Dehydration in Fridge vs Outdoor

Question

My (leftover) food in the fridge dries out quickly, and comes out in a pretty bad shape by the next mealtime. The weather here is pretty cold, hovering between 0-5 centigrade. Is it better to just leave my food on the windowsill (covered ofcourse), in terms of avoiding dehydration?

Answer

No the best option here is to cover food better in the fridge. Invest in some storage jars, or tubs, or better plastic wrap. If the food is in an air tight container it shouldn't dry out.

If you leave food outside you'll find you attract rats, mice and other vermin which will be very hard to get rid of.

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Why do many recipes instruct you to oil or grease the pan at the start of the recipe?

Question

I've noticed that most recipes that end up in a pan in the oven will have me grease or oil the pan at the start of the recipe. This is long before I have anything else to put into it. The pan just sits waiting for me to do the rest of the recipe. Here's just one example: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/3073

Why is this? I'm partly just curious and partly interested if I can leverage this some more.

• Does the grease (or oil) work better if it ages in the air? If so, what is the ideal time for aging?
• Does the recipe author just want to be sure that I have a pan and some grease that I can use before I prepare the rest of the recipe? If so, then I think I'll just wait to do it.
• Is it to make sure the pan is cooled to room temperature by the time I get to it, in case it came from the dishwasher?
• Perhaps a historical reason?

Answer

There are three good reasons to oil your pan beforehand:

1. Your pan needs to be ready as soon as your batter is. For cakes, the batter can fall apart while you are greasing the pan. This is especially true for cakes that have air whipped in, such as genoise, which can fall apart in a few minutes. Recipes containing baking soda can lose their fizz in this time too.
2. You can't forget to oil up the pan. In the heat of the moment, it's very easy to forget to apply lubrication before transferring the batter/dough; inevitably this wrecks the recipe.
3. Greasing the pan is part of baking mise en place and should be done before main cooking. Mise en place is a key principle of professional cooking, and means "everything in place." The idea is that ingredients should be prepped and ovens preheated, so you can do the actual cooking efficiently.

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How to Rescue Too-Soft Cookie Dough Made with Butter Substitute?

Question

The other day I made a batch of sugar cookies intending to roll them out and cut into shapes. I used the standard Martha Stewart's recipe, but didn't have butter, so I used Smart Balance Lite Margarine. Needless to say the dough didn't get stiff enough to cut or roll, even though its been refrigerated for more than 24 hours. Is there anyway to either use this dough as is OR to add ingredients to the dough to make it more stiff?

Answer

I don't believe you will be satisfied with any cookies you roll out and cut from this dough. That said, there are three options that may allow the dough to find a tasty future.

1. Make a 'Mega Cookie': roll the dough out and fit it onto a pizza tin and bake. This can be decorated as one large cookie/pizza.

2. Make 'Brownies': work the dough into an 8"x8" or 9"x13" pan and bake.

3. 'Cupcakes': scoop a spoonful of dough into each compartment of muffin tin and bake.

Of course you will have to watch to get them done enough as the standard bake time probably won't apply.

If your recipe doesn't include eggs (or you are not concerned with the risk that raw eggs may pose) adding it to homemade ice cream would be a fourth option.

Good luck.

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Best Practices for Cooking with Psyllium Husk?

Question

A couple months ago, I went on a diet primarily consisting of Nutraloaf (with Tabasco or other flavor-adding sauces) for meals, and sunflower seeds for occasional snacking. Three weeks in, I started experiencing some digestive problems and a general malaise, and my doctor referred me to a nutritionist. Long story short, my diet was seriously lacking in fiber.

I've found psyllium husk fiber to be far superior to traditional options, and have since been consuming it as a daily supplement. What I'd like to do, however, is integrate it into my cooking. There is a serious dearth of psyllium husk-based recipes on the Internet, which leads me to query the experts here.

How should I go about modifying my recipes to use psyllium husk? Also, should I worry about heating psyllium husk, and possibly changes its digestive qualities?

Answer

I'm guessing that you should be able to simply add it wherever you would add some sort of grain or flour. The wikipedia article mentions:

Other uses include gluten-free baking, where ground psyllium seed husks bind moisture and help make the bread less crumbly.

If you add some to your Nutraloaf, if it's enough to have an effect, it'll help it bind together and absorb some moisture. You might have to add some more liquid to cancel that out, if you find that the result ends up too dry, but otherwise it should be fine. Cooking isn't going to destroy the fiber.

I'd also note that you don't necessarily have to go all-out on the fiber: there's plenty in other grains, too, like oats. You might decide that you simply like it better with a different fiber - justkt suggested a few in the comments; thanks! And I know you're not exactly looking for variety here, but I might as well suggest it. You really could get a little bit of variety for minimal effort, say by adding in a different canned or frozen vegetable each time you make it, or by varying the source of fiber.

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What is chickpea flour used for?

Question

I bought a bag of chickpea flour once thinking (erroneously) that I could use it to make hummus. I've since bought dried chickpeas and made hummus the "right" way... but now I have no idea what to do with my unopened bag of chickpea flour. What is it generally used for?

Now, I know it can be used as a substitute for eggs (in vegan baking) and flour (for gluten-free cooking), but I'd rather not use it as a substitute for something better if I don't have to, so I'm looking for recipes where chickpea flour is the preferred ingredient.

Answer

Chickpea flour (gram flour, besan) is very useful in Indian cookery.

The most common use in the West is probably for making bhajis and pakora. The most popular of which are Onion Bhajis, very popular in the UK. They are essentially an spiced onion fritter, shaped in either discs or balls. Any vegetables can be used to make pakora (which is essentially the same thing) or bhajis, but spinach (sag pakora), aubergine (us eggplant, brinjal bhaji), potato (aloo pakora) or cauliflower (gobi pakora) are the most common, sometimes in combination.

Gram flour is also used for making poppadoms (also papad, papadum, a crisp fried pancake, served as an accompaniment to meals with chutney.

One of the more commonly seen uses is in chevda (sometimes chivda), or as we call it in the UK usually Bombay Mix (I believe it is called Punjabi Mix in the US). A mixture of dried savoury snacks, coated in spice. One of the primary ingredients is sev, a dried noodle made from gram flour. Mixtures predominantly composed of sev are called sev mamra.

There are also a number of Indian sweets made with besan.

Besan Barfi (barfi is something akin to fudge, made with condensed milk):

Besan Ladoo (little sweet balls):

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NB. You can use it as an egg substitute in vegan cookery, but soya flour works better for the same purpose and, in my opinion, has less associated flavour.

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Recipes for cookie cutters vs drop cookies

Question

Today I made a batch of sugar cookies using my new snowflake-shaped cookie cutters; when I pulled them out, they had puffed so much they became flower-shaped instead. What should I look for in a recipe to use cookie cutters on versus one that would be better for drop cookies or a sliced log? Specifically, I suppose I don't want them to rise much after cutting - do I want less leavening? Smaller flour to butter ratio? How much?

Answer

A couple of things will lead to less spreading:

Shortening instead of butter - butter contains up to 20% water. When it reaches 212F/100C, it turns to steam, expands, and causes things to rise/puff. Also, shortening, as a more processed/refined fat, has a more even melting point, which would cause it to spread less. If you want the flavor of butter, consider butter-flavored shortening. If you must use butter, use clarified butter instead, as it has most of the moisture removed.

Refrigerate the dough -- the fat will melt later, causing less spreading by the time the starches and proteins set.

Egg whites -- stiffens a dough.

White vs. brown sugar - brown sugar contains more moisture than refined white sugar.

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How to cook a fish to make its bone as soft as those in sardines?

Question

When eating fish, accidentally swallowing the bones is a nightmare for me.

Currently, eating sardine is the only solution due to its soft bone.

I am worried that my health may suffer in the future if I continuously eat sardines that might contain "not so friendly" chemical substances.

I want to learn how to cook fishes to make their bones as soft as those of sardines.

Is there anybody here who knows the secret of making soft bones without "artificial and dangerous" chemical substances?

