My stock made from leftover rotisserie chicken is very gelatinous. I thought only uncooked chicken bones made stock gelatinous. Any explanation? Everything I read about making stock indicates that using raw chicken will create a gelatinous stock. I used leftover rotisserie chicken and it is delicious but very gelatinous. I let it simmer a LONG time, at least 6 hours. I did not skim as it was simmering. After straining, I poured it into jars, let it cool before putting in the refrigerator. I believe there had to be a good deal of fat because there was some skin on the carcass but there was not a layer of white fat on top after refrigerating.

My question is: why was there no fat layer? Gelatinous is good but if I wanted less, what would I do different? Did I make mistakes not skimming, letting it cool to room temperature before refrigerating?

Fat will thicken a stock, but will not make it gelatinous. Gelling comes from collagen which comes from the bones or — in my opinion — even better from the joints.

My experience is that this is easier to achieve from a cooked bird than a raw one rather than the other way around.  The gelling may have locked up some of the fats, but you also may not have had as much as you expected even with the added skin just because rotisserie chicken tends to have some cooked out or rendered.

My anecdotal experience is that the longer you simmer with bones and cartilage, the more collagen is released and cooking down concentrates it more giving more gelling to the stock. I tend to call mine consomme, but that is really only correct if it has been clarified.

If you really want a rich, well gelled one, get some chicken feet and include it in your stock pot!  For the opposite, if you want no gelling, my practice is to increase the amount of meat, limit the bones and cartilage and do not simmer long, and I myself would normally do that with raw poultry rather than cooked, simmering for minutes, not hours.


Is it safe to throw frozen meat in marinade? What if I don't wait for it to defrost. Does it affect taste in a bad way? Or is it unhealthy? How does it compare to thawed meat?

Yes, it is perfectly safe (as long as you continue to thaw the meat in a safe manner, as in the refrigerator).

The marinade will not begin to have much effect until at least the outer layers of the meat are thawed, but it will not otherwise have any side effect.  It may get slightly better penetration due to the changes in the texture of the meat from ice crystals, but the effect should be negligible at best.

In fact, you can freeze the meat in its marinade if you so choose, and know what you are going to use it for when you thaw.  It will get the benefit of marination time until the outer layers are frozen, and then again during the thawing.


Fake poached salmon machine? I went to buy what was advertised as "poached" salmon from my supermarket's prepared food counter and noticed that some of the edges were browned, so I was like, "Huh?". I interrogated the guy whose response was more or less unintelligible, but he did use the word "pan" which made me even more confused. How are they using a pan to "poach" salmon?

So, naturally, I escalated the situation to customer service who summoned the cooking manager. From her statements it quickly becomes evident that she did not know what "poaching" means. She reveals that the salmon is actually put on pans and then exposed to steam to cook it. Obviously there must be some additional heat source other than just the steam because browning is occurring.

So, I am wondering what is this machine that supermarkets have that is being used to make fake poached salmon. Is there such a thing as a steam oven or something like that? What is the technology here?

After further inquiries and experimentation I have discovered when cooked salmon is left out for a long time it starts to turn dark orange at the edges, probably due to oxidation. So, possibly the browning is due to being left out a long time, not over cooking, however, it could be due to overcooking.

After I complained about steamed salmon being sold as "poached" salmon, the supermarket changed the label on it.

There are apparently steam ovens and also "combi ovens" that cook with both steam and heat. If they were using a combi oven in heat/steam mode, which a lot of places due because it cooks faster, then the salmon could be getting over cooked.


How do I prevent dougnuts deflating when moving them into the pan? I find that each time I cook dougnuts, as I slide them off the tray into the oil pan, they deflate a fair bit, and sometimes crinkle up. How do I effectively prevent this, and keep them gorgeous and fluffy?

I imagine the problem is twofold - not making them stick in the first place, and also maybe using a specific implement to slide them off. Any ideas are appreciated, and will be tested!

Edit for details: I use a non-stick tray - they come off it easily, but the deflation is the real problem.

I suspect @Stephie is correct in thinking they may be over proofed. Having said that, you could try the method that is used when making crullers.

Place shaped donuts on parchment paper that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Cut the paper into individual squares (each donut should have enough space to raise without expanding off the paper). Let raise.

When ready to fry, just slip the paper with donut into your oil, it should release right away and you can remove the paper from the oil with tongs.

Here is a link to a video showing how it's done with crullers.You can skip the first 3 minutes that shows the mixing and piping of the crullers.


How to make profiteroles without a visible hole? I get the choux pastry and how you put filling in it, but there's always a hole left and the filling shows. Does anyone know of a sure-fire way to make a profiterole that looks completely intact from the outside while the filling is in?

Fill from the bottom. Take a paring knife and cut a half-circle about the size of a dime near one end on the bottom, with the ends of the cut facing the end of the profiterole. This makes a sort of trap-door to get the filler tip into. Afterwards, you can use the paring knife tip to pull the trap door flush with the bottom.


Canned Peppers: Very subtle acidic taste I opened a jar of roasted peppers I canned about a month ago. Because it was a big jar and it ended up lacking water I put it in my 4C° fridge. It was canned at about 120C°-125C° without any additives like salt or vinegar.

After opening it, unlike other jars I've opened, I noticed a very subtle acidic taste, kind of like it was carbonated. It wasn't unpleasant and there is no bad taste or odor.

Is the jar spoiled or is this probably part of the normal range of flavors? Since paprika are very alkaline, why would it suddenly taste a bit acidic?

It sounds like (benign, tasty) lactic acid bacteria fermentation, possibly along with leuconostoc or something. But without the appropriate levels of salt, it's also possible that less friendly microorganisms are also growing.

As a rule, canned food with unexpected microbial activity -- regardless of process -- should always be discarded. Even if it's not botulinum (it's almost certainly not), a jar of peppers isn't worth a week on the toilet.


What to expect from canned bear meat? I aquired a can of bear meat from Finland. I'm not sure what to expect of the contents of the can. Will the meat be pre-cooked?

I can find some ideas online for preperation of fresh bear meat, but grilling probably doesn't translate too well for canned meat. What are normal preparations for canned bear meat?

Canned foods are by their very nature cooked once they're in the can.  That's how they keep so well.  It is possible to grill canned meat if you dry it first, and it may benefit from a little browning for best flavour (assuming this wasn't done before canning).


How do chefs come up with recipes for good food? I have been cooking for some time now, but I have always been a sort of recipe follower. I know the basic composition of flavor components (sweet, sour, umami,...) but I have never been able to come up with something new, nor have I really made an effort attempting it.

I wonder what kind of procedure professional chefs follow when trying to cook something new or trying to update a dish.

Is there really an established science about flavor out there to follow?

I am not a professional chef, but I have worked in restaurant kitchens, and have been lucky enough to befriend some enormously talented people - line cooks, pastry chefs, culinary school graduates, and executive chefs.  I'm basing this mostly on my observations of the way they work, and the conversations I've had with them.  Although I never sat down and asked them directly how they came up with dishes, I have sometimes served as a sounding board for their ideas, offered suggestions, and seen menus-in-progress, which I think provide some valuable insight.

Keep in mind that every chef is a bit different.  There are many sources of inspiration that a chef can use when creating a dish.  They can think back to their childhood, look at trends among their peers and in the industry as a whole, look to many different culinary traditions, and so on.  The degree to which each person does this is unique, and it informs a large part of what we'd call their "style".  But, in general, I think there are some fairly universal processes.

There are really two distinct things happening when coming up with a dish: ideation and execution.

By ideation, I mean the process of coming up with an initial idea for a dish.  This is when the chef has pretty much a blank slate (though often times, it's in the context of coming up with a specific type of dish; an appetizer, or a meat course) and they're thinking about possibilities for what they want to do.  This can take a lot of different forms, and I've heard chefs describe how their ideas first came to them in a lot of different ways.  It can be:

A "lightbulb moment", where the concept spontaneously and suddenly appears in their mind, oftentimes when they're working on something else.
Thinking about multiple dishes and trying to re-match "elements" or components of each dish with one another.  For instance, taking the flavors of a ceasar salad (anchovy, egg, parmesan) and combining them with the presentation of a deviled egg.  [I should note that this is my own example, which is why it isn't a great one.  Like I said: I'm not a professional.]
Being inspired by a single ingredient, and finding a few other flavors that complement or contrast that core flavor.  For example, complementing a sweet corn soup with snow crab meat and a melted paprika butter.  [A much better example, from an actual chef!]
Taking a dish (from any number of sources) and deliberately trying to do something different with a single element, component, or flavor.  For example, taking tacos (which often use Latin American flavors) and instead using a southeastern Asian flavor palette (fish sauce, cilantro, ginger, garlic).

Notice that one of these approaches is not sitting down with a dictionary of flavors and trying to assemble combinations that "scientifically" go together somehow.  Good chefs have an intuitive feel for what flavors go well together, a kind of sensory memory, that is not just informed by flavor pairings but also by culinary traditions.  The list of potential flavor combinations is close to infinite, but people tend to gravitate towards the familiar in their food.  To some degree, diners want comfort and foods or flavors they recognize.  I'd argue that this is true even in molecular gastronomy, where the point is often to present unfamiliar flavors in a very mundane, familiar presentation, or the reverse - take known and loved flavors, and present them in a seemingly bizarre way.

Chefs know this from their training and experience, and they don't try to draw out flavor combinations from a blank starting point.  Instead, they utilize pairings that they just "know" work well, or that they love.  Sometimes they'll swap out a single component from that pairing for something similar, but in general they're not trying to invent totally new, never-done-before combinations of flavor.

