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Author Topic: A Cooking Thread?  (Read 457697 times)

LTK

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2200 on: 17 Nov 2017, 06:50 »

I actually increased the size of the recipe a littlebit for the metric version because that made the measurements come out more even in metric units.  Even the 7ml, which is the only "odd" number, corresponds to one use each of the standard 5ml and 2ml measuring spoons I have in my set.  And I tested the modified version to make sure it works as well as the original imperial measurements recipe, so ..... ??? 

I don't understand the question.
Yeah, it wasn't a question, just a general complaint. It was very considerate of you to include metric in your measurements, although I must say that if I made anything with 7ml of cayenne pepper it would be like eating lava. The recipe I was complaining about was for curry, which called for a teaspoon of chili powder - I used half, and that already made it hot enough for me to need a few scoops of yoghurt on the side. Maybe the spices I buy are unusually hot but in general you should make a note of the intended spiciness of your recipe.
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Cornelius

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2201 on: 17 Nov 2017, 08:19 »

I think the exactness is something that comes from having to cater to a broad audience. Those lacking in confidence in their own ability to judge the correct amount of ingredients based on an abstract or imprecise measure will always trump those with the confidence or recklessness to know that these things aren't that important. ...

Unless you're trying to replicate the sort of fine dining food that attracts high prices and low lighting, accuracy doesn't really carry the sort of importance that gets attached to it, not even in baking ... Don't get hung up on accuracy, even in baking there's a fairly comfortable margin of tolerance in recipes.

I quite generally agree, except two points; giving an absurd degree of accuracy, as often happens when someone not accustomed to using the other system, converts, is not helping those lacking in confidence. Not least because those are generally the people that don't have the tools to measure to the same degree.
The second, is that a recipe really should note whether it's using cane or beet sugar. There's a significant enough difference.

When we're looking at publishing chefs, though, you should be careful of what they write. I find there's often a few points missing - or indeed, measurements that are just off enough, not to get the right result. There's often enough of a balance between recipes that work, and that don't, to give the average reader a sense of accomplishment, and yet not make it look too easy. That's especially obvious with TV-chefs. I suspect there's a lot of ghostwriting in that segment as well.

Aside from that, clinging too hard to your known recipes, never lets you discover something new. Take for instance one of our local brewersé new beers - it's plainly a result of forgetting about the malt he was roasting - but it works.
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Morituri

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2202 on: 17 Nov 2017, 09:48 »

I honestly think the bizarre conversions one is used to finding should be more attributed to laziness.

It goes like this.  It's easier to find a conversion constant to multiply by, and just do that and write down the result.  Then there's no need to adjust anything and no need to test the resulting recipe to make sure it still works. 

And the lazy mind never thinks of any other possibility.  If it were any different at all, then it wouldn't BE the same recipe according to people who don't actually think.  As though recipes were given once, and that's the only possible way it can work.  You'll find that none of these people has ever deviated from or experimented with any variation of any recipe they've ever cooked.  They've always done it by rote following the recipes exactly.  Because that's the way you do it, that's why.



Yes, I should have noted, the crackers are spicy.  The original recipe I started from actually called for black pepper but I found that boring.  I find cayenne or habanero brings out the cheese flavor nicely, but most folk dislike habanero.







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Ignominious

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2203 on: 17 Nov 2017, 11:38 »

I point of disagreement between us. Apart from a hint of black pepper or mustard, I dislike spicy cheese crackers. I prefer to save that for whatever you're putting on top of the cracker.

As an aside, my continuing adventures in the world of "why are there so many damn apples on my tree?". Right now I'm making some apple, ginger and apricot jam. Smells pretty good so far.
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Cornelius

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2204 on: 20 Nov 2017, 03:06 »

I honestly think the bizarre conversions one is used to finding should be more attributed to laziness.

Agreed.

Yes, I should have noted, the crackers are spicy.  The original recipe I started from actually called for black pepper but I found that boring.  I find cayenne or habanero brings out the cheese flavor nicely, but most folk dislike habanero.