Do I need a special cooking apparatus to make fish bones soft?

Answer

Sardines are canned, which means the high heat of a pressure canner. That is what softens the bones. If you are wanting softer bones for other kinds of fish, you can either cook them using a pressure cooker or can them. However, this will only work for smaller fish that have smaller bones.

If your main concern is that you will swallow a bone and choke, then buy your fish as fillets only. Most fish fillets have no bones at all. The pin bones that are in salmon fillets can be removed with needle nose pliers, and are so small that you couldn't choke on them if you tried.

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Tres Leche Without Homemade Cake?

Question

I've been wanting to make a tres leche cake and I have a few cake box mixes at home (yellow cake, spice cake and a chocolate cake). Could I use the yellow cake and then just fork it and pour over the tres leche sauce or is there something about typical tres leche cake recipes that makes them better suited to the sauce and the overall dish?

Answer

Tres leches cake is always of the sponge variety.

It is much higher in eggs and the extra protein lets it hold up to sitting in a puddle of milk overnight. A regular white cake would not be a good plan. It would be at best pudding in the morning.

If you are trying to get rid of boxed cake and want it to be a sponge cake you could try beating egg whites and folding them into your batter.

Personally I think sponge cakes are so easy that I would rather just make the tres leches from scratch and save the boxed cake for a trifle or to give away to someone who doesn't care.

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Cooking with a crock pot - temp

Question

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:

1. 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?

2. What is the stuff under Slow Cooker referring to?

Thanks

Answer

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.

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Sesame soy vinegarette

Question

There is a restaurant called Merci Mon Ami in Toronto and they had a really good salad dressing. I don't live in the area anymore, so I want to try to make it myself.

The only thing I know about it is really just the name. It was a bit sweet and tangy. I don't think it had soy sauce in it, because it was light in color (gold). So, I am guessing soy is referring to soybean oil? So, my best guess is toasted sesame seed oil, soybean oil, and some kind of vinegar and possibly honey (sugar?). I would appreciate any suggestions.

Answer

When you are making a vinaigrette you essentially make an emulsion from a liquid and an oil. That this liquid is also acidic does help with the formation of the emulsion and does wonders for the taste, but is not necessary.

The reason I am mentioning this is that emulsions look a lot like long chains of lipids under the microscope, held together by the emulsifier, and keeping the liquid in place. That does a number on the refraction of light and might make your, generally rather dark-ish, soy look golden in the process. Not all soy oil (as opposed to soy sauce) is black, by the way, the taste of soy in oil can be even stronger than that in sauces.

Lastly, if the recipe is anything like the soy vinaigrettes I have done, it's 6 tablespoons of mirin to a cup of tamari, three tablespoons of sugar, four tablespoons of rice vinegar (the unseasoned kind), and a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Sometimes I substitute half the honey for the sugar part, since honey is an effective emulsifier above and beyond the tamari.

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The cooking temperature 15 degree is consider as …?

Question

When we perform cooking on devices such as in the oven, the temperature is considered as the cooking temperature or the normal temperature?

For example, when I cook a potato in the oven in a temperature at 15 degree Celsius, is it the same than putting a potato in a room at a temperature of 15 degree Celsius?

Answer

I don't think it will cook at 15C. But if you put it in a room that was 150C, it would be the same as putting it in an oven that's 150C. Of course, if your oven has a convection fan, the very hot room would also need a fan to make it more equivalent.

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Reheat a turkey without drying it out?

Question

For reasons not related to this question, I had to cook my turkeys yesterday. My meat themometer died near the end of cooking. So I ran to the store to get one "real fast".

Three stores later I came home to two over done birds (185 degrees).

While not totally dry, I don't want them to dry out any more while reheating them today.

Should I slice them then heat them? Is there a better way to reheat than another? (ie oven vs microwave vs warming drawer vs (some other heating tool).)

Answer

You want to use a gentle heating method. For this sort of thing, I prefer steaming. It will gently bring up the heat of your food without wringing the moisture out of it. This is especially helpful if it's already cut into relatively small portions, such as slices of breast meat. Spread everything out on a single layer on the steamer basket before hand.

Warming drawer would be my second choice. Slice, add a few teaspoons of water, and cover and add to your warming drawer, set to your target temperature.

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What is in eel sauce?

Question

I've always love eating this dark eel sauce that goes with eel rolls at our favorite sushi restaurants. It's got a dark color it's sweet, a little salty, and slightly savory.

What is in eel sauce? What makes it sweet and so concentrated with flavor? Also, why is it called eel sauce?

Answer

sweet -> sugar+mirin (rice wine vinegar), salt -> soy, savory-> soy+mirin+eel bones. At home, you probably won't be able to manage eel bones boiled down into stock. Ignoring that, it's all a matter of mix and reduce. Sugar+soy+mirin, reduce to 1/3, revel in the joy of caramel and salt and sharpness.

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Why is the Chicken too hard in the outside but soggy in the inside?

Question

I have a problem when I cook a chicken. Usually, I will divide the chicken into smaller parts. However, when I cook the chicken by placing in a soup, I often get the meat too hard at the outside and soggy in the inside.

Any insight on making my chicken consistent from outside to inside?

Answer

When poaching chicken (whether in soup or in some other liquid), you need to be careful not to cook the chicken too long. Overcooked boiled chicken will be flavorless and have a bad texture.

For chicken breasts, if they're whole, don't cook the breasts for more than 10 to 15 minutes at a simmer, although you can leave the meat in the liquid for another 15 minutes so long as the heat is turned off. Here are some recipes for poached chicken.

On the other hand, if you're trying to make chicken soup, you're going to want to cook the chicken much longer, but that meat will be fairly inedible. By simmering chicken on the bone for an hour or two, you'll get a nice flavorful stock, but you'll overcook the meat.

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What does “bring to a simmer” mean?

Question

First, a confession: I work in software, so I'm probably paying way too much attention to the state of liquid that is "a simmer". That written, I love to cook, and no recipe direction gives me more confusion, sadness, and googling than "bring to a simmer". Accept no substitute. I find this to be the most vague direction in all of culinary science, and it drives what's left of my organized mind insane.

So here's the setting. I'm making vichyssoise, because I'm intrigued by the possibility of making a dish that has no color at all. I've been instructed to "bring to a boil and simmer the soup for 35 minutes."

The internet is filled with unsatisfying and at times contradictory answers. My research yields a few prototypical examples:

1. "Simmer" means "low or off position," suggesting basically no heat at all.
2. To "simmer" is to heat to a temperature point just off boiling, generally acknowledged as somewhere around 95 degrees C or something like 195 degrees F.
3. "Simmer" is something like a "soft boil," a vague state that appears to be between "not bubbling" and "roiling", but which by definition must boil in some way, since you know, it's bubbling.

Each of these examples mean fundamentally different things. As far as I can tell, a "simmer" is a phase transition whereby the suspension in question, whatever the soup, sauce, or solid (apparently you "simmer" bratwurst, you never boil it) may be, cooks in a way that only years of experience or training can identify. Hence, my question:

What does "simmer" mean? Does it differ per recipe or is it universally defined?

EDIT: Did a bad copy/paste job from another window.

Answer

Personally, I would argue that 2 and 3 are actually the same, and they are your answer.

If you heat a pan of water you'll notice the bubbles forming before the water is actually boiling, hence the talk of between not bubbling and full on roiling.

Also, when you're making your soup, it isn't pure water, so the boiling temp will not be a perfect 100 degrees C in any case.

So, I would say, that simmering is when you keep it just under a full boil. Watch what you're cooking, there should be gentle movement, but not a full roiling pan of whatever it is you're cooking.

To get something simmering away, you need to bring up to a full boil, then reduce the heat until you're getting movement, but not full bubbling.

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How long will eggless pasta dough last in the fridge?

Question

I made some fresh pasta for myself, but the recipe made double the amount I need. I didn't have time to make the rest of the pasta and dry it, so I just wrapped the dough ball in plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge.

How long will the dough last in the fridge?

I can probably use it tomorrow or in the next 2 days.

