Why do I sometimes “cream” and “beat until smooth”, and sometimes not?

For the same reason that sauce recipes will sometimes direct you to cut the tomatoes, sometimes to puree them, sometimes to deseed them, etc. You are not only making a cake every time, you are making different kinds of cake, and for each kind, there is a method which will produce the desired type of cake.
It will probably be more useful to stop thinking that 'the basic rule of thumb is to “cream”'. There is no basic rule of thumb. What is needed is to mix the ingredients in a way such as to provide the desired final texture in the cake. There are perhaps 6-7 methods which can be used, and the choice of method is always an integral part of the recipe, to the point where Michael Ruhlmann considers sponge cake and pound cake to be two different cakes, made with exactly the same ingredients at exactly the same ratios, but with two different methods (the creaming and the egg-foaming method).
As a very brief description of the specific methods of creaming and all-at-once, creaming is generally used for cakes with a finer final texture that is softer, with uniform small bubbles. Festive decorated cakes and tortes are frequently made with layers using this technique. The all-in-once method, also called the muffin method, is more commonly used for everyday cakes. It gives you a somewhat irregular texture with some tooth, requires a chemical leavener, and is more tolerant of adding extra ingredients, such as fruit or vegetables in sweet loaves like banana bread, zucchini bread, etc.


Can an American substitute for garam masala be made?

Garam masala is a catch-all term for an Indian spice blend. It has no fixed recipe but is likely to contain a combination of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay, black pepper, star anise, dried chillies, coriander, cumin and maybe more or less. Blends vary according to family tradition and region. Spices are then dried out and possibly roasted, before being ground to dust.

The downside is that if you find garam masala hard to find you may well find the components equally tricky to source. In the UK we are spoiled by a wealth of Indian grocers who stock these ingredients in reasonably-priced quantities. These spices are also readily available in any supermarket due to our historic connection to India.

For a starting point that aims towards the curries that you have specified, I would combine 20g cloves, 50g cardamom seeds, 100g cinnamon sticks, 5 bay leaves, 75g black peppercorns, 100g coriander seeds and 100g cumin seeds. Some toast the seeds in a dry pan but to avoid scorching and to squeeze out all the moisture I use the Heston Blumenthal technique: dry-roast the spices in a very low oven (100C / 212F) for an hour and leave to cool. Blitz to powder in a coffee or spice grinder. I would recommend storing for up to 6 months in an airtight jar to preserve its punch.

Remember this is only a starting point and can be completely customised according to how you like your curries.


Are spores an issue in sauteed pepper storage when you add garlic?

It seems that temperatures in excess of 250°F for an extended period of time will destroy a significant percentage of the botulism spores but I cannot find a definitive, science based answer on botulism spore death.
Acidifying garlic can take three days to one week when stored in vinegar, so I would assume the pH will not carry enough weight.
As long as it's in the refrigerator, you've got a few days, at least.
How much are you making at one time? You can freeze garlic in oil and keep it for months that way. Googling suggests that freezing peppers in oil is a common technique, too, so you should be able to store the entire thing in the freezer for months. You could make a large batch and freeze them in ready-to-use portions and be confident that your food is safe.


Why does water leak from a refrigerator?

Internally there are evaporator coils that produce the cold. Condensation will build up on them. There is a drain to the bottom. Often so little water is built up that it evaporates and you never need to empty the drain pan. That drain pipe/tube may be blocked. If the drain is blocked the water will drip into the refrigerator (by design). A fan may have gone out and the coils are iced up. Defrost the whole unit is worth a try - the drain could iced over or the tube could be iced.

A freezer with defrost cycle would not eliminate chance of a drain tube icing.


Is it okay to freeze a cheesecake for a shorter period of time as opposed to chilling it longer?

Don't freeze it. I tried that. The ice crystals that form at the lower temperature make the cheesecake texture awful and can cause cracks.

However, people will eat warm cheesecake so just chill it in fridge for whatever amount of time you do have.


Had a small oven fire, how do i get the smoke smell out of the oven?

Bicarbonate of soda is the most effective agent for removing odours in my experience.

I've used it to detox a fridge that stank of fish after I accidently left fresh seabass in there before going off on holiday.

Just scrub it in using a scourer and warm water, followed by a thorough rinse.


There's a recipe at Indian Food Forever, although I've never made it, tried it, or even heard of it before, so I cannot attest to the validity of the recipe. A quick Google search for "rabri" will turn up a few more links to recipes in the first page of results.


I did some googling as you suggested and found a few things:

One blog made the exact recipe and the top shows a deep "trench" between the outer rim and the middle chimney. As if the cake didn't rise well in the middle areas. Invert this, and the top may sink down on the platter, leaving a cavity like in your cake unless the cake is properly set.
Another blog shows beautiful pictures, but admits to have adjusted the recipe - less sugar, fewer egg yolks and cream. This brings it to standard pound cake ratios.

A pound cake is called pound cake for a reason: all main ingredients (sugar, fat, eggs, flour) come in equal parts, originally a pound (for very large cakes!).

The original one from the blog uses way more sugar and skimps a bit on the eggs, when looking at ca. 340g of flour and fat. Also, using butter and oil may be a problem - some pound cakes deal well with oil, others get a bit "mushy" in my experience. Replacing some eggs with cream (again, 180 ml is too much, as your too wet results show) can be done, but "weakens" the inner structure a bit, combined with extra sugar and oil it may be just too much. Looks like the baking powder either couldn't lift enough or the texture couldn't stabilize during baking and cooling.

You probably won't like this, but I suggest using ratios closer to a standard pound cake (less sugar, use only as much cream as needed to get the correct texture), then work from there towards the original until you find your personal threshold.


What kind of whetstone for sharpening a nylon edge?

I'd use fairly fine wet/dry paper taped to a hard  flat surface, probably used wet. You could move to a finer grade to finish. This will keep it nice and flat.

Or you can shave/whittle the edge with a scalpel or razor blade. That's what I've done with a nylon spatula that I want a nice edge on, but on that the edge tends to deform rather than wear down, because it's used to push against hot things.


Which salsa ingredient makes it taste like dirt?

My partner has a very sensitive "dirt-flavor" sense... One of the ingredients that may be found in salsa that often triggers it for her is cumin.


Are garbage cans food safe, or made of food grade plastic?

What you want is something that is listed as NSF rated for food storage. I know both Huskie and Rubbermaid Brute containers (10 gal, 20 gal, 32 gal, 55 gal) that are gray, yellow or white have that rating. If you have a restaurant supply store in your area, you could go look around for "ingredient bins" and commercial garbage cans. Just remember, a white Brute bin with lid that slides open and is sold as an "Ingredient Bin" will probably run $85 while the same white Brute bin with a flat lid and sold as a "Garbage Can" will run you closer to $45.


What type of methylcellulose would be appropriate for gel noodles?

There's actually a commercial product designed for the purpose - methocel for gluten replacement can be used to make noodles.

http://www.dow.com/dowwolff/en/food_nutrition/products/gluten_replacer.htm

It would be hard to specify a grade comparable to the agar solution - the two things do not behave similarly when hot and cold. An agar solution giving a particular gel strength will have a much lower viscosity when liquified than a methocel gel of comparable strength. And there are several types of agar - it is a natural product, its properties depend on the seaweed species, locality and processing method.

Experimenting with solutions of E50 would probably get you there, but I'm not sure that the Schellhoss recipe tells the whole story. The combination of seaweed gel with parmesan makes me suspect that the gel is acting as a MSG enhancer on the high natural MSG content of the parmesan.

Whatever, hope these ramblings help your decision.


What is this cotton-like stuff growing on my pizza sauce?

It's mould. You've probably seen it growing on bread. Refrigeration slows it down, but eventually it'll grow.

You didn't say when you bought it and opened it. Perhaps your fridge is not set cold enough?


What is the purpose of a pressure cooker in a rice cooker?

The usual purpose of pressure in pressure cookers is that they can heat water to >100°C without it starting to boil, thereby reducing cooking time.


How is one meant to treat fenugreek seeds?

When cooking with fenugreek personally, I have found that processing them in a grinder is the best way to use them in a dish. If they are not ground fine enough they can remain a bit more textured. Longer cooking time in liquid can help with the breaking down of the texture as well. However, it is best to just start out with grinding them as fine as you can.

In response to the mustard seeds, I leave them whole, or grind them. Depending on how I plan to use them. They can be prepared in dishes both ways. They too break down in liquid much easier than the fenugreek seeds. So the crunchy texture you mentioned, may have been from the fenugreek, not the mustard seeds. Cooking duration can play a role too, just to keep that in mind.


French dressing will not blend or mix to be creamy

Try adding a bit of egg yolk. The lecithin in that usually helps these things emulsify. Obviously you can't do that if you're young/pregnant/old.

If you don't want to try egg yolk. Put everything in but the oil. Add maybe half the oil and shake, then add a bit more and shake. Do it piece by piece as if you were drizzling into a bowl and mixing by hand with a whisk.


Fill a clean bowl with cold water.  Place in sink.  Place fish in bowl under the tap.  Turn on cold water so that it slowly trickles into the bowl. This is safe in the short term, or just until the fish is thawed.  Of course, a firmer fleshed fish will handle this better than, say, a skate wing or some thin flounder.  A plastic bag is basically irrelevant for safety.  It will not keep you from getting sick if the fish remains in the danger zone for enough time...that is, unless your fish is floating in contaminated water, which is probably unlikely in your situation.


What type of fish would be best suited for a trio pairing of sashimi, crudo and ceviche?

I think the Albacore and Sea Bass are both great ideas. I'm not sure about the Swordfish. It would be fine in the Crudo or Ceviche, but I don't know how it would be as Sashimi.

Fish that I'd look at for this are:

Yellowtail
Halibut
Tuna
Sea Bass
Scallops (to think outside the "fish" box a little)
Salmon

I'm not sure if those are "in season" for you, and I can't find a good resource to determine that. I'd suggest getting a list of 5-6 fish and heading to your local fishmonger / farmers market / or Whole Foods and ask what's in season. Personally, I'd do Tuna, Yellowtail, and Scallops if you wanted to do 3x3.


