What is the inside of a nut called?

Question

My 3-year-old and I were sharing our traditional mix of Christmas nuts. He's getting pretty good at cracking them open by himself, and wanted to know what the part he eats is called. Anyone have an authoritative answer?

Answer

I've always heard the "meat" of the nut, or "nutmeat". Alternate terms include "kernel" or "seed" or, well, "nut".

If you were to ask a botanist, the edible part is the embryo and the endosperm, though it varies depending on which type of seed you're referring to. Also, for a few seeds—not sure if any of them are called nuts—we eat the seed coat as well (e.g., beans).

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How to make deep fried beer?

Question

I remember reading about the 2010 Texas State Fair "Most Creative" deep-fried food winner, who made fried beer. The news stories I've read were all published around that time (August 2010), where Mark Zable (the fried beer inventor) said he had a super-secret patent-pending process for being able to fry beer.

I don't want to do any of my own experimenting to figure out the process - apparently Zable's first attempts resulted in exploding beer and oil - but I haven't seen any follow-up articles that describe his process. I can imagine that the two major problems would be a) keeping the beer actually inside an uncooked dough pocket and b) preventing the beer-filled dough from exploding in the fryer.

Has Zable's patent been approved and his process published? If so, where can I find it? Has anyone here successfully deep-fried beer and have a technique to share?

Answer

Indeed, Mr. Zable actually applied for a patent -- US application no. 0014320, filed Sept 13, 2010. (Of course, just because he applied doesn't mean the US Patent Office will issue a patent on it.)

His process is, in essence: (1) gelling a liquid beverage; and (2) wraping an aliquot of the gel in a raw "farinaceous dough", selected from the group of pretzel, pizza, bread, and pasta doughs.

The application says he used gelatin as his gelling agent, but the patent (if it issues) would not be limited to gelatin. Once wrapped, the raw snack could be fried immediately or frozen for later use.

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Why does my cheese sauce solidify

Question

I am using this recipie to make cheese sauce for my maize crackers. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/nacho-cheese-sauce/detail.aspx

However, my sauce starts solidifying as it cools down. I am using a slice of provola instead of american cheese. could that be a problem?

Next time I tried doubling the milk andadding a little more flour, it fared a little better, but suffered the same fate. I need it to stay liquid for at least 90 minutes after removing from heat

Answer

Yes substituting provolone makes the difference. Since American is a processed cheese, when it melts it doesn't become stringy but just goop. I imagine that the recipe is specifc to American, maybe something like cheddar would fair well too. But something like provolone which is close to mozzarella will become cohesive with itself as it cools.

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What is an easy-to-make dessert that goes well with Indian food?

Question

We are making vegetable curry with rice and need a dessert to go well with it. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Answer

Not authentic but a rice pudding cooked in coconut milk (cardamom opt) and chilled in individual portions is lovely with fresh fruit at the table. I had it served with passionfruit -lovely.

Keep portions dainty after a full curry meal!

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Can you cook pickled onions?

Question

Can you cook hot dishes with pickled onions? I've never seen a recipe which uses them hot, is this just because they don't taste good hot? What hot dishes might be appropriate to put pickled onions in?

Answer

I've been reviewing old family recipes, and I've seen pickled onions called for in some soup, stew, and casserole recipes as an accent; this may or may not be because my foremothers grew and canned loads of onions. It's worth an experiment or two, I think!

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Uneven baking in a convection microwave oven

Question

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

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

Answer

Convection-baking in a "convection microwave" is a bit like conventional baking in a toaster oven; it's more or less the same principle but you really can't expect the same results as a conventional oven (or full-size convection oven).

That being said, if you're attempting the recipes in a convection microwave or even a real convection oven without any modifications, you may be using too high a temperature, or cooking for too long. The guideline for conversion (and this is just a guideline, not a rule or guarantee) is to subtract 25-30° F / 10-15° C from the temperature, and 25-30% from the cooking time.

So, for example, if a recipe calls for baking at 350° F for 60 minutes, your first attempt in a convection oven should be 325° F for 45 minutes.

Again, please keep in mind that a convection microwave is still fundamentally a microwave oven. No matter what their marketing claims say, it is not a substitute for a conventional/convection oven and you are not going to see equivalent performance.

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Can I grill a chicken/turkey breast in the night and eat it 12:00 and 18:00?

Question

First of all, I'm sorry for my English, I'm not fluent.

I'm on a diet where I can eat only chicken breast and ground muscle (don't know the right word for this but I tried) as the meat (and fish, but I don't like it). Since I work like 10 hours a day and I don't come home for lunch, I have to take my food to the work. So I usually cook the meal at night and I have lunch for like 2 days.

But when I tried to grill the chicken, the taste wasn't very nice. The only condiment I'm using is salt. So, here is my question: can I grill a chicken breast at night and eat it at 12:00pm and 18:00pm? Are there any risks of getting food poisoning or something like that?

BTW, can someone give me some tips about maintaining the chicken/turkey breast in the refrigerator (and not in freezer)?

Answer

Any kind of cooked meat or fish and most perishable foods in general are safe as long as they are fully cooked and refrigerated within 2 hours (although the quality will deteriorate rapidly with fish).

If you plan to eat the leftovers twice then refrigerate two individual portions. Reheating the same item multiple times raises the risk of bacterial contamination. That is really the only thing you need to concern yourself with for short-term storage.

For more information see the USDA Basics for Handling Food Safely.

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