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I just made a batch of buttermilk biscuits. I usually make them pretty big, since I like to use them for sandwiches, and they typically come out pretty well. However, this was the first time making them in a new apartment with a much smaller oven. I followed my recipe (which tends to make 5 big-rear end biscuits) and arranged them in a "star" pattern on a flat cookie sheet. The one in the middle came out perfectly, but the rest got a bit burnt and didn't rise well on the sides facing to the outside (away from the other biscuits). The insides were barely cooked and I still got significant burning. Is there any way I could remedy the problem, i.e. using a pan with a lip or a cakepan or something, or am I just doomed to lovely baked goods with this oven? 
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Sep 17, 2011 13:52
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Hmmm, I could give it a try with a pizza stone on a rack above the biscuits. Hopefully that'll help. I'm a bit worried about the crumb being underdone before the outside is overdone, but that might just be a consequence of making them so big. Maybe a lower temp would help that out.
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Sep 17, 2011 15:42
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Casu Marzu posted:Lower heat, longer cook time. Ahh, ok. I'll give it a shot. For some reason, I had it in my mind that biscuits need a short time / high temp bake, but now that I think about it, I don't know why I thought that.
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Sep 17, 2011 16:27
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I just grabbed a nice little 3 pound pork shoulder on a whim as I passed by the local butcher. I just made a batch of pulled pork recently, and didn't really want to do that again. Is there any way to cook pork shoulder so that it's carvable, rather than pullable, but not incredibly tough? Would a brine work? I've never brined anything before, but I'd be willing to give it a go.
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Sep 24, 2011 18:49
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Serendipitaet posted:Okay, so I got 10lbs of carrots to eat all on my own and I'm trying to think of interesting ways of preparing them. You can actually make a really interesting carrot 'jam' if you want. Just cook the carrots until soft, then puree them. Add tons of sugar (the recipe I used recommended 1 cup of sugar for every 1/2 pound of carrots, but I think I used less, I can't remember) and simmer it on the stove until it's jammy.
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Oct 12, 2011 12:35
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Lyssavirus posted:So I went shopping hungry, and ended up buying a one pound brick of extra firm tofu. It was a dollar, and I'm poor so I figured a pound of protein for a dollar was a good plan. Buuuut now I have no loving clue what to do with the thing. I stuck it in the freezer since I remember reading that that makes the texture more pleasant, and I was thinking maybe frying it up in a pan and making some kind of tasty sauce for it, but beyond that I'm stumped. What are good ways to serve tofu? It takes a bit of planning, but a good way to kick up the flavour in tofu is dry-frying it. Just cut the tofu into slices, and toss them in a non-stick pan with no cooking fat (this is very important) over low heat, turning somewhat frequently and pressing down on the slices once in a while. Basically, this slowly dehydrates the slices. Then park them in a marinade overnight; I've found that nothing sucks up a marinade's flavour as well as tofu prepared this way.
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Oct 18, 2011 00:09
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Serendipitaet posted:A few nights back I made my first attempt at pulled pork and I found that there was some room for improvement. You didn't get it hot enough: the pork was 'cooked' at 165°, but you need to slowly push the internal temperature up a good deal more in order to break down all the connective tissue and render the fat.
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Oct 18, 2011 02:06
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I made the challah recipe from the Wiki yesterday, and while it tasted amazing, it didn't seem to hold together that well. It's a bit crumbly, especially when it's toasted. Could that be caused by under (or over) kneading, or just an inherent function of the oil in the recipe "shortening" the dough?
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Oct 22, 2011 11:39
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Saeku posted:In other news, is a hand blender strong enough to make hummus? I move around quite a bit so I don't have the space to carry a full-sized blender, food processor, or mortar and pestle, but trying to make hummus in a mini-blender was a dismal failure. I guess it depends on the model: my immersion blender can make hummus, but it takes a lot of time. To get it as smooth as a food processor can in about 1/50th of the time. You'd be better off with a potato masher.
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Oct 23, 2011 11:39
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yes posted:Yes, you didn't knead it enough. Also, bizarrely, that recipe does not have you proof the loaf before you bake it. Next time, after you weave it, let it sit with a towel over it for about 30 minutes in the same spot you let it rise. Yeah, I noticed that about the recipe and let the dough get a second rise. Definitely going to knead it more next time: I tried to knead it in the food processor because I have some strange fear of hand-kneading: I'm always worried I'm going to mess it up. The next morning, I made a different egg bread recipe, tried kneading by hand, and it worked amazingly. Hell, it almost rose too much: the oven-spring almost made it hit the top of my oven.
