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kl1nse | Is there a secret to keeping a moist turkey breast and crispy skin after slicing? I always try to make a turkey as moist as the catering companies or restaurants but I never feel like I get 100% of the way there. Their breast servings are always moist and flavorful but when I make it I always reach 1 or the other, but not both. Ie, it's moist but tastes a little watery (wet brine) or tasty but a bit dry (dry brine) I think I have a 2 part problem. My cooking doneness/timing and my carving. I've tried a 2 day brine with water/salt/oranges/lemon/herbs and it's most, but tastes watery. Tried dry brine with salt and herbs, and it's flavorful, but not moist enough. I cook usually until about 155 and let the carryover heat finish the breast to 165 (legs are about 185 doneness). I"m always lazy so I get to the store late, and get a 15-25lb turkey (whatever's left). I've tried starting at 450 to brown the skin and finishing at 350, or just cooking at 350-375, or the last one I tried was pre-heat an oven with a baking steel at 450 and change to 300 when the turkey's in. I rest about 30-45 minutes and, it's moist, but not restaurant moist. I do take a long time carving the beast. It feels like 5 minutes, but I swear it's realistically 20-25. I feel like cutting the slices exposes it to air and dries out my slices,but it could be me. I guess first problem, what is the crucial step I'm getting wrong? And, is there a secret/step I'm missing? | I dry brine at the ratio of 0.5% by weight. I put butter under the skin of the breast and over the skin of the rest of the bird. I leave it covered in the fridge for about 12 hours then take the plastic wrap off and let it sit uncovered in the refrigerator for 12 hours. I preheat my oven to 325F, put a cup of water in the pan and put the turkey on a rack inside the pan then I cover it with foil for about 1/2 the cook time. Remove foil 1/2 way through and pull at 155F. Let rest for 30 minutes uncovered. I carve my turkey breast using the Julia Child method. | 6 |
im7grk | Why do high end steak houses use a broiler or pan versus a grill? I have my own theory on this but it’s of course subjective — I just vastly prefer the taste of crusty steak out of a cast iron or under the broiler. Whenever I eat grilled steak it tastes just that — a bit burnt at the ends of the steak and slightly bitter/carbonized. My question is why do restaurants rarely served them grilled? Without meaning to sound pretentious, is it “unrefined” to grill an expensive meat (ex. Dry aged)? | Using a pan or broiling allows you to keep the cooking juices for either a pan sauce or within your serving plate, if you broil directly on the metal you take to the table. That said, plenty of steak places do use grills, particularly wood-fired ones, but I've found that these tend to be more "rustic" restaurants (most of my experience is in the Midwest). One of the best steaks I've ever had was at a 70-year old joint in rural Wisconsin that uses wood, and has grease running down the outside of the chimney that must be a decade old. That said, the temperature is low enough in a wood grill that ordering a rare ribeye or porterhouse means the char isn't necessarily complete, and rendering of the fat is lacking, a problem you'd run into less with higher-temp cooking methods like broiling. | 6 |
6ux8n7 | Pink/red juices after cooking a pork shoulder at 250F for 8 hours? Hi, I followed Kenji's recipe for ultra crispy slow roasted pork which is basically salt and pepper a shoulder skin side up (8lbs in my case) put that on parchment paper on a wire rack on a sheet pan. It cooked in my oven for 8 hours at 250F and the outsides were phenomenal, the top was pull apart fork tender but as I tried to break apart the under side close to the bone looked like it could have been undercooked. Also lenty of reddish juices flowed from it as I tried to break it apart... This was last night and I felt defeated so I just threw it in the fridge and put it in the slow cooker this morning for a few hours with some stock. But what do you think? I feel like that many hours at that temp it would be impossible for part of it to not be cooked. Also I am positive the roast wasn't frozen. | What was the final temperature? | 6 |
1b3a6x | How well do dried guajillo chiles keep? Do they lose much flavor over time? I can only seem to find them in giant bags and the recipes I use call for 2 or so. So is it worth buying them and keeping them around? | About a year before the bugs come. You can freeze them or keep em zip locked also. And use the seeds to grow them fresh as they are still viable. | 6 |
dlb3re | Other than moving it and simply covering, are there any ways to prevent my fire detector going off when cooking? Hey all, So I think the fire alarm in my apartment is just wildly sensitive. It sits about 15 feet from the oven off the side, and it goes off 2-3 times for a couple seconds pretty much every time I cook. (God forbid if I make a homemade pizza at 500 degrees). There's no smoke. I'm in an apartment, so I can't really move it without violating the lease, which are most of the solutions I found Googling. I've mostly resorted to just covering it with a t-shirt, which *sometimes* work, sometimes not. Anyone have any advice? Point a box fan up directly at it? | I also live in an apartment and have the same problem. Here's what we do. When I'm cooking and I start to see that there might be smoke in the air and therefore the alarm is going to go off, i open the door and the patio door to create air flow, and I also take a cookie sheet and stand with my back to the alarm and start fanning the smokey air away. Quite a process but it does work | 6 |
24vby6 | Why is Vegetable oil considered unhealthy compared to Olive oil? I notice putting olive oil in salads or straight on food is fine but not so much with vegetable oil. Is there a reason or is it just cultural? | Normally the contention that an oil is "unhealthy" depends on its application. Most vegetable oils are not suitable for high-heat cooking because they are largely polyunsaturated fats which tends to have low smoke points. When exposed to high heat they oxidize and produce compounds known to be bad for you (then again, whether or not they are produced in significant quantities or not is disputed). Olive oil's flavor tends to be ruined by high heat, but it is largely not polyunsaturated and suffers less from this problem. As do a handful of other plant oils, like peanut, avocado, and macadamia. In raw applications, whether or not something is healthy is less obvious and depends a lot more on what nutritional paradigm you prefer. The only argument I have heard for why raw applications of vegetable oils might be less healthy that doesn't sound preposterous is one that is very similar to the above argument: the processing of many vegetable oils actually requires a fair amount of heat, and the largely polyunsaturated vegetable oils produce a fair amount of oxidation products even at those temperatures. | 6 |
bfyj4o | Freezing uncooked rice in the sack? We've been struggling with a pantry moth problem for a while and I've taken up freezing dry goods for a day or two before putting them in the pantry to kill the eggs. I want to do the same with our rice but we buy it in a 5kg sack. Specifically basmati sella rice, in those zip up cloth sacks. Can I put it in the freezer like that? Or do I really have to go through the process of putting the rice into freezer bags? We don't really have containers big enough. Sorry if this is a silly question, but the moths are getting frustrating. | Hate mealmoths. Get the pheromone traps they sell on Amazon. Its flypaper plus a small plastic scent lure. Very effective at turning the tide. Look at every source of moths too. Birdseed, other seeds, dried flower arrangements, dry dog/cat food. Any seed/grain of any variety will get infested. Move some traps around and see what you get. To your original question: Freezer with no plastic bag will work, but you might pick up some off flavors. Your mileage may vary on how bad that will be. Lastly, mason jars keep the bastards out. Store your grains and beans in there to give them no ground to go to. Can use the same jars for years, eventually cheaper than throwing out good food. | 6 |
z4kptk | Extra egg whites in pumpkin pie filling or similar for protein? I know I’m treading into territory this sub doesn’t like to deal with, so I’ll try to phrase this in a way that works. This isn’t about nutritional advice, I just need some guidance how to amend a recipe. My mother (78) has dementia and barely eats anymore; when she does she prefers sweet, soft foods. We’ve tried supplementing her food with mixed-in protein powders, or using high-protein pancake mixes, etc. and somehow she always knows and refuses to eat. Texture and flavor recognition is crucial in whether she will eat something or not. She gets plenty of carbs/sugar and an appropriate amount of fat, but her protein intake is insufficient. I prepped a basic pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and had leftover filling, so I baked that separately and brought it to her as well as an extra treat, and I was delighted to see how enthusiastically she ate it. So, that got me thinking, I don’t see why I couldn’t beef up this recipe by adding extra egg whites. They shouldn’t add much flavor, they shouldn’t change the texture too much (right?) and other than diluting the flavor of the remaining ingredients (easy to adjust for), should bake the same? These are my questions: 1. Do I need to raise/lower the temp of the oven to account for extra egg white? Not asking about volume, just whether the extra egg affects the way it bakes. 2. This recipe uses coconut milk instead of dairy, does that significantly change how the custard sets? (This recipe as directed was fine and delicious, so I think no). 3. I’d assume I could add extra EW to about 10% of the original volume without it affecting the custard too much, can I push it farther? 4. OR, should I just add 1-2 extra whole eggs? I’m trying to target added protein, her cholesterol runs a little high but that’s really the least of our concerns. 5. When it comes to making custards, is there a min/max ratio between egg white and egg yolk to end up with sless merging that functions as a thickener? 6. Is there a difference between packaged and fresh egg white, for baking purposes? Thanks for your attention. | using more egg whites in a custard will make it firmer, faster baking and more like a souffle than custard. Have you asked her doctor how much protein she needs on a daily basis? it would be better to add entire eggs, and bake a few minuted less than switch to solely egg whites. It would be easier to add egg whites to something like a pudding that is cooked stovetop than a baked item | 6 |
z0b11h | Update] Success with spiced pumpkin cheesecakes! Hello again! I asked a while ago about [adding some flavor to a pumpkin shell as it baked so I could make cheesecakes inside pumpkins. I took your wonderful advice and have had amazing success! Ultimately I poked a bunch of holes in the insides of the the pumpkins, and coated them with a heavily spiced simple syrup. Here’s the final product. Here’s a gif showing the whole process, and here’s my recipe! ####Cheesecake Pumpkins #####Ingredients: **For pumpkin shells:** - 2-3 sugar pie pumpkins - 1/2 cup water - 2 heaping tbsp brown sugar - 2 heaping tbsp white sugar - 2 heaping tbsp pumpkin spice - 1 pinch salt **For Graham Cracker crust:** - 6 tbsp butter, softened - 1 package graham crackers, crushed **For Cheesecake Filling:** (Can substitute in any baked cream cheese filling recipe) - 3 eggs, separated - 1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, softened - 1 pot (6 oz) vanilla greek yogurt or skyr - 1/2 c white sugar, divided into 1/4 cup portions #####Instructions: - Hollow out pumpkins and scrape sides to get rid of stringy flesh (you can keep the seeds for roasting!) - Using a toothpick or skewer, poke holes all over the pumpkin’s interior, being careful not to poke all the way through - Combine water, brown and white sugar, pumpkin spice, and a generous pinch of salt - Heat spiced syrup mixture till near boiling - Coat insides of pumpkins with spiced syrup, set aside - Preheat oven to 350^o Fahrenheit - Combine butter and graham crackers until crumbly - Press graham cracker mix into insides of pumpkins, smoothing with the back of a spoon (this will prevent the crust from flaking off during filling and baking) - Combine 3 egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar in bowl of a stand mixer (or use bowl plus hand mixer) - Whip egg whites until soft peaks form - In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese and yogurt until well mixed - Add 1/4 cup sugar to cream cheese mix, mixing thoroughly after - Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing thoroughly after - Mix in 1/3 of the egg white mixture, thoroughly combining the two - Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites, being careful not to overmix - Fill each pumpkin 2/3 full. You can use a skewer or toothpick to measure the depth. - Place pumpkins on a baking sheet, place lids on, and slide into pre-heated oven. If the lid may fall in, stick toothpicks into it sideways to make it wider. - Bake at least 30 minutes, until center of cheesecake reaches 145^o Fahrenheit and the cheesecake jiggles gently (but not liquidly) when tapped. - Turn heat off and allow cheesecakes to cool in oven for at least an hour. - Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight, then slice and enjoy! The pumpkin shell should be just as edible as the cheesecake itself. Thank you all so much for your help! I hope you enjoy whatever culinary adventures you go on this week! | This sounds tasty. I’m surprised no one mentioned there’s a similar thai dessert that basically a custard cooked in a pumpkin. | 6 |
