What is the way to make golgappe/pani puri at home?

There are several differences between regular poori and pani poori. When you cook regular poori, you want it to be soft, not crispy, and it doesn't need to puff up as much, and it doesn't really matter if it collapses a little after you cook it.

These differences translate out to some different methods of working with the dough.

First, you need to have a quite elastic dough for pani poori so that they will be able to puff up a lot without bursting. This means you need a lot of gluten and you need a lot of kneading.

For regular poori you are probably using maida (wheat flour), for pani poori it is common to use fine sooji/semolina flour and only a small amount or maida. (Replace all the maida you normally use with fine sooji, then add an extra spoon of maida.)

For regular poori you also probably use a dough that is about the same as for chapatti, maybe just a little bit stiffer. For pani poori you need to knead this quite a long time, then allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes before forming them so that it makes an elastic dough that will stretch a lot without tearing.

The next difference is soft vs crispy and this is mostly relating to the thickness of the dough. You need to make the dough very thin for the crispy pani poori. It probably needs to be about half the thickness of a regular poori. For a whole batch of them, it is easier to roll out the whole piece of dough at one time to an even thickness and cut little round pieces with a cookie cutter or a small katori instead of making a lot of little balls to roll out, but when you are practicing, maybe it is better to roll out small pieces and test frying so that you know if it is the right thickness. It should be quite, quite thin.

When you cook them, the oil should be hot enough that they immediately float and start to puff up. If they are the right thickness, they will become crispy when they look golden.

The next key to keeping them crispy is to cool them completely before covering them. When they come out of the oil, they will still be steaming. If you cover them when they are still at all warm, that steam will be trapped and will make them soft.


No, just soaking in warm water will get them soft without turning them into mush. Just test the noodles by eating one every minute or so until they are the consistency you want, then rinse in cold water and drain. Boiling will take them from crunchy to mush so fast that you will likely miss the window.


Fondant recipe with egg white. Are there health risks?

Powdered sugar is about 3% corn starch by weight.  So the candies set due to a combination of three factors:

Drying
Protein network from the egg white albumen
Thickening provided by the corn starch

There is some minimal health risk from the raw egg, as it is possible it was infected with salmonella.  The actual incidence, at least in the US, is very low, but you will have to assess your own risk tolerance.

Given that these confections are close to pure sugar, they should keep close to indefinitely, as long as they are not gotten wet--but they will be very hydrophyllic, and would absorb water even from humid air.  So keep them in a sealed dry container.


What temperature would a "quiet oven" be in old fashioned temperature vocabulary?

Google Books has a number of results calling for a "quiet oven" in older recipes, but it seems to have been such a ubiquitous concept that they didn't feel the need to explain what it meant. The only source I could find that gave any indication at all was this book by Robert Carlton Brown, published in 1955, which indicates that it was an English term for a "moderate" oven. He doesn't say what that specifically means, or when it fell out of favor as a term (I would assume with the advent of electric ovens), but I would posit that it's somewhere around 350-75 degrees, based on modern usage.


Does boiling a salsa or BBQ sauce for 30 min alter the taste?

Not really.

Cooking something for 30 more minutes after cooking it for 30 minutes isn't going to change the flavors much more than they already had. After 30 minutes at a given temperature, most of the chemical reactions that are going to occur in your food will have occurred already. The one caveat to this is if the original cooking temperature is much lower than the second-cook. (i.e. heating it up to only 150F for the initial cook, vs. 212F for the second cook) If you're talking about boiling it for 10 hours, then YES, there will be some changes.

Boiling the whole jar with the food inside (and the lid just barely unscrewed) will allow the whole setup to be sanitized, and thus keep the whole works food-safe for much longer than just dumping in hot food.


Physics/chemistry behind the observation

It's hard to say without seeing it, but I suggest that this phenomenon happening when you turn up or down the gas may be caused by your arm reaching out in the vicinity of the pot to turn the knob.

The air above the pot should be saturated with water vapor at a higher temperature.  Motion nearby will create eddy currents that carry that moist air to where it can meet cooler air.  You see the moisture when it condenses to fog.


What is the 'cleanest' way to roast eggplants indoor?

What is taking so long to clean, your sheet pan? Put a sheet of parchment paper underneath the eggplant.


How to get a sourdough like effect without the hassle of a real sourdough starter?

You can try a pâté fermentee. This is essentially a dough you leave to prove overnight. It is how most french bread is made. You simply make half a batch of dough, leave it overnight, then make the other half and knead the PF through it. While the flavour isn't quite as sour as sourdough, it does have a bit more of a tang than 'normal' bread.

You might also try a slow, 2 or 3 day prove in the fridge for any bread dough.


How can I reassure myself a given food is not a botulism risk?

Virtually every case of botulism ever recorded in the past 50 years is due to improper home canning. The risk of botulism from a commercial product is so low that you literally have a better chance of being struck by lightning and almost as good a chance as being struck twice in the same year.

There are 145 cases reported in the U.S. each year and 65% of those are infant botulism, 20% from wounds. It's hard to get statistics on infant population, but there are 314 million people in the U.S., so I estimate the chance of getting botulism from food there to be 0.00000692675% in any given year.

You may not live in the U.S., but unless you live in a country with extremely poor or nonexistent safety standards (in which case you have more important things to worry about anyway), I'd advise you to stop worrying. You are about 20 times more likely to die in a fire and 200 times more likely to die in a car accident.

As far as the spores go, they generally aren't dangerous to healthy adults, they affect infants and those with depressed immune systems, hence the heavy proportion of infant botulism cases (often from honey). That's why the WHO warns people not to give honey to infants under 1 year old, but doesn't advise any similar precautions for adults (The reason for no advice for adults is that their stomach is acidic so the bacteria cannot grow and produce the toxin. But infants have lower acidity in their stomach and botulism bacteria from honey can grow there. Honey always has the bacteria. )

Botulism spores can only be killed at extreme temperature, i.e. above 120° C. Boiling water is 100° C, so don't even try to kill them this way. You would need a pressure cooker at very high pressure, and this is why low-acid foods must be pressure-canned; simply boiling is not enough. On the other hand, the botulism toxin is denatured at 80° C, so boiling anything for a reasonable time will make it safe from botulism, but not necessarily from the many other bacteria and/or toxins that can be in spoiled food, such as those produced by certain e.coli strains.

There are plenty of things to worry about with commercial food - salmonella in peanut butter, listeria in lettuce, listeria in spinach... the list goes on and on, but one thing that's generally not on it is botulism, and I think the constant attention here on it actually makes matters worse by taking attention away from other, more common and equally serious issues. Seriously, one person died from contaminated homemade ham and now you're afraid to eat commercial mozzarella cheese?

If you aren't an infant, don't do home canning or home food preservation, and refrigerate your food properly, you're not at risk for botulism. Period. You are, however, at risk of so many other things, and really should try to learn more about food safety in general - from which you'll definitely learn facts such as boiling for 20 minutes won't make spoiled food safe.


Cast Iron Skillet Loses Seasoning After Cooking Chicken?

Seasoning in cast iron pans is very sensitive to acidity.
For example, tomatoes or a sauce based on it, will easily degrade your seasoning.
It is possible that your chicken, its marinade or exterior is acidic as well.

Make sure also you cook the chicken on its side long enough for it to naturally come off and no longer stick to the pan surface. Don't force it off.


Is canned “tomato sauce” already cooked?

Yes, in some sense, the contents of a can of tomato sauce are already cooked. But "cooked" is a pretty vague term, and we know that there are different degrees of it. Did you cook your onion on a low heat until it was soft, or until golden, or until caramelised? Did you cook your steak until it was rare, or medium, or well done?

Likewise with tomatoes, if you blend them up and then cook them for ten minutes they're not going to taste the same as when you've cooked them for three hours in a low oven with the lid off. Lots of chemical reactions are going on inside the food as it's cooking, and some of them only happen over rather long time periods.

So what you're doing when you're putting the "cooked" canned tomato sauce in with your "cooked" meat and leaving it for a while is... cooking. The combination of ingredients plus more heat and more time will cause further changes and different flavours to emerge.

Also, canned tomato sauce will only be cooked enough to preserve it in the can - it's not been cooked to the point where it's going to be at its best for eating. That part's up to you.


Is there a way to make bacon a decent substitute for pancetta in Italian dishes?

It's not the same, but it can certainly work. Guanciale is a great substitute as well if you can find it.

I just made carbonara last week with bacon. I used this recipe. It came out pretty well. Using water in the initial cook makes the bacon come out a little more chewy.

Also, I use a zester on my pecorino, and it comes out grate that way.


Once this has happened, about the only practical way to remove them is with a strainer.  Of course that will remove anything else in the sauce like onions as well.

In the future, you can use better ways to thicken your sauce.  See some ideas in this question, which while phrased for mushroom sauce, has a very general answer:  How can I thicken my mushroom sauce?


Utensil materials - plastic, metal or wooden?

Metal
Advantages: durable, no risk of absorbing flavours
Disadvantages: may scratch certain cookware

Wood
Advantages: doesn't scratch, looks nice
Disadvantages: can wear down over time, can sometimes absorb flavours

Plastic
Doesn't find a place in my kitchen other than a rubber spatula for baking.

Silicone
You didn't mention this, but I like it, because it works like rubber but can withstand high temps (brushes, spatulas)

I think the answer really depends on what you cook. A good basic set might consist of a wooden spoon, a spatula that can handle heat, a good ladle, and maybe a set of tongs or chopsticks. You'll quickly learn what you wish you had to make it a little easier.


What other names are scallions known by?

According to Wikipedia:

  Scallions (also known as green onions, spring onions, salad onions,
  green shallots, onion sticks, or syboes), are the edible plants of
  various Allium species, all of which are "onion-like", having hollow
  green leaves and lacking a fully developed root bulb.

In the grocery stores I've been to most (east cost of US), if they aren't called scallions, they're called green onions. I've never seen grocery stores label them with any of those other names from Wikipedia (though I've seen recipes calling for syboes).