Maybe you could try long pepper? It's akin to your black pepper, but does have a more interesting flavour profile.
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LTK

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2205 on: 11 Dec 2017, 11:39 »

I love to cook with fresh ginger root, but the packages always contain like three whole roots and they end up shriveling before I can use it all. What are your favourite recipes with ginger?
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Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2206 on: 11 Dec 2017, 11:46 »

I've been fermenting a lot of stuff.
Sauerkraut.
Squash
Pickles
Onions
Salsa
Chilis
Mushrooms
I even have a gallon of Apple Wine set to be bottled on Christmas Eve.
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Cornelius

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2207 on: 11 Dec 2017, 12:23 »

I love to cook with fresh ginger root, but the packages always contain like three whole roots and they end up shriveling before I can use it all. What are your favourite recipes with ginger?

If you've got some left, you could try planting it. Preferably a whole root, though if there are a few shoots left, it could still work. Once the stalks die down, it's ready to be harvested. Just cut it off with a clean knife, and replant.
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doombilly

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2208 on: 12 Dec 2017, 09:53 »

Ginger works well in pots too. Probably going to do some here. Since it gets too cold to survive the winter.
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Cornelius

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2209 on: 13 Dec 2017, 05:14 »

Of course, for the less horticulturally gifted, you can always make candied ginger. Peel and slice your ginger as thinly as possible. Boil and simmer for 10 minutes, drain, repeat. For 500g of ginger, mix 800g of sugar and 1l (or 1kg) of water in a pot, add the drained ginger, and bring it to slightly above 100°C (somewhere in the range between 100°C and 110°C should be fine) or about 225°F. Remove from heat, and let it sit for some time. You can store it in its syrup - in a sterilised pot, it should keep a long time - or you can drain the syrup and coat the ginger in granulated sugar.

Incidentally, this is one of the recipes that goes right back to Nostradamus.
« Last Edit: 13 Dec 2017, 13:18 by Cornelius »
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Morituri

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2210 on: 28 Dec 2017, 10:09 »

Holiday Yogurt: 

(A simple cream yogurt.  Occupies the same food group as ice cream but without sugar.  Foodies will adore it more than kids.  I make this once or twice a year. )

2 quarts half & half  (or 1 liter milk & 1 liter whipping cream)
1 spoonful live culture yogurt

Put half & half in wide shallow pan (usually I use a casserole dish) in microwave oven & scald by boiling for about 10 minutes.  This is a process you'll have to watch and supervise; if your pan is not wide enough or your microwave too powerful, it's easy to have the stuff boil over and make a mess. 

Once it has boiled for a good ten minutes, remove from the microwave, stir thoroughly, cover it and let it cool.  When it is at body temperature or below, stir in the live culture yogurt.

Then put the mixture into whatever jar or container you want yogurt in, set it someplace warm (gas oven with pilot on) and leave it overnight.  In the morning, transfer to the refrigerator.

There are a lot of things in the supermarket claiming to be cream yogurt.  I think this stuff, as one of the simplest possible REAL cream yogurts, is a fair proof that that claim is at best made in error.
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zmeiat_joro

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2211 on: 03 Jan 2018, 19:08 »

Can I just say that I am extremely glad we have a cooking thread and I just found it? I will teach you so much stuff. And I hope you will also.
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2212 on: 03 Jan 2018, 19:21 »

Morituri: if you think you know anything about making sour milk, "yoghurt", you're probably wrong. For one, you never take it away from 39 degrees Celcius. Dudes, My Grandmother knows best.
« Last Edit: 03 Jan 2018, 19:31 by zmeiat_joro »
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2213 on: 03 Jan 2018, 19:35 »

Why do natve English speakers call that kind of sour milk Yoghurt? That's  been happening for almost ten years.

EDIT: and the strained kind "Greek" it quite weird. Why are you calling strained sour milk "Greek"? It's weird. Just saying :shrug:
« Last Edit: 03 Jan 2018, 19:53 by zmeiat_joro »
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Morituri

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2214 on: 03 Jan 2018, 22:06 »

When you don't scald it, it comes out liquid.  Some folk prefer that.  I don't.

