What will happen if I put cut vegetables or roasted peanuts in a Salzburger grain mill or a mock mill? I am trying to use a grain mill for peanut butter, and also pureeing vegetables. Can this work?

Don't do it.
a] it won't work properly &
b] you'll ruin the machine. It is supposed to take bone-dry grain in the top, grind between two flat(ish) granite plates - actual millstones - & pour fresh-milled flour out of a spout. It will not only clog the mechanism & not pour through, it will ruin the millstones by getting them greasy &/or wet.
Don't ruin a €600 mill trying to do a job you could get a dedicated machine for €35 to do better.


Safety question for defrosting and refreezing chicken breasts I want to defrost a bulk bag of boneless chicken breasts....while they are still VERY cold I want to marinade them and refreeze to use in a few days and have them already in the marinade to save me time....can i do this without a problem? The marinade has EVOO and lemoin juice, and spices.

One should only defrost once. Refreezing defrosted proteins results in loss of texture and flavor (regardless of the marinade.) The acidic component of your marinade is not enough to stave off the possibility of bacterial contamination. Why not just defrost your chicken breasts, place them in the marinade, and cook them off after several hours. You could re-heat them later.


How to increase the perceived sweetness of homemade lemonade without sweeteners? I have been making homemade lemonade for a few years in the summer and slowly, starting from an online recipe, I have been perfecting it (on a mainly trial and error basis) to reduce the amount of caster sugar I put into it, the recipe thus far is:

4 M-S lemons or 3 L
1 orange
90g caster sugar
1l water

I clean and zest the orange and lemons and set the zests to simmer for 2 mins (in as much water as needed to just cover them) while i squeeze the juice of all the citrus fruits. I boil 600ml of the water while keeping the other 400 cold. Into the boiling water I place the caster sugar and then the juices followed by the simmered water (straining the zest peels) and finally the cold water on top and let it to rest.

This adds enough sugar to curb the lemony sourness (which personally I don't mind) and adds some sweetness to it all. I like the addition of the sweeter orange to the mix too.

I was wondering if any of you have advice on how to maybe reduce the sugar further and find an alternative way to curb the sourness just enough to have the pleasant lemony flavour and yet achieve a nice level of sweetness.

I don't want to use any traditional sweetener: neither a different form of sugar, nor an artificial sweetener. Are there ingredients or methods which will nevertheless increase the perceived sweetness of the drink and allow me to further reduce the sugar content?

Lemonade is of course all about balancing the sweet and the sour.  It stands to reason that if you're trying to amp up the sweetness, you can either add more sugar (the opposite of the goal here) or reduce its opposite, the sour.

Reducing both sugar and the acid is equivalent to diluting your lemonade, so one of the first things you could try is simply adding more water.  However, that will give you a more diluted and less flavorful end product overall, so let's assume that you're trying to avoid that as well.

With that as the goal, here are two things I would try:

Your method as written involves simmering the citrus peels in water. It's a good notion to extract as much flavor as you can from the peels, but water isn't the best means to extract that flavor; it's actually the sugar.  The reason is that many of the flavorful essential oils aren't water-soluble, at least not on their own.  Instead, try placing the peels in a non-reactive bowl and pouring the sugar over them.  Muddle (i.e. gently crush) the peels to break their cells and release some of the oils.  Then let the sugar stand and absorb some of those oils for 30-45 minutes.  This is known in geeky cocktail circles as creating an "oleo-saccharum" and is an essential step in making really good, authentic punch, the goal being to get as much citrus flavor as possible.  After the resting period,  add the sugar and peels into your boiling water, stir until the sugar dissolves, and then strain out the peels from the finished syrup.  With this method, you will get more citrus flavor overall, so you could dial back the juice slightly to taste in order to get a sweeter end result with the same citrusy profile.
This sounds counter-intuitive, but try adding a very small amount of salt to the lemonade.  I would say about a small pinch to 1/8 tsp in a full 1-liter batch, but you'll have to tweak for your preference.  With such a small amount, you won't actually taste the salt, but you will notice its effect.  Salt has a suppressive perceptual effect on both sourness and bitterness, and adding a small amount to a solution that is both sweet and sour (like lemonade) will dial down the perception of sourness.  Here's a previous answer that I wrote on this same effect related to suppressing bitterness, but the effect is similar.  Here's a chart that provides a great summary; the second line from the left shows the perception of sweet vs. sour, and the fourth shows what happens when you add salt.  Notice that the perception of sweetness stays nearly the same, while the perception of sourness lowers significantly.  It's a neat trick!

There are probably more exotic and interesting methods, but these are where I'd start.


Find out what spices were used I have recently been ordering food from a place that has a fried rice that I like a lot. A lot a lot. The ingredients are pretty basic, which makes me think that the spices used in this dish are what makes it taste so incredibly good (though of course things like the method of preparation may also matter quite a bit).

I should really go to the restaurant and ask them about this dish. However, this does make me wonder:

Is there a way for me to take a prepared batch of this dish and find out what spices were used? The spices I do not know yet are the ones I care about the most.

(I'm very much afraid the answer will simply be no, but it doesn't hurt to ask, does it?)

Yes, theoretically, and no for practical purposes.

Here's the Yes part:

If you have access to a chemistry lab, you can certainly analyze the dish for the presence of specific molecules that would indicate the presence of specific spices.  For example, the presence of "cinnamaldehyde" would indicate that cinnamon was used.

Here's the No part:

First, you would need to do individual tests for each possible distinct seasoning molecule.  Given the universe of spices, that's only feasible if you already have a pretty good idea of what's in the dish and are just verifying.

Second, some seasoning molecules are changed by cooking, making them less recognizable.  Sugar particularly can change into dozens of different compounds depending on the cooking process.

Third, some seasoning molecules are just not that indicative of what the original seasoning was.  For example, the presence of salt, glutamate, and various soy compounds would indicate the use of soy sauce, oyster sauce, or miso, but which kind of sauce exactly?  That's leaving aside the difficulty of distinguishing various starches and sugars.  Also, some spices come from the same plant (e.g. coriander seed and cilantro) and thus will be biochemically indistinguishable, even though their effect in a recipe is distinct.

So: ask the restaurant.  It'll be way easier.


Dough for edible bowls, plates I want to bake edible bowls that go with e.g. salad or snacks, that is, I need a non-sweet, bread-like dough that gets reasonably hard when baked but is still somewhat edible.

Is there some classic technique, a special ingredient, or just a general direction to go for a such dough?

Sounds like you want trenchers (add "recipe" when searching to weed out the digging tools) as the bread plates of old were called. Since recipe requests are off-topic, I won't include a recipe, but your favorite search engine will provide many.

You could also do something in the puff pasty shell line, for a different texture - easier to eat but also less durable.

A savory pizzelle would also fit - you have to form those when hot, before they harden, and the standard pizzelle maker limits the size, but there might be ways around that limitation.

You can also steam and then bake tacos (which you can either purchase or make) into various shapes by laying them in or over something that shapes them the way you like when baking.

I don't know if there's a way to get pappadums soft enough to shape without cracking before heating and hardening/blistering - though they can be somewhat pliable when hot, they are prone to crack.


Why did my lids seal? This has never happened to me before!  Last night I made Refrigerator Pickles using cucumbers and an ordinary vinegar, water, sugar brine.  My intention was to make a couple jars for co-workers who would use them within a few weeks.

I sterilized my jars, lids, and rings but didn't keep the jars hot.  The brine simmered but never boiled and was allowed to cool down quite a bit (not completely cool to room temperature and still warm). I filled the jar with my vegetables and added the warmish brine.  Then I added hot lids (I was simultaneously actually canning apple butter so they were simmering), sealed with rings, and set aside to cool.  Within just a few minutes I heard the lovely popping sound all canners long for!

I don't trust it for long term storage since I didn't go through the actual entire canning process.  Once the jars cooled to room temperature, I put them in the refrigerator; this morning, I tested the lids and they are in fact sealed.  Are they safe for long-term refrigerator storage?  I've had trouble in my early attempts at getting a jar to seal but  never had a batch seal on me unintended!  :)

Evidently, despite your not doing so intentionally, the evidently the brine was in fact hot enough to heat the air in the head space enough that when it cooled, a partial vacuum was created.  The jars are truly sealed as you noted from your description.

While they are sealed, since you did not process the pickles, they are not certain to be safe for long term storage, even in the refrigerator, and should still be treated as regular refrigerator pickles--eat them within a few weeks.  That probably is not a problem :-)


How important are olives in Ropa Vieja? Can I substitute/omit them? I'm looking to make some Ropa Vieja in my crock pot but I've got a picky eater who refuses to touch anything with olives or capers in it. My concern is that something about the briney/acidic nature of the olives helps break down the otherwise lackluster flank steak in the dish. Is this the case or are the olives something that can be omitted without consequence? Is there an acceptable substitute?

I've seen recipes that stir in the olives at the end of the cooking time.  You can leave them out with no ill-effects. Olive and capers are not that easy to substitute for.   Maybe a dash of vinegar would add the acidity that the dish needs.


Shirred eggs elements I've found a number of recipes online for shirred eggs.

Some have a fat (cream, ham) beneath the eggs; others don't (except for a bit to grease the ramekin).
Some have a cheese (Parmesan, Cheddar, Swiss) above the eggs; others, I think, don't.
Some have milk or cream above the eggs (beneath the cheese if both are present); others don't.

I have two questions:

What purpose in the recipe do these elements serve? How important is each?
What is considered classic, or traditional, or standard shirred eggs? I'm seeking not an exact recipe, but merely indication of the presence or absence of ingredients like those listed above.

Only two elements are necessary for shirred eggs:

Fat to grease the baking dish, so that the eggs do not stick unduly
Eggs

I would suggest a touch of salt is the only one that is truly important, as it is in almost every dish.