The recipe is basically 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup water, no eggs. I used half white whole wheat, half AP, tbsp of olive oil. (Yes it's very good, even w/just some olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper)

Answer

Paul,

I make my own pasta dough frequently. Since my standard recipe makes around 40oz (1 kg) of dough, I always have leftover, so I've had plenty of experience with saving it.

Even with eggs, pasta dough will be fine in the fridge for a week; the texture will be unaffected (if anything, it will be better). If you want to keep it longer than a week, it can be frozen for several weeks wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and more-or-less indefinitely if you vacuum-seal it.

Glad to hear about your WWW recipe, I'll have to try that.

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Optimal egg size?

Question

Yesterday while making some pancakes I came to the realization that I may have been sabotaging recipes that call for eggs.

For years I've always purchased the largest sized eggs I can get in the grocery store. I've done this mostly with fried and scrambled eggs in mind.

When making something like pancakes, or cakes, or cookies etc... is it better to have a smaller egg?

Is there an optimal sized egg for baking?

Answer

US baking recipes are generally based on (US) large eggs. (I'm not sure about other countries.) Some recipes even explicitly say that. If you've been using (US) jumbo eggs, then you're using ~25% too much egg in your baking. The effects of that will of course vary from recipe to recipe. It's not so much that large is "optimal", but rather that it's what the recipes are calibrated to.

You'll see several standardized sizes of eggs in the store:

• Jumbo: > 2.5 oz. (71 g)
• Very Large or Extra-Large (XL) > 2.25 oz. (64 g); 56 mL (4 tbsp)
• Large (L): > 2 oz. (57 g); 46 mL (3.25 tbsp)
• Medium (M): > 1.75 oz. (50 g); 43 mL (3 tbsp)

I got this from wikipedia's article on chicken egg sizes, which also lists egg sizes in other countries, which others in other countries could compare to the US sizes!

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How necessary is it to marinade meat before making jerkies?

Question

So I just got myself a dehydrator, for the purpose of making jerkies.

I was thinking of just seasoning the meat lightly instead of marinating them, which takes considerably more time, needs more sauce and a bit more effort.

Would it make a lot of difference? I suppose I could always experiment, but from the "making sure I won't get sick from parasites" point of view, will a super dry jerky be safe if it's not been marinated?

Also, would it depend on the meat?

Answer

Marinating your meat makes it safer primarily by introducing it to salt, which kills bacteria. It is possible to make jerky safely without it, though you need to be careful.

You should use lean meat; fat is the most likely component in the meat to go bad.

It's also important to regulate the temperature closely and make sure hold the meat at temperature for long enough.

You can get some really really nasty bacteria if you don't cure meat correctly, so it's worth taking some time on it. Check out this guide on safely making jerky in a home dehydrator for more info.

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How can I make a vegan turkey-skin substitute?

Question

I recently tried to practice making a Seitan based vegan turkey tube using this recipe. To test results for different cooking methods, I split the final dough in half before baking, made one that was just turkey-dough and one that was a turkey-dough and stuffing roulade.

Both turkey loaves came out well. However, the recipe gives instructions on fabricating a kind of "turkey skin." Basically, once the turkey is done baking, remove from oven, place on a pan, wrap with yuba (bean-curd skin from making soy milk, similar to spring roll pastry), brush with sesame oil, and bake until browned (about 45-60 minutes, brushing on more oil occasionally). The results were basically a distracting pastry shell wrapped around a seitan loaf; it did not appear to adhere to the surface of the loaf at any point. It was difficult to cut and had a difficult texture compared to the ease of the seitan.

To give an idea of the results, here is a picture of some scraps from the plate:

The instructions did not give a specific detail as to what to expect, or really how to qualify the results of the "turkey skin." As such, I am at a loss as to how to improve the results.

So:

• Have you made or had a yuba wrapped item, where the method above was somehow applied but with a more successful result (as in, the yuba adhered to the surface of the loaf, the yuba cut easily, or had a more delicate texture that didn't contrast as much)?
• Of the three fails (adherence, cutting, texture), what methods would work to improve them? (E.G. Would brushing oil on the loaf before help or hinder yuba sticking to the loaf, would it help soften the yuba?)
• Is there any method of softening the yuba and making it more delicate before applying it? Would this be beneficial to the desired result? Why?
• Could tweaking the temp:time of baking with the yuba wrap help? (i.e. Lower-slower breaks down fats, connective tissues in animals... is there a similar compound I am shooting for in yuba?)
• Can yuba be prepared to mimic the soft-toughness of turkey skin? How?

Answer

You can either get fresh or dried yuba, the dried one has to be soaked.

When I made a tofu turkey I soaked the yuba sheat for about 10 minutes in warm water before wrapping it around the "meat". The tofu turkey had already been baking in the oven for around 1 hour when I added the skin. After applying the yuba I rosted the whole thing in the oven until the skin was brown (maybe 30 minutes), brushing occationally with marinade. Skin came out perfect and had a nice crispyness without coming apart from the tofu or being too brittle.

Oh, yeah, I brushed the tofu alternatively with marinade and with melted vegan butter every 15 minutes or so before adding the yuba. It might have made a difference but I really think soaking the sheats is key. Good luck!

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Gas grill: soaked wood chips vs. dry wood chips

Question

I have a gas grill and want to get some good smoke flavor in a pork shoulder I am cooking. I've done some looking around for the best way to use wood chips and have found conflicting ideas about if you should soak them or not. Does soaking the chips do something other than adding time to getting to the initial smoke?

Answer

If you're putting your wood chips directly on a fire, it's good to soak them (and that means real soaking--a few days--not an hour or two). This prevents the wood chips from actually catching fire, which can cause off flavors from combustion chemicals settling back on your food. Tastes kinda like a brand new telephone pole smells on a hot day. Tar/Creosote, and not a nice flavor.

But on a gas grill, if you've got your chips in a pan or wrapped in a fairly tight foil pouch, you needn't worry so much about the chips actually catching on fire. As long as they just smoulder, you're good to go.

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Hot Buttered Rum - Ice Cream?

Question

I'm looking at recipes for Hot Buttered Rum, as I have plenty of rum and it's cold out. Several of the recipes call for vanilla ice cream. Is that traditional? What is it for? Wouldn't it just cool off some of the water and possibly interfere with the steeping of the spices? Would it be better to just toss in some vanilla and extra sugar, or does the milk content actually change anything?

Example with ice cream: http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink5667.html

Example without: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/hot-buttered-rum-cocktail-recipe/index.html

Answer

I don't think I've ever even had hot buttered rum, but I can take a stab at some of your questions:

• 1 part ice cream and 2-3 parts boiling water will still average out pretty hot. If the ice cream is at, say, -20 to -10C, that'll get you in the 60-70C range initially, which is I think fairly normal for hot drinks. And of course, if you keep it in the refrigerator instead, your drink will be hotter!

• I suspect mixing ice cream with butter will help it all mix together better in the end, by helping disperse the fat.

• Ground spices aren't going to need a ton of steeping. I imagine the boiling water would be enough, and if not, the pre-cooking could easily compensate. And since some recipes just have nutmeg sprinkled on top, it sounds like steeping isn't necessarily the goal. If you're really aiming for spiced hot buttered rum, you'll probably want more spices than those recipes, and perhaps to cook them briefly with the butter.

• If you intend to freeze the "batter", including ice cream will help keep it soft enough to scoop/slice. If it were just butter and sugar, it'd get quite hard in the freezer.

• Yes, the milk/cream content of the ice cream would make the drink a little creamier - but I don't know whether hot buttered rum should be a bit creamy. It sounds like it'd be fine either way - personal preference, perhaps?

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Is it reasonable to expect “spiciness” to fry off?

Question

I got in a "heated" discussion with my wife this evening about a fried turkey recipe that I want to try for Thanksgiving. It calls for:

• 1 cup of Creole seasoning
• 1/2 cup of black pepper
• 1/2 cup of Cayenne pepper

all mixed with a bottle of a bottle of italian dressing, which I will admit sounds pretty damn spicy. But after readying the reviews it seems like everyone says the heat cooks off and the bird comes out delicious.