What to do if a turkey has been brined for too long

According to Alton Brown (of Serious Eats fame) you can safely brine a turkey for days. However, you'll need to adjust the brine depending on the duration. Yesterday I roasted a chicken that was brined for about 36 hours and the results were delicious.

AB Fan: Can I brine an 18-pound turkey overnight, or is this too long?
Alton Brown: No, it's not too long. Technically, you could brine a turkey for several days. The trick is in two things--brine concentration versus mass. You could either soak a bird for a long time in weak brine, or for a short time in a stronger one. You're better with weaker brine and a longer soak, so take the standard brine that we use in "Good Eats," and you could easily do that overnight. If you're afraid of it being too salty, you might cut back to 3/4 cup of salt instead of the full cup, but leave the sugar amount the same. I've gotten to where I really like to thaw my turkeys in brine, because I can make my brine, keep it in a cooler, toss in my frozen bird, and leave it for days if I want without worrying about the temperature getting too high. It will stay really cold, but, at the same time, the water will help thaw the bird. So when it's thawed, it's already brined. But that is an imprecise science, so you have to work with it. If I feel the brine will get too warm, I'll add a bit of ice. So far, that hasn't happened. It stays around 40 degrees.

Quoted from a forum post.


How to store seeds so that they will not get full of insects?

The rules are the same as keeping rice, beans, or lentils: keep them in a container that the insects can't chew through, and do not allow them access.  This means glass, thick plastic (not a bag), or metal.  I would do my best to dry off the seeds to prevent mold growth, beforehand.  Even laying them on a paper towel for 15-20 minutes should help.

If you have problems with mold, try using something like a canning jar and use fine cloth in place of the lid.  It should keep bugs out and allow moisture to escape.

Refrigeration will greatly extend the life of your seeds; if bugs do not have a chance to lay eggs on them, and the seeds are sufficiently dry to prevent mold, they should refrigerate for months.

Freezing is also good idea, as this will kill any bug larvae and prevent microbial spoilage; I'd try freezing a small batch of seeds first to make sure the moisture doesn't split them open.


Accuracy of the temperature is going to vary by oven, so there's no definitive answer there. As GdD said, you'll just have to get a thermometer and try it.

However, I think this will probably work fine for most sous vide applications. While sous vide is all about precision, a couple of degrees fluctuation isn't going to make a huge difference for most preparations (eggs are a notable exception), particularly given the thermal mass of the water. You could also throw a pizza stone or something in the oven too to help keep a more constant temp.


How to mix ingredients in bread machine?

Some (many) bread machines don't mix well, so you might not get a good mixture whatever you do. But it's worth trying.

If you are making the bread immediately after adding the ingredients, it probably doesn't matter much how you add the ingredients; just put the yeast and the sugar and such in the centre.

If you use the timer, it is important that the yeast stay dry up until the moment the machine starts mixing. What gave me the best result is this:

add water, sugar, salt, egg, fat;
mix this by moving the pan around until the ingredients are mostly dissolved (or stir with a wooden implement);
then put all the flour in a heap in the middle of the pan;
make a hollow in the centre of this heap, put the yeast in this hollow;
then set the timer.

Another tip: if you put the pan on a kitchen scale while adding ingredients, and you press "tare" on the scale after each ingredient, it's much easier to weigh everything. This only applies if you use ingredients by weight, of course.

Lastly, experimenting with amounts that differ from the recipe may greatly improve your bread. It depends on the machine. I also found that the "French" setting on the machine (= longer baking) gave the best crust.


can I freeze chicken defrost it and eat cold for lunch?

That's perfectly fine, assuming the meats were cooked properly originally. If you look up people doing bento lunches, they use freezer staples a lot; often, if the item is small enough, it can be packed in a lunch still frozen and be defrosted by lunchtime. However, if you're talking about a whole steak or chicken breast, you'll want to stick it in the fridge overnight to let it defrost first.


Can/should I use baking soda when cooking beans?

In his book On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee writes regarding beans and legumes:

  Plain salt at a concentration around 1% (10 g/L, or 2 teaspoons/qt)
  speeds cooking greatly, apparently because the sodium displaces
  magnesium from the cell-wall pectins and so makes them more easily
  dissolved.  Baking soda at 0.5% (1 teaspoon/qt) can reduce the cooking
  time by nearly 75%; it contains sodium and in addition is alkaline,
  which facilitates the dissolving of the cell-wall hemicelluloses.

Basically, you are right that sodium is important, so both salt and baking soda will have effects that speed cooking.  (The idea that salting toughens beans or makes them harder to cook has been covered in another question; brief summary -- it's a myth.)  Baking soda is even more effective than salt, because it produces an alkaline cooking liquid.  Acids slow the cooking and softening of beans, while alkaline solutions will hasten it.

The main drawback of baking soda is that it also affects the taste and texture (as McGee describes it, "an unpleasant slippery mouth feel and soapy taste").  Also, the effects that lead to a faster breakdown of the beans for softening can also result in destruction of a lot of nutrients, as I discussed in detail in a response to a related question on baking soda, beans, and gas.

To me, the drawbacks of baking soda are too great to justify its use unless I had an emergency situation and had to cook beans very quickly.  But it can in fact decrease cooking time significantly, so it can be very effective for that goal.


As others have said, there are few spices with umami. However, if you're looking for something that you can use in the same way as a spice, then I suggest simply blitzing dried porcini (cep) mushrooms in a blender or grinder into a fine powder and using that. It has a deep umami flavour - try rubbing it on a steak before cooking and you'll be blown away.


Is it safe to reuse water used to steam corn?

No, it is not safe; what you would have left in the pot would have the same <2-4 hours worth of safety at room temperature as anything else. What you would have in the pot after steaming corn is sweetened corn broth; it will mold and it will grow bacteria. You would probably be fine 9999 times out of 10,000, but considering the expense of starting fresh every time, there is no good way to justify the risk of saving the water.


Different sourdough starter behavior based on starter composition?

Generally speaking, it doesn't matter that much.  The final recipe, technique, and dough composition are all likely have a lot more influence on the final bread result than the composition of your starter (as long as your starter is healthy).

Some people have suggested maintaining different composition starters for different tasks (or to match final dough flour type), but I've never seen any evidence that this produces a significant effect.

I tend to retain whole-grain starters when I am refrigerating them between uses, as whole-grain flour seems to be a slightly more resilient food.  (I've had a couple all-white flours go bad in the fridge, but I've never had a whole-grain starter go bad, even after not being used for a couple months.  That's just my own anecdotal experience, though.)

If you really want to make sure your starter is ready for a different food in a recipe than it usually has, you can always start feeding it the kind of flour you'll use in the final dough for a few days prior to mixing the final dough.  Again, as long as your starter is healthy, it should work fine.  Some people claim this has a minor benefit; others say they've never seen a significant difference.


How do I separate my melted rock candies?

If you can get them out of the jar, I would suggest a hammer.

Put them in a plastic bag and whack them with the hammer.

You might be able to use a knife (carefully) to pry them apart depending on much they are stuck together.


Fat can be filtered through a coffee filter. It's slow, but it works. Make sure the fat stays well above the temperature at which it congeals.

Alternatively, you can "wash" the fat by mixing it well with some boiling water and then letting it cool and separate. The impurities (at least, the particulate matter) should go into the water and be more easily removable.


Why does Anova sous vide tell me to cook salmon to unsafe temperatures

A fair amount of cooks and recipes disagree with the official guidelines when it comes to salmon's desired cooking temperature. The 145F guideline applies to all fish and shellfish, and is meant as a safety standard, not a culinary guideline. I've seen target temperatures for salmon ranging from 120 to 150F (most being in the 120-135F range).

The main reason for the 145F temperature is parasites such as Anisakis, which requires the following to kill:

  How can I prevent anisakiasis?

  Do not eat raw or undercooked fish or squid.

  The FDA recommends the following for seafood preparation or storage to
  kill parasites.

  Cooking (Seafood in General)

  Cook seafood adequately (to an internal temperature of at least 145° F
  [~63° C]).

  Freezing (Fish)

  At -4°F (-20°C) or below for 7 days (total time), or
  At -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid, and storing at -31°F (-35°C) or
  below for 15 hours, or
  At -31°F (-35°C) or below until solid and storing at -4°F (-20°C) or
  below for 24 hours.

You should research what other parasites and bacteria may be found in the salmon you source, and what mitigation strategies there are (such as freezing, as seen above). If all of them can be done without heating the fish above 120F, you may have a way to follow those guidelines safely. Otherwise, stick to what the USDA, FDA, and CDC agree on :)


This is a really, really tough case.  From a strict interpretation of our canonical answer for such food-storage questions, the answer is unfortunately: no. This cannot be considered safe according to the guidelines used by the FDA and other food safety agencies. It's impossible to know exactly what temperature the beef reached and for how long, so this must be considered suspect.

From context I'm guessing that you're cooking this at home, but you cannot and should not serve this in a commercial setting, period.

Now, here's where we get into strictly my opinion. You must evaluate your own consideration of the risks involved.

If you are certain that the refrigerator reached no more than 42 degrees F then I think that the risk presented is relatively low.  8 pounds of beef has a decent amount of thermal mass, and assuming that it started closer to 35 degrees F and was properly vaccuum-sealed I think there's a good chance that it never crossed into the danger zone, and most likely wasn't there for long if it did.  FDA guidelines are famously conservative (for good reason, as they're designed to reduce risk for everyone!) and to me that's a rather expensive cut of beef to just throw away.

I wouldn't feel comfortable serving this to children, the elderly, the pregnant, or anybody else with a potentially compromised immune system. Remember that food poisoning is no joke and can be fatal, especially for such at-risk people. You may want to reconsider cooking this for the holidays and serving it to your family. But I'd probably be comfortable eating it myself if I was certain of the conditions that you describe. You may justifiably be less comfortable, and the FDA would back you up. If you decide to cook and serve this, you must do so with an awareness of the risk presented.


