Are there different grades of chicken in the US?

Poultry grading in the US is voluntary, while inspection is mandatory.  Per the FDA:

  Chicken Inspection

  All chickens found in retail stores are either inspected by USDA or by
  State systems which have standards equivalent to the Federal
  government. Each chicken and its internal organs are inspected for
  signs of disease. The "Inspected for wholesomeness by the U.S.
  Department of Agriculture" seal ensures that the chicken is free from
  visible signs of disease.

  Chicken Grading

  Inspection is mandatory, but grading is voluntary. Chickens are graded
  according to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service's regulations and
  standards for meatiness, appearance, and freedom from defects. Grade A
  chickens have plump, meaty bodies and clean skin, free of bruises,
  broken bones, feathers, cuts, and discoloration.

The actual US poultry grading standards can be found in the USDA document.  Grade A chicken overall (the actual standards take 5 pages):

Looks nice--no discolorations, marks, bruises, or inappropriate cuts
Has at least 75% of the skin covering it (where appropriate)
Is plump and "well fleshed"
All the feathers have been removed

Any chicken that was actually graded will almost certainly be labelled, as it is a marketing issue.  Otherwise, it is ungraded but inspected chicken.  My personal experience is that most retail chicken, at least where I live, is ungraded.

Factors that affect the toughness or quality of the chicken, in decreasing order of importance, include:

The age of the bird
Any injections or additions to the meat, such as a saline brine, by the packer; brining partially denatures the proteins in the meat, and may contribute to the "rubbery" texture mentioned in the question
The way the bird was treated and fed (some heirloom or boutique chickens are raised in a more traditional manner, where they move about much more, and may have a more varied diet, and  so have tougher, but more flavorful meat as a result--but I don't want to turn this into a political treatise on poultry production methods)
The breed of the bird

The size of commercial chicken is almost entirely related to the age of the chicken; thus the relative toughness of the meat is fairly well correlated with size.


I don't know if it technically requires refrigeration, but I've always kept mine in the refrigerator and had it survive for at least 6 months with no noticeable degradation.


How to make whole bean blonde Starbucks without machine

If you have a grinder and don't have a coffee pot, here's what I would do (I'm assuming you don't also have a coffee filter):

Step 1 - Grind the beans.  If you have a grinder, grind your beans until you have a medium grind:

Step 2 - Punch a couple of holes into the bottom of a disposable, hot-beverage cup (or a tin can)

Step 3 - Line inside of cup or can from #2 with a handkerchief.  Secure edges of handkerchief around lip of cup with binder clips or a rubberband.

Step 4 - Place grounds into cup.  2-3 tablespoons should be enough.

Step 5 - Place cup over top of empty mug (so coffee can flow into it)

Step 6 - Pour water (very slowly and over all the grounds) that is 5 minutes off the boil over coffee grounds.

You can view a similar tutorial here.


I got it to work! I added chicken stock and zucchini and cooked on high until zucchini started to soften. I added sautéed onions, garlic, spinach and let sit for a while so stock would absorb flavors. Then I added canned tomatoes and cooked sausage. I let the liquid get hot and then added the couscous. I let it cook for 20-30 mins. It took longer than I thought for it to soften. It's not "fluffy" but that's not what I was going for. I wanted more of a casserole feel. Then I added some cheese and feta after I turned the heat off. I ended up having to add a lot of salt, but it tastes great!


Is Shochu an acceptable alternative to Awamori?

I would say yes, both are distilled rice alcohol.
There might be some differences in the raw (uncooked) alcohol, but if used in a recipe and cooked, the differences will be less.
Curious, what recipes are you looking at ? it might help us find a better alternative if it exists.


Considering the option of leaving them extended period in open air sounds good depending upon where you live. The climate takes a important role. If there is humidity don't do that and there should be strong sunlight for a long period of time. It will remain safe, just cover it with a thin net so it won't get spoiled by insects. I have done it a lot of time previously so i am not worried. In this method, you can constantly observe them dry so that you can control as well.

Regarding putting them in oven, you may feel secure as you clean your oven and the food is free from  external spoiling effects.

But, personally I prefer the sun because the flavour will be far better if exposed to sun for long period of time. You are supposed to clean them thoroughly and brine is just an option for taste, that is not compulsory.

I hope it helps...


Truffles: how do I pick between buying truffle or truffle oil?

If you want "the most (real) truffle aroma", as you write, there is no question that it will come from real truffles.  With a bit of Internet searching you can see that truffle oil is generally a chemically derived product.  While we can debate whether or not any flavor or aroma that is created in the "lab" is the same as the real thing, you specifically want to experience "real" truffle.  The only way to do that is with the authentic item.  The challenge is that truffle aroma/flavor is fleeting.  So, the closer to unearthing and the closer to the source the better.  To me, truffle is a unique and special item.  So, when you want to experience it, get the best and most real truffle you can afford.  Have fun using it in dishes that highlight its aroma and flavor, then wait for the next special occasion.


How can I aquire (not avoid) sour blueberries?

Blueberries don't continue to ripen after picking so finding those that are blue and tart can be a challenge. If you see berries that are slightly purple or red, they may have been picked early and be a bit tart.

If you're in an area where blueberries are raised, you might visit early in the season, which is late July to mid August. Picking your own might do it, or finding a wild blueberry patch. And if you're really into them and have the ability, consider planting your own bush; early Spring is the time to do it.


Why does the beef in Goulash need to be floured and brown before cooking?

Flouring the beef does two things:

It facilitates the development of a crust on the outside of the meat that is brown and flavorful;
It contributes to the development of the sauce, as the starch will dissolve off of the meat into the sauce, where it will swell at about 180 F, helping to thicken the sauce.

In this particular recipe, the flour is the only source of thickening, so it is being used for both purposes, but mostly for the second, where it is essentially creating a roux as your brown the beef, because you are also cooking the flour in the olive oil.  In this recipe, omitting it would give you a much thinner sauce.


This almost sounds like rope spoilage. From what I've read on various bread blogs, rope spores will cause a typical loaf of bread to deteriorate very quickly in exactly the manner you describe: the center becomes doughy and stretchy. My understanding is that the rope spores can contaminate kitchens and become a real problem for baked goods.

I had a hard time coming up with details on it, but you might want to check the following link for a picture and description:

http://www.intechopen.com/books/advances-in-applied-biotechnology/fermentation-processes-using-lactic-acid-bacteria-producing-bacteriocins-for-preservation-and-improv

I first read about rope spoilage years ago on a bread forum called The Fresh Loaf.

You may also want to check with your local agricultural extension service. There might be testing available.


Can I substitute chocolate chips for cacao nibs in a cookie recipe?

You can.

It will be a different cookie, but chocolate chips are conventional in chocolate cookies -- more so than cocoa nibs in fact.  I assume they're simply stirred in to the mix after the other ingredients.  The texture of the surrounding cookie (and the cooking time) may be affected a little, but only within normal batch-to-batch variation.

If the bittersweet chocolate is added in the same way (as opposed to melted), I'd just scale that up. You may instead want to use a contrasting chocolate.  You could even replace the nibs with chopped nuts.


What's the best way to reheat grilled shrimp

Since grilled shrimp only require 2-3 minutes per side to throughly cook on a preheated medium-high grill, skip the reheating steps and all that time and extral effort all together. Just cook them once. It would be only worthwhile to cook and reheat if the initial cooking step took condiderably longer

The risk of overcooking during reheating with such a short total cook time is extremely high! No one enjoys tough, chewy over-cooked food

Additionately, guests love to help at a party; even if it performing trash duty or washing dishes. I'll bet if you ask the 50 or so guests for volunteers to cook the shrimp that you'll have over 40% of them step up to do it.


Where can I buy Glico Curry online in the United States?

Wow, this is hard to find. I know I've seen it in some asian grocery stores, but none of the online groceries that I could find seem to list it, even the venerable H-Mart. No Amazon sellers (usually a good source for odd groceries) right now, either.

Fortunately I found one source for you, eBay seller "hirokojapan" has a persistent listing for Glico Curry Sauce, $5.99 each, $3.95 shipping to the US from Osaka, JP. You select the flavor you want, from Curry, Curry Sweet, Curry Hot, Stew or Rice.

The individual listing link will expire eventually, but future readers can look up the seller directly and see if they are listing a similar item (or message them with a request).


What's the difference between stroganoff and goulash?

Traditional goulash is a stew/soup, usually using a cheaper cut of meat suited to slow cooking. It usually contains potatoes and other vegetables, as well as noodles.

A true stroganoff consists of paprika-dusted fillet steak quickly pan fried with mushrooms and onions in a sour cream and brandy sauce. It is usually served with rice.

I understand that in the US stroganoff can also refer to a stew made with similar ingredients as the traditional dish, and is served with noodles. This, coupled with the shared use of paprika, is evidently where the line blurs.


Does sputtering butter mean that water is present?

Yes, your butter contains water - which is perfectly normal.

While oil is 100% fat, butter is only around 80%1 fat plus some protein and ca. 15% water.

Regarding your question where the water comes from -
If you look at how butter is made, it becomes obvious that the water was there from the beginning:

You start with cow's milk, which has a natural fat content of (roughly) 4% and almost 90% water.
The cream that rises to the top or is separated by centrifuges contains about 1/3 of fat, some protein and still about 60% water. The other result of this separation is skim milk - with only very little fat left. (Values vary quite a bit, depending on the process and desired result.)
Churning the cream (or in some processes, the milk) further concentrates the fat content in the 80% fat / 15% water butter and separating it from the traditional buttermilk, which contains mostly water and proteins.

And yes, if you heat the butter, this water will start to boil and sputter, especially if you use a hot pan. Heating the butter on low heat first can somewhat mitigate the effect as it allows the water to evaporate more slowly.

If you want a pure fat butter product, you could choose clarified butter, which has the water and milk solids removed.

1 This may vary, depending on national laws, customs and quality grades. Between 80% and 85% is a good ballpark number.


Why do the bottoms of my cookies look like cakes?