The rest—cream, spinach, ham, cheese, and so on—are simply to add flavor.  They are only as important as your enjoyment of their flavor, or the pressure to use up leftovers before they go bad.

For the dish at its most basic, see Julia Child's recipe at WGBH:  it consists of nothing but eggs, butter, salt and pepper.  Of course, it is immediately followed by suggested variations with garnishes.

I suspect you will never find a single canonical version of a dish this simple.  It is like asking "What is the classic version of an omelette?"  At its heart, an omelette requires little more than eggs, fat, and dairy—but more than this, it is a foundation on which generations of cooks have wrought their creativity, or just used up their leftovers.

Shirred eggs, much the the same way, are a foundation on which flavors can be built, or leftovers expended.  The basic recipe, for both shirred eggs and omelettes, is the starting line, not the finish line.


Are commercial foods adjusted for integer cooking times? Pasta, noodles and such foods are often labeled "cook for n minutes". Are the ingredients for these foods purposefully balanced such that the average optimal cooking time is integer?

Of course the optimal time varies with personal taste, but that window is often narrow.

No. Pasta certainly can be varied by 1-2 minutes depending on the degree of bite desired (assuming the commercial, dried variety). Furthermore, height above sealevel determines air pressure and the boiling temperature of water, which further complicates things.

For microwaving, a similar problem occurs with power: not all microwaves have the same effective power, which means that you can't have an integer number of minutes of cooking time. In fact, if you see 600 W : 8 minutes, 1000 W : 5 minutes, you already know that they're rounded numbers (600*8 = 4800; 1000*5 = 5000, ignoring the larger heat loss in the first case)

[edit]
A bit of math on the back of a napkin suggests that even at a fixed altitude, the difference between high and low air pressure is significant enough. No, they're not adjusting the ingredients to come up with an integer number. Besides, it'd be far easier to vary the thickness a bit.


Which foods and ingredients are the main sources of fibre in traditional Lao cuisine? I'm taking an interest lately in Lao cuisine (I'm in the country). But I haven't noticed where they get their fibre from.

Which traditional dishes or ingredients should I investigate?


How does choosing good induction cookware differ from choosing cookware for other types of stove? Let me just clarify I'm not asking for specific brands, but features.

We just got an induction stove and I want to pick up some new pots/pans etc. I know that I have to pick induction-safe materials. But beyond that, is there anything to consider different from the considerations when buying pans and pots for a gas or resistive stove?

The things you need in a good induction pan are:

The metal must be iron/steel, because induction stoves work using magetic fields
they need a good sized flat section on the bottom, this is so that the material of the pan is as close to the field generator in the stove

When shopping for induction pans bring a magnet, if it sticks to the bottom of the pan it should work on your induction stove.


Is-there any good way to make smoked chipotle pepper at home? I love smoked chipotle peppers and I would love to use them in my sauces. So if any one knows how to make smoked chipotle pepper at home please share. All the best

So just to be clear, a chipotle is a smoked red jalepeno, however chipotle is most often used and purchased in Adobo sauce so there are two flavors to this answer. To make the pepper itself, start with ripe jalepenos, by ripe I mean when they are bright red. Red peppers are a lot sweeter and caramelize better than green.

If you don't have a real smoker (I don't mean little smokers that use liquid smoke), then you can use a charcoal grill.

Soak your wood chips for an hour so they don't catch fire. Get your charcoal coals hot and once they've settled down toss some wood chips on top of the coals and close all of the bottom vents. Keep adding presoaked wood chips as necessary for fuel, keeping in mind you need to stay ahead of the fire going out so the wood can dry out and smolder rather put put the fire out. A smoker it better for this because you can manage the coals without moving the peppers out of the way.

Once the peppers have dried completely, they are done.

Then if you want, make Adobo sauce with the peppers which is mostly ketchup and garlic and purée of some of your peppers and adding some more whole. Use whatever Adobo recipe you like, but store the finished product in small containers that can hold only 2 or 3 whole jalepenos plus sauce, that's important. Why I am not sure, but it seems make a huge difference.


Raw fish pieces have stuck to each other in freezer. How to take out few pieces of fish without disturbing other pieces? Raw fish pieces have stuck to each other in freezer. How to take out few pieces of fish without disturbing other pieces?

Thawing whole bunch may not make sense since I do not intend to eat them all today. What are my options?

My question is about "how" to do it. Should I hammer out the pieces without thawing them? If yes, then what would be the approach to do it?

https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/40690/6168

  Quick and sloppy:

  Pry the frozen fillets apart using a case knife or use a wedge of some sort to separate them physically without thawing.

Why is this method called sloppy? What is wrong with it?

The only best option is complete thaw to get them in good shape and in one piece, but that is not an option for you.

Next one up is the quick and sloppy method. But it will distroy the shape of the fish, hence the name.

My tip: Wrap the pieces of fish in a cling film/kitchen foil individually next time before freezing. That will most certainly allow you to take a few pieces out without thawing or using knife/wedge etc.


Brown sugar + Bread =? So I always put bread in my brown sugar just because that what my mom always did, but I never understood why? I think it's supposed to make the brown sugar not clump. How does it work?

The moisture from the bread is absorbed by the brown sugar. After a while, the bread will be like a withered old mummified piece of white toast. Get rid of it, and put a new piece of bread in there.


How to tenderize large squid? My whole life I've been buying small squid (maybe 4-6" long bodies without the head and tentacles), which are very mildly chewy and tender.  All it takes is sautee them in a little OO and they are good to eat, IOW, no additional tenderizing is needed.

Yesterday I got some large squid, about 1 lb each before cleaning, probably 10"+ long without the head, probably 5-6 times as much meat as the little ones I usually get.  I remember trying to cook that before and they came out very tough and with a bit of unpleasant odor.

Is there a way to marinate and tenderize large squid and to somehow neutralize the odor?

Papaya is a known tenderizer for octopus, squid, and other meats. Another option is papaya enzyme tablets found in the supplement section of drugstore. Either can be added to the recipe while marinating or cooking. The tablets have the advantage of imparting no flavor. I can't judge the amount without a recipe, but pretty hard to go wrong. Also squid and octopus must be flash grilled or cooked for a long time. Anything in between results in tough meat.


How can I tell if vitelottes/purple potatoes have "green flesh"? I know not to eat white-fleshed potatoes if the skin/flesh is turning green.

Is there any way to tell with purple potatoes?
I know this variety is darker purple all the way through, unlike some...
so I wouldn't be able to see a green flesh color inside, but imagined maybe they'd turn brownish from the combination?

They have just started to sprout, which is what caused me to question them.

Sprouting and turning green are two basically unrelated things.

Sprouting means the tuber tries to form roots and grow into a new plant. It can be triggered by light, but even more so by warmth and the "internal clock" of the potato. That's the reason you are supposed to store potatoes in a cool place, ideally around 10C / 50F.
And yes, the sprouts contain solanine, but as they are not eaten and sprouting does not significantly raise the solanine content, sprouting per se is not critical.
(The reason gardeners encourage sprouting in light is the fact that the sprouts remain shorter, less brittle and some even grow the first tiny leaves.)

Greening, on the other hand, happens whenever a tuber is exposed to light - even in those that are growing slightly partially above the soil, which means you can even harvest green potatoes, although they are typically not sold in stores. This greening correlates with locally higher levels of solanine, the glycoalcaloide found in members of the nightshade family and the rule is to cut off green parts. To prevent greening you are supposed to store potatoes in a dark place.

So while both effects may happen together, sprouting does not automatically mean greening.

If you look closely, you can sometimes see a green tinge that needs removing, e.g. here:

Source

For the really dark purple varieties, it may be hard to impossble to see clearly. In these cases, a bit of knowledge about solanine distribution in green potatoes helps: the highest concentration is found in the green parts of the skin and directly (as in one or two mm) below. So if you suspect exposure to UV light, peeling those potatoes should bring you easily into into safe territory - reducing the solanine content by up to 80%.

And finally, note that solanine is a rather weak poison. Sources vary a bit, but typically you find doses of 2-5 mg/kg body weight for toxic symptoms. Modern potatoes contain around 7mg/kg in and directly below the skin, way less in the other parts. Heirloom breeds can contain significantly more, but I couldn't find exact numbers, again, peeling removes a significant portion. And the last line of defense is your palate: Solanine tastes slightly bitter, so eating bitter potatoes is a bad idea, both from a culinary and from a food safety position.

In short: no need to worry about your sprouting purple potatoes if some basic precautions are taken.


Flatbread dough turned red Today I made some flatbread and while cooking them I noticed a reddish coloring of the dough. I didn't add anything red in particular, so I am very surprised they turned out this way. Why did that happen?
I mixed whole spelt flour and regular wheat flour, yogurt, 2 tablespoons baking soda, some olive oil, flax seeds and sesame seeds, salt, garam masala and turmeric. First I kneaded it with a mixer, the by hand, I left it to rest for 15 minutes, maybe bit more. I rolled it quite thinly with a rolling pin. I fried it on a non-stick pan.
I am actually not sure if this was safe to eat, maybe something reacted in an unexpected way?!

As Joe mentioned, there was something acting as a litmus paper!

Turmeric placed in an alkaline solution will turn bright red!

quoted from: https://foodcrumbles.com/how-turmeric-gets-its-color/
Most probably there wasn't enough yogurt or it didn't react with baking soda and left the dough alkaline.


What are possible substitutes for pineapple in sweet and sour pork/chicken? Most recipes for sweet and sour pork/chicken I see include pineapple example.

But what if someone does not like pineapple?

What are candidate substitutes?

Do they necessarily need to be fruits?

What purpose/taste-component does the pineapple serve?