For this reason, a lot of chefs I've known have truly absurd collections of cookbooks and recipes.  One head chef that I worked with for years estimated that he had over 1,000 books (and he mentioned this as he was browsing online, making a wishlist of more that he wanted).  The reason is not because they're cooking these dishes as written - instead, they're drawing on them for initial inspiration.  They're reading the recipe as written and thinking about how they want to utilize the particular method, what different components they can swap out, or how they could adapt the same dish to a totally different method of cooking.

Once the initial idea takes shape, it's time for execution.  This is typically a very iterative process, meaning that it involves cooking the dish, tasting it, and seeking feedback.  That feedback could come from themselves (by thinking about what they'd change or do better) but it often comes from others.  This can happen with specific elements of the dish cooked separately, or the entire assemblage of them.  Chefs usually seem to taste individual pieces as they go until they're happy; then they put everything together, taste the combination, and then try it out on others, but that varies depending on their style and how comfortable they are with what they're creating.

In a healthy team environment, there's usually a lot of collaboration.  Chefs will talk through their partly-completed ideas out loud and share flashes of inspiration they've had for one core element or a dish they want to do.  They might cook a small batch of something and ask everyone to taste.  One of my favorite parts of creating a new menu were workshop sessions with multiple chefs all bouncing ideas off one another, cooking their own dishes, then tasting each as a crew and offering suggestions (or sometimes coming up with totally new ideas by saying "why couldn't we do that like this instead?").  Feedback can also come from front-of-house staff or from guests; the first week or so is a very important time for a new menu because people are seeing things for the first time, and you can get their reactions (if you're humble enough to ask).

This is often the part where chefs will sit down with a "flavor bible" and look for flavors that go well with what's already in the dish.  They may feel that something is missing, and try to find something that will complement other components.  Or perhaps they want to use a different flavor from what's already present, and are looking for a replacement that will work well with other ingredients.  Or, they have one particular ingredient that they're happy with, but it's out of season, or too expensive, and they're trying to find a reasonable substitute.

Good chefs will also typically be thinking about plating at this point, and how the dish should be arranged and presented.  I often hear that "we eat with our eyes", although I think it's more accurate to say that plating is sort of an introduction to the dish.  In order for something to be really, really good, it can't just taste excellent.  It has to sound enticing on the menu, and it has to look (and smell) beautiful when it arrives - all of that contributes to anticipation of the flavor.

There's one more thing that really good, experienced chefs do well which goes beyond coming up with any single dish.  Assembling a menu is really an impressive skill that I think goes under-appreciated.  It involves repeating all of the above, not just for a single dish but for an entire array of them, all of which have to individually sound enticing and balance one another.  Creating an entire menu involves balancing a ridiculous number of factors, like:

The style of the restaurant (or venue, for special events)
The season (what ingredients are fresh, readily available; and just as important, what isn't)
The balance they want to strike between different types of dishes (appetizers, main courses, pastas, sandwiches, desserts, sides, etc.)
The balance they want to strike between different offerings (do they have something vegetarian-friendly?  A fish option?  A meat option?  Items for adventurous diners?  Items for the non-adventurous?)
The general price point they need to consider for their target audience
The variety of specific ingredients (avoiding the same flavor combinations being used in everything - or perhaps, being able to re-use the same components in multiple places for efficiency)

It's really pretty insane, and this in my mind is the defining line between a "chef" and an "executive chef".  I'm always impressed by the skill involved in not just coming up with a list of ideas, but bashing them into something that feels balanced, sounds consistently delicious, and expresses their unique style - and then in turn, having each one of those dishes executed well!  Home cooks can often come up with great dishes, and fantastic, original takes on classics, but you have to be a real pro to come up with 20-30 of them that fit into a cohesive whole.  So, the next time you sit down at a restaurant, scan the menu, and think "this all sounds really amazing", stop and give the chef a silent cheer.

In short?  It's really, really complicated.  There are no hard and fast rules.  It's not a procedure or a science; it's very much an art.  Chefs spend their entire careers learning how to do this well, and there is always the opportunity to get better.


how do I cook sausages without poking holes through them? I hear that when cooking sausages, you shouldn't poke holes in them as it will allow the flavour to spill out.

But whenever I don't do that with fat sausages, I end up getting the outside charred but the inside uncooked.

If you are charring the outside then you are cooking the sausages too fast. Sausages are best when cooked relatively slowly: on a low pan, or under a medium grill. 20-25 mins in a 200C/400F oven usually does the trick as well.


How much and what seasoning to should I use in a turkey brine? Brining at its basic level is about opening the cell structure of the meat with salt and allowing osmotic action to take effect and allow the meat to become a bit juicier and bring a salty flavor to the meat.

Many people have dumped everything but the kitchen sink into brine to add deeper flavor to their meats, only to be disappointed that the flavor barely penetrates the surface.

There is a great question here that helps explain the possible why this occurs (tldr: molecule size):
How deeply will the flavors in a brine penetrate chicken?
It was decided that the only flavor that was detectable to the bone was eugenol.
Eugenol appears in cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, basil and bay leaf.

My question(s): Has anyone used these ingredients exclusively for brining a turkey?

If so, in what quantities? Would I be better off just getting some straight eugenol from a health food store? since a clove taste substantially different from a bay leaf, would those differences make it in to the bird or would it be exclusively the eugenol leaving the other flavors behind?

Before I try to answer some of your core question with my best from the gut answer, I want to address a bit of an issue with the question itself. Since I am the author of the question and answer upon which you base your question, I feel uniquely qualified to suggest that your source could be a lot better.

The single experiment in that Q&A led to results that were interesting enough (to me) to share. Think of it like the start of a medical study. My fuschia chicken was test subject 0001. To call my conclusions in that answer 'conclusions' is to give them delusions of grandeur.

That said, the next time I brine a turkey (which will not be this Thanksgiving), I will make a basic brine of ~50 grams of kosher salt and ~25 grams of sugar per liter of water (a 5% salt brine). To that, I will add pumpkin pie spice (purchased or homemade).

Why pumpkin pie spice?

Well,

Pumpkin pie spice contains a nicely balanced combination of spices I know to be high in eugenol (cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg plus ginger)
If I'm brining a turkey, the odds are good that I'm also making a pumpkin dessert so I'm likely to be using fresh pumpkin pie spice anyway.
I'm betting that it will be really good and will complement the traditional Thanksgiving dinner beautifully. I absolutely do not expect the turkey to taste like pumpkin pie.

So I'll add perhaps a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice per liter of water in the brine, adding it when I bring the salt and sugar to a simmer to dissolve. I'll want the spice quite evident in the brine, but not overwhelming.

If you try it, I'd love to hear how it works for you.

UPDATE 2/15/2020: I just heard from an old friend that she came across this post before Thanksgiving 2019 and followed the suggestions for her holiday. She used 62 grams (2 small canisters) of McCormick brand pumpkin pie spice in "enough" brine for her small (12lb/5.5kg) turkey. It was a hit. No one said it tasted like pumpkin pie spice; everyone said that it was the most flavorful turkey they had ever had. So, FWIW, that's one rave review. I love reports like that!


Using maida + bread flour to create AP flour substitute This is a follow-up to my earlier question about using bread flour instead of all-purpose flour in a banana bread recipe. The consensus was that using bread flour would yield a denser, chewier loaf, which could be undesirable (or perhaps desirable, depending on the eaters' preferences).

Among the flours I have at hand is maida. As explained here and here, maida is a soft flour with around 7.5% gluten, similar to what is sold as cake flour in the US. My understanding from the Cooking for Engineers article linked from the latter question is that using such a low-gluten flour for this recipe would not be good:

  Cake flour is produced from soft wheat and is low in gluten content (8-10%). This flour is used for making delicate cakes. Baked goods made with cake flour has a tendency to crumble because of the low gluten content.

This is the opposite danger to the one of using bread flour in the recipe: instead of being too dense and chewy, by using maida I risk making the bread too crumbly.

Can I split the difference? Since maida is around 7.5% gluten and the bread flour I'm using (King Arthur) about 12.5% gluten, if I use 50-50 maida and bread flour, I would get a flour with (7.5 + 12.5) / 2 = 10% gluten. That is within the range of AP flour, which could be from 9% to 12% according to that Cooking for Engineers article.

It seems to me that I could just combine maida and bread flour in equal proportions and use it, not just in this banana bread recipe, but in any recipe that calls for AP flour. Is this understanding sound? Or are there risks I'm not seeing in this approach? Are there specific properties other than the gluten/protein content of maida, bread flour, and AP flour that would cause the recipes to turn out badly?

Yes you can.

Truth of the matter is... If you work in a pastry shop (which I did for a number of years), you use hard flour (high protein) for bread. You use cake or pastry flour for, you guessed it, cakes and pastries. If you really need an AP flour, it's fine to blend.

However, I was taught, and still to this day believe, that AP flour was created for home use only, back when people weren't super-sophisticated and didn't know (or want to know) the differences in flours. That was for a baker, who was supposed to have a real deep understanding.

I only have hard flour and Swans-Down Pastry Flour, and I use one of those for whatever I make. I would personally use the bread flour for my banana bread, and I would make it 'just mixed'. I am then not developing gluten from the protein. Also, protein is not gluten. Gluten is created by the mechanical mixing of the proteins.

Long story short, blending the two is fine. That's what AP flour is - a blend.


What would be good substitute for Thyme and Oregano in Chili I'm not so good with spices, wanted to know what would be good substitutes for thyme and oregano. I'm not even sure I can pick up the taste that it adds to the chili, but one of my friends was able to taste the difference right away and tell me when I used or not used thyme and oregano. My Russian taste is more used to bay leaf, mustard, dill, parsley and etc.

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef
½ pound of ground chicken
½ pound of ground pork
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups beef broth
½ cup of 2% milk
1 15 oz can red pinto beans (drain)
1 15 oz can black beans (drain)
3 fresh tomatoes (cut to small chunks)
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 large onions, diced finely
1 large green bell pepper, diced finely
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoons cumin, ground
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper, ground
4 Habanero peppers, seeded diced finely
4 chipotle peppers, seeded diced finely

There is tremendous variation in how chilis are flavored; if you have three chili cooks in the room, you probably will have six  different opinions.