Then of course there are stores / vegetable stands where nothing is labelled, in which case knowing what they look like is the most helpful ;) (Google image search yields plenty of decent results.)


What is this double-serrated knife good for?

You are not missing anything, that is a cheap serrated "no sharpening" knife from a set. The only possible advantage to it would be when cutting soft tomatoes, where having a bit of serration helps. For that I use a bread knife anyway, so I'd say you have no use for that knife at all in the kitchen.


When can't I use a squash in a recipe which calls for pumpkin?

I agree that, in general, other squashes can be substituted for pumpkin. I have tried some different types of squashes but obviously there are many more that I haven't tried.

There are definitely differences in flavor- these will obviously change a dish but not ruin it.

The biggest differences I have run into are water content and texture.

When roasting squash the cooking time might need to be adjusted to obtain a product with the needed consistency. Using pie as an example- I have had to adjust my cooking to avoid a runny pie filling. Obviously in some recipes, such as soup, this won't be as important.

Some squash, such as spaghetti, have stringy textures that would be odd where smooth pumpkin is expected.


What you are looking for is spherification. You need to use a different hydrocoloid than gelatin. There are a couple of techniques you can use.

If you want solid spheres, you can mix your liquid with agar agar, which is readily available in the asain section of the grocery store, bring it to a simmer, and then use an eye dropper to drop the liquid in to a very cold olive oil bath (put it in the freezer). The dropping action will give you spheres.

You can also use a mixture of sodium alginate and calcium chloride, but those are harder to find and will need to be ordered online. The advantage is that you can make a sphere with a liquid center that "pops" just like real caviar. You mix the alginate in to your liquid and then mix the calcium in to a bath. You use the same eye dropper technique to get spheres. When the alginate and calcium touch, they instantly form a gel. This holds the sphere together. Leaving it for a couple seconds makes it thick enough to hold up.

All the info you need is available in this free recipe guide from Khymos.

I've actually done exactly this dessert before. You can see some of my lessons and issues in another question here. I did it a second time and opted to use a gelled peach (using agar agar) in the center for more of a maki presentation. Enjoy.


Soy milk works great in pancakes. My basic recipe for pancakes is about a cup of flour, about a cup of soy milk, a tablespoon or two of sugar and veg oil, and a few teaspoons of baking powder. Works great, makes nice, fluffy pancakes. (I know, not a "recipe" so much as list of ingredients with approximate proportions, but that's how I tend to cook, experimenting and learning from experience as I go...)

Edit: I don't know about scotch pancakes; I've never made them, but upon looking up a couple recipes, I don't see why it wouldn't... Soy milk behaves much like milk in these kinds of recipes, the only difference being that soya adds a bit of binding that dairy milk doesn't (and perhaps a smidge of a taste difference?)

Edit2: Haha, ok, so my "pancakes" are much more like your "scotch pancakes" -- there is such a wide spectrum of "pancakes", from crepe-y types to big, fluffy types... So then, yes, I'd say soya'd certainly work fine for scotch pancakes; for your "pancakes", I still suspect it'd be alright. With crepes mainly you just need liquid (hence the mixing with water in your posted recipe) -- the milk is mainly for some added flavour; I'd conjure that soya would work just fine.


I would like to prepare Artichokes as a side dish, any preparation tips?

The easiest way I have found to cook whole artichokes is to steam them in the microwave.

Cut off the top of the bud and then trim off any beaten up tough outer leaves.  Place in a large glass bowl with about 1/2 cup of water in the bottom.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on high for about 4-5 minutes.  Check and add more time if necessary.

You can then eat the leaves and save the base and heart for another dish or eat the whole thing.


Which sugar is used in pastry more often, white or brown?

For a short answer, I recommend using brown sugar in your case.

Brown sugar has more of it's own flavour, while white sugar is very plain, so when you ask "which one give more taste", you probably want brown. Brown sugar tastes this way because it contains molasses (a juice from the sugarcane).

An alternative to brown cane sugar is "raw sugar" (also known as "natural brown sugar", "whole sugar", or "unrefined sugar"). There are also similar sugars not made with sugarcane, such as maple sugar and coconut sugar.

There may be cases where you don't want the molasses to interfere with the other flavours (such as chocolate). You can use white sugar, while golden sugar (or light brown sugar) is in-between. However, I personally prefer brown sugar in most pastries. It works very well with cinnamon, apples, and raisins. You can also add additional molasses if you want the brown sugar to taste stronger.


Are there any advantages to freshly ground salt?

Not really in terms of flavor, no. Salt doesn't have a substantial number of volatile compounds that are released by grinding, in contrast to something like whole peppercorn, which releases a range of aromatics when the outer hull is breached. Even specially-sourced salts which contain a range of flavorful minerals don't really release them into the air, they dissolve into the foods they're added to instead, and/or are picked up by your tongue as you eat.

One advantage grinders offer is that a lot of them are adjustable, and can be tweaked for everything from a very fine grind to large crystals. This can be helpful depending on the effect that you're going for - seasoning popcorn with very fine salt vs. garnishing a steak with large crunchy chunks, for example. Smaller crystals with more surface area will generally tend to be perceived as saltier due to more taste bud contact, and will also dissolve into liquids (i.e. soups or stews) more quickly. I like using larger crystals sometimes for flavor/texture contrast and visual appeal for some dishes.

Another advantage mentioned by others is that finely pre-ground salt may also contain anti-caking agents to keep it from clumping together. If that bothers you, a grinder gets around this because larger pieces won't stick together as much before being pulverized by the grinding mechanism.

Some producers package salt in disposable grinders just as they do with pepper, and they share the same problems: cheap grinders simply aren't very good at getting a consistent grind size, or they have mechanisms which wear down quickly. Reusable grinders are often much better, and as you've seen they're getting very easy to find even in non-specialty stores. I like ceramic grinding mechanisms personally, because I feel that they get a better "grip" on the particles and are better at consistency, but good steel mechanisms will do well too. Here are some suggestions for care to help you get the most out of them.


Are accidentally fermented foods safe to eat

Do.
Not.
Eat.

The assumption that it fermented enough to be safe because it fermented some is likely incorrect. Lacto fermented food recipes are specifically formulated to encourage the rapid and significant growth of lactic acid producing bacteria which lowers the ph so quickly that it overwhelms pathogens which are also trying to grow. Even then, consuming lacto fermented vegetables before they hit a ph level of 4.6 is still not safe. Almost no tomato sauces would be acidic enough to discourage pathogen growth on their own.

Even if the lactic acid in the sauce slowly built up enough to kill all of the live pathogens with acid alone, many food pathogens create toxins (Shiga, Botulism Toxin, etc,) and those could still harm or kill you, even if you heated the sauce up to serving temperature. Though botulism toxin can be neutralized by boiling for some amount of time, after looking around for a bit, I haven't seen anything that guarantees Shiga or other common toxins do too. Is it worth it?

There are lots of pathogens which thrive in that very environment, and plenty that produce gas as waste. You don't know what was growing in there, or what it left behind.


Why does freshly slaughtered chicken needs to be cooled down before cooking?

The consensus from sites I have seen that appear fairly credible is that you need a resting period to avoid toughness in the final product.  I speculate this is to allow rigor mortis to come and go.

According to Girl's Guide to Butter's article Chicken Butchering 101:

  And now the final step in the butchering process – put them in a
  larger tub filled with cold water (ours comes straight from the ground
  and is very cold), and let them sit and relax till the evening (if
  you’ve butchered in the morning) or overnight ...

  Note that it is important to let your chickens rest and relax in this
  fashion before cooking them, because, if you cook them right away (not
  that most of you, unlike me, would want to), they are likely to be
  tough.

Similarly, The Self Sufficient Home Acre's How to Butcher a Chicken article says:

  [P]ut it in the refrigerator for 24 hours before cooking. If the meat
  is not allowed to relax, it will be tough. If you plan to freeze the
  chicken, you can leave it in the refrigerator overnight or you can
  freeze it right away. Just be sure to pull the frozen bird out and let
  it thaw completely before cooking it. I have had good luck with this
  method.


Searing Sous-vide with electric heat gun

I doubt that it will work. A butane torch can provide a temperature of up to 1700K (1,430 °C; 2,600 °F) (according to Wikipedia), whereas I haven't seen any electric ones claiming to go above 600°C (1100°F).

While 600°C seems plenty warm to get a decent Maillard reaction going, it will take much longer than with a higher temperature, and you will probably dry out the underlying layers.

(The 'Searzall' looks like a modified butane torch, rather than an electric heat gun.)


Most seeds need warmth to sprout.  When I'm starting beans at home (to grow, not to eat directly), I either use a 'seed mat' (electrical heating pad), or a lamp set realy close to the soil.  In both cases, I keep the seeds in a clear-topped container, so that they don't dry out -- the moisture gets trapped in and makes a mini-greenhouse.

You can likely rig up a similar system using household items:

Place a couple of damp paper towels in the bottom of a baking dish (9"x13" if you have it)
Spread the seeds on top of the towels
Cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap (aka cling film)
Set it in a sunny window
Wait

After a day in the sun, you should see moisture forming on the inside of the plastic wrap.  Tap it a few times to get the water to drop back onto the sheet (and let the sun through better).

If you have a heating pad, you can try that, too, but you don't want to leave it on all day, as you need a 'day' and 'night' time for most plants to sprout.  (and I don't know how hot they get ... they might get too warm.)


Why not incorporate eggs at the last moment when making crepes?

Your supposed advantages are not correct.

I believe if eggs are mixed too much, whites can get a rubber-like texture.

No, this is not correct. Are you thinking of gluten? That is the ingredient that gets tough with overmixing. So by that logic, you should be adding the flour last - but the whole point of recipes which are being held for a long time is to allow time for the starch in the flour to hydrate, and with the longer periods (you mention 24 hours), to allow for the building of slight sourdough flavors. So you cannot add flour last either - or you can, but then you don't need to keep the batter around. Anyhow, there is no change in toughness when you add eggs first.