I like yogurt that sets up like a good thick custard. Which is why I always scald the milk (or in this case milk & cream) first.
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Morituri

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2215 on: 09 Jan 2018, 11:29 »

FYI, Yogurt (spelled without an 'h' except in a few odd places) has been an everyday dairy product here for *at least* forty years, and people have been making their own at least occasionally for at least that long.   In this case, when we want an obscenely rich variety for a holiday menu that can't be had at the market.

What it is that started ten years ago?

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pwhodges

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2216 on: 09 Jan 2018, 11:38 »

The word yogurt comes from Turkish, and has been naturalised with several spellings: yogurt, yoghurt, yoghourt.  The spellings yoghurd, yogourt, and yahourt died out very quickly.

Yoghourt has pretty much died out (except in posy advertising), and generally America has settled on yogurt and Britain on yoghurt.  I use yogurt, but my British spell-checker objects to it.
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Morituri

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2217 on: 09 Jan 2018, 12:23 »

I knew it came from that part of the world - though I couldn't have identified Turkish specifically.  And I've seen the 'yoghurt' spelling (in, as you say, posy advertising) but had no idea it was standard in British English.  It's just been in the back of my head as one of those variants - odd, but not necessarily wrong - that some folk prefer.

Is it a general pattern that American English, where there are differences in word length, tends to settle on spellings with fewer letters?
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2218 on: 21 Jan 2018, 17:54 »

Learned this one from my mom over the holidays.

Diabetic friendly(ish) Pumpkin Cheesecake
  • 1 tub whipped cream
  • ½ tub of cream cheese
  • 1 can pumpkin (fresh pumpkin has too much moisture)
  • 1 pack vanilla pudding
  • nutmeg
  • pumpkin spice (your discretion)
  • fresh ginger (your discretion)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • pie crust

Mix whipped cream with the cream cheese till foamy. Coat the bottom of the pie shell with sugar. Next, place the cheese mix in the bottom of the shell in an even layer. In a separate container, mix the pudding, pumpkin spice and milk. Then, add the remaining spices to the pumpkin mix. Add the pumpkin mix atop the cheese layer and refrigerate for 1 hour.
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Thrillho

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2219 on: 23 Jan 2018, 01:47 »

I got a garlic crusher for Christmas. I've been using it and it's really useful having the garlic crushed instead of cut up, and it takes hardly any time, but good lord they are impossible to clean.
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LTK

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2220 on: 23 Jan 2018, 02:09 »

Those are usually called garlic presses, right? I bought one off Amazon a while back because I was sick of the shitty quality on the presses they have in the shops here. The last one I bought broke after three good presses. The one I have now is solid zinc, and heavy enough to make a good bludgeon. It usually doesn't need more than a hot water rinse to clean.
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2221 on: 23 Jan 2018, 02:45 »

but good lord they are impossible to clean.

You need an easy-clean one, like this:

http://www.kitcheninnovationsinc.com/project/easy-clean-garlic-press/

I can't think why they are not more common.

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2222 on: 23 Jan 2018, 06:27 »

I find that the flavour of pressed garlic is a little different from chopped garlic. It does fry quite differently. So I do choose between the two carefully. Pressed is definitely a preference if you want it raw in a sauce or a salad.

For cleaning, I find if you put it in with the general washing up or a dishwasher the smell and taste transfers to all the other kitchen ware. I generally stick it in a cup or bowl of cold water for ten minutes or so before washing. Any left over skin and stuff usually lifts off easily after that. I do have a removeable grill though.
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Cornelius

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2223 on: 23 Jan 2018, 07:48 »

I haven't used one of those in ages. I usually just either chop my garlic, or crush it under the heel of my knife.

However, before it broke, I just scrubbed it off under the tap, with a hard brush.
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Morituri

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2224 on: 23 Jan 2018, 15:34 »

Cleaning garlic crushers is mildly annoying, but a brush does great.