These cookies look all right, there is no need to change anything in your technique to correct the looks.

If there is a problem with the texture, then this is a different question (which, as far as I can remember, we already helped you with in another thread). But the only viable answer to this question as stated is: no need to change anything here.


Most people I know who cook scallops actually overcook them. I always buy sushi-grade diver's scallops from my fishmonger. These can be eaten raw, and are most delicious when done so. However if you want to add a little extra flavor, and liven up the appearance of these then sear these briefly on a high heat. If you can get these from a quality source (probably not a supermarket) and you're not hung up on eating raw/rare seafood you'll never look back.

Unless your scallops have been soaked in a brine, and you're buying the quality scallops I recommend you don't need to rinse them. Otherwise, rinse them thoroughly and pat dry with a paper towel.

To sear these properly I simply melt a Tbsp or two of butter in a non-stick pan. I use as high a heat as possible (med-high to high) you want to put the scallops in just as the butter begins to barely smoke. I've often seen people suggest using clarified butter, but I'm too lazy to try. Place your scallops in the pan and cook them for 30-60 seconds per side. Don't move them around in the pan, otherwise they won't sear as nicely. This is for scallops that are the size of a small childs fist. If you have smaller ones you might need to cook them less.

Just a brief update because I feel I didn't stress this enough. Fresh, quality scallops are absolutely not intended to be cooked well done. They will be chewy, period. If you are used to them this way, well you're really missing out.


Shelf life of soft or medium boiled eggs?

Working in a professional kitchen where we cooked eggs in various styles. I would say from my experience:

Hard boiled eggs will keep for 4 days refrigerated in the shell, before they become unpalatable.
Soft boiled eggs(hard whites, creamy yolks) will keep in the shell, refrigerated for 2 days.
Poached eggs, properly cooled in ice water and drained, refrigerated will keep from one morning to the next or aprox 36hrs.
Hard boiled egg whites (separated from peeled eggs, immediately cooled in icebath after boiling) can keep on parchment, drained of excess water, and wrapped in cellophane for 2.5 days. These can be used to make deviled eggs to order for example.
Hard boiled yokes, kept dry and seperately from the whites can be used to make sauces, salad dressings, deviled egg mix etc. but this only keeps 24-36 hours, in a fully refrigerated environment. So, if it's being used during a dinner service, coming in and out for each order, toss the leftovers at the end of the night.
Short-order eggs (fried, sunny side up, over easy, scrambled, omelets) made from fresh eggs, once it gets cold, forget it, it will smell nasty and taste pretty icky.
Premix egg or egg white stuff that comes in a carton is heavily pasteurized, it will keep on a buffet (hot hold) as scrambled eggs or omelets for a few hours and may still be eatable later but also icky.
Mayonnaise and Caesar dressing made with fresh raw egg yolks shouldn't be used for more than 48 hours. Even if it's kept refrigerated most of that time. A lot of restaurants make their own and I've seen several places keep it far longer than they should. But to be on the safe side, 1-2 services. So you want to make a small portion, not a huge batch.


Looks like it might be. According to The Self Nutrition Data (© Condé Nast):

This food is very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Calcium, and a very good source of Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

And there are proposed ways to cook them.


Why does my coconut sauce lack a strong coconut taste?

Canned coconut milk is the base of the majority of savory coconut sauces, Thai or otherwise. It tastes of coconut, but it isn't strongly flavored. If your coconut milk separates (some do, some don't; added emulsifiers inhibit this separation) the thicker layer that rises to the top is coconut cream. Basically coconut cream is coconut milk with less water and more fat. The cream is somewhat more intensely flavored of coconut than the milk, but alone it may be too thick for a lot of sauces.

Coconut milk is made by cooking the meat of the coconut (usually in water, sometimes in dairy milk) and then straining the coconut meat. It is not coconut water, coconut water is the juice that flows out of a just cracked coconut.

Do not confuse coconut milk or coconut cream with cream of coconut, which is usually sweetened. That ingredient is often called for in desserts, but not for savory cooking. Think Pina Coladas. This is a source of some confusion as different countries use different terminologies. Wiki certainly is not the best possible source, but if the language I am using here differs from your understanding of the terms, read this from wiki. Those are the definitions I am using in this answer.

The quality of canned coconut milk varies. It also is available in a "light" formulation, which tastes less strongly of coconut than non-light versions.

One traditional method seen especially in Thai cooking involves "cracking" the cream. Choose a non-light canned coconut milk without added emulsifiers (check the label). Refrigerating the can overnight can sometimes help separate the cream, figure about the top third of the settled contents of the can. Simmer that cream on the stove until the oil separates, it may take as long as ten minutes. The oil separation is the "cracking". Now you can fry the spices of the sauce (curry paste especially) in the oil (no need to remove the non-oil solids). Add the rest of the can of milk and simmer for a while to reduce the sauce to your desired thickness. Some meat can be cooked in the sauce, vegetables are usually par-cooked separately.

[EDIT: This video shows Cracking Coconut Cream at 2:20 ---
This video shows an alternative, for those that have difficultly getting their cream to separate at 4:10]

Beyond that, to get more coconut flavor you can add coconut powder (which is dried coconut milk) or coconut extract (here's a fun recipe from Alton Brown) but neither of those additions would be traditional.


What are the guidelines for creating a canning recipe?

Nearly any recipe can be canned, the only caveats are that lower-acidity foods and recipes require a specialized pressure canner to kill bacteria, and there is also a short list of ingredients which are never a good idea to can, but many people wouldn't think twice about adding/subbing into a recipe - fats, dairy and eggs shouldn't be in a canning recipe because they'll still go rancid, grains and flours are good insulators and will actually protect bacteria from the heat, and thickeners that people will often throw into a recipe like cornstarch or tapioca will chemically break down from the canning heat. You'll find plenty of cases of people canning grainy/floury things anyway with no ill effect, but that simply means there was no bacteria to kill in the first place. Better safe than sorry.

Most people don't even know what pH is, let alone how to test it or how a recipe alteration would change it. They also aren't going to know much about bacterial growth conditions or heat transfer. It's a heck of a lot easier for a recipe site or book to just say "no substitutions" than to try to teach people how to do it safely, especially when there's plenty of idiots who wouldn't pay attention and sue when they get bacterial poisoning.

So there's really only two guidelines you really have to worry about for your recipes:

Avoid the ingredients that shouldn't be canned, or at the very least, understand that you're taking a risk.
Foods with a pH level of 4.6 and below can be canned in boiling water. A pH of above 4.6 requires pressure canning. This pH chart gives some examples of commonly canned items.

Sources:

The acidity rule is a fundamental safety rule that any decent guide will have. Ball's guide mentions it first thing in "Getting Started". Most guides will simply refer to high-acid and low-acid foods. This safety guide from the National Center for Home Food Preservation details the pH reading of 4.6 as the dividing line, which is also visible in the pH chart linked in the answer.
The dangers of canning cakes and breads have been published by many research departments, including those at Penn State and University of Georgia
Thickeners such as cornstarch chemically breaking down due to the heat involved in canning is detailed in the Cook's Thesaurus. This breakdown is the entire reason for a product called Clearjel, which is also mentioned on the same page as a substitute for cornstarch
Clemson University states that no safe methods for home canning dairy products exist.


How can I use bitter or hard water for cooking and specially in soaking beans?

In most countries, hard water is caused by Calcium and Magnesium Carbonates.

These can be easily removed by using an ion-exchange apparatus (best results) or can be converted by adding an acid to the water.  In the case of vinegar:

  2 CH3COOH + CaCo3 → Ca(CH3COO)2 + CO2 + H2O

So the Calcium is not gone: it's just converted to Calcium Acetate but that is much more soluble in water than carbonate, so it'll seem softer.

The same is true for MgCO3.

How much vinegar and how long does this take?

Overnight should do the trick unless you live on one of the poles.  ;-)
How much??? I cannot tell you over the Internet so experiment:

Start with 20 drops per Litre
Use less if that's satisfactory until it becomes unsatisfactory.
then go back up one drop and that amount will be the best volume for your water...


Is ginger drying out the same process as when making ground ginger?

Drying any food is a race, if you do it too slowly it spoils or grows things. In hot and dry climates you can leave it out in the sun, in your kitchen it will just rot. You would need to use an oven or a dehydrator, otherwise it's just bad ginger.


What are these dark areas in turkey meat?

I find when carving turkey that when you carve the last slice from the breast , you get marks like that , in the same place, where the bones jut out into the meat.


Are the terms self-rising flour and baking powder different in the US and UK?

The answer to your question is nope. The UK and USA are in agreement on this one. Self-rising flour and baking powder are the same on both sides of the pond. See also Translating cooking terms between US / UK / AU / CA / NZ

Note: I thought that two tsp of baking powder was an odd thing to see in a recipe that uses self-rising flour so I looked up a Mary Berry cherry cake recipe. The BBC published a recipe on their website and it doesn't call for baking powder. Are you sure your recipe didn't say "OR"?


What can I use to replace onions on sauces?

I'd say shallots would be your best bet. While they are both part of the allium family, shallots tend to have a sweeter taste that's less sharp than your average onion. Spring onions, leeks and chives might work as well but do keep in mind that they're hardly perfect substitutes as they're more peppery than they are sharp and pungent.

However, if you don't want to use onions due to an allergy, I can only recall having read about an ingredient known as "asafoetida" but that's the extent of my knowledge. You might want to check that out.


I noticed that you're stirring constantly. Generally with candy you want to stir as little as possible, since it causes sugar crystals to form in the syrup. In addition to making the candy grainier, they reduce the overall lifespan- even after the candy has cooled the (larger) crystals will continue to grow, causing the candy to slowly revert back into flavoured sugar.

Once the sugar is fully dissolved, you want to disturb it as little as possible. You will still have to do some stirring, otherwise the milk solids will burn. It'll help a bit to mix in the corn syrup at the same time as the sugar. Corn syrup is an invert sugar, meaning it gets in the way of crystallization and slows it down. If your caramel is still coming out grainy, try adding half a teaspoon of lemon juice. Your candy will be slightly gummier, but the acid in the lemon will inhibit crystallization and reduce the graininess.