It it reasonable to expect that the spiciness will fry off during the cooking process or am I going to ruin (another) Thanksgiving?

Answer

If you are worried: a fast and cheap way to test the mixture is to to try it on a piece of chicken breast.

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Bread for the very beginner

Question

First of all, thank you for reading this absolute beginner topic :)

I want to make bread at home. To be specific, I used to live in Germany and ate a lot of this type of bread:

It's called Zwiebelbrot in Germany.

I also have something like this.

For the very very, absolute beginner, what do I really need to make bread at home?
Do I need a bread-maker machine, or is my kitchen already enough for this task?
Are there any tip that you want to give me on my first bread adventure?

---

RESULT:

After my FIRST try ever to make bread, I'm so proud:)

After that, the raw product was:

The finished product:)

and the grande finale:)

Thank you very much :)

Answer

To make basic bread, including Zwiebelbrot, all you need is a place to mix and knead ingredients (clean work surface or large mixing bowl), a warmish place for rising, and an oven with reasonable temperature control.

For the onions you need a small pan, and a stove top. Or you can do them in the oven too!

Therefore, your kitchen looks fine.

Making bread is not difficult, or hard work. The effort and time required for kneading bread is way overrated. Also have patience, allow the dough to rise properly.

Expect a few failures; search the net about any failures, if you have them.

Use a marker pen on the oven dial when you find the right temperature (The calibration of the dials is usually not very accurate).

For Zwiebelbrot, you can cook the onions in a shallow tray or light pan in the oven while waiting for it to come up to temperature for the bread. Make sure you cool the onions before spreading on the dough. A simple way is to spread them out on a spare metal oven tray for a few moments first.

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Why are some kind of packets-soups boiled up in lukewarm water, while normally just stirred into already boiling water?

Question

Inscription on packets-soups from supermarket states:

Stir the soup-meal into lukewarm water, boil it up, and wait 5-10 minutes. Ready to eat.

Normally the inscription says that you should boil up water and then stir the soup-meal into it. At least for all noodle and broccoli soups I regulary buy.

Whats the reason, that, in my case, a potato-soup and very few noodle soups needs to/should be boiled up in lukewarm water. Can somebody explain the cooking-physics/purpose behind this procedure?

I cannot imagine is has to do with cooking time like other boiling-tagged questions at first made me think (because the inscriptions are different on packets of same company, there seems to be a different reason), I suppose more that those soups would get lumpy/agglutinate? Cannot think of other reasons.

Answer

Some ingredients do not dissolve well in hot water - the starch swells and thickens, forming lumps that may have raw powder in them and are nasty. They need to be added to cold or lukewarm water and heated after they are dissolved. Other ingredients, most notably pasta, will partially dissolve in cold water making a thick gloppy soup. But if you add them to hot water they will "seal" (in a way) and stay together as they cook.

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How to make Chicken Laksa taste more like To's restaurant?

Question

I've tried a couple of recipes to make Chicken Laksa but I cant get it to taste like this Malaysian restaurant (To's in North Sydney).

I've had the best luck with this recipe from Taste.

Is it just Red Chilli and Shallots I'm missing, or am I doing it wrong using laksa paste (Tean's Gourmet Malaysian Curry Laksa Paste)?

Answer

For a start, any Asian dish will be effected if the chicken stock is not good. Make quality chicken stock from whole chicken carcases, and take your time with it

In the case of Laksa, the key flavours are mostly in the Laksa paste (shrimp paste and lemon grass). If you don't have an equivalent of the one used at To's you will have an entirely different dish. A lot of effort can go into a Laksa paste (or for that matter curry pastes in general), in terms of exact ingredient ratios, roasting times etc, quality and freshness of ingredients etc

Laksa is often made with prawn stock, not chicken stock. Save the prawn heads and other fish bits, and boil them up for a very stinky prawn stock

Don't overdo the coconut milk/cream. Stick to one brand, and start with a lot less and see how it goes, if it is lacking, add more. Record what the magic amount for your favourite brand is

Getting quality and fresh ingredients for Asian dishes is often a major stumbling block for truly authentic tastes. Making your own decent Laksa paste is near impossible outside of Asia. Western grown lemon grass, tastes like, well grass!

When you're next at To's have a peek in the kitchen, ask if you have too. And check what they use for Laksa paste. If it's out of a branded jar you're in luck, if it's homemade, it's back to the grindstone, literally

The recipe linked, does not seem like a very good Laksa recipe to me. Also a good Laksa is topped with chilli oil. This is an import part. It consists of a lot of chilli and a little garlic cocked in a cup of oil. Float a couple of spoons of this on each bowl as you serve it

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What is a good vegetarian source of umami flavour?

Question

I'm looking for a source of the umami flavour to add to various dishes. However, since I became vegetarian I can't think of a good source for the flavour.

I used to use Worcestershire sauce, or Nam Pla (fish sauce). I can't think of a vegetarian source of the flavour in the same vein though.

I've tried soy sauce, and it does work, but it imparts too much saltiness to the dish.

Answer

The Umami information Center has a list of Umami-rich foods along with natural concentrations of glutamate. I've copied some of their list below (included some meats for comparison) in case the link disappears (concentration number is mg glutamate/100g food). There's also some information at the above link about how to prepare the foods to maximize the umami taste.

Food/Concentration:

• Beef/107
• Tuna/188
• Nori/1378 (not a typo)
• Tomatoes/246 (the riper the better)
• Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms/71
• Dried Shiitake Mushrooms/150
• Enoki Mushrooms/22
• Soy Beans/66
• Potatoes/102
• Sweet Potatoes/60
• Chinese Cabbage/100
• Carrots/33

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Mousse has Raw Eggs — is it Really Safe? [closed]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Is it safe to eat raw eggs?

I looked up a recipe for chocolate mousse the other day, and I noticed that pretty much all of them have raw eggs in them. And they're not cooked.

How is this salmonella-safe?

Is it really safe to feed to young kids (under one)?

Answer

Raw eggs are actually a lot safer than said to be believed, especially in recipes such as this one. Rocky ate raw eggs all the time! haha So please feel free to make the mousse and eat it too! Although cooking them almost always kills bacteria if they reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit. The most dangerous part about using eggs is something that many of us were taught to do at a young age, separating the yolk. Most people separate the yolk by cracking the egg and pouring it back and forth between the two egg shell halves. This is the easiest way to spread salmonella because it can hide on the egg shell or in the pores inside the egg. One thing to never do is wash an egg. They are washed after they are laid and a new barrier is put on by the egg company, some sort of hardened mineral I think. Washing the egg will make your situation worse by destroying this new man made barrier. For the last part of your question I suggest not feeding your baby and thing that has a small percent chance to have any bacteria, such as mousse, because their immune system is still developing. I would also choose not to feed your baby anything high in sugar, thats what Grandma is for later in life. The baby's tastes are forming now and veggies are the way to go with that. Need to teach them to like good for them foods. They like sweet stuff when they are born so they don't need to learn how to like those. Hope I helped!

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How can I extract palm sugar from a container?

Question

I have a plastic tub with a screwtop lid, full of palm sugar. It's a 500g tub, about 10cm high and about 10cm diameter. Usually I buy the individual cubes of palm sugar and this time I thought I'd cut down on packaging and buy the bigger size, but now I have a problem.

My problem is getting the palm sugar OUT of the tub.

It's like cement, and I have tried using spoons (they bend), knives (ditto) and a corkscrew (just bores a hole rather than breaking it up) to get some of the sugar out. Tonight I also tried sitting the tub in a bath of freshly boiled water (approx 90 degrees celcius), and sprinkling some over the surface of the sugar to try to soften it a little. No success.

This question describes how to deal with a rockhard piece of sugar like mine, but without packaging.

Does anyone know how to get it out of the tub in the first place so that I can go ahead and grate it?

Answer

You could use the corkscrew in its classic role. Bore a hole, and then use the corkscrew to pull the sugar out in one piece. You should probably lay the tub on its side for this, as the sugar weight is probably too much to stay on the corkscrew.