There are a few classics:

Chicken Cordon Blue - Ham and swiss

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

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

Try this:

google.com

and search:

different types of stuffed chicken breast


Can unsweetened almond milk be used for the same things as regular milk?

Almond Milk for cow's milk was a really common substitution in medieval recipes.  A lot of medieval recipes used almond milk - almonds being a lot easier to store without spoiling and find reliably when a medieval cook needed some.

  Almond milk was a staple of the medieval kitchen. It was used in a wide variety of dishes as a substitute for milk or cream, especially on "fish days", when the church placed restrictions on what foods could be eaten (the most prominent of which were the days during lent).

from http://www.medievalcookery.com/recipes/almondmilk.html

  In the Middle Ages, animal milk was, of course, not refrigerated, and fresh milk did not stay fresh for long. Most cooks simply did not use much milk as the short shelf-life of the product made it a difficult ingredient to depend upon...  Rather than animal milk, Medieval cooks turned to something they could depend upon, and that was the milky liquid produced by grinding almonds or walnuts. This liquid, high in natural fats, could be prepared fresh whenever needed in whatever quantities. It also could be made well ahead of time and stored with no danger of degeneration. Because of its high fat content, it, like animal milk, could be churned into butter, and because it was not animal milk, it could be used and consumed during Church designated meatless days.

from http://godecookery.com/goderec/grec31.htm

Some dishes cannot be made with this substitution, those that depend on the physical and chemical properties of milk - like cheese, or whipped cream.  It would take a lot of processing and additives to make the almond milk mimic those products.  However, both milks contain fats, proteins, and sugars in solution, and so behave similarly enough in the chemistry of cooking to make them easy substitutes.

I will admit that while I cited medievalcookery.com and godecookery.com because the quotes were convenient, I posted my comment originally drawing from David Freedman and Elizabeth Cook's "How to Milk an Almond, Stuff and Egg, and Armor a Turnip: A thousand years of recipes" which is very well researched and contains a number of period citations and recipes.


Can I turn a betty crocker angel cake mix into a normal sponge?

Angel food cake is a very different type of cake from a standard vanilla sponge cake it's mostly egg whites and sugar, other cakes have more flour, so if you want to try and modify it I'd be thinking more flour and maybe some butter.

If it was me I wouldn't bother though. It may be possible to modify the mix, but you'd have to reverse engineer the recipe from the box ingredients for both mixes, then work out the quantities to make one into the other. That is making big assumptions, and it's unlikely you'll get a good result without a lot of trial and error. It's a lot of work for little return when you can just go buy another box that you do like - enough work that you may as well make a cake from scratch rather than using a mix in the first place.


Shelf life and Validation of Coconut Milk?

Refrigerated coconut-based milk substitutes like Silk Pure Coconut or So Delicious Coconut Milk have a stated lifespan of 7-10 days after opening.  I've had cartons last longer than that without any change in taste or smell, but if it started tasting bad or smelling funky I would toss it.  Unfortunately, this type of coconut milk product does not reconstitute well after freezing.


Whatever harm there was is done, so not much to do about it now, other than finally wash the thing before the next use.

New products often have either traces of materials from the manufacturing process, or a preservative coating for the time they spend between being made and being purchased; which is not generally something you'd want to consume.

Whatever you cooked might have had some non-food grade oils, factory dust, or the like added by the time it was done cooking.


Looking for an Italian cheese similar/identical to the French Brie

The most similar, of course, the one you could easily find in any supermarket, is the "Camoscio d'Oro". This is not similar but the same, since is made by Bongrain SA, a French food group.

As semi-industrial cheese made in Italy, we have the "Alpino", better or similar to "paglietta", both of Osella, which is sited in Piemonte (Turin), region on the border with France.

But all over the region there are many small firms dairy, which produce the "tomini". Tomini are a tipical regional cheese, smaller but very similar to brie, both as flavor, as texture and as aging. some news

You can find tomini freshly made, very sweet and tender, and, day by day, more and more seasoned tomini. The last ones can be done on the grill.

If you switch to production typical, you can find a variety of high-quality productions of tomini and similar products in many farms in the region. Like "Montebore" or "Bra", or very similar products that, if you are lucky, you can find among the reserved ones from some kind local farmer.

We share a border, mountains, traditions, people. We even have a whole region half Italian and half French, the Val d'Aosta. Incidentally also some cheese!


What can I subsitute for Aluminum foil in the oven? I am allergic to Aluminum

Oven bags will take the heat:

  The plastic used for manufacture of the oven bag must be chosen so that it will not melt at the temperature during cooking and thus spoil the food. To this end, many oven bags are formed from a special heat resistant nylon.

I'm not having any luck finding the material in a convenient roll form, but Reynolds and other manufacturers make the bags in a variety of sizes, some of which are large enough to be cut up and line your dishes and pans.


Consider asking the people at the restaurant how they do the preparation, since you like it so much, and explain that you are curious to understand how these are different from other varieties of chicken wings.  People who cook professionally are often flattered when people want to understand how they prepare things.  They are unlikely to give you an actual recipe, since restaurant preparations vary greatly from recipes for home cooking, due to process/quantities, etc., but you can learn a lot from asking.


1. Simmer/Burner Plate

You can use a simmer plate or something to diffuse the heat. For example:

http://www.thekitchn.com/good-tool-burner-plate-for-low-107122
Google: Heat Diffuser

From the first link, a suggestion is to use a cast iron skillet as a heat diffuser. That should work in a pinch.

2. Adjust the Flame

Alternatively, some stoves allow you to adjust the flame level. I'm not a technician, so please do this at your own risk, read the manual, etc....


How to decorate a cake so that the icing is smooth?

There are a few things to look at here:

shape of cake before you start icing
What kind of icing to use, and the kind of effect that it has visually
Specific techniques to use with the cake and the icing

It looks like your original question has more to do with the cake itself before icing.  Good quality cake pans are the key to getting a cake that is a consistent shape, and to make sure you put enough batter in the pans to get the size and shape you want.  Make sure you have straight sided pans that bake your cake evenly.

http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Aluminum-Performance-9-Inch-Round/dp/B00006G958/ref=sr_1_12?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1396099879&sr=1-12

This link is to an example of the kind of pans that have straight sides.  I have three inch deep pans, rather than two inch like the ones in the link.

I would avoid cutting a cake down to size, as you will likely have crumbs everywhere!

On to the icing parts:

Are you looking to use fondant, which is a separate kind of icing
layer that is rolled and placed on top of the cake?  This is what
usually gives a very smooth look. Fondant is a specific ingredient with its own set of skills required to get the look you want.
If you are not planning to use fondant, some of the result is
dependent on how you prep the cake with a "crumb coat" first, before the regular icing layer, to control the amount of crumbs in the final coat of icing. There are YouTube videos, and other web links on how to do this.  This step really does improve the quality of your icing.
Above all, with the tools you have, and the skills you need, PRACTICE will make all of this advice come together.  To get the look you want, you will need to practice a lot.


Rice wine vinegar

If you are using plain rice wine, then you aren't going to get much acidity. Rice wine vinegar will give you a higher acidity to flavor ratio. I generally add rice wine as part of the stir fry process; I almost always make curry in the following order: aromatics (i.e. ginger, ground spices) -> stir fry vegetables/meat -> add liquid. Rice wine vinegar (and fish sauce, too) I like to add while stir frying as I find that tends to get the flavor into the vegetables without letting them get too soggy soaking in liquid.

Lemon or lime juice

I would be careful with lime, as it tends to add a sweetness, and I find that it can easily overpower a curry. But lemon, on the other hand, will give you more acidity without so much sweetness. Depending on what is in your red curry paste (specifically, lemongrass and how much), lemon juice could go well or clash. Lime juice is something I generally use in green curries.


Are there other parts of a Lobster that are edible apart from the Tail and Claws?

The only parts that you need to avoid are the intestinal tract - the black line that runs through the tail, and the sac right behind the eyes which includes the brain, stomach, and other organs.

The tomalley is the edible yellow-green pasty substance which serves as the liver and pancreas. However, there are advisories in place by US federal and state agencies advising against eating the tomalley of Atlantic lobsters due to the high concentration of toxins present. I've eaten it before if that matters; it's delicious.

The roe present in female lobsters is also commonly eaten.

Anything else is edible, but not frequently eaten.


Genrally speaking, you can substitute any pure starch for corn starch.  This would include:

Potato starch
Arrowroot powder
Tapioca starch

Usually, you can use the same amounts you would have used for corn starch.  You cannot substitute flour in the same amounts without changing the flavor and/or texture of the dish.


How to make chicken liver less explosive?

You have a few options to lower their explosiveness:

Pierce the skin, like you do before baking a potato.
Lower your frying temperature can help a bit, but you'll probably always need to use a temperature higher than the boiling point to get any kind of crisping action.
Dehydrate the liver a bit before frying. You could use a dehydrator, a low-and-slow oven bake or a low temperature, low oil sauté to get them to release their juices (like you do for browning some mushrooms). I don't know which of these will work best for liver, but naturally you'll lose a little bit of the final juiciness.

You mention the splash guard, which I can't recommend enough. These numbers are cheap and easy to find.

But you can also protect your hands directly. I recommend something articulated, like this pair of silicon mold Storm Trooper styled oven mitts from Think Geek:

Source


What hole size to prefer in the bread for what reasons?

There are lots of styles of bread, which of course different people have different preferences for, and which lend themselves to different applications.

First, what do the holes indicate?  The holes are pockets or cells in the gluten network in the loaf--so the stronger the gluten network, the larger the holes can expand during proofing.  similarly, the more active the yeast, or the longer the proof, the larger the holes will have the potential to expand.

So large holes tend to be found in breads with strong gluten networks, which have longer proofing times.  These loaves will have chewier texture, and yeastier flavor, which can be very delicious.