The recipe title kind of answers the question--it is the sweet, and some of the sour.  Pineapple also has a good firmness.  Note that all of the below is speculation, as this is a most unusual substitution request, so I haven't tried any of this.

Fruit will best serve the role of both tart and sour, so almost every reasonable substitute is going to be fruit.

You have indicated you don't like the flavor of pineapple, which for your goal, is probably good as nothing else will provide that distinctive flavor.  While my first choice would be to not make this recipe, where you don't enjoy one of the signature ingredients, if you do, then you want something that:

Has a good body and mouth feel the way pineapple does, even after the pureeing called for in the cited recipe
A floral, complex flavor
Something sweet and tart

In the recipe you cite, the pineapple is canned, so you are not losing its enzymatic action, as the enzymes in the pineapple were deactivated by the heat during the canning process.

What comes first to my mind is mango, perhaps with a mixture of lime and orange juice to replace the acidity of the pineapple juice, and maybe a touch of sugar to balance the flavor.  You will have to find the right balance, depending on your particular fruit--you may want extra acidity from lemon juice, even, or perhaps extra sugar.  I would use something that adds complexity like brown sugar or turbadino depending on where you live if it is needed.

If you try this, however, you will be inventing essentially a new dish, and will have to work out how long to cook the mixture.

Another more radical choice would be canned peaches, perhaps using some of their syrup for sweetness, and again, lemon or lime juice mixed with orange juice for the acidity. This will probably be even more divergent, but peaches have a good floral complexity, and with enough lemon juice, you should be able to find the sweet/sour balance.  Of course, this would be far from authentic.


How can I make my own vinegar? How can I turn excess wine into delicious wine vinegar at home?  For those who have done it, are there any useful tips to get the best results?

I do not have access to any "mother of vinegar" starter culture, and am not likely to spend money on it; however, I DO have a well-stocked home kitchen and a lot of patience.

Edit:  To be more specific about my questions

How long should it take to ferment, and when do I give up if it's not vinegary?
Do I need to add sugar/water for low-sweetness or high-alcohol wines?
How do I collect Mother of Vinegar for use in fresh batches?

Although you can hope that the right bacteria will get from the air into a bottle of wine you left open, you will get quicker and more reliable results using unpasteurized cider vinegar. Unpasteurized means there should still be plenty of the needed acetobacter.

Pour your vinegar half and half with red wine in a container that you leave open (but with cheesecloth to prevent bugs and all to get inside) and let it sit in a dark spot 2-4 weeks.

Different sources recommend using solution with a 5-7% alcohol content, so any wine (typically ≤15%) diluted by half with vinegar should be fine.


Nutrient content of ground bison meat I have been searching for fat and calorie content per volume of ground bison meat, and I have found various conflicting sources.

BisonCentral.com lists it as 2.42 grams of fat and 143 kcal per 3.5 oz serving.
nutritiondata.self.com claims 14 grams of fat and 190 kcal per 3 oz serving.
healthyeating.sfgate.com says 10 grams of fat and 200 calories per 4 oz serving.

So which is right?

None of them are right—or, all of them are right.

"Ground bison" does not fully describe the product. Any ground meat is produced from one or more cuts of varying fat content, and usually does not have the same overall fat content as the average across all cuts of meat for that animal. So, to have a chance at comparing these different sources of information, you would at least need to know the fat content of the ground bison meat. To make things more complicated, the %fat indicated on ground meat labels in the US refers to the maximum proportion of fat in the product from a regulatory standpoint. There is some flexibility in how accurate the label must be for the product to be in compliance with federal regulations, so the actual fat content could be as much as 20% more or less than the advertised value; but in practice, a vendor won't get in trouble for selling meat that is leaner than advertised (even though this would be very annoying for those of us who are more concerned with preparing the dish properly than having it be low-fat). From the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service guidebook:

  Q. Is the leeway on values still 20 percent?

  A. Yes. The regulations in 9 CFR 317.309(h) and 381.409(h) specify
  that certain nutrient values are not out of compliance, unless they
  are more than 20 percent above the labeled value. That rule applies to
  the labeled values for calories, sugars, total fat, saturated fat,
  cholesterol, or sodium. These regulations also specify that certain
  nutrient values are not out of compliance unless they are 20 percent
  below the labeled value. That rule applies to the labeled values for
  vitamins, minerals, protein, total carbohydrates, dietary fiber, other
  carbohydrates, polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fat, or potassium.

  Q. If a producer is not sure of the lean and fat percentage of a
  ground or chopped product, could the producer label it with a worse
  lean and fat percentage? For example, could a producer label a product
  that is actually 80% lean and 20% fat, with a 70% lean/30% fat label?

  A. FSIS would not take action against producers estimating that their
  products are higher in fat than they actually are.

For an analytical perspective, check out this item from the Agricultural Research Service, which shows that at the lean end the of the spectrum, ground beef products are more likely to be fattier than the label advertises, while the reverse is true at the fatty end of the spectrum (near 70% lean/30% fat, which is the absolute maximum fat content allowed by law).

The other glaring problem with comparing these different sources of information is that the BisonCentral page is giving information for cooked meat, while the self.com page is giving information for raw meat. The sfgate.com page doesn't even specify cooked or raw so I would consider it the least credible of the three.

The nutritional information source I recommend is the USDA National Nutrient Database, which has over a dozen entries for various forms of bison meat:

NDB No.    Description
17148   Bison, ground, grass-fed, cooked
17149   Bison, ground, grass-fed, raw
17156   Game meat, bison, separable lean only, raw
17330   Game meat , bison, ground, raw
17157   Game meat, bison, separable lean only, cooked, roasted
17331   Game meat, bison, ground, cooked, pan-broiled
17267   Game meat, bison, top sirloin, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, raw
17268   Game meat, bison, ribeye, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, raw
17269   Game meat, bison, shoulder clod, separable lean only, trimmed to 0" fat, raw
17332   Game meat , bison, top sirloin, separable lean only, 1" steak, cooked, broiled
17335   Game meat, bison, ribeye, separable lean only, 1" steak, cooked, broiled
17336   Game meat, bison, top round, separable lean only, 1" steak, cooked, broiled
17337   Game meat, bison, top round, separable lean only, 1" steak, raw
17333   Game meat, bison, chuck, shoulder clod, separable lean only, 3-5 lb roast, cooked, braised
17334   Game meat, bison, chuck, shoulder clod, separable lean only, 3-5 lb roast, raw

In fact, if you look closely at the chart on the BisonCentral page, you'll see at the bottom:

  Bison, separable lean only, cooked, roasted. USDA NDB No. 17157

The corresponding NDB page doesn't agree exactly with the BisonCentral source (if you add up the lipid entries, you don't get 2.4%) but it's at least in the ballpark.

You have another problem: That's not a "ground meat" category. When the meat is raw, grinding it won't change the proportion of fat by weight, but when you cook ground meat the fat escapes much more easily than it would if you cooked the whole cut(s) from which the meat was originally ground.

Here's some further reading from Texas A&M about ground beef labeling, for those who are interested.


Why is a pig-skin like substance floating on top of my vinegar? Apologies if this is off-topic.
Every year, I make about 25 litres of cider vinegar. I wash the apples in a bucket of tap water, press them, add a sachet of yeast and leave the fermenting vessel in the garage. The juice is very acidic so not very pleasant to drink. It does however make tasty vinegar.
I have several fermenting buckets in the garage each with a different vintage of vinegar. Floating in each is a jelly-like mother of vinegar. Today I discovered that the yeast in one of the vessels (18 month vintage) has gone a bit wonky. The mother is about an inch thick. It's mostly jelly-like but the very top has the texture of pig skin, is very tough, and smells like cheese. The vinegar has lost its acidic taste and also has a hint of cheese.
Can anyone tell me what might have happened? Why has the mother become so tough? Why does it smell like cheese? Is it safe to eat?

That looks like a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast -- a SCOBY.
As to why a SCOBY developed in one vessel and not the others, only guesses can be made. I found a blog post that may offer an explanation:

So a SCOBY is typically a SCOBY for all starting vinegar and kombucha fermentations when slow processes like vat or barrel fermentation are used. Both terms can work at this point. However, for vinegar around 1% acidity the yeast die off and at higher acidities the lactic acid bacteria die off as well leaving only acetic acid bacteria to feed on alcohol. At this point it is only a mother of vinegar containing one type of organism. Kombucha acidity usually ends between 0.5-1% while vinegar is 4% minimum and usually 5%. So calling a fermenting vinegar mother a SCOBY isn’t strictly accurate.

It may be the case that the yeast grew faster than the lactic acid bacteria and the solution never reached >1% acidity in that vessel.  I would be interested to know if the pH of that vessel is higher than the others.


Today's equivalent of a cake of yeast I came across one of my mother's cookbooks from 1954.  A lot of the baked goods call for "1 cake of yeast".  What would be the equivalent of this in today's supermarket?

You can find fresh cake yeast in grocery stores, but it's much less common than active dry yeast granulates.
1 cake of fresh yeast is approximately the same as 1 envelope/packet of active dry yeast. 1 packet usually equals about 2¼ teaspoons, or ¼ ounce, or 7 grams of active dry yeast granules.


Why are British cooking shows seemingly more lax in terms of cleanliness? I was watching the Great British Baking Show and a couple others and I noticed multiple instances where things were dropped on the floor and added back to the plate, or they taste with a spoon and then use the spoon to taste again later or stir or something. This would result in instant disqualification on Chopped or something like that.

Is that just a non-issue there, is the US just a bunch of pansies, do the US shows just edit some of it out, or is there something else going on i'm missing?

A friend of mine worked in a kitchen in London for a year, and mentioned that their health/cleanliness standards were quite high. I'm just wondering about the shows.