2ekzoi | Weekly discussion - OK, fine. Cast iron. I don't know what caused the dozen questions this weekend (most of which the mods deleted), but clearly this is the season for cast iron. Fine, I give. Let's talk about cast iron. | My husband won't let me use cast iron on our glass flat top stove. He thinks it will get to hot and crack the glass. Is it ok to use it on flat tops or is he right on this? | 6 |
helwu8 | Key lime pie became key lime soup when I tried substituting honey for sugar I am at a loss on how to make a cane sugar free key lime pie. My very wonderful boyfriend is sensitive to sugar, when he eats cane sugar, corn syrup, or anything with a similar structure he gets dizzy and feels sick. I am an amateur baker but he has a culinary degree from JandW. Between the two of us we can’t figure out how to make a key lime pie that sets up. We are happy to use honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar, the stevia, Splenda, and other 1to1 sugar substitutes taste bad to us so we avoid them. Additionally, we live in Denver and have high altitude baking challenges to contend with. I went to the effort to make homemade sweetened condensed milk using a recipe that said I could sub out the sugar for honey with no additional changes. 4 c. Whole dairy milk 1+1/2 c honey Put in pan over medium low heat. Whisking often, bring to simmer until reduced by half. (Recipe said this would take 30 minutes, it took mine an hour and a half) Stir in 8 TBS butter and 2 tsp vanilla ext and let cool before use. This worked fine, as far as I could tell. I used the homemade sweetened condensed milk to make the pie below. 24 oz. homemade sweetened condensed milk 1/2 c sour cream 3/4 c key lime juice Zest from 4 key limes Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix ingredients and pour into a pre-baked graham cracker crust. Bake for 10 minutes. After ten minutes, I had warm lime soup. I left it in for another 20 minutes but the graham cracker crust was starting to burn. I took it out with it wobbling like a drunk flamingo and put it in the fridge. A day later, we had cool lime soup but no pie. I want to know why it failed so spectacularly at setting up. | Do you still have the pie? I’d fold in some whipped Cream and freeze it. This isn’t true key lime pie but it is fantastic. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/key-lime-cheesecake-236210/amp | 6 |
37lili | I made an ice cream base and I want to add something with honey and texture, but what? any ideas?? Hey gang, I made a brown butter/rosemary ice cream base last night, but like the title says I want to add something using local honey for texture. I was thinking of making honeycomb or even adapting the brown bread mix in of this recipe. I thought I would ask you good people for some ideas too. I am not afraid to burn the honey, either. Thanks! | Baklava! Such a great combination. | 6 |
ksyir2 | Is it advisable to freeze flour battered shrimp for frying later? As in dip in butter milk then coat with flour before freezing. | I disagree with others here on batter versus other coatings. The batter needs to hit the oil and rapidly expand from water vapor (and perhaps any leavening agent in the batter). If frozen, it won’t do that. I think it will be like making pancakes from frozen batter cubes. It won’t work. Better would be to par fry them before freezing. | 6 |
s0zhqf | Fat is dispersed throughout my thick chicken stock instead of rising to top after cooling for easy removal Most of the fat rises to the top but a lot of it has "dripped" down and it is now impossible to separate. It's too thick to be strained. | Heat it up then fill a strainer with ice and strain. The ice will super cool the fat . Discard the fat laden ice and you are left with a clear broth | 6 |
13fj4y | What is the best way to incorporate pumpkin into pastry cream? I am planning on making a nice big batch of cream puffs for Thanksgiving and I want the filling to be pumpkin flavored. Because I like doing things the hard way, I am starting from a whole pie pumpkin. So here are my basic questions: Should I roast the pumpkin or steam it? What is the best method for making the texture of the pumpkin as smooth as possible? What flavor combinations would you recommend? I was considering either nuts (pecans or hazelnuts probably) or maybe chai spices. I would like to do something other than pumpkin pie spices. Do you have a favorite pastry cream recipe to recommend? I haven't actually looked at it yet, but I am probably going to go with Julia Child. I trust her for everything. Thanks for your help! | For flavours, roast it with brown sugar, and apple juice. Then the pecans would go really nice. (the hazelnuts I find go much better with either chocolate or by themselves) Sugarwizard has the right idea for getting it smooth. As for incorporation, I'd say that you make a basic vanilla pastry cream and once it thickens you can stir in the puree. That way if you need to cook it more, or add more cornstarch you can easily do it, without the worry of burning it or it getting too loose. | 6 |
m8ctx4 | What makes hot chocolate mix marshmallows different from regular tiny marshmallows? Made a cup of swiss miss with marshmallows that they include in the packet, and I love them as they melt in the chocolate to become essentially sweet lumps of sugar in the hot chocolate. I've tried using mini marshmallows that you get at the supermarket, but not sure if it's because of the size of them (the swiss miss ones are about half of your pinky nail, while the mini marshmallows are about a whole nail) or that my previous hot chocolate wasn't hot enough to melt them properly, but the supermarket marshmallows just become soggy and gooey and don't melt in your mouth. I'm wondering if the swiss miss marshmallows aren't "true" marshmallows - they're super hard in the packet too, unlike the storebought ones that are soft from the outset. | they are dehydrated or freeze-dried. if you want to buy hot chocolate marshmallows, you can get them by themselves! look for 'Kraft Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits'. They are the same tiny dehydrated marshmallows. | 6 |
ggvej8 | Does anyone know how to make the liquid avocado salsa that taco trucks have? Every recipe I’ve looked up has been for either thick creamy salsa or a salsa with all diced ingredients. I’m talkin’ about the stuff that’s very very liquefied, I can’t get the consistency thin enough without using water and making it bland. The ingredients are probably not much more than avocados, cilantro, jalapeños and lime, this has to be more of a technique thing that has escaped my research. | Green Taco truck sauces are not usually made with avocados (although you can. And that’s good too). It’s usually tomatillo/jalapeño verde sauce. The reason why it seems like it’s avocado based is because it’s creamy. The creamy consistency is because these sauces use oil that is emulsified when blended with the rest of the ingredients. Here are a few recipes from r/SalsaSnobs ; ****Taco Truck Sauce**** Orange AND Green Sauce Orange/Green 2 Green Sauce Creamy Jalapeño Green If you ever need help with salsa, that’s the place to go on Reddit. | 6 |
g6xqsd | Is it possible to make Spanish rice with tomato paste? (NOT tomato sauce) I am going to make tacos, and I was also going to make Spanish rice, but then I realized I didn't have any tomato sauce. I do, however, have tomato paste. Is it possible to make Spanish rice with hunts tomato paste? Never done it before, but I would imagine it's viable, right? | I only use tomato paste to make my Spanish rice. I sauté the dried rice in oil, until lightly colored then add in onions, carrots and garlic until soft and starting to caramelize. Follow with tomato paste, mixing to coat all the grains and then ad in last whatever cooking liquid I’m using, either chicken stock or water and simmer until done. | 6 |
l4fffd | Weeping brown sugar with orange zest - can I keep it? About a month ago I mixed a little orange zest into a couple spoonfuls of brown sugar and kept it in a small jar; I found the result delightful. It’s great on oatmeal. I used it up, so I made more but I didn’t think it through and put waaay too much zest in too small a volume of brown sugar: a whole orange in a half cup (also this time was dark brown sugar, and before was light, and this was a fresher orange than previously). The next day the bottom 1” of the jar was liquid. Can I keep this, and if so should it be refrigerated? I don’t mind that it’s liquid, but obviously not if it will spoil. I can’t decide if orange zest is more oil than water, or if the increase in molasses is a spoilage factor. | Congratulations, you made oleo saccharum. It is yummy. | 6 |
tmxfv | Budget Gourmet time reddit: what are some of the best meals you've ever made while on a tight grocery budget? ive managed making a damn good batch of Shrimp Alfredo from scratch for under $15, and it was enough to easily feed 6 people. i do gotta say though, the pre-grated Parmesan from the cans can be a pain to make smooth, i was lucky to have one of those super hand mixer things to beat it into submission, all in all, it was a great dish and experience from learning to use less than premier ingredients. | Homemade pizza. We used to make this all the time back in graduate school. Because if you get the dough right, it hardly matters what you use for toppings. My personal favorite is (homemade) roasted garlic, a sprinkling of the roasted garlic oil, a few fresh spinach leaves, and a bit of grated parmesan. | 6 |
30xifr | Can I just use a small cast iron pan as a heat diffuser? I was interested in grabbing a clay pot to use, but the forum stuff suggested that I get a heat diffuser to use on my electric element. Could I just use another pan, like one of my small cast iron pans as said heat diffuser? | Yes, it works great. I do this often with my cast iron when I need low, even heat. | 6 |
66hv49 | I want to make lamb kebabs. What cut of lamb should i buy that i can cube and make kebabs out of? | You can do it with leg if you don't mind spending a lot of time with a knife--with lamb if it looks gristly it probably is. Try this marinade: 1/2 cup onion juice, one tablespoon black pepper, two tablespoons kosher salt, 3.5 cups milk. Marinate for at least two days and up to four. "Kebab" just means meat BTW, you are probably aiming for shish kebab. We use the marinade above for doner kebab. | 6 |
fn2t0i | I have a vocabulary of a dozen or so dishes that I can do well. How do I step up my game by combining entrees, main courses, side dishes etc to a full course? I can do beef bourginion. I can pull off a medium rare duck breast or steak. My Au Gratin is fire. And I reached a point where I go off the tracks of a recipe and still end up with a decent fricasse. But how do I tie all of this together into a cohesive full course that has entree, main course, side dish, salad and dessert that all play well together in harmony? Puttanesca and Margarita are tasty on their own but it doesn't make sense to serve them together. I have tried googling for "french courses" but all I got were results about studying French. What I am after is "culinary narrative". I want to know how to pair the main courses and side dishes that I already know into one cohesive experience that makes sense. | Maybe the phrase you're looking for is "menu planning"? I think the answers you've gotten so far are falling into two related camps: What foods go well together; and, how do I plan a meal. I'm not sure which you're meaning? **Pairing foods.** For example, the recommendation for *The Flavor Bible* and a food thesaurus - basically how this works is, you look up an ingredient and it lists other ingredients, like this, which is the entry for mangoes in *The Flavor Bible.* Another option for this is foodpairing, which is identifying foods that go together based on science - for example, these pairings for tea. **Planning meals.** Here's where people are talking about which ingredients pair well together, but also about balance and variety in color, texture, and intensity; what's in season and within your budget; and selecting dishes that you can cook at the same time. If you search using the word "menu" you can find tips like how to build a menu and how to plan a menu for a dinner party. One tip in case this is useful: It's tempting to plan meals that are made of all rich dishes, or all complicated dishes. That's a mistake in balance - one can't enjoy the rich/complicated/intense food without a blander/simpler/calmer one to go with it. To use your examples, serve beef bourguignon with plain mashed potatoes, plain noodles, or a crusty loaf of french bread, and a crisp and cold green salad -- not au gratin potatoes with their heavy sauce that would just add more weight to the meal and dull the senses too much to enjoy either the potatoes or the stew. | 6 |
