Vegetarian Alternative to Bacon-wrapped Sausages?

I'm assuming your goal is to try and capture the main elements that make bacon wrapped smokies great: sweet, salty, meaty, and smoky.

For a vegetarian finger food, grilled tofu would be my first choice. This recipe mirrors the flavor profile of the bacon wrapped smokies pretty closely: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/crispy-barbequed-tofu-slices/detail.aspx

Straight up breaded, fried tofu is also very tasty and versatile (it is fried, after all), and you could serve it with a variety of dipping sauces.

If you're not a fan of tofu, mushrooms would be my second choice. Stuffed mushrooms that are grilled instead of baked would give you a nice subtle smokiness, and they are always a crowd pleaser: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mouth-watering-stuffed-mushrooms/detail.aspx

And last but not least, I'm a big fan of grilled eggplant. This grilled eggplant and ricotta crostini recipe keeps a nice balance of sweet, salty, smoky, and rich: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/grilled-eggplant-and-ricotta-crostini-recipe/index.html


Mayo that splits is typically from one of two things:

Insufficient water
Insufficient mixing leading to large droplets

(It's hardly ever insufficient emulsifier, as one yolk can do many cups of mayo.)

The lack of mixing can happen fairly easily with a whisk, but it won't happen if you're using a food processor, blender, or immersion blender.

You're probably normally making mayo that is on the border of insufficient water, so it's fairly easy to get it to break. When you added more water, the emulsion actually became more stable.

That explains why you can't get it to break, I have a few suggestions on how to fix:

Freeze it. It should break upon thawing.
If hand-mixed, use an immersion blender on it. That should thicken a little, by better mixing. (Assuming you're not using extra virgin olive oil, which should not be blended)
I'm sure there are some thickeners that could be added, but I've never tried thickening mayo like this.

Keep in mind that some flavors are fat soluble, some are water soluble, so if you discard part of the water, you may be changing the flavor balance.


The Pepperidge Farm site offers some tips for baking related to the rise:

Always preheat your oven for a minimum of 15-20 minutes before baking, because Puff Pastry depends on even heat to rise and puff. Place pastries 1 inch apart.
If you want a flaky thin and crispy pastry that's not very puffy, prick the unbaked Puff Pastry all over with a fork, which lets steam escape while baking.
To create a tart with an extra puffy crust: take a knife and score two lines around the edge, then prick the area inside this border with a fork.

I would begin by verifying that these tips were observed. Also, I would verify that your oven bakes consistently (i.e. no hot/cold spots). Preheating can be very helpful in resolving this. Also, you can put in a pizza stone or other heat regulating product, and monitor the temperature with a probe thermometer in water in different areas of the oven.


Is it safe to eat the white “dots” in peaches?

Meh, How Bad Could it Be?

Been eating peaches with these things for as long as I can remember. I seem perfectly fine and nothing ever happened to ... OMG ALIENS!! AHHH!!!

Harmless Callus Tissue

Anyways, more seriously, they're absolutely harmless and are just extra tissue called callus tissue, as sourced from these:

http://www.hmcfarms.com/what-are-the-white-spots-that-appear-inside-a-peach-pit
http://www.ehow.com/info_8774670_white-stuff-peach-pit.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_white_stuff_on_the_inside_of_a_peach

Ok, But What Exactly is that Callus Thing?

  Plant callus (plural calluses or calli) is a mass of unorganized parenchyma cells derived from plant tissue (explants) for use in biological research and biotechnology. In plant biology, callus cells are those cells that cover a plant wound. - from Wikipedia's article on Callus (emphasis mine)


How can I remove excess fat/oil from my slow cooker dish?

it depend on the dish that you are making.There are lots of method to remove extra oil from the cooked dish .one and the easiest way is that if you are making a vegetable or fried dish you can remove extra oil by just putting all the dish on Slotted spoon.in this way all extra oil can be remove without destroying the taste of dish.but if you are making any liquid dish you can remove extra oil by using ice or you can cool the dish and the whole oil appear in a layer and you can easily remove that layer of oil.


Correct procedure to thaw frozen pizza dough?

Thawing frozen pizza dough should be done overnight in the fridge, but allowing it to come to room temperature is not strictly necessary, because it will be cooked in a relatively hot oven in a short time. In fact, cold dough is often easier to work with.
However, 3 hours sounds like a lot for pizza dough, which may caused you to overproof it.

No, it does not make much of a difference if your container was opened.

Bubbles tell you that the yeast in your dough is active, which is often a problem with frozen dough. If you don't have bubbles, the dough will seem dense and undercooked even after baking for a long time. So bubbles are a good sign.


How do I cover up the white spots on my cast iron stove?

Either something has accumulated on the stove or something was taken off the stove by the acids and sugars in the peaches. If you can't clean the spots, then you're looking at the latter situation.

Your stove has some type of finish on it. As Fisher stoves seem to be out of production, official information seems to be sparse. You could apply some type of high-temperature paint, of which there are many different color depths and finishes. Most products I found in 5 minutes of googling seemed to recommended doing the whole stove at once. This could be good for sprucing up the whole stove or could be more work, time, waiting and fumes than you're interested in.

You could also go for a polish or blackening agent, which works more like seasoning a cast iron pan – an organic, lipid wax or oil is applied gradually in layers and the heating and cooling of the stove transforms it into a polymer, which gives it that dully shiny hardened finish. If I had to guess, I would guess that an old school stove is more likely to have a seasoning based finish than a pain.

There are a lot of websites dedicated to wood burning stoves, such as Hearth.com and woodheat.org. With their help and a little research, you could probably identify the exact model of Fisher you have and the year or era it was made; or maybe someone can find a manufacturer recommended product directly.


Does using wild rice in soup suck up all the broth if it is held after cooking?

As you many know wild rice isn't a type of rice but rather a grass. Your intuition is correct that wild rice absorbs a lot less liquid than white or brown rice. However, what you can normally buy is a mix of the two so this may not be the solution you would want to go with particularly since straight wild rice is harder to digest.
If you want rice or pasta to absorb less cook them separately and combine shortly before serving.


What is the value of the "Texas Crutch"?

The primary benefit of crutching a large piece of meat on the smoker is to reduce evaporative cooling.

What is Evaporative Cooling?

When water is heated, it evaporates into vapor that we call steam. The state change from liquid water to gaseous steam is an endothermic process. That means that energy is consumed—as opposed to exothermic processes whereby energy is released.

Evaporative cooling is the effect that this state change has on the meat itself. Liquid steaming off of the meat has a net effect of cooling the meat. This is the same process the human body uses to cool us down in warm weather. We produce sweat which then evaporates, thus cooling our body.

When cooking a big cut of meat it is not uncommon to lose a quarter or more of the weight from the time it hits the smoker to the time you are ready to eat. Most of that lost weight is water.

Why reduce Evaporative Cooling?

When a piece of meat reaches the temperature required for the surface to begin steaming aggressively, the evaporative cooling effect becomes significant enough to halt or significantly slow the overall warming trend of the meat.

In barbecue parlance, this is called "The Stall." The stall can last several hours. By the nature of the variables at play, this stall often happens in what is essentially unproductive time on the smoker. Meaning, the meat is not yet hot enough to be fully into the process of breaking down tough connective tissues, and it's already past the point where it is gaining significant flavor from the smoke. Essentially, it is just sitting there. Using up fuel and time.

Depending on your goals, you may also want that moisture to be inside your meat.

In this graph you can see that the internal temperature of the meat actually dropped during the stall, in spite of the temperature in the smoker itself remaining consistent. It took about 5 hours to regain the heat lost to the stall. This graph was generated by a smoker temperature controller, emphasis mine. One could argue that the stall begins earlier than indicated. There exist more cut-and-dry examples, but I chose this one because of the significant internal temperature dip shown.

What is the value of the Texas Crutch?

In short, it saves time and fuel. Wrapping the meat reduces the evaporative cooling effect so you waste less time in the stall. You're essentially braising the meat in your humidity-controlled environment within the wrap. The steam cannot escape, so the cooling effect is reduced.

What's the catch?

Wrapping your meat to power through the stall will soften the bark (the highly desirable seasoned crust that this food is famous for). When you do or do not crutch is completely dependent on 1) how much time you have to perform your cook and 2) the goal end state of your food. If you're smoking a pork butt, for example, and you plan to pull the meat and mix it up with sauce to make sandwiches, the state of your bark may not be very important to you.

Personally, I am a "bark guy" so I usually make sacrifices in favor of maintaining it. I want shards of chewy bark to contrast the tender texture of the rest of the meat. This usually means giving myself extra time. This is sometimes a more reasonable goal at home than it is in a commercial or competitive environment.

Note that the general principles at work here apply to roasting in an oven as well. Some smokers are indeed very similar to ovens.


Using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose and semolina

You can, although the vast majority of whole wheat pasta recipes also include flours that are not whole wheat. When I first answered this question I missed that you were looking to make pasta using only whole wheat flour.

One way it can work to use all whole wheat is to make the dough, knead, and then rest it overnight recipe, but I'm a bit dubious that the final result will be completely satisfactory. Simply put, if using whole wheat alone can make good pasta, we would see more recipes that only include whole wheat.

If you search for "whole wheat pasta recipe" you will find many recipes that include whole wheat and another flour. The ratio of whole wheat to other flours will vary, I'd definitely look for recipes from very solid sources or recipes that have many excellent reviews. There are a lot of not-very-good recipes out there.

Of all the recipes I looked at from sources that I trust, Mario Batali's uses the highest proportion of whole wheat. He uses a 7:1 ratio. The reviews on that particular recipe aren't stellar, but the comments suggest that the reviewers liked the pasta, just not the sauce.


Tomato leaves are edible, both the articles agree on that. The Modern Farmer article says you'd have to eat pounds and pounds of them before you'd get appreciable amounts of toxins to make you ill, and even then it's more of an upset stomach issue. Some people might react more to Tomatine, which is the mild toxin in the leaves, and is also in green tomatoes. People eat fried green tomatoes enough without getting sick.

