Cooking

[Castaras]

Has anyone had any experience in making mayonnaise dressings for pasta? A supermarket near me had an amazing mayonnaise pasta, but it was a little too acidic for me, so was going to try make my own.

Was "Cooked Pasta in Mayonnaise dressing with basil", and had a load of lemon and vinegar in as well.

[thubby]

On the subject of cooking pasta, I once heard a story of someone who broke spaghetti in half to fit it in the pan. I assumed this was just an urban legend told to frighten foodies, or something, but the other day I saw someone actually do it. I was nearly speechless.

all it does is change the shape of the pasta. if you're cooking for 1, a sauce pan won't hold the full length dried spaghetti.
if you want to get flustered about it, i will criticize you're using of dried pasta as opposed to freshly made (which is messy but surprisingly easy)

[The Succubus]

Has anyone had any experience in making mayonnaise dressings for pasta? A supermarket near me had an amazing mayonnaise pasta, but it was a little too acidic for me, so was going to try make my own.

Was "Cooked Pasta in Mayonnaise dressing with basil", and had a load of lemon and vinegar in as well.

It's worth remembering that mayonnaise already has vinegar in it, so if the basil has a vinegarette dressing as well, it will be very acidic. Ideally, you want to use a light vinegar, such as a white wine one over the traditional sort. Something like this:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1...ess-mayonnaise

You might need to fine tune this recipe though as watercress and basil have very different flavours.


I'm thinking about making gingerbread for this week's blog entry. Gingerbread koalas, if I can find a decent template. >.>

[Aedilred]

all it does is change the shape of the pasta. if you're cooking for 1, a sauce pan won't hold the full length dried spaghetti.
if you want to get flustered about it, i will criticize you're using of dried pasta as opposed to freshly made (which is messy but surprisingly easy)

It just seems so... pointless. If the spaghetti was meant to be broken in half it wouldn't come in that length! It's a piece of cake to get the whole piece into even a small pan, since it softens so quickly.

Given that I only really eat spaghetti dishes (with a previously bulk-made sauce) when I haven't got the time or energy to cook anything else, making fresh spaghetti each time isn't really an option. In any case, I've also been reliably informed that for most kinds of pasta, including spaghetti, dried pasta is more "authentic" anyway.

[thubby]

It just seems so... pointless. If the spaghetti was meant to be broken in half it wouldn't come in that length! It's a piece of cake to get the whole piece into even a small pan, since it softens so quickly.

last i checked spaghetti doesnt come in universal lengths, but all i know is that my farberware saucepan won't keep the stuff in at full length.

[Krazzman]

Ok, about breaking Spaghetti... why not? I don't like them too long anyway and now they fit in the pot without me having to whirl till they are all submerged. We don't use "normal" spaghetti since the spelt spaghetti we buy are really tasty even without salt our sauce.
Only when cooking for our Pen and Paper group (is most likely spaghetti or rice) we use "normal spaghetti" as in discounterstuff. We even tried out wholemeal spaghetti but they are thicker and not that good in taste.


As a substitute for milk in smoothies you could also try out Soy-rice-milk. But if you don't want anything dairy in it then I think every fiber-fruit (Kaki, Mango or similar) works if stretched with a fitting juice.

[thubby]

fun fact, you can't actually break spaghetti in half. it will always break into 3 pieces if bent.

[Aedilred]

fun fact, you can't actually break spaghetti in half. it will always break into 3 pieces if bent.

That's even worse! If you're going to smash up your spaghetti into splinters, why not just use penne or fusilli?

I've never had a problem with getting spaghetti into a pan of any size (provided that I don't use more volume of spaghetti than the pan will physically hold, of course); really long spaghetti can be a bit of a pain, but I don't eat the really long stuff very often.

[Castaras]

It's worth remembering that mayonnaise already has vinegar in it, so if the basil has a vinegarette dressing as well, it will be very acidic. Ideally, you want to use a light vinegar, such as a white wine one over the traditional sort. Something like this:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1...ess-mayonnaise

You might need to fine tune this recipe though as watercress and basil have very different flavours.

Beautiful, thanks very much for the advice and recipe!

Just made a load. Most has gone into the fridge to chill, and a little is now my chip dip. :3

[Knaight]

Ok, I might be misremembering something here, but why do you toss salt in water to cook pasta? The salt will most likely not be absorbed and actually drags the cooking process out longer by around 1 to 10 minutes depending on your stove.

Generally speaking, there is already some salt in the pasta that is part of the flavor. If you don't toss salt in that salt comes out, and the pasta loses some flavor.

[Dihan]

I made a Thai green curry with my friends yesterday. It was pretty good.

[factotum]

I made a Thai green curry with my friends yesterday.

Most people use chicken, but whatever works for you, I guess...

[Karoht]

Generally speaking, there is already some salt in the pasta that is part of the flavor. If you don't toss salt in that salt comes out, and the pasta loses some flavor.

It also keeps it firm or 'toothy' as it is sometimes called. As the starch goes out it loses it's consistency. Basically, it keeps your pasta from turning into glue. Pasta should be al dente, not soggy goopy mushy shapes of starch.