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Oct 23, 2011 11:43
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I've found a really nice egg bread recipe that I've been making a lot of lately, and while I love the bread itself, I can't seem to stop this from happening every drat time. Any ideas on how I could stop this from happening, or am I doomed to a life of oddly-shaped sandwiches? I figured slashing the dough would prevent mishaps like this, but it doesn't seem to have any effect, as evidenced in the photo.
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Nov 11, 2011 03:33
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Casu Marzu posted:Doesnt look like oyu're shaping right. Are you rolling it out, folding in thirds and laying the seam on the bottom? That seems to make the best looking loaves for me. Hmmm, no actually. I've just been shaping the dough into a log, putting the raggedy seam side (if there is one) down, and pressing it into the loaf pan. I assumed the second rise would get rid of any pockets or inconsistencies if they were on the bottom of the loaf. I guess I was wrong, huh?
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Nov 11, 2011 03:41
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Also there is tearing, which is normally caused by not doing a long enough second proof and consequently the oven spring is too much and tears the loaf. Ahh, ok. The recipe rises quite quickly: about an hour and a half to more than double it's size on the first rise. I was doing about an hour for the second rise, should I lengthen that? Should the second rise be longer than the first? I always thought it was supposed to be shorter, but in retrospect, I don't know why I think that.
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Nov 11, 2011 11:46
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The past few months, I've been trying to make a point of trying something new in the kitchen, whether it's a new ingredient, or just a new technique, every week. This week, I've finally bought my first hunk of pork belly... now I have no idea what to do with it. What would be a good, versatile recipe for my first go at cooking this? It's a bit intimidating, what with it's... nipple and hair and poo poo.
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Nov 21, 2011 03:25
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Jose posted:I've started working 9-5 and was wondering what people do for breakfast? I want something that isn't simply cereal or toast but that I can prepare and eat in 10-15 minutes and is healthy and will stop me being hungry until lunch. Oooooaaaaatmeeeeeaaaal! It tastes great, it's easy to prepare with a bit of forethought, and it'll keep you full for hours. I get up at 5:30am every day, eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, and it gets me through to lunch at 12:30 / 1:00.
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Nov 22, 2011 13:12
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I know that certain cuts of meat, like pork shoulder or belly, benefit from brining or braising. I'm curious though; is there a point to doing both in one recipe? I'm trying to make a really tender pork belly that I can make big thick slices with, and I just tried roasting at about 300-325 for 2 hours after a brine, and while the flavour is great, the lean meat bits of the belly are a bit dry and chewy. If I were to braise it instead, would that just undo the effects of the brine, though?
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Nov 23, 2011 02:01
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Turkeybone posted:I think that brining and braising are mutually exclusive -- they don't have similar functions. Awesome, thanks. That sounds like exactly the texture I'm going for. So the meat would benefit from both processes, huh? I'll give it a shot!
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Nov 23, 2011 11:44
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Sanguinary Novel posted:I wanted to make some delicious cheesy Arepas, but the recipe calls for 'arepa flour' or pre-cooked cornmeal. I looked in the store for such a thing (a large chain grocery store) and couldn't find anything that might be close. Is it a specialty thing? Can I make it myself? Or am I just being retarded and not looking for the right thing? It's something of a specialty product, yeah. It's not as widespread in standard grocery stores as Maseca. You should try looking for Harina P.A.N., it's the most common brand. 
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Nov 30, 2011 00:23
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Sjurygg posted:What's the difference between the yellow and orange P.A.N. masa flours? If I recall correctly, the only difference is the colour: the yellow bag is white cornmeal, and the orange is yellow. I'm not sure about the nixtamalization though, that may be a part of it.
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Nov 30, 2011 12:26
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I've been experimenting with pork belly a lot recently, trying to get a result I'm happy with. Last time, I cured the belly in a mixture of salt, brown sugar and spices for a few days, then braised it overnight at 200 degrees, letting it chill completely, then frying the slices up. The flavour was somewhat muted, and the lean bits seemed a bit tough. I just read a Michael Ruhlman recipe (technically for Panchetta) where he cures it, but for longer, then wraps it in foil and roasts it at 250 degrees for a couple of hours, before cooling, slicing and frying. The thing is, the curing process has drawn quite a lot of moisture out of the pork: should I really be following up a cure with a dry heat method like this?