Eggs are fresher when they are in their shell

They may be "fresher" by common sense understanding of the word, but by food safety rules, the two batters (the one with the eggs added before a rest, and the other with eggs after the rest) are equally safe. The food safety is not increased.
On the other side, if your suggestion is followed, there may be some slight disadvantages in handling. They are not so terrible as to make your suggestion unworkable, but together with the lack of advantages, they provide a good reason for recipes preferring early mixing.
A list of some of the disadvantages:

Not only is it more convenient to only get out a whisk once, but there are also people who prefer to mix the eggs with the flour first because this is their preferred method against getting lumps,
There are the recipes which require you to start with an egg and then adjust the consistency with incremental additions of flour and milk
There is the slight effect of possibly less-well beaten egg diffunding better into the mixture during the resting period. Basically, if you want to go to the trouble of doing a resting period, whose purpose it is to get everything to settle together, you'd better add everything before you rest it.

I must say that personally, I actually do add "egg last", but that's more of a side effect of my method. I use a very simple recipe (only eggs, flour and milk) measured by weight. I whisk by hand, and I have noticed that I get the least lumps when I first whisk the flour with the milk. This automatically means that the eggs (separately stirred, without whipping) come in last. I don't rest my batter, so there is no question of adding it after the rest (and if I did rest, I would add it before the rest). So you see, egg last is not impossible, just like Willeke said, it just has no special advantages, and in some cases it comes with disadvantages.


Go for it. Eggs in their shell are pretty sturdy. Technically, a very small amount of water will be absorbed by the eggs, but unless you weighed them, you probably won’t notice.

I do have a small caveat, though: eggs are susceptible to smells, the chalky shell is pretty permeable. So if your tap water has a lot of chlorine or other strong tasting stuff, it’s probably not a wise idea to let the eggs absorb that. The same is true if you live in an area of the world where tap water may be contaminated by bacteria. In such a case, you need to boil the water first before adding the eggs.

In short: if the water is good, no problem.


I have no idea why it starts with Greek yogurt. Wherever I've had it - at home, restaurant-made, or ready-bought, it contained just plain yogurt, water and salt. (The ratio varies to taste). This includes ayran made in traditional Turkish restaurants run by Turkish owners. Also, I can't think of a practical reason why true (strained) Greek yogurt could make a difference. The whey doesn't have a strong taste on its own, and what little it has, it is similar to the yogurt itself, so you probably won't notice a difference. You are just losing the nutrients from the whey.

In some countries, true Greek yogurt isn't available, and what you get sold as "Greek yogurt" is actually sour cream with double the fat content, but with the same protein and lactose content as plain yogurt. This could have some taste difference in comparison to ayran made with plain yogurt, but in my eyes, it will be a negative change. If you use the same yogurt:water ratio as with plain yogurt, you will get too much fat, which isn't pleasant in ayran (which is mostly a refreshing drink). If you use a doubled water ratio so the fat amount stays the same, you get much less taste.

Conclusion, go with the normal yogurt. It is not only cheaper, it is also the traditional, time-proven way of getting tasty ayran.


What exactly is 'osobaya sayanskaya' in House of Cards S03E03?

Nope, it appears to be totally fictional.

It's referred to as $750,000, with a bottle of gold.

That could be real, except that it doesn't appear to be.

You can spend that much on a bottle of Russian vodka, but none of the bottles look like that.

10 Most expensive vodkas


Is it true that moldy jam/pickles are good to eat if you mix the mold into the rest of the mixture?

Unless there is good reason to assume it is not mold/bacterial colonization, but some other precipitate as explained in other answers:

There is no scientific reason at all to assume that such a method is safe, certainly not for any random pickle made by any random recipe spoiled by any random white mold found in any random environment. While some very acidic pickling liquids might kill the mold or bacteria, it will not deactivate existing aflatoxins or bacterial toxins.


what is the difference between thick and liquidy cupcake batters?

This is a pretty general question, and there are a lot of different methods and ingredients that can affect the thickness of cake batter and the density of cakes or cupcakes.

Most cupcake batter is really just regular cake batter cooked in smaller amounts. Although there are sometimes different instructions for how to do fancy tricks like filled cupcakes, the actual batter itself is usually the same batter as used for the various other cakes like plain yellow sponge cake, carrot cake, chocolate cake, etc. There are a lot of different styles of cakes and, with very few adjustments, most of them can be made into cupcakes.

Usually the thicker batter will form a denser cake (and thus, a denser cupcake). It may have more egg and/or use butter instead of oil, and may have heavier additional ingredients like fruit (apples, bananas, pumpkin, shredded carrots) or a lot of chocolate, and/or nuts mixed in. If you were making this as a cake instead of a cupcake, you'd probably be more likely to make a quick bread loaf or perhaps a bundt cake or a sheet cake -- it's less likely to be a layer cake.

A thinner batter will generally form a lighter, fluffier cake (or cupcake), the kind of recipe that would work well as a layer cake (or a sheet cake). It may use oil instead of butter, and it may have steps such as separating the egg yolk from white and whipping the egg whites. It probably doesn't have a lot of heavy ingredients that would tend to sink to the bottom through the light batter.


Raw Eggs, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough...And Freezing

As quoted in the New York Times:

  Freezing does not kill the bacteria in food, as can be seen from the
  recent outbreak of salmonella poisoning involving an ice cream
  product, said Dr. Robert Gravani, professor of food science at Cornell
  University in Ithaca, N.Y., and a food safety expert.


When is a cooking oil not appropriate to substitute for another?

Actually, there are really only a few oils you can substitute for each other, at least without any significant side effects.

The oils which generally are used interchangeably are peanut oil, canola/rapeseed oil, and sunflower oil.  These oils have similar smoke points, don't impart any really noticeable flavour, and tend to be used primarily for high-heat cooking (pan-frying, deep-frying), so if you're paranoid about saturated fat for instance, you can substitute sunflower oil for peanut oil.  Corn oil is in the same group, but I rarely see that used anymore.  You can also use the "light" olive oil, but that will change the flavour of the dish.  I believe walnut oil has similar properties, but it's considerably harder to find.

But keep in mind that oils are used for far more than frying.  Many have highly-specialized uses:

Extra virgin olive oil is most commonly used in sauces and salad dressings ("oil and vinegar" almost always means olive oil, there really is no substitute);
Chili oil is really more of a condiment than a cooking oil.  Even if you could cook with it, the result would be inedible due to the heat.
Toasted sesame oil is used as a flavourings in Asian dishes.  It's useless as a cooking oil (and cooking with it would be a terrible waste).  Regular sesame oil, on the other hand, is often bought in a refined form and is generally used as a cooking oil.
There are a lot of other more esoteric types of oil such as palm oil and coconut oil, which you really don't want to use unless you know what you're doing (you can ruin the flavour).

I could go on, but for now I'll refer you to the Types of oils and their characteristics as a starting point.  Cooking oils really aren't freely interchangeable in all situations; even if you've accounted for smoke point and flavour, sometimes a significantly different fat content (i.e. grapeseed oil which is mostly polyunsaturated vs. canola oil which is mostly monounsaturated) can seriously mess up a delicate recipe.

It's better to be asking which oils you can substitute in a specific situation than to assume everything goes and list the "exceptional" circumstances.


This question dates from the end of 2015 but perhaps my answer might prove useful to other readers.

I imagine any homogenized jam would be suitable after drying out sufficiently. Reducing a jam on the stove top could be tedious with constant stirring to prevent burning. But it should be an easy matter to do in the oven.

If the jam was evenly spread in a rectangular baking pan with parchment paper on the bottom and sides (for easy removal), the desired consistency shouldn't be hard to get. Drying would need to be done fairly slowly so it would dry out evenly and not leave a wetter middle layer.

I can't say what temperature but I'd guess no more than 200°F (95°C). I'd try a small test batch first to see what the difference in thickness is after drying and how long it takes.  If anyone tries this, I'd love to hear results with pertinent data, please.


I buy bulk pure Stevioside powder online. It's much cheaper to buy the pure powder that way and make your own stock solution.
I make my stock strong enough so that 1 drop equals 1 teaspoon (4g) sugar in sweetness, 3 drops per tablespoon (12g).

For 100 ml:

23.5 gram Stevia powder

20 ml 95% ethanol

Bring to 100 ml with water.

The alcohol is added both because Stevia isn't that soluble in plain water, but is in 20% ethanol, and as preservative. I've kept a single jar for over three years now, opening periodically; no mold, no growth problems.

I find the powder just too fiddly to work with in the kitchen; tiny scoops, or always weighing out 100 mg. Plus the pure powder likes to puff up into the air. A good strong stock solution is far easier to handle cooking-wise.

Note: bottle lasted through June 2016 at room temp, with no spoilage or degradation. So 2-3 year shelf life, at least.


Is Microwaving considered dry heat or moist heat and why?

It is not inherently either, but most often it performs similarly to moist heat.

Microwaves work by directly exciting polar molecules within the food, usually water or fats.

If the food contains significant quantities of water (like most fruits, vegetables, meats and so on) then microwaving usually acts very much akin to steaming, which is a moist heat method.

In some fringe cases, most particularly bacon, where there is a significant amount of fat that can be directly excited to temperatures higher than water can obtain without evaporating, you can essentially fry by microwave... and of course, frying is a dry heat method.


Making super-sour sweets -- issues with stickiness

Like most candy with a coating there is some degree of processing, drying time and technics.  Anhydrous would be more preferable because its moisture free. The less moisture on a coating of any sweet the better.  Citric acid just like sugar attracts moisture.
I've had success with the Sour Patch Kids recipe from Classic Snacks Made from Scratch: 70 Homemade Versions of Your Favorite Brand-Name Treats. The quantities are merely an indication for the coating recipe. Just see how much you used and then subtract or multiply the recipe accordingly.