For me the cooking issue is flavor, the leaves are pretty pungent and I haven't seen a recipe that uses them without burying them in the middle of a host of other ingredients. They're too strongly flavored to be a salad leaf, and they generally need to be cooked as they're tough.

The flavor thing can work out, you can put a couple of tomato leaves in a tomato sauce to boost flavor in the last few minutes of cooking, then pick them out. They can also be put into a pesto, adding a strong tomato flavor.

The message is you can eat them as long as it's not very large amounts, which you'd probably not want to do anyway because they're so strong.

EDIT: if you grow tomatoes you'll have tomato leaves for weeks, not one single harvest. Once the plants mature and you start to get tomatoes you'll typically prune many of the leaves off to concentrate the plant's energy on ripening the tomatoes, that's actually when you get most of the edible leaves off the plant, a good time to make a pesto if you want to try it. You don't want to harvest many leaves when the tomatoes start ripening as the plant needs what's left for photosynthesis, but you could prune one or two to put into a sauce. As the last tomatoes ripen the plants start to die back and you probably wouldn't want to eat them then.


Best Practices for Cooking with Psyllium Husk?

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

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

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

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


Can I make my spaghetti sauce with puree instead of sauce?

I've been making sauce for even longer :-) and I think you'll be fine. If you, like me, always taste after all the ingredients are in, even before it has simmered, you'll know what you have to adjust. My proportions are generally one 28-ounce can pomodori pelati (Italian plum tomatoes), one 14.5-ounce can sauce or puree, and one 6-ounce can of tomato paste. If you find the puree thicker than the amount of canned sauce that you usually include, you can use slightly less or thin with a bit with water, but I don't think it will be necessary.


What's the most efficient way to juice halved lemons and limes?

Short of using an electric juicer, the squeeze press type of juicer is very popular for doing large quantities of citrus quickly and efficiently.  They are both fast, and squeeze almost all of the available juice, getting the best of both worlds.

These come in sizes that are best for limes, lemons, oranges, or even grapefruits.


I looked up the Little Chief, and I am of the opinion that it will never achieve a cooking temperature sufficient to cook a pork shoulder. The description suggests it cooks at 165f, which is not far from the 178f you were seeing. That is viable for "cold smoking" foods, but not for safely cooking barbecue of any sort.

You should really be targeting over 200f to do a "low and slow" cook. Personally, I never feel comfortable cooking below 225f.


What is the best technique to put icing on plastic?

Are you sure you want to use icing? The barbie cakes I have seen all have the skirt made from rolled marzipan, not from icing. The bodice can be a normal fabric top or dress (inedible, can be washed after the cake is eaten) or also molded from marzipan. I agree that it isn't as tasty as buttercream icing, but it surely makes a more beautiful skirt.

This recipe has 196 pictures, you can see different variations of the bodice.

If you insist on using icing, I would try to smear something sticky onto the doll first, for example honey or syrup in the softball stage, then apply the icing on the sticky layer. I haven't tried this myself (nor have I tried applying icing directly to plastic, so I don't know if it will hold).

On another note, don't forget to put the barbie's legs in a cut-off paper towel cylinder, so she doesn't get damaged when the cake is cut, and doesn't fall when pieces of the skirt are missing. Also, if you bake the layers in a guggelhupf pan, you don't have to cut a piece out of the middle, which is hard to get right.


Pure fresh semolina pasta with and without eggs

There are two pasta manufacturing techniques. First, pasta can be cut to shape using a blade or roller, and second, it can be extruded at high pressure through a bronze or teflon die. The first is what most people know of as fresh pasta, and is made using common flour and eggs. The second is made using semolina flour and water. If you are using a standard Atlas or Imperia roller, or cutting with a knife, use flour and eggs. It is the traditional technique and the semolina will not make a good pasta. If you have access to industrial pasta extrusion equipment, use semolina.

Semolina is typically made from a different species of wheat, durum wheat, which has a very high gluten content, so it does not require eggs to bind it together. The egg white has very high protein content, which compensates for the lower protein in common flour. In McGee's, "On Food and Cooking" he explains how the extrusion process aids the formation of a firm pasta:

  The movement, pressure, and heat of extrusion change the structure of the dough by shearing the protein network apart, mixing it more intimately with starch granulas that have been partially gelated by the heat and pressure, and allowing broken protein bonds to re-form and stabilize the new network.

In "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking", Marcella Hazan says:

  "[semolina] is the only suitable flour for industrially produced pasta, but I do not prefer it for home use. To begin with, it's consistency is often grainy, even when it is sold as pasta flour, and grainy semolina is frustrating to work with. Even when it is milled to the fine, silky texture you need, you must use a machine to roll it out; to try to do so with a rolling pin is to face a nearly hopeless struggle. My advice is to leave semolina flour to factories and to commercial pasta makes: At home use unbleached all-purpose flour.


I don't make "vegan ice cream" though I do make sorbets that happen to be vegan, most of the time. I found that coconut cream gave me strange texture issues (much harder than it should be based on sugar percentage), "light" coconut cream was better than "normal" in this regard (opposite to what I expected, but I guess it's the fat solidifying), and I think my next coconut batch will be just dried coconut, water, sugar and pectin (my not-so-secret sorbet secret.)

Other than that specific issue, the sugar content of your recipe scans low. Sugar serves an important textural role in frozen desserts, and should be approximately 30g per 100g (30% by weight) for most frozen dessert products. While you'll have some sugar in the fruit, it is not that much, and the agave syrup is partly water, so it's likely contributing only 35g or so of sugar for 50g of syrup.

If you put bananas in any frozen dessert, they'll take over, IME, so I don't find that surprising. And coconut meat has much more coconut flavor than cream of coconut, also IME.

If you wanted coconut raspberry, I'd suggest dried coconut, raspberries (check the sugar per 100g on the package, or look up commercial ones similar to ones you've frozen at home (ie, with or without added sugar when freezing), figure how much sugar you've got from that, add a sugar source to bring it up to 30%, add pectin if you like, and freeze in whatever manner you like. You'll likely need some water, too, though it could all be done with enough raspberries providing their juice to the coconut. I find that a proper mix makes good product whether it's still-frozen or churned.


I've successfully dried both rosemary and oregano in a dehydrater, and I see no reason why you couldn't do the same in a warm dry place. Drying is a prerequisite for making herb oils anyway.

The flavour of rosemary in particular changes on drying, so it's not as good for some recipes as fresh


Is there anything wrong with rubbing a stick of butter on the pan?

It would depend on how quickly you use the butter, how thoroughly the pan was cleaned, and how long the pan was stored between uses/washes, and how clean your hands were when rubbing the butter in the pan. The more contaminates you introduce the butter and the longer you store it, the more likely the butter will spoil.

Refrigerated butter is good for about a month after the sell-by date. Generally, butter that has been handled loses half its shelf life or more (generally succumbing to mould infestation).

If your hands and pan are clean, the risk is greatly reduced. Despite this, I find handled butter's shelf life is much lower than sealed butter (1-2 weeks versus 3-4).


What are some alternative sources of calcium (to milk) for the lactose-intolerant?

Green vegetables are a good source of calcium, in particular, artichokes, broccoli, and greens (like turnip greens). Other sources of dietary calcium include sardines, canned salmon, raisins, almonds, sesame seeds, and soy beans.

ETA: The daily recommended intake of calcium for an adult is 500-1000 mg. If you're curious about how much calcium a particular foodstuff has, you can look it up on the USDA National Nutrient Database.


Use BBQ for both searing and slow-roasting beef

In the Good Eats episode on tuna, Alton Brown mentioned that you want as hot of a fire as possible, and that you could cook directly over the chimney starter, once the coals are going:

  As for the fire, well, it's hot. It's real hot. Just take a look. It's like a jet engine down there. Now the normal thing to do would be to distribute those coals across the bottom of the grill and get to cookin'. But, um, I don't want to dissipate the heat. I don't want to spread it out. I want to keep it concentrated. I want to cook on a jet engine! And ... it's ... my jet engine so I say we'll cook on the jet engine.

He then put a grate over the top of the chimney starter, and cooked his tuna.

In your case, you could sear the outside of the roast, move it to the side, then dump the coals into your grill for a two-level fire, and  then put the meat over on the cold side.  It's not all that different from what you were already doing, but it should give you a hotter initial sear.


Is creamed butter stable for mid or long term storage?

If you are asking about butter creamed with sugar, you can do this.  I would place in an airtight container, maybe with a piece of plastic or wax paper on top, and refrigerate.  It should be good for a couple of weeks.  Of course, you will need to bring to room temperature to soften before use.


Personally, I conceptualize an average blade-of-mace size, and use that to determine if I should tear a bit of or not. The outcome will sometimes be a bit more macey, sometimes a bit less macey. For me, it's part of the charm of a curry, and also helps finding out personal preference of dosage for mace.

The same problem exists with "an inch of ginger", "a 2 inch piece of dalchini": There's thick and thin parts of ginger, smaller or wider parts of dalchini. I do the same there: Consider what the average part looks like (i.e. for ginger, the more bulbous part seems to be main part, with smaller knobs on the outside), and use that to take your measure.

Ideally they would specify everything in tea- or tablespoons, which would at least help for grindable spices, but in my experience, most indian recipes don't when it comes to mace, ginger and dalchini (and of course garlic: Big cloves, small cloves?). (Although for ginger, they sometimes specify "a thumb sized piece of ginger", which is quite workable).

I just accept that sometimes it will be a bit more gingery/macey/cinnamony, sometimes less. I have never had a failed curry because of it, it's just that the taste will float within a certain (acceptable) range of flavors.


Why to store olive oil in opaque bottles?

With a lot of commercial oils, the industry distinguishes auto-oxidation from photo-oxidation (also called photosensitised oxidation), where the former is in the absence of the light, and the latter with light:

  [W]hen olive oils are exposed to light, photo-oxidation occurs through the action of natural photosensitizers (i.e. chlorophyll), which react with triplet oxygen to form the excited state singlet oxygen. Thus, protection from direct light is required for commercial edible oils.