jzlu5g | Thanksgiving Help Thread Part 1 We're here to help make your Thanksgiving better! Ask us all your questions here. | Anyone want to share some particularly delicious brussels sprout recipes with me? I've got a bunch to cook for tomorrow and potentially want to try something more interesting than my standard "roasted with garlic." Any suggestions? | 6 |
bovr87 | Do Professional chefs in the USA use metric or imperial units ? So I got Thomas Keller’s “ad hoc at home” and the measurements are all imperial - at the same time he writes that he uses “more exact measures” in his restaurants which I assume are metric units cause let’s be honest - 1 cup of flour is not always the same while 100g are 100g So what do pros use ? And yes I get it that lots is done “by eye” and experience - but is there a difference ? | I’m a home cook, but I use grams for flour, sugar, and most dry goods in baking because weight is more accurate than volume. I use cups for most liquid measurements. When I’m not baking I rarely measure at all. A cup of flour isn’t always a cup of flour. But a cup of water is. | 6 |
48ccnd | What do you call the larger piece of meat that the Chuck roast is cut from? I made chili a long while back for a large chili cookoff (First Place!). I wanted to use chuck roast, and when I went to the butcher, I basically told them that I wanted a chuck roast, but 12" thick. Well they gave me a big honking piece of meat. I then cut out all the individual muscle groups and cut them to bite size pieces? It worked out great. The next year, I could not go to the butcher so I tried explaining to someone else what to order. Well I ended up getting the entire shoulder bone area. This giant bone and meat was still good (I believe this is where the shoulder petite tender is from), but this year I want to go back to the Other cut. I know both come from the Chuck sub-primal, but what would I call the larger chunk of meat that the chuck roast comes from? This way I know what to ask for in the future. | you are looking to buy "chuck roll". that is the big lump of beef broken down we buy to package at big grocery meat department. | 6 |
vclhz | how do I handle getting this meal to the plate without anything being cold, over cooked, under cooked, under rested, of my guest getting bored? Grilled steak (single big ass rib eye, 16 oz)in a porchini garlic rub, served with risotto Milanese. Chocolate mosses for afters, but that part is easy. also an appropriate veg I could whip up quickly would be nice too | Heat your plates. Food won't get that first dump in temperature if you put it on hot plates. You can either run hot water over the plates for a few minutes and wipe them dry with a clean cloth or leave them in the oven. What is is the nature of the rapport you have with your guest? Sometimes it's nice to talk while cooking (unless you swear a blue streak and fling flaming oil around regularly). If it's a date, you have a perfectly good excuse to seem a bit distracted while you're cooking. It'll give you a chance to consider your answers while you look really intense cooking with panache. I find with steak, with a heavy salty rub, I prefer to have a fresher tasting vegetable like steamed or blanched snap peas. Blanching is also fast and easy to time with completion which will not add much panic to your stove top. | 6 |
lhd27e | Difference between homemade and store bought dark roux (for cajun cooking) I've been making my own roux for gumbos and such for the past few years, and I know it tastes different (and slightly better) than the store bought stuff such as this, just from experience. But I don't understand exactly WHY, and it has bugged me for as long as I have been thinking about it. Like, roux is flour and oil, mixed together, cooked over consistent heat (either in an oven or stirred consistently in a hot pan). "Homemade roux" can easily be frozen and keeps for a long time without much trouble even without being frozen. So roux made in a home-made style, scaled up to a factory scale, is: A) Very cheap to make, ingredient-wise B) Easily and consistently replicable in factory conditions C) Easy to store and transport So...why isn't it the same? It's not like the ingredients are different at all. Why does store bought roux taste different, despite (presumably) identical, perhaps even superior and more precise processing to what I do at home in my skillet, with the exact same ingredients? | You can actually buy pre-made roux in America? Never heard of it in Australia. | 6 |
5147ux | Vacuum sealed and frozen freshly ground burger patties I love burgers, specially the results you get when you grind the beef yourself. But sometimes when I crave burgers I'm not in the mood of doing that whole process. Since oxidation has such a big role in downgrading the quality of food, I've been wondering if I could get a satisfying result by making raw patties ahead of time and vacuum sealing them to have a stock in my freezer. I know that freezing damages the meat and will leave me with less juicy burgers (and a slightly different texture), but that's a price I'm willing to pay, and I would argue that overcooking has a much bigger role when talking about dry burgers. So, flavorwise, is this approach good enough? Has any of you tried this with satisfactory results? Thank you. | A big part of grinding your own beef for burgers is being able to form the patties without compressing the meat too much. Vacuum sealing your patties is going to squish them; your texture will be adversely affected. | 6 |
6nu2ye | Weekly Discussion: Shopping at the fish market and dealing with whole fish Inspired by this post, this week we are turning our attention to buying and preparing whole fish. What is the essential equipment, what are some nice to haves (equipment wise)? Do you buy at a dedicated fish monger, or do you buy from the fish counter at your local megamart? Fresh or frozen? Is all the "fresh fish" available to you actually "previously frozen"? How do select whole fish for different applications (sushi, grilled, smoked, fried, etc...)? What are some good fish to learn techniques on? | I find myself leaving the skin on most of the time I prepare fish. I like it seared, and even when poaching I like to have the fat from the skin so I don't find much use for my flexible knife. I'm not usually preparing huge fish (not a big family) so I've mostly been using a longish paring knife from Ikea that I've grown to like. I find that a short blade is easy for me to keep track of when following the rib cage so I can leave very little meat on the bones. If I'm going to sear, I like to scrape the remaining meat off of the bones with a spoon which recovers about a tablespoon of meat mush which I find useful for aggressively searing to make a seared fish flavor boost. For fish like: salmon, trout, sea bass, branzino, spigola, or lavraki (heh) I often end up making seared filet preparations. For me a perfectly seared filet is a conflict of desires. I want the meat to be just done with little gradient (unlike my steaks which I like some gradient for texture) and I want the skin to be browned crispy. I can more or less do it with thin fillets well enough on a very hot pan, but with thick salmon cuts I'll sous vide first, then sit the skin side down (still in bag) on an ice pack to superficially chill that side for a few minutes so I can blast the shit out of it to crisp up the skin. The pan browned meat paste scrapings from the bones are a great way to boost the browned meat flavor component without having to overdo the meat. I do not try to seriously brown the non skin side because it has no fat or skin to render or crisp and I get my browned meat notes from the blasted paste scraping. Pan fried, grilled, preparations I look for fish that flakes generally. Salmon, black cod, trout, branzino, mackerel. Fatty, stronger tasting flaking fish. I also like to cold smoke the same fish that I would fry/grill. I'm not a fan of hot smoking. I feel that it ruins the meat for me. When I cold smoke I do it in the dead of winter with slabs of brine ice in the cabinet of an electric smoker so I can maintain fridge like (4C) conditions in the smoker cabinet. With such cold temperatures I do not have to use strong brines to inhibit bacterial growth. I don't like the flavor impacts of very salty sugary brines on my fish. Admittedly the process is a pain in the ass. I have to make slabs of salt brine ice which melt at -10C to keep the cabinet cold so I only do it when I can fill the whole thing with fish and chicken thighs. Still it's damn tasty stuff smoked for 8hrs with zero cooking impact. For poaching, I like to poach more musty fish like trout and pickerel. I find that pickerel takes on an odd texture when it's seared that I don't like. Poaching with a salty asian marinade (soy sauce, ginger, etc) goes well with the musty notes. I can get cheap live trout at one of my grocery stores. Like $4-5 for a small fish which is enough for dinner. They're not the best fish monger, but when they get the trout in, they're fresh and lively as can be. Occasionally sea bass goes up for cheap. I can't resist if the eyes are very clear (sign of fresh fish) and the fish feels firm. I've got a favorite fish monger, but they're not close to me so I don't get there as often as I'd like. I like to go there for whole salmon and large whole trout, as well as a lot of other seafood things. For the smoker, I'm less picky with my fish. Once heavily smoked, no so great fish becomes extremely tasty. I do well enough at Costco if I'm doing a smoker run. I get my skin on bone in chicken thighs there too. I probably got much better at filleting fish when I started filleting smelt. It seems ludicrous, but my daughter really likes panko battered fried smelt. They're musty fish, but freshly fried in panko batter, a boneless smelt filet is a damn fine bite. I go for larger smelt so the fillets are bigger (less filleting per dinner), but the repeated processing of so many fillets with a little paring knife has taught me to move with economy for the 30min or so it takes to filet the whole damn dinner of tiny fish. I guess I'm just happy that my kids like them so much so I'm willing to do this work intensive special meal once in awhile. The fish is damn cheap and you don't care if you mangle a fillet. They'll fry up just fine. The repetition is a very cheap way to memorize the general bone structure of a fish and your fine motor skills improve with manipulating soggy things. | 6 |
yay3vk | How to Chilaquiles? I’m hoping you all can help me figure out how to make the best chilaquiles at home, as i’ve tried & failed a few times. i’ve been trying to make the chips with raw flour tortillas but they never crisp up enough to withstand the salsa, i think it’s because i‘ve only tried using butter or olive oil & they just don’t fry up like they should. or maybe it’s because they’re flour, not corn. any recommendations for preferred oil, tortillas, & salsa (verde) to use? what else do you add to it to really make it sing? TIA! | Corn tortillas. And not fresh. Fresh tortillas soak up more oil. Traditionally, you cut them up into strips, then triangles, and leave them overnight. They kind of dry out. Next morning, you fry them up in oil or lard to make the totopos. There are as many varieties of chilaquiles as there are salsas. That’s an entirely different post. Some people like red chilaquiles, some like green. You can use mole, you can use bean sauce like you’d use for enfrijoladas, you can use poblano peppers or the creamy green sauce you’d use for enchiladas suizas. The sky’s the limit, really. Once you have your sauce, heat it up, add the totopos (the fried tortillas), give them a stir and serve. Don’t let them get too soggy. If serving for breakfast you can top with a fried or scrambled egg. Shredded chicken or steak are common for brunch. Crema, crumbled cheese like cotija, panela or queso fresco, and onion rings round up the toppings. And you could even make tortas de chilaquiles for a completely unique yet authentic breakfast experience. | 6 |