Coating recipe:
• 2 T powdered sugar for dusting
• 2 T cornstarch
• 2 T granulated sugar
• 1 t citric acid (anhydrous)
Whisk the powdered sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl, and whisk the granulated sugar and citric acid together in another small bowl. Set aside.
Set a wire cooling rack in a rimmed baking sheet, making sure the rack fits comfortably inside the "walls" of the sheet.
Lightly dust a cutting board with powdered sugar, spreading it with your hand to make an even dusting. The moment your gummies are ready take them out of the pan you had them in. Flip over each gummy once on cutting board so that both sides have a fine coating of sugar.
If the candies are starting to "weep" and get goopy and sticky first dredge them in the cornstarch-powdered sugar mixture, a few at a time, tapping on the side of the bowl to remove excess powder. Then toss them in the sugar-citric acid mixture. If the candies are dry to the touch, simply coat them in the citric acid mixture.
Let the coated candies dry for 8 hours on the cooling rack until the coating is hard and crunchy.
Store the candies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.


Where can I buy a pipe for a Weckmann in the US?

Doing a quick Google Search "clay pipes for Weckmann", the only shop that came up immediately is The Pipe Shoppe.com. They seem to import them in various sizes and they sell them individually. You can contact them by email if you want to buy several, presumably they may be able to give you a deal on shipping and maybe a better price if you need dozens of them... though they seem to only have 12 in stock right now in this smallest size.

The only other option I could think of is if you happen to know someone in Europe who could order them from Amazon and then ship them to you.


Just as simple as "When it starts boiling".
When a liquid is boiling, it starts making bubbles, at first, it starts with small bubbles, and those get bigger as the liquid comes to its boiling point.
When a recipe calls for that, you remove from heat when it starts boiling.


What is the difference between granulated cane sugar and granulated sugar?

There is no real difference between types of granulated, white sugar. The options you are likely to see are cane sugar and beet sugar. Granulated sugar from sugarcane is often considered "superior" to beet sugar by Americans, but the idea that cane sugar is in any way superior to beet sugar has no basis. Granulated beet sugar and granulated cane sugar are completely interchangeable and indistinguishable. Swapping them will cause no issue.

By the way - this is sugarcane:

These are sugar beets:

I'd post a picture of the granulated sugar made from each, but it seems kind of pointless as they look the same.

On this question (almost an exact duplicate), some posters see a small difference. I never have. The difference between beet sugar and cane sugar


What is this cutting spatula with holes? (See photo)

It's a zester, for getting zest off of citrus fruit.

The photo from that Wikipedia article shows it in use:


Maple syrup can develop a skin of mold but a number of afficianados suggest removing the mold then reboiling the syrup and then continuing to use the syrup:

Chowhound.com maple syrup mold growth discussion


The creaminess in many coffee drinks comes from steamed milk. The milk is heated by forcing steam through it. This leads to a very creamy result. It is hard to replicate at home without an espresso machine with a steam wand. You can foam the hot milk with a cappuccino wand (or something similar) for a slightly more authentic result but the result will not be as creamy as properly steamed milk.


Can I dissolve sugar first before steeping tea?

No matter when you add your sugar it will still form a nasty crust in your kettle as it will not fully dissolve without stirring. In fact brewing tea in your kettle directly is not a good idea either as it will discolor it over time and may even impart flavors depending on the material. You need to pour the water into something else to brew it in.

As to when to add the sugar it will definitely have an impact on the tea brewing, whether that is negative or positive will depend on your personal taste, the amount of sugar added, and the kind of tea you are using. Tea brews better when water still has dissolved oxygen, and adding sugar may reduce the available oxygen. It may also interfere with the water extracting flavors from the tea, which could change the resulting flavor. You'd need to try it both ways and see.

Try not to overbrew, 5 minutes should be enough, after that you'll start to extract more tannins.


Which leaves of Savoy cabbage to use in smoothies?

The outer leaves would be a better substitute for kale. My reasoning is that the kale plant is fully exposed to light. With the cabbage only the outer leaves get to enjoy the sun, thus the greenness. I would say flavour wise the outer leaves come closer to kale too. The cabbage core tends to be sweeter.


Why not use a polypropylene dish with carbonated drinks?

As identified in my original comment, the most likely risk is not from the container itself, but from the fact that it's meant to be used with an immersion blender.

Heat actually isn't a major problem with polypropylene (PP).  It's generally regarded as food-safe and is BPA-free (see here and here for references), and its melting point is somewhere between 130°C (266°F) and 171°C (340°F) depending on its specific crystalline configuration (or isotacticity).  So you could even pour boiling water into a PP container without major risk of deformation - just don't try to bake a casserole in it or anything.

PP is often injection-molded, which can leave molding seams; these could be weak points in a closed vessel containing a carbonated beverage.  But that's not really a concern with an open container.

Once you introduce an immersion blender with fast-moving blades, though, you've got the potential for hot liquids to be flung outwards if not fully submerged, causing possible risk for burns.  Those blades will also intensely agitate carbonated beverages, causing a release of CO2 and extensive fizzing.  The biggest reason not to use an immersion blender with these is probably that you'll lose half of the volume to spillage, and agitate the rest to the point of losing its carbonation.


What to do with leftover cream after churning butter?

Technically, this is "buttermilk" - the milk left over from churning butter.

Of course, this is sweet buttermilk, so it won't really work for most recipes calling for buttermilk (they assume the cultured version, which is acidic, and has that purpose in recipes).

For sweet buttermilk, you can just drink it.  You can use it in cooking, much like milk - perhaps closer to skimmed milk, since much of the fat (butter) has been removed.  You could maybe make cheese with it, if you want, though it will be a lower fat cheese.

You can take your chances making cultured buttermilk the old fashioned way (leave it until it's "soured"), if you don't mind the risk.  You can culture your own buttermilk - I've had success taking regular store bought buttermilk, and adding a glug of that to milk to culture it (or pouring milk into the freshly emptied bottle and letting it sit), or else you can find the actual culture used (look for places with cheesemaking cultures as a starting point and refine your search from there).  The last may only be worthwhile if you're planning to make buttermilk regularly, otherwise it's a lot of effort for a one-time product.


Should I cook my pot roast on high or low?

Without any other information, it sounds like you have to assume that your slow cooker has only a warm setting (labeled "low") and a high setting, and use high for cooking. (Usually they have warm, low, and high.)

But it's possible that they're just being overly paranoid in the manual. I would personally try heating something on low (possibly just water, as a test), and seeing whether it boils or at least reaches and maintains a decent temperature.

The thing you're trying to avoid is the food spending too long in the "danger zone", below 140F (60C). If the low setting only just brings it above that, then it's going to take forever to heat up past it, and your food will be unsafe because all that time it wasn't hot enough. But on most slow cookers, the low setting brings it up to at least around 180F and on many, it even very slowly boils. If your heats that well, you can certainly use it for cooking. The one thing to keep in mind is that if it still takes a long time to come up to temperature, you may want to start it on high to get it all heated, and then switch to low for the rest of the cooking time.


Your experience with the curry is normal. Salt helps bring out and enhance existing flavors. This is true for everyone, as far as I know. Different people have different sensitivities, and want different amounts, but the effect is the same. Given that you thought the curry tasted better with it, I wouldn't be surprised if you should also be adding salt to other things - maybe just not as much as recipes typically call for.


Recreating a Mexican spice blend I have bought

Your mix is just a chili powder with a fruity flair.

As a rule of thumb, chili powder contains large amounts of chilis, cumin, and either garlic or onion. Other flavors come and go and appear in varying quantities. The ingredients in your mix that are not typical are the amchur, coriander, and cinnamon. Cinnamon with chili powder is not unheard of and results in familiar flavors but it isn't often included in standard recipes.

The amchur, dried and powdered unripe mango, and the coriander would impart fresh, fruity notes that are not typical but sound delightful!

AB's is a decent standard chili powder recipe:

3 ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced
3 cascabel chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced
3 dried arbol chiles, stemmed, seeded and sliced
2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika

I was able to find a recipe that looked more similar to yours- that is with coriander and cinnamon:

5 dried Guajillo chilies
2 dried Chipotle chiles
4 Arbol chiles (or other thin red spicy chiles)
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs coriander seed
1 Tbs cumin seed
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp Mexican oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black peppercorns

Start with this recipe and modify it to your taste. For example I would probably double the cumin and leave out the black pepper as I don't think it fits here. If the flavor of the mango was distinctive in your mix it could be added to taste without adversely affecting the mix. If you don't want your mix to be too spicy then you should stick with milder dried peppers. Many dried peppers are surprisingly mild and fruity. Don't just leave them out because they do make up a bulk of the flavor and the magic.

Notice that both recipes call for no salt. Commercial spice mixes include a lot of salt as cheap filler. You should salt your dish to taste and not add it in your spice mix.
By mixing this yourself you will also be able to use freshly toasted and ground spices which will taste much better.


How do I cook for just one person? any good cookbooks?