I have mixed them with unflavored gelatin to get some really interesting flavored deserts.

Additionally, they are a nice addition to a pitcher of iced tea, making it a flavored iced tea.  I use at about 1/2 the recommended strength in addition to the tea, two tubes/packets of the flavored stuff for a 1/2 gallon of tea.


Can couverture chocolate be substituted with other ingredients?

You can use compound chocolate (the inexpensive "coating chocolate").  It's what you find used in a lot of cheap store-bought chocolate, and it has very similar melting and viscosity properties to couverture.

You can usually find it in most bulk food stores.

The important property of couverture is its high proportion of cocoa butter and correspondingly high fat content.  Compound chocolate normally does not contain any cocoa butter, so it is nowhere near as rich as couverture, but it achieves roughly the same fat content with vegetable fat and will act similar to couverture when melted.

Technically, compound chocolate is not actually chocolate, so the result will be lower quality than if you had used couverture; but if you're pinching pennies, I think that's the way to go.


I also find them hard to chew when baked, but they are edible.  To make them easier to eat, you want to finish them up using a different method to get a crunch on the outside.  I find you can either:

turn the heat up in your oven at the end, or broil them
briefly pan-fry them after they're done cooking in a little bit of oil on a skillet (cast iron preferred)
grill them after baking

I usually boil or bake them first, or simmer them in some water in a pan on the stove (not enough to cover them, just enough to kind of steam them) and then finish them on the grill for best flavor and texture.  I'd recommend finishing on the grill over any other method.

You can also completely cook them on the grill if preferred, but that can be a bit tricky if they're raw sausage and not pre-cooked, so keep an eye on them and make sure they're done completely throughout.

You can definitely remove the casings, and depending on what dish you're making that may be preferred.  However I have had success making an appetizing whole sausage using the above methods.


Substitutions for vegetable oil in cornbread

Peanut oil is fine to use for vegetable oil. Since both are neutral with a high smoke point, they can be used interchangeably.


how can i make 1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour to 1 1/2 cup of self'rising flour?

This article has a pretty typical ratio:

1 c. flour : 1 1/2 tsp baking powder : 1/4 tsp salt

so for 1 1/2 cup, you would want:

1.2 c. flour, 2 1/4 tsp baking powder : 3/8 tsp salt

Alternatively, you could make a fairly large batch, whisk it together well, then measure normally.


What are the transparent strands in this salad?

I think what you are looking for is kelp noodles. They are considered a type of glass noodle. They can be eaten raw or cooked in other dishes. In their raw state they are crunchy. Please see this link for a picture and some info.

Hope this helps! :)


Do you cook in oven before dehydrating venison jerky to kill possible bacteria?

Jerky does not need to be pre-cooked, in fact the process of making jerky probably predates the invention of cooking.

The process of salting and drying (and additionally adding sugar, acid, and/or smoke) inherently kills or inhibits growth of bacteria and mold. As long as your meat is cut thin, evenly salted, and well dried you do not need to pre-cook it.

Since the meat is thin, cooking it beforehand will just result in overcooked, stringy meat. If you are using the oven method or a food dehydrator with a heating element the meat will end up cooked.


Is a "typical" jam sweeter today than the typical jams of centuries ago?

On the contrary, most of the older recipes that I've seen for jams use more sugar (60g per 100g or higher is common) than is popular in some of the newer products, because sugar has a preservative effect. But most likely pre-refrigeration and pre-iceboxes you simply wouldn't have kept multiple jars open at the same time; you'd use one at a time as quickly as practical, and keep your reserve stock seals unbroken.

Industrially refined pectin has actually reduced the amount of sugar necessary to make a good preserve. A number of companies also now make "all fruit" spreads, but they're controlling the sugar ratio with knowledge from food science, by analyzing how much sugar is in the non-primary fruits like grape and apple juice.

60 grams of fruit per 100g or more are available but by traditional standards are quite a luxury, even though I would agree that such products often taste better; they owe their existence to better food science, however, and a little to refrigeration.

A lot of widely-distributed brands still use sugar ratios that are pretty high, including Welch's and Smucker's, but you may find higher fruit ratios in boutique brands.


Which type of onion for homemade onion rings?

You can use any onion variety you want; it depends on your tastes (and availability). White onions have a shaper, more pungent flavor, while yellow onions have a nice balance of sharp and sweet (and become sweeter the longer they're cooked). Sweet onions (Vidalia, Texas, Maui, Walla Walla) are not as astringent and have a softer and, well, sweet taste. As for reds, they're similar to yellow flavor-wise, but slightly milder.


Can't stomach pumpkin flavor. How can I make it edible?

The pumpkins I grow only go mushy if cooked in water or microwaved , so I suggest cooking them without water, but with oil.
Diced fairly small and fried in hot oil with spices is a good way to start a tagine, curry, or chilli. You want even browning before adding liquid. The chilli I make then gets cooked slowly, and the pieces might go a bit soft for you, but any tasty recipe that fries pumpkin then just warms through sauce ingredients is worth a try.
Roasting is also a possibility, well seasoned, but leave it too long and you might not like it again. I'd be tempted to try a similar seasoning to what I use on sweet potato wedges - smoked paprika, cumin, herbs, black pepper and fine polenta to give a bit of crispness on the surface.


What is the difference between these tableware flatware and cutlery?

Replacements.com Will provide you with all the discriptions you are asking.  There are so many, it would be easier for you to go to the link yourself.


What is this substance in my canned ground beef?

It's a jelly formed of water and proteins from the meat, primarily collagen.  More or less the same substance as aspic, though "aspic" normally refers to an intentionally created dish of this stuff, rather than a little bit forming as a byproduct of canning.
It's normal for a small amount of this stuff to form naturally at the edges of canned meat products.  It's safe to eat; there's nothing in it that isn't also in the rest of the product.  It will melt down and disappear as you cook the meat.


Can baking sheets continue to cook toffee?

Toffee cannot continue to cook once it's been poured onto a baking sheet.  There is no heat source at this point and therefore there can be no increase in temperature.

All other factors being equal, I might suggest looking at your ingredients.  Are you using beet sugar this year when you usually use cane sugar?  It might seem like a trivial difference, but beet sugar does caramelize differently from cane sugar, so it's a relevant concern for toffee-making.

However, you might not need to get to the bottom of this mystery.  You know that the temperature you're using with the current ingredients and equipment is burning the toffee.  You could try cooking the next patch to 5-10 degrees less than your previous attempts so that it won't burn.  I'm pretty sure that 290 degree toffee will be just as crunchy and lovely as 300 degree toffee.


Microwave watt does it vary according to temp settings

To your title, the answer is maybe (or yes if you average over a long enough time).

To the body of your question - the answer is it probably won't work.  Here's why:
The microwave is meant to put out 700W.   It's not 100% efficient so will consume more than that (also for the light and turntable motor).

Most microwaves reduce their power by being fully on for a few seconds, off for a few seconds.  Some models have a type of inverter inside, and run at a lower continuous power but these tend to be higher-power models (mine, for example, is rated at 1000W).

Even then, your 600W inverter might be 600W peak or 600W continuous.  If it's rated to 600W continuous, it may be able to handle peaks of 700W+, but quite likely not for long.  It may also not be able to deliver its full rated power into a microwave - not all loads are created equal and the rating is probably for something simpler to drive such as a heater.


What is the shelf life of dehydrated, precooked meals?

Dehydrating food is a common practice for trekking and backpacking.  Dehydrating vastly reduces the water activity in foods, making them a less hospitable environment for bacterial activity. You'll want to use a reliable dehydrator with a variable temperature setting, as different ingredients require different temperatures and times to properly dehydrate.  I think it would be better to dehydrate your ingredients individually, then combine them into meals.  For example, Backpacker Magazine has a handy guide with some good suggestions.  Dehydrated vegetables have a very long shelf life.  From my internet research, it seems that many folks recommend consuming dehydrated meat within two weeks.  I'm not sure you want to freeze your products.  They might become moist when thawing, thus beginning the re-hydration process before you want.  This could theoretically impact safety.


That recipe doesn't seem right to me

Trim excess fat off with a knife, using boiling water will toughen the skin

Keeping your rind in easy to handle oven sized slabs. Pre cut it with a very sharp knife so it can be pulled part when done. Cut 5 mm to 10 mm wide strips, but not quite end to end

You can use a scalpel, craft knife, or "Stanley" knife to do this. Use a steel ruler too!

It doesn't need to be cut all the way through though, as it will snap off once fully cooked, but this can be messy

Rub with salt. I always lightly oil first too, but some people don't like that. Rub with spices if required

Cook in your oven as hot as it will go on fan mode. If the oven steams up open the door a little

It should look something like this when done (these aren't great)

Go as long as you dare. The longer the better. But be warned there is a very small window between perfect and on fire :-)


Avoiding too much residue when deep frying

When deep frying, there is no way to avoid residue collecting at the bottom of your pot.  You can shake off excess flour before frying to reduce this effect, but you will always have some residue.  The main difference between deep frying in a pot on a stove, and a dedicated, restaurant-style deep fryer is that the restaurant-style fryer is deep, and has the heating element well off the bottom.  That produces a cold zone where debris collects, but does not burn.  It is the burning bits that are left over that cause the biggest degradation of your frying oil. Restaurant-style fryers allow oil to be reused for quite some time, then filtered and used further. Depending on the amount of debris, the length of time you are using, and, most importantly your temperatures, you can filter and reuse oil from your home set-up, but probably not more than once or twice.  If it begins to smell "fishy" you've gone beyond the opportunity to reuse.

Your new comment suggests that you are shallow frying.  In this case I would suggest not reusing the oil.  Temperature control is difficult at best, and  the ratio of oil to chicken means that it will likely be quite degraded by the time you are finished.