2gma2l | 2nd day at job. Task: put ricotta on pizza, as a spread. They have a spatula without handle (bowl scraper) to get this done. Within 2 days I hear 3 people complain about tool. So I get a spoon to do job. Then I get reprimanded and manager calls me "weird." Which do you think is a better tool? The spatula looks like this: http://caketalk.typepad.com/.a/6a00e553cb542a88330134860380fb970c-pi I hate being called weird when I'm just trying to do what makes sense. I mean, a spoon makes better sense IMO. You can scoop it, spread it, and fling the remainder. The spatula gets heavy and unmanageable because so much sticks on to it. | I dont know about weird. But I kinda see the scraper getting a more consistent layer of thickness than a spoon would. I would imagine if the original chef wanted to use a scraper, then continuing to do so would keep the dish closer to it's original flavor (in theory) That being said, I wouldn't think it makes much difference; and with ricotta, uneven spreading would seem to distribute bites into some with more and less ricotta, which I think would be better. Kinda like when avocado is used in a topping format; i nice bite of avocado is better than having it thinly spread on an even layer | 6 |
5yfwvn | Why does a roux use butter for thickening? Can't I just add flour? I've miscounted my tbsps and made a roux with more flour than butter. it turned out okay, but I'm wondering why this 1-1 rule exists. Could I slightly reduce butter calories by adding more flour than butter? | You could, yes. A big part of it is that if you just throw flour into a soup or sauce, it'll clump up into gross lumps of flour. When coated lightly with fat, flour will not clump and will distribute more evenly. If you're trying to make a reduced-fat roux, you can do so, you just need to make sure the flour is not *dry*, it has to be coated in butter. | 6 |
a1frfk | How do you make scrambled eggs look like this? what is this sorcery It looks like a flower! | It's probably a folded egg; however, it's also possible to whisk in a little chicken stock before frying. It produces a thinner sheet of egg that is more crepe-like. I'm not sure if that was done here because the eggs look a little too fluffy, but it would explain the very smooth texture and monochromatic color. | 6 |
2anz3d | I've heard you can crisp lettuce leaves by soaking them in cold water. How long does it take to achieve this effect? I'll be using romaine or iceberg lettuce. Do professional kitchens do this? | My grandmother keeps her romaine lettuce in the fridge in a bowl of water like cut flowers and pulls leaves off as needed. | 6 |
2mbf39 | I am making a recipe (found on Reddit actually) that calls for "1 dried chipotle pepper" to be simmered with some other ingredients. Where I live I cannot find the dried pepper, just in adobo, or fresh. Any advice? It was a chicken thigh recipe, you add vinager, soy, garlic, a pepper and thighs and simmer and then finish on the grill. Thanks for your help! | I bought some on Amazon. | 6 |
z79bk0 | White wine reccomendations? Hi there! I've been learning how to make various pasta dishes over the past couple of months. Recently, I've been looking into using wines in the sauces, but I have no idea where to start. I found a relatively easy-looking shrimp fettucine recipe that calls for white wine and would like to try it in the near future (listed below the question). I did some research and found that pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc are generally the best types of wines to use. I was wondering if anyone has any reccomendations as to what I should get? I'm open to hearing about anything you might use, even if it's not pinot grigio or sauv. blanc :) Thanks in advance! **The recipe:** #### FOR THE PASTA: * ½ lb. (8 oz.) fettuccine * 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter * 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour * ½ cup dry white wine * 1 cup milk (I used 1%) * salt and pepper to taste * ¾ cup parmesan cheese * ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish #### FOR THE SHRIMP: * ½ lb. medium-sized shrimp, peeled and deveined * 1 Tbsp. olive oil * 1 clove garlic, minced * salt and pepper to taste ### INSTRUCTIONS #### FOR THE PASTA: 1. Cook fettuccine in very salty water until al dente. Drain, set aside, and return empty pot to the stove. 2. Melt butter in pot over medium heat. 3. When butter is melted, whisk in flour to form a roux. Cook for 1 minute. 4. Slowly add white wine to roux, whisking constantly to incorporate. The mixture will thicken pretty quickly - just keep whisking! 5. Add milk to mixture and whisk to combine. Bring mixture to a low simmer, whisking frequently, then remove from heat and stir in salt, pepper, and cheese. Stir until cheese has melted and you have a smooth sauce. #### FOR THE SHRIMP: 1. Heat oil in a medium-sized skillet until shimmering. Add garlic, shrimp, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Shrimp quicks very quickly, so keep an eye on it - they shouldn't take more than 5 or 6 minutes! #### TO ASSEMBLE: 1. Add cooked pasta and shrimp to sauce pot and toss to combine. Top with fresh chopped parsley for garnish and serve immediately. | Hey there! This is a great question! I used to work in the wine business, here’s some quick thoughts: I think your best bet for most recipes is a Pinot gris/ Pinot Grigio. (Same grape, actually!) They are usually pretty neutral. I would stay away from sauv blanc, I feel like a ton of reasonably priced sauv Blancs are becoming increasingly GRASSY tasting, which might be kind of weird in a food you don’t expect it in. I would steer clear of Rieslings/moscatos (usually too sweet) and chardonnays (can be too buttery, like movie theater popcorn buttery). * *wine snobs, I know these are stereotypes of these types of wines. I get it. However, we gotta newbie here! Also, if you don’t drink or plan on drinking the rest of the bottle, you can actually freeze wine into little wine ice cubes, stick em in a ziplock bag, and you’ll always have a few tablespoons to grab whenever you need! You can also use sparkling wine, lol, the bubbles will cook out. (Ask for something not sweet or “dry”. ) Avoid the label “extra dry” bizarrely those can be medium sweet. Yeah, it’s confusing! Good luck, feel free to dm me with any questions. | 6 |
t2w7yj | Do 3-ply pans improve performance on induction stoves compared to plain stainless steel? Stainless is known as a poor thermal conductor, so tri-ply pans add an aluminum core (or copper if you're fancy) to speed up and even out heat distribution from the burner to the pan's contents. Induction works by heating the steel directly, so I'm wondering - is there any great benefit to getting an N-ply pan for an induction cooktop? Does the EM field heat up a steel bottom evenly through the thickness of the bottom, or is there some effect that decreases efficiency of power transfer from the induction element to the food, that is helped by an aluminum core? I assume it will help in the same way a heavier bottom helps over a very thin bottom in general (thermal mass, even out the hot spots), or is even that less of a problem on induction? (just ordered an induction stove, so trying to learn what I have to relearn about cookware) | They tend to be more efficient across the board, but there is a wild variance between manufacturers. You can sprinkle 1mm of flour across the pan (while it is still cold), turn on the heat, and observe the heat transfer based on how the flour colors. | 6 |
clkw1f | Pastry chefs, which text books did you use in school? Which do you recommend? Basically what the title says. I'm looking to understand the science of pastry so that I can come up with my own recipes and have my own creative expression come through in my baking. | One of the things I like to do is see what textbooks my local community college is using. In the my case, that's Austin Community College and this is their syllabus for their pastry fundamentals class: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-cueblNpPjOa0dWQTVyNXZrbG8/view They're using these two: On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals and The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional | 6 |
tgvj4 | American/British citizen here. Moving to the UK and buying a pub (will probably be doing upscale southern American pub food) in March. Any UK chefs have thoughts? Any of you crossed the pond in either direction? Other than measurements, what took the most time to adjust to in the kitchen? Any thoughts on upscale casual dining concepts, especially upscale Southern food or casual but upper scale pizza concepts? Similar to CPK or Mellow Mushroom Cost of pork in relation to other meats? Culinary trends right now? Here is farm to fork and fresh simple food prepared well. Any general ideas, questions, comments will be welcome. This will be my first time as an owner, but I'll be in a partnership with my Aunt who is currently an owner of a different concept in the UK so I have some back up there. Any advice from owners, stuff you wish you knew when you started out, will be greatly appreciated. | Hire a good head chef. No seriously, listen to me. **HIRE A GOOD HEAD CHEF.** I can not stress this enough. If you want your place to run well, food-wise, you need a strong head chef backed by a strong kitchen team. Trust your chef, give him guidelines to what kind of food he must be turning out, and let him do the rest. The more trust you give your chef, the more freedom you give him, the better resulting menu's you will receive in return. | 6 |
1aoo3o | Creaming fat and sugar: I've seen that this process should be dissolving the sugar and incorporating air. I beat peanut butter and white sugar together last night for 3 min and still had a grainy texture. To avoid overmixing, I stopped. How long should it take and what should the texture be? | The goal of creaming isn't to dissolve the sugar, it's just to create tiny air pockets that the leavening will blow up in the oven. It is impossible to dissolve that much sugar into fat. The sugar won't will start to dissolve until you put the liquid in. And even then, it will take a long time. For these cookies, it isn't necessary to cream them as thoroughly as say chocolate chip cookies. This is because your recipe uses no leavening, so the only thing you need to worry about it even incorporation. | 6 |
3leaj5 | I'd like to make my own wooden spoon and spatula to cook with; what sort of wood works best, and how could I safely treat or seal it? I really enjoy using tools like this in the kitchen, but I recently lost my go-to wooden spatula and have decided that it might be a fun project to make my own! I know next to nothing about this, however, and I want to be sure that I choose a type of wood that will stand up to regular use and a type of treatment for the wood (if necessary? I don't even know that) that won't be poisonous. Obviously the ones in the picture have been treated with something, but the one I had been using looked much less polished, so to speak. Has anyone here tried something like this before? Where might I go for further insight? Thanks very much for your time. | In 1990, my first year at secondary school, one of the projects was to design and make a kitchen spatula. I'm not sure what wood we were given to work with - if it's hardwood it's a very open grained one. Very simply prepped by sanding and oiling (mineral oil is great, or you could use beeswax). I have given it exactly zero TLC in the intervening years and it's still going strong, used almost every day. | 6 |
1hshoj | My mom had a conversation with a man in a mexican supermarket about how he prepares flank steak, was wondering if this is an actual way to prepare it and what it is called He was an older mexican man who has been doing this for years as a tradition. He stated that he would get the flank steak and let it marinade in a mixture of lemon juice and salt for 24 hours. After that he would hang it up in his basement on a hook for about 3 days. Then he would very briefly cook it on the grill and serve it. Anybody know what this dish is? Is it something the average person can make in a safe way? Any other information would be nice as well. Thanks! | I don't doubt the man. I live on the US Southwest Border and here, that marinade sounds right, as does the flash-grilling. But I haven't heard of anyone aging their beef outside a fridge for even a day. And beef is very popular around here and across the border in the two neighboring Mexican states, so I'd hope I'd have heard of home-aging by now. | 6 |
10kg3n | The international supermarket near me (I live in the mid-atlantic US) sells whole chickens, but also sells a whole bird that looks the same, but is called "fowl". What is fowl? I know chicken is technically a type of fowl. They both look very similar, the fowl is a little bit cheaper. The closest answer I could find on the google is: "If it is not labelled as turkey, duck or anything else it is a chicken and one used more for stewing and soups, not a roasting or frying chicken." That sounds right, but does anyone know for sure? | It's most likely a stewing hen, which is just an older chicken. Does it look bigger than the whole chicken or the same size? | 6 |
n2nyfo | I have a convection oven - is there any justification for buying an air fryer? I have been looking at buying an air fryer for a bit because it looks like you can make some really good food, cut calories, and the convenience. I recently moved and I have a convection oven now, and it’s to my understanding that air fryers are basically just mini convection ovens. Is there still a need to buy an air fryer? Is there anything I need to know to best emulate the results from an air fryer? | I’d say no. I’m underwhelmed with air frying compared to my convection oven. You just need to get a raised rack so you can convection bake your food. I really hate cleaning meat juices from an air fryer. Cleaning a sheet pan and rack is much easier. | 6 |