For other applications, such as a typical US-style sandwich bread, the desire is for a more tender product, which is indicative of less gluten development; also, large holes would let spreads or condiments soak through the bread more easily, which is not so desirable in a sandwich to be eaten out of hand.  So these loaves are typically ones with smaller holes.

So the holes are either a factor themselves (as in sandwich bread), or indicative of other qualities of the loaf (as in so-called artisan style bread)--but either way, they are a very visible indicator of the nature of the loaf, and so getting the desired holes will help get the desired loaf qualities.

I am sure there are many more qualified bread experts who will give you a more detailed answer...


Should an Aviation include Crème de Violette?

According to wikipedia, the original Hugo Ensslin's recipe calls for 2 dashes of crème de violette.

In the same article there can be some variation on the theme, with or without crème de violette.

The Gin foundry website offers 2 recipes, with or without it; the version without the crème de violette dates from the 1930s and they say it might be because the product was hard to found at that time (ww2 era)

I'd say, if you want to be fully original, use the proper recipe with the crème de violette, but if you cannot find it, then it is not that big a deal as it is still historically correct.


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

I like to add some extra comments to this post and also may give some criticism of the recipe.

1.Background of the problem

As @rfusca said, cooking  too long is a bad thing, which is true in some way. However, I think it's too broad to conclude cooking too long is the ultimate reason. There are parts of beef that they get tender as you cooking longer such as beef brisket.

Two things to remember

Without going into too much science, the general rule of cooking is
that meat get hard as it loses its moisture and arguably its fat. The
art of Chinese cooking  is to try keeping the moisture in the meat
and the cornflour in the recipe was to seal moisture in the meat.
Cut across the grain, don't cut along it.  I am not sure if I am
using the correct terminology, but you will see the very long beef
grain (texture)  when you look at the beef surface. To explain it a
bit more clear, I have drawn up a image to explain what I mean.

Please see the diagram

(A) The diagram (A) shows how you should slice / cut beef if you have a chunk of beef like skirt or round steak. You should cut through the grain.

(B) Typically the steak buy are not like what I drew in diagram (A) as butchers usually cut through beef texture to make pieces of steak. If you slice your beef like diagram (B), then you will end up with beef slices with very long grain (texture). Longer the grain (texture) is, the chewer you will find as it's harder for us to tear apart the long texture.

As @rfusca said, "When you cut across the grain, its a bunch of very short proteins."

(C) To resolve the issue in diagram (B), you can slice beef on the bigger side which you will cut through the texture.

2.Choice of beef - there is no doubt sirloin steak is premium steak and it's perfect for western cooking. However, I believe it's too lean for stir-fried, although I have used sirloin using the diagram (C) method which also worked fine. I would suggest to try using different steaks such as round steak, skirt steak or rib eye. Rib eye is actually pretty ideal and the fat content will help cook and it will come out very tender, but it's probably too pricey. Skirt and Round steaks are cheaper and they are always the forgotten choices. I found skirt and round steaks tend to have more moisture inside the meat and they will turn out quite well. In fact, they are quite close to what Chinese would use in stir-fired.

3.Change of the recipe

i. Slice the steak into (1cm in the recipe is too thick) 0.3 or 0.5 cm thick slices across the grain. The thinner the beef, the easier you can control your cooking.

ii. Don't whisk with your ingredients. Put them in following the order below.

Put all the beef in a big bowl
Add soy sauce, sugar, ginger & maybe 20ml of (water or rice wine).
Please note that the amount of water depends on your beef and how
you mix it. When you put in soy sauce and sugar, you should stir it
through the beef and you will notice the sauce will get absorbed by
the beef. If you notice all the sauce get absorbed straight away, it
will be good idea to get some extra water but don't over do it!!
Don't end up with too much liquid in your beef marinade. You want to
see all your sauce get absorbed and should take out any excessive
liquid.
Once you have a good mixture of beef marinade, you then add in the corn flour. You want the cornflour to coat the beef very nicely.
(This is what was missing in the original recipe) Put about 1.5
table spoons vegetable oil and stir the oil through the beef. The
oil will help to seal the moisture  in the meats.
Then you follow the original recipe to cook your beef 1/3 a time for
2-3 mins depending on how thin your beef is. Please don't cook over 3 mins.
Once you set aside your beef, then don't follow your recipe to put
your beef in the wok again with peppers.
Cook your peppers and onions. ONLY put your beef in when the peppers
and onions are cooked, then put your beef in to toss it up with
peppers and onions for 30 seconds.

iii. You should now have a very nice beef stir fried.


I don't see why not.  (In general, aluminum foil can be reused in a lot of contexts, unless it's damaged in some way that makes it unusable.  Or perhaps if it's dirty and can't be cleaned.)

With a pre-made aluminum foil pan, you can probably rinse it if it gets a bit dirty.  One problem with these pre-made pans is that they often have a lot of little "wrinkles" that capture food and make them difficult to clean.  But with hard biscuit-type baking, this isn't really a food safety issue, and simply rinsing/scrubbing gently/brushing may be enough to get an old batch's remnants off.

Eventually with a few reuses these pans may develop small holes.  Again, that's more of an issue with liquid materials that could leak through them than with biscotti.  But eventually they will wear out.


Why don't the Rhodes cinnamon rolls from a bag turn out as good as the ones in the foil pan?

First of all, are the ingredient lists the same? Sometimes with packaged foods, there are specific differences in formulas for different product lines.

If we assume that the formula is the same, it could have more to do with the consistency of the ingredients. The ones that come in a pan get stored in the right shape and probably don't get handled the same way as the ones in a bag, which tend to change shape during the freezing process, and probably get handled/reshaped some in transport, etc.

It seems like the ones that are not in the special pan are getting dehydrated more in the freezer, and the "freezer to oven" method (a high heat blast for thawing straight to baking) is not letting the dough redistribute its moisture well, since the outside edges are baked before the inside dough is fully thawed.

I know that the packaging says "freezer to oven", but what might significantly improve the result for you is to do the following:

put the frozen rolls in your pan
let the dough thaw (in fridge overnight, for example)
bake for less time, as they are now thawed

This change in technique would allow the dough to reshape itself some, and redistribute the moisture while it is thawing, so the baking would be more effective, now that the dough is all at the same temperature.


Honey-glazed gammon (ham) - What to serve with it?

In Ireland boiled or glazed ham is a staple.  Traditionally it's had with cut up cabbage (ideally you would cook the cabbage in the same water the ham was boiled in as this gives it lovely flavour) but you could just cut it up and pan fry it with a little butter.  Normally it would be served with boiled floury potatoes.  Traditionally (in Ireland) you wouldn't have a sauce with it but a parsely sauce (as stated in the other reply would be lovely) or simply serve with some strong mustard or a brown sharp sauce such as HP.

You could also shred the ham and serve it with noodles in a hot broth with some shredded cabbage and other vegetables.

The ham is going to be centre of attention - salty, rich with a sweetness.  The cabbage and potato are happy bedfellows as the cabbage cuts through the saltyness/sweetness.  You don't want strong flavours competing with the ham and neither cabbage or potato will.


You are correct that simply boiling meat for three hours is not sufficient to make it shelf stable. Commercially produced, low-acid, canned foods must be processed to 240F just like home canned food. The process involves processing the cans in a steam pressure cooker similar to what is done at home at a smaller scale. 1

I have boiled sealed cans with but it is discouraged and I would not trust heating cans to 240F without matching the pressure outside the cans. Any can failure would be spectacular as the water instantly vaporizes and blows an easily-ignitable geyser of steam and oil into the air!

Pressure canners can be a bit expensive but can often be found used. You may need to replace rubber gaskets or safety valves but these are not expensive.

You may have more success canning using bottles as the bottles, lids, rings, and other equipment is easy to find for home buyers.

Another consideration is that canning recipes are written for specific pressures and cooking times to preserve food quality and give a very strong confidence of food safety. Even if you are confident your cans will hold, you would have to carefully control the temperature of your oil. Home sous vide controllers aren't designed for such high temperatures which means you would have to purchase a more expensive temperature controller or build your own.


What can I do if I didn't process my salsa long enough?

In general, if jars are improperly processed or don't seal, you reprocess them exactly the same way you did the first time. This doesn't depend on the original recipe; you just have to do the exact same thing over again. In your case, since it sounds like your original process was hot pack, you would have to open the jars, dump out the salsa and reheat it, resterilize the jars, and reprocess.

But in your case, unfortunately, it's too late. If you didn't process it long enough the first time, you have to assume that it wasn't sterile, and treat it as equivalent to not canning it at all. Yes, probability-wise, your situation is safer than that, but you have to plan for the worst case, because you have no way to tell. Something may have grown in there. Canning just isn't a good place to mess around with safety.

And before someone chimes in and says it, yes, if you're the kind of person who eats things that have been left out way longer than is reliably safe, you could save it. It'll work out some fraction of the time, so there are plenty of people out there who can truthfully say "I've done this and never had a problem." But it could also get you sick, so I can't recommend it.


What makes dumplings ("knödel") mushy and sticky ("patzig")?

The international dumpling clan is a quite diverse family:

They come in a lot of sizes, from tiny, bite-sized gnocchi to huge, family-sized serviettenknödel and are made from a wide range of bases, like ricotta, potatoes, stale bread, breadcrumbs...

If you were in an Italian restaurant, you probably were served some member of the gnocchi family - and your description of size and shape supports that. Now gnocchi can be very light and airy, but they quickly turn sticky and mushy, both from overworking the dough and overcooking, from undercooking („raw“ centers), sometimes also because they were prepared in advance an not cooled/stored/reheated in an optimal way. And some types are a per se a bit denser than others.

Without seeing and tasting the food you were served, it’s basically impossible to fully explain what happened and whether they were within the usual acceptable range or not.


General advice, any time you're cooking something that is going to become one with the pan under high heat, cover the pan with foil before you put the stuff on it.

As another possibility you can buy a stoneware baking sheet. They season more like cast iron, so burned on fat is fine. Or you could just use cast iron...It's pretty much impossible to get something permanently stuck to cast iron, unless you were using it as a crucible to melt silver or something...


