I am trying to design a pie, but I'm not sure what to take into consideration

We can't answer #1, because it is simply a matter of opinion.  You need to consider two things: crust and filling.  Since you already have a good pie crust, this is just about filling.  Flavor aside (as that is personal preference), you are going to want to consider consistency, that is, how the filling will behave when you cut the pie.  You are probably going to need to experiment a bit.  Traditional thickeners are flour, tapioca, and corn starch. Other considerations include visual appeal and flavor, but again, that is a matter of opinion.


How to thicken buttercream without adding more sugar

It looks like a couple of similar recipes in your link there, but you could make it a teensy bit thicker without increasing the sweetness by 1) diminishing slightly the amount of liqueur, or 2) adding a little bit of unsweetened cocoa powder [but of course it will then become brown and chocolatey], or 3) adding a little more cornstarch [since confectioners sugar does contain cornstarch anyway]... or some combination of above.  Go easy at first of course.


Do eggshells let flavours pass through during boiling?

Yes, they will taste different. Egg shells are porous in order to provide oxygen to the developing chick. While the egg is still uncooked, it will take on the tastes of outside ingredients fairly easily. As it cooks, the albumin coagulates and forms chains that prevent moisture and vapor exchange, so it becomes resistant to absorbing outside ingredients. As a result, your egg will pick up more curry taste if it is boiled from raw in the curry sauce than if you boil an already-cooked egg in the sauce.


Substitution for baking soda in pancakes

You need to use 2-3 times more baking powder than baking soda.  Be aware that your flavors will be affected. Make sure it's double-acting baking powder and you must replace the acidic liquid in recipe with non-acidic liquid.  You could also use some heartburn medicine that contained potassium bicarbonate :-)


Cold temperatures make you perceive flavors less in general. You can notice this quite directly when well-frozen eating sorbet or ice cream: you'll taste the flavor much more strongly initially than later on. And it's not just you getting used to the flavor. If you switch to something else, you'll still have a dulled perception of its flavor. I believe this is all primarily because your tongue and palate are numbed a bit. Your sense of touch doesn't work as well if your hands are freezing either! The lower temperature also reduces volatility, so aromatic things won't be as readily available to perceive.

As for sweetness, there's not exactly a rule of thumb per se for sorbet. I guess it's common to be somewhere in the ballpark of 1/2 to 2/3 a cup of sugar for 2-3 cups of fruit, but that's often more about adding enough sugar to keep it soft than anything else. In many cases, you end up adding lemon juice or something else to cut the sweetness back down, or perhaps using less sugar but adding alcohol to soften it.

In any case, you can certainly develop a sense of how sweet your sorbet will be before freezing, but it's hard to really convey in words. It's just a lot sweeter than you want it to taste in the end. Tasting a known good recipe might help train you more quickly, or perhaps tasting melted sorbet - but in that case, if you've just eaten a bunch of it, your perception is probably a bit skewed.


Why do we like some combinations of ingredients, and not others? Are there any general rules?

You have two fairly different questions here: flavor pairing (what combinations taste good), and prediction of flavors.

Prediction

Eat as diversely as possible. Try things with different ingredients and combinations of ingredients. It's best if it's something you've cooked, so you know exactly what goes into it, but even eating in restaurants helps, especially if you look carefully at menus and at what you're eating. Eventually you'll learn your personal preferences better, and develop intuition for what everything tastes like.

There's really no substitute for this in the end, because everyone has different preferences, so ingredients and combinations that taste good to you might not quite line up with what others like. And besides, it's not really possible to describe flavors meaningfully, so even if someone tells you "you'll love strawberry and vanilla together", you ultimately have to just learn the flavors to be able to predict how it'll taste to you.

Pairing

Specifically on combinations, see this previous canonical question. The summary is that again, this can be pretty personal, but insofar as there are common preferences, it's difficult to generalize. Most useful resources end up being long lists of pairings you might like, just slightly more general than looking for recipes that contain one of the ingredients and seeing what else is in them.


What's the simplest method to cook rice?

My foolproof method is as follows:

Weigh out the desired amount of rice - I use 2-3oz per person - and put it in a saucepan.
Wash the rice well by filling the pan with cold water, tipping it out, and repeating about 10 times. The more you wash the less the rice sticks together.
Put enough water in the pan to cover the rice by about 5-8mm. Leave to soak for 25 minutes until the rice grains have turned opaque white.
Put the saucepan over a high heat, uncovered, and bring to a boil. Boil until the water has evaporated and the surface of the rice is dotted with small holes. Turn off the heat. Cover tightly: if the lid isn't a tight fit, place a piece of foil on the pan, then put the lid on.
Steam for at least 15 minutes.

The beauty of this method is that it doesn't matter how long you steam the rice for once it's past the 15 minute minimum - in fact, the more it steams the better it is, especially if you have added spices or flavourings to the water.


I can only partially answer your question but still:

Cold : yes, absolutely
Salt : yes, that would help.
Water ??? No.

Bacterias love water. When trying to preserve meat you actually want to do the opposite, you want to keep it dry. That's how curing works actually. Absorbant paper is often used to prevent the meat from deteriorating by swimming in its blood.

You mentionned pickles, pickling works thanks to acidity. And pickling meat isn't a good idea, as the acid will deteriorate the meat fast.

Now I will NOT tell you here that keeping meat 1 week in the fridge is a good idea or guarantee that it's safe. But cold and salt will definitely slow down bacterial growth.

Lastly, keep in mind that what's most important is to know what meat you bought. I mean who you bought it from, how it's been processed and preserved...


Holding sugar syrup at a consistent temperature

A fascinating topic for all those interested in sugar-work! Though it looks like OP has abandoned the question, I'm still interested. :)

Specifically, refinements to your question might include:

Why a temperature of 126C? Aside: at that point you're more like at hard-ball stage (you say soft-ball). Are you working with it after, expecting its properties to be like that?  If so, why not do this in batches?
Why for hours? Demonstration? Funsies? Coating tens-of-thousands of objects in sugar?

Assuming nominal conditions (pure sucrose-and-water, sea-level pressure, that you started with a water-sugar mixture that you haven't already been boiling it for hours, etc.), your sugar syrup will be about 92% sucrose and 8% water (you'll get to pure sugar at about 200C). That is, the boiling point of a solution of water and sucrose of that concentration is 126C. Many references available, such as this one. After reaching that point, your water will continue to boil off, the sugar concentration will increase, the syrup's properties will change (e.g., temperature / boiling point will continue to increase), and it will continue to caramelize.

Any time you add other things (corn syrup, invert sugar, acid, fat, heat, ...) you'll change all of the above properties.  Other stuff will happen: caramelization, inversion, etc... so you'll need to find what works for your application, your kitchen, your ingredients, your skillz, ...

A few brainstorm thoughts, basically revolving around the question: how about something besides pure sugar syrup?

Try isomalt, which has better tolerance at higher temperatures (read: doesn't caramelize). It has a melting point of about 145C-150C; e.g., you can just melt it (i.e., you can, but don't need to, dissolve like sugar). Since there's no water to boil off, and it won't caramelize like sucrose, this fixes two of the problems. I don't know how isomalt responds to hours at that temperature. It also crystalizes more slowly than sucrose and is pleasant to work with.  This will give you a hard candy when cooled, but you don't want to eat a ton of it.
Can you substitute something else, perhaps like a candied caramel apple, which may have similar-enough properties, while being able to be handled at a lower temperature for a longer period of time?

Again, further information about the application would produce a better ratio of helpful information over speculation. :)  I'm an enthusiast but no expert; helpful comments and critique or refinements welcome...


What can I substitute for radish when making kimchi?

Jicama. It has the same kind of crunch and taste is also subtle.


Usually it is removed from the fat, and warmed in an oven.  The exact instructions will probably be on the tin, but from memory I think it was about 15 mins @ 180c, as you only really need to warm them through and remove the excess fat.

We have always served it with potatoes roast in some of the fat from the tin.  Usually par-boiled, minced garlic added, then shaken in the boiling pan (with a lid on) to mix the garlic in and to rough up the edges so you get some nice crispy bits, then put into a hot tray of duck fat (go on be generous with the fat, it's delicious) and into a hot oven till crispy.

You could also serve it with dauphinoise potatoes, which would also be great.

Accompanied by french beans or broccoli or some other green veg, and some crusty French bread to mop up the fat with.  mmmm.  Makes me want to go and get my tin out of the cupboard for tonight.


How to make crispy/dry potato chips/crisps?

I am going to get "unsciency" as I used to make fries for hours on end at a local mom and pop shop.

How thin / thick doesn't really matter, you'll just have to adjust your frying time accordingly.

1) Use a starchy potato

2) slice your potato evenly, with a peeler if you don't have a slicer or mandolin

3) soak them in water for 30 mins with a pinch of salt

4) let them dry a bit

5) blanch them with vegetable oil until they are limpy but has no visible color change (Oil
should be hot enough that when you put them in, 5 seconds later there are bubbles)

6) cool them completely, I throw them into a container into the fridge

7) refried them by putting in enough pieces in such that it will still bubble immediately (oil should be hot enough when you drop a spot of water or chop sticks in that it bubble immediately, but you wouldn't hear like a crackling or have oil splashing at you)

8) Take them out one piece at a time as they change color.

The key is vegetable that's pretty much the only oil that makes things cripsy at lower frying temperature, other than bacon fat, this makes a much more golden chip, and generally a easier time to control, so you can make more at the same time. Shortening, olive oil, peanut oil, butter, lard has been tested and isn't really good. Sesame oil is good too if you like the taste of it. Also, don't attempt to drain the oil after blanching, the oil will come out when you re-fry them.

Salt or season while warm.


How would I susbtitute fresh spinach for frozen?

Frozen spinach has been boiled/blanched. You can do this if you really want it to be as much like frozen spinach as possible, but really, you can just cook it with the water left on the leaves from washing - effectively a bit more like steaming. There's no need to freeze it. This will result in something with fresher flavor and a bit more substantial texture than frozen spinach (not as eager to disintegrate). And you don't have to worry about moisture much - a lot of the water will cook off - but you can certainly drain it additionally if it's too much for you.