17ydn8 | Can I make chicken burgers with breasts instead of ground meat? If not, tips on working with ground chicken? Recipes for beginners? So I'm young and getting into cooking. I've tried some recipes, but most of them have botched, or were pathetically simple. So instead of trying to look through and hope I find something nice, I'm looking to cook foods I love. My all time favorite food is a buffalo chicken burger. Do you know of any recipes for buffalo chicken burgers that I can make with chicken breasts and not ground chicken? Any other tips on working with ground meat, etc? Finally, do you have any recipe suggestions for a 16 year old, who's OK when it comes to cooking? (I can do stuff, and I've cooked before. The flavor could use some work.) Thanks! | The Reddit College Cookbook is a good place for a novice cook to begin exploring. For tips for ground meat, I'd recommend seasoning it well, not overworking it so it turns to paste and not overcooking it so it releases all its juices. And grilled chicken sandwiches, buffalo or otherwise, are not uncommon. Chicken breast does tend to be bland and dry out so brining is a good strategy to keep it palatable. | 6 |
ce2rr5 | Why are my avocados stringy? A lot of times it's hard to split them and remove the seed as well. Been noticing this a lot lately from some avocados I bought from Costco. They form these long, fibrous strands in the meat. Only thing I can think of is that I typically put them in the fridge so that they don't become really ripe super fast (I typically buy two bags at a time; one I'll leave out, one I'll throw in the fridge). Anyone know what might be going on? Really unappetizing and I'm getting a bit fed up. A quick Google search says that they could just be from a tree that isn't fully mature yet but this has happened multiple times in a row now. | I had to stop buying avocados altogether lately they have been awful. I had 3 bags that would not ripen on one side, be impossible to split, and the other side would rot. 😐 | 6 |
ejve2v | Browned butter in baked goods -- flat cookies? Hey all, I've been experimenting with various browned butter chocolate chip recipes for the past few years. One thing I've noticed is that the cookies always get flat, despite 24 hours+ chill time. This week I made the cookies from Ambitious Kitchen (https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/brown-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/). They were delicious...and flat as a pancake. I made no adjustments to the recipe. I'm thinking it's the browned butter. I always let it cool completely for a few hours, but I think it needs to solidify in order to cream with the sugar properly. Also, some recipes suggest adding water to the browned butter to replace the lost moisture. This recipe did not do that. I've tried it before, but adding 3 TB water with the same results. Ideas? | This is my go to recipie except for the yogurt. Do NOT add more butter this will make things worse. You can add height to your cookies in multiple ways but I just add extra flour. This recipie is the only one I use by scooping flour instead of fluffing it first. On a side note I did try whipping the egg whites seperatley and folding it into the batter before adding the dry ingredents. While I got more lift, i lost some of the dense cookieness. Lastly you can add baking powder. Use half the amount compared to baking soda... So 1/2 tsp. Enjoy! | 6 |
rpuy7g | How much heavy lifting should the broth be doing in my hot pot? So a friend and I treated ourselves to a nice meal and got Sichuan hot pot at a local Chinese place, our first time trying it. It was...disappointing. All the ingredients seemed like nice quality, but the soup and sauces we got had very little flavor. I ordered the spicy broth and it just tasted like chili oil, friend got the non-spicy and it barely seemed better than boiling your meat in tap water. The culinary snob in me says I could make a much more heavily flavored broth that would actually impart some flavor into the meat, but is that missing the point? Should I just focus on the sauces and have mild broth? First time trying this dish so I'm unsure if our experience was typical but I'm fired up thinking i could do it better. | That's how hot pot is. The Mala one (spicy broth) in most cases is literally a buttload of chili oil, dried chilli, Sichuan pepper corns (the numbing part) and chicken broth with a few herbs/berries that don't add much flavor. It's just spicy chicken soup with barely any seasoning. Go for the mushroom/chicken one next time. Flavors are more subtle compared to western cooking which heavily relies on spices and salt to get flavor. Flavor for hot pot comes from the sauces they give you really. Not the soup itself as it's really basic and won't flavor meat at all. Cooking any meat in any liquid for a few mins won't really give it much flavor.. nothing is being soaked. The soups should be nice on their own but adding anything won't change it much especially meat. It shouldn't overpower what ever you throw in too (curry for example). Chinese clear soups are generally very subtle in flavor which is something westerns aren't used to. Especially compared to something like a hearty beef soup or some curry. | 6 |
97ljua | What are some good resources to keep up to date with food science and cooking techniques? I am a professional cook looking to expand my knowledge and read some cool stuff about cooking, food science and the general innovations restaurants are practicing to better our industry. | There are obviously the blog sources of high-end chefs. You can also go the academic route and take food science courses for free online. Here's just one as an example: https://www.edx.org/course/science-cooking-from-haute-cuisine-to-soft-matter-science-physics | 6 |
t4bs3u | How to roast and extract a lot of garlic? Usually when I roast garlic, I cut a head in half horizontally, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Then I pit the pieces to get, wrap in foil and roast. The problem is that it takes time to extract each piece with a butter knife or squeezing by hand. Are there any ways to prepare it at higher volumes where it remains soft and creamy? | Get peeled garlic. They have huge bags at Costco, or I can find it at my local Mexican grocery store in small delis for $2.50. | 6 |
w1uk2h | Why are my sauces so runny? I have been trying to master sauces as a novice home cook. On the weekend, I made Duck à l’Orange starting with a home made duck and chicken bone stock. After reducing and then refrigerating it, it was solid jelly. I then reheated the next day, added in the gastrique and orange juice, then reduced again. By the time I poured it over my duck, it was as loose and runny as water. Is the trick to let the sauce cool more? Do I just give up on making thick sauces via reduction and thicken it with some cornflour? Do I just need to reduce further? What am I missing here, for background this was 2L of stock made with 2kg bones that I reduced to under 500ml. Any help would be greatly appreciated! photo of the meal after I served it, see the thin sauce | 2l of home made stock will give you like 200 ml of jus by reduction if you're lucky. 10-1 reduction is pretty normal for gelatin concentration | 6 |
5cw4ea | /r/askculinary ama with Robb Walsh on Friday starting at 9:00 a.m. central standard time! Robb Walsh, most famous to me for Legends of Texas Barbecue, a book I've had for more than a decade, is going to be stopping by /r/askculinary for an AMA on Friday. He'll talk about barbecue, about food, about food writing, and whatever else you'd like to ask him. He'll also talk about the updated version of his book (above). Among other accomplishments, I think Robb was the first person to profile Aaron Franklin. There's something of a barbecue renaissance going on, and Robb is a great person to talk about it. I hope you'll come by and ask him your questions on Friday. | As a Brit who loves the idea of proper barbeque and smoking but with zero actual experience this AmA excites me. Just about to move to a house with a large enough garden to enjoy doing some outdoor cooking too, so great timing. (Just got to hope 2017 has some better weather than '16!) | 6 |
c3h7kh | Sweet Potato Fries Without adding starch or batter to sweet potato fries, what’s a good technique to make them crispy like a restaurant? I’ve tried baking and I’ve tried deep frying and I can never get the same result. | Like others have said sweet potatoes need starch if you want them crispy. An alternative to cornflour would be tapioca flour or potato flour. Rice flour can also sort of work in a pinch. I make mine by parboiling the fries like in the serious eats fries recipe. Then once drained and cooled i toss it in my flour of choice, then do a first fry (they will stick leave them for about 30 seconds then break them up, they should break up without resistance) Then when i want to eat i do a second fry until crispy. | 6 |
13gvwe | Kitchen Equipment]: Definitive advice for Pampered Chef baking stone cleaning & care. Internet answers are muddled at best. [This Chow Hound article is a great epitome of my experience thus far. I've found an ochikeron recipe for quick, no-rise, crispy pizza crust that I can whip up in a flash and have started to use a baking stone we'd gotten as a housewarming present, but never used up until now. I warm the stone up with the oven -it just seemed to make sense- and I scrape off the remains, but the tomato sauce has gotten on it and the thing looks pretty porous, so I don't want to get dish detergent soaked in there forever, but I don't want to be slovenly. So, r/AskCulinary, what gives? How does one clean and care for a baking stone. It says on the bottom: pampered chef family heritage. It's about 15 inch. | Scrape anything off with a nylon or similar spatula, never metal. Baking at a high temp will burn off anything else, but you need to cool slowly to prevent cracking. The more you use it the better it will get, try baking some biscuits or other high fat items on it to really season it well. Source: I sell pampered chef crap | 6 |
3tredi | Is there any reason I shouldn't use a cornstarch slurry as a gravy thickener? I just think it would be convenient. | Roux gives it flavor. I couldn't imagine ever not using a roux. The browning of the flour gives the gravy sort of a nutty, rich flavor I personally don't want to miss out on. You're worried about lumps? I've never had that problem. Use a whisk. | 6 |
3av3u1 | Why should I skim fat off my homemade stock? Is there a practical reason aside from calorie avoidance? I keep reading I should skim the fat off the top once the stock cools, but won't this make my stock (and eventually my soup) less rich? | I take it off and save it in a separate container that I use to saute things, onions especially. | 6 |
z4re8f | Can anyone tell me the name of this cooking utensil? I tried to post a photo but it's not allowed in this community. It's like a short fat handled meat knife looking thing that people use to scoop up garlic once they've minced it up. https://youtu.be/MvNh2Yg0Shg 3:15 minute mark he uses one | Everyone else called it correctly (bench scraper) but when I was in pizza restaurants, they always called it a dough knife. | 6 |
3yn6w4 | Need help cooking Spaghetti Carbonara for a family of people for a new years party. Hey everyone! So my family has been wanting to taste my cooking for awhile now and thought that this gathering would be a good time. They want to taste my Spaghetti Carbonara because that was one of the first dishes I have ever learnt. I learnt from this video by Antonio Carluccio. Here is my question: How do I scale this up for 9-10 people? I don't want to cook it plate by plate like in the video but at the same time I'm having difficulty thinking how it all at once considering the many factors at play(Using the heat of the pan to just thicken the egg sauce, using the bacon oil to flavour the pasta) I don't really know. I really want to stay as close as possible to the original recipe. Am I overthinking this? How would you do it? | I was reading an article on Carbonara on Serious Eats, (http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/12/how-to-make-the-best-carbonara-sauce-spaghetti-pasta.html) and the bit that really jumped out at me is that instead of using the frying pan to finish the dish, you can use a large bowl and utilise the pasta water as a double boiler. If you have a large metal bowl, as shown in the article, you should be able to easily do it in one or 2 batches, with the double boiler method giving greater control and insurance, which can only help in this scenario. Given this method, I'd do the following: 1. Fry your bacon/pancetta/guanciale, put to one side 2. mix the eggs and cheese in a bowl, put to one side, pregrating some cheese to finish as well if you want to make life easier later on 3. get your pasta cooking 4. drain the pasta, reserve some water in a jug/tumbler 5. create your double boiler, add the bacon (1/2 or all, depending on bowl size), allow the bowl to heat the bacon slightly to get the fat nice and fluid. 6. combine the remaining ingredients as per recipe, lifting the bowl if things get too hot. 7. repeat if you're doing in batches. 8. serve! As previously stated though, would strongly advocate a dry run first. This should hopefully remove some of the variables though. | 6 |