The other option, though rather extreme, is to cut away the plastic tub with wire cutters or shears. That way, you're peeling the tub away, and will be left with the same lump, but no tub.

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How should O extract palm sugar from a container?

Question

I have a plastic tub with a screwtop lid, full of palm sugar. It's a 500g tub, about 10cm high and about 10cm diameter. Usually I buy the individual cubes of palm sugar and this time I thought I'd cut down on packaging and buy the bigger size, but now I have a problem.

My problem is getting the palm sugar OUT of the tub.

It's like cement, and I have tried using spoons (they bend), knives (ditto) and a corkscrew (just bores a hole rather than breaking it up) to get some of the sugar out. Tonight I also tried sitting the tub in a bath of freshly boiled water (approx 90 degrees celcius), and sprinkling some over the surface of the sugar to try to soften it a little. No success.

This question describes how to deal with a rockhard piece of sugar like mine, but without packaging.

Does anyone know how to get it out of the tub in the first place so that I can go ahead and grate it?

Answer

You could use the corkscrew in its classic role. Bore a hole, and then use the corkscrew to pull the sugar out in one piece. You should probably lay the tub on its side for this, as the sugar weight is probably too much to stay on the corkscrew.

The other option, though rather extreme, is to cut away the plastic tub with wire cutters or shears. That way, you're peeling the tub away, and will be left with the same lump, but no tub.

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Aprons for the home chef

Question

What do I look for in a good high quality apron?

Where can I go to get one?

Answer

What sort of tasks are you looking to protect yourself from?

If it's really messy stuff, or to wear while doing the dishes, you might want something that's non-absorbant, like PVC. I've only really seen them at restaurant supply stores, but it's possible that you might be able to get them from chemistry supply places, also. (and in this case, pockets are not a good idea, as they collect stuff that you've then got to clean out).

For long hours of grilling, I like something that's more insulating, which in my case would be a leather welder's apron, which you can get from welding supply stores. I've looked around for something that might be more reflective of radiant heat, but haven't had any luck.

For just general practical use, something that cleans up easily is important. Restaurant supply stores are a good bet for those sorts of things, but you can sometimes find them in stores that sell grills when it's that season.

For the decorative ones, you basically have two styles -- printed ones with witty/obnoxious sayings on them. I typically find them online.

The other more frilly decorative ones ... you can find at most housewares stores, some department stores, and if you want something more one of a kind, try esty.

... as for features ... I'm not a fan of pockets, myself. I guess they're useful for thermometers and timers, but mine clip on, or sit up on a counter or next to the grill, so I don't care. What I do care about is that they cover the areas that you're trying to protect (an adjustable neck strap is so much better than tying a knot in the line around the neck so try to shorten it) and they don't have straps so long that they get snagged if I sit down for lean up against something.

And it should come on and off without too much difficulty ... which I've only really noticed is a problem with some designs of welder's aprons (it's hard to explain ... it doesn't just go over the neck, and attach in back) ... or if you have to tie off the top to shorten the neck opening.

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What kind of wood puts the most flavor in the meat?

Question

I want to smoke a few boston butts, but I want to know what wood has the strongest flavor, and I will be smoking them for 12+ hours, very slow and low cook.

Answer

I would go with Hickory, always taste strong and the best for me.

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Why do sauces thicken as they cool?

Question

Why do sauces thicken as they cool? This happens for things like puddings, white sauces, jello, and gravy.

I looked around a little and maybe the reason is different for each of those different things. For some of them it makes sense that the fat would become less viscus as it cools and maybe that is the same for the geletin. But that doesn't really make sense for the white sauce because I thought the thing that makes it thick for white sauce is the gluten. Does anyone know a general scientific reason?

Answer

As the cool, many proteins go from long, flexible and un-entangled to short, rigid, and entangled. For all of those, the basic thickening is due to protein structure. The proteins in question are

puddings - albumin (egg) (Note: egg is complicated, and can be made to entangle at many temperatures, e.g. souffles, meringues) white sauces, gravy- gluten (flour) jello - gelatin (from a variety of sources, could be either animal or vegetal)

Similar protein processes also explain the various cooking levels of meat (rare, medium rare, medium, etc.), and the various ways of cooking eggs.

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Cooking red kidney beans

Question

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?

Answer

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.

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Why are salt and pepper the “classic” dinner table seasoning?

Question

Is there a reason we use salt and pepper on so many dishes and can be found in any kitchen table at dinner time? Does it have to do with their flavor synergies or were they just more available "back in the day"?

Answer

Salt is perhaps the most basic and effective flavour enhancer, and so it's fairly obvious why we have it on our dinner tables.

The popularity of pepper is down to the Romans, who were crazy about it. Thanks to the longevity of the Roman Empire, pepper was imported for hundreds of years, helping to establish it as the most popular spice, and keeping the price high.

Bill Bryson reports in At Home that:

When the Goths threatened to sack Rome in 408, the Romans bought them off with three thousand pounds of pepper.

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What is the proper amount of time to thaw + brine a turkey simultaneously?

Question

I recently saw a tip that you can thaw a frozen turkey in your brine, and I'd like to try that this year. I was planning to thaw my turkey for 3 days in a cooler of water.

I've actually never brined before, so I'm a little worried about over-brining and turning my turkey into mush. The bird we got this year is just under 15 pounds, and the package says to thaw for "3-4 days".

Everything I've found so far says to brine for 1-2 days. Should I plan to start using brine about half way through the thaw process (maybe even leave the wrapper on for that first half, too?), instead of the whole time, or will the bird being frozen initially prevent the brine from doing its magic early on, thus preventing mush?

Answer

A few things aren't quite right here.

1- a cooler full of water for 3 days.
A turkey will take 3-4 days to thaw in the fridge- between 35-40F. Quicker methods call for submerging in running water for some hours. Submerging the turkey in stagnant water- even if it started as ice water- will allow the turkey to rise well above 40F over the course of 3 days. You would have to add ice or have the turkey somewhere colder than 40F for this to be safe.

2- brining too long turning a turkey to mush.
The salt in a brine denatures some proteins and supercharges the bird with water. These will make the meat more tender and seem more tender respectively. That said- the risk isn't that the meat will get mushy. Unless you are adding some other ingredient to the brine that is actually a proteinase like papain the risk is not mushiness but being too salty.

3- 1-2 days of brining.
I have never seen a recipe that called for brining this long. The brine recipes I have seen are on the order of 4-10 hours. If your brine recipe calls for this length of time then it is probably more dilute than the ones I use. In such a case it would probably be fine to thaw it in the brine if you address the safety concern.

The turkey being frozen will prevent the brine from penetrating but as the bird thaws from the outside in the outside of the bird will have more alone time with the brine than the deeper meat. I can't say whether this would be a problem- especially as Harold McGee says that the salt from brining isn't able to penetrate very far into the meat anyway.

Unless it is cold enough outside (or you have enough fridge space) that you could brine the turkey at <40F for 2 days while it thawed I would recommend at least mostly thawing it before introducing it to your brine.

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To which internal temperature should I cook beef for rare/medium/well done?

Question

I am going to cook a beef roast: To which internal temperature should I cook it for rare/medium/well done?

Answer

| Rare        | 120 to 125 degrees F    | center is bright red |
| Medium Rare | 130 to 135 degrees F    | center is very pink  |
| Medium      | 140 to 145 degrees F    | center is light pink |
| Medium Well | 150 to 155 degrees F    | not pink             |
| Well Done   | 160 degrees F and above | brown throughout     |

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Different uses for avocado?

Question

I hear that avocado is really good for you and I want to try to eat more of it. Other than guacamole what types of food a recipes do you recommend?

Answer

Avocado and Pineapple Salad.

Yes, I know it sounds strange, but I had it at a restaurant when in Spain a couple of years ago. The closest recipe I can find is a version claiming to be Cuban; I don't recall if the version I had used lime and orange, as it would've had to compete with the pineapple.

