is something I've done hundreds of times before to melt the chocolate on the inside. However, when I did it this time, there was some popping and then a big spark inside. There was no metal in the microwave, the bowl is microwave safe, but it did have a chip in it. I also left the M&Ms uncovered, while I usually cover them with a paper towel. Any idea what caused this? Someone elsewhere suggested this paper might be an explanation but I would think it would have happened before if that was the case.


texts:
I'm using fresh pasta sheets (boiled al dente), a very slow simmered Bolognese, a whole milk ricotta mixture with a fair amount of spinach, basil, egg and Parmesan and a Bechamel sauce. The thing is, I want six layers of pasta but I don't want a huge pan of lasagna. I'm making this for a (obviously very hot) date. I don't need leftovers into the next millennium. I think I'm going to use my 9" pullman loaf pan (4x4x9 with a lid). I plan to butter the pan then line it with three parchment "slings", maybe one half of an inch between the strips of parchment for slicing. Get it? To make it easier to remove clean slices? After lining the pan with my "slings" I'll butter again then line the pan with Bechamel, then stack the layers. I'm thinking that I will use the pullman pan lid instead of aluminum foil for the initial bake. I will assemble the lasagne the night before and keep it refrigerated it until the next day.

So here's the question. I've looked at a gazillion recipes for clues about baking temperature, when to remove the lid and what temp to finish. Also whether to bring it to room temp before baking. Of all the recipes I've looked at, not a one deals with such a tall but narrow lasagne. Clues are all over the map and I'm losing confidence. Can anybody advise?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  How can I make my pumpkin pie thicker?

The pumpkin pie of my childhood was very dense, not like almost all pies I find today. I have tried a few recipes that claim to make dense pumpkin pie, but they just don't seem right.

In a typical pumpkin pie recipe, what is it that keeps making the pie fluffy? What can I do to make it dense?

example: http://andreasrecipes.com/pumpkin-pie/


texts: This was near the seafood section in a big vat of ice at my local chinese grocery.  What the heck is this?


texts: Is this canning method safe to use for spaghetti sauce? (Boiling the sauce in the jars in the oven)

texts:
This technique has been used by my family for decades but I'm wondering how safe it is to kill Botulism spores.

Step 1, cook the spaghetti sauce in a large pot (tomatoes, meat, fruits, vegetables, sugar, spices, etc).  pH unknown.
Step 2, Fill mason jars with water. Bring them to a boil by putting them in the oven.
Step 3, Put the boiling sauce in the jar.
Step 4, Put the mason jar lids on but not fully closed.
Step 5, Put the mason jars in the oven and bring the sauce again to a boil.
Step 6, Close the lids and wait until the lids become sealed.
Step 7, Wait until they cool down before storing them at room temperature.

Thanks in advance!


texts: What should I know about the peels of raw fruit and vegetables?

texts:
I've not been paying much attention to what I ate, but now I have just become a vegetarian and want to try eating much more raw foods.

I know that in many fruit and vegetables, most of the important nutrients are found in the peel or directly below it; however, it is also commonly known that for example the green of tomatoes contains a poison and must be removed before consumption.

I'd like to know what other fruit and vegetables contain potentially bad substances when eaten whole and raw (or put in a blender etc.), and what to look out for.

Also, many people remove the skin of mushrooms before eating them; is this actually advisable?


texts:
What is the difference between Seed, Grain, Nut, Kernel, Pit, Bean?

Seed (as in apple)
Grain (as in wheat),
fruit
Nut (as in almond)
Kernel (as in corn)
Pit (as in olive)
Bean (as in fava/broad bean)

Hierarchy: Bean <- Seed <- Grain

Is Bean super type of seed?
Is seed super type of grain?