27eu17 | Once you serve soup, should you boil noodles in the broth or in a separate pot of water? | Boil noodles separately, then add them to the broth before serving your soup. Additionally, keep them separate when you're storing your soup as the noodles in any liquid will turn to mush. | 6 |
tgm1zd | Creaming Butter/Sugar in Sweet Roll Filling; The Blueberry Issue Hello! In this Brian Lagerstrom video, Brian creams the sugar and butter for his cinnamon roll filling. He says this enhances the stability of the filling when he bakes the rolls. My question is this: can I add blueberry or blueberry flavor (i.e. probably powder) to this without destabilizing the filling? | What I would try if I were making a rolled berry bun is a filling similar to the one Claire Saffitz did for her strawberry pop tarts. She made a jam, spread a thin layer on a baking sheet and let it dehydrate in a low oven to remove a lot of the moisture. Then she added a tablespoon or so of lemon juice and I think a bit of zest for freshness. You could do that and add your butter and cinnamon sugar over it. Though I might skip cinnamon and let the berry flavor be the focus. | 6 |
fszfia | I’m really lazy. Can I contaminate my food if I cook it all in one pan on the stove with raw chicken? | Cook everything in the pan to 165. Then you’ve killed everything that could have been in the chicken. | 6 |
eitfd0 | For people that use a coffee grinder for their spices, how do you prevent the flavors of one previous batch of spices from contaminating the next? I really like food that is heavy in spices and is basically defined by the elaborate seasoning mixes (Indian, BBQ, etc.) But I also don't want my next curry to taste like my last dry rub and I don't want my next set of ribs to taste like homemade chai. I could easily see cross contamination being a big issue with using a grinder for all spices and while I like the idea I also know that coffee grinders can be a huge pain to completely scrub clean (especially with spice mixtures that essentially become a dust like powder). What a solution around this or do you notice any issues? | I replaced my coffee grinder with a magic bullet. Same basic effect, but I've got a spare blade assembly, spare cups, and can do liquids in there too. And most importantly, (the reason for the switch) I can wash the whole thing easily. | 6 |
oqht9u | Recommended YouTube channels or Hulu shows/movies to learn more on cooking? I would ask about books but currently am unable to gain a library access or buy them, so I'm solely asking on free YT channels and any Hulu stuff that can teach me more about cooking on the terms of more professional culinary levels or food science. I love learning food science, food anthropology, new techniques, advance techniques and also just about new ingredients in general. Thank you in Advance! | Here's some that come to mind: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt What's Eating Dan (on America's Test Kitchen) Alex French Guy Cooking My Name is Andong Rick Bayless Proto Cooks with Chef Frank The Bread Code Adam Liaw Bruno Albouze Pailin's Kitchen | 6 |
yaj0c8 | Fresh lime substitute for dried lime in Ghormeh Sabzi Hi, I’m making Ghormeh Sabzi for the first time and decided to buy fresh limes as I can’t find dried Persian limes near me. With the fresh limes, should I follow the same procedure as for the dried limes (pierce and slow cook entire lime) or would it be better to juice them and add the juice before serving/to the crock pot as some recipes have suggested? Which would taste closer to the original recipe? Thank you | I am not Persian but have Persian friends and have had Ghormeh Sabzi many times. There really is no substitute for the dried lime. It is a VERY distinct taste (and you would never know it actually comes from limes). I can’t think of anything that would replicate it. I recommend just ordering it online. It is called Limon Omani. Here is a sample listing: https://www.amazon.com/Sadaf-Crushed-Lemon-Omani-oz/dp/B01N4IMWKY | 6 |
62w8ne | Hi so I'm wanting to make Korean barbecue inspired flank steak tacos this week. I'm wondering what kind of toppings or sides would go very well with that? All ideas welcome! | Maybe a kind of "Korean slaw"? Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha or gochujang, and a little fish sauce. Thinly slice bell peppers, red onion and cabbage and soak at least overnight. | 6 |
u7fg6y | Where to learn about plating and garnishing? I feel like it is very easy to find content about cooking techniques and recipes, but as a home cook i completely suck a plating and garnishing. I have a terrible sense of aesthetics and my food is commonly much better than it look. How can i learn to make my food look better when served? | Honestly instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest have taught me so much and it’s free | 6 |
1c8h4f | I'm terrible with steak cooking times, about to pan sear, oven finish two 10 ounce 1 1/2-1 3/4in filets, how long should they be in the oven? I've got them sitting out on the counter now to warm up a bit. I usually throw them in the cast iron on high and sear each side for a minute, then throw them in a 475* oven. I'm shooting for medium rare. I always get too nervous and check it too many times though, always seems to take longer than i expect. I'm thinking of doing them 5 minutes on each side. Any advice? | Doing them 5 minutes on each side for what, in the oven or the sear? If for the sear, that is way too long. If you want a nice medium rare, a simple trick to use, is hold up your hand and make an "OK" sign by connecting your pointer finger and thumb. LOOSELY connect those fingers, Now using your other hand's pointer, push on the flesh below thumb, palm side. That is what a medium rare steak feels like. So after about 4 minutes on each side, slightly push in the middle, you're looking for a similar resistance to what your flesh feels like under your thumb, when you make an "OK" sign. | 6 |
17qylp | good ideas for everyday sushi I quite often make sushi as a quick-and-dirty dinner, either for just myself or for one or two friends. I buy a whole side of salmon, cut it into roughly square pieces that I vacuum pack and freeze seperately in plastic bags. Whenever I want to make sushi I get a square piece of salmon out of the freezer, cut it into slices while it's still frozen and start making rice. If you cut the square pieces of salmon in the correct shape and size before you freeze them you will end up with 7-8 slices that can be used for nigiri sushi. When the rice is done the salmon is ready to use (around 5 degrees celsius) The leftovers are used for making a makiroll with the salmon cutoffs, avocado and cucumber or whatever else I have lying around. This gives me 5-6 salmon nigiri sushi and a roll of maki, which when cut leaves 7-8 makis. Perfect for dinner for 1 :-) Now the thing is that that salmon gets quite boring after a while, and I'd like to introduce some variation. Both in the makis and the nigiris. but I don't really have any good ideas. I've tried with tuna, but it's much more expensive and it doesn't seem to hold up as well in the freezer. It gets dry and boring pretty quickly. I've tried mackerel, and that worked out fairly well. (I can get fresh eel, mackerel, cod, plaice and heering from the local fishermenl). Any good ideas as to how to introduce some variation? | embarrassed (a bit) to add this one, but frozen fish fillets. heat em up, crunchy outside, a little wasabi, and bingo, a tasty guilty pleasure. (Of course, add avocado, etc for more flavors) | 6 |
5jd2rt | Bought half a kilo of fresh porcini mushroom for soup, can I make ultra mushroom soup? (with little-to-no liquids) My idea is to cut the mushroom into pieces, add some flavoring and seasoning. Heat up in a pan and then run through a blender and finally through a mesh sieve. My vision is a super "mushroomie" soup that I can use as a starter. So virtually no other liquid. Maybe a really small dash of cream or milk to get not so thick. All recipes I find call for dried porcini and lots of cream, stock and cream. I have pickled some shiitake and thyme oil that I was thinking of adding on top for tanginess. I can't really try right now but will later tonight. But I thought I'd ask here in case anyone has any good thoughts. Will it just become an inedible slurry? | You're making a mushroom paste. No matter what, the appearance will be grainy when you add other liquid to it. I'd just use mushroom powder. Same effect, stores better, easier to use, better end product (less graininess). And FWIW, half a kilo of fresh porcini isn't going to make a lot of concentrate. So instead, celebrate the freshness of the mushrooms by using them fresh in a soup base that uses powder. | 6 |
t2ohwa | Does beef get dryer when you run it through a fine grinding plate as compared to a coarse grinding plate? I was grinding my own meat for koobideh the other day and my new grinder had three grinding plates. According to videos I've seen online, Iranian restaurants grind their meat three times. First they grind it coarsely then mix it with onions and flavorings. After which they run it through a finer plate. Then once more. I did the same thing but used a coarse plate, medium plate, then fine plate for the last grind. The koobidehs turned out alright but turned out drier and more fibrous than desired. I thought maybe I need to add more fat so I did until I reached a maybe 20 - 23 percent ratio of fat to meat but the texture was still the same. What I want to know is, was I wrong to use the fine grinding plate? Could that have been the cause of the drier texture? I'm also thinking it could be the cut of beef itself. I saw some very cheap very lean beef cubes for sale so I bought those, thinking I could just add fat when grinding. Thanks in advance! | Does your koobideh recipe use baking soda? If not, you might consider trying it. It can help keep the meat tender when cooked. Searching around a bit, I do see multiple koobideh recipes that include baking soda, but not sure about yours. Personally, I've noticed that baking soda mixed into the meat also produces a springier, spongy texture in meatballs, which might not be desired in all recipes. But I think I already associate that texture with koobideh. | 6 |
2yxbw2 | KitchenAid Stand Mixer Maintenance Question Please let me know if this would be a more appropriate question for /r/DIY or some other sub. I have a KitchenAid Artisan mixer that is due for some maintenance. I want to clean and re-grease the transmission, and while I have the case open, replace a speed switch that has lost a knob. There is a retaining pin holding the snout into the rest of the planetary gearbox that I cannot remove. I have tried tapping it out fairly aggressively with a mallet and a smaller pin, but it won't budge. I don't have immediate access to an arbor press, so I'm kind of at a loss as to how best to proceed. Has anyone here encountered a similar problem and come up with a clever solution? Thanks in advance! | The pin in my KitchenAid manages to wiggle free during normal use, and in trying to return it to the correct location I have found the manoeuvre requires a specific angle of lift - in my case approximately 30 degrees from horizontal. There is no key so I am not sure why this is the case, but possibly try a few different angles while applying force to the pin? | 6 |
6amm82 | I wanna make salt caramel that starts off being runny and then ends up with a fudge-like texture when cooled. How do I go about it? I had a sudden idea to make a tarts (mini pies). More specifically a peach-tart without a dough-"lid" to cover it. Originally my plan was to make a sweet dough and then add very basic caramel-cinnamon-coated peaches on top of it. After a while I didnt like the idea texture wise - there was something missing. That's when I decided on wanting to add a small layer of salt caramel inside the baked tart, letting it cool so it wouldn't be runny but rather have a solid for the peaches to rest on top off. The question is: Can I rely on the cooling to turn the salted caramel from runny into a solid, or should I do something extra to achieve this? Furthermore, can I rely on the salted caramel to have a fudge-like texture when cooled? This is my first time doing something like this, I would appreciate some help. | my thought is that if you are planning on adding a layer of peaches, it will never really be set due to the moisture that the peaches will add to it. This is especially true if you are going to bake the assembled tart-the moisture from the fruit will mix with the caramel and as they heat and eventually boil. Even if you were planning to bake the shell, add the caramel and then top it off with a cooked peach topping, the moisture could be an issue if they sat for while. To make it more stable, a layer of something solid like a layer of pastry or cake might be needed to prevent the moisture from changing the caramel. | 6 |