My dear wife (the same who swears by undiluted cold brew coffee) likes to mix crushed garlic or ginger with vanilla ice cream.  I prefer plain vanilla, but I've tried these mixes and they make less nonsense than I expected.  They're actually good.

And now I'm wondering how wasabi powder will affect it....
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2225 on: 23 Jan 2018, 15:53 »

We've got one of these types (not this specific brand/model, but the design is much the same).

(click to show/hide)

It's quite effective, and easy enough to clean with a dishwashing brush.
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2226 on: 01 Mar 2018, 13:01 »

I made chili using dry beans - kidney and black. Soaked them overnight and cooked them in the chili for 1.5 hours, but they were still significantly tougher than canned beans and some of the black beans were pretty grainy when chewed. It was still good to eat, I didn't break my teeth on them or anything, but I still think I didn't quite get the intended result.

Does anyone cook with dry beans regularly? What's your experience?
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2227 on: 01 Mar 2018, 13:47 »

If I'm using dried beans for any recipe, I cook them separately and then add them. Towards the end if it's a long cooking recipe. I have a pressure cooker, so that makes it a lot easier (a multi cooker actually, Insta Pot type of thing, but different brand).

If you're not going to cook them separately, I would guess that you would need to add a decent amount of extra liquid to the recipe for the beans to absorb.
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2228 on: 02 Mar 2018, 01:47 »

I don't use dried beans often, but it's as Tova says: even if you soak them before hand, you need to add more liquid. Or indeed cook them separately, in which case you can, in my experience, use them much like your canned beans.
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Morituri

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2229 on: 02 Mar 2018, 11:48 »

With dried beans I find it best to soak them, boil them, let them cool, add liquid, soak them some more, then boil them again.  Seriously: Three-day process. 
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2230 on: 02 Mar 2018, 13:17 »

Made some spaghetti bolognese with a ton of veg (onions, mushrooms, carrots and spinach, oh and tomatoes) and whole-wheat pasta and lean turkey mince. Even though I like a lot of types of vegetables, I'm still picky with a lot of food so even though I know it's hidden in there, it's still preferable to having it on the side and eating the same stuff separately. Also it bulks it out so it's more than enough for two meals for me and my partner. Could probably stretch to three if we can learn portion control.

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2231 on: 02 Mar 2018, 15:19 »

I recently found a neat recipe for salt and vinegar roast potatoes. Where have you been my whole life?

In a nutshell: Scrub and/or peel potatoes, and slice into even 3/4 inch or 1cm coins. Put into saucepan and cover with vinegar (or diluted vinegar). Bring to the boil, boil for five minutes, then turn heat off and let it sit for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Drain potatoes, put into roasting pan, toss with olive oil/fat-of-your-choice, salt and pepper, and put in oven. 20-25 minutes, then flip them and continue roasting for another 10-20 minutes. Keep an eye on them towards the end.

They are pretty good.
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LTK

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2232 on: 19 Mar 2018, 11:14 »

So on the second go I managed to put a pizza together: it was quite tough, but otherwise tasty. I'm wondering what kind of water-to-flour ratio I should be using, because the measurements I converted from the recipe were 200 ml water and 250 g flour, but that just resulted in a sticky paste that was impossible to knead. The same thing happened on my first attempt and that one was a total disaster, so I looked up another recipe that used 500 g of flour and 250 ml water, so I figured I was safe to dump in an extra 100 g flour and that made it more manageable.

Maybe I didn't use enough yeast - I bought fresh yeast so I used half of the amount listed for dry yeast - or maybe I did use a bit too much flour. I was kneading for more than ten minutes, so I don't think it's that. Anyone have ideas for what I could tweak? Does fresh yeast need more sugar, maybe?
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I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2233 on: 19 Mar 2018, 12:21 »

I think you may be right that your water-to-flour ratio might be off. The recipe I use has about a 1-2 water-flour ratio. However, in practice, I just start mixing my water in a bit at a time, until I have the right consistency - somewhat springy. In general it's somewhat less than half water.