Pressure Cooker - Same Settings, but much tougher meat

I'm assuming since you said "this time... still a little frozen" that you were starting from frozen Thighs the times you had success, and that the only real difference is that these particular thighs were not fully thawed. If that's not the case you could have another issue entirely.

In these kinds of situations I think the best we can do is use the information available to try and guess at the cause. Rather than the issue being that the thighs were overcooked and thus tough, I think the issue was likely that the thighs were less cooked than the tender ones you're used to. If you're leaving the Instant Pot for the same amount of time, the internal temperature of the chicken thighs would not effect the overall temperature of the device much at all since it is insulated by the surrounding meat.

Starting from a cooler interior of the chicken thighs (frozen vs refrigerated) could mean that the thawed thighs were cooked past the threshold of toughness and into the point of being soft/tender again, whereas the frozen thighs wouldn't have yet reached that point due to the temperature difference.

This is, however, just a guess. The only thing you could really do if this happens again, to try and test this, would be to put the thighs back in and cook them for a proportionately longer time.

Best of luck!


I wouldn't recommend to bake this again and eat it because there is a food safety issue. If you had noticed this right after baking, this would not be a problem regarding food safety. But since the bread stayed for many hours in the danger zone and since it contained perishable ingredients like eggs, I strongly suggest to discard the raw bread.


Are there any types of food that have magnetic properties?

The reason why the full word is "ferromagnetic" is that magnetic substances are typically made out of iron. Iron is not really edible - you can (and have to) consume it as a trace element, but the daily dose is a few milligrams. If you put enough magnetized iron in a dish to lift it visibly, you will damage a lot of your digestive tract eating it. And that's even before the question of how you are going to orient the magnet if you have dispersed the iron in your food as some kind of powder.
There are also other metals which can be magnetic, but they are even worse for eating than iron. If there is any kind of space-age material that is magnetic without being a metal compound (I'm not on the leading edge of material science and don't know if such a thing exists), it is practically certain that it is not a food.
Levitation for presentation purposes exists, but it is done by levitating the plate, or sometimes by hiding magnets within a larger food structure (typically in cake art).


I've cool-smoked home-dried, home-grown chillies over oak. It worked well. My home made smoker uses external heat under a dish of wood shavings sticking out the bottom of the chamber. Chipotles are smoke-dried so you won't get that intense smoke flavour in already dried chillies.

They show every sign of keeping indefinitely in an air tight jar, and still hold their shape (though I've crumbled some into flakes).

I tend to use them in sauces that are cooked and then served hot (or frozen in between), often with home-smoked garlic as well.  Ideally the ratio of smoke flavour to heat would be a little higher next time. More time would help - I probably did a total of about 16-20 hours over two days (it went out overnight).


In Italy we usually mix béchamel and tomato sauce for "Pasta al forno" (or "pasta pasticciata") and lasagna, in order to not have a full distinction in the final dish between the two sauces and their tastes.

However this is not mandatory, but my grandma, my mum and me are used to do it (and I see some other people doing the same).

P.s.
I live in Italy and I'm 100% italian :-)


As Kruti Jani rightly pointed out, you can make aloe vera juice. Aloe vera gel (made like this) can also be diced finely and mixed into fruit juices to give a texture and slight freshness to a glass of juice. I have also seen it (the aloe vera gel) mixed with lemongrass jelly or mango sago dessert.


Making Habanero Jelly - Safety and Preventing Spoilage

In terms of killing pathogens, it is a belt and suspenders thing.

The additional processing ensures that any pathogens that entered the jars while you were filling them are killed.

More importantly, as Jefromi has reminded us, the additional boiling with the assembled and lidded jars causes the header air to heat up, expanding in volume and raising the pressure, and so some of the air will bubble out past the seal.  When the jars are cooled, the header air also cools, creating a partial vacuum, and pulling the lid down against the jar.  This is what makes the permanent seal--the ring is only there to hold the lid in place long enough for the processing.

So the processing is necessary to seal the jars, even if the food is already rendered perfectly safe from pathogens.

For more information on canning safety, see NCHFP's processing guide.


Can I use store-bought custard for Portuguese Tarts?

Short Answer: Probably, but it won't taste as good.

Longer Answer:
Given that most packaged custards (if you mean the powdered sort such as Bird's or Jello) do not contain eggs, you might find that the custard does not behave quite the same and certainly will not taste as rich.  They tend to use yellow food colouring to give the bright yellow colour that you would get from the egg yolks. It's a bit like asking if you can substitute Cool Whip for Whipped Cream.  Yes, but....


Puddings, of the type in your recipe, are thickened mostly by starch gelling. The egg yolks and milk provide some thickening as well as the smooth, custardy texture.

Both the starch and egg proteins gel before the boiling temperature. Recipes call for a few minutes of boiling for an entirely different and fascinating reason.

There is an enzyme in raw egg yolks that digests starches. A few minutes of boiling is required to deactivate those enzymes. If your pudding didn't gel, and some time has passed, your eggs may have eaten your cornstarch. In this case, boiling it more wouldn't help.

You might try whisking in some more starch and then boiling it again. This would take some experimentation. I wouldn't replace the entire quantity of starch from the recipe at first.


I think everyone agrees that "artisan" gets tossed around as a marketing term that is largely empty or vapid, referring as much to the "old world" images used on the bag than to the bread itself.

However, I think there is an actual "artisan" quality to food, and that it relates to several qualities or ethics of the producer - which you do find in some actual bakeries:

Develops their own recipes - an artisan baker should be developing recipes that meet their needs. If they don't know enough to do that, then they are just following instructions.
Tweaks recipes carefully over time to maximize the intended qualities of the bread. An "artisan" producer understands the variables that impact the quality of their product and constantly adjust them to keep the bread quality high, despite changing or variable ingredients.
Follows the ethic of "Flavor Rules", and flavor is the first priority. Of course they have to be a business-person as well, but recipe changes and enhancements should primarily be made to improve flavor, not reduce cost, improve packability, etc.
Has a real passion for what they are doing, and holds themselves to the highest standard. Artists are always the most critical of their own work, and are constantly looking for ways to improve.

A home baker may not be an "artist", but when I make "artisan breads" at home (and I think this is what Peter R. is referring to), I do so with an intent to make the bread as good as I possibly can, even if this means baking it tomorrow instead of tonight, or ordering special flours online. I contrast this with my "makin' dinner" baking, where I obviously want it to be good, but am willing to give up some perfection in order to get it done tonight. Neither method is inherently better, but they are undertaken with a different intent and process.


What's the point of roasting a whole chicken?

The reasons people still roast whole birds are:

Roasting a whole chicken is easier than butterflying it. While it's not tough to butterfly a chicken many people don't know how, or don't want the cleanup
It's less prep time to roast a whole chicken. If you are busy you can have it from the fridge to the oven in less than a minute, while butterflying or jointing it isn't super-quick
Aesthetics: some people like the look of a whole chicken on the table


If you have a gas stove, you need a hood to send the exhaust outside. One that recirculates is not sufficient.

In my experience, the recirculator hoods work OK if you're not doing a lot of cooking. If you do, however, you'll end up with a nasty, greasy dusty coating on everything in your kitchen. I wouldn't bother with a recirculation hood if you ever cook things that involve grease or smoke. For someone who mostly heats up processed foods, it's probably good enough.


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

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


I would like to point out that the block, pulp, paste and powder each impart different properties to anything you cook or prepare.

The blocks of tamarind pulp are the tamarind fruit pods stripped of the outer husk and compressed tightly together. It is full of fibers and seeds.

The pulp is usually a processed version of the block and should be relative free of fibers and seeds.

The paste is further refined and has been sifted and strained to remove the fibers and seeds.

From what I understand the powder is the dehydrated juice made from the process of compressing the block.

To prepare a container of pulp from a block; break up as much as you need and reconstitute it by covering it with boiled water. 15-20 minutes is sufficient to allow it to soften. Push a bit at a time through a fine meshed strainer. We find that a spatula or small scraper is really helpful for this step. You're essentially rubbing the fibers (and seeds) against the strainer to separate the pulp from the fibers. The pulp falls through and the fibers stay behind.

In the end, you should have a bowl full of soft tamarind paste that is about the consistency of apple sauce. This is now ready to be used and can be stirred directly into your dish.

Save the water that was used to soak the tamarind. You can use it in your cooking in place of some of the water or broth.

How does this paste you made from the block compare with the powder... It doesn't... It seem in my opinion to be a completely different taste. I would not use the powder to prepare pad-thai or a Malaysian curry as it rarely imparts the same punch as freshly prepared pulp.


Sure you can freeze rolled out pastry, it can be a real time-saver. The trick is to make sure it's protected from freezer burn, otherwise it can dry out. Putting it between two sheets of wax paper works well, then rolling it up and putting it in a freezer bag. You need to let it thaw before unrolling it otherwise it will break up and you'll have to roll it back out again.


How to cook and plan meals when ingredients are not reliably available?

One of the things that we forget in the U.S. is that foods are seasonal -- if we didn't have food flown in from the southern hemisphere, we wouldn't have berries and most other fruits available year round.

Learning to cook based on what's available isn't something that's typically taught, but I'd recommend the following:

Learn different techniques, and what can be prepared with that given technique, so that you can more easily improvise.  You might consider reading Pam Anderson's How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart. (unfortunately, not available as a download, sorry.  And no, not that Pam Anderson, this one used to work for Cook's Illustrated), which goes over some basic things that can be easily varied using whatever's on hand.
Stock up on non-perishable stapes when they're available.  I wouldn't recommend clearing out a small store of all of their flour, but if you know they don't always have it, pick up some extra so you'll have some on hand when they don't.
Learn to make 'ingredients'.  There's a lot of stuff that we take for granted in the U.S. as being an ingredient, but are processed foods to some degree.  You mention bread and yogurt, but also pasta or stocks.  If you can't always find it, you might still be able to find the necessary stuff to make it.  (although, I admit, some of them require being prepared in advance)
Ask the natives.  The local recipes are going to be made to use the local ingredients, so if you're going to rely on recipes, use theirs.  You could also ask the local shopkeepers for advice on what to use and how to prepare it ... odds are, there are going to be produce that wasn't available wherever you used to live, so you're not considering some things when shopping.  There might be some good local alternative to carrots.  (eg, yams come to mind, and not what we get in the U.S. as yams, but African yams, which are firmer than sweet potatoes)

... as for the online resources ... well, the only one that comes to mind right off the top of my head is The Cook's Thesaurus aka. foodsubs.com, which offers substitutions when you can't find an ingredient, but unless you're going to either look in advance of shopping what all of the alternatives are, you're going to need a smartphone and data service wherever you're shopping ... it might be easier to just ask the shopkeeper what they'd use as an alternative, as they'd know what they have, rather than your trying to look for 5 different alternatives that aren't in stock, either.