If you really want it exactly like frozen spinach, you could boil it, and maybe even freeze it to help mess up the texture, but I'm guessing you'd prefer cooked fresh spinach anyway. In this case, you'd have to squeeze and drain it just like with frozen spinach to get the water out. (If it's unclear how to do this, see What is the most efficient way to squeeze water out of cooked spinach?.)

Based on nutrition facts for raw spinach and frozen spinach, one 10 ounce package is approximately the amount you'll get from cooking a 340g (12 ounce) bunch of spinach - that weight is probably after removing the stems you're not actually going to cook, though. This fits with my experience cooking down spinach. Most things you'll use it in are really forgiving, so probably best to err on the larger side with your bunch of spinach!


Can I reprocess jars of salsa that didn't seal

Per Joe, the answer about jam jars that didn't seal applies to you as well.

Given that the salsa has now sat out all night unrefrigerated, it would not be safe to re-do the canning process.  If you had checked them immediately, you could probably have used new lids, cleaned the rims of the jars, and hot-water-bathed them again.  But not after 8-12 hours at room temperature.  If they have very high acidity (PH less than 4.0) they might be fine, but why take a chance?

Instead, I suggest putting those jars in the fridge and eating them yourself within the next few days, checking them for bubbles that indicate that the salsa is going off.


Also see @Pulse's answer. Check out the China town for 'vegetarian food', they have all sort of fake meat from chicken to beef, from abalone to fish, all made of modified tofu fibres.


How to infuse vanilla into bourbon (or other spices into liquor) using low heat without reducing alcohol proof?

Just put a vanilla bean in the bottle of booze and leave it there until the booze is used up. I always have a bottle of rum with a bean it.


Would sous vide-ing tomatoes result in a deeply caramelised tomato sauce?

It would not caramelize for sure, as caramelization occurs between 110 and 180 degrees celsius depending on the particular sugar - well over the boiling point of water, which is your maximum sous-vide temperature.

However, it would serve a few purposes that might well work.  For one, it would allow the slow breakdown of starches into sugars, just as other slow-cook methods do.  It would also enable your other flavors (spices, other vegetables, etc.) to fully dissolve into the sauce.  This could be useful, and would be one of the major benefits of slow-cooked tomato sauces.  This recipe on Andrew Zimmern's blog is a great example of how to do it, and why;  it includes some good tips for technique, including the very important step of sauteing the root veggies before adding them to the sous-vide bag.

You'd still want to do a high-heat cook at the very end (just like you do with almost anything from a sous-vide) to get that caramelization if that's your goal, but as you note you'd probably need to do that anyway to reduce the sauce if you're going for a thicker sauce (as I often do).  If you're using good sauce tomatoes (romas, for example) you probably won't need to reduce it much if at all, but if you're using more watery tomatoes you may need to anyway.

If you really want to get good caramelization for your tomatoes, I would recommend roasting them in the oven, or even better over a wood fire, first. That's going to get very good caramelization and also get some other good flavors in the tomatoes - a bit of smokiness fits very nicely into many sauce profiles.


How do I tell if my cheese culture is still good?

I think that your culture should be fine, given your storage method and sterility in handling. All you can really do is try making some cheese, and see how it turns out.


It's very likely to that the base metal is some kind of alloy, and not simply lead, but if you're in doubt then you should probably stop using them.

Unless solid silver, most within the last 100+ years made in the US, UK and Germany will likely be some mixture of copper / nickel / tin. Some might have pewter detail and decoration which might contain lead, but typically not on the tines / blade / etc. Pewter as a base for silver-plating saw its real beginning after antimony was predominately used to make it, but you can only really guess unless the company is still around and confirms it, or you have it tested. Most which is still in use today would likely be made of a nickel alloy under the plating.

If you're at all in doubt, or get an odd taste, you can send them out to a plating shop, or just polish and display them and get something you know to be safe. Odd metal 'tangy' tastes are probably coming not from lead, but copper in the alloy, but always go on the safe side here.

You can, as folks noted in comments, have them tested. However, unless you're really keen on their continued use due to monetary or sentimental value, the cost / reward ratio could get lopsided quickly.

If they have a maker's mark (or other markings), you might be able to get some more information from an antique dealer, which could at least get you an appraisal in addition to knowing more about their makeup.


Is 3 days too long to soak dried fruit for my fruitcake?

The Christmas cake recipe I use (from Mary Berry's Fast Cakes) soaks the fruit in sherry for 3 days (and doesn't call for refrigeration).  It comes to no harm at all. I have tried less time, and that's OK but either way it needs a couple of stirs to ensure even soaking (this is more important for shorter soaks).


You should try Mexican and Indian stores to start with, if you have any. After that try any sort of Asian store, since it's used in other southeast Asian food too. Might even be worth a trip to a nearby larger city; there'll probably be a lot of things you can stock up on. (I see several of each in Minneapolis/St. Paul.)

Note that generally, if you're trying to cook with it, all you really need is tamarind paste, pulp, or concentrate. You can find fresh whole tamarind too, but the processed forms are often even easier to find.

And yes, you can also buy the processed forms online if you're having trouble in stores. Amazon has it, as do I'm sure a lot of more specifically food sites.


Why does my jelly crystal box single out pineapple, kiwi fruit and paw paw as preventing setting?

Certain enzymes (proteases) cut the protein bonds that create the mesh that causes the jelly (or Jello, or gelatin) to, well, gel.

Orange, watermelon and plum do not contain enough of those enzymes to interfere with gelling. In addition to paw paw (more commonly known as papaya in the US), pineapple and kiwi; mango, ginger, figs and guava also contain enough of those enzymes to interfere with gelling.

The application of high heat will inactivate those enzymes to the point that they will no longer interfere with gelling. That's why you can use canned pineapple, but not fresh, in gelatin desserts.


Making Tamales using a corn meal alternative

In some cuisines, the masa isn't usually corn at all. Sometimes it's rice, sometimes it's plantain and/or other starchy fruit. The tamale-like dish is actually called pasteles, but the difference between tamales and pasteles seems to be primarily the corn.

Check out this informational link and these recipes from Epicurious and The Polynesian Kitchen; and this video.

Making these wouldn't be like substituting a less than ideal ingredient for corn, because it isn't. Pasteles are a well loved dish in their own right. But once you know how to make the masa, you could certainly make a tamale recipe you like, but with the pasteles masa.


Can you thaw frozen cookies in a tin without them getting soggy as a result?

The more airflow you have, the less likely is for them to get soggy. The original container is especially bad, since it will likely condense moisture on its surface while coming to room temperature.  A room temperature tin will be better than the original container, especially if you don't close the lid, but still far from optimal. It would be better to thaw them on a cake cooling rack, or on a plate lined with kitchen paper, then transfer to the tin after their surface has warmed up.

If you really need to keep them in the tin (e.g. you will travel with them, or you have pets likely to jump onto a plate of cookies), you can try placing a well sized pack of activated charcoal in the tin, or maybe carefully use another dessicant such as silica gel (warning, the gel itself is not edible, and the colored versions shouldn't come near food - make sure nobody comes across the pack and thinks it's sugar for pouring over the cookies). But this is not guaranteed to work, so I would prefer the cake rack solution.


What can be done with accidentaly oversalted beef?

Oversalting is best dealt with by serious dilution.

I'd make a large, not very meaty dish from it, with lots of vegetables, cooked for a while. Fry onions and other veg, add liquid, and stir in the cooked beef. But soaking the meat should help as well. Either soak in plain water and discard the water, or soak in something you might add to the sauce (wine, beer, diluted citrus juice... ). I'd also cut it small before soaking/cooking. Most of the salt will be on the surface but you want to expose add much as possible of the meat to the liquid. Soaking should be done in the fridge, for a few hours.

You could go for a tomato-based sauce, a curry using coconut milk, or a sticky orange and chilli sauce, so long as the ratio of beef to everything else (and beef to initial liquid) is small. The initial liquid shouldn't bring any more salt with it, which rules out most cmmercial stock preparations, and possbile home-made stock. These are just ideas, many beef in sauce dishes would adapt. I wouldn't add more meat, but many people would.


Bacon fat producing solid white and gelatin state

If the white solid is on top, and the gelatin below, it's just an issue that it's not all fat -- you have meat juices in there, too, which can turn to jelly.

If you're trying to store it for a longer-term, you'll want to strain it, then let it cool.  Lift off the solid white portion, scrape any jelly stuck to the bottom, then heat back up the oil.

Bring it back up to the water boiling point, and it might start to bubble.  If it gets above 100°C, you're fine.  Otherwise, wait 'til the bubbles go away and it gets above 100°C, then hold it for a few minutes.
Let that cool some, then put it into a clean container and put it back in the fridge to cool completely.


There is no problem with putting either stainless steel or non-stick pans in the dishwasher in terms of their materials. However:

Non-stick pans are often better washed gently by hand without too much soap, so they retain a bit of oil. This helps them stay non-stick. You may note that a dishwashed non-stick pan is quite sticky the first time you use it after a wash.
Non-stick pans hold odours quite readily. Many dishwasher soaps are quite strongly scented, and this can be retained in the pan itself, and thus transferred to your food when it's heated up. I remember well a batch of marinara sauce with a noticeable lemon-fresh overtone!
Dishwashers knock everything around while they work. If your pans' handles are sturdy this shouldn't be an issue, but you can find that handles can loosen up after a few bouts in the dishwasher.

So, in summary, yes, you can put pots and pans in the dishwasher, with caution. Personally I put my Ikea stainless steel pans with welded handles in without a second thought, but I reserve my non-stick Tefals with bolted handles for hand-washing.