For 1 kg of flour, I have some 2-3g dry yeast. I really should check how much exactly. I don't use any sugar in my recipe. Some oregano, at times.

What you could try, is to activate your yeast before you mix it in. Some lukewarm water, a bit of sugar, and dissolve your yeast in there. Just set it aside for a while; you'll see it growing. If it gets out of hand, put it in the fridge for a while. Although, if it does get that far out of hand, be careful, and adjust your dosage, to avoid it rising too much. (Or if you're brewing, to avoid an excess of pressure.)
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Morituri

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2234 on: 19 Mar 2018, 12:24 »

Sounds like the water-to-flour ratio is off.  But you figured that out on your own.

If you're starting with dry yeast, it may also be best to mix it with the water and a *tiny* bit of the flour (and/or a spoonful of sugar) and let that stand for a few minutes before commencing with making the dough.
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LTK

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2235 on: 19 Mar 2018, 13:32 »

What you could try, is to activate your yeast before you mix it in. Some lukewarm water, a bit of sugar, and dissolve your yeast in there. Just set it aside for a while; you'll see it growing. If it gets out of hand, put it in the fridge for a while. Although, if it does get that far out of hand, be careful, and adjust your dosage, to avoid it rising too much. (Or if you're brewing, to avoid an excess of pressure.)
Yep, already did that. The yeast is a brown clay-like substance and I put a half-teaspoon of that in 200 ml water with a tablespoon of sugar. I didn't actually see it foam as suggested, butsome of the brown bits started to float to the surface so it was definitely somewhat alive. I read the water was supposed to be 35 degrees; the first time I put it in water that was about 50 (the recipe said 'warm water') so that might not have helped. Hence I couldn't just add the water bit by bit, as the yeast was already dissolved in it. Using half the water would also mean I'd only end up with half the yeast.

The dry yeast used in the recipe was also measured in teaspoons, but it's probably denser when dry (or less dense?), so I would have been better served with a measure of weight... Oh well. I'll keep 2-3 g of yeast per kg of flour as a guideline for next time.
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2236 on: 19 Mar 2018, 13:58 »

30-35°C is good, 50 is too hot, so it may have been that.

Usually, I only take about a quarter of my water, to get my yeast started - if I bother at all; my baking yeast doesn't really need it.
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2237 on: 21 Mar 2018, 16:17 »

You don't need sugar for pizza dough so knock that out of your recipe. About 2-1 flour to water is good. Remember that if you think you need to add water to a dough mixture, always add half of what you think you might need, mix and then reassess. Also worth adding a bit of olive oil to the mixture instead of the water, particularly of you like a crispy crust.

However, if you're the sort of person with a bit of spare time each day and a touch of discipline, try this recipe that's worked well on another forum I frequent.

Quote
500g of 00 flour in the bowl
Then add
10g dry yeast
10g sugar
10g of salt
Mix
1 glug of extra virgin olive oil
Mix
300ml of cold water (might want a bit more, no more than 25ml)
Mix then knead (doesn't need to be too much)
Put in an oiled tub let it rise in the fridge - Edit
Knead
Then just repeat the last 2 steps for four days.

I'm cooking it on a seasoned medium weight baking tray for roughly 15 mins at 280 in the top oven, I've also used the frying pan method, I have to say the oven works better for me. The fan oven produced terrible results. Also I'm making granma slice (base - cheese - sauce).
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2238 on: 22 Mar 2018, 15:25 »

Today, I butterflied some chicken breasts and sliced them up so they were really thin, salted them and spread some tasty very soft blue cheese all over them, rolled them up into two thick sausage-like things, wrapped them in bacon and then tightly wrapped them in clingfilm, cooked them at 60 degrees celsius for a while and then finished them off quickly in a hot frying pan in order to brown the bacon. Served with slow-baked butternut squash, herb-marinated artichoke-hearts, a creamy slightly tomatoey chicken velouté and a little lemon. Think it needs a little finely chopped rosemary and I def. want to try it out with chicken thighs. I don't really like chicken breast but it was on sale :o
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2239 on: 22 Mar 2018, 15:36 »

I made chili using dry beans - kidney and black. Soaked them overnight and cooked them in the chili for 1.5 hours, but they were still significantly tougher than canned beans and some of the black beans were pretty grainy when chewed. It was still good to eat, I didn't break my teeth on them or anything, but I still think I didn't quite get the intended result.