How to improve the flavor of gluten free challah bread?

Baking is chemistry. Any changes in the formula will have some consequences on the chemistry. It can  be fun to experiment but do not be surprised that the end result is not the same as from the per-modified formula.

As to your question of more flavor, I do know that increasing the proofing time will help to increase the development of the dough and allow it to extract more of the flavor available in the flour. Try slow proofing your loaf in a refrigerator or a very cool room.

I do not know anything about the flour in question but I know that the better the quality the  flour the better your bread will be. Avoid flour from  large industrial producers that use large steel mills, these create to much heat in the milling process and deplete flavor, enzymes and proteins. Find a good stone ground miller. You may be limited in the gluten free options.


Is there really a difference by throwing the vanilla pod in as well?

I think you've answered your question yourself. You use the bean itself to make vanilla sugar, so obviously there is much flavour in it as well and not just in the seeds.

My experience is that you get much more flavour out of the pod if you let it simmer in warm milk/fluid.


If I understand your description, it sounds as if water is flowing into the basket more quickly than it is flowing out. This could require adjusting the nozzle feeding the basket or the dispenser on the basket; probably the former, from your description of how soon after brewing the problem starts. Is there any way to slow down the inflow?

According to the Bunn troubleshooting guide, it is also possible that the coffee is too finely ground, or that the filter is not as permeable as it should be - naturally, Bunn recommends you use their brand of filters, and if you aren't, that's an easy thing to try. They also suggest that the sprayhead may be missing (it could also just be loose), and that you avoid finely ground coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and soft water.


Why did some leaves of my fresh Fenugreek turn yellow after a few days of purchase, and how to prevent the leaves from turing yellow?

It's a sign that chlorophyll, the substance that enables photosynthesis and gives the plant is green colour is fading from the plant due primarily to lack of water and nutrients. When chlorophyll fades you're left with the underlying colour of the leaves.

It's simply a sign that water is evaporating from the leaves.

If you don't like the yellow colour, just remove those leaves, it doesn't have any effect on the overall flavour or usefulness of the herb.

The only way to prevent it, is to keep the stems in a glass of water, which helps to preserve the chlorophyll, but it won't do so forever, eventually the leaves will still turn yellow. However, if you're trying to dry the leaves that's rather counter-productive!


Scones are a very different type of product than yeast raised breads: scones rely on chemical leavening such as baking soda and/or baking powder for their rise, whereas regular breads are yeast leavened.

Converting one to the other would be far from trivial, even at the recipe level; trying to do so with dough already made is going to be counter-productive.

Instead, you can make more scones or quick breads, although these doughs don't tend to like extra manipulation or waiting around before being baked.  To extend the usefulness or variety of your products, you could make the basic mixture and then add the compliments like berries or chocolate chips to only part of the dough.

They should also freeze beautifully, and reheat quite well.


Does adding oil and fats affect bread crust development?

Oil definitely changes the crust, and whether or not it's "better" depends on what you're going for. Oil in the dough tends to give a softer and thicker crust, while a lean dough tends to give a crisper and thinner crust. Other dough ingredients that tenderize include milk and eggs, and there are plenty of web pages listing "dough enhancers" that give various effects. Again, it all depends on what type of crust and crumb you want.


Is it OK to reheat hash browns the next morning?

Frozen hash browns like that are already pretty much cooked. When you bake them, you're really just heating them up and crisping the outside.

If you cook some then save them, they're going to lose a lot of that crispiness no matter what you do. If you eat them cold they'll be, well, cold. If you heat them in the microwave, they'll soften even more. If you still like them, go for it.

Safety-wise, it's fine. You do need to keep them in the fridge, as with pretty much any other leftover food.


The raised rim is really just the natural consequence of a properly thrown pizza dough. I suspect that as pizza became more common, this simple fact got obscured with such inventions as "stuffed-crust" and rapid-rise freezer pizza.

Assuming you have a well developed and elastic dough, you can just learn the basic throwing process. If you want a thicker outer crust, you can grab more dough between your fingers when you are stretching it vertically. This also has the effect of adding more bulk at the edges, making the centrifugal force stronger, and thus stretching it out faster. So watch out!

As @TFD suggests, you can also be more deliberate about it, and gather the dough afterwards by rolling it up. With this technique, you can also stuff the crust, which is more difficult with the throwing method.


Allepo pepper has a fair bit of fruitiness, but it's typically only available dried in most areas, not fresh.  And I suspect it may be harder to get these days with the conflict in the area where it's grown.

What you can do, however, is change how you use habanero peppers.

Add them whole to recipes and remove them before serving.  As the capsaicin is mostly on the inside, you'll get some of the fruitness, without the full hit from the heat.  If you want a little more heat, stab it with a knife before adding it (but don't cut it open fully).

One of my former co-workers made groundnut soup this way, and it had great flavor without knocking people out.  (I think he had 3 or 4 in there; I don't know if they were punctured or not)


The meat itself
From my experiencing working with venison, I have come to find out that venison meat is quite "soft" compared to other red meat like beef. You can find a similar kind of "softness" in veal, so it appears the age of the animal, or more specifically, how developed/tough their muscles is related to the texture (and flavor) of the meat.
Here are a few things you can try to improve the texture and flavor:
Fat content
I believe this is the main culprit for venison. The meat itself is very lean, and when butchering it is common to trim out some of the fat. I recommend to leave a decent amount of fat on the meat, and if you can, keep the harder pieces of fat from the carcass. You can cut those up and add it to the meat before grinding for give it more flavor and firmer texture.
Short of that, or perhaps in addition to that, I can say that by adding beef suet, which is the harder fat of the beef, prepared for processing, really enhances the texture and flavor of ground venison. You should be able to find some at your local independent butcher shop (probably not at the supermarket, but you can ask). Cut it up in small bands and add it to the venison before grinding.
Dry-aging
You can try dry-aging the meat. It goes without saying that it has to be done before grinding it. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

The process changes beef by two means. Firstly, moisture is evaporated from the muscle. This creates a greater concentration of beef flavour and taste. Secondly, the beef’s natural enzymes break down the connective tissue in the muscle, which leads to more tender beef.

Do note, even though aging is most often used for beef, that other red meats like bison, venison, moose, etc. are not very dissimilar.
Temperature
I have noticed that meat which is warmer before grinding tends to make for a more mushy grind. I would recommend to leave your meat in the fridge until immediately before grinding. You can even freeze it slightly (until it has a slight crust) "naked" (unwrapped) for about 30 minutes. This won't improve the flavor, but it will help it retain its shape during processing.
Coarse grinding
It's most common to process meat through the grinder twice (especially for beef) to give it a more appealing, "silkier" look and texture. If you have been doing that, you may want to try grinding it only once. This is most common for things like pork sausage, and it will leave it with a more "chunky" texture.


Do I need to thaw fish before steaming it?

Thawing as part of the cooking process is safe.

If your fish is very thin, you may get good results.  The risk is that the outside will overcook before the inside is thawed and cooked through.

You will probably get better results thawing the fish in the refrigerator before steaming it.


Why is my homemade pork sausage rubbery?

You may have ground your pork too fine (or over mixed it) -- you want to use a relatively coarse grind with a lot of fat when you are making pork sausage.


Chicken breast, not overcooked, loses 10%-18% of it's weight during cooking.
Turkey will be similar.

As you can see, brining a bird, either wet or dry, results in less moisture loss.

Your 15% solution undoubtedly contains some salt but I doubt it is enough to be considered fully brined.

I would therefore, expect your yield to be around 80%-83%. Obviously, if you overcook the meat you will lose even more water.

Of course, these charts were made to demonstrate the effects of brining and not as an exhaustive study into poultry yields. For 700 people you would want to get this as close as you can. Personally, I would salt and cook one of them today, weighing before and after to give myself more confidence.


Where can I find/buy Peruvian Parsnip (AKA: Batata Baroa or Arracacha) in the US?

Peruvian Parsnips seem to be pretty difficult to find, even online. I found this link that has an "Email me when available" option: https://www.greenharvest.com.au/Plants/SummerLeafyGreens.html#PeruvianParsnip

But the website appears to be in Australia and may not ship to the USA, or perhaps if exorbitant shipping costs. I would recommend to also check local health/specialty food stores, they might be able to special-order it through their supply chain.

Another option would be to try and find a substitute that would be "close enough". I don't have suggestions as I have never had Peruvian Parsnips.

Another option: growing them!

I found this link which mentioned growing it.

  Root vegetables are easy to grow for gardeners at any level. In most parts of the country, roots you plan to harvest in the fall and winter need to be in the ground by mid- to late-summer. If you live in a warmer climate, you have additional time. Whether you’re going to squeeze in a few roots this year or are already planning next year’s garden, use these tips for root gardening success.

Seems like this tuber mostly grows in more tropical climates, so it may be difficult. I also found this other article which has information about growing unusual tubers.

If you have questions about that, feel welcome to try our Gardening Stack Exchange site!


Difference between baking a cake in cooking range and microwave oven

A range (also knows as cooker in some places) is a free-standing kitchen appliance with a cooktop (hob) on the top and an oven below. The oven sounds like a conventional gas oven and not a fan assisted (convection) oven. An oven will give you much better cakes than a microwave, you just need to get used to how your oven cooks.