My some assumptions:

Kernel is the soft, edible part of a nut. Kernels refer specifically to nuts.
Grains are small, hard, dry seeds.
central part of a fruit that contains the seeds e.g. He threw the core of the apple away.
A nut is a fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, which is generally edible.


texts: Furthering the dry aging process post purchase?

texts: I am thinking of buying a 45 - 50 day dry aged Prime Rib and attempt to continue the dry aging process for another 30 days on my own with a "UMAi Dry Bag".Are there any precautions I should take in this experiment, should I continue the process with the exterior rind/shell of the meat still on? Any advice is appreciated.


texts: Durability of hard andonised metal (aluminum)

texts:
Products like Hawkins Contura Black Pressure Cooker are hard anodised but haven't specified the metal used in the body, here. Others explicitly mention they are made from anodised aluminium.

I want to know whether hard anodising a metal (aluminum in this case) makes it stronger than steel? Steel doesn't get a dent if it falls from a height, can the same be said regarding this hard Andonised Aluminum?


texts: What causes tea to be bitter, and how can I avoid that bitterness?

texts:
How does tea become bitter between the moment it is packaged and the moment I drink it? Are there any chemical processes that take place when tea is stored or brewed that I can control to prevent making a cup of bitter tea?

If the causes of bitterness vary between different types of tea, I'd like to know that as well.


texts: How to get crispy vegetables chips/fries without frying?

texts:
Specifically for sweet potatoes, I'd like to get crispy fries via the oven rather than a fryer. Here are some pointers I've read in other recipes:

Cuts must be as equal as possible to ensure even cooking
Wash off excess starch / let raw fries sit in a bowl of cold water to remove excess starch

Also, I just purchased a mandolin so I'd like to hear any techniques/advice on getting crispy vegetable chips.

Thanks in advance for the help.

-- Edit 1 --

Unfortunately, my results have been disappointing and inconsistent. With the thinnest setting on my mandolin, I sliced up some sweet potatoes and beets. I've tried some of the tips mention on the Chowhound. I've tried a variety of heat settings but I haven't found the sweet spot of heat and time just yet. With those two variables I really don't want to perform 10-30 trial runs but it's looking like I need to if I want to determine the best configuration. I'm going to try some other tips and report back.


texts: What makes egg whites and almonds a good combination

texts:
Macarons, financiers, ricciarellis are all made from egg whites and almond flour.
Is there a reason why egg whites get along so well with almond flour, and why yolks do not have a place in these recipes?
It is easy to see why in macarons since macarons are meringue based cookie, but financier does not use meringue and still calls for egg whites only.
Maybe the fat in the almond suffices to make the products rich, or maybe the coarse texture of almond needs to be countered with the moistness of egg whites, but they are just wild guesses I am making up.
I would like to know if there is an 'official' reason why egg whites and almonds go together.


texts: Sous vide chicken without an internal temperature of 165 °F (75 °C)

texts:
I am new to sous vide food. I am cooking a chicken breast. I have read that chicken requires an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (75 degrees Celcius). However the recipe only requires a temperature of 150 °F (66 °C).

https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/chicken-breast

How does this not cause food poisoning?

We checked the internal temperature after an hour and it was only 130 °F (54 °C). Is this safe to eat?


texts: I rarely use coconut milk, so it's not something I like to keep around the house. On the rare occasion I do use it, most of it goes to waste because I only need a little bit. How do I make it at home, and can I make a low calorie version?


texts:
I have always been good at being able to tell when a mango is ripe based on the firmness and smell. For the last several batches I have purchased, however, almost every one I cut open is simply not good, with taste nor color. Rather than the deep orange color, I keep getting a yellow hue with browning around the seed:

It seems as though they go bad even though they never quite ripen. Based on  this question, as well as other online content, I have tried to wrap them in newspapers, put them in a bag with a banana, or just let them sit at room temperature for several days. Nothing has seemed to work lately. I don't know if there is a correlation, but it seems like they ripen better in the summer rather than the winter (we are in New Mexico). We keep our house at around 72 F.