The most traditional flavor base is built on chili and cumin, plus (depending on region and variant), tomatoes, onions and/or garlic.

After that, you get into preference.  Some cooks don't add any herbs at all.  Others add complex blends of spices (even chocolate) rivaling some of the mole sauces of Mexico.

I think the most compatible herbs for chili include include Mexican oregano (which is a different herb than oregano), so if you can get it, it is the best choice, oregano (as you have already mentioned), and thyme.  I do like to put a bay leaf or three in my chili although that may not be traditional.

Still, if you don't have them available or cannot use them for some reason, leaving them out is a fine option.


What can I do to keep high hydration dough from sticking to my hands? Whenever I try to knead (by hand) or move after kneading, a high hydration dough like ciabatta, it sticks to my hands terribly and often seems ruin any shaping I try.  I've tried flour on my hands, but it comes off so quick - what can I do to keep it from sticking so badly?

Let the dough rest in the bowl for a while after mixing. Time will not only improve the flavor (insert autolyse proselytism here) but will also give the flour time to hydrate, making the dough somewhat easier to handle.

Dough will become less sticky as you work it -- witness the way dough kneaded in a mixer or food processor initially sticks to the sides but eventually forms a ball and leaves the bowl clean. So, one option is to work it a bit with a mixer first, or just with a wooden spoon in the bowl.

Anil's suggestion to oil your hands is a good one. If the kind of dough you're making allows it, add some oil or butter to the dough during mixing, too.

Flour helps, of course. Instead of trying to coat your hands in flour, throw a bit on the kneading surface and on the top of the dough.

For very sticky dough, a dough knife can help you scrape the dough off the surface and fold it over onto itself until it becomes easier to handle. This is easiest if you're working on a hard, smooth kneading surface like marble.


Parsley stems in chimichurri There is a lot of weight in the parsley stems and it is therefore tempting to include them in the chimichurri.

I have also seen their use suggested on some sites.

What are the pros and cons?

Depending on how thick the stems are, they might get quite hard and taste "wooden". They also get more bitter the more you travel down the stem. So, don't be super picky when discarding stems, but don't be too generous either. I usually discard stems when they start to get somewhat rigid when you try to bend them.

Here's an article I quickly found on the subject matter.


Cranberries taste bitter Today I bought a small bag of cranberries. I ate some but they tasted bitter. I was wondering if they can be eaten directly?

Cranberries are just about always sweetened. In their natural state, they are extremely tart. They're safe unsweetened, just not pleasant.


How to keep 'fresh' chorizo? A relative of mine is in food retail, and recently she gave me some chorizo. With the basic advice 'hang it in the fridge'

I am not sure if it is edible as yet, and how long it will be edible for, are there any guidelines for this? Should it be eaten raw or cooked?

Also my fridge is not really suitable for hanging the food is there any advice for this?

edit

Thanks for the answers, I believe that it is cured chorizo, but it is still being cured, is there a guideline on how long it will be before it is safe to eat?

Without knowing the constituent ingredients of the sausage it is difficult to give exact advice. There are generally two types of chorizo fresh (or cooking chorizo) and cured chorizo.

Fresh or cooking chorizo is made with pork, red wine, smoked paprika and salt (along with some other spices depending on the particular recipe). The alcohol and salt combine as a mild preservative and therefore the sausage will last a little longer than a normal fresh sausage but only a few weeks realistically. As the name and the lack of a long curing process suggests it needs cooking before it can be eaten.

Cured chorizo is made using similar ingredients but uses more salt and sometimes some sodium nitrate and nitrite. The additional chemicals create a much stronger preservative drawing out the moisture and curing the meat so that it can be safely eaten raw when finished.

Cured chorizo develops a darker colour and loses around 30% of it's weight as it hangs whereas the fresh chorizo is likely to go bad if left to hang but this is only general advice and not definitive.

As for hanging locations, sausages normally hang best in cool environments, 15 degrees C max, with a humidity of 60-70%.

Hope this helps.


Baking bread without yeast Can I make bread without yeast? Thanks!

You could look into making flatbread, which often (though not always) gets its name through being unleavened, and thus, flat (yes, I am oversimplifying here). Common examples are tortillas or roti.


What accounts for the softer texture and sharper flavor of Italian ice creams? I know that Italian ice cream (home made, most of all) doesn't use any stabilizers or gum ingredients.

How can they be made soft, and agreeable to taste?

There are several major factors that affect the texture of ice cream or gelato in the absence of  stabilizers or gums:

Air mixed in during the churning essentially creates a foam, which is softer than a solid product would be.  While this air may be only 10% by volume, it makes a huge difference in texture.
The churning and rapid freezing also minimizes the size of ice crystals, so the non-air phase is essentially a syrup of sugary water with emulsified milk fat, with very small ice crystals suspended in it.  Since it is not solid, it is easier to cut.
The serving temperature for gelato I believe is traditionally warmer than the serving temperature of ice cream, which provides a softer texture (more syrup, less ice) allows the flavors to be perceived more easily as they are more aromatic at warmer temperatures.
The gelato may contain ingredients with alcohol, such as Franglico in a hazelnut gelato; this contributes a small anti-freeze effect.  Similarly, the pectins from some fruit ingredients will also naturally interfere with ice crystal formation--but these influences are specific to a given recipe.

The lower milkfat percentage makes the flavors in the gelato more apparent, since they are not drowned out by the richness of the diary.


How deep do you need to insert the probe in a piece of meat to guarantee accuracy? I have a wired thermometer that I mainly use for roasts, which can support the entire probe inside the meat.  However, I used it last night to cook some country style ribs (pork) and was only able to insert the probe about half-way into the rib.  It wasn't touching any bone and when I calibrated it, it still read true. Anyway, when the alarm went off on the pork (I set the alarm for 160 expecting the temp to coast up to 165), it was still massively underdone. The probe lacks the dimples that I am familar with on my instant read thermometers and I would like to know if anyone has run into a problem like this before.  All I can think is that the heat from the oven was being read off the back side of the probe.  The tool is so useful that I would hate to regulate it to roast only duty but I have no idea how to fix this so it will work accurately.

My theory is that the probe should be inserted into the part of the meat that will be the last to heat up. For a roast without bones, that will be pretty much be the center of mass.

For something with bone it, I would aim for a point somewhere between halfway and 2/3 the distance from the skin to the bone in the place where that distance is the largest.

Are you checking the temperature while the meat is still in the oven/on the grill? For a large meat where the entire probe is in, there will be no effect. But for a thin piece of meat with just the tip inside the meat, the air temp and radiated energy will throw off the results. Either insert it length-wise in between the ribs, or set the ribs on the counter to check the temp.

If you are still getting inaccurate results after this, then I would suspect the accuracy of the thermometer.


Why would I turn canning jars upside down for 15 minutes after removing from the water bath? I am planning to can a plum chutney and have ordered the Stagioni 10 1/2 oz jars. Having only used Ball jars, I am not sure I understand why their website says to remove from water and place upside down for 15 minutes:

  For preparations that require cooking (e.g. jams, marmalades, sauces, etc..) it’s possible to create the vacuum without boiling the jars in water, proceeding as follows: preheat the jars with hot water, fill them with the hot preparation, seal with the cap and immediately turn upside down (taking care not to handle them with bare hands to prevent burns). Avoid placing them on cold surfaces (metal, marble, etc..) and keep them upside down for at least 15 minutes. Subsequently put them back with the capsule facing upwards and let them cool down in a cool place. It is not advisable to use the 0.15 l jar for the above described heat potting due to the reduced content within which employs a much shorter time for the cooling that may not be sufficient for the vacuum formation process.

Does anyone know?

That passage is suggesting an entire canning/processing method, one that may not be safe. It will generally work to create a seal, as they say, but it may not fully sterilize the contents and the seal will not be as likely to hold. I would not follow their instructions, and instead process your chutney according to a trusted canning recipe you find elsewhere.
See for example this USDA source, which says:

Some other methods of sealing jars call for inverting a closed, filled jar of hot product for anywhere from thirty seconds to one hour. (Inverting is turning the filled jar upside down on its lid.) While this inversion process can be successful in producing a sealed jar, it works best with very hot product. Individual variation in practicing this procedure or unexpected interruptions can result in delays between filling jars, getting lids screwed on, and inverting the jars. If the product cools down too much, the temperature of the product can become low enough to no longer be effective in sealing jars or preventing spoilage.
When the inversion process does work, the vacuum seals of filled jars still tend to be
weaker than those produced by a short boiling water canning process. A larger amount of
retained oxygen in the headspace may allow some mold growth if airborne molds contaminated
the surface of the product as the jar was filled and closed. More complete removal of oxygen
from the headspace also offers some longer protection from undesirable color and flavor changes with some types of fruit products. A weak seal may be more likely to fail during storage.


Pizza dough with a mixture of strong and plain flour turned out surprisingly well. Lucky? Better with lower gluten? I was a little short of strong (bread) flour when making a pizza base the other day and substituted about 1/3 plain flour (Moulinex breadmaker, the recipe in the book with sugar and salt slightly reduced). I was expecting it to be really hard to roll/stretch to fit the tray I always use, which is larger than the recipe claims for a "thin" base, so pushing it a little.  Instead it came out better than the last couple of times I made it with all the right flour.  The eating texture was good too -- soft inside but crispy where the crust was exposed.

Is pizza dough stretchier/better with less gluten?  How much less can I get away with (I have rather a lot of plain flour at the moment).  Or was I just lucky?