  Go not to the Elves for advice, for they will say both no and yes


An ulu knife

That looks like a variant on an ulu knife, a knife whose blade is below the handle.


substitute for chickpeas in "bean blondies"

I've had great success with black bean brownies. Most recently I tried this recipe on recommendation from a friend and it turned out quite well! Very rich, great-textured brownies.

The batter is quite thick, though, so make sure your blender/food processor is up to the task!


What pots work the best on electric ranges to sautee, fry and simmer?

While a cook will tell you that good pans are always better, I think that they will not solve your problem. If anything, better pans conduct heat better, so if you keep cooking at the same temperatures as now, you'll burn more food. A good temperature control with bad pans is useful, good pans with bad temperature control don't bring much.

The correct solution sequence is listed below. You can stop at any point, as long as it has solved your problem. But getting later points done before the earlier ones is unlikely to do you much good (although in the case of new stove, it is understandable if you skip the point because of the expense).

Whenever in doubt, use a lower heat setting. It is almost always better (and the result tastes better too). There are very few cases where this principle doesn't work (deep frying, not enough browning on the outside) and in most of them, you can correct if you raise the temperature in the end, after the food is cooked through (exception: deep frying). It is almost impossible that your stove cannot cook rice through; I have seen recipes for "cooking" rice at room temperature (it gets soft after a day or two in water). It takes lots of time to cook rice, about 20-30 minutes after the water has started to simmer. You are probably turning the heat up earlier, resulting in the burnt rice.
Learn the correct cooking temperatures for different kinds of food and food preparation methods. There are books for that. The classic one is McGee on food and cooking, but many others contain this information. Having such a book is much more important for cooking than any recipe book.
Utilize a method to recognize the current temperature of your food/cooking vessel. Easiest way with best results: get a thermometer (three is better - infrared for pans, flexible-connected feeler for roasts, candy thermometer for everything else. But start with infrared, you can point it at cooking liquids too). The so-so way: learn the common tricks and use them. Water is easy, you can see how much it is boiling. Oil is more problematic, but the water droplet should work for meat and the white bread for deep frying. I don't know of a good collection of all "recognize temperature" tricks, you'll need to hunt them here and there. Least helpful solution: learn from experience, developing a feeling for how long it takes a certain amount of food in a certain pot on a certain setting. Takes lots of trial-and-error, and lots of burnt food. Once you have to cook outside of your "comfortable area", you have a big chance to get it wrong.
Upgrade your stove. I know, this costs a lot. But based on your description of the rice situation, your stove could be one of those which gets 85°C at setting 3 and 220°C at setting 4. These are a real pain in the neck when cooking, and in this case, even a €50 portable induction single-hob is a real improvement. If your budget and space allows it, it is highly recommended to consider it before upgrading the pans.
Finally, upgrade your pots and pans. I guess that your problems with the burnt food will have gone by now if you have done the other points, but if you can afford it and cooking is a hobby for you, it gets much more pleasant with better tools. You get the best value for the money from iron, and good quality nonstick (with the mineral mix, or ceramic all the way, over a thick bottom) is almost indispensable for some applications (e.g. aerated omelettes). But if you really want to know what makes a great pot/pan, here is a really great article on the topic. It is highly recommended read for anyone who is serious about cookware. It should answer the question in the title too. While the author doesn't specify resistive heat, what he writes is suited for everything except induction (actually, the facts he describes are useful for induction too, but you have to make your own conclusions because of the different heating method - for example, tin-clad copper is one of the best things for outer heat, but definitely a bad solution on induction).


While there is no standard, products marketed as Almond Meal typically have larger grains than products marketed as Almond Flour. I am not sure if this could be the cause of your problem, but I would recommend trying an Almond Flour, or grinding your Almond Meal in a food processor.

Also, I notice that while your second batch is much less cracked, it still is not well risen. I believe your problem may be oven temperature and heat circulation, and you can confirm this by watching your macarons in the oven. I don't know a silver bullet solution, but I am putting some more analysis below, which I hope is still helpful.

For comparison, a well risen macaron has a "belt":

This belt is essentially a crack of its own, and the difference between belted macarons and yours would be the stage of cooking when the crack forms.

In either case, the shape of your macarons is controlled by the release of moisture as steam.

First, the heat of the oven will crisp the outside shell of the macaron. As it cooks from the outside in, moisture in the batter will start to evaporate. The meringue traps air in little pockets, and the steam expands in these pockets, ideally so that the shell will nicely and uniformly rise until a belt opens up to release the steam. A similar process happens when baking bread, and this is why bread bakers will cut slits on top of their loaves.

When bringing the macarons back down to room temperature, the steam contracts again. Typically, cracks on the top of macarons (also choux pastries) occur when temperature changes too quickly. The pressure inside will suck in the outer shell and cause it to collapse.

Is it possible that you took your first batch directly out of the oven (possibly into chilly air)?

I believe that rapping the baking sheet helps break any especially large air pockets, to help keep the rise uniform. But you would want to do this as little as possible, to avoid deflating the smaller air pockets in the merengue.

Based on my understanding, I have the following recommendations:

Watch your macarons while baking. Does the belt form midway through baking, or never at all?

If the belt forms, but collapses later, and before you actually open the oven, then your oven may be circulating heat badly. This is unlikely, and it would only happen if your merengues somehow cool off while they're still in the oven.
If it forms, but collapses when you take your macarons out of the oven, try instead simply opening the oven door and turning the oven off. Leave the merengues on the middle rack. The air inside the oven will mix with outside air and cool down more gradually. You can also try baking your macarons longer, in case your [oven + bake time] happens to be leaving them underbaked, but I don't think this is happening.
If the belt never forms, your merengue is probably deflated. Try leaving them sitting for 10 minutes, and only rapping them once. Also try whipping stiffer peaks.

Lastly, I have an extra comment for the second bullet point – I noticed that the crusts of your merengue are a light brown, while the insides are a light green. Your outside is browning and your merengues are possibly overbaked. Try either reducing the bake time by a few minutes, or putting aluminum foil over the merengues to stop the browning of the outsides.

If you do the aluminum foil trick, be extremely careful to place your foil in the oven very quickly. Before they're finished baking, the macarons are especially sensitive to temperature drops, so you can't let in too much cold outside air.


Are hard anodized aluminum pans oven-safe?

An anodized finish is chemically stable. It does not decompose. It is nontoxic. High heat levels will not damage the anodized finish. Anodized surfaces are heat-resistant to the melting point of aluminium (1,221°F).

Source: http://www.yourcookwarehelper.com/cookware-college/healthy-cookware-safe-cookware/is-anodized-aluminum-cookware-considered-safe-cookware/

The issue you will have is if the rest of the pan is safe, such as the handle.
more information on this can be found here.

https://foodal.com/kitchen/pots-pots-skillets-guides-reviews/bare-aluminum-and-nonstick-cookware/choosing-the-best/


How soon after baking can you refrigerate freshly made fruit pies?

EDIT: Although the question title says "fruit pies," the question specifies a "fruit custard pie."  The following answer relates to custard pies and other pies containing fillings with eggs and/or milk.  Actual plain "fruit pies" generally contain enough sugar to prevent rapid spoilage and therefore often do not require refrigeration.  If you do plan to refrigerate a plain fruit pie, there's no significant advantage to getting it into the fridge quickly.

Pies do not have to come down to room temperature before refrigeration.  In fact, most food safety organizations recommend the same general policy for egg-based and dairy-based pies as they do for other foods: don't leave leftovers out for more than 2 hours after cooking.  See, for example, recommendations here:

  Foods which contain eggs and milk, with high moisture content, must be
  kept refrigerated, as bacteria love to grow in these foods. Failing to
  put that pie back into the refrigerator before it has remained on the
  counter for more than 2 hours can make a very merry celebration for
  the bacteria, but not so good for friends and family.

So, 2 hours should be a maximum before refrigeration.

As for recommendations about the appropriate time to let cool at room temperature, see here, for example, which states:

  Cool cream pies at room temperature for only  30 minutes after you
  take them out  of the oven.

  After 30 minutes, put them in the refrigerator  to complete the
  cooling and to keep them  cold.

While it says "cream pies" here, the guidelines above in that link imply that such guidelines also relate to custard and pumpkin pies.  (The first link above also says the same thing about pumpkin pies.)

Basically, the only reason to keep a dairy-based or egg-based pie out of the refrigerator after removing from the oven is to allow cooking and setting to continue.  Many custard pies will continue to set a bit while cooling, and putting them in the refrigerator immediately might "shock" them and disrupt this process of solidification.  Changes in humidity levels and condensation might also have unpredictable effects on the pie surface while it is very hot.

(As for concerns about putting hot food in the fridge, see links to food safety organizations on the subject in my answer here.  Basically, you shouldn't put a hot or warm pie near anything that's very perishable in the fridge.  Otherwise, you're safer getting it in the fridge as soon as it has stablized after cooking, which shouldn't take more than 30 minutes or so.)


Which torch to buy for finishing sous vide meat? Butane or propane?

I use Propane all the time.  There are several factors as to why:

It is cheap, about 1/4 the price of butane.
It’s more readily available.  You can buy a propane torch at many different stores for very cheap.
The torches typically put out a lot more heat.  I’ve used both propane and butane, mostly for crème brulee, but other food as well.  The butane torches put out such a focused small area of heat, that it would get uneven burning.  Whereas with Propane, they often put out a much larger area of heat, making it easier to caramelize across the surface evenly.

As for the concern of it imparting propane flavor, I have had that happen, once, but I’ve also had that happen with butane.  It’s all about flow control.  If you have the dial turned up too high and it’s spewing out massive amounts of propane, plus hold the flame too close to the food, you MIGHT get then hint of propane.  But if you have the torched dialed in to the proper settings, you really can’t beat the ease and convenience of “energy-efficient clean-burning propane gas”


Effect of carbonated water on the rising of the dough?

This is rather simple. The carbon dioxide created by yeast does not generate new air bubbles in the dough - the yeast fills and enlarges existing air bubbles, that are in the dough due to the kneading, whipping of eggs etc.. If you add carbonated water to the dough, you create more air bubbles that the yeast can enlarge.