Note how the mechanisms are slightly different, even though both involve the C=C bond of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The issue with photo-oxidation is that it is through the action of chlorophyll and other chemical pigments that absorb wavelengths of light.

Hence the reason that extra virgin olive oil requires darkened glass is more to do with the cause of its colour, i.e. the fact that it has a relatively large amount of chlorophyll. As the 2006 study states:

  Light is much more important than temperature in 1O2 oxidation. Light of shorter wavelengths had more detrimental effects on the oils than longer wavelengths.

...and interestingly about the role of chlorophyll:

  Although chlorophylls are strong prooxidants under light via acting as a sensitizer to produce 1O2, they act as antioxidants in
  the dark possibly by donating hydrogen to free radicals.

The concentration of the antioxidant tocopherol on the other hand (well known in its role as Vitamin E), known for slowing oxidation, varies greatly across different olive oils:

  Tocopherol content of virgin olive oils (VOOs) varies from 97 to 785 mg/kg. Despite differences in the concentration of total tocopherols that can be attributed to agronomical, geographical, and technological factors, α-tocopherol is the dominant homologue in virgin olive oils making more than 90% of total tocopherols.

Also note that these oxidised products, the hydroxyperoxides, generally aren't detectable on their own - it is their breakdown products that are directly detected by our nose as "rancid".


regulating temperature in cheap offset smokers

One idea I just had: 2 heavy cast-iron skillets.  (These will also be handy for keeping some water in the smoker, which is a common recommendation when cooking low-and-slow.)


How to make good quality onion powder at home?

It's likely that your oven, even on the coolest setting, is too hot. That's why the onion burnt, and the bitterness comes from the burnt bits.

I occasionally use my electric oven for dehydrating fruit and veg but mine goes down to 50°C. I tend to preheat it to about 100°C and turn it down when the food had been in for a few minutes, at which point I open the door as well.

A gas oven has another problem - burning gas produces water vapour, which makes drying harder even with ventilation (you really do need the door ajar to let the steam out). Drying on a rack (borrowed from a grill pan, or a cake cooling rack) makes a huge difference.

I also have a dehydrator, but it's not all that  much better than the oven for a small batch in winter, so I leave it stored away except when I've got a lot to dry. It wins on capacity and the fact I can run it outside - worthwhile for chillies and presumably onions.


Browning ingredients (both meat and vegetables including the aromatics) before doing a braise or stew (which is what slow cookers do) helps develop depth of flavor, through the Maillard reaction where proteins and carbohydrates react together to create a myriad of flavorful compounds.  Vegetables that are high in sugar, such as onions or leeks, and even carrots may also have some caramelization, where sugars react with each other, again creating flavorful compounds.

Especially with beef, these deep browned flavors are often what people associate with the product, and what they expect to taste.

On the other hand, browning almost by definition overcooks the outside of meat well past well done, so it is somewhat drier and tougher, although this can be mitigated by a long braise   Some experts recommend browning only on one side of cubed meat, to compromise between getting flavor development, and getting good texture.

The one thing browning or searing doesn't do is "seal in the juices"; that is a myth that is well de-bunked.

The choice to brown or not brown is one of taste and balance.  It is traditional in many recipes, especially of Western European heritage.  There are many traditions where browning is not as frequent, including true Mexican cuisine and many Asian cuisines.

Choose what seems most appropriate and tasty to you in a given dish.  Personally, I like the flavor development, and almost always opt for browning.


What is the shelf life of pickled gherkins stored dry?

You might see some loss of quality within a couple of months, but under refrigeration they will not become close to "unsafe" in that length of time. They're already "pickled", the worst you will face is dried out pickles. You can always add more "pickle" in the form of vinegar, salt, sugar and water (boiled and cooled), but it seems pretty unnecessary - two potato salads and you're done with them.


How can I adapt slow-cooker recipes to allow more pre-preparation?

I don't know if there's an 'official' way of doing this, but I've heard a few different techniques (eg, putting the crock together the night before, then fridging it).

Personally, if I'm going to prep things in advance, I try to take advantage of the extra time, such as by giving the meat a dry-rub.

In theory you can mix the meat and vegetables (as they'll all be cooked to sufficient temperatures to make the meat safe; the problems are when you cook the vegetables for less time) ... but I find that makes it difficult to specifically layer the crock the way that I want to.  (I typically put a carrots across the bottom to lift the meat a little off the bottom of the crock).

When it comes time to put everything into the crock, I start it on high for a little while so it'll come up to temperature in a reasonable time, and then switch it over to warm before leaving it to work.  (it's possible that the new programmable crockpots do this automatically with 'fuzzy logic' ... I've never tested it specifically).

...

So, to summarize:

prep food the night before
store in containers relative to how you'll want to layer things in the crock.  (if not layering, all together is fine).
don't use the crock as one of the containers in the fridge.
on the morning of, layer things into the crock about 30 min before you need to leave.
add the appropriate amount of liquid.
place the lid on.
turn the crock on high.
once the temperature is up to around 130-140°F (57-60°C), switch it over low.
leave it for the appropriate amount of time.
switch it to warm if you need extra time before it'll be served.

If you overslep or otherwise need to get out the door quickly ... put the liquid in the microwave to heat up (or stovetop) while you assemble the stuff in the crock, and assemble it while the crock is on low.  (you won't burn yourself right away, as it takes a few minutes to warm up).  Once the liquid is warm (you don't want it at a boil ... we're looking for near our target 130-140°F / 57-60°C; a couple of degrees over if you have the time), pour it in slowly, working your way around the outer edge of the crock.  Drop on the lid, and then go to step #9.


Forgot to add cornstarch to my dough which is already proofing

If the dough is proofing correctly, which it should be if the cornstarch is the only thing missing and everything else is correct, then you should be fine without it.
Depending on how much cornstarch was asked for the texture will be different, probably a tad less tender. But it shouldn't be anything that ruins the dough.
If you can get sweet dough like that through its first proof with good rise it's pretty much smooth sailing after that so I wouldn't worry about it.
If you want you can post the recipe and I'll take a gander at it.


What does acidity mean in terms of coffee? How does it affect taste?

Acidity in coffee results in a brightness of flavor.  Higher Grounds describes it as "dry, bright & sparkling sensation". Sweet Maria, a purveyor of unroasted beans, describes it as "bright, clear, snappy, dry, clean, winey, etc."

In truth, you would need to sample a variety of coffees with different characteristics and develop your own sense memory, because it is extremely difficult to describe flavors.

A nice Ethiopian full city roast will have good acidity when compared to say a French roasted anything.  In general, coffee grown at higher altitude will have more acidity than lower grown coffee; and lighter roasted coffee will retain more of its acidity than darker roasted coffee.

See also:

Kaladi Coffee article on coffee acidity
Higher Grown: Coffee Acidity: the Science & the Experience


What's the difference between Guatemalen, Honduran and Salvedorean Cream?

I haven't actually had these creams (I might have to try next time I'm at a Latin grocery), but a little research indicates that Guatemalen cream is something like a hybrid of American style sour cream, and creme fraiche; Honduran cream is saltier, and Salvadoran one is sweeter.

Here's a review.


They do go above 550F, it's a question of design and the type of wiring used in an oven. THWN is commonly used to wire up home ovens, which has a maximum surrounding ambient temperature rating of 105 degrees celsius.

So, oven makers need to design ovens where the ambient temperature of things outside of the insulated oven cavity don't reach a temperature above 220 degrees fahrenheit (that's where the wiring lives), and not exceed the insulation around the door of the oven, and not burn anyone coming in contact with the sides.

So it's both safety and technical cost reasons. Hotter home ovens are possible, and available, but they're made a bit differently and the cost to produce them is a bit higher. Since most people cooking at home don't need something that goes north of 500 degrees, there isn't a big market for them - and the market that does exist is mostly in the commercial space.

A residential implementation would have some pretty specific insulation requirements, be slightly larger than most home builders anticipated (making them harder to install) and naturally quite a bit more expensive and scarce.


Is food with hair in it (or food which had hair in it) safe to eat?

--
Hair is a protein mostly keratin

  Keratin refers to a family of fibrous structural proteins. Keratin is the key of structural material making up the outer layer of human skin. It is also the key structural component of hair and nails.

There's nothing special about it as a protein, so as long as it doesn't wrap around your tonsils and get stuck in your throat, or contain dyes, hairspray etc. it's safe to eat.
However, the long stringy nature of the stuff can cause problems if you eat too much of it.


Reference 1 in your Wikipedia link, the patent, describes the process as it was in 1895.
Flakes of "corn, and other grains" appear to have been a bit of an afterthought.
The basic process is: hot soak, cook, roll, steam cook, roast dry. Looks pretty tedious to do in a home kitchen, but possible with some effort.


Why do red kidney beans come in 410g cans?

Perhaps because the cans are of a standard height and the extra 10g of beans gives the proper headspace in the can?


What heat & fat do you use for fried mushrooms?

I cook 'em on medium-high heat in butter until they're browned and crisped to my liking. I don't cover - that seems to result in soggier mushrooms than I prefer.


Yes, it is still safe to eat. If the meat itself has been at room temperature for two hours, it is generally unsafe to eat. Your meat never reached room temp, even the meat on the outside.

It may take 24-48 hours for your roast to pork roast to thaw in the refrigerator. Another option you have to speed up that process is place the roast (still wrapped) in a bowl and fill with warm water. Once the water turns cold, change it for more warm water. Do this as many times as necessary until thawed, or do it 5-10 times and refrigerate overnight.


Mashed potato: start with hot water or cold water?

TL;DR
Start with cold water if you boil potatoes. Peel and chunk medium starch potatoes or use whole unpeeled starchy potatoes.
Start with boiling water if you steam potato chunks, rinse with cold water halfway through cooking (starchy or medium starch potatoes).