I would put this down to a number of factors - culture and location. The US is probably much more "Hygiene aware" due to the very high environmental temperatures found in some regions, unlike the UK, which is pretty temperate and generally a lot cooler. The US is also much more litigious than the UK, with extensive food safety warnings you would not normally find on UK/EU packaging. There is also a lot less fishing, hunting, shooting and homesteading culture in the UK, which would re-enforce core food safety values. I doubt if as many people here would be aware of botulism caused by garlic stored in oil for instance, or the discipline surrounding home canning. The lack of free universal healthcare in the US may also play a part, as a visit to the doctor is not cheap, and prevention being cheaper than cure. This all adds up to a greater sense of personal responsibility, whereas in the UK a stomach bug is casually dismissed almost as a rite of passage with a Gallic shrug (That dodgy pint of beer, kebab or curry after a night out etc.).

The "3 second rule" is pretty much a fact of life here rather than an urban myth, despite a somewhat biased study carried out by a floor mop manufacturer (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2138777/The-second-rule-fact-fiction-Scientists-reveal-food-dropped-floor-safe-eat.html). With a lot of people not cooking from scratch, and depending on take-away food or ready meals etc. this also prevents the adoption of best practices. I am considered totally OCD as I have a fridge, meat and gun thermometers I use when cooking. Not many people in the UK would be concerned with fridge temperatures, whereas in the US it is a much more critical issue etc.

The UK program probably just reflects these more "casual” values, I have seen both British and American chefs wear jewelry or rings on TV shows when handling food for instance, something that would be condemned in a professional environment either side of the pond.

Taking into account the temperatures and time required to record inside a television studio though, I wouldn't just be worried about the dropped food.


Why do my brownies inconsistently end up hard and thin? When I make brownies, I sometimes end up with really hard thin brownies instead of thick fudgy soft brownies.

I bake them the same amount of time, use the same ingredients, and use the same equipment each time.

Are there any reasons why my brownies sometimes end up thin and hard, and other times not?

You might not be as consistent as you think.  See my comments about baking cookies.

One thing that comes to mind is amount of flour, and how (and how much) you're mixing -- but I don't know that those would make it 'thin' necessarily, but it would make them tough if you're over mixing.

It might be a temperature issue, if you're using a solid shortening (eg, butter) rather than a liquid shortening.

Also, although you said you're cooking them for the same amount of time, inconsistent oven temperature might turn that into inconsistent baking -- you only want brownies to be set on the sides when you take them out of the oven -- they should fail a toothpick test if you want them fudgy.  Cooking them until they're 'done' will result in them hardening up as they cool.


What is the difference between Prime Rib and a Standing Rib Roast? What is the difference between Prime Rib and a Standing Rib Roast? (and a "rib eye roast" while you're at it)

I just happened across this older question and found the answers provided, including the information in the link to wikipedia to be incorrect.

All Prime Ribs are Standing Rib Roasts, not all Standing Rib Roasts are Prime Rib.

[see edit below] A "Prime Rib" is a standing rib roast, from a beef that has
achieved a USDA Grade of "Prime".
Bone-In or Bone-out are separate distinctions the can be applied to
any standing rib roast, regardless of grade.

  U.S. Prime – This is the highest grade of beef with the most fat
  marbling. This meat is very tender and only accounts for about 2.9% of
  all graded beef. U.S. Prime is usually reserved for high end dining
  establishments. Because this beef has such a high level of fat
  marbling, it is excellent for dry heat cooking methods. from: http://foodreference.about.com/od/Meat/a/Usda-Beef-Grades.htm

Also, technically a Prime Rib is not a 'steak' but rather a 'slice of roast'. If one takes a slice from a raw rib primal and grills or broils it as a steak it is a "Rib Eye", and can also be either "bone-in" or "bone-out". (the use of the word 'primal' refers to a primary cut of beef, the first cuts a butcher will use to section a beef beyond quartering, it is utterly unrelated to the word "prime" in "Prime Rib" )

[Edit 12-21-17: Additional research indicates I had causality inverted. The USDA choose the term "Prime" because of the popularity of "Prime Rib", a term that apparently existed before the USDA grading system. More importantly the 'Prime Rib' is cut from between the #6 and #12 ribs, but may be of a grade other than 'Prime'. However, the initial point remains true that "All Prime Ribs are standing Rib Roasts, but not all Standing Rib Roasts are Prime Ribs". The 'Standing Rib Roast' may include (or be exclusively) from outside the 6-12 range. The potential difference being from where within the rib primal the roast is cut.]


Does it matter when you add the salt? Spices create aromatics so it is important when to add them. But what about salt? Is it critical if you add salt to the flavor base instead of adding it to the tomato paste, or adding it to the finished soup?

Salt is very soluble in water, and during the cooking process will tend to diffuse within the liquids of the food and permeate inside. Having a salty flavor throughout the food I find tends to help curb salt usage. A good example is pasta, where if you add salt you can achieve a salty taste for the pasta and largely decrease salt you add at the table. My grandmother always said add the salt while you are cooking so you don't have to add twice as much later.


How to remove bad smell from kitchen? how to maintain a healthy, neat and clean kitchen in an apartment without smell as apartment is too small, there is no direct sunlight, no window only exhaust fan, rest of apartment have wide window and good air passage but kitchen is closed. I try to clean it daily but the bad smell remain there.

Bad smells don't suddenly appear: they have a source. The way to get rid of it is removing the source. If there is a persistent bad smell, I would recommend going though the kitchen from top to bottom and clean everything. This will probably take several hours to most of a day, depending on how many people help and how big the kitchen is.

This includes cleaning in drawers (removing inserts and cleaning them as well) and cupboards, pulling out appliances like the stove and refrigerator (maybe a piece of some food fell behind the stove while cooking and is spreading a bad smell?) and potentially even having a plumber check that there's nothing wrong with the sink / waste disposal. You should also change or clean the filters in the exhaust fan. Hopefully after this the source of the smell will be discovered and removed.

Once the bad smell is gone, you can maintain the kitchen by cleaning daily as you have been doing and making sure you get fresh air into the room. Leave the door open and have a window open in some other room to help get fresh air into the kitchen.


Laotion (Thai/Viet) Style Sticky Rice, after making sticky rice do you knead the rice in something specific? I have been trying to replicate some sticky rice that I ate during my childhood.  I know you have to rinse the glutinous rice several times and let it soak for a good period of time.  I then used my rice cooker instead of my bamboo steamer and it did a pretty good job.
(I am using calrose rice)

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

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

Thai people we separate sticky rice on a big round tray after steam it to cool down and get rid of steam heat which will make rice is over cook and become too sticky.
If you want to cook from rice cooker soak sticky rice over night and in the morning wash it with water 2-3 times then add water about the same level of sticky rice if you add water too much it will too sticky.

Enjoy your meal !


What foods/preparations demonstrate the flavor difference between sea salt and table salt? Related to What is the difference between sea salt and regular table salt?

What can I prepare that will work really well for a side-by-side comparison to demonstrate the difference between sea salt and regular table salt? Obviously, tasting the salts directly might work, but I'm looking for something that highlights the difference and is tasty at the same time.

Edit:

I'm looking for things that highlight the differences in the flavors of the salts or that the salts affect the flavor significantly due to the trace minerals. Why are the things you suggest ideal for this? I'm not looking for a list of foods you can add salt to - that list is endless.

Why should I use sea salt?

Here's a hypothetical example answer:

  Adding sea salt to X makes it taste salty in the same way as table salt does. However if you use Y, the A will be B and the C will be D. You will notice a distinct difference.

Much agreed with Krister that simple is best.  Also, to really emphasize the difference, I'd aim for larger flakes of both the 'regular' salt and the sea-salt. Here are some serving ideas.

Just the salt.  Side by side, on a dark plate with some small divider.  A pinch of each.  That's it.
Broth.  A very simple vegetable broth, made with a little butter (unsalted of course) and fresh tomato, and perhaps a sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary, warmed to about 160 degrees, and strained through cheesecloth. I'd add about 2/3 the salt during cooking and a few 'fresh' flakes at service.
Fish.  Preferably raw.  A piece of sushi-grade salmon would be delicious.  Add a few flakes of salt.
Meat.  Take one very good, very fatty, very juicy piece of meat.  Sear it on all sides to about medium rare.  Salt.
Chocolate.  Salt is a wonderful accompaniment to dark chocolate.  And dark chocolate with caramel.  Make or purchase such a confection, and serve two side by side with a few flakes of each salt on top.
Fruit.  I recommend a piece of watermelon.  Possibly grilled.  With salt.
Tea.  Find a good recipe for salt tea, popular in parts of Asia.  Serve in two small Japanese style tea cups.

You have lots of options.  Small portions will be key.  Not overcooking anything will be key.  Interesting options whether or not to tell your guests ahead of a dish which preparation is which, or let them to identify the difference with their palettes. Perhaps a combination, letting them try to guess at first, then with instruction, and finishing with guessing again.  I'd add in some history, possibly from the highly recommended book Salt.  Or just Wikipedia.  Tell them all of the functions salt serves in our bodies, but especially in the transmissions of flavor on the tongue.  Great idea...!


Should a serious cook own a blowtorch? And what does he/she principally use it for?

I'm thinking of crème brûlée to start with and maybe blackening the skin of a pepper. Apart from that mine sits on the worktop pretty much unused.

Oh ... one other use (possibly unwise) .. occasionally using it under supervision does get my very young son more interested in cooking!

I own one, and have tried it for both those uses, but with mediocre results compared to other techniques.

For crème brûlée, I get more even caramelization by placing the individual custards under a broiler. The only benefit I could appreciate from using the torch was that it was quicker, and I could monitor the caramelization more easily. (The broiler technique is the one recommended in this book for the perfect crème brûlée.)

For peppers, the torch dries out and blackens the skin without really cooking the interior. Again I have had better results in a broiler/hot oven, or on a grill.