1d0cdm | Tried making Salted Pumpkin Caramels, ended up with the hardest substance known to man. Any way to salvage/tips for the future? Hey guys, I tried making this recipe last night, but without a candy thermometer (I didn't even realise they were a thing) and maybe have over cooked it a little after reading the comments section. Many other people had the problem of their caramels not hardening and turning into a sauce like consistency; I had the opposite problem, once set the mixture could probably be used to cause permanent harm. I was taking out spoonfuls and dropping into cold water to test consistency, but it seemed to get very hard very quickly (after initially being very liquidly) once the cream mixture was added. Despite this I'd really like to either salvage what I have (I realise this may be unlikely) or get some tips for trying it again (although likely still without a candy thermometer as it won't come in time for when I need it!) I've read that reheating and adding water can help, but may also continue to caramelise the sugar and make it taste bitter :/ Can I add more syrup to counteract this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! :) I'd like to try this again tonight. If you need pics of how it currently looks this I shall provide! Thanks! | /r/CandyMakers might have some advice as well. | 6 |
4b8inn | How do I replicate kettle corn from the farmer's market? I got a whirley pop a few months ago and I've been trying replicate the kettle corn I get at the farmer's market without any success. I've been using this recipe. Is there some type of corn or oil that they're using? Or is it not possible to get the same exact texture and appearance without getting the same cauldron that they use? | I just bought an electric version of something like the whirley pop, and I'm messing around to try and find the right ratio, as well. I've read a variety of recipes online, and they seem to range anywhere between 1/4-1/3 cup of oil for the same amount of sugar, and 1/4-1/2 cup popcorn. I add everything while the pan is cold, and let it go until you hear a few seconds between pops. I have found, with mine, that I need to shake the cooker, and not just rely on the stirring arm. I have found that the stirring arm on mine has enough space between it and the cooking surface that it can trap a few popper kernels in it, and just drag them around the cooking surface, which results in those kernels burning. I've found that shaking the pot every 15 seconds or so helps to release anything that's sticking towards the bottom. I have a friend who makes it at home in his electric machine, and he swears by using premium popcorn kernels, and not just the cheap, standard, yellow corn kernels, or the store brand stuff. You're not going to be able to get the same texture and appearance without making it in a big cauldron, but it can get close. I'm closing in on the sweet spot for my home machine, and I'm satisfied with the results that I'm getting, so far. It's not exactly the same, but it's good enough for using this appliance. | 6 |
eo7i6x | Vietnamese | Banh mi | What's the spicy and sweet red sauce ? Hello All, Context: This weekend i ate Banh mi sadwich (which had carrots, cucumber, cooked tofu) at http://thinkingcup.com/ Sandwich had red sauce which tasted sweet at the get-go and within a second heat kicked in. I asked the shop what sauce it is and they said its siracha mixed with something else. I have used siracha before and it wasnt siracha. Request: Whats the sauce that the shop could have put in my sandwich ? | Seems unlikely that they were outright lying about it being sriracha mixed with something else, so the question becomes what was "something else"? The shop looks like a cafe/breakfast/lunch place, not really Vietnamese at all, with no banh mi on the menu. So I'm guessing it was a daily special, and the likelihood it was an esoteric Vietnamese condiment is low. On the menu some other condiments/sauces listed include housemade BBQ sauce, housemade aioli, dijon mustard, mango chutney, sweet 'n' spicy mustard, and roasted garlic aioli. Do you feel like the look and taste of the sauce could have been sriracha mixed with one of those other things? | 6 |
1xkr8q | Anyone attended culinary school with almost zero cooking knowledge/experience? So I'm thinking of attending the 9 month part-time Culinary Arts program at the International Culinary Center in NYC. I already have a non-cooking related full time job that I don't plan on leaving. I want to go to culinary school because I like the idea of learning such a useful skill in a regimented fashion under professionals and because I have money to burn (Thank you GI Bill). But I don't have a lot of cooking experience. I mean I can make an omelet and spaghetti but not much more than that. Has anyone here gone to culinary school with little to no experience? How was your experience? Did you feel overwhelmed? | Hey man I am in my first year of Culinary School at Niagara College, and I went in only with 2 highschool classes worth of experience. You will have classmates who have no experience whatsoever, and you may have classmates who have plenty experience. However, the chefs and teachers are very helpful in making you sure are doing the proper technique and stuff. It is a great experience and I have met many people who I would consider calling family. I do think that Culinary School is a worth while experience. Edit: I forgot to add in, that you do learn ALOT such as veggie cuts, how to prepare sauces, salad dressings, stocks, baking and all sorts of stuff | 6 |
8v07t1 | How to get Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix to make wrinkly, flat cookies? I always bake with this mix and it always comes out with a lovely browned bottom and edges, but the middle is always an unsightly pale and isn't flat but domed. Is there any way to get this cookie mix to bake wrinkly, flat cookies? | You just need to add butter. The more butter a cookie dough has the more it will liquify and spread out on the baking sheet when you put it in the hot oven and then butter melts. | 6 |
xtr43l | Does anyone have insight into the term "klom klom" in Thai cuisine? I came across this term in an article about Sriracha years ago: "It's not mixed together properly. There's only one taste." Saowanit says a proper Sriracha sauce needs to be what Thais call *klom klom* — the hotness, the sour, the sweet and the garlic all blending together seamlessly, none overpowering the other. Is this a well-known concept, or spoken of in depth elsewhere? Googling pulls up mostly just restaurants called "klom klom" or "klom klorm." Here's what one translation of the name says: "The namesake dish here (Klom Klom means 'Round Round') is *roti*, a type of fried bread with origins in South Asia." So is klom klom usually used to describe a type of bread or an mixture of flavor? Are they saying the flavor needs to be "round," like a bread roll? I find it especially fascinating as an idea of bringing vastly different flavors into a whole, in contrast with the characteristic European tradition of matching flavors. | Your definition is right there. > Saowanit says a proper Sriracha sauce needs to be what Thais call klom klom — the hotness, the sour, the sweet and the garlic all blending together seamlessly, none overpowering the other. This something is klom klom (I don't know the proper usage) if is balances hot, sour, sweet and salt in the right way. Not always equal, mind. Thai food and Vietnamese often feature distinct flavors that combine when you eat them unlike European food where flavors tend to be more blended together (before someone gets their panties in a twist, I am not say all European food is blended but it's common). | 6 |
1h9h0j | Making duck confit - is it possible to (partly) substitute duck fat with something else? I'm making duck confit (4-5 legs) and I'm thinking about buying 600 g of duck fat. I'm guessing I will be needing around 1 kg of fat but since it's very expensive I'm wondering if it's possible to top up with a neutral oil without compromising the end result and the keeping qualities of the duck fat? | Lard is an excellent substitute. | 6 |
bwe7m5 | How long to mix pizza dough for proper amount of gluten in a non commercial stand mixer? I have made NY style pizza dough a few times using this recipe and I am not quite sure I am letting the dough knead enough in the mixer. I have tried the "window pane" test but it seems pretty subjective to me. I work a little better with times and measurements. Is there a baseline of time you would let your dough mix on the bread hook before testing it's stretchiness and transparency? The mixer is a standard KitchenAid Using bread flour and dry active yeast with a 10 minute bloom. | The more I’ve made bread over the years, the more I’ve come to appreciate the significance of high moisture content. I think many US home bakers, myself included, are accustomed to making doughs that are rather firm, and smooth, and dry to the touch. Easy work with and yielding a tight uniform crumb texture, nice for immediate consumption or toasting. I think the best Italian (and French) breads I love - chewy, crisp exterior, bigger bubbles - have one fundamental thing in common. A soft, wet dough that is sticky and a bit loose. That can be accomplished by a lot or a little kneading (with a good autolyse). So, the question to me is a related issue, but not the core one. The dough and its fundamental proportions exists before the issue of kneading time is considered. | 6 |
f8a6y4 | Is Bolognese with a ton of tomato still Bolognese? Or something with a different name? Just curious. I do something very similar to Marcela Hazans bolognese but I double the pureed tomatoes and a couple of other little changes. So basically I took something that wasnt traditional Bolognese to begin with and made it even less traditional. It is one of the few things my notoriously picky young daughter will eat so I aint changin nuffin.. but.. just curious what I am actually making if it isnt Bolognese. Thanks! | I guess technically no. I would call it a meat ragu, but if it taste good, I say who cares | 6 |
1g9717 | Tips on making a good salad dressing? It seems like it should be simple, but for the life of me I can never get a vinergarete right, while my mom will just pull different herbs/vinegars mix it with some olive oil and everytime its a perfectly suited dressing. What am I doing wrong/ are there any hard and fast rules or just basic guidelines to follow? | Please be more specific. What are your specific complaints about the qualities of your dressing? Not enough herb aroma? Try bruising the herbs and add more. Oily and lacking nutty/floral notes? Maybe you're using olive oil that is doctored with sunflower oil. | 6 |
9ye6k3 | Having a hot baked mac n cheese for Friendsgiving Hey all! I'm looking to make a baked broccoli mac n cheese for a friendsgiving event on Thanksgiving (side note: if anyone has a killer recipe I'm all ears), and I'm trying to figure out how to time it right so it's ready to eat, and hot, around dinner time. I'm not a total kitchen noob, but I could use some advice. How much of the recipe can I prep and put in the fridge the night before? Is there a stage I can get it to where I can just pop it in the oven before it's time to eat? | Confirm with your host that you can use the oven long enough to fully bake it. If not, it will be fine if you bake it at home that AM and microwave it when you get there or put it in just long enough to warm. As mentioned below, if you don't get any oven time, crock pot mac and cheese can be the bomb dot com | 6 |
flbpyz | How long can I leave bread dough in the fridge before baking it? I am still very new to breadmaking, but I had a day off if work yesterday and wanted to bake something. I had all of the ingredients to make some bread. The recipe had me split the dough in half after the first rise. I continued with the half that I was going to bake, but threw the other half in a plastic bag in the fridge. I definitely won't have time to bake it until Saturday, as I work in healthcare and must go to work still. I noticed it's already doubled in size in the fridge. Is it okay to leave until Saturday, or should I freeze it until the night before? | 48 hours is usually a good max. I've gone 60 with sourdough. I have 14 lbs. of sourdough entering hour 40 right now. My fridge temp is 34ºF. If your fridge temp is over 38ºF, then 24-36 hours might be max *for bread.\** Longer time and the yeast activity diminishes. \*Still good dough for pizza shell and breadsticks, not so much for bread. If you freeze it, it should only be frozen for a day or two. Otherwise you'll get diminishing returns. | 6 |