This should have no dramatic effect on the rising time; temperature and yeast amount will matter much more. But it strongly influences the final texture of the baked good, as more initial air bubbles before the rising will result in a finer and tenderer product.


How can I recognize good quality Genoa salami?

Recognizing quality entails knowing the product and the producers.  Obviously you need to taste and ask questions. The correct texture and flavor of the fat used in salumi is very important, as it is generally a very high proportion of the ingredient list (30 - 50%).

In general, if you want "authentic" salumi, I would think you want to stay clear of most of the factory-made products that we find in US grocery stores.  It seems that you have three options in the US.

You could purchase imported salumi from a specialty shop.

You can locate smaller scale, artisan producers. Easily done on Google by searching "US artisan cured meat" or something to that effect.  There are many in the US.  Most do mail order if they are not nearby. I also find even smaller, more local producers in farmers markets.  These people generally will not be using sub-par ingredients.

Finally, you can learn to make your own. I've dabbled with this myself. While there are challenges and special conditions that need to be in place, it is certainly feasible if you are up for it. I will say that finding quality back fat is a real challenge for home hobbyists, like me, who aren't near a quality butcher or artisan hog operation...but there are ways of making it work.


Schichttorte; a 20 layer German broiled cake

Actual corn "flour" is not a traditional ingredient in Schichttorte. The common translation of corn flour translates to the German equivalent of "corn starch".

To be sure, you can have a look at different recipes for "Baumkuchen". It's the same batter as for Schichttorte, but baked on a stake instead of a flat surface.


I have a whole freezer full of jalapenos - so yes, you definitely can.

They definitely retain their heat just fine.

They keep their texture better if you do 2 things:

Use a vacuum sealer and take out all the air - to reduce freezer burn.  Because of this, I recommend you freeze them in batches.
Blanche them for 2-3 minutes in boiling water and then drop them in freezing water.  From what I've read, this destroys a particular enzyme that helps not break the pepper down further.  I've done this and not done this - and doing it definitely helps on the texture.

They should be good for a little over a year in a vacuum sealed bag - as far as the texture goes.  They should never go bad otherwise.

Cos and Sobachatina - bring up another good point: freezing fast and effectively.  You can try AB's method that Cos points out, but I do what Sobachatina does.  Freeze on a single layer on a tray in the freezer.  They freeze quicker and better than dumping them in a bag.


Condensed milk versus regular milk in fudge recipes

Fudge is basically a chocolate flavored candy.

You combine chocolate and a sugar syrup and boil the syrup until you get the desired concentration. Everything else about the recipe is to either minimize sugar crystal size or add flavor.

Sweetened condensed milk will do two things-
1- give you a nice, caramelly flavor
2- Save a little time. Since it has less water to begin with there will be less to boil off.


Made a bland curry, it's cooled down and about to freeze it. Help!

I have no idea how you're going to reheat your curry, but if we assume it's in a pot over the campfire, you have a few options:

Bring spices with you, bloom them in oil, then add your pre-made curry to reheat.
Make and cook a spice paste ahead of time (or buy one), as it won't have the 'raw' spice qualities that using a curry powder will.  You can then stir it into the curry to taste as you heat it up.  If you're using a curry roux, you may need to add a little extra liquid, as it'll act as a thickener.
Bring along chutneys, Indian relish, or similar things that people can mix-in to add flavor.  (I like the 'hot' chutneys for adding flavor.  Sweet chutneys are better for mellowing out a chutney than adding flavor on its own)
Serve it over heavily seasoned rice.  Dice up some carrots and onions, cook them in oil with a (possibly heavy) pinch of salt, add any spice powders or seeds (tumeric, mustard seeds, whatever else you like in your curry), add the rice, let it toast a little bit like for risotto, then add your liquid and steam as you normally would.  I'll sometimes also throw in a cinnamon stick or a few cloves in just before I add the liquid.  But count the cloves and warn people, as eating under poor lighting conditions can result in surprises.

I wouldn't suggest reheating your curry in advance; camping typically suggests food storage without refrigeration, and you often have hungry people not waiting for food to fully heat back through.  Because of this, it's best not to keep reheating / cooling off food unless you're going to bring it to a full boil each time, and that could start turning the meat and vegetables into mush.


What's the worst that could happen when fermenting sauerkraut?

If you follow proper procedures, it's safe. The correct amount of salt (initially) and the acid developed by the desirable bacteria population prevent the process being taken over by non-desirable bacteria. It works. Right around 2% by weight salt to cabbage (or cabbage and...) is a good number, with Stephie's German sources suggesting that possibly even 0.75% would be sufficient. More than 2% is NOT better (I have experimental results, even.) There should be no need to add water.

I personally prefer to use some red cabbage when fermenting in a clear container, as it gives me a visual clue to acidification progress. If using an opaque crock, no point in that (other than if you happen to like pink sauerkraut), as you should not open the crock to check (letting air in is bad practice.) I keep my clear containers in the dark.

IMHO after a lot of research before I dove in last summer, you should absolutely use an airlocked or watersealed container and leave it alone for 6-8 weeks. The "open crock method" that for some reason seems to be "traditional USA methodology" (why, I can't imagine, we had plenty of immigrants who knew better) is best avoided, as it pretty much ensures a mold battle. Properly tightened (not overtightened, not loose) canning jar lids are one form of airlock (do not loosen them - but keep the jar in a bucket just in case you over-tightened them, as it will contain the mess.) The nutty folks who are checking on it every few days are making something vaguely fermented, but it's not (IMHO) sauerkraut, which takes time; and they raise the odds of mold hugely. "Traditional fermentation crocks" with a water-sealed lid are another approach which works well, albeit generally with a commitment to a larger batch.

I've made 4-5 batches by now, all done under airlock; one (with insufficient weight) did poke cabbage above the liquid line and develop "kahm" yeast - I saw it, I left it alone, I tossed the top layer into the compost when I opened the jar, the rest is fine. With sufficient weight, that should not be a problem.

So, for the first time ever, I'll plant cabbage next year (I dislike cabbage, but I like sauerkraut.)


What's the fastest way to seed grapes (e.g., Concordes)?

If you just need the pulp (for pie, ice cream, jam, etc...) then cook them down and run them through a food strainer.

If you need them raw, or halved/skins on, then find a good audiobook...


Why does my ice cream leave a waxy texture on the roof of my mouth?

Try heating the cream and milk to just below a simmer. Right before adding the milk mixture to the yolks whisk the sugar, vanilla, and eggs together. Pour the hot milk mixture into eggs very slowly. It's best to strain it through a fine strainer. If you use vanilla bean make sure to add it after straining it. Let cool a little before putting it into the fridge. It should be cold before making the ice cream. It's not necessary to fully temper ice cream base like crème anglaise.


Is it safe to bake in an oven with melted plastic residue left?

My suggestion would be to let it run at its highest temperature setting for a while (if it has a pyrolysis/heat-cleaning setting, you can also use that). Best open some windows to let the fumes escape.

When it doesn't smell and smoke any more, I would personally consider it safe to use again, especially at lower temperatures than the one you used to make it usable again.


How do I make rotisserie chicken less moist?

We use our rotisserie on our BBQ and love how our chicken and turkey comes out. I suggest you not brine the poultry as it is constantly basted by its own juices as it turns on the rotisserie.


Not to take anything away from the answers already existing for this question, but I want to add one more reference:  Kenji Alt's in depth opus on creating the McDonald's style fry at home.

In summary, his method is to:

Blanche the cut potatoes in water lightly acidified with vinegar, to allow them to cook through while the acid keeps the pectin from decomposing and causing the fries to fall apart.
Par-fry the potatoes (first fry).
Optionally (but preferably) freeze the fries at this point, which actually helps develop the crispiness.  Of course this also lets you do almost all of the work in advance.
Finish-fry and serve.

You will note this is a variant on the traditional double-fry method outlined in Kevin Dickerson's answer.

See the linked article for all of the science, the details, and a linked recipe.


How do I modify sourdough recipes for use with my small starter?

Increasing the volume of your starter is easy. Just add flour and water and let it sit at room temperature for until it becomes ripe (you can tell because the mixture will be very bubbly). The time depends on how much flour/water you add, what temperature you are fermenting at, how active your starter is, and what percentage of water you are using. Wait a few hours at least if you are significantly increasing the volume.

If you don't want to store the larger volume for your recipes, just increase the fermentation time for the recipe. The only caveat is that you shouldn't try to increase the volume of your starter by more than a factor of three at any one time (and keep in mind you'll need to reserve some sponge for the next batch of bread). Thus if you have very little starter, you may have to triple it, wait for eight hours, then double it, wait, then use, for example.


I agree that it was probably the shaping that made the bubble.  Let the dough thaw enough so you can work it.  Then roll out and then start at one edge and roll up so there are no air pockets.  Tuck the ends under so the dough fits into the pan...having the ends contact the pan will support the dough while it rises.


I'd just cut it at home that morning and bring it. If that didn't work out, I'd bring a pocketknife.

I'm sure you can kludge things, but really, ripe tomatoes are one of the worst things to try to cut with a dull knife. It's so easy to make a mess of them, juice everywhere. And even if your tomatoes aren't that ripe, this still seems easier.

(And if I ended up at work with a salad and a whole tomato and no knife somehow, I'd probably just eat it like an apple while I ate the rest of my salad with a fork.)


Consider looking at the situation from a different perspective. Canned mushrooms are an inferior substitute for fresh mushrooms. Whatever benefit they add to the recipe, would likely be improved by using fresh mushrooms.

Instead of attempting to pre-process your fresh mushrooms to make them more like canned mushrooms, why not simply adjust your recipe to use the fresh mushrooms directly?

Without the details of your recipe, it's impossible to know exactly what adjustments are needed — though, you might very well be able to substitute fresh mushrooms directly, with no pre-processing other than washing and slicing them.