The torch is most definitely fun, but so far I haven't found it to be necessary; I'll be interested, however, if someone else has found the perfect use(s) for a culinary torch.


How to unclog the stove After cleaning the stove holes with some liquid detergent, one of them is clogged now. I used a sewing needle, without any effect. Did anybody run into this problem before?

The jets can be unscrewed, using a properly sized wrench, and cleaned with an appropriately sized cleaner. Once clean they can screwed back in.
They are typically made from brass and are soft. Using the wrong wrench can round off the hex head. More importantly the orifice in the jet can be unintentionally enlarged or damaged easily. Inserting anything from the outside will push debris into the fuel system and while it may clear the hole it leaves the debris inside. It is better to remove them for cleaning. If damaged they are easily replaceable. Before doing anything check the documentation for your stove. The installation or maintenance instructions may include directions for replacing the jets.
I use an oxy-acetylene torch tip cleaner on my stove jets if they are clogged. My tip cleaner provides sizes 6 to 26 one of which fits my jets.
To clean them I select the largest cleaner which easily fits into the orifice. It is inserted and gently run in and out to clean the orifice. Rather than being smooth the cleaners have very small ridges on their sides that help to remove debris. If not used carefully they can act like a file and enlarge the size of the orifice in the jet. Keep the cleaner aligned with the orifice vice at an angle. It needs to go straight in and out. The cleaners can also be bent when inserting. Hold them close to the insertion point when clearing the jet. If it seems too hard try a smaller size cleaner.
I do not turn off my gas supply, just insure the burner is off and stays that way until you are done.


Soaking millet before making ogi I have a recipe for making Ogi - soured mixed millet, that calls for soaking whole millet grains, then blending them, then souring them with whey for three days. I'm wondering why is there the first soaking, is it for reducing phytate content, that wouldn't be reduced if the millet is actually blended or grinded?

To reduce phytates and to soften the outer coating.  The whey, if acid whey, also reduces phytates even more.  If it calls for soaking for two days or so, it is to germinate the grain/seed.


Do nutritional facts take into account the inedible parts of certain foods? I was wondering if the caloric values of leftovers of certain foods (may the best example be bones, when eating chicken) that are never eaten, taken into account when calculating nutrition values of prepared meals. Most importantly when vendor/food outlet is obligated to put them on the packaging/leaflets.

I can't find a paper with detailed methodology of such calculations nowhere in the internet.

Nutritional values are based on Servings, not on the whole product, so it is realistic to assume that the values are based on what is actually to be consumed.

As for the second part of your question, I would refer you to this site that simplifies FDA labeling and nutrition requirements:

https://www.foodpackaginglabels.net/food-labeling-requirements/


In general, can I substitute egg species for either egg-only or egg-centric dishes? (Prompted by an interesting radio show on ducks and duck eggs).

For general uses, in either an egg-only dish, or an egg-centric dish like a custard or quiche, can I use eggs other than chicken eggs?

Other than the obvious that the volume of the dish will vary, and perhaps the cooking time, can I make a fried quail egg on toast, or a duck egg quiche?  Or for that matter, to echo another recent question, a soft-boiled ostrich egg - presumably with lots of dipping toast!

More or less, yes. Just know that eggs of different species have different "flavors." There may be some issues with substituting in dishes due to varying fat content of the yolks and such...

I've had duck and goose egg quiches. I've had fried quail eggs on toast. I have yet to try an ostrich or emu egg.


Is it possible to make Sour Cream at home? I use Sour Cream in several recipes, is there a way to make it from scratch?

Sour cream is just cultured cream. You want to take fresh cream and then add the correct culture, then let it sit.

One way is to add a small amount of cultured buttermilk (with live cultures) to the cream. Put the mixture in a clean container and leave it in a warm place. In a day or two the cultures will have turned the cream "sour." and it's ready to use. At this point, you can use your fresh sour cream to start other sour creams as well.


What substitutes are available for sugar? I am told that I use too much sugar, and I am trying to use it less.

What should I use instead of the sugar to cook, preparing desserts?

The following are sugar substitutes that are not considered "artificial sweetners."  The links provide interesting information that should be pondered before using any of them.

Agave nectar
Stevia
Honey
Maple syrup

For actual unrefined cane syrup or sugar (considered healthier than sugar by those who consider less refined to equal more healthy), look to

Rapadura
Sucanat

For artificial sweeteners, you could consider:

Splenda (you can get this in quantities suitable for baking at most grocery stores)

If you're looking to lower your sugar, before going to artificial sweeteners don't discount just teaching yourself a lower sugar diet by eating smaller portions of sweets and making your own sweets with a lower sugar content.


Avoiding too much residue when deep frying Wanting to deep fry just the outer surface of chicken, I prepared a mix of dry wheat flour, maida (Plain flour/All-purpose flour), pepper powder, red chilli powder and salt. Since the curd-marinated chicken pieces were wet after cooking in a pressure cooker, I rolled the pieces in the flour mixture as shown in a recipe, heated oil in a deep non stick container and placed the chicken pieces in the oil when the oil was hot.

After the first batch was fried, I noticed a lot of the flour had collected on the bottom of the container. Is this normal? I'm assuming this would happen even if the coating was made of stickier stuff. The problem is that this layer of flour on the bottom keeps increasing with every batch of chicken I put. Is there a right way or a better way to do this and avoid all this residue? I want to be able to re-use the oil.

When deep frying, there is no way to avoid residue collecting at the bottom of your pot.  You can shake off excess flour before frying to reduce this effect, but you will always have some residue.  The main difference between deep frying in a pot on a stove, and a dedicated, restaurant-style deep fryer is that the restaurant-style fryer is deep, and has the heating element well off the bottom.  That produces a cold zone where debris collects, but does not burn.  It is the burning bits that are left over that cause the biggest degradation of your frying oil. Restaurant-style fryers allow oil to be reused for quite some time, then filtered and used further. Depending on the amount of debris, the length of time you are using, and, most importantly your temperatures, you can filter and reuse oil from your home set-up, but probably not more than once or twice.  If it begins to smell "fishy" you've gone beyond the opportunity to reuse.

Your new comment suggests that you are shallow frying.  In this case I would suggest not reusing the oil.  Temperature control is difficult at best, and  the ratio of oil to chicken means that it will likely be quite degraded by the time you are finished.


What is the use of oil in this recipe? Can I do without? I have made this caramelized nuts recipe (here, it's in french), which contains olive oil.

The taste is good, but since it's something you eat with your fingers, they get all greasy quite fast.

Why is the recipe suggesting to use oil?
Could I do without using it or it would break some kind of chemistry or something?

Ingredients:

4 cups of cashew
1/2 cup of honey
2 table spoons sriracha sauce
2 table spoons of olive oil
1 table spoon of ginger

Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven (350ºF)
Mix everything but the nuts together
Pour sauce over the nuts, and mix
Spread the nuts evenly on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper
Cook in oven for 10 to 15 minutes, mixing once or twice
Let cool down, and eat!

I just looked at 10 different recipes for caramelized nuts, and of those 10, not a single one called for oil. That being the case, I think you're fine skipping the oil. If it doesn't seem liquid enough, warm it up before pouring. If you try it, be sure to come back and let us know how it goes!


How to cook eye of round roast? What are my options for cooking an eye of round roast? What's the best way to cook this cut of meat to minimize the potential for it to dry out?

Eye of round is an excellent cut for braising. You can braise it in stock or red wine. An example recipe would be the classic Beef Bourguignon.

It's also a perfect candidate for slow-cooking in a crock pot, as well as simply roasted in the oven. If cooking it in the oven, use a thermometer and don't cook it past medium. An overnight marinade can be used prior to roasting for additional flavor as well.


What is the purpose of baking powder in batter? In particular, what is the purpose of the baking powder in this recipe:

http://www.wearesovegan.com/korean-cauliflower-bites/

The baking powder undergoes a chemical reaction which produces small gas bubbles in the batter.  The bubbles break up the batter coating (sort of like the geometry inside a sponge) so you wind up with a mass of little holes each surrounded by a thin layer of bready material, and it all fries up airy, light and crispy; instead of one thick, dense, hard shell of cooked paste around your cauliflower bits.


Uncooked chicken burgers in the oven, thawed, then put into the fridge So I took uncooked, frozen chicken burgers and put them in the oven at about 350 and left them for about 15 minutes. But then I had to leave my apartment so I took them out. They were warm and unfrozen. I put them in the fridge and so I want to know - can I cook them tomorrow morning for lunch?

They are probably safe to eat, although it's difficult to tell for sure.

The basic rule is that food should spend no longer than 2 hours in the danger zone between 4 and 60 Celsius. Assuming that it took them less than 2 hours to go from "warm and unfrozen" to fridge temperature (which is below 4 Celsius), they are officially safe to eat. With small food items like burgers, this shouldn't be a problem. It is large pots of food such as soup which may take too long to cool down from just-cooked to fridge temperature, but a hamburger has much less volume.


How to keep a rolled cabbage leaf (stalk leaf not the outer leaf) in place? I am growing white cabbages and have an idea to use the stalk leaves (not the outer leaves of the cabbage) in the same way as fried zucchini/courgette flowers.

I want to roll the (raw) leaves (including stem) to form a tube and stuff with anchovy and mozzarella, dip into a batter and shallow fry.

However, I need a way to keep the leaf rolled up (and perhaps even sealed at the end).

Note that the leaves from the stalk of the plant are very different to the leaves which make up the cabbage itself.  The stalk leaves are not stiff and easily roll to form a tube/cone shape without boiling.