Do I keep getting a bad batch, or am I doing something wrong? I would love any advice anyone might have.


texts: Why shouldn't a precooked pie be frozen?

texts:
I bought a Selection brand strawberry pre-cooked pie. I just read the instructions on the pie and just realized it was pre-cooked but it says to not freeze the pie. Unfortunately, I froze it right away when I got home because I couldn't find my reading glasses and didn't read the instructions.

Are any health concerns here? If not, what could the reason be for being warned not to freeze the pie?


texts: I've recently gotten into making primal/paleo cooking, i.e. (no grains,legumes,processed foods) and have been meaning to try spaghetti w/meat sauce with spaghetti squash noodles instead of regular pasta. Is there a particular method of cooking the squash that helps form better noodles than others? Any other methods to help the 'pasta' come out more pasta-like?


texts: How to make matcha tea without matcha whisk?

texts:
How do I make a nice cup of matcha tea without the whisk?

I hear the recipe including the use of a whisk is a traditional way of making ceremonial matcha drink, but I'd like to know how to make a drink from matcha without a whisk.

Here's a photo of the tea whisk along with a bamboo spoon:

I can't get a whisk right now, but if it turns out it's really worth making matcha drink according to the ceremonial recipe, I'll be sure to get it.

See also: What to use for a matcha whisk?


texts: I bought a really nice loaf pan based on the picture on a magazine cover.  It is a Bundt harvest loaf pan and the bottom is molded into the shape of fallen leaves, a pumpkin, whatever.  But that is the bottom.  But it becomes the top for serving purposes, right?  But the top of the loaf is still going to rise into a traditional loaf which is mounded.  So really, how useful is this pan when it seems like I am going to have to trim away a large portion (the best part too) so that the load is flat.  Does anyone have any experience with this type of pan.


texts: What kind of dough staple is easiest to make, for soaking in mussel juices? No oven, eggs, milk

texts:
With just a gas stove and rice cooker, what kind of food staple based on dough or batter can she make most simply? I don't know what you call the category of "bread, cake, pancake".
My mom lives Hong Kong when Toronto's cold. Here are strictures:

Her flat doesn't have a convection oven. She never bought microwave oven - the FDA

However, FDA regulations require that microwave ovens are designed to prevent these high level radiation leaks.

She could buy a counter-top convection toaster oven, but let's rule this out.
If nobody comes up with anything, she will reconsider. Her kitchen looks like

No milk of any kind, like coconut or soy as they taste icky to her.

No eggs. She has medical issues and her doctor forbid them.

Bon Appetit says

8. Mussels Without Bread Are No Mussels at All
A mussels-must: Serve plenty of fresh, crusty bread with a pillowy interior alongside. The bread will serve as a vehicle for that aromatic, boozy, briny sauce you worked so hard to create. And if you want to flex even harder, throw a little mayo on that bread. Maybe a ginger-y, garlicky aioli? Just a thought. And here's one more. Don't forget to place a large bowl on the table for the empty shells. That's just common courtesy.


texts: Multitasking with oven ( roast and potatoes)

texts:
I am trying to roast potatoes to a crisp skin texture while making a roast in the same oven.

When I am making a meat roast, I want to make a potato side dish with it. However, when I put the potatoes in the same tray as the meat, the meat juices cover the potatoes and they will not form a crispy skin when surrounded by liquid.

I have tried (on my old oven) to utilize another roasting tray, exclusively for the potatoes, and located that tray underneath the 'meat tray' but in that case, barely any heat was conducted to the lower part of the meat.

On my current oven, I've got two settings, Bake and Broil, my heat convection capabilities are limited - I think.