Most recipes are written to be used in an oven and not a microwave convection oven, so for cooking times and temperatures you should simply go back to the recipe temperature and time for a guide. If the recipe is not available then you will need to do some trial and error. 200C seems a bit high to me, you could end up burning the outside and having the inside overdone. Many cakes are baked between 160 to 180C depending on the type and thickness, so for a conventional (non-fan) oven I would split that down the middle and go for 170C, (155 for a fan oven) and up the cooking time to 20-30 minutes. Try the middle rack your first time cooking in the oven.

One thing I would recommend is getting an oven thermometer. Many ovens, especially older ones, do not cook at the temperature you set, and can be much hotter or colder than you want leading to bad results. An oven thermometer will tell you how hot your oven actually is inside so you can set it properly.


How much flavor do you lose when you clarify a stock with an egg raft?

I'm open to correction, but in my opinion,the main reason for clarifying a stock, assuming gross impurities have been removed,  is aesthetic. Not forgetting that the the appearance of food does change the impression of flavor. Floating ingredients can be shown off in clear soups -  a sufficiently concentrated consommé, made with a large amount of meat per helping, can have knock-your-head-off intensity. In my experience, I have never clarified a stock, by whatever method, without a sort of 'thinning' or 'flattening' of the flavor. Not so much a loss of intensity or aroma (that has more to do with the reduction) as a loss of 'roundness' I think that is probably due to a loss of fat in suspension.

If I'm clarifying a stock by the egg-white method, I add a mirepoix (celery, carrots, leek are obvious candidates) but I shred or grate the vegetables rather than dicing them. This means that they can create a sort of fibrous mat with the egg-white when it rises, holding it together in quite a strong raft. You can then make a hole in the middle of the raft. At a very low simmer, convection then causes the stock to rise through the hole, spread across the raft, and sink again at its edges. If you're very careful, the raft can be removed in large pieces.

An alternative is Heston Blumenthal's freezing method, which he claims does not reduce flavor at all ( who am I to disagree? ... but I do..). It is very convenient. Chill the stock, remove solidified fat, freeze the stock, and then let it thaw through coffee filter, or tripled muslin. There is less waste, so you could clarify part of your stock that way, without so much of the loss that follows from clarifying small quantities by the egg-white method.

If it was me, I would clarify only the amount I needed clear stock for, and I'd go for the second method. That way, if you freeze your stock anyway, you can make your mind up whether or not you want it clear closer to the time you use it.


Spices are vegetable products which add flavor to food. These are mostly fruits/seeds (mustard, cumin, poppy, coriander, fennel, pepper), roots (turmeric, ginger), tree bark (cinnamon) or flower buds (cloves).  If it is used to flavor food and it is leafy and green it is a herb, otherwise it's a spice.

Spices are often dried to preserve them and concentrate their flavor. They can be used whole or ground. Ground spices are simply the whole spice turned into a powder. Whole spices keep their flavor longer than ground, but ground spices are easier to cook with as they take less time for the flavor to go into the food.


Does an electric grill make it faster than a pan?

They are different tools.

The main problem with an electric grill (two sided) is that is has a lot more parts and pieces that can break and is harder to clean.

The other big problem of an electric grill, is that it is mostly a single use tool compared to a frying pan that you can use for a ton of different applications.

For example, you want to grill some chicken breasts, you can do it in a pan and in a two sided electric grill; but lets say you want to make a sauce/gravy, in the case of the frying pan, you already have the tool to do it, in the case of the grill, you will have to use another tool  (pot or pan) to do it.

As for the cost, here, in Canada, you can find cheap ones (foreman grill) at around 30$.


Making Herman the German starter using brown sugar

I'm not sure but I think brown suger can also be used to make a Herman. The Herman dough consists of Lactobacillales and yeast. Both need sugar to live. White refined sugar mostly consists of saccharose (99,96 % saccharose, 0,04 % inverted sugar syrup).1 Brown sugar is nothing else than white sugar mixed with molasses. 2 Therefore I assume that you can use brown sugar instead of white sugar. Due to the molasses in the brown sugar you might use a bit more brown sugar than the receipe says for the white sugar. Wikipedia says that "Based on total weight, regular brown sugar contains up to 10% molasses.". I think, about 10% more brown sugar and it will be fine.

1 German Wikipedia article about (the purity levels of) sugar says "Raffinade ist der kristallisierte schneeweiße Zucker mit dem höchsten Reinheitsgrad (99,96 % Saccharose, 0,04 % Invertzucker).", translated: "Refined sugar is the crystallized, snow-white sugar with the highest level of purity (99,96 % saccharose, 0,04 % inverted sugar syrup).

2 English Wikipedia article about brown sugar


Can I use yogurt cheese in cheesecake by substituting the cream cheese?

I hope I am not making a wrong assumption here. But German quark is a soft cheese with somewhat creamy consistency which is made from a yogurt variety (or at least a cultured milk variety) .

If "yoghurt cheese" is similar to quark in the way I think it is, you are probably better off not making a substitution, but use a recipe which was made for quark (or topfen, which is the Austrian word for the same cheese). They will probably give you a better result than a substitution. The search term to use would be Käsekuchen, this is the German version of cheesecake, and it is traditionally made with quark. If you cannot decipher a German recipe, I noticed that Google returns some results for "Käsekuchen recipe", you can specify results in English in the advanced search options if needed.


Is my refrigerator temperature too high?

There is no way to answer your question as it is stated.  Get a thermometer and measure the temperature inside your refrigerator over a few days.  It should hover around 37F (2.8 C).


What is the proper salt to water ratio for turkey brine?

You might want to explore "equilibrium brining."  While a bit slower, it makes it very difficult to over-brine and have a product that is too salty.  See this link for details:  http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/equilibrium-brining


Google translates Semi freddo as semi cold. Half frozen is probably a bit closer in practice to an English translation of what it is, or more accurately, what it should be.

So many recipes on-line are fully frozen like ice cream, that the distinction is muddled. TRUE semifreddo is ice cream (or gelato) often mixed with something not frozen, like whipped cream, or  not hard frozen to begin with.

Jamie Oliver makes it by freezing a custard until firm, then letting it sit in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before serving it over a warm compote.

Giada De Laurentiis has a version that uses Lemoncello, which keeps the custard mixture from freezing hard.

Semifreddo is not churned like ice cream, it's usually frozen in a pan or on a sheet tray, then sliced or mixed with a non-frozen component.


while canning jam or jelly can you put peanut butter inside the jar with it? can both together?

Commercial peanut butter is shelf stable for several months in your pantry, however it is not acidic enough for home canning. When you remove most of the air in home canned goods you are actually setting up a good environment for botulism to grow. Botulism can’t thrive in an acidic conditions, that is why a low ph is essential for safe home canning.


Why does my flour sifter have cup markings

Only a tiny amount of flour will fall through the grating before you start actively sifting; there is a reason there is an agitator and crank to help force the flour through.  I am sure the idea was that you could use the sifter as a measuring cup.

Of course, since most sifters are opaque and the markings are on the outside, it is difficult to get a good measurement.

In practice, these markings are essentially useless, and you are far better off using a proper measuring cup, or even better, a scale.

Personally, I am of the opinion that sifters are hard to clean, not useful for anything else, and in general a pain.  I use a simple sieve when I need to sift.


Why does my horchata have too much sediment?

One technique which seems to be effective at straining out fine sediment is gel clarification with gelatin or agar. Dave Arnold's research on agar clarification culminated in an approach which uses agar, an ice bath, a whisk, a cheesecloth or muslin, and about an hour.

Measure out 0.2% agar by weight (as a fraction of your total liquid quantity).
Whisk it into 1/3 of the liquid to disperse, then bring to a simmer while stirring and hold it there until the agar is hydrated.
Pour in the rest of the liquid slowly while whisking, keeping the temperature about 35C.
Leave to set in ice bath.
Gently break up the gel with the whisk and then sieve through the cheesecloth.

The gel will trap the sediment, but leak liquid.


Standard answer is hotel pans and chaffing dishes with alcohol burners for the hot items.

Double hotel pans with ice between them for the cold items.

Coolers work well for storing items before serve. Things that are fried though would do much better in an oven set to the lowest temp, coolers will trap moisture and they will lose their crispness.

Chafing dish

Hotel pans


Does pre-packaged spaghetti sauce need to be cooked?

No. Canned food (when done correctly) is preserved properly and is safe to consume without further cooking.  Imagine that it's jam or oil packed sun dried tomatoes or canned tuna... something similar that's jarred or canned and then never (or only sometimes) cooked before consuming. There's nothing unsafe about it.

If it was unsafe, no one would can foods.


What difference would using Rock Sugar make in tea?

In Northern Germany, sugar crystals similar to the style depicted on the linked web page are used for "East Frisian Tea". East Frisian Tea is more a style of tea service than a specific variety of tea, but usually some blend of Indian black teas is used, often Assam and Darjeeling, but some variation from that is possible; the main thing is that it's not an aromatized or fruity tea, but a black tea blend, and tends to be infused with the intention of being slightly bitter.

When serving, rock sugar is placed at the bottom of the cup. Tea is poured over the rock sugar. Then, typically, but not always, a bit of cream is poured on top of that. You don't stir what's in your cup, so you start with a creamy flavor, progress toward a fairly bitter/astringent black tea, and have an increasingly sweet finish. You keep on repeating the process of adding sugar, tea and cream and drinking until you've run out of things to talk about with your friends.

The slow melting process is the main desirable attribute of this type of sugar, not the flavor difference. The brown crystals, with a slight molasses hint, were the most common ones I saw in Germany, but clear ones were not unheard of either. The hint of molasses is the only flavor difference from the brown crystals.


Typically with slow cookers, you want the liquid to come up at least 1/3 of the way up the meat.

If you're going to be cooking it for a very long time, if your lid doesn't fit well, or for some other reason you suspect there's going to be quite a bit of evaporation, you may want to add more liquid than that.