Does anyone cook with dry beans regularly? What's your experience?

Salt the water in which you soak the beans, about 1 tbsp per litre. Makes for creamier, less tough beans.

I usually cook them separately and then add them to the meat towards the end. Peas and lentils I usually cook together with the meat.

When everything's done, heat some oil in a skillet, toss in some garlic, onions, cumin, coriander seeds or whatever spices you like, let it brown a little and then mix it into the main dish.
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2240 on: 23 Mar 2018, 05:57 »

Thanks for the tip, will definitely try salting. I always sauté the garlic and onions first, then I add the spices together with the beans and vegetables. Does it matter whether you do it before or after?

I made pumpkin/potato soup yesterday and I realised I should do that more often. The smell of a freshly cut pumpkin is just amazing. The soup had onion, garlic, ginger, red lentils, and curry. I will happily eat this for four days straight.
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Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2241 on: 23 Mar 2018, 10:49 »

Thanks for the tip, will definitely try salting. I always sauté the garlic and onions first, then I add the spices together with the beans and vegetables. Does it matter whether you do it before or after?


My mum taught me to do this both before and after, for lentils, peas, beans and some meat dishes. The second addition of spices etc fried in oil imparts a clearer flavor :) the practice itself is known, confusingly, as "tempering" and I often use it when making soup as well.

Quote
I made pumpkin/potato soup yesterday and I realised I should do that more often. The smell of a freshly cut pumpkin is just amazing. The soup had onion, garlic, ginger, red lentils, and curry. I will happily eat this for four days straight.

Om nom nom :o I am a recent convert to the pumpkin fan club.
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2242 on: 03 May 2018, 14:29 »

I decided I wanted some popcorn today, so I tossed a few handfuls of corn into a pan of melted butter, but it always takes a very long time before all of it pops, so I end up with a load where everything that popped last is pristine and marshmallow-white while everything that popped first is brown and charred. It's still good to eat, but does anyone else ever make popcorn at home and knows how to get it to turn out better?
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I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2243 on: 03 May 2018, 15:11 »

I always put some in a paper bag and pop it :claireface: in the microwave. It works a treat.

https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/how-to-pop-popcorn-the-microwave-paper-bag-method/
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2244 on: 03 May 2018, 17:52 »

Hmm, yeah, the problem with that is that I don't have paper bags.

...

Or a microwave.
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Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2245 on: 04 May 2018, 02:11 »

The way I did it before I got a popcorn maker, was, like this: I take a pan, heat it up. One the pan is hot, I melt some butter. The butter melted, I sparingly add corn. I put on the lid, and, as soon as I hear the popping start, I lower the fire - as you only need to maintain the heat, and not heat up any more. Shake up the pan from time to time, so your popped corn stays on top.
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2246 on: 04 May 2018, 16:07 »

For popcorn in oil, we always heated the oil in a saucepan, threw in three kernels, and added the rest once those had popped (or: a minute after the first of them popped).  We didn't actually cook it in butter, as the oil-popped corn came out with what we considered better texture.

But these days I use an air popper first and then add oil (or melted butter).
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2247 on: 05 May 2018, 03:20 »

Made curry in the slow cooker. Turned out really well for a first try and no recipe. Getting a lot more confident with trusting my instincts when it comes to cooking and ingredients.

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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2248 on: 02 Jul 2018, 18:18 »

I just (coincidentally) discovered this video. It seemed relevant to the discussion. If you're only interested in the popcorn, skip to the second half.

https://youtu.be/FoztKuXEYnQ
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Re: A Cooking Thread?
« Reply #2249 on: 03 Jul 2018, 06:04 »

Damn, I gotta get myself a metal bowl like that.
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Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.
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