Keep in mind the following:

Mushrooms cook very quickly. For example, if you are adding them to other sautéed vegetables, add them when the other vegetables are nearly cooked.
Fresh mushrooms contain a lot of moisture, which is released as they cook. This will add flavor to a sauce, but you may need to lengthen the reduction time.
Mushrooms can be eaten raw, though many people prefer them cooked. The longer you cook them, the more the texture changes. Cooked just until tender, mushrooms will be succulent and juicy, with lots of mushroom flavor. When cooked past that point, the mushroom juices are released and the mushrooms will absorb flavors from their companion ingredients.

Your proposal of boiling the mushrooms would just boil away the most of the mushroom flavor. Canned mushrooms add lots of salt, partly as a preservative, but also because the mushrooms are quite tasteless. Changing your recipe to take advantage of having fresh mushrooms will make it healthier and more delicious.


Does resting fish before serving affect its texture or taste?

Would resting fish change the its taste or texture in any noticeable way?

No, in short.  The only mention of 'resting' of any fish is from the Lophius genus (aka Monkfish, Angler fish).  It is suggested to allow the monkfish to rest if you are going to slice it before serving to reduce the amount of liquid released.

I would suggest to portion the fish before cooking, and serve asap after cooking.

I think mainly the term 'resting' for fish is inappropriately used, as the fish is actually undercooked and the carry over/residual heat completes the cooking before it is consumed.


How long does parmesan sprinkle cheese last in the refrigerator?

Use-by dates are set as the very minimum time that the product in question will be good for, provided that it is stored properly.

In addition, and as a general rule, because Parmesan is a dry, hard cheese, with very low water content, the use-by date is almost always far shorter than the actual time that the cheese will be good for, again, provided proper storage.

By "parmesan sprinkle cheese", I assume you are referring to the ones that come in a parmesan-wheel shaped box, such as this:

Their shelf life is far longer than their expiry date, and I would not be worried about using it beyond that date. However, for those boxes, most manufacturers tend to use the youngest cheese possible (for Parmesan this means 12 months), meaning it has not had as much time to age (some parmesan is aged for as long as 36 months, and some manufacturers age it for even longer than that), meaning that there isn't much flavor in it.

Personally, I stopped using the boxes a few years back, when I realized that I used far more than I would if I simply used a grater and a piece of parmesan, meaning that it I spend less (if memory serves, I calculated the annual savings to something like 300 Norwegian Kroner/50 US Dollar) on parmesan, getting more, and I think better, flavor from it.

It should be noted that my family uses a LOT of parmesan (depending on how often we have guests, we go through anywhere from 1/4 kg to 1 kg per month), so the savings argument may not hold true for you.


If you need to keep ground coffee for a long time, will keeping it in the freezer help?

Yes, buying fresh coffee is better and grinding right before using is optimal. I think we mostly agree on that. That said, it IS possible to freeze coffee without completely destroying it. There are a number of variables that you want to account for. Here is a short summary:

It should sealed very tightly, a mason jar would work well for example. Even better is to freeze the unopened bag (with the valve taped shut), but that defeats your goal I think of consuming slowly.
If at all possible, put into the freezer once, remove once. NO refreezing. Taking the whole batch  in and out of the freezer every time you use it could cause condensation which will damage your beans.
Freeze the coffee whole. Grind right before use.
Take the coffee out of the bag, let it come to room temperature before grinding it.
Once it comes out of the freezer, it's back to being optimally consumed in a couple weeks.

There is a limit to how long you can freeze it. I wouldn't leave it more than a few months? Here's a good, but long read on the subject, including some taste test results. If you're really seriously interested, I'd give that a good read.

If you're not a big coffee drinker, and your guests aren't picky either, you might not care about all those variables. I'd do some testing to see what works for you (don't test with the expensive stuff of course...). If you and your guests can't taste the difference, the extra precautions are kind of for naught. I have certain family members who claim to prefer the crappy, flavourless stuff for example. :-P sigh

Last note. Never store coffee in the fridge. Why not? Quoted from here:

  "The Starbucks web site says: "Think of coffee as fresh produce. The enemies of coffee are oxygen, light, heat, and moisture. To keep coffee fresh, store it in an opaque, airtight container at room temperature. Storing coffee in the refrigerator or freezer for daily use can damage the coffee as warm, moist air condenses to the beans whenever the container is opened."


What's the point of long/complex sourdough feeding techniques?

Absent a definitive answer here, I'm going to take a stab at this based on some experience I had with difficult sourdough starters.  Note that I make a lot of sourdough items but do not do any kind of multi-stage prefeeding ritual.

Sourdough is a culture of multiple types of bacteria and wild yeast.  Sometimes wild yeasts do not reproduce rapidly or produce as much carbon dioxide (for leavening) as commercial yeasts.  I've definitely had the problem before with a starter that it wouldn't produce anything other than a superdense bread, no matter how long the dough rise.

Most of us keep our starters in the fridge (unless we run commercial bakeries).  Thing is, at fridge temperatures, the bacterial culture will grow, albeit slowly, but the yeast will hardly reproduce at all, and will produce no carbon dioxide. So, when you take it out of the fridge, if you use the culture immediately you may have an imbalance of active bacteria but sleepy yeast (this is some inexpert armchair biology here, so a big pinch of kosher salt with it).

You are solving this via the use of 90F water.  I solve it by proofing a sponge for 7-12 hours.  However, there are clearly sourdough aficionados who feel that this is not sufficient to restore the yeast to full strength and that it needs more time and feeding.  The feed, split, and discard routine I believe comes from commercial bakeries that never refrigerate their starters because they use it every day; it is the advice given in the Berkeley Cheese Board's cookbook, for example.  Doing this over 36 hours or so could be assumed to get the sourdough into the same state it would have been for a sourdough kept constantly at room temperature and rotated every 24 hours, allowing you to use the exact same rising times/temps as they would use.

Now, back to my all-natural wild yeast starter that wouldn't rise very well.  I did not try feed-and-split for 36 hours; maybe that would have made it rise adequately and is the reason for this technique.  Instead, I started the starter-making process over and got a better strain of yeast the second time.


What is a good vegetarian source of umami flavour?

The Umami information Center has a list of Umami-rich foods along with natural concentrations of glutamate.  I've copied some of their list below (included some meats for comparison) in case the link disappears (concentration number is mg glutamate/100g food).  There's also some information at the above link about how to prepare the foods to maximize the umami taste.

Food/Concentration:

Beef/107
Tuna/188
Nori/1378 (not a typo)
Tomatoes/246 (the riper the better)
Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms/71
Dried Shiitake Mushrooms/150
Enoki Mushrooms/22
Soy Beans/66
Potatoes/102
Sweet Potatoes/60
Chinese Cabbage/100
Carrots/33


How much baking powder & baking soda do I need to use for my cocoa cookies?

You don't strictly need to use any leavener in this type of cookie. You can certainly get a firm, nonchewy texture without it, although it is unlikely to be "crunchy" and not very airy - it is more sandy, melts-on-the-tongue thing. Of course, if you use crystal sugar (as opposed to powdered sugar) you will experience some crunch from the non-melted sugar crystals, which might be what you wanted.
If you want to try a leavener, a typical amount would be 1 teaspoon (around 5 g) of baking powder for 250 g of flour. Use that as a starting point for the recipe development - I don't think you have to reduce it to 4 g from the start, since 1) traditional recipes are not that accurate anyway, and 2) the cocoa powder also adds starch, which kinda "counts as flour" for the purpose of calculating leavening. There is no reason to use any baking soda. And of course, remove the ammonium bicarbonate - if you really want to experiment with a combination, do it after you have created a working simpler version of the recipe with just baking powder.


Can I refrigerate lower hydration dough for storage like I would no-knead dough?

For dough storage at fridge temp it is best to refrigerate immediately after kneading, but you can also do so at more or less any time during rising.
Storing immediately after kneading will allow you to keep the dough for 2-3 days before you need to use it. It will slowly start to rise over this time, and the rising process is the limitation on the storage length. The slow rise also tends to give better flavour. However, if it has started to rise before you refrigerate, it will not keep for quite as long, as you have the limit on rising.


At what point (after clams die) are they ok to eat

Clams are exceedingly perishable; there is no length of time after they are dead that you should eat them.  They should always be killed as part of the cooking process.

They may open (they are naturally filter feeders, and open to try and feed and respire), but if tapped should close indicating they are still alive.  If they don't close, discard.

Clams do not have tongues.  They have a siphon, and a foot--not sure which you are referring to.  The siphon is normally trimmed off if it is large, but the foot may be edible (although sometimes tough and not palatable) depending on the type of clam.


Can I keep chillies in alcohol long term without continuing to affect the flavour?

The hotter the pepper, the shorter the infusion time, and the less time for the tequila to pick up any unwanted green vegetal flavor the thick skin of a jalapeño can impart (serious eats)

For presentation you could possibly get away with one nice-looking, thin-skinned (and not too hot) red chilli in the bottle, after straining the tequila off the real habañeros.  I'd give this a go (or even make 3 small bottles: strained; unstrained; strained with decorative chilli) it if it was for drinking myself, but for a gift I'd probably either:

say it's for drinking soon, or
decorate the outside of the bottle with a couple of nice-looking dried chillies tied on.

I have found that in some infused spirits, leaving the fruit in too long can cause unwanted flavours (e.g. rhubarb, which picked up just the vegetable flavour my link warns about) while in others you can leave it as long as you like (e.g. blackcurrant).


How many cups of batter does a cake mix make?

A 9" round pan that is 1 1/2" deep takes 6 cups of batter, while one that is 2" deep takes 8.  That's for totally full to the brim.  This source says about the amount of batter from a box:

An average 2-layer cake mix yields 4 to 5 1/2 cups of batter.

and should have a bunch of helpful guides to using batter for non-standard pans.


I just made mushroom/truffle risotto for lunch! No joke!!