There are exceptions to this rule, as the shape of the item in there, if it's something that's going to give off lots of moisture, and the amount of food relative to the size of the slow cooker can throw things off, but 1/3 to 1/2 submerged is a good starting point.


Jeffrey Steingarten - The Man Who Ate Everything and It Must Be Something I Ate

The New Yorker Anthology of Food Writing

Herve This - Molecular Gastronomy


Pecan pie says "keep frozen" on the box, but the store is selling them just sitting out. Is this safe?

It really varies by exactly what it is, and what temperature it's meant to be served at.

In general, when the box says 'keep frozen', the cooking instructions assume that the item is frozen when it goes into the oven unless it specifically has multiple sets of times & temperatures.

If it's an item that's meant to be served at either fridge temperatures or room temperature, then the box likely has information about how far in advance you can thaw it (and how far in advance you need to thaw it, as it'll take a few hours if you just set it out).

Searching for that specific item's reheating instructions led me to a site that I wasn't familiar with: https://www.directionsforme.org/item/1892860

... but they have on there (with my adding some bold to highlight) :

  Preparation instructions: Serve at room temperature or warm for best flavor. Pie can be thaw for up to 28 days. Ready to eat. Remove pie from carton. Thaw at room temperature for 3 1/2 - 4 hours or refrigerate overnight. Reminder Freezers, refrigerators and ovens may vary. Adjustments to time and/or temperature may be required. For a flaky crust: preheat conventional oven to 350 degrees F. Remove pie from carton. Place pie in center of oven on baking sheet and heat as follows: Conventional oven: Frozen pie - Heat for: 15-20 minutes - Let stand for: 5 minutes. Conventional oven: Refrigerated pie - Heat for: 12-15 minutes - Let stand for: 5 minutes. Conventional oven: Room temperature pie - Heat for: 10-12 minutes - Let stand for: 5 minutes. Or. To microwave: Place slice on a microwave-safe dish and heat at medium power as follows: Microwave oven: Frozen slice - Heat for: 60 seconds - Let stand for: 1 minute. Microwave oven: Refrigerated slice - Heat for: 35 seconds - Let stand for: 1 minute. Microwave oven: Room temperature slice - Heat for: 20 seconds - Let stand for: 1 minute Refrigerate or discard any unused portions. Store frozen, refrigerated or at room temperature. If purchased thawed, we recommend that you consume or refreeze within 24-48 hours. If you choose to refreeze the product, understand that it may not provide optimal taste performance.


The purpose of kneading is to develop gluten in the dough. Gluten is made of long strands of protein — it makes the dough stretchy, so it can contain the bubbles created by the yeast or sourdough culture, enabling the dough to rise. Therefore, you need to knead before rising.

If you knead the dough again after its first rise, you'll destroy many of the bubbles and your dough will become flat and dense. Most recipes call for a "forming" step after the first rise — this should be done gently, so as to keep as many of those bubbles in the dough as possible. This will keep your bread light, with a nice open crumb.


Many fruits start to ferment a bit, some even while still on the trees.  For example orange juice normally contains a small amount (normally < 0.1 % vol.) of alcohol too.  And some berries that grow in the dunes here in Belgium can make the birds who eat them tipsy when they are ripe (the birds fly a bit erratic during that season...).

The "smell" might also be something you associate with alcohol because you often smell it while sensing/using alcohol (technically you can't "smell" alcohol, as it's odorless, but you can "sense" it in other ways).


Any food oil will do, except extremely strongly flavored oils like sesame oil.

You may use olive oil if its flavor will compliment the dish, and is to your taste.  You could even use animal fat like clarified butter, lard, or bacon fat if you choose, but each of these will bring a unique flavor.

You may choose a neutral oil if you want less flavor influence from the oil.

See also:
What is meant by "neutral" oils?


What is the difference between "vanilla" and "Mexican vanilla"

There are several distinct species of the vanilla orchid used for food flavouring, the most common being vanilla planifolia, vanilla tahitiensis and vanilla pompona (in that order).

Vanilla planifolia is usually marketed as "Bourbon vanilla", most of which is grown in Indonesia and Madagascar. The same species is also grown in Mexico, but they have decided to call it "Mexican vanilla", which is purely a marketing designation. At least the Mexicans claim their vanilla to be of superior quality, but the vanilla extracts sold in Mexico are often stretched with tonka bean extract, which has a similar taste and aroma to vanilla, but contains coumarin, which is banned as a food additive by the US Food & Drug Administration. Other countries have less strict regulations, often only regulating a maximum coumarin content.


Those spatulas came in many colors, mine were white, I've seen them in pink, green and black. I don't believe they are being made anymore (and I have looked. It's my favorite spatula by far). They were made by Foley. This answer was the last answer to the original question, and eBay is the only place I have seen them other than secondhand thrift shops.


Chili/Stew - Is it necessary to cook all the meat before adding to the rest of the ingredients?

What do you mean by "need"?

Will the stew have a deeper, richer, more savory flavor if you brown the meat first?  Absolutely yes, due the maillard compounds you alluded to.
Is it necessary to brown the meat before the long braise in the stew for food safety reasons?  Not at all.  You can cook it unbrowned, and it will be perfectly safe assuming you otherwise practice good food safety:  bring it up to cooking temperatures fairly rapidly, and cook it long enough.  Neither of these are usually a problem in stews.

In fact, some cuisines don't generally brown meats before boiling or poaching them, and still have outstanding outcomes--I am thinking of Tex/Mex taco fillings (not the ground beef kind, for example).

Now, as to should?  Personal preference.  I would choose to because I like the beefy flavors browning brings to the table.

Kenji Alt is now recommending just browning one side well, and then beginning the stew or braise, which I think is a very reasonable compromise.  See his Carne Adovada article for discussion on this.  This is the article that lead to his thoughts on browning ground beef that you cited.

. . .

On re-reading your question, I wonder if you are implying that you are using ground meat.  Since you said stew, I was assuming the meat was not ground.

If you are using ground meat, as in chili, which is essentially a ground beef and chili stew, you still have options.

Browning will lead to more flavor, but require longer stewing to have a fully tender mouthfeel, as the browning will initially make the meat tough.

Just cooking through (greying, as it were) will lead to a firmer mouth feel than beginning the stew with raw ground meat, which leads to a soft, silky type of texture, almost.  This is actually traditional in some Cincinnati Chili recipes.


What substances are good for spherification with algin?

Basically anything that's liquid. Fruit is very common, but we've also done herbs (mint and sage specifically). I've also had vegetable spheres like pureed peas and beets as separate spheres. At restaurants, I've had beer sphere's served with pretzel (at Cyrus) and I've seen cointreau spheres used in a drink.

They pop like caviar, and that's what releases the flavor, so they either need to be quite large or have a strong flavor. Otherwise the taste is lost and you're left with just the (fun) "texture". It also often helps to use some food coloring if your liquid isn't a strong color. With small spheres, light colors will disappear and you're left with relatively transparent spheres. I'd also recomend trying reverse spherification (i.e. mix calcium chloride with your liquid and then drop in to an alginate bath), as this doesn't use your flavored liquid to make the shell, leaving you with more "pop".

So look for a strong flavor and a nice pairing. Make it easy to get the spheres in to your mouth. It's easier if the spheres are on another piece of food, as cutlery will often break the spheres. The best thing about spheres is presentation and the caviar pop, so use that experience and look to your advantage and feature it in whatever you're serving. Here's my Sushi Dessert revolving around spherification.


What vegetable for sauteed zucchini could I use instead of tomatoes?

You could use coconut milk and curry-type flavorings (e.g. coriander, cumin, turmeric, galangal, ginger, lemongrass, any type of chili pepper, cilantro), for a very different taste with a somewhat similar texture.


Can I save time by baking banana bread using the convection setting of my oven?

When you heat something in the oven, a thin layer of vaporized water will settle around the good where it is exposed to air. This thin layer acts as a (minor) insulation. In a convection oven this thin layer will not form.

The contradicting statements result from the fact that the answer depends on how much the baked good is actually exposed to environment.

Cookies on the baking tray will need less time.
Bread on the baking tray will need less time.
Bread in a bread pan will not need (much) less time, as the pan is rather high compared to the top surface - the volume compared to the surface is too high for the convection to work efficiently.
The convection will heat the top surface better though, so you will end up with an uneven result, top done, bottom not done. You can get rid of this problem by protecting the surface with aluminum foil or by lowering the temperature. Obviously, lowering the temperature is the most widely employed solution.
Bread in a closed clay pot will need the very same time.

So, to sum it up:
A banana bread in a bread pan will only slightly benefit from the convection oven regarding baking time. I would assume the effect to be around 5-10 minutes. The more time you save though, the harder your top surface will be - so there is no way you can save time and get the same or a better result.


Does ripening banans in a bag with other fruit harm the other fruit?

It doesn't harm the apple, but it does speed up its ripening as well. And that risks over-ripening. So your perfectly crispy apples may begin to become mealy. Eventually they become targets for yeasts, molds, etc and start to rot. But it's not making them toxic or causing untoward chemical changes. They're all just speeding each other up.

Yes, you can just put them in a bag without the apple. They will produce their own ethylene (the gas that causes ripening, and which they make while ripening). It may take longer, since under-ripe bananas will put out less ethylene than a ripe apple, but just by a day or two. It's just a question of how hungry you are.


Is there a name for fried evaporated milk?

It sounds kinda similar to dulce de leche, but that is usually made with extra sweeteners added to the milk as it is cooked down.

You might look at baked milk, which is a Russian food, although it looks like the cooking down is usually less than you describe - that is, it may produce a brown crust, but the bulk of the milk is perhaps still creamy in color.

You could look at cajeta or basundi, which are made by cooking milk down into a evaporated, caramelized brown sauce.  It looks like both are usually sweetened during or after cooking, but since the sugar is added later in the process, with other flavorings to taste, I see no reason that sweetening might not equally be omitted if the flavor is enough for whoever is making it.