123rfg | Pine nut replacement in pesto? I have a pine nut allergy, but love pesto. Any non-nut replacement recommendations that I may not have thought of? I've been using sunflower seeds, which turns out pretty good, although the texture ends up a little grainier than traditional. | I use pistachios all the time as a replacement... I know it is still a nut but I had to chime in anyways. :) Roasted soybeans maybe? | 6 |
2nn3oz | The third annual /r/askculinary Thanksgiving leftovers Talk From sandwiches to pho, everybody and his sister has suggestions on using Thanksgiving leftovers. What have you tried that worked the best? Are any of the complicated transformations worth the trouble? What are the secrets to a more perfect hash? | I'm planning on making steamed bao later today filled with turkey, gravy, and stuffing. It's either going to be glorious or a trainwreck. | 6 |
p3qjj9 | For making a stock that calls for cheese rind - is there much difference in using Parmesan vs Parmigiano Regiano? My mother and I want to make French onion soup with a recipe that calls for putting the rind in the stock. She bought a wedge of Parmesan not really knowing the difference. Does the difference still matter as much when using the rind to flavor soup? | Yep. You serve me some of that basic ass parmesan stock I will spit it in your face. Regiano or nothing, mf! /s Stock is flavoured water, and my r/cooking hot take is that people obsess way too much over a minor component to a dish. | 6 |
mjx5eg | Would it be possible to to mix instant tea powder with coconut manna/butter (a spread made of dried coconut flesh that has been puréed) to make freezer safe “tea latte bombs” or as a fun alternative to chocolate bars I mean by theory any instant tea powder with the right spices mixed with coconut manna/butter (and maybe some sweetener such as stevia or coconut sugar), would work and taste great; I mean chai latte in a bar form with a creamy coconut base would probably taste amazing. But sadly I can’t afford to have a miscalculation and waste precious money and time on *highly* expensive ingredients. | If you tell me the exact recipe you want to try, I'll literally make it and report back. I'm interested in figuring out some healthier snack food but am not great at making things up so we can help each other :) | 6 |
o4cqcu | When making fresh pasta, do I salt the water or the pasta itself? Store bought pasta is pretty much always pretty flavourless so it's obvious that the water should be salted. Especially since the pasta has a lot of time to soak the saltiness in. But fresh pasta cooks so fast that there's no way that saltiness from the water does anything, right? So, do I add the salt directly into the pasta while making it or do I still salt the water? Or both? | Most pasta dough recipes don’t have salt. That’s why Italians say to make the water as salty as the sea. | 6 |
miaxte | Why does my bread smell like alcohol I was making some hokaiddo style milk rolls, which are heavily yeasted, but I've made this exact recipe several times and it came out normal | Fermenting bread should smell like booze that's what yeast make out of the sugar/starch they eat. It's possible you added to much yeast or let it proof for too long and therefore are smelling the booze more than previously. It should mostly cook off when you bake it. | 6 |
7zsn14 | Can I ‘make’ or approximate heavy cream if I have whole milk and butter? Title. Thanks! | Straight butter won’t hurt. Marcella Hazan has a recipe that is just tomato, butter and half an onion. | 6 |
1jin35 | Caramelising onions in the slow cooker - follow up! In case anyone was interested in the results after my earlier thread, I didn't really have great results using this method. After 12 hours on low in a slow cooker my onions ended up brown and mushy, yes, and they definitely smelled browned (if that makes sense), but the taste was incredibly underwhelming... more like what I would expect overly stewed onions to taste. Which I suppose is exactly what this was! I am pretty sure I didn't taste caramelisation of the sugars, as predicted by a few in the comments, nor did they ever get anywhere near as deep brown and delicious as they do using the pan method. Probably just too much moisture. I ended up taking them out the next day and finishing them off in the pan; it definitely reduced the amount of time it took to finish in the pan as they were already broken down and I guess this helps to release the sugar compounds but I'm not convinced that this small time saving was worth the 12 hours in the slow cooker. I wonder whether it might work better in a low temperature oven in a cooking vessel with a looser fitting lid, where presumably the environment will be a lot drier. I can't be bothered to try that though; next time I'll just use the de-glazing over high heat method, seems much less effort in comparison! | Alton Browns method.. | 6 |
6wn989 | Weekly discussion - Travel Food Snacks are an important part of the road trip experience, and usually an unfortunate burden in air travel. What do you bring along when you travel? Any important guidelines to keep from spilling your meal all over your lap or annoying everyone around you? | Beef jerky. 7lbs of top sirloin roast turn into about 1lb of jerky. I smoke it for about 4hrs. I tend to make it when I see roasts on a very good sale then I lose my mind and get almost more meat than I can deal with. | 6 |
1dpnfl | Got a nice beef shank in anticipation of making my first non-chicken stock. But I have all these chicken bones. Wondering if I should just toss them in... I'll just be making a soup with the stock, so I'm wondering if I might as well just use these chicken bones to make the soup that much heartier. But would a combo beef/chicken stock be appetizing? Or would I be better off just letting beef stock be beef stock and saving the chicken bones for later? I make a pretty decent chicken stock (my wife's Jewish family approves), so I'm familiar with basic stock techniques. But beef stock is new to me. I know I am going to roast the shank for about an hour at around 400-450 degrees, with some onions and carrots and celery. Then I'm going to deglaze the pan and add everything to the pan before simmering for 4-6 hours. I'd love to hear any other recommendations, though I started this thread specifically to find out if I'd be ruining my beef stock by adding chicken bones. | In a restaurant, I would never under any circumstances do this. But for home cooking, I say go right ahead... It's *not* going to taste bad. | 6 |
k2typw | How should I decide what kind of wine to use when cooking? One of my friends finished his master's, so I'm making a special dinner to celebrate. I'm planning on cooking a filet with a blue cheese crumble, and topping it off with a sauce of red wine, sherry, and shallots. However, since the recipe just calls for a red I'm not sure which variety to go for. Does any kind work? Is there a rule of thumb that x wine is used in y dish or anything like that? Currently I'm thinking of using a Zinfandel since that's what I have on hand, but since the meat is so expensive I don't want to mess it up with a silly mistake. | It doesn't matter that much. It will just taste different, but it will mostly taste like meat. Just consider that most people can't even taste the difference between 2 wines. Now add all those other things? Unless you have very different wines, like a white, a fortified red, and dry red, most people will just identify the difference in color and a little sweetness. You can freely swap out white wine, or beer, or whatever, and it will taste different but identifying which is bad, or better has more to do with the entire recipe and process vs just what alcohol you use. If you are making a pan sauce, most of the flavor of the dish should still come from the meat itself. The sauce is for moisture and for aesthetics. If you use a white wine, it will be more acidic. Then you just adjust the flavor of the sauce to be enjoyable. I think one of the more important things to learn is that the wine doesn't carry the dish. | 6 |
127cvx | I want to smoke salmon (hot, not cold smoking). Last time I tried both wet and dry brines, which left the fish WAY too salty. Any advice? Every brining method looks like it would produce the same results, and brining for a shorter period of time leaves me with fish that is still salty, but also less flavorful. | Have you tried no brine? I have smoked salmon sliced right from the fish and found it turned out pretty damn awesome. My favorite is partially smoked salmon. I usually can't wait for things to dry out enough to be durably preserved and find myself picking things out of the smoker early. Raw thin slices of salmon partially smoked are a delicacy you'll never find unless you do it yourself because it is not treated thoroughly enough to consider "preserved". If I had a sushi restaurant I'd slice my salmon thin to reject anisakis parasites and partially smoke salmon sashimi. Draped on a slug of rice, that stuff would be awesome. | 6 |
1xte1g | When boiling an egg, does it make any sense to let the egg slowly warm up to room temperature in the water before boiling to prevent it from cracking? My Dad does this and I'm trying to explain how it makes no sense because the egg is going to warm up very quickly anyway. I think it's one of those silly traditions people get into in which they think it works because it doesn't not work. Thank you. | Here is the actual answer, but converting folks on articles of religion, like boiling eggs or grilling steaks is an up hill slough. Unless you are being forced to eat sub standard food, leave the man alone, he's happy with his eggs. | 6 |
nwbbhe | Is there a list somewhere of french (and other language) culinary phrases? i mean things like "mise en place", "amuse-bouche", "salato come il mare". if there isn't some list, maybe we can share some of the more interesting culinary phrases here | Larousse Gastronomique | 6 |
y52j8v | Schweinshaxe (German Pork Shank/Knuckle) - The Bubbly Rind Puzzle I would like to reliably make a *good* Schweinshaxe with a beautiful, spectacular, bubbly rind. I never had it in restaurants, but I've been fascinated by it ever since I saw pictures of the stuff, so I went on a quest. I consider the fluffy rind to be the wow factor in the recipe, and I'm dead set on getting it right. After various blog-post results, attempts, and failures, I zeroed in on three recipes of interest: * Klas' recipe - Tastes all right, but I was never able to get the bubbly rind seen in his video. * Barbara's recipe - I ADORED the taste and texture of that one, super tender, super easy to eat, bursting with flavor. However, no bubbly rind. I don't think she was going for one anyway. Still, I find that take to be the best-tasting of them all. * Hofbrauhaus' recipe This one gave me a bubbly rind on the first attempt, and it was amazing and spectacular, exactly what I was shooting for! Unfortunately... the meat was EXTREMELY tough, and I had to fight hard with it to cut up my bites and eat them. It's worth noting that in my neck of the woods, German food isn't really a *thing*, thus I have nothing to go on but the Internet for advice and tips regarding German cuisine. I'm fairly certain that the pork shanks I get at the butcher shop are not from the same exact part used to make Schweinshaxe. Furthermore, the rind on the pieces I buy is visibly much thicker and tougher than what I see in the videos. I have a heavy suspicion that this is a factor in my results. Tonight, I chose to do a mash-up, try to get the best of both worlds! Here's what I did: * Simmer the pork just like in Barbara's recipe: 1:30 hours in water, beer, carrots, leek, garlic, juniper berries, caraway seeds, salt, bay leaves, and one clove. * Take out the pork, and trim away some of the rind so that I can put the piece on its side with the underside being exposed meat, and the upper side having a rind that'll face towards the oven's heating element. The exposed meat, I seasoned with a bit of salt, a good crack of pepper, a pinch of caraway seeds, and one finely minced garlic clove. * Douse with dunkel beer (I had some Aventinus doppelbock lying around) then place in the oven at 400F for 30 minutes fan-assisted. I have the piece propped up on a wire rack, and onto a flat oven dish so air can circulate around as much as possible. * Douse again with beer, and kick it up to 450F on convect-broil, all while keeping a careful watch. Unfortunately, the pork struggled to form a fluffy rind. I could hear crackles and pops, but by the time anything significant was happening, I was on the verge of burning the rind altogether, so I took out the pork, and chose to eat then and there. I was able to eat a few little bites of fluffy rind, but I really had to work hard to find them. So then, what am I doing wrong here? I'm not too sure how to proceed from here on out, and I feel that something elementary is missing in my procedure. | This recipe has some good tips on how to achieve that crackling skin. | 6 |
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