One of the problems with using regular cookbooks to cook for yourself is after doing it for long enough, it's hard to get motivated to cook anything too complicated; no one else is going to know if you have a peanut butter sandwich for dinner.
I contributed a few of my lazy ideas to Neurotic Physiology's "Grad Student Cooking in Style", but a large part of it didn't make it in time for the deadline (she didn't accept my 'you didn't say which timezone' excuse) ... here are the various comments I hade typed up, minus the recipes:

The problem with grad school cooking -- unless you're also supporting a family (in which case, hopefully they'll share in the cooking duties), except for the pre-packaged foods, most of it's not sold to serve one person, and the price breaks seem to be when you buy 3 to 5 lb of meat at a time.
So, my suggestion is to buy the unreasonably sized package of meat, but then prepare it so it can be used in sizes you want.
For instance, when that 'family sized' pack of ground beef goes on sale -- I make most of it into burgers, wrap them individually in wax paper, pop eight of 'em into a gallon sized zip-top bag, and freeze 'em.  If you want, add some italian seasoning or steak seasoning as you're forming the burgers for some extra variety. (although, they're more versatile if you leave 'em plain.  You can toss 'em onto a George Foreman grill still frozen, and they'll come out fine. (although, you'll want to take the wax paper off first).  Or, you can thaw 'em, and turn it into a meat sauce for pasta, a quick-cook chili, or anything else that uses ground beef.
During my undergrad, as I didn't have freezer space, I'd get a package in the 1lb range (maybe a little larger), and cook it together with a diced large onion (maybe softball sized), a few cloves of garlic, crushed, and maybe a bell pepper if they were reasonably priced that week.  Tightly sealed, the mixture would keep in the fridge for a week, and I just had to heat some up with either :

tomato sauce & pasta : meat sauce
rice & seasonings : dirty rice
can of diced or crushed tomatoes, chili powder : chili (beans are optional ... but it's great over a baked potato)

... the dirty rice would often find itself with a tortilla, cheese and hot sauce in burrito form.  If bell peppers are on sale, cut one in half, vertically, then take out the stem, seeds and membrane.  Place it cut-side down in a baking dish and roast at 350F 'til it's softened some (maybe 10-15 min), then remove from the oven, stuff with a mix of dirty rice and cheese, then put back into the oven to bake 'til the cheese melts.  (f it's leftover dirty rice, you'll cook the bell pepper less on its own, so that it doesn't completely soften up before the rice is heated through ... or microwave the rice first so it's warm before stuffing)
...
If you don't have the freezer space, you can also make meatloaf.  I don't have a set recipe ... vegetables (carrots, onions, bell pepper, I've even thrown in a thawed package of frozen spinach), ground beef, a couple of eggs, some bread crumbs (or, if it's not stale enough to break into crumbs, tear it up, soak in milk or water, then squeeze it out, and add the damp bread), italian spices, lay on a sheet pan, then bake.  If it starts getting too dark before the center's cooked, add some type of sauce to the top (ketchup, tomato sauce, barbeque sauce, whatever).
If you don't have a microwave to reheat it, just cut it into slices, and then pan fry to warm through.  You can also crumble leftovers into tomato sauce and serve over pasta.
...
If you have freezer space, and a large pot (not worth it otherwise), buy chicken when it' on sale, poach it, then freeze it.  If you're even more adventurous, make chicken stock, too.
The normal problem with poaching chicken is you have to remember to take it out, or it gets rubbery -- but there's a trick:

bring a pot of water that'll still fit the chicken to a boil (lid on will boil faster)
add the chicken to the pot
put the lid back on, and bring the water back to a boil.
Wait two to three minutes.
Turn the heat down to low.

After an hour, the chicken will be cooked ... but it won't be overcooked, even if you leave it in there for three hours.  Because we boiled the outside of it, we've disinfected it in case it had surface contamination.
If it's boneless, you can just let it cool, and then cut into chunks later.  If there's bones, I take 'em out, and then shread the meat, bag it up, and freeze it in reasonably sized bits.  (which for me means filling a quart sized freezer bag part way, then sort of squishing it into two chunks, so it doesn't freeze as one giant lump, and I can take out only half of it at a time.)
If you have some sad vegetables (past their prime, but not rotted, moldy, or mushy ... but we're talking about grad students, you'd have eaten it way before it go to that stage), cut into chunks and toss after you've let the water boil.  If you're like my mom, and cut up and freeze stuff for that later batch of stock (along with parmesan rinds, stems from some herbs, etc.), toss it in while boiling, so you don't cool the water down too fast after the boil.   Add some salt and pepper, then leave like normal.  After deboning the chicken, throw the bones back in, and left simmer for another hour or two ... then strain and cool ... and then after it's spent a night in the fridge, freeze (in ice cube trays or muffin tins, then pop into a zip-top bag, and stash in the freezer for when you need it.
Uses for chopped up chicken:

While still a little warm, make chicken salad
chicken noodle casserole -- any left-overs can go into a casserole dish, so you can just bake it the next day.  (if you want to top it w/ bread crumbs and extra cheese, feel free)
chicken pot pie

Uses for shredded chicken:

Thaw in a pan with a little bit of water; add taco seasonings; serve as a burrito, with beans & rice, roll into enchiladas, or however you like.
shredded chicken also works great in casseroles.

...
I'ver never been much of a steak eater, but when either top or bottom round goes on sale as a 'london broil' cut (sale for me is ~$4/lb, sometimes less), I'll splurge, and make it into a variety of things:  (note -- not all 'london broil' is the same .... they sometimes try to pass off chuck as london broil).
... so, with the leftovers of the london broil, we can then turn it into other completely different meals for the rest of the week:

Fajitas
Cheesesteak
Stir fry
Salad w/ steak
Beef Stroganoff


How much milk do I need to make 100 g Paneer?

A half gallon of whole milk makes about 10 ounces of paneer (From the kitchn). So conversions and cross-multiplication later, about 670ml of whole milk will make about 100g of paneer. Since it's not an exact science, how about using a quart (946ml) of milk, 2 TBS of lemon juice and 1/8-1/4 tsp salt. That should yield about 140g of cheese, giving you a little bit left over.


This answer says that unopened vegetable oil lasts for about 6 months, opened 1-3 months (source: Julie Garden-Robinson, North Dakota State University, FN-579 Food Storage Guide). This corresponds to your experience.


How can I make these cookies less sweet without ruining the texture?

As I'm sure you know, sugar has many functions in baked goods, so replacing it can be tricky. Syrups will make your cookies too moist and just reducing the sugar can change the texture and browning. Sugar alcohols can add sweetness, but they usually don't brown and they can give people "digestive issues". I think your best route will be replace at least some of the sugar in your recipe with a different type of sugar, while keeping the total amount of sugar the same.

I think your best resource may be a brewing supply store, as they often sell other types of sugar to help control fermentation in beer. Brewing sugar, also called corn sugar, will be easiest to find and it's almost entirely glucose. In your case, granulated glucose will have the advantage of only being about 70-80% as sweet as sucrose. If this reduces the sweetness too much, you can try blending the granulated glucose with regular sugar. There are other sugars that are even less sweet, like maltose or lactose, that could be used to replace some of the regular sugar in the recipe, but they can be harder to find.

For reference, here is a chart of the relative sweetness of various sugars and sweeteners.


I've had this happen with tortillas. Generally it's moisture or humidity that will cause them to stick. Try putting the entire stack in a low-temp oven (unwrapped and uncovered) for a few minutes to dry them out. You should be able to separate them easily. At that point you could either put them in separate bags, or stick a sheet of waxed paper/plastic wrap between each one and put them back in a single bag. If you're going to store them in the fridge, make sure that they're in an airtight container, as condensation can form in the bag and cause them to get gummy.


There are two ways to get the shape. One way is to bake them spherical, the other to crumble the cake and to roll the crumples with icing.

To bake them spherical, you need a mold that goes into the oven, or an appliance for the task.

Your basic cake recipes are what you want here, nothing fancy. White cake, yellow cake or chocolate cake, there's no reason to make it more complicated, considering that your presentation is going to be novel anyway.

A simple buttercream frosting would be fine for rolling the balls (if that's the way you choose to go), but you would want more of candy shell on the outside. Sure, Wilton brand candy melts are an option, but you might find almond bark easier to find. That comes in chocolate and white, and will set more like the candy melts, less soft and melty than real chocolate would be. White bark could be colored how ever you want (use gel coloring, not liquid). Here's an article you might find helpful about better choices than real chocolate for this kind of shell: Love from the Oven

The sweetness of your cake and icing is totally up to you. One thing to consider instead of reducing the sugar would be to possibly add a bitter element, like lemon zest.

The best thing you can use for the sticks, if you can find them. would be the plain paper ones:


What oils are suitable for Indian cooking (i.e. extended frying duration)?

Indian food is commonly cooked with ghee (clarified butter), for both religious and flavor reasons.  Where ghee is not used, coconut or refined palm oil are common.

I can also tell you from experience that Indian food can be made with unflavored vegetable oils (canola, sunflower or soy), without a deleterious effect on flavor or texture.


Harvest time can have a large effect on the quality of the tea. First off, whether it was the first harvest of the year or a later one will greatly change the character of the tea.

The dates can also be used similar to the vintage dates of wine. If you got a tea from a specific region and know the date of the harvest, if you find another tea from the same region and same date, it will have been grown under similar conditions.

Also, since black and oolong teas have been oxidized, the oxidation process will continue to some extent as the tea ages, further changing the flavor. The date can be used to predict freshness, and also to find a tea that suits your tastes better (for instance, I know that I like many black teas better after they have aged for a year or two).


Substitute nixtamalized corn flour for corn meal + corn starch

I don't think that substitution will work out as you wanted.

Nixmatalization changes the composition of the corn hull, the treatment weakens the tough outer shell and generally makes it very different from untreated corn.  And the precooked flour is, well, already cooked - boiled before grinding to flour.  Their texture, cooking time and taste will be different - especially if you're looking for specific or authentic textures or flavors from your recipe.  They will also have different nutritional values, since making the nutrients in the corn more accessible is one of the effects of the nixmatalization.  Corn starch is something else altogether, it is just the inner starchy parts of corn (no hull and no grain) - it can't replace the textural or flavor elements that come from breaking down the hull with lime or lye which makes nixmatalized corn distinct.  Additionally, I sort of think it would make the dough thicker rather than thinner, as corn starch is a binder or thickener - so I wouldn't think it would work to make a flour that's too thick work like a thinner one anyway.

One article mentions that the precooked flour (henceforth called masarepa) cannot be made into a glutinous dough.  Gluten makes dough stretchy, so I'm sort of assuming that the dough won't stretch to make the tortillas thin, it may crumble or smear instead.  The fact that it is traditionally used to make smaller, thicker flat-breads and corn-breads instead of tortillas (and many sites say they cannot make tortillas with masarepa) suggests to me that there is a textural problem.  Another article mentions that the taste will be different - masarepa is milder, and it also cooks up denser and grainier.

So, here are some suggestions.  You might be able to make up something closer to a tortilla by mixing a little wheat flour into your masarepa - you need something like gluten formation to make it stretchy - but between the masarepa's milder flavor and the dilution with wheat flour, it will not taste quite like a corn tortilla.  You could just go get some masa harina, and save your masarepa for other dishes.