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Dec 28, 2011 00:47
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AbdominalSnowman posted:Hopefully this question makes sense, but how do I get bell peppers to get really soft / sweet? I'm used to them being a little bitter and crispy, but I had some the other day that were the complete opposite. Is it just a matter of slow-cooking them, or did they add sugar or something to it? It was for quesadillas and it seemed like the peppers got cooked alongside the chicken, if that makes a difference. You don't need to add sugar. Bell peppers, especially red/yellow/orange ones, have a ton of natural sugars. Roasting or sauteing them for a good amount of time draws them out, cutting the bitterness and making the peppers soft and sweet. It's the same idea as caramelizing onions: any vegetable with a decent amount of sugar will caramelize the same way.
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Dec 29, 2011 12:46
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The Macaroni posted:^^^ Soda bread as a base for corned beef sandwiches = victory. You can get light coconut milk, I think.
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Jan 24, 2012 02:50
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EVG posted:I roasted a chicken the other day as I'm trying to both eat cheaper, and evade some of the immense shame that I get from Mr. Wiggles always talking about how bad it is to buy the jumbo packages of chicken breasts from Costco and realizing that I was guilty of the same. It's pretty similar to chicken salad, but it may be different enough to pique your interest: you could always make coronation chicken. Chop up the chicken, mix in some mayo, yogurt, dijon, curry powder, and lemon juice. Stir in some chopped almonds and dried fruit.(currants, raisins, etc.)It makes a great cold sandwich filler.
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Jan 26, 2012 12:16
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Scramble an egg or two with some onions, peppers, some pork if you have it, then just split a biscuit, pile it on top, and attack it with your face.
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Mar 5, 2012 02:16
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I just finished up a 24 cure and 7 day hanging for a breast of duck prosciutto, and was looking to have some for dinner tonight. However, I forgot to weigh the breast before I hung it, so I'm not sure if it's down 30% in weight. It seems quite firm, and the breast was about half the weight of the one the recipe said to use, so I have a feeling it should be ok, but I really don't want to kill myself here.  I didn't have any nitrates or nitrites in the cure, and I spent a good portion of the day scaring the bejesus out of myself with the wiki entry for botulism. Is that something I should be worried about, or is that only relevant for canned goods and sausages? Also, I should mention that I wasn't planning on cooking this before consumption... Happy Abobo fucked around with this message at 22:59 on Mar 13, 2012 |
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Mar 13, 2012 22:12
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Stalizard posted:I got some big lamb steaks. It looks like it comes from the leg, there's a huge bone in the middle full of marrow. I hear marrow is all sorts of tasty but I've never had it or tried to cook it. I've also never cooked lamb. If it's from a leg, it'll probably be pretty tough if you try to cook it like a normal steak. Leg of lamb is best cooked low and slow, if I recall correctly.
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Mar 21, 2012 01:29
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Every few weeks, I like to buy a nice 4-5 pound bone-in pork shoulder, make a batch of pulled pork, and freeze it in portions for easy weeknight dinners. Yesterday, the only shoulder my butcher had left was about 7 pounds, so I just grabbed it. Unfortunately, it didn't fit in my dutch oven. I managed to trim off a 2 pound chunk and get it in there, but now I don't know what to do with the remainder. It's about the size of a pork loin and seems to have a pretty solid fat content. Any good ideas? Happy Abobo fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Apr 1, 2012 |
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Apr 1, 2012 15:15
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Cowcatcher posted:Slice into thin portions, marinate in lime, cilantro and garlic overnight, grill on very high heat and make vietnamese sandwiches Both sound awesome, but I'm a sucker for sandwiches. I know you're supposed to cook pork shoulder for a long time to get it tender, but does the thin slicing let you grill it fast and still have it palatable in the end?
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Apr 1, 2012 20:21
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Hmm.... can you make corned pork? I was considering just doing the corned beef recipe from Charcuterie but swapping in the pork shoulder for brisket, since brisket is tough to find around here. The recipe calls for pink salt, though. Is that necessary for safety, or is it just for keeping the colour of the meat?