How do you cook your meat perfectly and serve with crisp-skinned roast potatoes that have been cooked in the same oven? How do you usually achieve this?


texts: Turning regular noodles into no-boil noodles

texts: I've been told by other that you don't need to boil the noodles for lasagna before you assemble and bake it. They claim that you can just lay them out on the pan raw and assemble as usual and the heat from the oven + the liquid from the sauce is enough to cook the noodles to exactly where they need to be, and you. How true is this? I've heard of other people doing the same thing with home-made mac & cheese recipes, and getting good results. Note that I'm not talking about no-boil noodles, I'm referring to just regular lasagna noodles.


texts:
I have made chicken pot pie filling. I was hoping to lay the pie pastry in the pie pan, fill it with the filling, lay the second pie pastry on top, and then refrigerate the raw pir in the fridge for a day. I want to do this so I can just pop it in the oven the next day without any work. This would work great preparing for parties and such.

My concern is that resting the filling on the pie crust for a day would affect the pie crust somehow. Perhaps the liquid would seep into the pastry and affect texture or cooking for example.

Can I "fill" a chicken pot pie 24 hours before cooking it?


texts: I've heard people say that the cheese used in pizzas is not suitable for many other things and for this recipe you need to have this particular cheese. Is there some broad principle as to which cheese should be used and where??


texts:
I wanted to make some burned onion rings, so I chopped up some onions and let it cook in oil on the stove. Heating the oil was taking a long time so I decided to leave the oven alone for a bit.

I came back after hearing the oil making crackling sounds and I immediately turned off the heat. When I lifted the lid slightly to assess what had happened, the oil suddenly started crackling again violently.

Did I just almost start a fire? As I understand, there can be no fire without oxygen, and by lifting the metal lid I introduced oxygen. Also my entire house smells like smoke.


texts: Wooden vs Anti Microbial Cutting Board For Carving Meat

texts: Wooden cutting boards look good and are pricier whereas Anti Microbial ones are darn cheap and I am not sure what chemicals/materials they use to make the boards anti microbial. Are these boards safe to use and dependable? Can these boards be used for carving meat?


texts: Why does the sour taste in yogurt increase with time?

texts: If we let yogurt sit for more days, the yogurt becomes more and more sour. Why does that happen?


texts: Beverage Cooler vs Small Refrigerator for Raw Chicken?

texts:
I'm entering a bazaar and I currently only have a spare beverage cooler (a Daewoo 123 watt beverage cooler) for my bazaar stall. This being the current circumstance, I want to know if a beverage cooler is cold enough to store raw chicken for at least 8 hours.

Do I have to buy another refrigerator?

Thanks! :D


texts:
I have a pretty basic cornbread recipe that I make very occasionally (with a bit of canned creamed corn added).  The taste seems fine, but the texture is more crumbly than I want.

I've tried backing off the milk a bit because I'm adding liquid with the creamed corn, but that hasn't made much of a difference.

Because I don't make it often and it still tastes good, I keep failing to change things up when I make it the next time.  Is there one thing I should try next that is most likely to help?

I was hesitating to include the recipe as I am away from it, but since I just made it, I'm pretty confident in

Dry mixed together
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1 beaten egg
~1/2 cup milk, plus more later if batter is too dry
1/4 cup melted butter
~6 oz canned cream corn
small bell pepper, diced

Wet into dry, stir until moist.  Bake 20-25min at 425F


texts: I have a recipe that calls for a scant amount of cloves. Would nutmeg be a good substitute?


texts:
Avocados are tricky beasts.  If you get them while the peel's still green, they're hard as stones.  When they ripen, the skin goes brown and the flesh softens, but when this happens you have to eat them immediately or they'll start to go bad right away, often ending up full of nasty brown spots within a day or two.

Is there any (relatively simple) way to keep them ripe and still edible for a bit longer?

(In case it makes any difference, I'm talking about ordinary Hass avocados you can buy in pretty much any normal supermarket in the US.)


texts: How long should you cook anchovy and anchovy paste to extract the most flavor?

texts:
Like with garlic, I always feel like I either overcook or undercook my anchovies when I add them to a flavor paste.