You could just go ahead and make actual arepas - mix up a dough (possibly find a recipe to your liking), and it should shape into thick disks.  It won't be like your corn tortillas, but it is an authentic dish and can probably serve a similar role in the meal - as a starch, as a taste contrast and buffer to other foods, as a vehicle to carry your main dish (arepas are sometimes stuffed - it would just be more like a sandwich).  If you mix in the corn starch... I think you'd still get arepas, with a thick pasty dough and not a stretchy one, possibly a bit less corn taste (since corn starch is not strongly corn flavored).

If you really wanted to try making a thin crisp flat structure from the mesarepa, you might have decent luck making a very thin batter and treating it like a dhosa (pour a ladleful, spiral the batter out thin, and cook crisp).  If the problem is that a dough made with masarepa won't stretch, using water as the medium to let it spread thin should work.  It still won't be quite like corn tortillas, but it is as similar-ish as I think you can get.


How does the baking time change if I scale up a cake recipe?

The following rule of thumb comes from week 6 in a Harvard University physics course called "Science and Cooking". I took it as a MOOC in the website edx (https://www.edx.org/node/8086).

And the rule is: double the thickness, quadruple the time. If it takes a minute to cook the first outer 0.5cm of the cake, it will take four minutes to cook the first whole cm.

So if you double your cake's size, try to start with multiplying the time by four, without raising the temperature. If the change is smaller, then it might take some rough calculations. But that's the general rule.

Here's the video of the specific part of the lesson that regards discusses the matter: https://youtu.be/fqyVZ5Ifmio


How is sous-vide different from simply cooking the chicken?

It's actually not that much different in some respects.  Sous vide is simply a way to precisely control temperature (that's something you can't do very easily with a poach on the stove top).  If you sous vide a chicken breast, remove it from the bag, and serve it up, it will be very much like the result you get from poaching. The difference is that you will be able to control the level of doneness, and impact the texture to a greater degree than simple poaching.  Most sous vide ends with a searing or browning step, so that the exterior of the product more closely resembles a stove top or oven cook.


I regularly use baking soda for that purpose to protect what is remaining of my enamel. To allow for the increase in volume as a result of any foaming, use a large container so that the top of the liquid does not go higher than the 3/4 mark.

It is also advisable to leave it overnight in the fridge to let the baking soda dissolve completely.

The taste is slightly saltier. You may want to start with a ratio of a teaspoon to a liter of fluid.


Recipes
As far as salsa recipes go, they're all over the web. Check sites like allrecipes.com or epicurious.com - - or justrightmenus.com!

Shelf Life

Refrigerator. With regard to shelf life, according to stilltasty.com, you're only going to get 5-7 days out of fresh salsa in the refrigerator.
Freezer. The same source says you can keep it for 1-2 months in the freezer. Use containers meant for storing frozen foods (they make plastic lidded containers for this very purpose), and leave "headspace" in the container (room for expansion as the liquid freezes). If you opt for freezing, you can use any recipe you'd like. Food safety won't be an issue so much as quality would. For example, I would not recommend freezing a melon salsa, though it's great fresh.
Canning. You also could pressure can your salsa. The National Center for Home Food Preservation is the best resource to learn to can. If you opt for canning, be sure to follow a trusted canning recipe - you can't just can any old recipe. I would use one off the National Center's site.

Cost Comparison
It all depends on what you make and the price of your ingredients, of course. If I can get cheap salsa at cost X and expensive, tasty salsa and cost 2X, my goal in making my own is to achieve great taste at a cost less than 2X. My homemade blueberry jam costs me about $2 per jar, much more expensive than generic jam; however, good blueberry jam is about $5 at the store.

Incidentally, I'll be making salsa this summer once I can get lots of cheap tomatoes. Keep an eye on jessica.mcrackan.com late in the summer if you'd like some real examples and cost comparisons.


Why is honey heated and filtered for normal markets?

Filtering
The filtering reduces crystallization. It also is desirable because most people don't like random bits of wax, bee parts, or really any foreign-looking material in their honey. For better or worse, people like clear, clean-looking honey. The visible particles could be filtered without removing the much smaller pollen, but that'd still leave the crystallization issue. Burleson's has a page explaining filtering, including addressing the claim that it's about hiding the origin of the honey. This NPR article also addresses it pretty well.
Note that some people have made some pretty wild claims about filtered honey not even being honey anymore. This is not true, at least as far as the USDA is concerned:

Filtered. Filtered honey is honey of any type defined in these standards that has been filtered to the extent that all or most of the fine particles, pollen grains, air bubbles, or other materials normally found in suspension, have been removed.
Strained. Strained honey is honey of any type defined in these standards that has been strained to the extent that most of the particles, including comb, propolis, or other defects normally found in honey, have been removed. Grains of pollen, small air bubbles, and very fine particles would not normally be removed.

So if you prefer strained/unfiltered honey for whatever reason, go for it. But filtered honey is still honey.

Pasteurization (heating)
The heating is better known as pasteurization, and it serves to kill yeast (reducing chances of fermentation) and prevent crystallization/granulation. Pasteurization does kill bacteria too, but bacteria can't generally survive in honey so that's not one of the reasons for it here.
It's pretty easy to find more information about this by searching for honey pasteurization. For example,  BeeMaid has a page about pasteurization.
I'm not really sure about the disguising origin theory, given that there are real reasons for this processing that don't sound like a conspiracy theory. I'm sure the processing does disguise the origin, but that doesn't mean that's why they do it. Besides, if you told the whole US that all their honey was from China, I doubt they'd stop buying it.

You also asked about cost difference. That doesn't really have an interesting answer; it's just that raw honey is not as widely sold and tends to be locally produced so it ends up more expensive, while non-raw honey is mass-produced and sold everywhere and ends up cheaper. Sure, it costs more to process than to not process, but mass-production is cheap. This isn't an unusual occurence; white flour is often cheaper than whole wheat, white bread is often cheaper than whole wheat, and so on.


How to make Brie En Croute less rich/cheesy?

Use younger Brie.

You can get Brie in various ages, all the way from barely a week old - which is clean & white all the way through, & almost dry & crumbly, mild as cream cheese [Philadelphia etc]; right up to a year or more - dark yellow & pretty much a gooey liquid with a slightly more solid centre.

Obviously, the older/more ripe, the stronger the flavour.


Almost any soup begins with a sweat of strongly flavored vegetables, especially onion, and then uses a flavorful broth made by boiling the life out of meat and/or vegetables.

I would recommend mixing in a diced, sweated, onion.

The other flavor that make soup interesting is umami. Easy soup additions that will give you an umami boost are soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, or just straight msg. I'll put a dash of Worcestershire sauce in any soup. Fish sauce doesn't work everywhere. Be judicious.

I suppose it goes without saying that the most important ingredient is your broth. Using a nicer broth will always improve a soup. If the broth is nice enough you don't even need to add anything to it for it to be satisfying. Most soups I make are built around a broth from leftover bones and skin.

Today we had a roast chicken. Tomorrow it'll be soup.


Why do I need to melt butter with chocolate?

Melting them together makes the chocolate less sticky and therefore less likely to stick to your melting pot.

Probably wouldn't cause any other problems if you did them separately; there is no chemical reaction between the chocolate and the butter.

Either way its convenient to melt them together so that you can do it all at once and save time.


Resting Lebkuchen dough overnight - OK? Fridge or room temp?

The recipie I use from my grandmother says to put it in the fridge directly after making the dough, and leave it there for a minimum of one night. Two is better. The liquid ingredients should be allowed to cool to room temperature before mixing in the dry ingredients.  The cookies often taste even better a few days after baking as the flavours mingle and mellow.
I'm not sure about the recipie you're using, but I'm pretty it means the batch makes 50 cookies. I know my recipie certainly makes a lot, though I've never sat down and counted the exact amount.


How to retain the smell of frying green onions/scallions in cooked dish?

You were probably having a dish with green onion oil, something I'd also recommend as a solution to the smell/taste you're looking for.  It remains aromatic for a couple weeks after you make a batch and bottle it. I make one with darker brown onions like this, which allows me to store it even longer.


How efficient is stock for protein extraction?

From Harlod McGee's "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen":

  The muscles that make up meat are mainly water and the protein fibers
  that do the work of contraction, which are not dispersable in water.
  The soluble and dispersable materials in muscle include about 1% by
  weight of collagen, 5% other cell proteins, 2% amino acids and other
  savory molecules, 1% sugars and other carbohydates, and 1% minerals,
  mainly phosphorus and potassium. Bones are around 20% collagen, pig
  skin around 30%, and cartilaginous veal knuckles up to 40%. Bones and
  skin are thus much better sources of gelatin and thickening power than
  meat. However, they carry only a small fraction of the other soluble
  molecules that provide flavor. (pg 598)

Accordingly, that 7% (5% + 2%) may be considered the upper bound for protein extraction, which will obviously depend on the specifics of the meat and cooking process. McGee then goes on to discuss the proper process for extraction, starting with cold water gradually heated:

  The cold start and slow heating allow the soluble proteins to escape
  the solids and coagulate slowly, forming large aggregates that either
  rise to the surface and are easily skimmed off, or settle onto the
  sides and bottom. A hot start produces many separate and tiny protein
  particles that reamin suspended and cloud the stock; and a boil churns
  particles and fat droplets into a cloudy suspension and emulsion. (pg 599)

This also indicates that the the amount of emulsified fat will depend greatly on on the cooking process in addition to the fat content of the original ingredients. (I haven't been able to find much on differences in the extraction process for different animal fats.)


Yes, all it is, is flavour.

Apple juice and grape juice are 2 things I've used in the past for non-alcohol people. You can also get away with not using anything as a replacement as long as you use enough of everything else (butter and Parmesan etc).

Wine just gives a little depth and a sort of 'freshness'.

Edit:

I just read the vegetarian part of your question. I'm assuming you already know, but Parmesan isn't vegetarian, as it is made from rennet (rennet is extracted from the lining of the inside of the stomach of mammals), and most commonly from the fourth stomach of young calves. The vegetarian substitutes I've tried in the past (Called pasta cheese), are not great. However, unlike Parmesan, Gruyere is allowed to be made with vegetable rennet and tastes great (I personally prefer it over Parmesan).