Here is a top view of a cabbage growing.  The cabbage heart in the centre will continue to grow and form the final cabbage which is sold to the public.  The stalk leaves of the plant which surround the cabbage heart are discarded when the cabbage is harvested.  I want to use the stalk leaves (and of course the eventual cabbage proper).  In the picture, the stalk leaves are larger than mine and so will be tougher and not as flexible (but will still be pliable compared to the leaves of the cabbage itself).  I plan to use my leaves when they are smaller and easily roll up (but needs something to keep in the rolled shape, preferably edible).

I would prefer an edible solution, so toothpicks/skewers are a last resort.

Ideas

Slice an onion into rings and use a ring or two to keep the leaf rolled in place.  The open end may stay sealed by folding the end over itself with an onion ring holding in place.
Sacrifice a stalk leaf and cut into long, thin strips (discarding the stalk/stem) and use that as string (inspired by using shredded leek). Update: Tried using strips of a leaf, but they break when tying.

Correct me if I'm wrong but you want to make a Spring roll but with cabbage leaf instead of rice wrapper?
If yes then what you want to make is cabbage roll.
And it's almost impossible to make with raw leaves. They are to bristle and cook too long to let what's inside cook accordingly. As in it will be overcooked before stuffing will be done. Or if you put ready stuffing it will get soggy.

What you can do is to boil the cabbage whole and peel leaves that are soft and tender. Then you cut the steam to flatten it (so you cut horizontally).
After that it should be enough to roll stuffing in it and seal it.

Edible "thread" that you could use is leek cut in length and steamed a little bit so it's softer but still springy.


Can I bake cookies without baking paper? I just returned from the store with all the ingredients for baking cookies, and now I notice that I am out of baking paper.
Is there some common household item I can use instead (Regular paper? Tinfoil? Just put them on the raw baking tray?), or do I have to make another trip to the store?

First of all, if your baking sheet is nonstick you may not need baking paper at all. If it is not, then either directly greasing the baking sheet, or putting tinfoil on it and greasing that works reasonably well as a substitute.


Filling for Caribbean roti Some years back my girlfriend visited Trinidad and Tobago, and there she encountered a dish that she just called roti. She used to buy it from a stand, which offered many variations. The one she favored was one with a spicy chicken filling.

Now rotis I know, or at least the Indian roti, which I presume this caribbean dish has its origin from. But the filling are more of a mystery. Are there typical chicken filling for rotis in Trinidad and Tobago? In that case does it have a name or some typical ingredients so I have a starting point in recreating this mystery dish?

Like a lot of Caribbean cuisine (curries, rice and peas, chilli), these are based on the Indian equivalent, brought by indentured labourers from the sub-continent.

There's a recipe here: http://www.food.com/recipe/caribbean-trinidad-roti-288544 - generally fillings are vegatable-based and usually include sweet or regular potato, chickpeas and curry and chilli powder.

If you like them you may also enjoy Indian stuffed-parathas (here's a recipe you can try) - the original and IMHO, the best ;-)


What type of whetstones are you using for sharpening stainless steel knives? What type of whetstone should I use for sharpening knives made of VG-10, A2, D2, S30V?

More specific, for each step (grinding/sharpening/honing):

what kind of whetstone: natural or artificial? If artificial, what type of material?
what kind of bonding material? or no bonding material at all for specific grit ranges?

P.S. If you know some other place where specific models of whetstones (and their recommended usage) are discussed, please leave a comment. All I have found so far are some vendor sites, and nothing relevant about practical usage.

For the honing stage, I have found an article regarding belgian natural stones: How does a Belgian Blue Whetstone compare to a Coticule  (without any reference to a specific steel type)

In summary:

the yellow stones (Coticule) are much better than BBW if using slurry
using just water, without slurry, BBW is almost useless and Coticule is very slow


Are there blue foods out there? Are there naturally occurring foods that are blue? Not foods that have been created in a lab to be blue?

A few that came immediately to mind:

Blueberries
Purple potatoes (sort of blue-violet)
Blue corn (readily found in the form of corn chips)
Lobsters are blueish (until cooked when they turn bright red, so nobody thinks of them as blue)
Some edible flowers

An excellent answer can be found at Skeptics.SE, complete with lots of pictures.


Why do US chicken taste "gamey"/rancid in no time despite proper storage? I am a new member. We are relatively new to the US, moved here 8 years ago.

I've purchased the chicken brands Foster Farms, Costco/Kirkland, Save Mart, Safeway, and more, but no matter the label, it seems that the taste of the meat goes bad really fast, within 12-24 hours after cooking. It's almost like the fats went rancid or the meat would just taste quite funny/fishy or different in no time.

**EDIT**: Sorry, now I realize it really does taste quite "GAMEY". I didn't want to use the word since it's not gamey like how I find Turkey meat gamey. But there is a little bit of gamey off putting taste to it.

When I was younger, the chicken tasted fresh, it doesn't have to be the free range, native or organic all the time, it never tasted funny like what we have now.

Is it that the chickens are processed for a long time here?

I would appreciate your input. Thanks very much and happy advanced thanksgiving to my fellow American members.

I think what your experiencing is the difference between our factory farmed chickens and "normal" chickens. If you do a side-by-side comparison of something like a purdue chicken and an organic free range chicken it'll taste nothing alike. Chicken, eggs, and to a certain extent beef taste immensely different (better IMO) when they're not factory farmed. Now your going to obviously pay more money for an organic bird but i think it's worth it to avoid going through what you've described above.

I remember experiencing the same phenomenon but in reverse when visiting other countries where you may be eating proteins hours after slaughter.


What has happened to this oil? I recently purchased some sun-dried tomatoes in oil. However a few days in the fridge and they look like this despite being unopened.

I regularly buy these tomatoes and store them in the same way. Can anyone suggest what might have happened?

Oil solidifies at cold temperature.

In the case of olive oil, it does so at 37F.

It takes a few minutes to get back to liquid state, either by leaving it on the counter or putting the jar in warm water.


Balancing out saffron taste, chlorine/latex taste I am cooking a chickpea stew and clearly used too much Saffron (high chlorine taste). Does anyone know what I can use to balance out or mask the flavour?

Searching for information about the taste of saffron, it seems that there are two camps - saffron that tastes of chlorine or plastic, and saffron that tastes/smells indescribably like saffron, perhaps earthy or like hay. Although it can taste bitter when used in larger amounts - e.g. a dash rather than a pinch. Some people find it can taste metallic or "hospital-y" which does match with the chemicals found in saffron, rather than this being a reault of an filler or fake-ness.

From Wikipedia (but they give no references) "Saffron's aroma is often described by connoisseurs as reminiscent of metallic honey with grassy or hay-like notes, while its taste has also been noted as hay-like and sweet."

So yours is possibly mixed with something or not real saffron. Or maybe you are using too much - the amount needed depends on the purity and grade.
Therefore, the way to balance out or mask the flavour is probably to get real saffron or use less. If you are asking how to balance it in a dish you have already made, this is obviously not so useful!
The other thing is that if you want the colour but not the taste, you can use turmeric.

How expensive was yours? And was it powder or threads? It is generally recommended that to get the threads for better taste, and I imagine these are harder to adulterate.


How long is SPAM really good for? I wanted to buy some SPAM for my zombie apocalypse survival kit, and I noticed that it had an expiration date in 2013. Should I be concerned? I've heard it will last more than 25 years.

As with all can goods, as long as the can has no physical defects (meaning swollen or dented, ectera), the contents should still be good. The date on the outside is mainly a best by date, after which a company will no longer vouch for the contents contained therein.


What are "cheese Parmentiers"? From Clarissa Dickson Wright's A History of English Food (2012):

[In the 1920s, British] hostesses also started to serve canapés: little cheese Parmentiers, asparagus rolled in thin brown bread and butter, delicate crab patties, and, of course, the ubiquitous vol-au-vents [...] (source)

Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737–1813) was a French proponent of the potato.
Googling "cheese Parmentier" just wants to tell me about hachis Parmentier, basically a French version of shepherd's pie, dating back to at least 1898. ("Hachis" here I think is French for "a chopped-up thing," and has no relation to the Spanish word for "hashish," but I'd appreciate some authoritative enlightenment on that point too.)
Hachis Parmentier does contain both cheese and potatoes, and also phonetically sounds like "(ha-) cheese Parmentier"; the only reasons I'm doubting this identification are (1) that I can't find any evidence at all that anyone's ever actually referred to hachis Parmentier as "cheese Parmentier," and (2) little shepherd's pies sound like they'd make terribly messy canapés.
So, what did Clarissa Dickson Wright mean by "little cheese Parmentiers"?

Some quick Googling leads me to believe these are "Bouchées Parmentier au Fromage" (literally 'mouthfuls'), which seem to be some sort of potato-and-cheese croquette.
To find this, I did a Google image search for "Parmentier au fromage". This shows many different dishes (lots of which are indeed shepherd's pie-like, but it also gives a few hits on the Bouchées. These seem to be perfect as a canapé, so fit the description in OP's question. Searching for "Bouchées Parmentier au Fromage" yields only these. It's admittedly not a water-tight argument, but it's the best I could find.


How long do I need to freeze the freezer bowl when making the second batch of ice cream? I have made one batch of ice cream, and now I need to make another. I have rinsed out the freezer bowl, and when I dried it I noticed that the water had frozen to a thin film of ice. So it is obviously still pretty cold. I am hoping to finish the second batch tonight (at the time of writing it is 7 pm here in Sweden). Is a couple of hours in the freezer enough, or do I need to wait until tomorrow morning?

This really depends on your freezer and your icecream bowl. Usually the instructions will have a suggested freeze time on them...In my experience, however, it's usually 6-8 hours at a minimum.

If you need to make multiple batches, it is ABSOLUTELY worth your money to get another bowl.


What is a substitute for milk when making ham balls? I'm making ham balls (with ground pork and ham), but I need something to substitute for milk.  This is because of allergies, not just lactose intolerance: lactose-free milk still causes allergy problems.