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Apr 1, 2012 21:53
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Turkeybone posted:How long does it have to cure for? if it's like a week then you'd probably want to find some pink salt.. if it's just a few days you'll probably not kill anyone. Yeah, it soaks in a brine for about a week. Nuts, I was hoping to start it tonight. Ah well, better safe than sorry. Actually, given that the piece of meat I'm using is less than half the size of the one in the recipe, I could probably cut down the time and forget the pink salt. The whole thing ends up getting boiled for hours anyway. Happy Abobo fucked around with this message at 02:08 on Apr 2, 2012 |
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Apr 2, 2012 00:22
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Cyril Sneer posted:While I have no issue with eating it this way, I'm not quite sure it'll work for an actual meal. I dunno; throw in some bread and cheese slices, and you've got a ploughman's lunch. Of course, that's not exactly a huge departure. I've always seen a ploughman's lunch as just a sandwich you were too lazy to actually make.
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Apr 3, 2012 23:40
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Turkeybone posted:Okay, I actually have a question! Dice up the chicken and eggplant, saute with some tomatoes and onion. Roast the kohlrabi, stick it in a food processor with some butter and puree it. Put the sauteed chicken and eggplant mixture in a casserole, top with the kohlrabi puree, and bake it.
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Apr 7, 2012 01:26
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Ron Jeremy posted:Is there a big flavor contribution from roux in sauces? I made a pan sauce tonight. After browning chicken, I put garlic in the pan, but panicked when it started to brown too quickly and dumped in wine to deglaze and stop the browning Instead of flour to make roux. I find finished with corn starch to thicken. It depends on the colour of the roux. The longer you cook the roux, and the darker it gets, the more flavour it'll impart, but it'll also thicken less effectively.
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Apr 14, 2012 11:07
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Agent355 posted:If I'm cooking anything with vegetables that you sautee what order do you typically start cooking the veggies in? You want to throw in the denser vegetables earlier, since they take longer to cook. However, onions should almost always go in first, since you want to give them a lot of time to break down and caramelize and whatnot.
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Apr 19, 2012 00:46
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tarepanda posted:I screwed up and bought a bunch of chicken breast instead of thigh meat for my tandoori chicken. I tried it and it's okay, but a bit dry and chewy. Yeah, chicken breast dries out quicker than pretty much any meat I can think of. I don't typically cook with it if I can help it, since I don't trust myself to not dry it out, but the best trick I've found is to pound them out much thinner than normal. It lets you cook them through much faster and retain some moisture.
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Apr 19, 2012 01:38
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nwin posted:So I made some mini crab cakes today and cooked 5 out of the 20, and they tasted great. I was going to make them all and bring them to a party but then my wife and I were talking and decided not to since it was a 45 minute drive and the crab cakes would be either soggy and cold when they got there. Yeah, they'll be totally fine: it's only one day.
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Apr 22, 2012 11:16
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I just (hopefully) finished some cured salmon, but I'm a bit worried about it. It was a small piece, and it spent two full days in the cure, but the inside feels soft. The thickest part of the filet wasn't completely covered when I pulled it out of the cure gunk, so I cut around that bit, but do you think this looks safe to eat?
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Apr 30, 2012 16:44
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pnumoman posted:It looks okay; does it smell okay? If you cured it wrong enough for it to be dangerous, it would smell obviously off. If it smells fine, it's probably fine. Nah, it doesn't smell off. I'm just a bit worried because I realized that I used wild salmon, which I've heard is much more likely to have parasites than farm-raised, and because I didn't buy sushi grade, so I don't think it's been frozen beforehand.
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Apr 30, 2012 17:05
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Anyone know a good spice mix for gyro meat? I just blew twenty bucks worth of ground lamb on Alton Brown's recipe and it tastes like poo poo.
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May 1, 2012 02:56
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GrAviTy84 posted:I usually do rosemary, marjoram, fresh garlic, pureed and wringed in a towel onion, a bit of ground coriander, and a bit of cumin. and salt of course. Hmmm. I used all of those except the coriander and cumin. Do you use dried herbs? I'm also starting to think I used the wrong meat. After baking the loaf, you're supposed to pour off the fat, and there wasn't a single drop to pour off. The finished loaf is springy and rubbery and overly chewy. Maybe I used too lean of a ground lamb. That could explain the texture, and maybe the crap flavour is just the missing fat.
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May 1, 2012 03:11
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