Convert vitamin powder to something edible

You could could mix it into softened butter (or a butter spread) and then top foods like toast or crackers with it.


Are screwed on pot handles an indication of quality?

Briefly, no.  Screwed on handles usually are found on cheaper cookware, but it doesn't necessarily mean the pan overall is of poor quality.

There used to be a contention that riveted handles were the strongest and an indicator of quality cookware.  Also, welding and various screw attachments (which frequently also contained welds) used to fail more frequently.

But in cookware that's manufactured now, it's really a design choice.  Some people like the traditional look of rivets, while others find them annoying to clean.  And many cheap manufacturers now use cheap steels for rivets, meaning in some cases they're just as likely (if not more likely) to fail as other constructions.

Screwed on handles are generally used on cheaper, lower-quality pans, but not exclusively.  They can take a number of different forms, sometimes screwing onto a base that is welded to the pan (and thus creating more points of failure), sometimes screwed onto a base that sticks out but is manufactured from a single piece of metal with the pan, and occasionally screwing directly into the side of a pan.  The biggest problem with screwed on handles is that they're generally more vulnerable to coming loose.  On the other hand, when they do come loose, they can often be more easily tightened and thus repaired than welds or rivets (which would generally need to be sent out for a specialist repair).  Also, on cheaper pans, the handle materials tend to be cheaper too and may crack and warp over time, so a screw attachment can make it much easier to simply buy and install a replacement handle yourself.

The key is just being conscious of screwed on handles and tightening them if they ever start to wobble even a bit.  (You do not want a pan or pot handle to ever come off unexpectedly while moving boiling hot food around.)

Unless you're talking about unusual pans (particularly very heavy pans, like thick copper) or unless you tend to fling your pans around with a lot of force (like if you love to do the "saute toss" repeatedly every day with a fully-loaded skillet), most methods for attaching handles can function fine.


It would be the smoking point of the lower of the two oils.

There is a persistent myth among cooks that mixing two fats somehow makes for a better smoke point (usually oil+butter). But the molecules which will burn at 150°C will always burn at 150°C, no matter what other molecules they are mixed with. So, if you mix two oils, and oil X has the lower smoke point wlog, it will smoke at the smoke point of oil X. It will smoke less than pure oil X, but only because you have diluted it and you have less low-temperature-burning molecules in the pan.

This doesn't mean that the smoke point of your mixed oil is too low for frying. The smoke point of cold extracted oils is always low. But it is possible to refine olive oil, even though nobody sells it pure (the advantages of olive oil are removed by refining). If both oils in your hybrid oil are refined, it will have a high smoke point, suitable for frying. But marketing doesn't always care about such details, so, if they don't say anything more specific on the label, you can't know what kind of olive oil (or canola, for that matter) they used. From a cynical point of view, this is a perfect way to get low-quality olive oil, refine it, and sell it for frying hoping that the customer will choose the frying oil advertising "olive oil" among its ingredients, but there is no proof that this is what the producer is doing.


What can I use to flavor savory chicken stuffing instead of onion?

I use dehydrated onion soup mixture as a substitute to many preparations calling for onions. I have never stuffed chicken with it, but I would do it without any doubt.

The trick is to get to the appropriate moisture and salt point. I use both water and some other sweet liquid (7up, sprite, coke...) to rehydrate and reduce the slight salty taste of the dehydrated onion.

For your case, besides the sweetening, the soft drink will as well add some carbonic which may also help in aerating a bit the stuffing.


Using both whipped egg whites and egg yolks vs whipped egg whites only?

Whipping egg whites is usually done to make a batter lighter and fluffier. In such a case, adding in egg yolks will likely make the batter denser and less fluffy.
On the other hand, if the recipe has substituted  egg white for egg in order to make a recipe healthier by reducing fat content, you can revert to using whole eggs (1 for every 2 egg whites). The texture will still be different, but that might be what you want.


How long does uncooked meat last when kept in the freezer?

If it is sealed in an air tight container and the freezer always stays very cold so the meat never thaws- then chicken and beef will stay good indefinitely. I have used both chicken and beef that had been frozen in my deep freezer at 0F for years with no ill effect.

I can't speak for shrimp as I have no personal experience but I would expect it to be the same.


You could try baking soda. It is well known for absorbing odors, especially in plastic.


Can hollandaise be made with frozen lemon juice?

That will be absolutely fine, whether you make the sauce in the classic way by cooking the yolks with the lemon juice, or with one of the variations where the lemon juice is added only at the end. I would, of course, defrost it first, rather than add a whole ice cube of lemon juice to the pan.


What is this French cuisine technique called, where "a piece of pheasant meat is cooked between two slices of veal, which are then discarded?"

I am quite sure that it 1. doesn't have a name, and 2. is obsolete.

I read of this technique in a book on traditional English cooking (turns out that it was very similar to French cooking some centuries ago). Back then, meat was always roasted over an open fire. The fire is a hot and uneven source of heat, and they always had huge pieces of meat in a castle kitchen, so it was normal for the inside of the roast to be underdone, while the outside was practically ruined. So they used the good and tried technique of wrapping the roast, cooking for longer time than it would have been possible with unwrapped meat (which helped the raw core), then discarding the ruined wrapper. As the most plentiful ingredient in a noble's kitchen used to be meat (at least in England - maybe the French got the recipe for them despite the better availability of vegetables?) it was just a convenient tool to do the job.

Nowadays, we don't need to do this. A modern oven roasts much better. There are other, cheaper wrapper materials available for whoever wants to use one. I guess that some chefs may be reviving it because it sounds so unusual, it is guaranteed to attract attention. It could be worth eating, but frankly, if I wanted to know how pheasant cooked together with veal tastes, I would choose a recipe which doesn't discard the veal.

As for the name: The book I am referring to ("The cookery of England" by Elisabeth Ayrton) is based on very good research. The author publishes medieval recipes from manuscripts verbatim, etc. She also explains many points, gives some historical background, etc. I am 99% sure that if there was a special name for this technique, she would have known it and mentioned it at the point she describes the practice. For example, she explains "frothing" (pouring batter over the almost cooked joint) in the same paragraph she referrs to wrapping.


Can you use olive oil past its expiration date?

If it tastes and smells fine, I would still use it. It won't do you any harm. It may just have a diminished/diminishing flavor.


"Shocking" the food stops the cooking process, preventing the food from losing its color and texture.


Why are multiple infusions of tea better than one large one

the combination of two infusions would be the same as doing one infusion for longer

That's not how it works. The leaves are full of different chemicals that are locked away in cells and their organelles, behind several membranes, and they have different solubility. So there are multiple effects which make many infusions different than one big infusion.

Nernst's law. When you extract something, the concentration gradient plays a role. When the tea outside the leaf saturates, chemicals stop exiting the leaf.
The one that you mentioned, about tanins. They don't "pick up where they left". To use an analogy, imagine having a piece of ice. It is big enough that you have to keep it 10 minutes at room temperature before it starts melting. Now, if you keep it out for 3 minutes, then put it for some time back in the freezer, then take it out again, it will again need 10 minutes to melt. (This is not to say tanins melt the way ice does, just to remind you that there are plenty of processes which don't somehow continue after being interrupted).
You actually do have other flavors coming out which you wouldn't get with the new infusion. Opposite to tanins, there are some chemicals which start being amenable to extraction the first time they come in contact with the hot water, but won't extract much at the beginning. Staying wet while waiting for the next extraction prepares them to get out in larger amounts.
An effect similar to the last one happens to the cell walls that prevent chemicals from getting extracted. They soften with the time they spend warm and wet - which, in the sum with multiple infusions, is larger than the length a single "large" infusion would take.
Different taste in the different infusions. Since a different proportion of each type of chemical comes out in each successive infusion, people get to enjoy different flavor profiles. A single long infusion would have the same taste throughout.


tinfoil at the bottom of the oven (to catch crumbs) is ruining my pizzas

I would probably go ahead and get a pizza stone. Even if you don't want to bake your pizza on it, you can just keep on the floor of your oven (unless you have exposed coils/burners there, in that case, go with the lowest rack).

The pizza stone is easier to clean, and as an added bonus, it'll improve your oven by keeping a more even temperature in there.


Baking granbarksost (spruce bark cheese) (Brie) with little mould

Some mold spores can withstand high temps and the toxins produced by "bad" mold don't break down into something safe because they are heated.  Brie and brie-like cheeses are supposed to have white mold, but green is a different mold, and unless you know that particular green mold is safe to eat, I'd cut it off.


My best recommendation is to taste as you go.  Taste the initial product...raw vegetable, ingredient from the can, bottle, etc. and then continue to taste and sample a dish throughout the cooking process to see how flavors develop/diminish and enhance one another through the cooking process.

Learning to season food is a process of educating your palate and developing a "flavor memory"

One of the most important factors is to use enough salt.  Food that is properly seasoned with salt shouldn't taste salty but will have a brighter more vibrant flavor of the ingredients that are in the dish.  Food must be cooked with salt for this to occur.  Food that is seasoned at the table will merely taste salty as the salt doesn't have a chance to dissolve and pull the juices out and help them mingle with one another as happens during cooking.

The more of the basic flavor profiles that you can incorporate the more lively and flavorful anything will be.  Even before cooking you can take a look at a recipe and "disect" its flavor profile by determining which ingredients will add sweetness, sourness, etc.  If you notice that it's heavy in one direction or another, the flavor profile of the item(s) missing will likely improve the dish.  Then it's a matter of deciding what ingredient with that flavor profile would be best to add to that particular dish.

Shameless (but applicable to the question) plug:
If you're ever in Savannah, GA I offer a class called "Flavor Dynamics".  It is focused entirely around understanding how flavor develops, what affects our perception of flavor, and how to create well rounded flavor in your food.


Short answer:  Steam.