Note the use of UK terms.  Gluten content isn't given on the packaging but "strong" normally works out to about 13% while "plain" should be roughly equivalent to US "all-purpose" so 2--3% less.

As you probably know, various flours contain varying amounts of protein.  When water is added, and the proteins are hydrated, gliadin and glutenin combine to form gluten.  Gluten provides the structure and allows for stretch and rise. That is why a rest period after mixing is important.  You might find this informative. The folks at Serious Eats took a look at various flours and their impact on pizza crust. While flours with different percentages of protein all work, the end result is somewhat different, and mostly boils down to preference.  I make a lot of pizza. I usually mix and let rest for 24 hours before portioning, waiting a couple of more hours, then stretching and preparing the pizza. A long rest and a light touch are important to maintain a workable dough.  I mainly use Caputo type 00 flour, but have also used AP flour and combinations of flours.  In my experience "stretchiness" has more to do with hydration, time for the dough to relax, and a light touch.  Type of flour impacts flavor, rise, and texture.


How to season minced/ground goat So I have about ten pounds of ground goat, ten pounds of goat sausage, and 2 racks of goat ribs. This is an ongoing supply, my folks keep meat goats so goat is cheap and plentiful.

The meat isn't particularly gamy, but it does have a bit of a gamy flavor. Right now I want to take some goat meat and make a cottage pie (potatoes over meat over crust). I have two questions:

1- I love pie crust, but my cottage pie never really holds together in a pie slice. What can I do to give it more consistency?

2- What can I do to minimize the gamy flavor of the goat?

Goat is pretty mild, as gamey meats go, so it is possible that you just aren't fond of goat?  I know people who love lamb and so I turn them on to goat, which is milder, but if you eliminate what many would call gaminess, you have effectively blanded out your goat completely.

One technique that can work with your ground goat is to brown the meat, then rinse it with water, in a colander, to remove excess grease.  Much of the gaminess is in the fat.

The main trick is just to work with recipes that are designed for that taste.  Goat is great in curry, for instance.  The shepherd's pie that you describe is also good for goat because the blandness of the potatoes offsets the stronger taste of the goat.  You wouldn't want to make a traditional shepherd's pie, for instance, with chicken breast, or pork loin.  Not enough flavor.

To get your meat filling to hold together better, when you brown the meat, add a couple of tablespoons of flour and cook it in with the fat.  You are basically making a roux in place which will then thicken as your pie bakes, holding the moisture rather than letting it run away.  If you do the rinsing idea I mentioned above, then you would do this step after rinsing, although you might need to add a little oil to the mix.


When should I add meat/vegetables when cooking congee? Congee is cooked for a long time, at least an hour or so. Most recipes I've seen simply recommend dumping all the ingredients in at the beginning and then letting it cook until the rice has broken down.

But if I do this then surely the meat and vegetables will be completely flavourless and mushy by the time the congee has finished cooking?

The process of cooking congee is similar to the process of making broth, but with rice added. I am not sure why one would want to use boneless chicken breasts in congee because this will impart minimal flavor (I would guess this is a Westerner trying to reduce fat). I am more familiar with using poultry or fish carcasses and aromatic vegetables to make a broth, and then straining and using this broth to cook the rice. For a faster way, you can add rice into the stock while the broth is cooking, but then you have the bones to pick through.

Traditionally, congee is often used as a dish for leftovers. You throw things in that you have on hand and often already cooked from the night before. Many of these are simply added when served. For example: leftover stir fried meat, cooked vegetables, hard boiled eggs, preserved eggs, fresh green onion, fresh cilantro, or fried dough.

To summarize, if you're using the ingredients to flavour the broth, then add at the beginning. If not, then add when serving.


What is the problem with using a flavored kombucha as a starter? In all the videos I see about starting to make Kombucha, they all seem to say (roughly) "You want to use 'original' Kombucha, and not flavored. If you use the flavored stuff, you are going to have problems." But I cannot find anywhere an explanation of what these problems are. I get the feeling that people just repeat what they have heard and don't even know why they are saying it beyond that.

For additional context: I made a scoby from a 1.4L bottle (the huge one) of GT's Trilogy Kombucha. They don't call it flavored, but it is red instead of... yellow/tan(?). I'm wondering what kind of problems I should be looking for.

On the left is the one that everyone says to use. On the right is the one I used.

There's two reasons for preferring the original instead of the Synergy version:

Most people make kombucha with a neutral base and then put in additional flavors when bottling. By starting with a pre-flavored kombucha, it gives you less flexibility in the flavors you might chose for yourself. For example, if you wanted to make a strawberry & basil kombucha, that might not want the raspberry and ginger in the Synergy bottle you selected.
The original version, since it's 100% kombucha instead of having other juices in it, gives you the best chance of forming your own mother as quick as possible. The Synergy should still work, but may take longer to generate a useful mother.

In any case, the Synergy bottle should still work, and after a few batches I doubt there will be much residual effects from the juices in it. It's just that using the original will give you a neutral kombucha base faster than the other bottle.


What is the correct temperature when extracting saffron flavour? I have several recipes that call for saffron. Obviously, they all say to put the saffron in some water to extract the flavour so it spreads more evenly in the dish. However, there is no mention of the temperature of the water.

Should this be boiling water? Cold water? hot, or warm water?
I know that hotter water will cause the extraction to be faster, but will there be any damage to the saffron and its flavour?

From personal experience, I did not know how to cook with Saffron. So, I would soak it in a little bit of cold milk before adding it to my dessert and it never brought enough flavour or colour into my dessert. Then I started to infuse saffron in a small amount of warm water or milk, for approximately 15 to 30 minutes before adding it to the other ingredients, usually towards the end of cooking. This really draws out the beautiful colour and that royal flavour from it.


Why should one pre-heat an oven? When cooking potatoes and bellpepper in an oven, it is highly recommended to pre-heat the oven. Why would it be a problem to put them in the oven while it is heating up ?

Thank you very much ! :)

It is not a problem to put whole potatoes for roasting in the oven while it heats up.  In fact, it's a good idea.

However, if you are following instructions or cooking times written for a preheated oven, you will need to add about 10 minutes to the cooking time (depending on how fast your oven heats up).

The rule of thumb I use for this is to add 1/2 of the time my oven takes to heat up to the recommended cooking time.  Since my oven takes about 20 minutes to get to 400F, that's 10 minutes.

However, regarding bell peppers it depends on why you are putting them in the oven.  If you're talking stuffed bell peppers, then it's fine to start with a cold oven.  However, if you are trying to char the peppers to remove the skins, you need to start with an oven that's as hot as possible, otherwise you will cook the peppers to mush before the skins are charred (and, ideally, use the broiler).


How does roasting beef in a rotisserie compare to doing so in a regular oven? When I prepare roast beef at home, it's never as good as the one prepared with a rotisserie.
What is the difference between a roast beef cooked in a rotisserie, and a regular oven?

Dry and even heat.  There is still a difference, even with the same cut of meat and using a roasting rack to avoid roasting the cut in its juices: meat on a rotating skewer will be exposed to uniform heat.  If you set the temperature of a home oven to 350°F, the top of the roast will be exposed to that temperature, but the bottom, in line of sight to the heat source, will be much hotter.

Commercial rotisserie ovens also cook the meat by convection and use the heating elements to create the outside crust.  As the meat roasts, it becomes darker and absorbs more of the radiant heat from the roasting coils.  So the outside ends up getting overcooked unless the roasting coils are carefully controlled, which is kind of hard to do.  In a convection oven the temperature is constant around the roast.


Salting meat before simmering Recipes for beef stew generally call for salting and peppering the meat before browning, then simmering for a long time.  How is that different from browning, then adding the same quantity of salt and pepper to the liquid, either at the start of simmering or at the end?

There has been quite a bit of back and forth among chefs on whether to salt meat well-before cooking (up to 24 hours) or immediately before cooking.  You might find this interesting. The article points out, according to Harold McGee, that a large amount of salt (typically the amounts used for curing) does indeed draw out moisture, however, the small amount of salt used for seasoning allows the cell structure to retain water.  The author goes on to test several proteins, none of which are stew meat.  My interpretation of this work, for your situation, would be to salt ahead of time.  Further, I might try two batches of stew, one where I salted the meat 24 hours in advance, and another where I salted immediately before browning.  Why not add the salt later?  Well, I think you have a greater chance of drying out your stew meat if you don't salt first.

In addition to salting the meat, you will want to adjust the seasoning of your stew at the end, as water will evaporate and the flavors will concentrate.  Seasoning is generally not a one step process.

Pepper is another story.  Some people have an aversion to the flavor of cooked pepper, which can take on a bitter note.  In this case it can be added at the end of the cooking process.


Do Chilis Ripen "off the vine"? In light of the question Are chillies hotter when they're ripe?, in particular – @ElendilTheTall's answer. I am wondering if chilies continue to ripen after picking?  If so, does capsaician continue to build up.

What is the 'peek of freshness/ripeness' for chilies? (assuming it is different for each type of pepper, but are there 'commonalities' to look for?)

Yes, they will ripen off the vine (and gain capsaician in the process) because they are a climacteric fruit. They do this best in a paper bag, like most peppers. However, there is a limit to this because they will eventually wilt.


Does multi-cooker actually bake? I am confused about how multi-cooker actually works. Frying meat on a skillet is one thing. Baking it in the oven is another. Advertisement says a multi-cooker can both bake and fry. How is that possible? If it bakes does it mean it can replace oven at all? Can I actually bake meat in the multi-cooker as I would in the oven? Or can fry it like I would on a skillet? How can this single device do two things differently?

It doesn't necessarily do any of those things well, but yes, it does (more or less) all of the things it suggests.

Basically all cooking is the application of heat, in different ways, to food.  So a multicooker like you mention is something that's capable of producing heat at different levels and different timings.