Here's what to do with the dried. First, rinse thoroughly, they're infamous for grit. Now soak them for one half an hour in a little bowl of the broth (hot) you intend to use for the risotto. No need to remove stems, just chop them up with the rest.

After one half an hour, wring them out, using your hands. Save the broth. Using a very fine sieve, or some cheesecloth, or even a coffee filter...pour the broth back into the broth you will use to make your risotto. If nothing else, just allow the little bowl of mushroom broth to sit for a bit, and pour carefully, most of the grit will sink.

Chop up the shrooms. If you can mix them with some diced up fresh, great.

BTW consider aged Gouda instead of Parmesan. Yummy!

Served with a sunny-side-up egg and buttered toast?? Fit for a queen.

The water that hydrates the mushrooms is very flavorful. It shouldn't be wasted.


The buttermilk is acidic enough that it interferes with the environment that commercial yeast needs to reproduce well

I don't think this is the case. Yeast prefers a mildly to moderately acidic environment: pH 4.5 - 6 (7 is neutral). The various sources I've found give a pH of 4.1 - 5 for straight buttermilk, and of course that pH is buffered (brought closer to neutral) when you mix it into your dough with the other ingredients. If anything, I'd say that a buttermilk dough would be ideal for yeast growth, provided there's enough water available.

The key difference between baking soda and baking powder is that soda is just the alkali, where baking powder is a mixture of baking soda and a powdered acid, usually tartaric or citric.

You can use baking soda alone with a buttermilk dough because the buttermilk provides the required acid component. For buttermilk pancakes, I like to use a combination of baking power, plus a bit extra soda: Think of it as if the powder reacts with itself, and the soda reacts with the buttermilk (although it's not really separated like that).

So, really any or all of those agents can make a buttermilk loaf rise. The important thing, I think, is that yeast and baking powder/soda have very different effects: not all rises are equal! Powder/soda reacts as soon as its wet, and then again when it gets hot in the oven. It creates bubbles, and that's about it.

Yeast does much more besides. As it ferments the dough it also creates a complex mix of enzymes, sugars, acids and alcohols which affect the flavour, structure and baking characteristics of the bread. The protein structure of the flour changes, and that has a big effect on the finished loaf.

Buttermilk also has some amount of fat in it, which has an effect on bread dough. The fat tends to coat the flour particles, which results in shorter gluten chains - this gives a softer crumb with smaller holes: think brioche vs. ciabatta. You might want to knead or fold your dough more than you would otherwise to compensate for this effect (depending on what you want). My hunch is this is what caught the original author out, not the acidity.

If you're making a typical 'bread', I would just use yeast. The buttermilk will contribute flavour and sourness, and give that texture change I mentioned. If you're just after the tang, a zero-fat natural yoghurt would provide a very similar flavour while affecting texture less.

Unless you're making Irish soda bread (and you should, it's delicious!), I wouldn't bother with powder/soda raising for bread. Yeast does too good a job - save the powder for cakes and muffins!


What Old World Europe countries (apart from Germany and Italy) have their own unique pasta traditions?

I can think of several Polish noodle types.

Uszka - shaped like tortellini, filled with mushrooms. Usually served in soup.
Kopytka - made of flour, potatoes and eggs. The composition is basically the same as gnocchi, but they're formed differently: you roll the dough into a rope the size of your thumb, then cut it into pieces diagonally.
Kluski lane ("poured noodles") - a thin egg and flour dough that's drizzled into boiling water. Usually served in soup. Similar to spaetzle.
Pierogi - a round piece of dough that's folded around a lump of filling, making a semi-circular shape. The filling can be a number of things. The most popular one is a mixture of potatoes and farmer cheese - "pierogi ruskie". They can also be filled with ground meat, cabbage, or fruit.
Łazanki - flat square pieces of pasta, less than an inch wide. Usually mixed with sauerkraut, mushrooms, and optionally sausage or salt pork. The name is probably derived from lasagna.
Knedle - these are eaten in Poland, but I think they're originally from Hungary. It's a ball of potato dough (similar to kopytka, above) with a plum in the center.


Why does the "almost no knead bread" recipe use beer? Can it be replaced?

The purpose of the beer (and the vinegar) in this case is to add some of the malty, fermenty flavors typical of longer-fermented or sourdough breads.  You can either leave it out and replace it with an equal quantity of water or use a non-alcoholic beer

The carbonation from the beer might add a little extra lift at the start to establish some air cells and work the gluten a bit, but with an 18 hour room-temperature bulk rise, that benefit would be negligible. In most beers (especially large US commercial bottlers) there isn't enough active yeast left in the bottle by the time it is drunk to do anything either.

The author of the original article (Cook's Illustrated #90, Jan 2008) added the beer and vinegar in order to add flavor to a bread recipe that already produced decent bread.

  My bread now had tang [from the vinegar], but it lacked complexity.
  What I needed was a concentrated shot of yeasty flavor. As I racked my
  brain, I realized that beyond bread, there is another commonly
  available substance that relies on yeast for flavor: beer.


Products like custard powder don't come with a use by date, instead they have "best before".

To be honest I see no reason why if kept dry custard powder would ever be inedible. Especially if it is just the corn flour and colour mix.


What you describe is known as 'rendering' the fat -- you cook it until the liquid comes off.  But the goal isn't to eat the fat, but to create something oily that you can cook with.

If I'm just rendering for later, I'll strain the fat before putting it into a container to keep in my fridge.  If I'm going to be immediately cooking with it, I'll chop it up first (it helps to put it in the freezer for 10 to 30 minutes so it'll firm up before cutting).  Chopping it up also gives it more surface area so it renders faster.

But it's important to note -- there are a few things that get trimmed from meat besides fat:

tendons : ribbons, usually bright white; used to connect muscles to bones.  They need to be removed, as they're always tough and chewy.
silverskin : slightly greyish shiny film; Also needs to be removed, as it's like chewing rubber when cooked.

If either of those two are in there, you'll want to discard the fat bits after they've been rendered.

In other situations, you can cook the fat bits until they're browned, remove them with a slotted spoon, and let drain on a paper towel.  You'll end up with crunchy bits that you can add back into the dish later (like the fatty part of bacon)

...

Some other uses (besides feeding to birds) :

Throw it in when making a pork stock.  The fat will help to cap the stock when you store it in the fridge.
Save it to grind up when making sausage.  (if you make sausage)


Converting teaspoon/tablespoon measurements to mL?

It's actually understandable why this would be confusing to non-Americans, because the terms "teaspoon" and "tablespoon" actually have two meanings - one in cooking and one in dining.

Historically, teaspoons and tablespoons were simply two types of silverware.  Teaspoons were literally for stirring tea or other liquids.  Tablespoons were used for serving.  So yes, the terms actually do refer to the purpose of the spoon.

They are also now used as cooking measurements across most of North America and possibly other regions:

A standard teaspoon (1 tsp) is approximately 5 mL (4.9 mL)
A standard tablespoon (1 tbsp) is 3 tsp or approximately 15 mL (14.7 mL)

For future reference, I use Google as my go-to resource for unit conversions whenever I don't know or can't remember the exact ratios.  For example, you can type the phrase 2 tbsp in mL directly into the search box and it will give you the answer (29.57 mL).


When I lived in Boston, and occasionally visited the Cape Cod area, there was more of a regional cuisine than local ingredients. Seafood -- lobster, fish, clams, mussels -- is the most uniquely Cape Cod ingredient I can think of, since it is right on the coast.

This infographic describes some of the foods that are associated with New England, although that is a little too general for your question -- dairy, for example, is much more a Vermont or non-coastal ingredient. However, Cape Cod is close enough that Vermont cheddar will be quite easy to come by!


What do you need for Chinese style Hotpot at home?

Pots

There are two options for Chinese hot pot. Either one large pot that everyone dips into or several small pots, one each that you cook your own food in. Both styles are popular in China. It is also common to see the large pot with a divide in the middle allowing one side to have more chilli and spice than the other.

Left: Large pot with divide. Right: Individual pots on burners.

Heat source

Missing from the other answers, you need some way to heat the pot and keep it simmering. In China, people have individual electric hobs with temperature controls specially designed for the job. You can find them online http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/induction-stove.html

For the individual pots, a paraffin wax burner is used blow the pot. Similar to the heater used in a buffet restaurant to keep food warm.

Cheating

Really any pot and a little gas stove would do just fine:

In pot spices

This can vary considerably depending on what region of China you are in and what you like. You could just use plain water or a light broth of chicken or fish. I've seen some that resemble cream of tomato soup. Commonly you will see wolf berries, chilli, ginger, garlic, black, white and red pepper corns, bay leaves and Chinese dates. You really could use anything you like.

Dips

Again this varies. Usually each person has a small bowl into which they mix their own dip. This may contain rice vinegar, soy sauce, peanut or sesame paste, chilli paste in oil, crushed garlic, pickled garlic, picked chilli and some other pastes of things I have yet to identify. You might be able to buy ready mixed spices for dips in you're local Chinese supermarket or online shops.

Food for cooking

Typical food for cooking includes: Thin cut beef or lamb (occasionally pork), fish of any type, shrimp, oysters and such seafood, thin sliced potato or sweet potato (yam), egg noodles, tofu (either fresh or frozen or the skin shredded), and vegetables such as cabbage, bok choy, lettuce, spinach or whatever greens you have to hand.


Does one have to occasionally put up with this kind of nasty surprise after switching to organic beans?

Organic or not, there is always a chance that an item, especially a dried and stored item can become infested and any point in the cycle.  Dried beans, it seems most likely to be from a storage issue at some point, but it really could be at any time.  I would take them back to the stores, give them an opportunity to correct the situation, then decide from their response if they are a supplier and if the brand is one that I would continue to use.