I guess the first question is if when using a paste instead of whole or chopped do you need to lower the heat or cook less time, and the second question is how can you tell you properly extracted the flavor from the anchovies?


texts: What are bologna and hotdogs really made of?

texts:
I am hoping this question isn't off-topic as it's mainly about what a specific type of food is made of rather than how to make it. Of course, I could always reframe the question as "How do I make hotdogs and bologna from scratch exactly as it's done by mainstream companies?"

So I want to know how to find out what, exactly, supermarket bologna and hotdogs are made of. When I was young, I was told that all the leftover parts -- organs included -- went into the slurry before being formed into the final product. Later, I was told that it was only the trimmings. I see trimmings as the more undesirable cuts of meat such as the parts I trim off myself before prepping. This includes fatty tissue, sinew, etc. I do not, however, consider organs to be trimmings.

I know that some brands -- perhaps the lower-shelf, bargain brands -- might use literally every leftover part, but what about mid- to top-shelf brands? In the middle, there are brands like Kahn's, Oscar Mayer, and Ballpark. Near the top of the shelf you have Hebrew National, Nathan's, and others. How can I tell which brands use organs and other unsavory leftovers and which use actual trimmings?

Also, is there a difference between the beef variety vs. the kind made with chicken and pork with beef added other than the type of animal they come from? Does the type of animal have an impact on what part of the animal goes into the mix? Is the beef variety more "premium" or do they all contain the same tier of meat trimmings?


texts: How to Use Ravioli Maker without Press Insert

texts: I have a ravioli maker, the kind that is rectangular and has 12 squares with 1" holes meant to be used with a rolling pin to seal the ravioli. I've never used it and have never made ravioli. I see online that it's meant to be used with a plastic press to create the sunken part to put the filling in. I don't have this press. Should I just push down with my fingers to make the pocket? Or is there some other way that might ensure uniformity?


texts: How can I make coconut cream from coconut butter? I am making Pina Colada cocktail and I need coconut cream. I have one original coconut cream (for the sake of not advertising, I will not put here name of this brand), from the original Pina Colada, and yes, it tastes good, but, I would like to make my own. So I bought biological coconut oil (which solidifies so it turns into butter almost instantly in the refrigerator), and I tried to mix it with some low fat coconut mil, some water, but nothing worked. I mix it well and put it a little bit on the low fire, but as soon as I put it in fridge, it soon solidifies, so I cannot really use it to put it in the cocktail, since it becomes gritty, so the cocktail is not good. Any advice, guys? Newb here on this stack, so thanks for any suggestions.


texts: How am I meant to use these trays that came with my oven?

texts:
A Turkish oven we recently purchased has no thermostat, but it did come with two metal trays. They are like (American) broiler trays but without a cooking rack.

I could believe that they are just broiler trays, but (1) there are two of them; (2) I believe I have seen people adjusting the position of these trays in similar ovens when making bread.

What are they for, and how can I learn to use them appropriately?

Picture of an oven with and without the aforementioned trays


texts: How do I pick the best potatoes at the supermarket?

texts:
I was picking potatoes randomly from the supermarket without much thinking, and some potatoes take more time to bake properly.

So on what basis should I pick potatoes, potatoes for baking?

I'm not referring to the baking/roasting question, which discusses what type of potatoes to use.


texts: I'd like to pre-bake pita bread so that I can store it in the fridge and use them one at a time by heating them in a pan. Any idea how to do that?


texts: I understand that sugar serves several different purposes in cooking so it's often not okay to replace with natural sweeteners like stevia.  However, when significant amounts of sugar are required, is it alright to substitute a proportion of the sugar required with a natural sweetener?


texts:
I recently acquired about a pound of raw pine nuts. They were collected and are smaller on average than the pine nuts I can buy.

They are a pain to shell. The shells don't come away easily and since they are small there is a lot of work to do for a small reward.

What is the best way to shell these?
Should I roast them in their shells first?


texts: First slicing, then cooking, or the other way around?

texts:
I would like to try out a recipe for a gratin of beets and potatoes. For this I will need sliced potatoes and beets. I always like to cook vegetables for a bit before putting them in the oven to make sure they're done.