Baking differs from frying/sauteing/etc. in that some of the heat is not applied through conduction. Some of it is - the pan typically gets hot and directly heats the food where it is in contact - but some of it is either radiation or convection cooking.  This probably won't do much for convection, but because it's an enclosed container, it will heat the non-contact parts through radiation if it's constructed properly (i.e., it is properly insulated, and has metal walls that will radiate heat back towards the food rather than plastic that will absorb the heat).

You'll notice it doesn't claim to roast foods (as opposed to some other multicookers); some do, and those have a heating element in the top.  A pressure-cooker style multicooker can't have this (easily, anyway) and so doesn't claim any application that requires direct heat - only conduction or radiation.

Frying is cooking in oil (the oil version of boiling).  Anything that can produce heat in a pan can fry (and to be good at frying, it just has to be good at maintaining a specific temperature).

Most of the features it claims are related to an ability to precisely control temperature.  Yogurt making and sous-vide cooking require specific temperature control, but beyond that most of the features are just things you could do in any pressure cooker or slow cooker managed in the proper way.

The one feature it claims that I'm most dubious about is 'microwave'; it seems unlikely to me that it uses microwaves (it's too small really, for one), so probably it's claiming it can replace your microwave because it can reheat your food (the main reason many people use microwaves).  There are microwave/oven combos (If you're in the US, your local Subway restaurant uses one, for example, probably made by Amana), but they're much bigger.

Either way, I don't think this is something that can 'replace' an oven or similar, because an oven is going to be much better at even heating over a period of time, and an oven is much larger (you're not roasting a turkey in here).  It probably doesn't get very hot, either, compared to a good oven.  The main point of multicookers is that they can do several things in the same device - so for example you can sautee your veggies and then cook a soup directly in them without involving anything else; and they do several things that you might need different devices for (saving kitchen space).  They don't do them as well, but if you're in a tiny 40 sq meter apartment, perhaps that's fine.


Does pork fat oil give an off taste? There is some movement (backed with some literature) that using animal fats and oils are nutritionally superior to packaged oil (e.g., vegetable, canola).

What is the expert perspective on using oil rendered from pork fat, say, from the fat cap of a cut of pork shoulder? I think it has some off-taste, however upon simmering in a dish that I used it for, it became unnoticeable.

I wouldn't describe it as an "off taste", for me it is the tasty flavor of pork fat, commonly known as lard. But yes, it is certainly not taste neutral. It only gives a slight to moderate hint in baking (e.g. in pie crust) and gets really strong when you heat it more, e.g. when you fry in it or baste a roast.

For a comparison of the smell, think bacon.


How to make lactose free mashed potatoes To begin with, I use soy cream instead of dairy-based cream.  It tastes alright, but not superb, and it seems to require more salt. What is missing that I should find a substitute to add back in?

By "cream" do you mean "milk?" If you are lactose intolerant, I suggest some margarine and either sour cream or yogurt.  If you have a lactose allergy, still margarine, more alternate dairy products, and some kind of spice mix, like an Italian seasoning.


Can I finish cooking a stuffed pork roast if I turn it off for a while? I am cooking a pork sirloin stuffed roast. It's been in the oven for 20 minutes but I have to leave the house for no longer then 1 hour and a half. Can I continue to cook it when I get back?

You don't want to leave it in the danger zone (40-140F) for longer than a couple hours. It sounds like you'd be cutting it pretty close, especially given that it spent some time in the danger zone before it went in the oven, and will spend some time closer to room temperature once it's done.

So the safe options are things like:

Reduce the oven temperature as much as possible, so that it doesn't overcook while you're gone, but stays above 140F.
Finish cooking before leaving, chill, and reheat.


Should I seal my hot leftovers before putting them in the fridge? I understand that I should put my hot leftovers straight into the fridge, to best avoid spoilage. And that if there are lots of leftovers, I should divide them into smaller containers to help them cool faster.
My question is: Should I put lids on those containers?
My two concerns are:

Will a lid, that traps hot air around the food, slow the cooling down too much?
Does sealing hot food "sour" it somehow?

For reference, I store my leftovers in these 16 oz. deli containers

Part of the challenge here might be your definition of "hot."  When I think of "left overs", I see what is left over after eating a meal.  It is certainly not "piping hot", as in just off the stove.  There is no problem packaging, covering, and refrigerating these items.  As an alternate example, when I make a batch of chicken stock, once it is cool enough in the pot to deal with so I don't burn myself, I portion it into deli containers for freezing.  I cover (but sometimes don't completely seal, depending on how hot), and leave on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour before moving to the freezer.  These are just examples.
It seems to me that (as at least one link in another answer here states) waiting until your food is room temperature might be problematic, as this could easily place it in the danger zone for some time.
Putting a lid on a deli container is only a problem if the items inside are so hot that the lid bulges.  The issues is not food safety, but that the lid might be compromised or unseal.
Sealing does not cause spoilage.  Spoilage bacteria do that under proper conditions of temperature and time.
Bottom line:  Place your leftovers in a container, seal them, and refrigerate as soon as you are able to handle them, and within food safety parameters.


Is it safe to fully cook a stuffed turkey the night before thanksgiving? If I empty the cavity of stuffing after I cook it thoroughly, and reheat the turkey and stuffing separately the next day, will its consumption be hazardous?

If it was fully cooked properly the first time there shouldn't be any problems at all. You may have an issue with reheating the turkey - not that it would be hazardous to your health, just difficult to do without drying it out or burning it. It might be better to fully carve the turkey and then reheat the meat you want to eat instead of trying to reheat the entire thing.


Combining melted chocolate with eggs I've come across a number of recipes (the most recent of which was this) which suggest various combinations of adding hot melted chocolate to a mixture that contains eggs.

The problem that I have here is that if I let the chocolate mixture go cold, it hardens and can't be mixed, and if I don't, it cooks the eggs.  I've tried stirring the mixture as the chocolate is added, which seems to be the most common suggestion, but it makes no difference.  Can anyone offer any other methods of avoiding scrambled egg cake?

The cocoa butter in your chocolate melts fully at 43 degrees Celsius (110 F). But it stays liquid until at least 30 degrees C (85 F).
The most heat sensitive proteins in an egg white coagulate at around 65 degrees C (145 F), most proteins stay stable until 85 degrees C (185 F).

As you shouldn't overheat your chocolate anyway, you have a certain temperature range where the chocolate will stay liquid, yet the egg unaffected.

Note that the real problem and culinary art therefore is not the coagulating egg, but the effect of warm chocolate on any "foam" you might have produced in an earlier step: Too warm, and the bubbles might pop, too cool and the chocolate will harden as the cool other ingredients take up too much heat before it is fully incorporated.

Rule of thumb:
Melt the chocolate gently and let cool until barely warm to the touch. Stir quickly, yet gently, when incorporating the liquid chocolate into your batter.
(And read the recipe in case you need to deviate from this.)


Why is maple syrup less viscous than other liquid sugars? I really enjoy making this recipe for oatmeal-raisin cookies:
http://viveleveganrecipes.blogspot.co.uk/2007/10/oatmeal-raisin-cookies.html

However, I'm based in the UK, where maple syrup is much more expensive than in the US or Canada. If I make this recipe, I usually substitute golden syrup or honey. However, I've noticed that both of these are much more viscous than maple syrup, which means that when I get to this step:

  combine syrup, molasses, and vanilla, then stir in oil to incorporate

I find that the syrup doesn't mix nicely with the oil to give a smooth mixture -- you get more of an emulsion instead, which affects it's ability to lubricate the dry ingredients. The recipe still works if you add a bit more liquid (either more oil / melted butter or a bit of milk), but it leaves me with a couple of questions:

Why is maple syrup less viscous than other liquid sugars? Is it a different ratio of glucose, fructose and other sugars? Or just a higher water content?
Is it possible to thin honey or maple syrup to get it to mix more easily with the oil?
Is there another sugar syrup that would have the same viscosity as maple syrup that would work better? Taste isn't really an issue here -- the spices in the recipe drown the subtle flavour of maple syrup, so any neutral tasting liquid sugar should be fine

Maple syrup is more liquid because it contains more water.

That also depends on the type (category) of syrup; most consumer syrup will be on the lighter side of it and will contain more water as the darker ones because it will be less concentrated.

You could dillute honey or Golden syrup with water to have a lighter syrup but the cookies will taste different.

Maple syrup grading in Québec
http://fpaq.ca/en/federation/quality/grading-system/


Accidentally froze my fresh mussels I placed my fresh mussels in a too cold frig overnight and they are frozen. Are they still ok to be cooked and eaten?

Freezing live mussels is generally not recommended for long term storage, but if you plan to eat them in the near term it is not a problem.  The issue that I can see is that freezing kills the mussel.  So, unless you sorted them beforehand it will not be possible to tell if any were dead to begin with.  If it were me, at this point, I would sort through them and remove any with broken or empty shells and cook them up.


Cooking red kidney beans I want to cook red kidney beans in a shortest cooking time.

How can I cook them?
Should I put them into water before going to office and then cook them in the evening?
What are the required ingredients?

The traditional way to make beans is to wash them, soak them overnight, change the water and boil them for a few hours the next day. This obviously takes a long time and you have to plan ahead.

With the miracles of modern science there is a better way.

Using a pressure cooker raises the boiling point of the water and decreases the cooking time dramatically. Some recipes call for as little as 12 minutes of cooking time.

You can get electric pressure cookers that make this process very simple.

Your question "What are the ingredients required" suggest that you may be asking about some particular dish and not just beans? The ingredients in my beans are: beans, onion, and salt.


How to set yogurt in the room temperature between 20 to 16 degree Centigrade? It is winters here, and the yogurt never sets the way I used to set it during summers.

If for example, we have 1/2 litre milk, what is the near exact temperature (for heating the milk), and the near exact yogurt to be added to the milk for setting?