An interesting sort of match comes from brunost, which was made by cooking down whey into a brown sauce (Norwegian prim and Swedish messmör are variations of this) - but more recently cream and sometimes milk was added to the whey for a fattier end product.  I could see someone cutting out half the process by making something similar with only milk, instead of some balance of whey plus cream.  As a bonus, I don't believe these products usually have added sweetener, so that might be a closer match.

Honestly, there are a lot more variants where there is sugar or other sweeteners added to the milk while it cooks down and caramelizes, or even afterwards to taste, then variations where the milk is cooked down plain.  However, there's no reason why someone might not have adapted one of those recipes to omit the extra sugar for various reasons, so go ahead and figure out which name (or tradition) seems most in line with what your friend makes.


Pizza browning agent substituting proportion

I don't know exactly how much honey or sugar you should use.  I make pizzas all the time and get sufficient browning to my taste, without adding any "browning agents."  However, different recipes may react differently, and you may prefer a dough that browns faster or darker than mine.

In any case, you'll need a lot more honey or sugar to replace the diastatic malt by weight.  Diastatic malt means that it has active enzymes which break down some of the starch in flour and thereby release natural sugars in the dough.  Those sugars help to feed the yeast (and thus tend to cause a greater rise), but also will aid in surface browning reactions.

If you substitute diastatic malt with sugar itself, you're not trying to replace the malt powder or malt syrup -- you need to replace the sugars that the enzymes would have released into the dough.  Thus, there's no possible proportion to give you: the amount of sugar released by using diastatic malt will vary depending on fermentation conditions, type of flour, and probably other factors.  Again, I don't really know how to give you an exact amount of sugar/honey to use -- there are all sorts of recipes for pizza with greatly varying amounts of sugars in them.  You might start by adding a tablespoon or so of sugar/honey to your dough and see what happens.  (Definitely try more than 9 grams.)  Adjust up or down until you get the effect you like the best.  (Adding sugar to pizza dough won't just affect browning: it will alter texture and flavor too, so it's best to experiment.  And note that some of the sugar will also be digested by the yeast in long fermentations, so you may need to make further adjustments depending on your procedure.)

Additionally, you might find that longer fermentation will allow natural enzymes in the dough to break down some of the sugars too and promote browning.  There's a limit to this process, and you already mention a day-long fermentation in the fridge.  But fermenting for 2-3 days in the fridge and/or allowing a little more time at room temperature when the dough is "warming up" for fermentation may allow the enzymes to simulate a bit of your diastatic malt effects.


Charcoal can get to 700 degrees F  but in normal use you're more likely to be in the 500F range.  In order to get to the higher end of charcoal's abilities there are a couple things you can do:

Use natural lump charcoal, not briquettes.
Lower the grill grate to within 1" of the hot coals
If 1&2 don't get you enough heat, consider using the Alton Brown chimney approach (Setup starts around the 8 minute mark)


What is a substitute for Anaheim Peppers?

You need to substitute a mild pepper . . . be careful not to add something much hotter or you may change the whole concept of the dish . . . unless of course you are trying to kick up the heat a bit.

As suggested, a Poblano is the best substitute. Other names for Anaheim peppers are: California Green Chile; Long Green Pepper; and Chile Verde.


Allergic to the whole pepper family - what can I use in its place?

Grains of paradise are peppery but don't seem to be too closely related to black pepper, so perhaps you won't be allergic to them. They're a bit smaller than peppercorns but can still be ground in pepper grinders.


Does using frozen coconut milk lead to poorer consistency than canned?

Jennifer Frazer experimented with frozen coconut milk and wrote about it on her blog.
The conclusion is that you can freeze cococnut milk. The taste is preserved, but the consistency is not.

Jennifer writes:

  The thing is, you can still use it just fine for purposes that
  don’t depend on coconut milk’s texture or consistency;

Coconut milk is an emulsion of oils in water. To freeze and thaw the coconut milk is enough to affect the emulsion. You can compare the situation to cow's milk. Cow's milk is also an emulsion and the mouth feel will change if you freeze and thaw it.

References:

Jennifer Frazer's blog
A paper on the stability of the emulsion in coconut milk.


What are the effects of heavy cream and milk in ice making?

The role of cream in ice cream is, well, to be the main ingredient. This glances over a lot of details, but that's the gist of it, to the point where frozen desserts made without cream are not considered "ice cream".
Getting the proper texture of ice cream is not easy, and it only goes well when you start out with the right conditions. Part of it is to have a proper ratio of liquid to total solids, and of fat solids to nonfat solids. Using cream only will give you too much fat, so milk's role is to adjust the fat content so it falls into the optimal range.
There is no such thing as "more milk makes it smoother" or "more cream makes it smoother". Each good recipe is engineered to have the optimal ratio of ingredients, and if you start changing it on your own, the results are likely to get worse, not better.
Freezer temperature certainly affects consistency, but I can't tell you the interaction between milk/cream content and temperature. In practical terms, if you don't have a dedicated freezer you can set to an optimal temperature (about -6 C for most ice cream types), the question is moot anyway.


You can eat it quickly, or you can freeze it. Keeping it in the fridge is sometimes an option but for bread that is to be eaten as bread (rather than toasted) you end up with stale/dry bread (safe but a poor texture).

Warm, humid rooms encourage bread to go bad more quickly, so you can sometimes get slightly better life by choosing your storage location carefully.


Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but thought I'd post that in researching, I found that Korean side dishes are called banchan, and the specific dish that you are speaking of might be kale namul:

Kale namul 케일나물 (Korean Seasoned Kale)

Makes 2 cups

1 pound kale
1 green onion
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. roasted sesame oil
½ tsp. roasted sesame seeds
salt, to taste

http://www.apricosa.com/2011/03/different-sort-of-namul.html

The sweetness you refer to might just come from the kale itself, depending on the varietal.


Why is the paddle and not the whisk used for making cake batter in a planetary mixer?

In the recipe book for my Kenwood (I'll try to find it to post examples), there are some whisked cakes, but most are beaten. This is a UK model, and we tend to use solid fat rather than oil in our cakes. The whisk tends to collect the fat inside, rather than mixing evenly, so you need to knock it down more often. With unsoftened butter the whisk also flexes quite a lot which may not be a good thing long term.  When mixing slowly the beater definitely mixes more evenly than the whisk (a reasonable approximation of folding at minimum speed).

Whey baking other recipes I use the whisk for a whisked recipe (usually folding the flour in by hand), and the beater otherwise. It is quite easy to over-mix though.


The secret to getting a thin crust is... use less dough. It's that simple. Pizza dough is flour, water, salt, yeast: there is no magic ingredient that will make it thinner. Simply use less dough per pizza. You may find that when you first shape the dough it will try and spring back. In this case, just cover it and leave it for 5 minutes for the gluten to relax.

As for the charcoal grill, there is no reason why a thin crust pizza should be done any differently to any other pizza. It's entirely doable.


What should go in an Italian Sub sandwich?

I know of three ways for a recipe to become standardized, and I doubt that any of them applies to your sub.

The first one is: someone creates a recipe and is well-known enough for people to imitate him. Then it gets called the name he gave it originally. Example: Sachertorte. There is just one recipe for it, created by Franz Sacher, and any deviations are considered non-classic. I doubt very much that this is the case with your Italian sub, but there is a tiny chance that this is how it happened. It is what happened with "Italian beef" in America: obviously it is a known and imitated meal, at least in the Chicago area, but there was one restauranteur who started it, so you could say that his recipe is authentical. For more info on Italian beef, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yevJMRceuvE&feature=related (thanks to @hobodave for the link).

Second, you have a case a well-known meal of unknown origin, which everybody prepares the same way. At some point, a name sticks, and nobody knows why. This is what happened to the Wiener Schnitzel. Even though it is a well-defined recipe, and undeniably Austrian, cook books listed it under different names until at least the beginning of the 20. century. The recipe has so little variation, you can be always sure what the real Wiener Schnitzel is. As you say yourself that there are many variations of an Italian sub, this is clearly not the case here.

The third possibility is when a dish is prepared in many variations and there isn't a clear-cut name, but an established author comes along and codifies a taxonomy which becomes so popular that everybody starts to follow it. This is the case with French sauces. Even today, I know lots of people who confuse Hollandaise, Bearnaise and Mayonnaise. In fact, the stuff you can buy in a tube in a supermarket and is often eggless shouldn't be called mayonnaise at all. But since Carême wrote his work on French cuisine, and Escoffier elaborated it, cooks know that there is a difference a layman is often not aware of. This case supposes that there is a reference book recognized by the whole industry, and I am quite sure that nobody has written such a book on American cuisine. While I am sure that many have written books with such content, none has become influential enough to be considered canonical. So the Italian sub can't have become standard in that way.

If you can find more on the origins on Italian subs, there is some chance that you will strike a nice story like the one behind Italian beef. But it is much more probable that countless sandwich places just put the two or three Italian-sounding ingredients they have lying around in a sandwich and call it "Italian".

Oh, and to make it clear about the name: The fact that it is called "Italian" doesn't mean that it is a standard sandwich made in Italy. It is very common for food called after a country to be either totally unknown in the country itself, like this sub or Italian beef, or to be used for a single of many preparations known in that country - "Belgian chocolates" applies to a specific style of chocolate, no matter where it was manufactured, and you can find many different styles of chocolate in Belgium, the internationally known "Belgian chocolates" being only one of them. The sub sandwich is a very typical American meal, and while it is well-known around the world by now, giving one variation the name "Italian" shouldn't make you think that this is how Italians eat their sandwiches, or that all Italians eat their sandwich the same way, or that they have even heard about this specific sub.


I would recommend chucking the cake out. Many plastics contain additives which are not really recommended for eating (e.g. phthalate plasticizers, brominated fire retardants etc). The dangers are long term though for these. If the plastic is PVC - that's another matter. I would say definitely bin it and also if you can detect a weird smell or taste in the cake.