2 lb. ham, ground
1 lb. pork, ground
2 eggs
1 c. bread  (used corn chex due to gluten allergy)
1 c. milk
1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce.

Mix and roll into balls

Sauce:
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 Tbsp dry mustard
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. water

Pour on ham balls.  Bake at 350 for about 1/2 hour.

As ChrisH said in the comments, probably all that matters is that the milk is a liquid. If the end result is supposed to be something solid, there can't possibly be that much milk in there, and the fat and flavor of the milk are pretty small compared to the meat.

So, just use another liquid. If you're not worried about flavor, water would work. Stock/broth might be a nice small step up. Or if you want to tweak the recipe, you could take the opportunity to add other flavors. There are plenty of flavorful but mostly water things you could try - think of things like worcestershire sauce or soy sauce (though I'm not sure what'd go with your recipe).

If the recipe calls for the milk to be mixed with bread or something else starchy (like this recipe, for example), that's called a panade, and it indeed works with all kinds of liquids.


What is the way to "mince" stew meat using a machine? I have a bolognese sauce recipe that says to cook a mixture of pork and beef stew meat, and then mince the meat. With garden tomatoes in season, I would like to make a very large batch to either freeze or can, but I am dreading the thought of mincing all this meat. Is there a recommended way to use a food processor or some other machine to do this for me? I am concerned that if I do it incorrectly, the meat will turn into sausage and have a very different texture in the sauce.

A food processor works well. Just fill the bowl lightly so that you can watch what happens as you do quick pulses. Use the metal blade.  Slow short pulses. It also helps if the meat is really cold but not frozen. Yum.


Is there a specific name for the mise en place containers used in professional kitchens? I've recently been watching the PBS show "The Mind of a Chef" and noticed the plastic containers the chefs use to store ingredients as part of their mise en place. To me they seem like a better alternative to other methods such as the custard cups Alton Brown uses which I find clumsy and annoying to use and wash.
The containers are stackable and come with lids and seem relatively sturdy. Seeing as they keeping quite a lot of them at hand, my guess is that they are disposable and / or cheap to acquire.
I've been browsing some online restaurant supply stores, but the only storage containers I could find in similar sizes are quite expensive at around 1.5€ each.
Is there a specific name these containers are sold under?

Around here, they're called 'deli containers'.  Those are specifically the heavier weight ones that can deal with hot foods.  I don't see delis using them much anymore (they've switched to thinner, less expensive ones), but all of the restaurants near me that sell soup as takeout use them.

They generally go for $0.08 to $0.20 in bulk, depending on how many you're buying and if they have lids.  (eg, a case of 1000 without lids is about $80 for the 16oz ones; maybe $100 to $120 for the taller (32oz ones))

You might be able to ask your local Chinese restaurants if they'll sell you some -- I can also get lighter weight ones in smaller lots (25) at most of the hispanic & asian grocery stores near me, as many of them have an aisle with goods that people running food trucks would need.


Which herbs are cooked and which go raw, when making fish pate I'm cooking a salmon pate. I intend to use parsley, rosemary, garlic, pepper and lemon as seasoning. I'm not sure which of these I should cook with the salmon, and which should go in the blender? Thanks

Raw garlic isn't to everyone's taste so should be cooked. The flavour of rosemary is also best cooked, or even infused and removed as it can be rather dominant if you find a big bit. You may want to be gentle with the rosemary the first time. I assume you're poaching or steaming the fish.

Lemon and parsley are usually added raw.

Black pepper can be used raw or cooked. Cooking softens the flavour and allows it to spread through a dish, but adding a little more at the end allows for adjustments to the flavour.


Is it safe to cook large cuts of meat sous vide? I sous vide a lot and am familiar with the relationships between food safety, internal temperature, and time. I'll eat chicken breast cooked at a long time at 138F just to make a point.

Some large cuts of meat take a long time to cook sous vide. Imagine a prime rib for example or a whole chicken or turkey. These foods are typically stored just below the refrigeration safety zone (lets say 37F), but once they start to cook in the water bath, the temperature of the meat quickly passes 41F (entering danger zone).

In a huge cut of meat it would presumably take several hours for the center of the meat to go from 41F to 130F+. This is partly a physics question since I don't know how long it would truly take for the centre to go above 130F, but it certainly is a long while in a 140F bath.

Is it sometimes unsafe to cook large cuts of meat using sous vide techniques due to the time it would take for the meat to reach safe temperature levels?

Generally speaking, to answer the final question in the post, i.e., "It is sometimes unsafe to cook large cuts of meat using sous vide techniques," the answer is assuredly, "Yes, it is sometimes unsafe."

The problem is that it's difficult to identify precisely when it becomes unsafe.  That's why the USDA guidelines are so strict: they are meant to be simple rules that apply even under really non-ideal circumstances.

What are the factors to consider?  Well, the thickness itself is only a small part of the equation.  The numbers cited from Douglas Baldwin in comments and in Stefan's Gourmet linked in another answer are grossly oversimplified to the point that they aren't much better than the USDA blanket recommendation.

I mean no disrespect to either of those sources here, because both are valuable.  The Stefan's Gourmet link simplifies the approach of the book Modernist Cuisine, which is itself an oversimplified view of microbiology.

I'm not a microbiologist, but I have taken courses related to it.  I've also taken courses related to heat transfer, and I've done basic numerical modeling on how you'd have to look at heat transfer in a large hunk of heterogeneous material.  It's incredibly complicated.  The equations that are used to generate tables used in those links are already rather complicated, but they are based on a lot of assumptions -- the important ones here being (1) symmetrical shape, (2) homogeneous composition of material, and (3) a specific thermal profile of that (fictitious) homogeneous material.

In plain English, those tables basically treat a turkey as if it were a giant sphere (or cylinder) of X, where X is a magical substance that is chosen as an "average" of the various components of "average" meat.

Compare that to heating an actual large piece of an animal, like a whole turkey.  Muscles vary in their density, which changes thermal properties.  Veins of fat or connective tissue have their own thermal properties, as do bones.  Bones might serve as speedy conductors of heat energy in some cases, but might slow down heat transfer in other situations.

What's the temperature of the water bath?  How far is it above the danger zone?
 That's also not something reflected in some simple charts.  What you care about is how much time it takes the meat to get over around 130F, not how long it takes to get within 1 degree of the water bath temperature (or whatever the desired outcome).

And then you have the problem of air, as in the cavity of a turkey -- which is a huge issue in however you cook a whole bird.  Air often acts as an insulator, though it can be used with convection to transmit heat more effectively.  In a sealed sous vide bag, though, most of that air is likely to just sit in there, getting in the way, along with the bones and other stuff that will have all sorts of impacts on heat transfer.

That's why Douglas Baldwin wisely tends to stick to thin steaks or whole cuts of muscle tissue, as they will be somewhat more predictable.  Modernist Cuisine and its followers take a more cavalier approach to food safety, basing their recommendations largely on Salmonella death computations.  The latter were originally chosen by the USDA many years ago to model food safety, as Salmonella is often the fastest growing pathogen in relatively quick-cooking methods (as recommended by the USDA).

But the USDA (and Salmonella death rates at various temps) are not enough to the toxin problems in something like a turkey cooked for a very long time in the "danger zone."  At that point, you'll kill off the Salmonella just by heating above the danger zone for long enough.  You can easily ensure that in a sous vide situation.

However, the problem with something like a large turkey isn't going to be Salmonella -- it's going to be so-called persistent toxins produced by rapid growth of other types of bacteria at elevated temperatures in a water bath (though not hot enough yet internally to kill bacteria off).  These persistent toxins may require higher final temperatures to denature the toxins and render the food safe to eat.  In some cases, the temperatures required to destroy such toxins might be high enough that the advantages of sous vide would be lost.  In other cases, the overgrowth of bacteria during cooking in the danger zone could leave large numbers of bacteria in spore form, which will begin to grow again after cooking, leaving the food safe to eat immediately, but unsafe for leftovers.  (That's probably a concern when you're cooking a large hunk of meat -- you often want to be able to use leftovers.)

None of this is really answering the question directly, because it's really hard to give appropriate guidelines without falling back on some "rule of thumb" like the USDA.  Based on the USDA's own advice for cooking meats like large turkeys from a frozen state or smoking meat at low temperatures, I know they find it acceptable for some parts of the meat to be in the danger zone for longer than two hours.  But how long is too long?

Some people, for example, cook a Thanksgiving turkey "low and slow" overnight at 200F in the oven.  To me, that's a bit too risky.  (Though I might do a modified recipe where the turkey spends time in a hot oven to brown first, "jump starting" the internal thermal gradient to get it to temperature at least a little faster.)
 Putting a whole turkey in a sous vide bath at 165F or something would probably get it out of the danger zone quicker than that, so while I wouldn't cook a turkey that way myself, it's probably safer in terms of statistical likelihood of danger than some methods people already use.

Some of the risks can be mitigated by searing exteriors of whole cuts in advance (to kill surface bacteria), restricting sous vide to relatively homogeneous cuts of muscle, and/or cooking at a higher temperature for an initial portion of the water bath before turning the bath down to the final desired temperature.

But honestly, I'm not going to mess with any of that.  Sous vide has its greatest advantages when it can cook evenly -- one might say that's the main point of sous vide cooking.  A whole turkey or a whole chicken is not going to cook evenly in a sous vide bath when it spends a large amount of time at different internal temperatures.  In fact, with the large amount of air that will remain in the cavity, it is even sous vide (i.e., "under vacuum") anymore?

So, cut the turkey or chicken into pieces.  Bag them individually.  You'll get a superior result, I'm sure.  In addition, you could do what's most appropriate and cook the dark meat to higher temperatures in your bath than the white meat.