EDIT 1:
When I mention heating milk, I mean that milk has been boiled quite a few hours ago, we just need a warm up session now. So how many centigrades are required?

You can make the yogurt in an insulated container, like a thermos bottle. A wide-mouth bottle will probably be best. Pour hot water in and let it sit for a minute or two to warm up, then pour it out. Heat and add your milk and starter culture as usual.


Can home-made mozzarella be made in small batches (quart of milk instead of gallon)? I've spotted a couple of articles (http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-mozzarella-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-174355, http://www.simplebites.net/the-best-party-trick-ever-how-to-make-thirty-minute-mozzarella/ )about making mozzarella at home in 30 minutes or so, using milk and some ingredients that are easy to order online. It sounds like fun and I'd like to try it, but a gallon of milk? And doubtless half a gallon of whey to sneak into random meals for the next few days? It seems like a big commitment.

Is it feasible to just divide everything by 4? How accurately do you need to do that, because 1/16th cup of water to dissolve things in seems a challenge, as does 1/8th tablet of rennet. Or is it ok if you use twice as much rennet as you should and you're just wasting a little rennet? How do you adjust the microwaving time? Should I just accept that there's a reason all the online recipes involve a gallon of milk?

I've done this and it'll work, but your yield will be small.  With a gallon of quality milk, my yield is about one pound of mozz. Divide that by four and it ends up being about 4 oz.

Use an appropriate size pot and microwave container... And use a thermometer.

I've only used liquid rennet and I don't think there's much difference in dissolving the tabs.

I've also found the process to be somewhat forgiving on close but not exact measurements of ingredients when using good quality (non UHT - NOT ultra high temp pasteurized) whole milk. Other milk not so forgiving and UHT milk just ended up as ricotta.

The microwave process heats the curds to extract as much water out of them as possible, then they become soft and stretchy and can be pulled and kneaded like dough. Heat, extract, pull, knead, repeat.

Don't be discouraged if the first batch isn't quite perfect. It'll take longer than 30 min. your first time - you're going to keep wondering if your doing the whole microwave process right or if it's hot enough.

A great site for questions and instructions is http://www.cheesemaking.com.

Their FAQ addresses reducing the quantities in half (#5) and how to dissolve and reduce the rennet tab - http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/242-FAQ-Mozzarella.html.

Their 30 min mozz instructions with pictures to see how everything looks along the way http://cheesemakinghelp.blogspot.com/2010/12/making-mozzarella-with-anya-age-10.html


Why are my strawberries keeping so long? The California strawberries my husband buys are completely white at the stem, but bright red throughout the body, as well as being tasteless and staying fresh in the fridge for 2 weeks or more.

Is it likely that they've been processed in some way to keep them "fresh" for longer? What might have been done to them?

Most commercial fruit is picked before being completely ripened because once it is ripened it has a very limited shelf life, and strawberries are no exception. Strawberries ripen from the tip to the stem and a good indicator that a strawberry is unripe is a white ring around the stem area.

Some fruits can be artificially ripened by exposing them to ethylene gas, but strawberries are not one of them, so it is not likely they are chemically treated as there's no gain. They may have had their color deepened, which is an artificial process but as I believe that's using Carbon Dioxide gas I'd hesitate to call them chemically treated.

Out of season strawberries often come very long distances, in order for them to last they have to be picked well before they are at their peak. Once they are picked they stop developing and ripening, and nothing can be done to improve their flavor. If you are going to buy them out of season try and pick ones that are completely red as they have a better chance of tasting good, otherwise it's best to spend your money elsewhere.


Preparing Salsa Verde fast and fresh I want to make batches of Salsa Verde* fast and fresh, 8 to 12 serves at a time

It normally requires a large amount of knife work to get everything finely chopped and crushed. How can I speed up this process?

The liquid part can be pre-measured and mixed, the egg yolk only takes a second to separate and mix in. But the fresh herbs take time to chop finely without destroying them, and the final mixing and crushing in the herbs and spices takes time

Food processors do not make a satisfactory result, it looks and tastes like baby food

* Salsa Verde - based on Italian style

Parsley, chopped
Coriander (cilantro), chopped
Oregano, chopped
Garlic, sliced and crushed
Smoked dried chillies, crushed
Salt (powdered)
Olive oil
Coriander oil (a few drops)
Egg yolk
Lemon juice
Vinegar

Even for 12 servings, the total quantity of herbs is small; so, in my opinion, the best way to chop it is with knife.

Maybe you need to improve your technique.

Use a big sharp knife, on a big cutting surface.

Get all the herbs aligned and press them together with your left hand (or your right hand if you are lefty like me) in a tight pile over the surface.

Lean the side of the knife on your fingers, placing the tips of the fingers away from the cut.

Practice and you'll see that it's fast and easy and the results are the best.


How to balance the bitterness of Habanero peppers? I'm a hobby hot sauce maker and I'm wondering how do I balance the  bitterness of Habanero peppers? All the super hot peppers in the Chinense family have a strong bitter taste that comes with the extreme heat. I've used citrus, salt, sugar and the bitterness still shines through.

Capsaicin is an extremely bitter(in addition to spicy) off-white crystalline powder.  The bitterness is also very dependent on the individual.  You'll need to add a lot more sugar or possibly vinegar to offset this.

The flavor of certain fruits play well with chilies including stone fruits and mango. And, anecdotally at least, are know to counteract the bitter effect of the capsaicin.

Or you could use a milder chili.


i have a mist twst can case but the date on the bottom of it shows dec 19 2016 i brought a mist twist 355 ml soda can case. But the date on the bottom of it shows December 19 2016, i could not know if it is an expiration date or manufacturing date and kindly let me know if i still can drink it.

Even if it is an expiration date, Dec. 19, 2016 is only a little over a month ago. If the cans are sealed, the soda inside can't possibly have gotten significantly more toxic than it was on the good-until date, just by aging for 34 more days. Go ahead & drink it.

stilltasty.com is a good reference.


What fruits, vegetables, raw meats, or spices are naturally blue? So, here's an odd question.

A few years ago, my home ed. teacher told us that she would not eat anything that is colored blue. it's unnatural.

Thinking on this, I confronted her about blueberries. She argued that blueberries are purple. Okay.

What vegetables, fruits, meats, or spices are naturally blue (either before or after preparation)?

(For all intents and purposes, yes, blueberries are blue)

Butterfly pea flowers, corn flower, chicory flowers, blue mallow flower and blue lotus all have blue flowers and the petals are used to make tea, in salads, or to spice foods (for the color).

Black goji berries are also supposed to make a blue tea, so probably have a blue juice.  If blueberries' purple juice disqualifies them, blue juice should qualify the goji berries even if they look very dark when whole.

Blue corn is also an option, as payton B mention - there are many varieties including hopi blue, aztec black (grinds to blue meal, so blue inside), santo domingo, lenape, or my favorite (and very visibly blue) baby blue jade corn.

There's also assorted odds and ends like blue sausage fruit or succotash bean, prickly caterpillar bean, fruit of the bilberry cactus, a blue kale, a blue-green tomato (the blue-reds tend to look black, but they're called blue), couple other blue tomatoes, blue potatoes, the blue carrot Sobachatina mentioned - some heirlooms can get oddly colored, it's fun.

Some of these do tend towards the purplish, but in every case either the inside is blue, the juice or pulp is blue, or there are pictures of truly blue examples as well as purplish ones (probably depending on pH of the soil).

There's also a double handful of blue flowers and berries that are ornamental, but not eaten, and again as much of purpleish ones that have some really blue pigment (in patches or along edges).


Toaster oven features - convection/rotisserie I need some help in buying a toaster oven:

My needs are primarily to roast/grill vegetables, occasional baking (bread, brownies, muffins). I am vegetarian and this is for a 2 person home. I'd like it to compact, simple to clean, and built to last. (I can live without more advanced features if this means it will be more reliable.)

Is it helpful to have a toaster oven with a convection feature? Does this lead to better results in baking? What exactly is this feature anyway? Is it a fan that moves the hot air around in the toaster oven?
Will a rotisserie feature help with grilling vegetables? (Or is it of use only for meat?)
How big does it need to be? (would a 0.9 - 1 cu.ft model be appropriate?)

The choices I have are mainly among these:

Morphy richards - 0.9 cu.ft

Bajaj

Toaster ovens are awesome.  For a toaster oven,  there are three key features:

Big enough to fit the largest item you'll cook.
Convection, so food cooks quickly and evenly.
Enameled or stainless/aluminum interior.  This lets you use harsh abrasives to keep it clean.

It's a given that your oven should have bake, broil, and roast modes.

For size, you'll probably want it big enough to comfortable fit a 1/4 sheet pan, or a 9" x 12" brownie pan.  That will allow you to bake.  Much bigger and it will take up a huge amount of counter space and realistically you should use a full oven for the big stuff.  Too small and you'll have to fire up the full oven for everything, which defeats the purpose.

Convection makes a huge difference in toaster ovens; because they're so small, they are more prone to uneven heating than normal ovens, and leak heat out the front.  If you open them to move food, they'll lose most of the heat, and take a while to get back up to temperature without convection. Convection lets you cook faster and more evenly.

For cleaning and long-term use, you need to be able to scour off the burned-on crap with steel wool or other harsh abrasive.  Otherwise the oven will quickly become so unsanitary that it must be replaced, and nonstick finishes never last.  The bottom will, of course, be lined with aluminum foil for easy cleanup of drips.

Oh, and rotisserie is a useless gimmick.  I've had it on ovens, and never used it yet.  Other people may have different experiences with it, of course, but that's my $0.10.


Ways to Store Carrots for more days I recently brought a whole 2KG bag of carrots. They seemed fine the day I brought, but eventually, the skin of the carrot evolved to a black layer. However, when I peeled them off, the carrot looks perfectly fine. Is it good to continue using these carrots ? Are there any precautions that I have to take to store them ?