Now, for the bad news.  I a assuming you are in the US, but the same or similar statements are likely true elsewhere:  I farmed for a time, and was often asked why I did not get organic certification.  The reasons were simple, I did not agree with the rules associated with organic certification, the extra fees and inspections for the right to label my items in a way that, in my opinion, misleads the consumer.  "Organic" is a legal USDA labeling and rule set in the US, which the general public reads as natural, pesticide, herbicide and fungicide free, safe and sustainable agriculture.  That is what was intended, but once regulations and marketing gets involved, it means something very different.  Unless you grow the item yourself, or use a local, known source and learn their practices, you can almost be certain that pesticides were used, herbicides and fungicides may have been.

There are lists of "organic" controls that are allowed, and are used, but fall within the rules of organics.  The main but not exclusive rule is that they are from a natural source, ground rocks, plants, roots, etc.  Many degrade much faster than the lab created chemicals most farming uses, some are less harmful to non-target insects, but others are actually just as nasty and damaging as those foul smelling petroleum based chemicals wiping out bees, earth worms, other beneficial, and are not very good for humans.  Since agribussiness learned that there was money to be made behind that organic label they got rules passed that allow them to sell inferior product for premium prices.

Sorry, I do not mean to be a downer, but, for most items I would highly recommend finding your local farmers market, and when you go to it, talk to the farmers.  Find some you trust and support the local guys who are doing it right.  End of my opinionated reply though.


You shouldn't be very worried at the moment because mold usually isn't too harmful, and common symptoms are a stomach ache. If you feel worrying symptoms going to the doctor or the hospital (If necessary) may be a good idea. Still, keep in mind that it is rare to become very sick from eating mold and that you will probably be okay.


Alternatives to borax for minced protein recipes (fish balls, kebabs, etc.)?

I use salt and STTP when I make burgers and bakso, (that’s the hard meatballs).
Sodium Tripolyphosphate (STPP)
There is an article on it that may be of interest.
https://journal.ugm.ac.id/istapproceeding/article/view/32675


How do you store cooked pasta without losing the bite?

The true aficionado would claim that you actually don't store cooked pasta, but for those cases where this isn't viable, you have a few options:

Pasta that will be cooled and re-heated later, e.g. left overs
Drain well, cool, refrigerate. The pasta will stick, but you can dump it in hot salted water foe a bit to re-heat where it will unstick again. Not perfectly al dente, but probably ok. (Slightly undercooking pasta can mitigate this a bit.)
Pasta that should stay warm, e.g. on a buffet
Add a bit of fat (olive oil, butter...) to coat your pasta. Keeps it from sticking. Critics claim that it also keeps the sauce from sticking to the pasta. Adding the sauce can have a similar effect, but you risk soggy pasta.
Pasta that should stay cold, e.g. pasta salad
The only case where rinsing pasta is kind of allowed. Side effect: cool pasta (well drained after rinsing) can be mixed even with heat-sensitive dressings right away, avoiding stickiness issues again.


Why does milk turn yellow in a silver glass?

tl;dr It looks like your milk has curdled. It is unlikely to be related to the silver cup.

Milk is composed of casein, albumin proteins, sugar, some amount of fat, and vitamins including riboflavin. The solution of protein and fats is opaque white. When milk is curdled- usually by exposure to acid and/or heat, the casein proteins denature and tangle up much of the fat. They separate into curds and settle out of the solution. The remaining sugar and albumin is transparent in solution. The riboflavin has a yellowish-green tint.

Whey looks exactly like the yellowish liquid in your photo.

In your photo you can just see the wispy white of the casein proteins that have come out of solution.

Silver on its own won't curdle milk. Silver nitrate will if your cup was previously used to hold nitric acid but I sincerely hope that isn't the case.
It's more likely that your milk spoiled enough to curdle or was exposed to some other acid unrelated to the silver cup. It is possible, if you haven't used this cup before, that the seller used an acidic cleaner to remove tarnish before selling it.


Can I substitute Fenugreek seeds for leaves?

Fenugreek seeds are intensely aromatic and go quite nicely in curries, and any dish where such a flavour is required.  In the middle-east they use it quite a lot, often as a condiment.  Highly used in spice rubs, pickles, marinades, anything where a strong spice flavour is required and often in puddings as an aromatic like nutmeg is used in English cooking.

The leaves have a similar flavour, but not quite the same, you could use the seeds in their place adding them in to the spice mix if there is one, but the leaves I prefer personally.  The flavour of methi leaves in thepla or in curry is wonderful in my opinion.


Why or why not beat an egg before adding?

This previous question (and the accepted answer) are related to the food science raised in the final part of the question.  Some of these chemical processes are much easier and/or quicker to accomplish when the egg is beaten by itself than after it may be mixed in and diluted with other ingredients.  These changes in the egg protein structure can affect the final texture or cooking properties of the eggs, such as time and temperature for coagulation.  Changes to these chemical properties can thus affect the final texture and cooking properties of the thing they are added to.

And in some cases where these effects are undesirable, recipes may specify that eggs not be beaten before adding.  As to the specific examples you give:

Meatloaf requires eggs to be used as a binder.  Heavily beating them will often make them "thinner" and runnier, as well as perhaps decreasing some of their binding tendencies.  (The whites by themselves tend to be a better binder than yolks, so pre-mixing them may inhibit that effect a bit.)
For cookies, the answer may depend on the specific recipe, but often recipes that call for unbeaten eggs involve adding eggs one-at-a-time.  If people beat the eggs ahead of time, they are more likely to combine them, which makes it more difficult to then do the staggered additions.  (So, it may be as simple as making it easier to follow the recipe, particularly in well-mixed batters where the eggs will be thoroughly mixed anyway.)  If I had to speculate on a food-science reason, it could be because egg whites and egg yolks do different things in cookies: whites tend to give rising power, provide water for gluten hydration (which promotes structure) and provide lecithin which also binds and enhances structure, while yolks keep the eggs tender and rich.  It may be that beating the eggs together hard before adding them could make it more difficult to achieve some of these effects, for example, trapping moisture and fat together in an emulsion, rather than encouraging the moisture to bind with the gluten for structural reasons, using the white's lecithin as an emulsifier to break up the yolk fats, etc., so the whites can't be as strong structurally and the yolks don't promote as much tenderness.  (I don't think these effects will generally be that large, but in some recipes I imagine they can produce noticeable changes in the final cookies.)

As mentioned in other answers, beating also promotes a homogeneous mixture and aerates the eggs, which could be important in some cases for homogeneity or lightness in the final product.  However, in some cases that specify "beaten" or "unbeaten," the chemical changes in beating involving denaturing of proteins, emulsifying the various components and binding some of them together, etc. may play a greater role in a decision to beat or not to beat.


How should I make jam out of coffee cherries or coffee cherry husks?

We have a coffee tree we have been growing in our sun-room for 10 years.  This year after we harvested the coffee cherries and hulled the beans, I decided to try making coffee cherry jelly.  I didn't find any good recipes on the internet, so I decided to "wing it" and it turned out fantastic. This is what I did:
I had about 2 cups of coffee cherries. I put them in a pan and covered them with about 3 cups of water.  I brought them to a boil and let them simmer for about 30 minutes, then let them cool in the water.  I put a strainer over a bowl and strained off the liquid from the coffee cherries and then squeezed the cherries to get all the juice out. Throw away the squeezed out coffee cherries and keep the liquid.  The liquid will be a reddish-brown and be a bit cloudy, but don't worry, it will clear up as you make the jelly.  Next, I measured the liquid and had about 2-3/4 cups.  I added 1/4 cup of organic lemon juice to the liquid, stirred in 1/3 cup of powdered pectin. Stir to dissolve the pectin then bring it to a full boil.  Use a really large pot for this because it will rise up when at a full boil.  When at a full boil stir in 5 cups of sugar, all at once.  Bring back to a full, rolling boil that can not be stirred down and boil like this for one minute.  Take pot off the heat and spoon the jelly into clean jelly jars. It will make about 5 small jars of jelly.  Once the sugar goes in, the jelly should turn clear. Skim off any foam that might form on top before pouring into jars.  Allow to cool and set.  The color will be a beautiful, chestnut red and the flavor is mild, almost like honey.  Enjoy!


A "package" of bittersweet or sent-sweet baking chocolate was historically 8 ounces, as eight 1-ounce squares (or 16 half-ounce half-squares).


how to improve the consistency of my pizza sauce

The key to good tomato sauce is the rate at which you heat it. The instinct is to just get it boiling and thicken it up in twenty minutes but this results in horrible tomato paste.

Instead, simmer the sauce very slowly for say four hours and you will get a much better result. You can do a big batch and it will keep very well in the freezer.

The long slow heating will make the tomatoes fall apart, but if it's still too chunky then you can always blend the sauce.


What type of fish is best suited for baking?

To answer your main question, you can bake very just about any type of fish.

Looking at that recipe though, down in the "tips" section, it suggests you use a flaky white fish. So in that category, you have lots of options, snapper, cod, tilapia, for starters. Their flavours are often a little more mild and will pair nicely with the tomatoes and other flavours in there.

If you're prone to overcooking it, take it out sooner. I find many fish recipes that give cooking times tend to get you to overcook it. It'd done as soon as the fish "flakes" fully. Leave it any longer it will start to toughen quickly.


Fried gnocchi with spinach, bacon, cream sauce in a single pan

I suppose I should precursor this with
"I'm really, really fussy about fast-cook Italian food. I will almost never eat in Italian restaurants [in the UK] because they simply fail to get something as simple as this right, every single time.
I won't eat anywhere that I can out-cook."

I'd forget all the 'putting aside', you can do that in one pan, no savers.
10 mins start to finish.