I tend to use them in many Latin recipes that you might top with sour cream ... it doesn't give the tang (unless you're like me and tend to douse my avocado with a healthy squeeze of lime or lemon), but it gives the creaminess without being dairy for those of us on restricted diets.

You could also take a look at recipes on the California Avocado Commissioner's website

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Filling for Stuffed Chicken Breast

Question

I was wondering what taste good as a filling for chicken breast. I want to make kind of chicken breast pockets by almost cutting through the chicken breast but keeping both sides still together to fill. Then I will fill it and close it with some string or tooth picks. That's very much for any suggestions!

Answer

There are a few classics:

Chicken Cordon Blue - Ham and swiss

Chicken Kiev - tarragon, garlic, parsley, butter, etc.

You can use spinach and cream cheese, spinach and bacon, spinach and ricotta. Mushrooms with different cheeses, there are a ton of different things.

Try this:

google.com

and search:

different types of stuffed chicken breast

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Will store bought chicken eggs hatch?

Question

I'm a bit scared to try it, because I'm not sure what would be worse--cracking open a rotten egg, or having to figure out what to do with a chick.

So how about it? If I leave chicken eggs out, will they eventually hatch if kept at the right temperature?

EDIT - Sorry for the confusion. I was referring to store bought eggs only.

Answer

If you're getting your eggs from a supermarket, they won't hatch. This is the case with eggs you get for eating from almost any source.

Hens lay eggs even if they haven't been, umm, mating with a male. Any egg laid in those circumstances will never hatch because it's unfertilized, and that's the standard practice for any commercial egg operation.

Now if you have a free ranging hen and a rooster too, and they're not kept apart, then yeah, you could get a fertilized egg. And that egg needs to be kept properly warm to hatch.

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What happens if I brine my turkey for 2 days?

Question

I have a logistical problem that leaves me with no fridge room for 2 days before Thanksgiving... I always brine my turkey, so I don't have any questions about that, but typically it's only an 8 - 10 hour brine.

Is it possible to "over brine" a turkey? Lets assume I keep it covered and keep it cold (so that we're not discussing food safety as it relates to the turkey getting warm).

Answer

It is possible to over brine meat. If you leave it in too long it will get too salty.

If you use a more dilute brine it won't get as salty but you will wash out more of the natural flavor into the water as well.

You could submerge your turkey in its packaging in ice water in a cooler for a day before brining. You could even thaw the turkey in this manner if you made sure to keep it in ice water so it didn't get to 40F.

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Non-cow's milk replacement for Parmesan cheese in Genovese pesto

Question

My family loves Genovese pesto and we'd started making our own (with varied success). One of our number has been diagnosed as intolerant to cow's milk. This rules out pretty much all shop-bought varieties, so we now have to take the homemade route seriously. To help us out, please can you suggest non-cow's milk cheeses that we could use instead of Parmesan?

Answer

Finding a non-cow subsitute for parmesan is a difficult task - Grana, the closest, is made from cow milk as well so it's no good.
You can try using Pecorino which is made from sheep milk, and has a slightly stronger flavour.
I've never tried it personally, but it's not rare in some regions of Italy to make pesto with pecorino, so it's definitely worth a try!

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What kind of fish would you recommend on barbeque?

Question

On my seasoned barbeque, i usually cook pork ribs or chicken wings or other delicious kind of meats but i have never cooked fish and i would like to try. I'm searching for easy to cook and tasty fish to put on my barbeque.
What would you recommend?

Answer

Salmon is very good when it's grilled on a cedar plank. The smoke from the cedar flavors the meat while it's cooking and gives it a great flavor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4R90J5p_Yo

You can buy cedar planks at many cooking stores.

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Why do hamburger patties have ridges on one side?

Question

Why do hamburgers have one streaked/furrowed and one smooth side? Which side should be cooked first in a pan?

I'm talking about their shape, not their color or anything similar. If you look at a raw patty from its side it looks like the drawing below.

---------------------------
|  _   _   _   _   _   _  |
|_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_|              

You can see the ridges I'm talking about on this photo.

Answer

The main reason that your burger has these ridges on only one side is simply manufacturing. The ridges are put into the patties to prevent it from the middle coming up on you like bologna does sometimes when you fry it, and to also promote even heating and cooking. The only real reason most companies have for putting it only on one side, is that one flat side is the side they use to move the unfrozen patty around. There is a spatula type device that moves them around during production. If they slide something under the side with ridges before the patty is frozen it would mess it up before it was frozen. So you only see the pattern on one side on most of your mass produced frozen patties. Secondary reason is smaller but, some companies place pieces of wax paper between patties for easier separation after freezing, and the smooth side is the side that the patty rests on during or after freezing because it sticks to the wax paper more easily.

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What vegetarian substitute for prosciutto could I use in Carbonara?

Question

Instead of prosciutto, I used capers to try and maintain the salty aspect. It worked ok, but something about the capers and cheese didn't seem right. Any other suggestions?

Also, to round out the dish with a bit more substance, I also added some diced zucchini, sauteed with garlic and shallots.

Answer

well veggie/cheese wise, i would recommend either of:

• Chick peas drained in salt water and paprika and grilled in the oven for about 10 minutes
• portabelo mushrooms cut into large chunks
• fried halloumi
• large chunks of celery sauteed in salt pepper, and chilly

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

Question

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

Answer

Looking at this recipe I don't see any reason why you couldn't use puff pastry as the container.

The only ways that the preparation would be different is:
puff pastry doesn't dry out as fast as filo so you don't have to worry about the wet towel in the instructions.
You wouldn't want to do multiple layers of puff pastry as the recipe calls for. You would just form a single pouch to hold your filling and seal it well.

Know that the texture will be different of course. The filo will be a bit more crisp and the layers larger and more distinct- filo is also a lot more work. You may find that the baking time needs to be adjusted a little but I don't think it will be very different if at all. Cook them until they're golden using the recipe's time as a starting point.

This recipe is in a Mediterranean style and filo would be more traditional but puff pastry would produce something tasty.

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Is there any reason not to decrystallize honey?

Question

The other night some friends of mine tried to convince me that decrystallizing honey is bad for the honey. I don't buy it.

Is there any truth to their claims? I couldn't find anything to support them--or even anything considering the question at all.

Answer

Honey contains lots of aromatic compounds, which are quite big, fragile molecules. This is one of the reasons why cold centrifuged honey costs more. When you decrystalize honey by heating it, many of these aromatic molecules break up, and you lose the complexity of the aromas. So yes, it is bad for the honey. Also, it may reduce its health benefits, as vitamins and other micronutrients tend to degrade under heat (but only some of them - others, like trace minerals, are quite unimpressed by temperature).

Of course, the question is not only if it is bad, but if it is worse than eating crystalized honey. This depends on 1. The honey quality and 2. the way you plan to use the honey. With the honey quality, it is obvious that, if the honey has already been heated in the production process, the volatile stuff has already been destroyed, so subsequent heating for decrystalization is not a problem. But if you spent money on cold centrifuged honey, you are negating its benefits by heating it.

About the use: If you will heat it anyway (as in putting it in tea, or baking it into a dough), there is no reason not to decrystalize first. Also, if you are only using it as a sweetener, even cold, there is no problem in heating it. But if you are using it as an aromatic agent, like in a creme fraîche and honey dressing for a fruit salad, or using it as a bread spread, then it will taste better if never heated. It will still have a general honey taste and aroma, but the subtle notes will be missing. Whether this bothers you or not depends on whether you rate aroma or texture higher. My personal choice is to not heat honey in these cases, but your preference might be different. Probably the best way to decide is to take a small amount of crystalized good quality honey, heat it, and compare it side-by-side with the crystalized version. Then use whatever version you like better.

If you happen to like the decrystalized one more, it is probably a good idea to not spend money on fancy honeys in the future ("cold-centrifuged lavender honey from South France" etc.), as it won't taste all that different from a common wildflower honey after decrystalization.

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Why has the meat turned out to be hard like rubber?

Question

I was following this recipe for Chinese Stir-Fired Steak with Peppers.