For large roasts of other animals, I'd consider cutting them up in they were oversized.  A prime rib is probably not going to have as much internal bacteria to worry about as a chicken or turkey, but it still will heat unevenly due to mixtures of lots of fat and muscle as well as bones.  Still, I've done a boneless rib roast in sous vide and would do it again -- but that seemed thin enough to me to not worry about the transient heating issue.

Bottom line is that sous vide is probably just as safe if not safer for large hunks of meat as other super "low and slow" methods people sometimes use in the oven, etc.  But those latter methods are themselves probably not very safe in some cases.  When I look at charts in those links and see that under ideal conditions with a perfectly homogeneous hunk of meat it might take more than eight hours to get through the danger zone in the center -- I might start to think twice about a recipe.  And I might start looking at the final temperature more closely: will the meat get to a high enough temperature to kill off bacteria and denature possible toxins that accumulate over several hours?

There's no simple answer here, but I wouldn't trust any recipe or table of values telling me to cook something for more than about four hours without understanding the assumptions it is making and the food safety model it is based on.


Does it make sense to parboil spare ribs before you roast or grill them? I was thinking about doing it as a time saving device - any recommendations?

I can kind of go either way on this. I like to cook my ribs low and slow with smoke, which takes a couple of hours. However, I'm not sure that par-boiling will really improve this cooking time. So I'd say no for low and slow technique.

My mother boils her ribs first and then grills them. In this case, they cook in the liquid and really just finish on the grill. She puts the ribs in a shallow pan, puts some liquid in, covers in foil, and throws them in the oven. I think she does about two hours in the oven (a quick google suggests about 275). Then it only takes 15 mins or so to finish on the grill. This makes tending quite a lot easier. You can boil them ahead of time and hold in the refrigerator. It also allows you to introduce some more interesting liquids for the boiling (beer, Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper).

Par-boiling for 10-15 minutes and then grilling will help reduce some of the fat in the ribs. It will also help make them "fall of the bone" if you're grilling at higher heats. However, I don't think that 10 minutes is going to substantially affect your cooking time. I could be wrong though, as this method falls dead in between the two methods I'm familiar with.


What type of baker percentage should one use for brown sugar when compared to white sugar? I was told not to substitute by Brown sugar by weight since it weighs more.

How would I go about substitute then? I saw a few questions addressing this issue, but it does not say the Baker's Percentage and doesn't say how I would go about doing it when compared to white sugar.

Can someone explain?

Thanks!

First, be aware that substituting brown for white sugar will result in a different product.  Brown sugar has molasses flavors, and absorbs water differently from white sugar, so both the taste and texture of the final baked goods will be different and no amount of adjusting quantities will change this.

With that in mind, 1 cup of packed brown sugar, weighing 220g, is equivalent to 1 cup of sifted white sugar, weighing 200g, according to the book Kitchen Companion.  So in your example recipe, you would swap the 2.5kg white sugar for 2.75kg brown sugar.


How many times is it safe to reheat chicken? I thought I remembered hearing the food agency Evira say that you should never reheat chicken meat after the initial cooking. However, I cannot find the statement of it anymore. Now I'm starting to suspect my memory.

Could this statement be true?  Is it unsafe to reheat chicken?

Taken out of context, that doesn't make much sense, but I can think of several similar claims you might have heard - all of which are true and most can be found on the USDA fact sheet and the sites of most other agencies:

Perishable food should not be left in the "danger zone" (4.4° C - 60° C or 40° F to 140° F) (room temperature) for more than a total of 2 hours; 1 hour if the temperature is above 32° C / 90° F (mouth/gut temperature).
Freezing does not reset this countdown, it only stops it temporarily.  Thus, it is not a safe practice to thaw and refreeze food several times (especially if it's being brought above refrigerator temperatures).
Cooking does reset the countdown, but unless you are in a completely sterile environment (hint: you aren't), you still have to keep food out of the danger zone after cooking, which is why guidelines say to refrigerate within 2 hours.
Most people reheat their food to "warm" or even "hot" but not cooking temperature.  Unless you reheat to an internal temperature of 74° C / 165° F, then all that time in the danger zone after cooking is cumulative.  So if you do what most people do and reheat food to 40°-50° C, a nice comfortable eating temperature, then you'd better either (a) only reheat the portion you plan to eat, and/or (b) throw out any uneaten portion instead of putting it back in the fridge.

Really it's all about the cumulative amount of time, since being fully cooked, that the food has spent in the danger zone.  Theoretically, if you boiled the same piece of chicken every 12 hours and quick-froze it immediately afterward, it would stay safe indefinitely. It would also have no flavour or texture left, so I don't recommend it.

Since most people don't carefully measure the internal temperature of food when they reheat it, we have the "best practice" of only reheating perishable food once after it's been cooked, because otherwise it gets really hard to estimate how much time is left on that metaphorical clock.  And, obviously, don't leave it in the fridge for more than a few days, because it can still spoil in there, just slower.


Ghee vs. butter in Indian curries It seems that butter is not good for frying things over high heat

because it can burn
However it IS widely used for sauteeing in many cuisines, and works well.
I looked at the cost of butter, which e.g. in the UK is around £6/kg, and ghee is £8/kg.
Although butter is around 18% water, this still makes butter cheaper, and life is easier if you buy one thing rather than two.
The question then is whereas both ghee and butter will impart flavours to a curry, is there a good reason not to use butter? I think ghee is misssing around the 1-2% of milk solids, as well as the water, and obviously if you wanted to deep fry then butter would be unsuitable (you can, I think, deep fry in lard, at around 160C, but butter won't get hot enough without burning). Or is this possibly a cultural issue, in that butter doesn't keep well in hot countries such as India without refrigeration, whereas I guess ghee is probably shelf stable?

Ghee is butter minus the milk solids and water, but it's not the same as clarified butter because it goes through a second phase of the process which browns the solids and imparts flavour to the remaining oil.
Clarified butter, heat until solids separate and settle, strain.
Ghee, heat until solids separate and settle, the increase heat until solids brown, strain. This adds a 'nutty' flavour.
The smoke point for the two is the same, but the flavour is different.
Ghee is not fully shelf-stable. It has a life-span of weeks to months in the fridge. Commercial ghee of course will have a best before date it would be wise to adhere to.
It will not last indefinitely & will (I think) go rancid after long storage… whatever it does chemically, it will certainly ruin a meal if you use it after it's turned. You can't see it, but you can smell it's changed.
BTW, you can get vegetable 'ghee', which is considerably cheaper. Many BIR kitchens use it. It's basically vegetable oil (often palm oil) with 'butter flavour'.


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

Coffee goes well with hazelnut and has a slightly bitter note, so you could make a coffee infused crème pâtissière by simply folding in a shot or two of espresso (or just some good strong coffee) into whipped cream (or make a coffee frosting).


How can I make a bar cookie more dense? 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?

The usual answer is "cook it less"

Certainly a (IMHO) good fudgy brownie and a (IMHO) horrid cakelike brownie can be made from the same recipe, with only the cooking time changing. While I have not made your mincemeat-based-bars, the same phenomenon presumably applies.

If you are faithfully following the cooking time your mother used, it's possible that the oven your mother used and oven you are using vary wildly in actual temperature at the same set temperature.


Should I soak old-fashioned oats? I have eaten quick cook oats for a while, but I now found a wholesale supplier selling what I think are old-fashioned oats. That is, the oats are larger and they seem less 'processed'. When I add water to them the water quickly turns white. Also see here.

My question is: should I soak/wash these oats, or can I just boil them straight away? With rice and beans I am used to having to soak or wash them, sometimes for a day. Not sure if the same applies here. If so, how long for? And should I use that water to cook them in, or throw it out and then add new water?

You don't even need to cook them, let alone soak them.
They form the bulk of most mueslis, to be eaten raw.

However, if you're going to be making porridge...
The basic recipe has as many variations as there are people who cook it, but take any or all of

Water
Milk
Salt
Sugar [or honey or anything sweet]
Oats

Use approx 300ml liquid to 50g oats per person as a start point. Bring to the boil, simmer for 5 - 7 minutes depending on your desired consistency.  Very "old fashioned" jumbo oats will still boil down to nearly mush if you leave them long enough, though most people want that bit of bite left to them.

Some make it thin, some make it thick. Some make it thick but then add cold milk to their dish. Some make it smooth, some leave it less-cooked still with big bits in. Some cook with the sugar in, some only add it at the end.
Some leave out the salt, though personally I think it's essential.

There is no hard & fast rule; make it how you like.

From comments...
The bigger & less refined the oat, the longer it will take to cook right down to a 'paste' - but often the entire idea of using big rustic oats is not to overcook them, but leave some bite.
I wouldn't dream of pre-soaking them, there's absolutely no need. If you want them cooked to paste, cook longer, or change back to a more refined brand. Some of the outer part will probably not cook right down anyway with very 'rustic' oats.

The Guardian - How to cook perfect porridge goes on at length about various methods, but comes down to pretty much what I've already written above, with no pre-soak [not one single mention of rinsing, btw, just don't do that].


Does wear and tear limit the usefulness of a Dutch oven? I bought a no-name Dutch oven* about eighteen years ago and have used it steadily since. It continues to serve me well, but I'm wondering whether I need to worry about the wear and tear on the enamel, as shown below:

Is there a point at which a Dutch oven is no longer usable, or are they basically immortal barring structural damage?

* So no lifetime warranty or anything.

Sufficiently damaged enamel could allow the metal underneath to start corroding. Eventually the corrosion could spread under larger pieces of the enamel, allowing them to flake off in large pieces. I don't see any evidence of that in your picture.

Scratched and crazed enamel won't cause subtle problems, though, other than a minor loss of nonstick properties (not that enamel is particularly nonstick to begin with). If you're happy with it, there's no need to second guess that based on how it looks.