Should I first slice the beets and potatoes and then cook them, or the other way around? On the one hand, first slicing feels kind of weird. On the other hand, I'm worried that after cooking, they will be too soft to slice properly. I can't cut the beets in small pieces before cooking (because then the slices will be too small), so the inside will be much harder than the outside as well.

Is there a clever way to do this?


texts:
I'm planning on smoking a turkey for the holidays. I have done that before, and it turned out good on the tenderness and flavor, but still had a very "gamy" flavor. I typically use either hickory or fruit wood (fruit has milder smokiness), lump charcoal, for about 8 hours at 200°F and finish it on high heat in the oven.

I use a salt brine overnight the day before, and typically don't apply much seasoning, mostly just a honey glaze. While cooking I occasionally sprinkle it with Sprite or Seven-Up soda to keep it moist.

Do you have any advice on how to make the meat flavor milder or closer to chicken?


texts: I recently got a new cookbook and it recommends margarine for brownies instead of butter. I have never baked with margarine before and my brownies always seem to be fine, but this is the only recipe in the book that calls for margarine. What gives? What kind of difference will margarine make vs butter?


texts: Can I use the stovetop while a dough is leavening in the oven?

texts:
I usually use my (turned off) oven as a safe place for leavening doughs for hours.
I always get amazing results and never had any issue with that.
But... what if I need to use the stovetop?
Will the oven heat up and ruin my dough? Or the temperature change will be imperceptible, having no effect on the dough?


texts: Should I "bake" a pizza stone before the first use?

texts:
I've just bought a pizza stone.

The manufacture recommend to put the stone in high temperature (220°C) for two hours before the first use.

No one on the equipment store knew why.Do you know?


texts:
I've seen a recipe using a sweetener instead of sugar for caramel. I'm wondering what kind of sweetener would actually work for this - the recipe didn't specify.

Various sweeteners I've seen in the shop are pretty different:

50% sugar "sweetener"
Saccharine based
Stevia extract
...

What process am I actually looking at when making a (...) + butter + sour cream caramel? What ingredient makes it possible?


texts:
We just grabbed our customary mint on our way out of the Asian Bistro by our house but when we opened it, it wasn't a mint and the wrapper was almost all in Chinese (I think).  It was an Asian bistro, but most of the food was Chinese, so I'm guessing that it's Chinese.

So the candy was green and definitely fruit flavored, but didn't taste like anything discernable. The fruit on the picture kind of looks like a pear, but not really any of our western pears. (Sorry for the fuzzy image, my phone would not focus and the wrapper was so small, so small)


texts: Speeding up soaking of cashews for a recipe

texts: I am trying to follow a Sri Lankan recipe that asks me to soak cashews overnight. Since I can't really wait that long, is there a way to speed up this process? Would putting it in hot water help the process?


texts: This is my second attempt at making hollandaise. I did it with a double boiler, and the recipe was 1 egg yolk, 4 tbsp of butter, a little water, lemon juice, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. When I tried it, it was rich--almost repulsively buttery. As far as I can tell, the sauce looks right, and it definitely didn't break. My only thoughts are it needed more lemon juice to cut the butter or more air in the emulsion. I might have also cooked it a bit too cool as it started to solidify within 5 minutes of plating.


texts: I have a peeler that I've been using for a while. It's gotten quite rusty and dirty. Of course, I can toss it at this point and start with a new peeler... But is there any way to clean it? Anything I can soak it in that would remove the rust?


texts:
I just moved into a new flat and there seems to be some black spots in the kitchen sink(image attached).Is this black mold?How can I get rid of them safely?