I think I messed it up by cooking this for too long. The meat (I used lamb's meat) turned out very hard, like rubber.

I suspect this was because I cooked it for too long. Can someone confirm this? I will be much obliged.

Answer

Yup, cooking most meat too long is a bad thing. Cooking lamb too long like that will result in rubber.

Its also possible that you accidentally cut with the grain instead of against it - which would result in a very chewy, rubber like texture. You end up with long proteins that are harder to chew. When you cut across the grain, its a bunch of very short proteins.

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Has anyone successfully spatchcocked their Thanksgiving Turkey?

Question

My T-Day turkey is looking like it's going to be in excess of 20 lbs this year, and I'm nervous about how long the darn thing is actually going to be in my oven when I have pies, bread, sides, etc. to prepare.

Martha Stewart has a brief article on spatchcocking a turkey (removing the backbone and breaking the breasts so the bird is 'flat') and I was curious as to if anyone has ever done it before with a big bird, and to what degree of success. Did you baste the turkey while it was cooking? Heaven forbid I feed my picky family a dry turkey, I would never hear the end of it.

I would practice with a large bird, but there's no way we'll be able to eat 40 lbs of turkey in a month!

Answer

I've spatchcocked our turkey the past two years and will never go back to the usual way. It just cooks so much faster. The spatchcocking itself isn't to hard, although you do have to be willing to inflict a little violence on the turkey.

I basically follow Mark Bittman's recipe. The video is located here. I do, however cook a larger bird. The time I did it with an 18 pound bird it too a bit more than 90 minutes.

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How long do you let a turkey rest after cooking?

Question

I have heard mixed advice on how long you should let a turkey rest after cooking. Last year my wife and I watched a Thanksgiving cooking show with Gordon Ramsey and he said you should let the turkey rest for as long as you cooked it... If you cook it 3 hours, it should rest for 3 hours. That seems like an awful long time to me. Everything else I've read looks like 30 minutes to an hour is fine. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Answer

The purpose- as with any cooked meat- is to let the meat firm up so it doesn't spill water when you cut into it.

In the case of a turkey it also helps to let it cool enough to not burn you when you are carving and eating it.

Both of these goals will be met in 30 minutes to an hour.

I don't know why that chef would recommend 3 hours. At that length of time the turkey would start to approach room temperature and would be less appealing to eat as well as start the clock on the danger zone.

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

Question

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

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

Answer

Generally with baking you mix all the wet ingredients, then all the dry, then incorporate the latter into the former. This prevents clumping and helps make sure everything is mixed uniformly.

In some recipes, adding the eggs (often un par un, or one by one) also contributes (via the yolk's supply of lecithin) to emulsifying e.g. butter and milk together.

The best way to find out, of course, is to experiment. Next time you're making these cookies, make a double batch. Do one according to the recipe, and the other your way. Honestly with cookies I doubt you'll see much difference; they're basically foolproof (I have, when in a hurry, made chocolate chip cookies by dumping everything in the mixer, whacking it about with the paddle attachment, and then folding in the actual chips. Worked fine, basically). When it comes to baking things that are more finicky--cakes etc--I would follow the recipe directions.

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de-parasiting mackerel for sushi

Question

We've bought some fresh sushi-grade mackerel, and would like to make saba sushi from it. We were told that we should treat it with vinegar to kill any parasites.

Some online recipes I've seen recommend a two step process of first salting for 30-40 mins, then marinating in vinegar for 30-40 mins. Others extend the salt step to 3 hours.

Is the salting necessary for de-parasiting? I ask because the fish store guys, who are usually very knowledgeable, didn't mention it. If so, is 3-4 hours really necessary, or is 30-40 minutes more like it?

Clearly I'm eager to eat this fish, but I'd like to play it safe :)

Answer

You can never be to safe when it comes to fish. Worms and other parasites => nasty business. I would definitely salt the fish, and would err on the side of caution and look at the three hours, not just a half an hour. I would then give a half hour in the vinegar. That is the way I have done it, and indeed seen it done. Best to be safe rather than sorry. I've also known people who have not been safe and paid a rather disgusting price.

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How to know whether the teflon coated pan's life has reached end?

Question

I use oil for cooking in the Teflon coated pan. I put the pan on a very low fire. (Simmer) Lately I have found that the onions get stuck to the bottom of the pan.

How to know whether the teflon coated pan's life has reached end? Does it change colour or something else?

Answer

Not sure if Teflon looks any different when its worn out, but if it does its not much different. Exempting, of course, things like scratched & peeling Teflon.

If your pan is no longer giving you the nonstick performance you want, and you've tried basic stuff like giving it a good scrub (using a non-scratching sponge, of course), then it seems like you've answered your own question: if its worn to the point it no longer meets your requirements, then its at its end of (useful) life, at least for you.

(There may be ways to adjust what you're doing in the pan to get more life out of it; after all, a lot of us sauté our onions in stainless. But that'd be a different question, I suppose.)

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Gluten-free alternatives to beurre manie/roux for thickening sauce?

Question

I'd like to thicken the sauce for my Thanksgiving turkey a bit, without making it inedible for my gluten-intolerant guests. From other questions on this site, I understand that corn starch would be an option, but it might give a more starchy flavour. Same for potato starch. Arrowroot flour would probably work according to this question, but it's not always easy to obtain. Would rice flour work? Are there other alternatives?

Answer

Oh, have I got the answer for you. Xanthan gum. Here is an excellent article by two of my favorite bloggers on how to get started using it. Xanthan gum is easy to find at health food stores because gluten-free bakers use it extensively.

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How do you reduce static in a coffee grinder?

Question

Is there a way to reduce/eliminate the static buildup in a burr grinder? I've tried a few different coffee grinders and inevitably on removing the grinds bin, I get a spray of coffee all over the counter.

Answer

My grounds bin has a lid. So while the grounds still collect static, they don't fly all over the place when I remove the bin from the grinder.

Giving the bin few sharp taps on the counter top prior to opening seems to shake off most of what clings to the top and sides. Then I tap out the grounds, wipe out the bin with a napkin, and I'm ready for the next morning.

Beyond that, try switching up your coffee. The cheap "8 O'Clock" stuff I keep on reserve is terribly staticy, while the beans I roast myself don't have nearly the trouble. I tend to enjoy a lighter roast, so keep that in mind - you might benefit from grinding beans with just a bit higher moisture content (of course, if you have a strong preference for dark roasts, this doesn't help much).

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Which Type of Japanese Green Tea Has the Highest Amount of Caffeine?

Question

I am trying to find the best pick-me-up Japanese green tea and was wondering which type was the best to get from the assortment of Sencha, Gyokuro, Kabusecha, Bancha, etc.

Answer

From what I've read, caffeine content can be variable even within varieties. There are possibly seasonal variations, variations in harvesting and processing technique, variations in the original plants... Psychological effects (e.g. what smells perky to you) might be just as strong, and steeping for 10 minutes instead of 5 might make as much difference as any choice of variant. So take any answer with a grain of salt, and don't be afraid to simply go with what seems to subjectively work best for you.

That said, gyokuro is supposed to be stronger than other sencha teas, and I believe compared to other Japanese green teas as well. (I found similar information elsewhere; it's not just wikipedia.)

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How to keep a chocolate cream from getting hard?

Question

I've been making a chocolate cream/spread lately. Some butter, chocolate, salt, allspice, cocoa and water. I'm not really using any recipe, but it's about twice the chocolate over butter.

These ingredients are mixed at a low temp, the water gets added after the rest is melted and stirred together. After cooling, this mixture stays usable at room temperature for some days. That is, it can be spread on bread. But after some days, the mixture becomes brittle and hard.

I suppose this is because water evaporates out. Does anybody know how this can be prevented or reverted? Should I melt it and mix more water in? Is that possible?

Answer

I had to do some reading on this one. There are a lot of answers.

1- You should find a better recipe. Chocolate spread recipes I have used come in one of two styles.