Long answer:  Proteins in egg whites are almost uniquely suited to making foams of tiny bubbles, then stretching like a web of bungee cords as the water inside these bubbles turns to steam in the oven.  Therefore, the critical element in making your souffle rise is the skill with which you whip the whites into a foam to the correct degree (just to stiff peaks, not over-whipped), followed by integrating (folding) that foam into the dense, flavor-filled base.  There are a few tricks for augmenting the rise -- e.g., using a pinch of tartaric acid in the whites, using a copper bowl -- but if your technique is poor, these things won't make enough of a difference.

Alton Brown ("Good Eats" TV show) has an excellent program explaining the whole thing, including some basic chemistry, available free on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2

By the way, you said that a successful souffle must rise above the vessel.  While rising high is a major goal, I would not limit success to that event.  Last night, I made chocolate souffle that only crested the vessel a little ways (not the ideal "double the volume"), but each bite was still ethereal and decadent at the same time.  Everyone's plate was clean.  THAT, to me, is a successful souffle.


Does 1 tea spoon correspond to half table spoon?

One tablespoon is three teaspoons, so no, it can't be considered half a tablespoon because it's one-third instead :)

You can use three teaspoons to measure out one tablespoon, but it might be tricky to measure the other way: as Rumstacio said below, the 1/3 is by volume, and it can be difficult to eyeball the volume of a semi-sphere (1.3 the height of the spoon is not 1/3 the volume because it's wider at the top).


Does acidity negate double-acting baking powder?

The short answer to your question is YES.  The extra acid in the ingredients will hamper the second act of the double acting baking powder.  The acids are timed/staged for reaction not the baking soda.

The Magic Baking Powder (happens to be in our kitchen, too) is mostly a single acting formula since monocalcium-phosphate is a low temperature acid (with apparently some double acting properties due to generation intermediate step of dicalcium phosphate; per your link).  High temperature acid for second acts typically include sodium aluminium sulfate, sodium aluminum phosphate and sodium acid pyrophosphate.

You can try to counteract that by adding a bit of baking soda, but you run the risk of altering the taste and not having it all neuralized.

If you really want to get pedantic, use a pH meter to measure the acidity of your dough.  I suspect tasting the dough might give an indication as well. (bitter alkaline, sour acidic)

Another test might be to mix your acidic ingredients in a bowl with some water and start adding measured baking soda until you see no more reaction (bubbles) and use that as a your basic of neutralizing your dough.

All said and done, I agree with SAJ14SAJ that you'll be just fine going with the existing recipe.  There should be enough baking soda left to get something out of your double act.  I also heard it from a world-class baker that most recipes can be done with only baking soda, let alone baking powder or double acting ones.


No it will not poison you to drink a liquid that is directly cooled by dry ice.  At normal pressures there may be some gaseous CO2 dissolved in the liquid giving it a mild carbonation.  However, dry ice can be dangerous to bare skin, mouth, or GI tissue if someone swallows a medium to large pieces of dry ice.  Small pieces are not poisonous, but can produce an unpleasant popping or tingling sensation in the mouth (like extra tingly PopRocks).  In a process similar to making liquid nitrogen ice cream, dry ice can even be used to make ice cream if it is crushed very finely.

Dry ice will sink to the bottom of a drink "cauldron".  If more cooling is needed, do not add regular ice to the cauldron, instead add it to individual drink glasses.

Some simple rules to remember when working with dry ice:

Do not allow dry ice to come in contact with bare skin or other bodily tissue. Keep the dry ice in its packaging at all times. Dry ice has a temperature of -79°C and direct contact can cause freeze burns. If you must handle dry ice, use gloves or newspaper.
Always handle and store dry ice in well ventilated areas. Carbon dioxide gas is heavier than air. If it is allowed to accumulate in poorly ventilated areas such as boat holds, cellars, cars and vans, it can become a safety hazard, as it will displace oxygen and could lead to asphyxiation. Do not leave coolers in closed vehicles for extended periods and always make sure a window is open. Adequately ventilate areas before entering.
Do not place dry ice in airtight containers such as stoppered glass jars, bottles or other sealed containers as they could explode.
Do not store dry ice in refrigerators or freezers. Store in the best insulated cooler possible.
Do not pack dry ice in direct contact with glass bottles, jars, etc. as the glass could crack and shatter; use non-glass containers.
If the block is to be reduced in size by breaking or cutting, leave it in the packaging provided to avoid contact with skin and eyes.
Do not use dry ice in individual drinks. Use only in large punch bowls for effect. Under no circumstances should dry ice be placed in the mouth.

Dry Ice Safety

Dry Ice Safe Handling Practices

MSDS for Dry Ice


Interesting. I have been a chef for over 20 years, and I have never heard of anybody using whole corn kernel as breading. I have used cornflakes and cornmeal hundreds of times, but never whole corn. I can see how delicious this would be when the sweet-corn caramelizes, but it is not going to stick without some sort of batter. It is physically impossible. I would just use a simple egg batter, no flour or starch. That would be nice and light, and give the corn something to adhere to.


Can alcohol and salt lengthen the shelf life of vegetables in room temperature?

No, it won't help you at all. Your vegetables aren't being eaten by bacteria or similar (and this is a good thing, foods which are rendered unsafe by bacteria shouldn't be kept more than 4 hours at room temperature). They are simply wilting.

There is no way to stop the wilting process. It is the plant cells dying off and stopping being able to "take care of themselves". You have to buy vegetables more frequently if you want them to be pleasantly fresh. The only thing you can do is to cool them, which slows down their metabolism and so prolongs the time they have left until they die. For a few types of vegetable, providing water helps, e.g. carrots or any bunch of leafy herbs, but this is an exception.


If I'm reheating things in tins and I don't have enough oven space, can I stack them on top of each other?

As long as the containers can support eachother, it is likely safe to stack them. You biggest issue will be uneven reheating. Containers at the center are likely to remain cold. If you do stack them, insure that you occasionally rotate them. If possible, try to stack them in a way that allows for air flow around them. Stack layers at 90 degree angles.

The flash point of paper is about 450F so you should be fine with the covers.


All you need to do is test the fruit by pressing on the surface and see how much resistance the fruit offers. The less resistance the more ripe. Also skin and smell determines if the fruit is ready to go for a cut. I would do a couple of experiments and whola you will be the master in no time.


Is it possible to ferment fresh coconut or its water?

In a word, yes.

According to MakeSauerkraut.com (of all places)

  To make fermented coconut water, the sweet water is mixed with a
  culture (milk kefir grains, water kefir grains, whey from yogurt or a
  powdered starter) and left to ferment for 18 to 48 hours in a warm
  place.

There seems to be a lot of recipes out there for such a thing, a quick internet search for "ferment coconut water" should yield more recipes, methods and the like.


Why does soda bread call for buttermilk?

Buttermilk has a delicious flavor that is not at all approximated by lemon juice.

It's true that lemon or vinegar with milk will clabber it a little and provide the acid that the recipe needs but the flavor will be distinctly lacking.

Get some buttermilk. It's inexpensive and has a longer shelf life than normal milk. It is also exceptionally easy to make. If you make it a standard part of your pantry you will find yourself enjoying life more (or at least pancakes.)


Generally, it depends on the sort of cuisine you're talking about.

However, there is a very common "chord" of three spices, which is popular in Greece, Turkey, Arab cultures, Indian cooking genres and even China.

That "chord" is Cumin, Coriander seed and Cardamom. It's definitely used with chicken, but is also applied to plenty of vegetarian dishes as well.


How to avoid getting the pizza all watery?

There are a number of factors that can contribute to a watery pizza:

Cheese If you think the cheese is the culprit, you can try using a "low moisture" mozzarella (these are dry to the touch on the outside).  If you are using a "fresh" mozzarella (these usually are sold in a brine), e.g., classic mozzarella di bufala or mozzarella fior di latte, I recommend slicing the cheese as opposed to grating the cheese.  The idea is that slicing the cheese will produce less surface area, and thereby reduce the amount of water that leeches out.  Also, I recommend dabbing the cheese slices with a kitchen towel to remove any surface moisture.  If you use this method, it will also help to cut the cheese in very thin slices, since that will release more moisture before it touches the pizza and it will also reduce the amount of cooking time.
Tomato Sauce I recommend making the sauce yourself.  As opposed to simmering the tomatoes/sauce on the stove for a long time, I prefer making a light tomato sauce that actually cooks on the pizza itself.  I quickly purée the tomatoes (canned are fine) in a food processor and then let them strain in a fine mesh colander for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  That gets rid of a lot of water (the tomatoes lose about half of their volume).  Throw in some minced garlic, chopped basil, and season and it is ready to go on the pizza.
The Cooking Method Since my home oven doesn't get as hot as a traditional pizza oven, I always "blind" cook my pizza without the cheese.  In other words, I throw the dough, add the sauce, and then cook it with just the sauce for 4 or 5 minutes.  This allows any extra moisture in the sauce to cook off.  I then remove the pizza, add the cheese, and then broil it until the cheese is melted and browned.
The Dough If the dough ends up becoming soggy, you can always compensate by making it a bit thicker.


How can I use an espresso maker on an induction cooktop?

It sounds like the only thing you can do is use an interface disk - basically a piece of metal that is compatible with the induction cooktop, which will then transfer the heat to the espresso maker.

You can also potentially use an induction-compatible pan as an interface - see this question.

Unfortunately either way, you'll lose the fast-response benefit of the induction cooktop, because you'll now have to wait for the interface to heat.


The basic technique that I've found effective is to "dry fry" them in a pan to allow water to cook off before adding any other wet or fat ingredients, including oil or butter. If you skip this step, you'll often end up with a bit of a rubbery texture. I recommend cooking them in a small cast-iron pan, but a nonstick pan will do.

I usually season with little more than shallots and/or garlic, plus butter, salt and pepper. But I always add the butter after a fair amount of water has been extracted from the mushrooms and cooked off.

Chanterelles seem to have a lot more water than most other mushrooms. I haven't verified that scientifically, but I tried following the same technique with button or small crimini mushrooms, and little to no water comes out in dry frying. (Large crimini mushrooms, also called portabella mushrooms, will give off a fair amount of water when roasted, but nothing quite like fresh chanterelles). Shiitake and even oyster mushrooms don't give off much, either.