Please find the reference images.

This is how most of the carrots now look :

After peeling the carrots that are black :

I have worked in the CPG industry for almost 30 years. A few years back I had the privilege of representing one of the largest produce brands in the US. I learned quite a bit about produce storage and what speeds up the deterioration rate.

One thing I noticed in your picture is that there appeared to be moisture (condensation) inside of the bag of carrots. It is certainly okay to leave them in the bag they were purchased in, but you want to be absolutely sure that there is no moisture in the bag. Moisture can be a real devil when it comes to mold and mildew or other fungus.

Another very important thing that affects the length of time produce will remain good is air circulation. You have to have really good air circulation around produce. Bagged salads, slaws, etc. will go bad quicker (even if they are unopened) if they are stored so that they don't have proper air circulation around them. In the case of the carrots, I would recommend opening one end of the bag so that they can get air.

Overall, I would rceommend that produce be stored in the produce crisper in your refrigerator. Crispers are designed to maintain an appropriate temperature and level of humidity that will help produce stay fresh longer.

If your refrigerator does not have a crisper, I would get a plastic rectangular container and place it on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator to use as a make shift crisper. If possible, cut one inch holes generously in the lid to allow for air flow. If you don't have a way to do this, leave the lid off.

Regarding using the carrots, I would be reluctant without knowing with certainty what the black is and probably would not use them.


Cooking with a crock pot - temp I'm thinking about getting a slow cooker, so I was checking out some recipes.  Many say something along the lines of:

Cook Time
4 - 5 hours on LOW
2 - 2.5 hours on HIGH
Slow Cooker
4 - 4.5 Quarts
6 - 6.5 Quarts

Two questions:

Is it better to cook it on low or high? Obviously the time will be different, but will it usually taste better when done on low?
What is the stuff under Slow Cooker referring to?

Thanks

Cooking "Low and Slow" allows the heat to break down the connective tissues that cause toughness in meat, creating a more tender dish.

As for what the "Slow Cooker" is referring to, that is the volume of the crock pot.


A vegan alternative to Quorn? It seems that almost all meat replacements in the UK have eggs. Are there any good vegan alternatives?

Also see @Pulse's answer. Check out the China town for 'vegetarian food', they have all sort of fake meat from chicken to beef, from abalone to fish, all made of modified tofu fibres.


Why are there egg whites over my yolk when I try to make a sunny side up fried egg? When I cook fried eggs I've noticed that when I put a teaspoon of water and cover it with a lid, the yellow part gets covered by cooked egg whites when I'm done and it doesn't look much like a sunny side up egg anymore. However when I see others cook and employ the same trick, they don't have this issue. What am I doing wrong?

I suspect that you are using fresher eggs and are cooking too hot or too long.

In an egg, there are two different kinds of whites, the outer, runnier, and the inner, which clings more firmly to the yolk.

If you crack a fresh egg and place it on a plate or in a pan, you can see a distinct “bulge” of egg white. This also means that there’s a thicker layer of egg white on top of the yolk.

When you cook your fried egg via the steaming method described in the question, this layer will coagulate and become opaque. Even in older eggs the effect can be noticeable, but it’s more pronounced in fresher eggs.

To prevent this, you need to leave the layer of egg white slightly undercooked - that means lowering the heat in the pan to generate less steam and to carefully cook until the main part of the whites is just done, leaving the yolk runny. If you want a more done yolk, you have to rely on bottom heat alone, so that the yolk acts as insulation for the white on top, which means leaving the lid off.


Should I have been able to melt white chocolate and marshmallows together? My daughter and I were making cake pops, and were a little short of white chocolate for the coating. We thought we'd try a white chocolate/marshmallow coating instead. I didn't weigh the marshmallows but they were no more than 25% of the total.
I used a bowl over a pan of simmering water as I usually do for melting chocolate. The white chocolate had mostly melted when I stirred in the marshmallows that were on top. They started to melt then the whole lot seized solid. Further heating didn't help. I was left with something that could be shaped like fondant icing
I've had that happen when heating white chocolate (alone) in the microwave, and always assumed it was local overheating, hence using the bain marie this time.
Now it's cooled, I'm left with something resembling out of date or badly stored white chocolate - grainy rather than creamy.
Is such a coating possible? Should I have gone about it differently? Or is there too much water in marshmallows?

This is definitely possible, though I should add that the addition of melted butter would be crucial.
Do not simply toss "raw" marshmallows into the melted white chocolate, as they will start to cool down the chocolate more than you'd think (I once tucked my hand into a bag of marshmallows, it was relatively cold in temperature).
Here is how I would do it:

Melt some butter in a pan (don't skimp!).

Toss in your marshmallows and constantly stir them, until all melted and silky.

Pour the melted white chocolate into the melted marshmallow & butter, and continue to heat and stir for a few minutes.


Is there a different fruit very similar to oranges? I recently purchased a fruit, which is very similar to an orange but slightly different in taste, size and color. The fruit I purchased is about 3 inches in diameter, and has a reddish orange peel and a rich sweet citrus taste. Its internal structure is exactly like that of an orange. Is there is any such variety of oranges? Or it is an entirely different fruit? One of my friend also told me that it wasn't an orange, but wasn't able to recall the fruit's name.

I went to market again but could not find it. I don't know its name. What it is called? I wasn't able to find it on fruits stores on the Internet. If anybody knows what it is then please let me know. Its rich taste is unforgettable. I would love to know what fruit it is. It's neither grapefruit nor blood oranges.

There are hundreds of varieties of citrus fruits, in a great variety of colors, sizes (and very occasionally, even different shapes).  There is really no fundamental difference between the various citrus fruits--they all cross breed and hybridize extremely readily.

It is possible if you post a photo that someone might recognize the cultivar, but other than that all that can really be said is that you have a citrus fruit.


Hard dry crusts on frozen bread I have always frozen my bread with no noticeable difference. Some fridge freezers seem to impart a stale freezer burn flavor to lots of things, but I've never had that issue. I'm guessing it has to do with the freshness/cleanliness of the freezer, how things are packaged, how long they are frozen, etc.

I'm having suddenly having issues with the crust, sometimes just part of the crust, becoming extremely hard and tough on store-bought sliced bread that is usually frozen no more than 3 weeks.

The only variable that has changed is the style of deep freeze--we just received an upright, self-defrosting freezer, replacing our very old deep chest freezer that was not self-defrosting.  Perhaps the newer one is removing more moisture from the air in the freezer, hence drying the bread.  That makes sense, however, I used to freeze bread in my refrigerator freezer, which is also self-defrosting, with no issues.

I've tested lowering the temp of the freezer, and storing the bread on the shelf instead of in the door. Neither have made a difference.  I'm planning to get a plastic tote with lid thinking that might help reduce drying air exposure.

Perhaps my question is more related to the functionality of this freezer, manufacturer's performance issue, or simply a variability in freezer styles. I just find it odd that after freezing food for 40 years with no issues, this has suddenly become a problem.

The likely culprit, so to speak, is not just the freezer but rather the mill of the bag within which the bread now comes. Any relatively thin sheet of plastic is actually porous at the microscopic level. That's why you can smell right through some of these bags and detect what's in them, or detect the poor or better condition that their contents are in. Who for example cannot identify raisin bread with nothing more than a whiff of the bag? So even the slightest reduction in the mill [of a plastic] can yield an exponential increase in its permeability.

Now it may be, yes, that you noticed this change at or around the time you replaced your freezer. This concomitance is probably not irrelevant. Nonetheless, the marketplace is always looking for ways to cut costs, especially in the United States. And when you think about the sheer number of plastic bags that are involved nationwide for annual bread sales, the slightest change in the mill of the bag equates to some very real dollars.

I noticed quite recently here a change in the packaging of my milk cartons, (half-and-half actually), obvious because of the dramatically different color. But the carton is now so thin you can feel it caving in as you pick it up. I also noticed that the screw-on lid was lighter in weight as well as thinner in its construction, (bendier and more translucent), and that the amount of turn required (and therefore allowed) was reduced. In short, it was a complete overhaul.

Okay, that synchronized cluster of changes didn't just happen for no reason. There are always motivations at play, especially when multiple changes have to be authorized by multiple layers of individuals at multiple levels of responsibility. What were those motivations? Was my grocer's provider (dairy) just feeling generous? Did they mistakenly ascertain that I as a consumer (speaking generally) would pick up this flimsier version of a container and respond in something of a positive manner?

Of course not. They didn't do it for me (us). They did it for themselves (profit). That's the pattern. That's the die that is cast. And that's more probably what accounts, at least in part, for the difference you've noted and shared. In my example, the carton supplier [to the dairy] could increase its profit margin over time and still manage to offer the dairy a slight reduction in cost for, say, every gross of cartons. Not complicated. Everybody wins but the consumer. Same deal for the mill of your plastic.

Certainly I don't mean to force this as an only explanans. The freezer too is bound to play an important role as follows. You did say it's a newer model frost-free, meaning newer than the frost-free you said you had before. On that note alone, here's what seems a likely scenario.

A frost-free works, obviously, by drawing not only the heat but the moisture out of the freezer. It does so nearly constantly, and on a very low level. That's all that's needed. So heat's being drawn out by the compressor (cold is just the absence of heat). And moisture's being drawn out by way of an evaporator and one or more fans.

The use of an outward drawing fan action creates a slight negative pressure. This pressure builds over time and then peaks, because the fans are only just so strong. By dint of this, note that the freezer door can at times be surprisingly difficult to open. A pressure differential has formed between the two sides. So anything in the freezer from which water can be drawn is going to be subject to these forces and will, of course, capitulate ...or as the Wikipedia article on the subject states,

  water can evaporate out of containers that do not have a very tight seal,..