PS: There is some black mold lining on the wall in the outer edge of the sink.And I am allergic to bleach

Update : I tried scrubbing it with dish soap and it washed away very easily. I am now more worried if that could be mold or just dirt/buildup :(


texts: How do I dehydrate Ganoderma Applanatum?

texts: I'm wanting to turn artist conk into powder. How should I dehydrate it for grinding in my cornmeal grinder? I tried 6 hours at 180 in the oven, and it's still moist to the touch.


texts: I'm currently trying to make a dish that calls for breadcrumbs, but the only ones I have expired on October 22 of 2019.  They are unopened and were kept in a cool dry place. It sounds stupid but are these still usable?


texts:
I used butter muslin (the link is to the specific product I used as an example) to roast a turkey crown (following the method from this article). I now have a piece of muslin with a tie-die pattern of browning from where the creases were. I can get most of the butter out by rinsing it in the sink but obviously it needs proper washing before I store it and use it again.

Can I put it in the washing machine on a typical clothes-washing cycle? (Not quite on-topic, but how wary should I be of putting it in with clothes I don't want to ruin?)
Is there anything I should do after washing it to make sure it is food-safe? Is there any risk of detergent residue I need to look out for? I normally use 3-in-1 laundry capsules.


texts:
I had a North African dessert when I was in Montreal called an Alexandria. I've searched high and low, but haven't been able to find an ingredient list, recipe, or any information on the dessert's origins. Does this dessert go by another name?
It was very similar to a baklava, but had almonds instead of walnuts and wasn't as sweet. It didn't appear to have honey in it.
I found it at a farmer's market so there isn't a restaurant site or number to contact. I've attached a photo in case that is helpful.


texts: Can you really keep feta for 3 months in a milk bath?

texts:
I just came across some instructions on how to store feta cheese, mentioning you can keep it for about 3 months in the fridge in a brine or milk bath:

Store the cheese in a brine or milk bath if you do not intend to use it for a long period of time. A milk bath will result in a creamier, softer taste, while brine will add depth to the cheese and retain its pleasant saltiness. To make brine, mix 1 lb. of kosher salt in 1 gallon of water.

Place the feta into an airtight container and cover it with the brine or milk.

Cover the container with a lid and store it in the refrigerator to keep it fresh for up to three months.

From: http://www.ehow.com/how_6496964_store-feta-cheese.html

A similar claim is stated here:

If you will not be consuming it immediately, store feta cheese in a brine or milk bath. The milk bath will reduce the saltiness and help keep the cheese moist and mild in flavor. Properly stored in brine or milk and refrigerated, feta cheese will last up to 3 months. Feta cheese is not a candidate for freezing.
From: http://homecooking.about.com/od/cheeseinformation/a/fetatips.htm

I can believe the feta will keep that long in the brine, given the pound of salt that goes in. But I'm more skeptical about the milk bath. Wouldn't the milk spoil a lot sooner and affect the feta too? Or does enough salt leak out of the feta to act as a preservative for the milk as well? Or is the idea simply that you regularly replace the milk (though the instructions don't mention this)? Does anyone have any experience with this?


texts:
What ingredients do you need, and what steps to perform to make Bruschetta?

While on honeymoon in Tuscany we got bruschetta with chopped tomato and herb topping, on crusty bread (I think there was some olive oil on the bread?)

Is there a trick to making the tomatoes succulent, or is it simply down to good ingredients?

Thanks :)


texts: How long is canned ham good for left out of the fridge?

texts: My son was needing help with some food because he was laid off from work. So i told him i would leave him care package on the porch that consisted of an armour canned ham. It was late at night in October so it was cool out and i thought it would be ok, but had text me saying he wouldn't be able to come get it until the next day sometime, but i didn't see the message until around 11:15am. So by the time i got it and put it back in the fridge it was already starting to get a little warm. I went ahead and stuck it in the fridge immediately. I just need to know if it would be safe for him and his family to eat it. All opinions appreciated. Thanks!


texts: What's different between canned beer and bottled beer?

texts: Beer produced by large breweries has long been sold in cans, but I've noticed recently that more craft beers are appearing sold in cans as well. Why might they be choosing cans over bottles? Is there a taste or shelf-life benefit to canned beer? Or is it just ecological or marketing concerns?