Can vanilla pods be blended into a paste?

I believe you could do it, but as the pods itself are really fibered you don't want to eat them I think.

What you could do is cooking the pods. For example when I make a vanilla ganache, I always bring heavy cream, vanilla seeds and the pods to a boil. Then I let it sit for approx. 30 min an take out the pods. This method can be easily adopted to make vanilla syrup.

To make vanilla sugar just put some scraped out pods into a sugar jar and let it sit for a few weeks.

So you see - you can use the pods for many things, but eating the directly doesn't seem to be popular.


What is the difference among these 3 food items: Flattened Rice, Chiwda and Poha?

In India, flattened rice are Poha. Now poha/flattened rice come in packets with the picture you have put. There are a lot of recipes which we make from flattened rice.
Interestingly the most common recipe is known as 'poha'. Here the flattened rice are soaked in water and then they are heated in oil with spices, onion and/or potatoes.
Here is the recipe
This is a very popular recipe in Maharshtra and basically almost all Indians prefer this recipe for breakfast.
Now flattened rice are also used to make chiwda.
This is rather crunchy, unlike poha.
It is used as an in between meals' snack.
Here generally, the flattened rice are roasted or fried.
Now interestingly the varieties of flattened rice for making poha and chiwda are different.
For making poha and fried chiwda  the flattened rice are long narrow type.
And for making roasted chiwda flattened rice is wider.
Hence, to summarise, the term 'poha' is both flattened rice, as well as a recipe made from flattened rice. Chiwda on the other hand is different.
If you go to an Indian restaurant and ask for poha, they will give you a dish made from flattened rice/poha.
On the other hand if you go to a grocery shop and ask for poha they will give you flattened rice.
I hope your doubt is solved.


Well 1.5 cups is volumetric so the weight will depend on how tightly packed that cup is, if they are chopped, etc.  On average though, 1.5 cups of chopped hazelnuts is about 6.08 oz (172 g) according to the USDA's averages.  You can check the USDA's National Nutrient Database page for hazelnuts if you want to see estimated weights for 1.5 cups of whole, chopped, or ground hazelnuts.


How safe is it to combine flavor extracts?

I probably would not recommend eating a box of baking soda and chasing that with shots of vinegar. But aside from that silliness, I can't think of a single thing that is actual "food" that is unsafe mixed with another actual "food", assuming reasonable quantities. Certainly anything with alcohol can be dangerous in huge quantities, as can a lot of other ingredients. Allergies or food sensitivities can make certain ingredients dangerous to certain people. But mixing ingredients to which the individual has no special sensitivity and in normal quantities? No, I don't think you are risking anything by doing so other than unpleasant food.


When I make a paella I never cover it, I find it keeps in too much moisture. My uncovered method is to put the fish in and cook for 10 minutes. If my mussels are small I will usually wait 2-3 minutes before putting them in, bu for "standard" mussels 10 minutes seems to work well. I use a low-medium heat on a large burner.


Why should I cook the flour first when making bechamel sauce?

This link explains the science behind what is known as "the mother sauce", béchamel.  Essentially, the steps of first creating a roux, then adding cold milk, are about manipulating the glucose chains in the flour.  Done correctly, the sauce is smooth and flavorful.  Done incorrectly and you have a grainy mixture that tastes of raw flour.

@David Richerby's comment below prompted me to investigate further.  So, I turned to Harold McGee's classic, On Food and Cooking.  He writes, on page 617, that:

  in addition to coating flour particles with fat, making them easier to disperse in a hot liquid, roux making has three other useful effects on flour....it cooks out the raw cereal flavor, and develops a round, toasty flavor...second, the color itself...and third, heat causes some of the starch chains to split, and then to form new bonds with each other.

He goes on to explain the importance of this step, but it generally achieves the desired texture and means the sauce is less likely to congeal on the plate.

From Wikipedia's page on starch:

  Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds.

...and, yes, this correlates with gelatinization.


Roasting large quantities of garlic: whole unpeeled heads or peeled cloves?

Garlic roasted as a head, as unpeeled cloves, or as peeled cloves is all much the same. It is just easier to handle unpeeled, and even easier when kept as a head

For easy results just trim the excess paper skin and roots of a whole garlic head, carefully trim just the tops of most of the cloves

Don't drizzle with oil and wrap in foil, this will just make a mess, and steam them more than roast them. Garlic is already very oily, it shouldn't need any more. Roasting items should be exposed to dry heat, not steam

Roast until soft and medium-dark brown. When cooled slightly, pull cloves apart and lay them out on a board. Squeeze out each clove using a firm spatula or other blunt tool. This should not be too messy. Wear disposable gloves if you don't like garlic on your hands


Procedure for sous vide potato salad prep

Carrot and potato can work well using sous vide.  In fact, sous vide carrots are delicious.  Cook at 90C.  The issue will be timing, because it depends on the size of your veg.  You are just going to have to check them until you achieve the result you like.  Too long, and they will get mushy.  For me, a whole carrot usually takes 45 min to an hour.  So, a diced carrot could take substantially less time.  The same holds true for potatoes...thin slices can take less than 30 minutes, for example.

I have not done them myself, but I assume parsnip and celery root would behave similarly.  Use the same temperature, but time will have to be assessed as you go.

Additionally, all of these vegetables will float given that they contain a lot of air.  Vacuum sealing will help, but may not keep them under water, as air is expelled during cooking.  You will need to weigh down the bags or keep them submerged by placing something on top of them.

In the end, cooking them traditionally might just be the better way to go.


Ceramic Cooktop (non induction) getting damaged after use

It looks suspiciously like water that's been burned off at the edge of an overboiled pot.

On ceramic tops you get two kinds of stain. You get grease/food burned on, and that'll turn black like the inside of your toaster over, and you get the white mineral stains which comes from water drying around the edges.

The center usually stays clean because it gets super hot and will burn most anything away, but the edges don't get as hot as easily.

The way I clean them and it's considered rather unorthodox is to turn the burner on while the stovetop is bare. Let the edges get hotter than they would if a pan were keeping them cool, and much of this will burn away. After you see no further progress, turn off the stove and let it cool a little, but still above booling point of water, then use the green face of a scotch brite sponge to scrub any residue left over.

You can also try lye, but I am not a big fan of lye cleaners.


How can you change flavors in store-bought frosting?

Yes, you can certainly mix in something to change the flavor, and cream cheese sounds like a good option.  You will probably need to soften the cream cheese (microwave for a bit, but don't melt it), whip it, and then add in the store-bought frosting and whip until fully incorporated.  Depending on how much cream cheese flavor you like, I'd recommend something like 4 oz. per can of frosting.


From Johanna in the comments section:

In that case, regardless of if it's safe or mot, I would request a replacement from the store you bought if from. You're unlikely to get a smooth surface regardless of how much you season it and the seasoning will most likely just flake off around the swirl marks.

Turning the helpful comment given into an answer as comments are temporary.


Freezing Buttercream Flowers for later use?

Put them in the freezer on your parchment covered baking sheet for an hour. Get your Tupperware and cover the bottom with a folded paper towel. Then remove the flowers and put them in the Tupperware. Cover the flowers with another paper towel and seal the Tupperware tight.

The paper towels will help keep them container somewhat desiccated so the flowers don't get damaged by condensing ice crystals and freezer burn. I wouldn't leave them in there for too long though, because they will get burned after some time no matter what you do because of the air space in the Tupperware. Use them within a day or two if you can.


Advice on time for cooking potatoes au gratin?

Microwave the potatoes before putting them in the oven for about 7 minutes(start with 5 minutes, add 30 seconds every time till done), covered with a little water (very little, couple of spoons full)(potatoes whole or sliced)

Make sure you're not using a 'heavy' oven dish, glass ones can taka a long time to heat up. Place the oven dish into the oven while heating and add a drop of oil. When you put in the potatoes you should hear a little 'hiss' indicating the termperature is right.


Right way to make cake batter that asks for butter and oil

You probably won't like this answer, but:

Do what your recipe tells you to do.

There are various methods to combine a set of ingredients and each will lead to a slightly different outcome. Drier or moister, lighter or denser...
The "right" result will depend on the expectation of the recipe writer and can be the root of an eternal discussion: Compare the cookie lovers that will forever debate about cakey vs. crumbly, soft vs. crisp... and if they should ever agree (highly unlikely!), I'm sure the brownie fraction will fill the gap with a similar debate.

So unless you want to tweak a specific recipe, the best advice I can give you is to stick with your current instructions, as they should also match the ratios of the given ingredients (another factor that should not be ignored). If the results are not to your liking, try perhaps a recipe with another method and/or post a more specific question.

And one anecdote that illustrates how much the "right" method can be misleading:
My mom, experienced baker and all that, kept wondering why one of her cakes came out only half as high as when other family members made them. (And way less experienced bakers to boot!) Once she stopped mixing the ingredients "the right way" - beating the egg whites separately and folding them in at the end - and followed the simpler instructions (which she had ignored before) of using whole eggs, she finally got the desired results.

So in short, there is no "right" method that fits all.


What is the best way to store chopped vegetables?

I'm a fan of prepping some vegetables for the week on a day off. I'm much more likely to eat salad if I have the fixings ready in my fridge. I'm no expert, this is just what I've found works best for me.

Certainly some vegetables are more suited to cutting and storing than others. I find controlling humidity and condensation in storage to be the most important factor.  I store almost everything in covered pyrex, unless it needs to breath (and those go in the humid compartment).  Veggies with less water can be kept humid with a lightly moist paper towel on top.  Wetter veggies can cause condensation and lead to sliminess.  A dry paper towel and/or an open container can help with that.  A veggie should either be submerged in water, or not in water at all.  Sitting in condensation is that biggest problem in storage.

Cut carrots keep in water for a week with no change in quality.  Out of water, they can dry out a bit.  I don't find the dryness to be a problem.

Sliced bell peppers keep pretty well with a moist paper towel in the container.

I find onions to be pretty indestructible, though the flavor gets a bit milder over time.