If you submerge the potatoes, start them with cold water with salt, bring just to a boil and simmer until done. This method works best with russet potatoes whole and unpeeled, or preferably less starchy potatoes like Yukon Gold, which are fine peeled and chunked.
From America's Test Kitchen (Sorry, Paywalled, but they do offer a 14 day free trial)

For our mashed potato recipe, we quickly found that russet potatoes produced too much amylose because they are so high in starch. One solution was to boil the russets in their jackets. This inhibited water absorption, and without water absorption, the starch granules didn’t swell, burst, and release their sticky amylose. However, this technique requires you to peel hot potatoes just before serving⎯hardly an easy task.

If you have a less starchy, more waxy potato like Yukon Gold, peel and chunk them. Then one option is to simmer them as in ATK's Buttermilk Ranch Mashed Potatoes

Place potatoes in large saucepan; add cold water to cover by 1 inch and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes break apart when paring knife is inserted, about 18 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to saucepan set on still-hot burner.

ATK's other favorite method, which works for high or medium starch potatoes is steaming, rinsing them in cold water halfway through cooking.
(from the first link above)

We found that boiling them still introduced too much water into the starch granules. Instead we tried steaming. The hot water vapor efficiently cooks the spuds, but doesn’t allow them to soak up water the way boiling would.
We also rinsed the steamed potatoes halfway through cooking, taking advantage of another bit of chemistry. By rinsing, we allowed the potatoes to cool halfway through cooking. And by cooling off, some of the amylose still inside the starch granules formed insoluble crystals. Those insoluble amylose crystals stay trapped inside the granules and therefore can’t escape and turn the potatoes gluey. Better still, any amylose that did escape during the first half of cooking was simply washed away.

ATK's Fluffy Mashed Potatoes

Place metal colander or steamer insert in large pot or Dutch oven. Add enough [salted] water for it to barely reach bottom of colander. Turn heat to high and bring water to boil. Add potatoes, cover, and reduce heat to medium-high. Cook potatoes 10 minutes. Transfer colander to sink and rinse potatoes under cold water until no longer hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Return colander and potatoes to pot, cover, and continue to cook until potatoes are soft and tip of paring knife inserted into potato meets no resistance, 10 to 15 minutes longer.

Leave it to ATK to make mashed potatoes fussy, but I tried the steaming/rinsing/steaming method as above, and it really did work great.


Are fungal toxins a significant problem in coffee, and if so, can they be avoided?

Time to apply a bit of healthy skepticism here:

The blog post:

Is (so far) the first and only one I've ever seen stating mold to be a practical problem in coffee - in the sense of being present in a high enough quantity to matter (mold grows everywhere).
Uses all kinds of weasel words to describe symptoms ("edgy", "cranky", "useless mentally").
Describes symptoms that are well in line with plain old caffeine withdrawal.
Frequently links to other blog posts on the same site, most of which are "top 10 ways" and "top 5 reasons" fluff pieces.
Manages to cite and thoroughly misuse two studies: one from 1995, and another from 2003. Both are about Ochratoxin A (OA), which isn't even the biggest risk; Aflatoxin is. (More on these later).
Advertises a fairly expensive product, sold by the same author.

The author:

Is, according to his LinkedIn profile (which I refuse to link here), the VP of Cloud Security at Trend Micro - a Silicon Valley tech company. I could not find any evidence that he or his his employer has any experience in human biology or nutrition.
Makes all sorts of unusual claims about himself: "He upgraded his brain by >20 IQ points, lowered his biological age, and lost 100 lbs without using calories or exercise."
Has an entire page of testimonials, which he frequently cites as "evidence".
Has an entire site dedicated to product-peddling, including the ubiquitous six-second abs (yes, that's hyperbole) and a $60 "earthing mat".
Has the following disclaimers on the product site (all in tiny print at the bottom):

  The statements made on this website have not been evaluated by the FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration).  Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

  The information provided by this website or this company is not a substitute for a face-to-face consultation with your physician, and should not be construed as individual medical advice.  The testimonials on this website are individual cases and do not guarantee that you will get the same results.
  In short, he employs tactics which are commonplace among con artists selling magnetic bracelets. In my opinion, all his claims are technobabble, and I think they are not trustworthy.

  The facts and studies:

The largest sample tested was just 60 samples of beans, and was tested from only one source (Brazil). This is fine for individual studies, but in the real world there are hundreds (thousands?) of sources from many different countries. It's safe to say that the current studies don't even come close to testing all of the coffee from around the world.
Both OA studies found an incidence rate of approximately 50% for the OA-producing mold, at wildly different concentrations (minimum 0.2 ppb in one study, maximum 7.8 ppb in another). If this tells me anything at all, it's that you should probably vary your source if you want to minimize your risk.
Neither the FDA nor the EFSA actually have a legal limit for OA, but the EFSA "suggests" a limit of 8 µg/kg, which means that even the worst samples are below the very conservative legal limit.
One study actually tested the incidence of OA in brewed coffee, not just the beans, and found a maximum of 7.8 ppb in the brew (that's 7.8 µg per 1 kg of ground coffee).

For reference, there's an EFSA directive recommending an intake of no more than 120 ng/kg (body weight) per week, which comes out to 8.4 µg/week for a 150 lb/70 kg individual, or 1.2 µg/day.
Based on the worst contamination of brewed coffee (7.8 µg/kg), doing the math, you'd have to consume the brew from 150 g of ground coffee per day. That's about half a standard-sized tin of coffee. Per day. If you drink that much coffee, shame on you.

The 3rd study (the one rumtscho linked to, not cited by the blogger/con artist) looked at Aflatoxin, not Ochratoxin, which actually is regulated by the FDA at a maximum of 20 ppb. This study also showed approximately a 50% incidence rate after roasting, with the highest concentration of AT being 16 µg/kg for decaf (less with caffeine). So that means with any random cup of coffee you have up to a 50% chance of consuming an amount of AT that's still well below the FDA limit - that's very nearly zero risk.
None of the studies test the rate of mold growth on beans while in storage under various conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.), so we can't comment on what happens in storage. So I guess if you want to really be on the safe side, only buy as much coffee as you think you can use in a week or two.

Conclusion:

Don't believe everything that people tell you - especially people with something to sell. Unless you're drinking gallons of coffee a day, brewed coffee is perfectly safe.


How do you convert a cake recipe to make brownies?

Brownies are typically dense and less fluffy compared to cake.  What you want to do is to make the cake recipe more dense to make it more like brownies. Here are a few factors that would effect density/fluffyness.

Number of eggs: Adding more eggs will make the cake more dense
Preparation of eggs:  Beating the eggs will cause the cake to be more fluffy since you are introducing more air into the mixture. You should stir them lightly with a fork (not beat/whisk them) until just liquefied, to avoid a fluffy cakelike texture.
Addition of baking powder.  Most cake recipes call for baking powder while many brownie recipes do not.

I suggest reviewing some brownie recipes and the comments to get a feel for a good starting point for the cake recipe modifications.


Is it ok to include garlic when I can hot peppers?

You should be fine. I couldn't find your particular recipe, but many canning recipes for peppers (and salsas, pickles & relishes) contain garlic. As long as there is sufficient vinegar, which the name of your recipe suggests, and you processed correctly there shouldn't be a problem. This recipe for Pickled Peppers may be similar to yours and contains garlic in the finished product.


Preserving oil and lime based dressing for resale

You can't reasonably create a shelf-stable lime juice and oil dressing in a home kitchen.
Oil and vinegar dressings don't really need much to preserve them because both oil and vinegar are shelf-stable on their own.
Lime juice, however, degrades at room temperature, so you would need to sterilize it in a hot water bath.  That's pretty simple; lime juice is extremely high acid, so 10 minutes at 180F will do it.
However, that brings up a second problem: hot water bath canning anything containing a lot of oil is not recommended.  There's some problems with canning anything containing a lot of oil:

Any oil on the jar seal can cause it to fail;
Oil can go rancid in the jar, even if heat-treated and sealed;
Times and temperature formulas for non-oil packing do not work for oil packing, because oil takes longer to transmit heat;
Adding the oil lowers the overall acidity of your dressing, possibly making it a low-acid food and requiring pressure canning.

Moreover, because home canning with oil is officially not recommended, it's very hard to find any reputable advice on how to do it.  This means you'd be experimenting ... not just with your recipes, but with the health of your customers, which is very risky in most places.
However, there is another option.  Many small producers sell dressings that need to be refrigerated and consumed within a few weeks; I have a feta-cheese based dressing from a local cheesemaker in my fridge right now.  You could experiment in your own fridge to see how long it keeps.  Consider this as your path forwards for selling your dressing.


I think that the regulation is there to prevent the marketing of meat from stillborn animals or aborted animals. The EU wants animals to be inspected before they are killed and after they have been killed, and it wants the killing process to be done under certain conditions.
Obviously a stillborn/aborted animal does not satisfy these requirements.

And an animal that has been killed while very young may be hard to tell from an aborted one.


How do I avoid my food becoming brownish/dark while cooking?

The "browning" or "coloring" of food during cooking and baking1 is a reaction of temperature and/or time. As a rule of thumb, the hotter your pan or oven, the faster the food will brown.

There are two chemical reactions (or rather chains of reactions) that play a significant role in cooking:

The Maillard reaction, which affects proteins (-> browning a steak)and
Caramelization, which affects the carbohydrates, i.e. sugars (-> baking a cake).

Both require temperatures well over 100°C (212°F), so one of the easiest preventative measures is to add water to the food you are cooking, which should keep the food at 100°C (212°F) until all water is evaporated - for example blanching or steaming vegetables instead of stir-frying them or poaching a piece of fish or chicken breast vs. pan-frying or grilling. For "dry" preparations, just don’t heat up your pan too much - often 25% or so of the maximum power will suffice- and simply stop cooking before you see browning. You may have to finish cooking it by a low-temperature method, if it's not done at that point.

In your sample recipe, this happens when you add the cream and simmer the asparagus for another ten minutes or until soft.

1 Browning as oxidizing (e.g. leaving a cut apple exposed to air) is not part of your question, hence ignored.


Flavor difference between marzipan and persipan

If you want to give something the flavor of almonds, then starting with almonds, in my opinion, is superior to starting with the cousin of almonds. Of course, if your persipan is, in your opinion, indistinguishable from marzipan, then go ahead and use it in good health, but it is likely that it has added flavors to get it to that point (natural or otherwise, depending on manufacturer).