The water in your recipe seems to be a problem. The nutella style that uses fat, sugar, and chocolate. These will not really dry out. Sometimes the oil will separate a little and will need to be mixed back in. I would group frostings in this group although, of course, they contain far more sugar.
See this recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gale-gand/chocolate-hazelnut-spread-with-crepes-recipe/index.html

Thick chocolate candy. AKA fudge. These contain water but the sugar and water are cooked together into a syrup so the water is not able to immediately dry out. They will crystallize if they are badly handled- many recipes contain a little corn syrup to prevent this. This does not seem to be what you are trying to make.

2- Store your concoction in a lidded container that isn't too much larger than your sauce. I use mason jars to store mine. Alternatively you can push plastic wrap down onto the surface of the spread.

3- Refrigeration. Recipes that don't contain dairy don't need to be refrigerated and in fact shouldn't be because it causes them to harden.

4- Adding water to melted chocolate is only a problem when dealing with chocolate that is dry and meant to solidify such as a molded chocolate. In such a case even a drop of water will cause seizing. In this case where there is already quite a bit of water in the recipe seizing is not a risk and you shouldn't have any problem mixing a tiny bit back in. Do not add water to the nutella-like spread recipes. They do not contain water and it will not mix in.

I can't tell from your description what is causing your sauce to harden- it could be drying out, separating, or crystallizing. Any of these will be solved by reheating and thoroughly stirring. Although water could be added to restore dried syrup I think you will get better results by switching to a recipe that uses fat in place of the water.

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Fat contents from different types of ground beef when drained

Question

At the grocery store, they've got different types of ground beef: ground round, ground chuck, ground sirloin, etc. They each have different fat percentages. Anything from 70/30 (30% fat content) to the extra lean 90/10. The less fat content, the more expensive per pound.

I have heard that you can get the fattiest type, drain the grease as normal, and then rinse the meat with water in a colander to make it equivalent to the extra lean fat content. I'm not sure I buy that, and it seems this would rinse off any seasonings used also.

From a health perspective, the extra lean would be best, however, it can be double the price per pound compared to the cheapest / most fat content. If I am going to be using the meat crumbled in a casserole or for tacos, and drain the grease after browning the meat in a skillet, how much does the fat content matter? Is getting the cheapest and then rinsing it with water truly equivalent? Is there a better method that would enable me to save money with the cheapest or perhaps 80/20 but still get the low fat content of the meat I actually eat?

Answer

I have heard that you can get the fattiest type, drain the grease as normal, and then rinse the meat with water in a colander to make it equivalent to the extra lean fat content. I'm not sure I buy that, and it seems this would rinse off any seasonings used also.

That sounds terrible. Cooked ground beef should be drained if necessary, but not rinsed. It will rinse away a lot of flavor, and I doubt it makes it the equivalent of having bought lean meat in the first place. There is still plenty of fat present in the meat itself.

If you want low fat get extra lean. If you want flavor get 80/20 or 70/30 and drain thoroughly for as little fat as possible. Do yourself a favor though and don't rinse it with water.

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Which part of blue fish is not edible?

Question

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

Answer

From Fishing Tips: How to Catch, Prepare, and Cook Bluefish:

When you clean the fish, remove the skin and any dark-colored flesh. This part of the fish is especially strong tasting and somewhat oily.
Check out these fish recipes to learn to cook bluefish.

Also see How Can You Cook Bluefish To Make It Taste Good for advices on improving the flavor (e.g. soak it in milk).

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How can I increase the extraction of gelatin and minerals from bones into my stock?

Question

I am interested in knowing how I can increase the solubility of gelatin, marrow, and minerals in my stock.

Thanks.

Answer

In terms of commercial food processing, there are more efficient ways to extract gelatin than slow-simmering the bones, generally by treating the organic matter with a strong acid prior to boiling, then using commercial evaporation and filtering equipment which is far more efficient than anything a home or even restaurant cook has access to.

According to Gelatin Food Science (see the "Gelatin Manufacture" section) it can also be first treated with a strong base solution before acidifying it, which lowers the isoionic point. It's kind of difficult to explain exactly what that is if you don't have a background in organic chemistry; technically speaking it's a relationship between pH and electrical charge - but applied to extraction it refers to the pH at which the solubility of a protein (such as gelatin) is the lowest. Lowering this is a good thing in extraction, because it means that the gelatin will be easier to filter out in an acidic solution.

Thus I have to point out the question is actually a bit contradictory; if your goal is the extraction of gelatin then you want to decrease the solubility.

But I think this is all going to be beside the point anyway, because none of this applies to stock making; the goal in food processing is to extract the pure gelatin, not to get a flavourful stock. When making a stock you definitely don't want to use an acid solution, it's going to ruin the flavour.

Realistically, when it comes to stock-making, especially at home, the only way you're going to be able to extract more gelatin is to simmer it longer. That's it. When the bones break without any resistance, that means you've denatured all the collagen and you've got all the gelatin you're going to get. I wouldn't worry about solubility because typically in stock-making you're already using more than enough water to dissolve all the gelatin that you could possibly hope to extract.

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What are the culinary differences between Chinese Mitten Crabs and Blue Crabs?

Question

1. I wonder why Chinese mitten crabs are a delicacy in Chinese food, while most people in Europe and US don't eat them even though there are many of them now in these two places? For example, in Germany, mitten crabs are only caught for exporting to China.
2. In US, why are blue crabs popular and valued while Chinese mitten crabs are not? On the food safety side, are the two species both safe to eat?

Thanks!

Answer

As a Chinese, who have had many mitten crabs in my life, I think I can provide 2 insights:

1. In Chinese culinary culture, it's not only meat that's the most appreciated, but rather the taste, texture and the freshness especially with seafood.

2. Mitten crabs during the autumn season contains a lot of eggs under the shell. The flavour of the eggs are what's appreciated as well.

Mitten crabs (not sure in the US) are safe to be consumed from food safety perspective as long as it's being cooked properly like any other seafood.

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How to sweeten pickled ginger to be served with sushi?

Question

I bought a jar of pickled ginger from the local asian food market to go along with the sushi I have been preparing at home. This texture of this ginger is harder, and the taste much bitter. This is not the gari I am used to tasting from the sushi bar.

The ingredients of the jar read "Ginger, water, vinegar, sugar, salt, FD&C red no 40. as colour, saccharin as sweetener, sodium benzoate and sodium metabisulfite as preservatives."

Do sushi restaurants do anything special to sweeten their gari?

Answer

There are two common varieties of pickled ginger in Japan (and a bunch of less common ones). The "gari" is "amazu-shouga" (甘酢生姜 or 甘酢しょうが) it's usually thinly sliced and often, though not always, left uncolored, or just colored enough to leave it slightly pink instead of yellowish-white. Due to generous use of sugar or other sweeteners, it's usually somewhat sweet, and that's right there in the name, which roughly translates as "sweet vinegar ginger".

Another variety, which typically comes in the shape of thick matchsticks, is a bit saltier and, because of the thickness, a bit firmer. It's called "kizami-shouga" or (きざみ生姜 or きざみしょうが). Kizami refers to the shape, not the flavor. Occasionally this will be labeled "beni-shouga" (紅ショウガ), which means red ginger. It's generally used to garnish and season things like yakisoba or okonomiyaki, but is not typically served with most types of sushi. The amazu shouga is more common for most sushi.

So it's possible that you've picked up kizami-shouga instead of amazu-shouga. While there's nothing stopping you from adding sugar or other sweeteners from the brine, that probably won't help that much. If you do have amazu-shouga, it's also possible you've just found one that doesn't taste that good. The quality of packaged Japanese pickles I've found in the US isn't all that great, though I've occasionally found decent umeboshi.

You might try a different brand, or consider pickling your own ginger. The basic process for pickling the ginger is a hybrid between salt pickles and vinegar pickles: You peel and thinly slice the ginger, and rub it with salt, leaving it for at least an hour or overnight to sweat. You'll then add a solution of sugar and rice vinegar, occasionally with a little bit of ume-zu, which is the salty brine extracted from umeboshi-making, or beet juice, if you want to guarantee a pink color.

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