This fact in combination with the risk of too thin a mill in plastic, (where too great a porosity is synonymous with a poor seal), would serve to perhaps best explain the results you've experienced. The solution as you've suggested is to contain the loaves of bread yet further, probably placing them in large freezer bags. Beyond this, no doubt there remains something to be said for the kind of refrigeration which does not worry itself over the matter of frost build-up. Anathema!, I know.

Another consideration is the possibility the bread is being quickly transitioned from a decidedly warm environment (such as the trunk of a hot car), straight into the freezer. This itself would cause slight condensation, (difficult to notice as it's absorbed by the bread), as here the permeability if the package works in reverse, initially drawing in water from the freezer. (There's always evaporated water in the air, air which can enter the freezer whenever the door is open, including for example water from our own respiration.) In short the noticeable brittleness of the bread crust would follow not only from having the moisture pulled out by the freezer, but from the fact that it was actually pre-moistened one step prior.


Is apple to be grated a wet or dry ingredient? Can you please answer this. Is apple a wet or dry ingredient? It will be grated

Apple is pretty wet.

However, if you're looking at quickbread or muffin recipes (with "wet" and "dry" teams, a la Alton Brown's method), you're better off treating it as a separate addition -- stir the grated apple in after the wet and dry are combined.


What's a good egg substitute in pizza dough? I'm trying to perfect my pizza dough recipe, and build a device that measures out and adds the ingredients to the mixer automatically.

I'm using an egg in the recipe, but making a machine that cracks an egg and puts it in a bowl is too complex for me.

Is there an egg substitute that comes in either powder or liquid form that works well in pizza dough? Anyone had experiences using egg substitutes in pizza dough, and which ones worked/didn't work?

The future of pizza depends on it ;)

I thought the recipe would be helpful because the substitute might work better/worse depending on the other ingredients. The goal of the recipe is a fluffy, sort of sweet, soft pizza crust, and I usually do a Hungry Howie's style garlic herb seasoning on it.

1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp bread machine yeast

This doesn't look like a recipe for pizza dough, rather it looks more like a naan or flatbread recipe. I am not exactly sure what you are aiming for, but why not simply eliminate the egg and increase the milk (or add water) by a small amount to compensate for the lost moisture?


Help me duplicate Potbelly's fat-free vinaigrette Can anyone help me duplicate Potbelly Sandwich Works' fat-free vinaigrette dressing? I'm NOT a cook, so I have no idea where to start. It's fairly clear, somewhat sweet, and based on the lack of "globules", it appears to have little to no oil in it.

Is it possible to make a vinaigrette with no oil?

Emmy,

I don't have Potbelly's specific recipe, but most "fat-free" vinagrette dressings rely heavily on corn syrup as a thickener and to dilute the vinegar.  Given the sweetness you noticed with the Potbelly dressing, I would guess this to be the case with theirs as well.  For example, these are the ingredients in WishBone's Fat Free Red Wine Vinagrette:

  Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Red Wine Vinegar, Cabernet Sauvignon
  Wine, Sugar, Salt, Soybean Oil (Adds An Insignificant Amout of Fat),
  Garlic, Onion, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Xanthan Gum, Tocopheryl
  Acetate (Vitamin E), Calcium Disodium Edta (Used to Protect Quality),
  Natural Flavor, Sulfiting Agents.

Even "homemade" recipes involve large amounts of sugar: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/saladdressings/r/fatfreesalad1.htm

So in general you're looking for a recipe which involves corn syrup + vinegar + spices.  Beyond that, online recipes abound.

Also, if you're looking for fat-free dressings for health reasons, you need to ask yourself if eating several ounces of corn syrup is really an improvement over a little olive oil.


Bizarre: Chocolate tempering is good on the outside I poured some undertempered chocolate into molds (as practice). Out of the molds, the exterior of the shells were glossy, clear, and hard as is well-tempered chocolate. The interior streaked terribly.

I suppose the polycarbonate/chocolate surface interaction is preventing exterior streaking. Any explanations?

First of all, if by marbling you mean spreading chocolate on a slab, then your chocolate may be tempered. If you heated the chocolate properly and slabbed a good portion of it then when you add the slabbed chocolate back in, it will temper all of the chocolate. Your "problem" may be that the chocolate was actually tempered.

I'm also a little confused about how you are judging the interior to be out of temper. Other than the "snappiness", the quality of the interior chocolate is almost never used to judge temper. If you could provide a picture of what the inside and outside looks like that would be very helpful.

Aside from that, there are a few possibilities:

How long did you wait before judging the temper of the outside? Chocolate may not show signs of streaking for up to 24 hours.
Polycarbonate molds when used and, more importantly, washed correctly will build up a layer of cocoa butter. This layer of cocoa butter may help encourage the chocolate to form the correct crystals (temper).


What are the advantages of "bathed" bread? There is a technique of making bathed bread. For it, the dough is kneaded as usual, then shaped into a boule, bound in cheesecloth, and submerged in water for the first proofing.

When it floats up, it's considered ready. It is then shaped, final-proofed and baked. There is no knockdown and second proof before shaping.

This is a home technique, I've never heard of it being used professionally.

I realize that it's a convenient way for novice bakers to judge when their dough is fermented. But is this the only advantage? Does the technique somehow change the quality of the prepared bread?

What you are looking at here is an old, almost forgotten method of proofing yeast dough for cold conditions. I have an old cook book1 from ca. 1930, when rooms could be cold in winter. I'd say it's "granny's version of proofing in the fridge".

My book says to leave out about 1/4 of the flour, all sugar and, if used, the spices. It does not, however, say to use cheese cloth. The firm ball of dough is simply placed in a sink or bowl full of cold water, where it sticks to the bottom in the beginning. It should peel off, turn upside down & rise to the surface within an hour (or longer, if little yeast was used). Then, it's taken out, first the sugar, then the flour are kneaded in, and finished according to the original recipe.

I have tried it once out of curiosity, but that was probably 20 years ago & I was way less experienced than today. I do not recall any major differences with the finished product (sweet bread, in my case).

(1) It's in German, "Luise Haarer; Kochen und Backen nach Grundrezepten".


Why do chefs finish with olive oil? I watch cooking shows often. I see chefs finish a dish with olive oil.

Why do chef's finish their dish with olive oil? What is the reasoning for this?

Is it purely a presentation or is it just taste? I know olive oil isn't the most pleasant thing to eat by itself.

For an astringent/bitter twist to the flavour, for a scent, and the visual gloss effect **

Mediterranean people have been doing this for centuries

For best effect they are probably using a first cold press oil (Extra-virgin) from young olive trees (less than 50 years old). It is often quite green in colour and has a pungent and astringent odour

These are often only available from boutique olive farmers, in expensive small quantities e.g. Rangihoua Estate or Azzuro Groves. Expect prices around NZ$50 to NZ$100 per litre

It is sort of similar in concept to squeezing a fresh lemon over a dish

It's a bit over fashionable at the moment, but in some dishes it really works

**  the three s's - sap(or), scent, shine


Can I sprout grains/legumes/seeds I buy in bulk from whole foods? I bought some lentils, groats, sunflower seeds, etc from whole foods (organic raw). Are they safe to sprout?

Yes organic raw seeds are safe to sprout.


Beer instead of Seltzer in tempura? I have a tempura recipe I want to try, however it calls for "Very cold seltzer". Since I'm not a fan of seltzer normally, I don't have any on hand. However, I do have a bottle of beer left from when I made Beer-batter fish. Can I use "very cold beer" in lieu of "very cold seltzer"? Will it alter the texture and taste of the tempura too much?

Thanks!

It will produce the same effect, however it might alter the taste (depending on the type of beer), and will almost certainly alter the color of the final product, as beer contains sugars that will increase browning.


How are pulses split into dal? Since dal is simply dried, split pulses I was wondering: how are the pulses split?

Is it that when they are dried they become easy to split, is the dal "cut" in a certain way, or is there some other technique that is used to separate dal into perfect halves?

It happens more-or-less naturally. Most legumes have a seed structure with two large cotyledons that serve as storage reserves for the developing embryo, which is nestled between them at one edge of the whole structure. This is easily visible in the peanut (which is botanically a legume and not a true nut):

The outer pod that splits open serves to protect the seeds. Each of the "nuts" inside is a whole seed. On the left is one with the outer coat intact (very thin and papery for peanuts, but often substantially tougher for other beans) and on the right is a split nut. This is a single cotyledon or "lobe" with the small embryo (which looks almost like a separate seed) visible at its left tip.

If you look closely, other culinary legumes share this same structure; even lentils have a tiny seed visible at one edge. The lobes meet against each other with flat edges and will separate easily once the legume is dried. They can still be held together by the outer skin or coat, which varies in thickness; beans tend to have thicker coats, lentils much thinner ones. Once the coat is removed by peeling or rubbing, the dried legume will separate easily into halves with additional quick rubbing or tumbling. This in turn increases the surface area and allows the legume to cook more quickly.


What can I substitute for dairy products in kosher meat dishes? I have converted a number of traditional dishes to kosher (cannot mix meat and dairy ingredients) but have trouble finding substitutes for dairy ingredients that have the correct consistency or flavor.  I have tried a number of soy-based products, like sour supreme, work great if you are not cooking them but I find that many of them don't handle high temperatures well.  Does anyone have any other suggestions so I can make beef stroganoff or veal parmesan.

In the Israeli Army I've had a veal "parmesan" made with a tahini sauce. It's a very different dish, of course. It's also common to get beef/noodle recipes that don't include the dairy component.

In general you're often better off substituting the meat (for fish, or a vegetarian patty like seitan) or working off of different recipes. Trying to make kosher cheeseburgers (and putting margarine on the shabbat table) are the hallmarks of the newly religious.