Modern, sweet, cultivated almonds have a stronger almond-y (and in my opinion, better) flavor than apricot kernels and, I would presume, peach kernels (I haven't eaten those).

Almonds, peaches and apricots are close relatives and the kernels are generally quite similar. Most peach and apricot kernels (as well as bitter almonds) are not edible in their fresh, raw state because they contain cyanide in the form of amygdalin. There are actually some apricots with kernels that are edible without extra processing and in my experience, they aren't as flavorful as almonds, although I guess there could be some varieties with more flavorful kernels, but I think the ones that are being used for the persipan are more likely to be leftover from fruit production and not a specific variety bred for the kernel itself.

When you make marzipan, you just need to grind up blanched almonds. When you make persipan, you need to process the kernels to remove toxic chemicals, which removes much of the bitterness, and then grind them up and probably add in some flavoring.

I expect it is possible to get the persipan to approximate the flavor of marzipan, and I would expect the texture to be about right to begin with, but personally, I would say that yes, making marzipan from almonds is superior. It's using the variant of that particular nut-bearing tree that was bred throughout the centuries to make the flavor that this food item is most expected to highlight. Marzipan IS almond. ...and sugar, sure, fine, whatever. ;-)


What is the best way to reheat leftover grilled fish?

If what you want is a piece of fish with the same texture and juiciness as fresh-off-the-grill, yes it is a lost cause.

My preferred method for reheating leftover fish is to break it up and use it in another application. Bouilliabaisse is excellent for leftover bits, any fish stew really. Also fish tacos.

Simply break up the fish and add to the stew in the last few minutes (to prevent overcooking), or toss briefly in a pan.


What reasons might make day-old pastry the preferred choice in these recipes?

It may be a matter of texture, rather than taste.

The recipes you link involve putting a wet paste on top of a previously baked croissant.

Most baked goods change in texture after sitting out for a few days, mostly because they get drier.  If you want to turn bread into crumbs or croutons, for example, you slice it and let it dry out before processing it.

By letting the croissants sit for a day or two, their surface will become harder, and they won't get soggy when the almond paste is applied.


Joe,

Whole wheat puff pastry.   It's expensive, and hard to find, though.

Or try another recipe.  If the recipe you're using calls for puff pastry, then the flavor and texture of the puff pastry is going to be a big part of the dish.  It never works very well to substitute a primary ingredient in a recipe.


Can you freeze whole pomegranates to save them?

You cannot freeze them whole; the large fruit pod will turn into a disgusting mush when you thaw it.
You can, however, freeze the pips quite well, and they are the part you eat anyway.


How to have poached eggs in "sphere form"?

The number one thing is having fresh eggs. Older eggs have a looser inner white and there's not much you can do to keep the yolk from hanging on to the side. Contrary to the other answer, I have not found that swirling the water helps the egg stay together, compared to dropping it in very carefully (the water should go into the cup before the egg comes out; you shouldn't be pouring it in, as much as allowing it to slowly slide along the side of the cup further down into the water). The water should be well-salted, and a bit of vinegar can be a good idea although adding too much can cause the outer skin of the egg to become a bit leathery.

If you want a truly absurdly perfect poached egg, you can use a sous vide cooker (or just a pot of carefully tended warm water). Cook the eggs in their shells at 64 degrees celsius for 1 hour, remove the shell and separate the loose white, and cook in simmering water for just a minute or so. I actually find the result a bit off-putting in its perfection, but it's the closest to "sphere form" you will ever get.


What does this chart mean when it says "lbs per round" or "lbs per sqare/rectangle"?

It is a scalable recipe. First, you decide in which pan you want to bake the cake. You take your pan and measure it. Let's say you have a 9" round pan. You go into the column "lbs per round" and find out that your pan takes 3 1/2 lbs of batter. Then you go to the other table with ingredients measurements, multiply the column "6 lbs" by 7/12, and have your ingredient measurements. Alternatively, you can bake a slightly thinner cake, and divide the amounts in the 6 lbs cake by 2.

Alternatively, if you want the tall kind of cake shown in the pictures, first decide what amount you want to bake, then use the table to calculate how many pans you will need to get that amount of batter baked. For example, for a 8 lb cake with a square base, you could use 4 6" square pans.

When you have made your batter, the last column tells you how much time you should expect, roughly, for the cake to bake through. For the 9" round cake, it would be 1 hour 10 min. Don't forget that this is only an estimate, you should take the cake out when it is done, not when the timer goes off.


I would suggest just put some plastic foil around it, so the bugs aren't on it. And don't put it in direct sunlight. Since you have no fridge, maybe search for a 'cooler' place (cellar, cabinet, a place where the sun never comes etc.) to put it.

I myself take out all the meat of the coconut, put plastic foil around it and put it in the fridge. That way, it's good for a couple of days.

Do you have a freezer? You can also put some in there. It will be good for longer than a couple of days (up to a couple of months if you preserved it well). I have no idea how it turns out afterwards. I'm guessing it will be a bit less 'juicy'.

Another way to preserve it, is to dry the coconut. But this will of course damage the flavour.


Culinary term for non-flavor defining ingredients

I am going to go with ... Drumroll please ... Fillers

credit to my girlfriend who helped me figure out the word I was looking for.

Examples like you stated...starchy root veg in beef stews or the rice in black beans and rice.

Though ingredients used to add color I would really call a garnish even if it's not placed on top of the finished product.


What would cause heartburn in marinara sauce?

Tomatoes relax the lower esophageal sphincter, a muscle at the top of the stomach that contracts to keep stomach contents from going back up the esophagus. The more concentrated the sauce the more the relaxing effect. Alcohol does this as well, and over-eating can lead to the LES muscle being unable to overcome the pressure. So if you had a big portion of pizza with extra strong tomato sauce and a few beers or glasses of wine it's a triple-whammy.


Salmonella in eggs that been used in mousses and other desserts in their raw state

One alternative is to use pasteurized eggs.


Is there anything I can use in pumpkin custard to replace salt?

You can certainly omit salt from a pumpkin custard recipe. It's there as a flavor enhancer, to provide contrast to the sweetness. The texture of the custard will be just fine without it. Desserts without salt can sometimes seem insipid, but the mixture of spices in pumpkin custard should prevent that issue. I wouldn't add any additional spices.
Sometimes I forget to add the salt to a pumpkin pie, and no one notices the omission. Pumpkin pie filling is basically the same as a pumpkin custard.
Some pumpkin custard recipes have a pecan topping, which would add some additional texture and flavor. The pecan topping is a mixture of pecans, brown sugar and melted butter, sprinkled on top of each custard before baking.
Or you could make candied pecans as an optional topping. As with the custard it will be fine to omit the salt. If you're serving guests and not all of them are on a low-salt diet, you could make two batches of candied pecans, one salted and one unsalted.

edit: as chasly mentioned, if you are on a low-sodium diet there are various salt substitutes that don't have sodium, such as potassium chloride. I can't specifically recommend them because I haven't tried them. Potassium chloride is often described as having a metallic taste. The benefit of having some saltiness might be outweighed by the metallic taste, but it might be worth experimenting. You could split a batch of unsalted custard and add salt substitute to one half.


Pressure cooker rice quality vs high-end rice cooker

There are some advantages to a pressure cooker, but I don't think that the rice QUITE finishes in 10 minutes in my experience. For proper texture, it still seems to take some time for the rice to fully hydrate and steam itself after the heat is off. A normal well-covered pot of (most kinds of) rice takes approximately 25-30 min after it comes to a boil, and 10-15 minutes of that is resting with no heat. The pressure cooker might save 8-10 minutes off of that, because I think you'll not need as much time on heat.

The downsides of a pressure cooker include: 1) It's much too easy to cook off too much water and burn or dry out the rice while on full heat, because you cannot see how much water is inside. 2) It doesn't hot hold the rice very well. (In Japan, Korea and China, it's generally considered rude to serve cooled off rice). and 3) It's also not so easy to cook a small amount of rice, because the minimum amount of liquid (by manufacturer recommendations, based on capacity of the vessel) may be higher than you'd need for a typical 180ml scoop of rice. Items 1 and 3 can be mitigated with practice, I suppose. I had pretty good results with a stovetop pot that wasn't a pressure cooker back when I did it regularly, and I think it's not that hard to adapt to the difference with a pressure cooker, but I've certainly made my share of timing and water volume mistakes.

The induction rice cooker I have does have a "quick" mode, which finishes in about 23-25 minutes (similar to stovetop). The cycle doesn't seem to perfectly steam the rice compared to the regular or eco mode cycles, however; texture is a bit firmer than it ideally should be. The 43 minute standard cycle produces very good results, never burns, and keeps hot without major texture compromise for up to about 8 hours (after that texture degrades, but mine will keep even longer if I leave it on). Some models even have an "okoge' feature to simulate the traditional cast-iron pot technique that was common in Japan through the early 20th century, which results in an intentional slightly crusty bottom. IH and Fuzzy Logic rice cookers make constant subtle adjustments that you may not need to make if you're very consistent in timing and volume with a stovetop or pressure cooker.

Mostly the value of a rice cooker is that you set it and forget it. Once you start it you can focus on the prep work for other things. I use it even when I'm using the pressure cooker for lentils or whatever. The hot holding, which is still essentially an extension of "set it and forget it," is another key advantage.


Do you add frozen peas directly to flavor bases or you have to boil them?

There's no point in boiling peas separately if you can cook them in whatever dish you are making, it's an extra pan to clean up and you lose whatever flavor gets leached out in the cooking process. I think where you went wrong is adding them frozen as you caused the base to cool and they sank. If you add a lot of peas the base can take a long time to get back up to cooking temperature, which is why they haven't cooked.