Broccoli and cauliflower are also pretty hardy.  A dry paper towel or two will deal with water from washing them, which is the biggest problem I've had.

Mushrooms and leafy greens need to breath.

Cucumbers and tomatoes don't store as well as others.


Is it ok to refrigerate almond milk after I add honey to it?

The reason honey shouldn't be kept in the fridge is that it crystallises easily at low temperatures (even that's just a change in texture, not a spoilage problem). Once mixed with plenty of water so the sugars are dissolved, that won't be an issue.

I would expect the addition of what's essentially sugar to have no negative effect on the keeping properties of a water-based mixture, but this is where we can't be certain. If you stick to the use by date, and in particular the "once open use within..." instructions (which are probably to use within a few days) you should be fine. There's a slim chance you might reduce the margin built in to these dates, but that's probably all. What's more important is to avoid getting it warm for a long time while mixing


Is the root/rhizomes of ground elder edible?

I found this on http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/freefood.htm

Ground-elder
Aegopodium podagraria   all parts edible
young leaves in salads or cooked as a spinach,
roots dried and ground into a flour.

Jeannet


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


How to get a good fragrance from burnt rosemary?

You need fresh rosemary and give it a quick char and not allow it to burn. That's sort of the same technique of using a blowtorch for crème brulée and the same "doneness" of charred vegetables - caramelized but not burnt

If you're smelling smoke, it is already too burnt to use.


What are the Standard Terms Used to Describe Liquid Viscosity in Cooking?

The one I hear most often in professional kitchens is nappe, which is the "coat the back of a spoon" test. That is the general starting point for an average sauce that you can use in a wide variety of dishes; it is thick enough to cling to food without being stodgy.

Beyond that, I'm not familiar with other standard professional terms specifically for viscocity. Usually just thin, thick, stiff and so forth. Sometimes it is useful to talk in terms of percent reduction, as in "add 2 cups of wine and simmer until reduced by half", although in many cases this is done more by eyeball than with precision.


How to convert a bread recipe to Tangzhong Method?

King Arthur has a description:

The typical sandwich bread or dinner roll recipe (like these Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns) has a hydration level of around 60% to 65%.
But when you’re using the tangzhong method, you want your recipe’s hydration to be about 75%.
Why? Because when using tangzhong, some of the liquid in the dough is “trapped” by the pre-cooked slurry (the tangzhong), and thus plays no part in the dough’s texture; as far as hydration is concerned, it’s as if that liquid isn’t even there.


There are several conversations about this on The Fresh Loaf, which you can search.  Issues raised include (a) acetic acid used as a preservative in manufactured bread (lowering the pH), (b) yeast performing best in a neutral to slightly acid environment, suggesting vinegar might be helpful when using instant yeast, (c) vinegar helping the rise in gluten free situations, and (d) the idea of vinegar, not for help in fermentation, but to strengthen the dough, thus creating a better structure for capturing fermentation gasses.  All of these use vinegar in small amounts (1 - 1.5% of flour).

My concern, in sourdough situations, would be too much acid.  Starter is typically acidic to start with. When feeding, much of the starter is removed and replaced with fresh flour and water.  In part, this keeps acidity in check.  Too much acid inhibits yeast and bacterial activity.

If you bake often, why not try an experiment?  Use the same recipe and baking conditions, except add 1% vinegar to one.  Let us know what happens!


What is this "spatula" called, and what is it for?

Those could be a salad set,  similar to
this one. The two "spatulas" might be combinable to form a set of tongs.

Update: Salad sets generally contain a forky and a spoony component, which may or may not be combinable (and there are e.g. combinable pairs of spatulas). On the other hand, shapes vary widely, and there are two-spoon and two-fork sets, and maybe whoever designed this wanted to create a multipurpose tool (considering the straight lower edge).


What are the requirements for a dish to be kosher?

There are quite a few rules involved. Short version:

Animals must be slaughtered in a specific way, blood drained, and a rabbi must supervise
Dairy and meat (fish does not count as meat, generally) may not be served in the same dish. Depending on the level of observance, separate sets of dishes, cutlery, sinks, fridges, etc are maintained for dairy and for meat. Less Orthodox Jews will serve meats and dairy in the same meal, but not in the same preparation.
No shellfish; fish must have both fins and scales to be kosher
No pork
Only cloven-hoofed animals which also chew cud
A rabbi must supervise food preparation when prepared by non-Jews

That's the basics. The Wikipedia articles on kosher food and kashruth will explain further. Reform and Reconstructionist Jews may or may not follow some or all of the practices.


The other answers touch on the fact that its the release of water from the turkey that interacts with the oil, causes the oil to overflow, and then ignite the burner.

Generally, this happens pretty shortly after you put the turkey in (due do any moisture on the outside of the bird).

To do it safely don't bank on the fact that you've removed all the water - do two additional things:

Do it outside.  In the event something bad happens, better to lose some grass on the lawn than your house.  If you don't have space outside, you can always go to a public park or such.  It may seem like a pain but turkey frying should not be done inside.
There's one absolutely surefire way to ensure than you don't catch the burner on fire by accident.  Don't have it on!

Prep your turkey.  Have it dry on the outside and completely thawed.
Heat your oil outside.
Turn the burner off
Lower the turkey into the hot oil
Wait 1-2 minutes or so, most of the initial contact between water and oil should over by now.
Turn the burner back on and cook the turkey.
Also make sure the burner is off while taking the turkey out, just to prevent any spills from becoming terrible.

@ChrisWalker, below in the comments, also provides a method for making sure you don't put too much oil in the pot and thus cause a spill over.


Does there exist a chemical-free, homemade substitute to deli?

Roast beef is relatively easy to make at home and is much more delicious that store-bought.  Here is a good roast beef recipe from the New York Times.

There is a Japanese method of cooking chicken called "Torihamu" where the goal is to make the chicken the texture and flavor of deli ham.  Here is a little more information and a recipe.

A lot of the flavors of deli meat are dependent on salt.  A deli meat without salt just does not taste the same.  Remember that when making it at home, you will always be using less salt than a manufactured meat.  Celery salt may also give you the flavor you need.

There's also a lot of good recipes like this DIY Homemade Lunch Meat.

Here is a video for making deli ham.  The trick to that deli ham texture is cooking gently in water and then pressing.

I hope this was helpful!  Best of luck to you.


An analogue thermometer isn't too accurate. Besides, it sounds like you measured the oven temperature, not the tart filling. So I suspect that it was the heat after all.

A custard with both eggs and starch needs to be thoroughly cooked. The reason is that yolks contain an enzyme which liquidifies starch. It doesn't happen outright, but will happen while your tart is cooling. The only way to prevent it is to heat the mix high enough so the enzyme is deactivated.

To quote On Food And Cooking,

  However, the survival of yolk amylase can spell disaster in the fillings for American cream pies, which are often made in the fashion of a bouillie rather than a pastry cream, and are held for hours or days before serving, enough time for a perfect cream pie to disintegrate into a soupy mess. No matter what a recipe may say, always be sure that the egg yolks in a starch-filled pie filling are heated all the way to the boil.


Are homemade versions of popular food more liable to spoil?

Its less that the simple act of cooking it at home causes shorter life of the product and more that at-home cooks are cooking for the sake of avoiding the chemicals and preservatives that are what give the commercially made things their long shelf life.

In some cases it is preservatives (sulfates in dried fruit (I think)), in some cases it is an extra processing step (ultra-high-temp-pasteurization for organic milk), while in other cases it is a matter of equipment that is simply not available for the home cook (for example canned pureed pumpkin - this is not safe to make at home (even with a proper pressure canner) but with the commercial equipment and processes it becomes shelf stable). Usually I think it is a combination of all three of these.

That being said, in regards to ice cream - I recently read somewhere that if you put the container with the ice cream in it into a Ziplock baggie then it helps it stay soft for longer.

I still have some ice cream (technically sorbet) in my freezer from over a year ago that I keep forgetting about. When I decide to chip some off the solid block it has become (I did not store it in a Ziplock baggie, just a container) it is still quite good.


Can I use cooking sherry instead of red wine in my stew?

"Cooking wine" is unfortunately ubiquitous on US mega-mart shelves. It is notoriously bad. I mean really, really notoriously bad. It starts bad, and then they add obscene amounts of salt so that it can be sold on grocery store shelves for $6.  As pointed out by @Malvolio, "salted wine is supposed to be disgusting! Many US states have special licensing requirements for any store that wants to sell alcohol, even wine and beer, but wine that is so heavily salted it cannot reasonably be consumed directly is exempt." The salt literally makes it undrinkable, so underage and other sales that would otherwise be illegal aren't an issue. The added salt also ups the shelf life, but not nearly enough to justify the sensory assault of these stunningly awful "wines". Canadian "cooking wine" is the same thing, just with different levels of salt just like the 50 states.

(these are just examples, all "cooking wine" brands on US grocery store shelves are the same level of truly insulting):

Skip the cooking wine. Go to a liquor store and look at the inexpensive bottles of wine. You might be surprised - bargains abound.

Incidentally, if you don't generally love to drink wine but occasionally like to cook with it, you might try what I do. I keep a bottle of inexpensive but good dry sherry and another bottle of inexpensive but good dry vermouth tightly capped in the fridge. Those wines, along with marsala, port, and others are fortified with liquor, giving them a much longer refrigerated-after-open shelf life than normal wine. Fortified wine can often replace the wine in recipes, at an equal or slightly reduced volume of the non-fortified wine called for. Sherry is often actually called for in Chinese and other Asian recipes, and dry vermouth can generally sub for "dry white wine" in recipes.

Cook's Illustrated says:

  Our recipes often call for dry white wine. Its crisp acidity and lightly fruity flavor add depth to everything from pan sauces and pasta to risotto and steamed mussels. The problem? Standard wine bottles are 750 milliliters, and our recipes rarely call for more than 1 cup (roughly 235 milliliters) of wine. That leaves us with most of a bottle to finish in a matter of days. Dry vermouth, which can be substituted for white wine in equal amounts in recipes, is a convenient alternative. Like Marsala and sherry, vermouth is wine that’s been fortified with a high-proof alcohol (often brandy), which raises its alcohol content and allows to it be stored in the refrigerator for weeks or even months after opening.