I'd add one extra ingredient, though

Start with a hot pan, full burn. Use the ingredients as you add them to knock the heat back.
Chunk the bacon, fry in a good slug or 3 of olive oil until it starts to brown on the edges.
From comments - if you actually want a sear on your gnocchi, drop it here, but make sure you don't kill it by the end. Over-cooked is not good.
The extra ingredient - a good splash of white wine. You can do without, but it will a) taste nice & b) deglaze the pan.
(Depending on how practised you are at dropping cold wine into hot fat, you might want to lift off the heat for a second to do this ;)
Drop the spinach & gnocchi in together, keep turning & stirring for a minute or so, until the pan is getting back up to temperature [Don't over-do this part, you're only getting the gnocchi started here, not 'cooking' it. Overdo it here &  you'll get squishy, slimy gnocchi at the end]
Drop the cream sauce.
Season to taste, then a quick stir, until it first shows signs of bubbling. Reduce the heat to minimum & put the lid on.
Let it steam 2 mins.
One more quick stir, check seasoning, & serve.

This is very much a staple menu item at my house. Slight differences, but I've modified this to suit your stated ingredients.
I would normally use a large chef's pan or a wok to do this, it's easier to keep everything moving so you don't catch anything. Keeping it all moving until the lid goes on is an important part of the process. Stops burning, spreads heat evenly & makes the gnocchi shed surface starch, which helps the sauce.

For quantities, I'd say just enough cream sauce to glaze but not enough to run in pools underneath once served. It will all thicken slightly between serving & table, as the gnocchi takes on more water, so allow it to be served slightly wetter than you want to eat it.

Oh… one more [important] thing. I'm assuming fresh gnocchi.
If it's dried or that peculiar 'half-alive' vac-pack stuff you find near the pasta but not in a fridge at the supermarket, pre-cook it according to the instructions, but leave it slightly under what they say.
…and next time get fresh, it's night & day.

I'm also assuming fresh spinach, if frozen defrost it first. For this recipe you can treat fresh or defrosted the same. Fresh will need time to wilt, defrosted won't change apparent state at all really, but you don't need to make allowances either way. it will just work.

Another option - nutmeg goes really nicely with spinach - a good pinch [¼ - ½ tsp] in at the same time as the spinach & gnocchi might be an interesting twist.

Other alternatives - mascarpone makes a great 'instant' cream sauce. Add some proper [freshly-grated, not that powdery stuff] parmesan to add some interest.

Advantages of this method…
It's fast, one pot.
No slimy, re-heated gnocchi. It doesn't deserve that treatment. It should be just done, not left around to go gooey.
Bacon will still have a little bit of bite left because you browned it at full-tilt & didn't give it time to relax.

Late Edit:
As this has attracted a fair bit of attention, let me add some twists & tweaks you could use.
If it comes up too 'wet' grate some parmesan* [or even at a push, cheddar] right at the end & stir it in. That will help bind the sauce. It will also add salt, so be careful of your seasoning.
Substitute sausages [links] for the bacon - sicilian are ideal, but any you like - chopped into 1.5cm chunks whilst cold. Get some good colour on them but remember they'll get another few minutes to finish cooking after the fry-off.
Mushrooms & onions instead of the spinach, 2-3 mins before the wine goes in; no more, you don't want them soggy at the end  [& leave out the nutmeg].
Garlic goes well too, crushed or finely sliced; drop it just before the wine.
If you use the 'cheese trick' at the end, you can even leave out the cream sauce/mascarpone. The starch from the gnocchi & the wine will already be giving the sauce some body; you use the cheese at the end to perfect the sauce texture & thickness.
Because this is a quick-cook & relies on the fresh flavours of your ingredients I tend not to add more than salt & fresh-ground black pepper to any of these alternatives - but no-one will complain if you add a little of your favourite herbs with the wine. Thyme, oregano, or even some fresh basil right at the end.

*Parmesan - Fresh, fresh & above all… fresh. This cannot be over-emphasised ;-) That powdery stuff in a tub will not do, ever.


What can I use as a manual hard cheese slicer?

A Scandinavian cheese slicer, like this one should do the trick. It's small, cheap, machine washable, and they last basically forever.


I see two problems going on here, 1) overbeaten eggs, and 2) overbaking.

Use a hand whisk to beat the eggs until slightly lighter in colour and smooth.

Don't use an egg whisk. You can use a dough whisk if you have one, if not, use a fork. Try to not get any air in at all (it's impossible to actually do it, but the closer you get, the better) and certainly don't beat until it has become lighter, just the lowest amount of gentle stirring until it becomes uniform.

Pour freshly boiled water into the pan and insert into a preheated oven at 140 Celsius (fan, though I don’t have an oven thermometer) for 25 mins.

I don't know if you mean you didn't measure the oven's air temperature yourself, or if your oven doesn't have a knob to set the temperature. But your oven was definitely way too hot if it managed to get this overbaked result after starting from such a cold mixture after only 25 minutes. So, whatever the setting was, use a lower one. Also, make sure that your water is high enough - ideally, higher on the outside of the ramekin than the level of the custard is within the ramekin. Disregarding the clock, take out when done (80-83 C with an instant thermometer - if you don't have one, you will have to wait until you have learned to recognize it by sight and jiggling before you get consistently good results).
When you get better at working with custards, you can also optimize the process and not go through this extreme heating, extreme cooling, then careful tempering (in fact, you don't need to temper at all, if you have waited until the cream is down to body temperature). But if for now, since you are combating overheating, you should probably first stabilize your process as it is, before playing with steps that might lead to an overheating before the oven.
I am pretty sure the association with baked eggs comes from the texture and taste of overheated custard. But if it turns out that you are still sensitive to it even when the temperature is managed correctly, you might look into reducing the yolk ratio. Be aware though that your recipe is not currently overegged, so you odn't have that much wiggle room before it gets runny when reducing the yolks.


Dishwasher safe lids for copper cookware?

Those lids appear to be stainless steel, and as such would be dishwasher safe.


What is the foam that comes out when making clarified butter?

That foam is more of the milk solids, brought up and made foamy by water evaporating. The Joy of Baking says it is whey protein specifically.

I usually discard it but you can eat it. Some people like it on toast or other places where you might use butter or a light sprinkling of mild cheese.


Why do my pre-cooked hams always take way longer than they should?

Apparently the results you're getting are more or less by design. The How to Bake a Ham page on Smithfield's website gives similar instructions to the one you're following:

  Preparation

  Genuine Smithfield and Country Hams (Cooked)

  If you have selected a fully cooked ham, further preparation is unnecessary. Simply slice
  and serve. If you prefer, reheat in aluminum foil on low heat (275 degrees) until
  slightly warm.

So if you want it significantly hotter than slightly warm you're going to have to do something different than what they suggest. You could try raising the temperature, the USDA recommends a temperature of not less than 325F in order obtain an internal temperature of 140F.


Vanilla Pudding: Could someone explain this recipe to me?

I don't know why this pudding is especially "easy" -- it's similar to other pudding I've made. Perhaps I've always taken the easy road...

Salt is a flavor enhancer that makes nearly everything taste better (e.g., enhance sweetness, reduce perception of bitterness. There are many more links on that topic; that was the first reasonable one I saw.) I don't think salt is magical in any other way in this recipe.
Adding ingredients after cooking: For vanilla, it loses some of its volatile taste/aroma when cooked. Common to add vanilla and ilk near the end of stuff like this (and sugarwork, other cooked confections, etc.).
Sieve: For smoothness. To get out the lumps. Sometimes done for certain things like crème pât, and sauces or gravies. In this case, to ensure that no starch (etc.) lumps remain. Another question/answer suggests to use a blender (e.g., immersion blender) as a possibility also.


Suggested edible quantity/scaling of Habanero Pepper per pound of meat

One habanero per six quarts of chili, containing approximately one quart meat, provides a solid heat that an average palate can handle. I have cooked chili on numerous occasions for groups of people and found this formula works for most people. Typically I stack it with other, lower-Scoville peppers to produce a well-bodied heat.

Other things to bear in mind:

one habanero per six quarts will not really showcase the subtler flavors of the habanero, only bring out its heat.
capsaicin is fat soluble, more fats in the chili gives you more wiggle room to add more heat. Up the meat or oil (bacon fat), up the peppers
browning your meat in the diced peppers will lock away some flavor in the meat as long as you don't stew it forever
using the bulb's flesh, rather than up by the stem will lower the capsaicin in the pepper, discard seeds and pith as well; this will allow more pepper flavor without overwhelming spiciness
some habanero peppers are weaker than others, you might seek out some that are less spicy if trying to add heat
If all you're looking for is heat, a plurality of pepper types/cultivars will yield better heat; single pepper chili can be hotter, but have a thin kind of heat as opposed to a whole-bodied punch in the jaw kind of heat


How to avoid the blackening fruits once they are cut?

I am aware that this is quite late.
Blackening and browning of fruit is caused by the oxidation of polyphenolic compounds in the fruit by a class of enzymes known as, perhaps unsurprisingly, polyphenolic oxidases (PPOs). PPOs are found inside the cells of the fruit you are eating and are released when you rupture the cell wall and membrane when the fruit is cut. Exposure to oxygen activates the biochemical pathway, resulting in the browning you see.
There is one simple way to prevent function of PPOs is to soak the fruit in a salt solution. Interestingly, a low (acidic) pH enhances this effect. The full version of the linked article goes on to explain that a 0.1 mol/l solution is enough to inhibit browning in a blinded observational test. Sodium Chloride, the common table salt, has a molar mass of 58.44 g/mol., so for a 0.1 mol/l solution you need 5.844 grams (0.206 oz, or about 1 teaspoon) of salt in a litre (2.11 pints) of water. Soaking for 3-5 min is plenty and will not cause substantial salt uptake on the fruit.
This is highly effective at inhibiting browning - I use it all the time on cut fruit for my children, and it will last all day with ease.
Browning does not affect nutritional value particularly. The action of the PPOs is limited to the cut surfaces, and most fruit contain about 0.2-0.3% by weight, so there is plenty there beyond the cut surfaces. Polyphenols are generally classed as anti-oxidants, so they are probably of some nutritional benefit, but if you eat a healthy balanced diet with fresh fruit and vegetables you should be getting plenty of antioxidants anyway. Some polyphenolics are classified as tannins - the dry/astringent components in some wines and tea for instance. These can make food unpalatable, but are not harmful.