Next time thaw them in hot water before you add them to the pot, this will make them cook much faster and it will get rid of any excess water from ice (some companies pack water with their frozen vegetables to bulk them out) which can dilute your food. The peas don't have to be warm or even up to room temperature, just not frozen anymore. Once you add them give them a stir or two every couple of minutes to keep them from sinking and burning on the bottom.

If you do want to add them to the pot frozen then you need to crank the heat up until the pot is back up to temperature.


Substitute for vegetable oil in brownies

Any fat can always replace any other fat, so if you have any of the following around, they can be used as a substitute:

Butter
Duck fat
Olive oil (yes, it's a vegetable oil, which you say you don't have, but you might not have thought of this one)
...

Note however, that using different fats will change the texture and taste of the final product. (if you're used to very soft brownies, butter will give you a less soft experience and duck fat will change the taste)


What causes butter to make risotto shiny?

There is no special chemical reaction. Melted fats are glossy, look at any oil in a bottle.

When you add the butter, it coats the rice, and this coat of fat is glossy. That's all there is to it.

I don't know the exact explanation of why all oils are glossy, but it probably involves quantum physics. You could ask it on Physics or Chemistry SE, it is beyond our scope here.


I once made habanero poppers for some friends.  Sliced the habaneros in half length wise and seeded them. I stuffed them with a mix of cream cheese, monterey jack, sour cream, salt and pepper and then baked them in the oven until the cheese had turned GB&D.

They were very tasty, as the pepper itself was quite a bit sweeter and more flavorful than the normal jalapeno I would have used. I would expect that since the bhut jolokia is in the same general family as the habanero, the same would apply here.  However, they were significantly hotter, almost to the point of unpleasant for the non-chiliheads.

As the bhut jolokias are even hotter, I would urge caution when handling them.  I would also probably enjoy every moment of the pain of eating them.


Ideal pressure cooker size for cooking a pound (454g) of beans

A pound of beans should be 4-5 cups (about 1L) when cooked. I think it's pretty hard to find pressure cookers smaller than 4 quarts (16 cups or 3.8L), so you shouldn't have any worries at all. Even the smallest one you can find will have plenty of extra space.


If you can find it, the best stuff is industrial Viking degreaser or oven cleaner, undiluted.  It's what we use in restaurants, because a tiny amount will dissolve even the toughest grease with minimal scrubbing.  It's toxic and corrosive (it'll do to skin what it does to grease), so use it carefully and rinse very well, but the stuff is magic.

Positively magic -- spray a little on and then use a pot sprayer and the grease and grime just rinses off.  I swear they suck the souls from babies to power the black magic contained in those bottles.

Failing that, a prolonged soak in boiling hot water with a ton of concentrated dish soap will loosen grease.  "Magic eraser" scrubbing blocks work wonders for scrubbing off grease too, and take less elbow grease than the other scouring things.

Note:  degreaser is not for normal use on pots and pans, just for hard to clean greasy buildup, such as you see on ovens, stovetops, and friers.


Are Non-Stick Bread Pans Destined to Fail?

If they have a Teflon coating, they may be building up a patina of partially polymerized oil. Oils that sit in contact with Teflon while being heated will gum up and form a layer on top of the coating that is a bit sticky, and prevents the Teflon from working properly. Interestingly the polymerization process is similar to what occurs on a seasoned cast-iron pan, but in its incomplete state, it is sticky rather than slippery!

All-Clad recommends scrubbing their non-stick pans periodically with baking soda to remove the polymer layer, which would be good advice for any non-stick pans.

That said, I'm not sure that it will entirely fix your problem, but it is worth trying before you replace the pans. Micro-scratches and other things will make non-stick surfaces more sticky over time as well.


Are there significant differences between different zesters?

I think there's probably a bigger difference between types of zesters than between brands.

No matter what type you choose, look for one that limits how deeply you can cut into the fruit's peel. You want to get only the colored layer, and as little of the white pith (the bitter under-layer) as possible.

The most common kind that I've seen--a series of little loops at the end of a metal scraper thing (hard to describe, I guess)--are too small in my estimation. They work OK, but they are usually kind of dull, so they release a lot of the oils as you use them, and it takes a long time to get a lot of zest. Some also have a second slot to allow you to cut a fat piece of zest, appropriate for a martini or the like. Even on the fine side, the zest they make isn't really very fine, and might wind up as a texture in the final dish. (I think of these as more of a bar tool than kitchen tool, and wouldn't purchase one of these of any brand)

Microplane graters are quite popular for zesting, and they're what I use the most. They don't dig deep, and are crazy sharp so they don't bruise/mash the zest much--less fragrant oil on the tool, more in the dish. They also work really fast--it takes very little time to get the zest from an entire orange. The zest produced is very fine and will disappear in most cooking applications. Because they're sharp it's easy to grate your fingers by accident, so they require some care in use. There are lots of styles out there, from the classic that looks almost like a wood rasp to ones that look more like a grater. I think these are great to have on hand anyway, since they're really good with parmesan cheese and other hard items, and they're killer for zesting.

Another option is a standard vegetable peeler. These take bigger slabs of skin off, and take some practice not to cut too deep. If you do cut too deep you can use a sharp paring knife to remove the excess pith from the backside. Kind of a lot of trouble, but with practice you can get good enough that you don't need the second step. You can get a lot of zest in a hurry this way, but the pieces are huge. You'd either need to cut them down or only use them in a recipe where you wanted to take the pieces of peel back out before serving. Since you probably already have one of these, this is your most economical option.


What ginger compound is responsible for the 'kick'?

You can thank gingerol for the kick in fresh ginger, and shogaol and zingerone for the heat of dried ginger. Gingerol is chemically similar to capsaicin in chilis and piperine in black pepper, but undergoes changes when heated or dried converting it to the other compounds. You can see where gingerol and shogaol fall on the Scoville scale here.


So there are a lot of things that can make a cake collapse, and from reading the comments, I see you've done the basic research. Unfortunately, the best I think anyone can do is make suggestions for how to determine whats wrong.

**Make sure you are weighing your ingredients. Your recipe is in grams, so I assume you are, but it's worth saying.

My first step would be to eliminate the self-rising flour since it is hit-and-miss. You can easily add leavening and salt to regular flour and thus know exactly how much of each you're using, and that eliminates variables.

Since you're taking the time to properly emulsify the butter and eggs, I'd even make a small batch without any chemical leavening and see how that turns out. Too much leavening has the same effect as incorporating too much air and can cause your cake to fall. Chemical leaveners are a fairly recent invention, and technically aren't required for a lot of traditional cakes.

Also, when doing the initial beating, you really want to spend the most time beating the sugar into the butter, and then beat the eggs until just combined. Overbeating the eggs doesn't just risk incorporating too much air and inducing collapse, but can cause your cake to feel dry or crumbly even when it seems a-okay on the outside. I know your recipe says otherwise, but unless you're relying on the egg/butter emulsion for leavening, it seems like an unnecessary risk.

The other thing I notice in your picture is that the outer edge obviously cooked first, and my first impression is that those cakes are rather tall. I've found in the past that the deeper my cake batter, the more prone it is to failure. You could try baking your cakes across more tins. That will help the center set faster compared to what you have now. The edges will still set more quickly, but the difference might not be so great that the whole thing collapses. My mom is a fan or torting her cakes, but I personally find it easier to just bake separate layers for a shorter amount of time.

You could also try reducing your oven's temperature a bit. All oven temperatures fluctuate, and sometimes the oven thermostat will go out of whack (I had a hard time with my landlord for over a year because of a malfunctioning thermostat...). I found a blog post that talks about the changes temperature can bring in a cake: to summarize, cake baked closer to 300 is lighter and fluffier, while cake baked closer to 400 is denser and has more caramelization. After 45 minutes, any cake would be caramelized, so lowering the temperature might be worth a shot. Check out the pictures: https://thecakeblog.com/2015/04/baking-temperature-comparison.html

Those would be my initial tests, and I wouldn't do more than a half-batch of anything while you're experimenting. I'm sure butter is expensive where you live too. And if you really want to be careful, remember: it's best to only change ONE variable at a time. I know it's frustrating, but if you're really at a loss, it's better to make small batches and small changes.

Other things I might try if I can't get the results through ANY of those ideas would include those edge-insulating strips (I've heard you can fold wet paper towels in foil and wrap them around your tins to encourage even rising), and even reducing the amount of cordial by microwaving it or something in case that amount of liquid is messing up the pound cake chemistry.

On a different note: I don't know how much time there is before the wedding, but you could try making a different cake or two and soak it with an elderflower/lemon syrup to get that same kind of flavor. It can be mind-numbing to keep trying the same recipe over and over, especially if something's not going right. If you need a break, or need to prove that you can bake a cake, d*****, try a yellow cake or something, make a nice syrup and ask your friends to try it for comparison. As @aris said, pound cake isn't necessarily the best for a wedding cake. You don't have to think of it as a failure, but let them sample the pound cake and another option or two if you can, and let them decide. Is that particular cake everything they remember, or was it the elderflower cordial that they really loved?

Hope things turn out!


You have cream of beefy gin soup, with no scallion taste?  Unless you are desperate not to lose the ingredients, it might be time to let this one go the way of all things.

If you really wish to recover it, and are willing to risk more good ingredients, I would get some chuck, and braise it with onions, then add it to the soup.  Finish with fresh scallions, perhaps lightly sauteed.  This would give you strongly flavored meat to compete with the gin, akin to venison and juniper.  Also, hot sauce :-)

But it may not be worth it... you could braise the beef with the onions, and then just eat it!


As @ElendilTheTall says, very correctly, cooking to time is a bad idea. However, it's good to have a working time figure for planning. In the case of goose the timeline is to cook 20-25 minutes per pound. 4.6 lb is a very small goose so I'm assuming it's 4.6kg, which is just over 10lb, so half that is 5 lb, which should take somewhere close to between 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours to cook. You would need to add at least 30 minutes for resting after cooking as well.

I would aim to have the goose in the oven about 2:45 before you want to serve, and then keep a close eye on the goose's temperature. Use an oven thermometer that you can leave in the bird in the oven, it's much easier than having to pull the goose out and check it every 5 minutes. A handheld one is also useful to back up your measurements in case your leave-in probe is out of position. Do not overcook goose, keep a good eye on that temperature because goose can go from underdone to overdone in a very short time.