I buy the dry vermouth recommended as the best buy by those same folks at Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen, which sells for $6-$8 in the liquor store that connects to the grocery store (barely more expensive than the hideous salt bomb on the grocery store shelf).

One of the Sherries recommended by the Cook's Illustrated taste test clocked in at under $6:


Substitute instant coffee for brewed black coffee

Why not just prepare it based on the instructions on the package (add water, mix), and then use it exactly like you would the normal coffee?

EDIT:

You mention in the comments that you actually need it the other way around (replace instant coffee with brewed). I was at the store recently so I took a look at instant coffee and all of them recommended between 1 and 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder to 6 oz. of water (3/4 cup). So for 2 tbsp of instant coffee you'd need 4 1/2 to 9 cups of coffee to replace it (depending on how strong you want the coffee flavor to be).

If there's not that much water in the recipe already, it's probably why it uses the powdered version and I'm not sure there's anything you can do.


What is the authentic way to cook pierogi?

We have a Polish & Greek place by us (don't ask), and theirs are always boiled.  They are delicious that way (usually topped with bacon and sour cream)...

Personally I always grew up w/ them boiled then sauteed, which is my favorite.


You need enough liquid in the blender for it to work; if the leaves get stuck in blender canister, they won't reach the blades to get ground up.  It's mostly an issue of width of the container relative to the size of the basil leaves.

I typically make my pesto in a blender rather than a food processor, but I do the following:

Pack a few inches of basil (or other herb) down in the bottom of the blender
Add some oil on top to 'wet' it.
Blend for a second or two 'til it liquifies.
Pack some more basil in there, shoving it down into the liquid, with a few pinches of salt.
Blend again.
Repeat 4&5 until you have all of the basil in there.
Add the nuts & oil until you get the consistency you want.

I pull it at this point, as I get better results freezing it without cheese, and just stir in the grated cheese separately.


Is it good to store a salt block with silica packs?

Depending on your climates humidity, if its too humid salt works like a big silica pack. It absorbs moisture, and you might get liquid salt runnoff. If you live in Denver Colorado, you could probably store it on your porch.

General suggestions are to wrap salt blocks in plastic wrapping.

Therefore if you double up that with an airtight container you can store it indefinitely.

Silica gel is also a form of porous sand that stores moisture and does not harm your salt block in any way. The two compounds are also separated by the silica gel packet wrapping.


What is the history of the white chocolate macadamia nut cookie?

I'm not certain of this answer, but if I had to make a bet, I think the cookie at least was popularized, if not originated completely, with Debbi Fields of Mrs. Fields' Original Cookies.

Macadamia nuts appeared in pairings with (milk or dark) chocolate, usually just in chocolate-covered versions or chunks of nuts in chocolate going back to at least the 1970s.  While I could find sporadic references to macadamia use in baked goods, I couldn't find any references specifically to white chocolate and macadamia in this era.

Macadamia nuts were an unusual ingredient in the 1980s (often associated in the U.S. with Hawaii), but Mrs. Fields' cookies began using them, perhaps due to the connection of the company in one of its earliest store locations in Honolulu during its initial expansion in 1980.  At some point in the 1980s, several macadamia nut flavored cookies were introduced by Mrs. Fields, including pairings with semisweet chocolate, coconut, and white chunk with macadamia nuts.  This page indicates that the white chocolate flavor was available by 1987.

But what evidence is there that Mrs. Fields in particular popularized this flavor?  Well, I could find no references to this pairing before 1987, when we know these cookies were sold by Mrs. Fields.  However, Mrs. Fields didn't just stop with cookies: in 1986-87, in addition to chocolate-dipped macadamia nuts, it tried to introduce ice cream with chocolate and macadamia nuts and even chocolate chip-macadamia soda.  The Mrs. Fields company seemed obsessed with macadamia-chocolate items at this time.  A Hawaiian book in 1988 could immediately make the association from macadamia nuts to Mrs. Fields, stating that:

  Macadamia-nut pie and macadamia-nut ice cream have become Hawaiian
  classics.  Famous Amos' and Mrs. Fields' macadamia chocolate chip
  cookies would not be nearly as good with any other nut.

While both Famous Amos and Mrs. Fields apparently had macadamia cookies by this time, it was the white chocolate chunk version by Mrs. Fields that seems to have brought a new wave with it.

All other references outside Mrs. Fields to specific pairing of white chocolate and macadamia nuts date to the late 1980s or later.  The earliest references I can find in Google appear in ice cream flavors (see this LA Times article from 1988), but there also appears to be a trend in brownies made with white chocolate and macadamia nuts around this time, as in the first mention of the pairing in the NY Times in 1989 as well as this AP reference in 1990 to white chocolate macadamia nut brownies.  One also begins to see references to cheesecake (NY Times, 1990) and tarts (NY Times, 1992) flavored in the same way at upscale restaurants.  One of the earliest references Google seems to find for cookies is in 1993, where the Chicago Tribune covers a designer of high-end gift baskets, several of which seem to include white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

After an initial period when the flavor pairing was apparently associated with higher-end cuisine and cookies, it began to spread more widely.  By the mid-1990s, the white chocolate macadamia fad was in full swing, as the Washington Post could announce in 1996 that the most recent Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies book contained recipes for "monster-size cookies in trendy flavors such as mocha walnut and white chocolate macadamia."

In any case, I don't have clear evidence that the cookie flavor pairing originated with Mrs. Fields, but it seems likely to have been popularized by that company in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

EDIT: Further evidence from Google Ngram of the popularity of the phrase "white chocolate macadamia" beginning its rise in 1987 through the mid-1990s, so at least we can narrow down the time period.


What could cause ice pops (popsicles) to go soft in the freezer?

Your freezer is set at too high a temperature, probably just below the freezing point. Pure water freezes at 32°F/0°C so your meats and vegetables are freezing just fine, however adding sugar and/or salt to water reduces the freezing point. A 30% sugar solution freezes at around 28.5°F, salt water is about the same. The fact they are mushy means your freezer is almost, but not quite cold enough to freeze your popsicles.
Frozen desserts aside your freezer is far above the recommended temperature, the FDA and virtually every other guideline I see says that freezers should be set to 0°F, which is -18°C, not because of the freezing point but because that's the highest ideal temperature for food to last long-term.


How long to bake lasagne at lower temperature?

Yes. Use a thermometer. Your lasagna will be done at an internal temperature of 165F (74C). Just lower the baking temp appropriately. I can't know the time and oven temperature that will actually work for you, because you didn't present them, but I hope this helps.


To boil frozen food with chicken without microwave

There is no recommended time. You just cook it until it is done.

If the food is pre-cooked (which is common with microwave-ready food), you only have to bring it to the temperature you like to eat it at. Else, you cook it until whatever is inside is cooked through. You can use a thermometer to determine the exact moment, but I wouldn't bother for a microwave-ready dish, as it is unlikely to be sensitive to overcooking.


How do I make a Leek foam from Agar or Egg Whites?

Agar is basically just a gelatin. Lecithin is a surfactant and emulsifier, which is what you ideally need for your foam. The agar probably isn't sufficient to create the necessary tensions between the oil and liquid and when you introduce air into the mixture it isn't being held in suspension, which is why your foam isn't 'holding up'.

I'd strongly recommend trying lecithin along with a more vigorous air injection method such as an electric hand blender.

I don't believe it's anything do with your leek jus, but your method of foaming.

There's a useful article on this here.


What energy efficient options are there for small baking quantities?

There are a variety of counter-top ovens on the market that fit the bill. They range from fairly simplistic, to feature-rich and quite good. The most basic would easily bake a few muffins.  These are not microwave ovens, but more like your home oven on a smaller scale.  Searching "countertop oven" will yield many results.


Why has my honeycomb toffee set in layers?

It's normal for some layering in home made foamed sugar (hokey pokey, honeycomb etc.)

The problem is that you can't stir it quick enough to get an even distribution of acid to alkaline (the bubble making process) throughout the mixture before it cools to the point you can't stir it

Factories use fancy heated augur style stirrers to avoid this, and they don't make domestic sized machines like that

Mixing in the alkaline while the pan is still on the heat. Mix fast and carefully with a rubber spatula so you can get into the corners on the pan, and then scrape out with the same tool. Time is very short

Make sure you acidify the sugar (a tsp of white vinegar will do). Carefully sift the alkaline powder a few times, and make sure you add it to the pot evenly, not in one big lump

Also, adjust the recipe acid and alkaline quantities, you may have insufficient to fully react with the quantity of melted sugar?


Which type of flour would be better to use in this case?

As you will be using whole wheat flour as opposed to the flour called for in the recipe, you won't need to choose based on preserving the original texture. I would recommend the barley flour as being most compatible with wheat flour.


What is the difference between apple juice and cider?

Apple cider has two meanings, but they both start with raw, pressed juice from crushed apples.

Soft apple cider (normally just called cider) is simply the pressed juice, bottled.  It is cloudy from suspended apple particles, and turns brown from the oxidation, much as apples themselves do when cut and exposed to air. Hard apple cider is an alcoholic beverage made by allowing soft apple cider to ferment.

Apple juice is essentially the squeezed juice from the apples that has been highly filtered to remove the suspended particulates.  It is usually pasteurized to have a longer shelf life.

UK Usage:  Per ElendilTheTall, in the UK, the alcoholic beverage is called cider, and the other products are called simple apple juice.

See also:  MA government article


Promoted to answer as requested:

Bubbles suggest fermentation is going on. A vinegary smell suggest it's aerobic fermentation. I'd guess you're heading towards vinegar, not mead. Simmering will reduce water content, which will inhibit bacterial and fungal growth. A gallon weighing 10-12 pounds, At $8 to $10 per Lb, 10Lbs is well worth trying to rescue. I'd simmer off about 10-15% of your volume. Should be enough to reduce water activity below where things will grow, and get rid of any vinegar. Watch the stuff. It may still be a bit too watery. I've made a rough guess here.