You will end up with different results depending on which options you select, but people's interpretation of "pot roast" varies greatly, so it's impossible to say if any particular set of answers is "better" than another.
For instance, if you like your pot-roast fall-apart tender, you should shred it before you let it cool down too much.  It will be near impossible to get that same texture if the pot roast has been warmed back up.
Likewise, cutting up the chilled pot-roast will result in a much drier, firmer pot roast.  It's also difficult to warm back up a whole roast without over-cooking the outside.
Personally, for my preferences (being able to cool it down and reheat it quickly while having succulent meat) -- I would:

Separate the pot roast from the liquid to let it cool.  Simply because the liquid is a huge thermal sink, and would make it take much longer to cool down the roast.

Once the roast is cool enough to handle, I would slice it thickly across the grain.  (warm enough that it breaks apart some while cooking, but not so much that it shreds entirely).

Place the slices into a container, putting a little bit of the juices over each slice.  (to prevent it from becoming dry as the muscle fibers contract; if the meat is firm enough, you can dip each slice back into the liquid, then the storage container).

Store the rest of the liquid separately.  If it's a heavy dutch oven, I would move the liquid to some other container, so I don't have to chill down and reheat the pot, too.  If you have vegetables in your pot roast that you don't want turning into complete mush, I would put them in the container with the meat.

To reheat, I would heat the liquid first, and then put the slices into the liquid to let them warm through.


Can I use a dark cocoa candy bar in place of bakers chocolate?

I would say yes. However, depending on what kind of squares it calls for it may change the taste of the brownie or how rich the chocolate flavor is. 70% cocoa bars would be more similar to what Baker's Chocolate sells as Bittersweet (67% cacao) so if the recipe is calling for Unsweetened squares (100% cacao) then you'll have less chocolate flavor (and perhaps a slightly sweeter brownie). If the recipe is calling for Semi-Sweet squares (54% cacao) then you'll have more chocolate flavor (and perhaps a slightly less sweet brownie).


Pork leg (fresh ham) is quite amenable to the low and slow techniques used to make pulled pork, such as braising, slow roasting, or barbecuing, just like pork shoulder (butt).

The final product may have a slightly different texture, as the ham is a little leaner than the shoulder.

Questions of cooking time are very difficult to answer, as they depend on the specific temperature, shape of the cut being cooked, method, and the individual characteristics of the individual cut.   You are looking for an outcome, which is that the connective collagen is fully gelatinized.  This means holding at internal temperatures of around 180 F for some time.  You will know that it is done when it pulls apart easily with a fork.  Fortunately, low and slow techniques tend to be very forgiving, and while possible, it is difficult to overcook using them.

I would recommend checking the fresh ham about the same time you would check a pork butt of the same thickness in your recipe or technique.  Pulled pork also holds and reheats exceptionally well.


You can either add a lot of vinegar (to get above the problem area) -- or
you can try to displace the vinegar so you don't need as much.

Find a smaller pot and fill it with water and set it in the center of the pot to clean, and then pour vinegar between the two pots (or pot & item).

Although I said 'fill it with water', you only really need a little bit more than what you need to keep it from floating once the vinegar is in there.

If you don't have a suitable pot, look for anything else that you can use that is heat safe, non-reactive, won't float (in that amount of vinegar), and will fit inside the pot.

And if you're using an anodized aluminum pot, check the bottom for scratches -- odds are they'll oxidize over time (a white powder forms), and if you have a lot of scratching, you might not want to give it an acid bath.


Where can I find dried Great Northern Beans?

They are a small, white, mildly flavored bean. You can use cannellini or navy beans instead.


How to remove every insect from romaine lettuce?

Meet the common aphid. These little insects suck sap from your salad and are totally harmless, should the occasional hitchhiker slip your attention.
To remove them, there are a few home remedies:

Soak the leaves in salted water (a tablespoon for a large bowl should do).
Or use a few dashes of vinegar instead.

Both soaking methods can be improved by gently agitating the leaves every now and then and if you use a bowl and let it overflow instead of dumping the lettuce in your kitchen sink, the aphids that float on the surface get carried away instead of reattaching themselves when you lift out the leaves.
Except for really heavy infestations (can happen to the most diligent the organic gardeners), I often simply rinse the little critters off the individual leaves under running water.  Think of your faucet as a “mini pressure washer”: Don’t hold the leaves right under the faucet, but lower and let gravity help you. Then even a little water is surprisingly effective. In my experience lukewarm water works better than cold water, but I can only speculate why. Maybe because cold water makes the aphids “stiff” and they can’t let go? The most stubborn ones come off with a gentle nudge with your finger, fingernail or (if you are especially squeamish) a knife tip.


Yes.The basic ingredients for both are the same; the difference lies in how they are cooked.


If I burn my food, will I consume less calories as I have already burnt them?

Yes, if you were burning food that provided you exactly the caloric intake you need to maintain your weight, and if you ate only that and didn't replace the lost calories by adding additional food.  To carry it to extremes, you could oxidize your food to an inorganic ash.  Metabolic (food) calories are ultimately identical to the energy found in any non-food fuel.  They're just found in molecules that are digestible.  But you'd also be destroying vitamins, fiber, etc., as well as flavor. Slightly singeing it would destroy a few calories, maybe, of properly cooked food.


Cook a frozen cobbler in a microwave instead of oven

It would almost certainly be safe, as there is nothing in a cobbler that could not be eaten if you just thawed the cobbler and ate it raw.

It is unlikely to be as good as when cooked properly in an oven because:

The topping will not crisp up
The microwave will not cook evenly, and you cannot stir a cobbler; you will most likely end up with cooler spots where any thickeners in the filling didn't gel, and still taste a little starchy, and other spots where the fruit is overcooked

It is not really possible to give you a time to use because, even if there was some sort of "oven to microwave" conversion factor (which there is not):

Microwaves vary in power output
The size of the cobbler in question will make a big difference

If you can take it home frozen, I would cook and eat it at home once you have access to a normal oven.


Non-stick spray is just oil with a little added emulsifiers to make it extra non-sticky. It isn't any more dangerous when burnt than the oil you apply to your meat.

Spraying oil on the grate will also help season it and keep it from rusting.

The biggest reason not to do it when the grate is hot is that the atomized oil is quite flammable. That said, I spray non-stick spray on the grill and enjoy the pyrotechnics.


Any fat can self-ignite at sufficiently high temperature, so your fear is in principle not unfounded – however, all common cooking fat/oil have a kindling temperature high enough that it should never be reached during normal shallow-frying. In particular, as long as you have any significant amount of moist food in the pan, evaporation will prevent the temperature from going much above 100°C. I.e., the more food you have in the pan the safer it gets, actually.

At lower temperatures, oil is hard to ignite, unless soaked into fibrous material. So especially refilling the oil in the middle of cooking is generally safe.

Stirring the food often required, and not unsafe per se. What can be unsafe is if fat splashes onto hotter surfaces or into a gas burner, but unless you're doing it in an extremely violent manner any splashes should be small enough to not cause disaster.

For e.g. steak, you may as you say need high heat for the right crust, and that can indeed lead you in risky territory: to get to that heat, you need to pre-heat the pan without anything in it, and then the temperature can easily reach autoignition range. Here, for safety:

Don't use more oil than necessary. 2cm is way too much for frying steak. A layer that just covers the bottom of the pan will do.
Know your stuff. An infrared thermomenter gives best control, but with some experience you'll already know how long the pan needs to get to a certain temperature at a given setting.
Be prepared. If the oil does ignite in the pan, first of all don't panic. Next, shut down the stove entirely. If it's a ceran stovetop, carefully slide the pan to the coldest spot on it. Then cover the pan with a lid, with another pan of matching size, or with anything else solid that can't melt. That will cut off the oxygen supply and thus quickly squelch the flame without problems.Never put water into burning fat, since it will violently expand and spray the flaming oil all around. That's the only thing that could really cause a quick disaster here!


Will freezing affect the quality of a dry-aged steak?

Dry-aging primarily breaks down the connective tissues in the muscle, naturally tenderizing it.  The concentrated flavor is just a result of the moisture loss that you've already identified.

Neither of these should be affected by freezing in any special way.  You'll want to be especially careful about further moisture loss, but as long as you properly package your steak for freezing you should be fine.


How do I practice piping icing without wasting icing and money?

If you're just practicing piping, you can just pipe onto parchment paper (or a clean counter) and then scrape it off with a spatula and save the frosting. That way you can actually practice with the frosting you'll be using and not be thrown off by different textures and consistencies.

ETA: This is what we've actually done in a few bakeries where I've worked. If you had an odd request, you'd mark a section of the counter the same size as the cake and pipe the outline or lettering onto that to check sizing/kerning etc before doing the actual cake.


How does ambient humidity of flour storage influence dough?

I used to disbelieve the idea, as it has all the qualities of a nice myth. Turns out that I was wrong. And also, that the story behind it is more complicated than the myth makes us believe.

A nice example can be found on scientific papers published in the area of commercial food technology, like this one. An important quote from the abstract:

  Stickiness and consistency of doughs made from low-moisture flour were more sensitive to changes in dough water absorption than doughs made from flours of high moisture content. Dough water absorption level was more difficult to adjust in doughs made from low-moisture flours.

So, to answer the first point: yes, it makes a difference. If your house is very dry, this will change your dough. I am not a specialist in that area (did not know that there is a unit for measuring stickiness!) but I guess the difference will be noticeable to a home cook too.

Now for the second point: the usual interpretation is that "some water is missing, so just add it back in". That turns out to be wrong! The problem is not the tiny amount of missing water in total, it is that dough made from wetter flour reacts differently to added water. Dough-from-wet-flour is stickier, and also reacts less sensitively to changes in the added water.