Acetone is not considered a carcinogen in the United States

The Material Safety Data Sheet can be found here.

It is the active ingredient in regular nail polish (varnish) remover.
It may remove the 'paint' from surfaces.
It is legally sold in the United States.
It is highly flammable and explosive in the right concentrations.

I would not recommend it to clean your microwave as it's hazardous to health if used improperly under a variety of conditions or used without proper safety equipment.

I would also advise against placing an aluminum foil pan in the microwave and turning it on.

Where did you get this misinformation, Connie?

  I have read that I can sprinkle baking soda, then add acetone (followed by liquid coffee) to remove these stains.

The above is incorrect!


They are covered by mold, a type of fungus. What has happened is, mold loves moisture and when you closed the lid on almonds which had a good amount of moisture in them, the mold had the right conditions to grow.

Note: You should discard them all.

And next time, you'd like to have soaked almonds, it's better to keep them in the fridge at all times, as @rumtscho has aptly remarked. This basically means, you should also soak them in the fridge, and once you strain and discard the water you should continue keeping it in the fridge. Basically treating them as perishable food at all times, and discarding them (if any left ;)) after 5 days...


is cheese safe to eat when the refrigerator was 57 degrees

Yes, cheese is a very resilient food. That's why it was invented/discovered: to enable people to have the benefits of milk without the perishability. According to   http://www.cheesemaking.com/learn/how-to/make-a-cheese-cave.html    ...

how you want to age your cheese is at "A proper and as constant Temperature (45-58F) as possible", so assuming you are talking about Fahrenheit (ha-ha.), that's an OK temperature for cheese (even for extended periods like aging). Keeping it at colder, refrigerator temps is better for slowing down unwanted mold development, but 57 degrees F, overnight: it's fine.

Not sure about the rest of the refrigerator contents though, like the milk maybe.


Did you skim the scum during cooking?  Also, sealing with wax is no longer considered safe, especially if you plan to sell the jam.  It's possible that what you see is mold and not scum.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_01/prevent_spoilage.html

You might be able to save your batch, if it's not moldy if you throw away the wax, and reprocess in a water bath canner using lids and rings.


Tips on making a sauce out of beef trimmings.

Assuming these are meat (not fat, connective tissue etc.), I'd
mince them to approximate a butcher's coarse grind, sear them briefly in recovered fat or a neutral-tasting oil (for a chewy texture in small bits) and add them to the demi-glaze.  (If you have a food processor, pulsing them briefly will work; though that's more cleanup.)

Serving suggestion: serve over oven roasted potatoes (or other root veggies, such as parsnips or even beets.)


How do I render large quantities of fat?

Unless you've got industrial type equipment, I wouldn't do more than about 1-1.5 lbs at a time. Here's a hint, cube the fat (1 inch cubes) and then partially freeze it. 45 - 75 minutes or so in the freezer will give you fat you can handle without it melting and that can be coarsly ground in a food processor or meat grinder without making a gross mess. Some people add water, I wouldn't. Just keep the flame (or burner) very low. Use a heavy pot, preferably cast iron. If you do it nice and slow you should get cracklin and tallow that barely needs to be clarified, or not at all. Figure about an hour on the low end up to two hours for the fat to completely render.


I'm looking for an extender/filler for my spice mix

The professional (read: industrial) solution would be maltodextrin powder. It is rather tasteless, has good solubility in liquids, and doesn't change much texturewise.

In homemade spice mixes, the popular filler solution are dried breadcrumbs of a very small size (like breadcrumbs for schnitzel breading). They are noticeable, because the mix gets gritty, but the consensus among those who do it is that this is a feature, not a bug. They could also slightly thicken a wet dish (soup, stew), but present no problem when strewn over dry food.

You can also use a nut flour made of nuts without much of an own taste, like apricot kernels or low quality overdried almonds. Again, this will be somewhat gritty, but not as hard as the breadcrumn solution.


How do I fix my dough after I did not activate the yeast properly?

Putting it in the fridge probably didn't help matters any. If you had left it on the counter overnight it would probably have gotten its act in gear without further help. Yeast works slower when cool than when warm, but it does work, given time.

IMPE, dry packet yeast going bad is somewhere between rare and unheard of - unless it's stored somewhere that is too hot, or the "warm liquid" is over 115F, and that's not going bad, that's killing the yeast. Stored in the fridge, it lives effectively forever, certainly years past the expiration date.

If you have some yeast left, or buy a new packet, rehydrate it in a little water (a tablespoon/15ml or so is plenty) at about 100 degrees F (38C), give it 5-15 minutes of undisturbed soaking time, and mix into the dough - add a little flour if needed to compensate for the additional liquid.


How can I make homemade tofu more flavorful?

1- Is this a valid approach and I should just add a lot more of my
  flavoring agents?

Yes, you can make additions to your curd prior to pressing/knitting just like with cheese.  Adding bits of dried peppers ala pepper jack cheese sounds like a great idea.  The main concern in this regard is to avoid adding so much adjuncts that the tofu curd fails to knit together during the pressing/draining phase and falls apart as you're handling it during subsequent cooking.

A secondary concern is that tofu generally weeps significantly more water than cheese curds. And since you've added your adjuncts already, part of the flavor of those adjuncts will run off as the tofu curd weeps.  The only real suggestion I have for that is to use assertively flavored adjuncts.

  2- Are there other flavoring agents that will present themselves more
  forcefully (and pleasantly) in tofu?

Soy beans have fat in them.  The fat in the beans becomes emulsified in the milk when processing the beans into soy milk.  The majority of that fat ends up in the soy curd when curdling the soy milk.  The majority of the fat in the soy curd will remain in the curd during pressing/knitting into tofu blocks.

You can use this to your advantage.  When grinding the soy beans into milk, you can fat based flavoring, some of which will end up in the soy milk, some of which will end up in the resulting curd, and thus into the tofu blocks.  If your fat based flavoring is particularly intense, then it should be noticeable in your tofu blocks.  A common type of intensely flavored (aromatic) fat based flavoring is essential oil.  You can add essential oil of lemon or orange and that flavor will certainly carry through into the final tofu blocks.

  3- What easily accessible bacteria would be able to ferment soy curd
  in a pleasant way?

Fermented tofu/bean curd has been made for centuries.  There are number of fungii strains commonly used to ferment bean curd.  There are likely many other bacteria that could be used.  Lactic acid bacteria could feasibly grow in tofu/bean curd, though I'm not sure a sour tofu is something I'd personally enjoy.

Aside from blocks of tofu/bean curd, there is also a long history of fermented products with amazing flavor that use soy beans but not in a curd/block form.  There is tempeh, soy sauce, koji, miso, etc.


The larger issue is the storage time that the sandwich has already been subjected to. 5 hours at room temperature is enough time for at least some of the tuna to spend significant time in the "danger zone" (the temperature range from 40 to 140 degrees F where bacteria grow most quickly).

At this point I would not consider the sandwich safe, regardless whether you refreeze it. Refreezing will not render it safe again and I would recommend tossing it.


How to properly clean raw chicken cut in pieces?

There are several studies published on the presence of campylobacter (which is the bacteria of concern) in chicken. You didn't specify where you are, but the findings are fairly consistent worldwide.  Chicken has a much higher incidence than other poultry products, and other proteins, though campylobacter can be present there too.  Of course, this is all made safe when cooked.  So, the concern with washing is cross-contamination, as you correctly point out.
I would use a paper or cloth towel to remove any bone fragments that might be dangerous if chewed or swallowed. Then dispose of the paper towel or wash the cloth thoroughly. Bits of fat can be removed this way as well, or cut off with a knife.
As for any remaining blood or parts that are not easily wiped away, just leave them.  Try it.  See if you think they make a difference in the final product.  I assume that you will not even notice them... or you can scrape that away after cooking.  If that is not possible for you, perhaps search out another butcher who will prepare it the way you like... or give your current a butcher another try, but this time ask him or her to remove the parts you don't like.
This all might be a bit of extra work, but you will soon find a rhythm... and, for the money you are saving, it might be well worth it.


I would wager, however, that you are doing two things wrong and if you stopped them, your scones would be as delicious as the biscuits I regularly serve.

The most likely culprit is that your butter is too warm. You want that butter to be as icy cold as a witches heart. All the flaky and delicious is because that butter is going melt once the gluten is set and not before. You can facilitate that melting by sticking the cubed butter in the freezer for a few minutes so it's as firm as possible. Once you have it in the dough, you also want to get into the oven as quick as possible.

The second most likely thing is over mixing. With any quickbread like scones, the less you touch, the better it will come out. You want to mix the milk, butter and flour until the dough just comes together and minimize the amount of rolling out that you do. The less you handle, the less gluten build up you will have, and more tender and flaky your final product is.

Update
Okay, now that we have a recipe, I'm going to double down and say you have a combination of both the above problems. On step 1, do not use your fingers. Fingers are great mixing tools for a lot of things, but scones are not one. You should instead cut the butter into the flour. If you have a tool like this:

then use that, otherwise you can use a fork. The resulting mixture should look sort of flaky and crumbly. The big thing is, you should have no un-buttered flour when you get done. If the butter seems really soft by this point, just toss the whole thing into the freezer for five minutes, otherwise continue. Add the buttermilk (and you should use the buttermilk for a lot of chemical reasons that I just don't feel you will be interested in, but it is important to the amount of rise you get), making sure to mix as little as you need to get the whole thing to come together.

We are going to ignore the last sentence of step three, because whom ever wrote this recipe hates new cooks with the fiery passion. Instead, you are just going to plop the dough down and form it into a sheet suitable for cutting. You should be mere moments away from sexy British scones and tea. The last and final bit of advice comes with a nod to GdD, as your oven temp can probably be adjusted to maximize your rise. I won't really worry about it, though, as the temp in the recipe should yield decent results.