So, can you counteract the effects? To some extent, yes. Adding a tiny bit of extra flour if your dough is too sticky on a given day, or slightly adjusting the amount of total liquid in doughs that are supposed to be dry, like shortbread crusts, can make the difference between dough you can work with and something that cannot form a ball no matter what you do. Still, getting the perfect consistency might not be possible with any dough.


The salt can interrupt the fermentation, but the right amount of it depends from other factors also. Try with the skin only and see the result.


How to make canollis without a deep frier?

The very nature of cannolis is that they are deep fried, but you don't need a fryer for that, a large pot, a half liter or so of neutral oil and a thermometer are all that you need. Like doughnuts, fried is the way to go, but they can be baked (if you must). Here's a sample recipe: Baked Cannolis.


Undercooked French Bread in Bread machine

I'm going to base my initial diagnosis on this:

  I followed the recipe but my bread turned out looking under-cooked on top of the loaf and on the inside. I made the Italian Parmesan bread last weekend and had no problems with it. This time, the bread seemed to stay liquid after mixing for a lot longer than it did with the Italian Parmesan bread.

No bread machine cookbook is able to account 100% for variations in ingredients and environment.  For this reason, I always watch the bread machine during the mixing stage, to see if I need to add a little bit of water or a little bit of flour.

It sounds like you needed a little bit less water (like 2 Tbs less) or a little bit more flour (like 2 Tbs more) in order for the dough to reach the perfect consistency.  You can tell you have the right balance because the dough pulls away from the sides of the bread chamber, and balls up for the mixer blade to push it around, but there isn't a bunch of leftover dry flour.  If you try this again, I would suggest lowering the amount of water in the recipe by 2 Tbs, and waiting to add that in until the mixing stage if you know you need it.  And if it's still goopy well into the mixing stage, add a couple Tbs of flour.  Be cautious here, though; French bread is supposed to be high-hydration, so it should be a bit sticky.


Yes.

Freezing can change the texture of the berries, but if you're cooking them down to make jam with, it shouldn't matter.  Some recipes using frozen berries suggest preparing the fruit for this purpose (adding lemon or crushing strawberries), others start with pre-frozen fruit that had no special jam-related preparation.


Ground beef stays pink for 10 days, doesn’t seem right

The browning you are referring to is caused by oxidation.  Well-wrapped products are protected from air, and thus, browning caused by oxidation.


Excess oil / holes in cheese when baking pizza

I agree that cheese is very likely the culprit - here is an article on the scientific approach to Cheese on pizza (with an interesting graphic) that can prompt some informed expiramentation:
(Huffpost) The Best Mix Of Cheeses To Put On Your Pizza, According To Science

James and her colleagues analyzed the properties of seven different
types of cheeses — mozzarella (which is the most often used in pizza),
cheddar, Colby, Edam, Emmental, Gruyere, and provolone — and how they
affect these cheeses while baking.
What did the researchers find?
Since cheddar, Colby, and Edam cheeses have “small elasticity,” they
didn’t easily form blisters when baking. As for Gruyere, Emmental, and
provolone, their large amount of free oil prevented moisture from
easily evaporating and so resulted in less browning. Meanwhile,
mozzarella easily blisters.
So, the researchers concluded in their study that mozzarella can be
combined with any of the other six cheeses to create just the right
amount of browning and blistering you prefer on a gourmet pizza — for
instance, try cheddar for less blisters or provolone for less
browning.


As commented by SAJ14SAJ, you can dust the apple pieces with some of the cake mix. There is no need to change the proportions asked for by the cake mix box. You also do not need to cook the apples ahead, but you can slice them quite thinly or cut in small pieces to ensure that they are cooked enough.


Copper-lined stainless steel vs pure copper skillet

As a general rule, a solid copper pan and a "copper-lined" (either plated, or possibly a thicker layer bonded in some way) are likely to be quite different in terms of heat distribution, since stainless steel is a very poor conductor of heat and copper is a very good one.

So, when heated "unevenly" a copper pan of a given thickness will conduct heat to even out  the heat the food sees, while a stainless steel pan will be much more prone to hot and cold spots. A blend or sandwich of the two will be somewhere in between, and exactly where in between is it will depend on how much of the sandwich is copper, .vs. how much is stainless steel. Copper is (at present, and for quite some time) far more expensive than stainless steel, so there's a strong economic incentive for it to be thin, at the manufacturing point.

A stainless pan that was lined with the same thickness (or nearly the same thickness) of copper as the copper pan alone was would be pretty similar to the copper pan, but I don't know if anyone makes something like that. The whole pan would be thicker, in that case.


How can I remove discolouration on my ceramic dish?

So I wasn't sure how well it would work (since these appear to be some sort of burnt on grease stains) and it didn't get rid of everything but I think it might after a couple more careful applications.

I used astonish tea and coffee stain remover (I have no affiliation to the brand).

I figured it was the only tough stain remover I had in my cupboard that was safe on ceramic.


Those look like great bagels, as a native New Yorker living abroad in a place with no bagels I both salute and envy your results! I have also been baking my own to get my fix.
Baking bread on a wire rack is generally a bad idea, and a very bad idea with bagels. Bagels are very sticky because you boil them, this gelatinizes the outer layer of the dough, making it very soft so it will mold around any shape. They will sink onto any shape you put them on no matter what you coat them with and then bake onto that shape, so you need to bake them on a flat surface. They will also stick like glue to a flat surface, and there's one or two ways to counteract that:

Coat the bottom of the bagel. Purists will say you shouldn't do this, I have no problem with it, after all it means double the toppings! The only thing is the toppings don't necessarily crisp up as well when they are trapped between the bottom and the tray. You can also use a thin coating of fine cornmeal or better yet fine semolina. These act as miniature ball bearings and keep things from adhering. I use the same technique when baking pizzas
Bake on a non-stick surface such as baking paper or a reusable non-stick baking mat. In my experience non-stick baking trays do not work with bagels, they will stick to them like glue

I usually do both just to make sure.


How do I convert a weight of dried chick peas to volume of cooked?

There is no exact conversion because there are so many different varieties of chickpeas or any bean types for that matter

Their water absorption rate and amount is effected by many things including how they have been stored, have they been heat treated on import, and what time of year they where grown!

My rough rule of thumb for beans in general is 2.5 ±.5 times the volume and 2 ±.5 the weight after an overnight soak

With our local chickpeas it's 2.2 times the weight after 10 hours at 20°C (on the bench)

200g should be around 440g of soaked chickpeas. 1 cup of chickpeas is around 240g, so just shy of two cups of soaked chickpeas should do it


Can I bake cakes or pizzas in my kenstar microwave grill combo oven?

With a grill combi microwave you might just about get pizzas to work imperfectly; cookies and cakes aren't very likely to come out nice.

If you really want to try making cake in it, start with a pure microwave cake recipe and just brown the top under the grill and the end.  My experience of these recipes is that you'd have to be desperate and not very discerning (though fruit cakes are less bad).

You would use whatever utensils are suitable for both microwave and grill modes -- see the manual, and try to keep the food low compared to pure grilling (further from the grill).  I would recommend pyrex, but that may not be such a good idea if you're in the Americas, where pyrex isn't what it used to be (literally) or what it is here in Europe.


Recommended lemon juice to water ratio when making lemonade

According to this lemonade recipe Best Lemonade Ever rated by 3K people, averaging a rating of 5 stars, the ratio is

1 ¾ cups white sugar
8 cups water
1 ½ cups lemon juice

Since you're using 2 cups of sugar, I recommend you follow the recipe:

2 cups white sugar
9 cups water
1 ⅔ cups (27 tbsp) lemon juice

As for lemons to lemon juice estimate, from How Much Juice Can You Get From One Lemon?:

1 Small Lemon (4 oz.) = 3 tbsp fresh juice.
1 Medium Lemon (5 oz.) = 4 tbsp fresh juice.
1 Large Lemon (6 oz.) = 5 tbsp fresh juice

So...

using small lemons, you'll need about 9
using medium lemons, you'll need about 7
using large lemons, you'll need about 5


What does "set aside for x hours" imply?

You leave it at whatever temperature is adequate for the food (or stage of food) that is left aside.

If you are canning your chutney, then all stages before going into the canner need refrigeration, and all stages after getting out of the canner are safe at room temperature. So, if the recipe wants it to be done before canning, you have to put it in the refrigerator.

If it is after the canning, there is a twist. For most shelf-stable foods, there is nothing wrong with leaving them in the refrigerator instead of outside. But if the "leave aside" step in your case comes immediately after canning, then its purpose is to ensure the proper seal. For that, you should best leave it under the conditions that it will be exposed to in the long term, that is, outside.


To me fully cured would be when the moisture is removed from the meat to the extent that harmful bacteria cannot survive. You can generally speaking see when this happens, it is when your salt turns dark. When I cure my biltong it generally takes two hours for the salt to turn dark from the moisture it extracts. I have not done this with fish, so the time it takes should be different but still the cocept applies.


What might cause a tangy flavor in hummus?

[not a definitive answer]

Making good hummus is non-trivial.  I think roasting sesame seeds is as volatile as roasting coffee beans with a few seconds or degrees changing the flavour drastically.

It's quite possible the tangy flavour comes from the way they process their sesame seeds.  I've had Israeli hummus (from Jerusalem) and it tasted very different from the stuff you get elsewhere.  Much smoother and more 'settled' flavour, and likely similar to the tang you describe (almost umami).  The ingredients didn't have anything specific listed that could do that.  It also could be the lemons or the zest.

Anecdotally, a local hummus manufacturer told me he gets his sesame seeds from that part of middle east because they lead to better tasting hummus.

Next time you're there, please ask the chef.  most of the time, they'll share something new with you. (I've been curious as well ever since tasting that particular hummus).


Yes, you can use pie crust to make cookies. You will have to roll it out and cut out cookies from it. The result is called "shortbread cookies". Its taste and texture is quite different from a "standard" American cookie.

If you use unsweetened pie crust, you will probably want to add something sweet on top of your shortbread cookies. The simplest thing is to dust them with lots of icing sugar the moment they come out of the oven.

If you want a "standard" cookie, you'll have to use real cookie dough, storebought or made from scratch.