Al dente is a difficult term to pin down. Google it for better answers.
Rice should also be Al dente, but this varies greatly between varieties of rice.

[noparlpf]

I have a question. Do fruit preserves in sealed airtight containers spoil?

[warty goblin]

I have a question. Do fruit preserves in sealed airtight containers spoil?

You mean like canned jam? Probably eventually, but if the seal remains good and they were properly canned in the first place, they should last years to decades. If the seal is broken when you retrieve it from storage though, do not eat it! That's a fast way to end up very dead.

If you mean a jam or similar in tupperware or suchlike, it'll mold eventually. Usually jams are so sweet this takes quite a while, particularly if kept in the fridge.

[Death by DM]

This is exactly why you need to be posting on this thread - you can get advice on how to make not-box mac and cheese. It's really simple, generally cheaper, and essentially guaranteed to end up better.

Knaight's Mac And Cheese For Lazy Slackers Who Don't Want To Make A Roux*

Spoiler

Show

The Pasta

1. Get a big pot.
2. Put some water in it. Make sure that there is enough to submerge the pasta, no cooking experience is needed, but knowledge of volume is helpful.
3. Toss some salt in the pot. This is important.
4. Splash a bit of olive oil in the pot.
5. Boil the saltwater.
6. Add dry pasta to the boiling water.
7. Cook for about ten minutes. The pasta should be flexible, but not squishy.
8. Strain the pasta, and put it back in the pot.

The Cheese

1. Toss some milk in the pasta. You want a thin layer at the bottom of the pan, maybe 1/8 in. (.25 cm) deep.
2. Cut some slices of cheese. Cheddar works well, and mixing multiple kinds often works better. Mostly white cheddar with a bit of pepper jack is my prefered method.
3. Stir together over low heat.
4. Add spices. Garlic is good, lemon pepper is good, hot sauce is good, whatever. I use lots of spices in complex mixtures, but that can wait
5. When you have an even consistency, turn the heat off.
6. Optional: Put the macaroni and cheese in a large glass pan, preheat the oven to about 375 F (180 C), and cook until it browns. Adding a layer of grated cheese before doing this can also work.

Note: The actual Knaight style anything involves adding a lot of vegetables, which in this case pretty much consists of sticking lots and lots of vegetables in the boiling pasta water at various points. Carrots go in early, onions near the middle, broccoli late, and cauliflower really late.

*Developed on account of how I'm a lazy slacker who doesn't want to make a roux.

Thanks! I'll take that into account, even though box mac and cheese is tasty, super easy, and..uh...tasty. Hey, I'm a learning cook. I plan to help with dinner... at some point.

Edit: I just remembered I probably can't use this very soon because my brother hates cheese.

[Togath]

Tips for ramen spices?
I've recently started using my own instead of the packets.. but am curious what other people like for them.

My last two batches had;
1/2 cup soy sauce(added to the water)
3 packets/6 pieces of ramen
1 teaspoon of five spice powder
2 teaspoons of chile oil
2 teaspoons of curry powder(British, I realize, but it still tastes good)
1 tablespoon of beef bouillon

edit: I minor note, I only cook ramen noodles until just barely cooked, and then drain before seasoning(I often eat it at about room temperature as well)

[Karoht]

Fun trick I learned about making Ramen when I was in grade school.

Make the ramen with as little water as you can afford to use. Really, just enough to cover, and use a small pot.
The key here is, get the water boiling, add the stock packet, and let it reduce just a bit. Dump in ramen. Stir very carefully. Add in just a drop or two of oil, keeps it from turning into glue, and it prevents it from sticking to the bottom.
Keep it on the heat at boiling temperature until the stock reduces. As much as possible. You should have a slightly thick sauce-like substance along with your noodles. Add in chili oil and other seasonings, keep the noodles moving, keep going until you find a consistancy you like.

Warning, this will be salty, possibly overly so depending on your tastes.

[warty goblin]

Chocolate chip pancakes are nice lunch food. Also nice breakfast and dinner food. Here's a recipe that feeds one:

1 cup all purpose/bread flour
1/2 cup stoneground cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
some salt

2 eggs
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups milk.
1 tablespoon melted butter
some vanilla extract.

Combine dries in one bowl, wets in another, stir separately then combine. Add chocolate chips to taste. I like to top these with yogurt and a honey sauce.

[thubby]

I have a question. Do fruit preserves in sealed airtight containers spoil?

no. anything properly jarred or canned stays good almost indefinitely. as in it will outlive you.
in fact, many supermarket products like that have expiration dates not because of the contents but because the containment is only rated to last so long.\

of course, use your best judgement and dispose of anything that seems questionable.

[Karoht]

Best Before dates are a guarantee of quality.
As in, the product is in it's Best condition Before that date.
But don't chance it with Mayo or salad dressings.


When we first moved into our house, my fiancee and I bought a huge crate of Mac and Cheese. We figured it was just a staple of living cheap, we wanted to be prepared.
We never got around to eating it for two years. Then we're both like 'hey I could go for some Mac and Cheese' and started cooking it up.
We threw all of it away when we went to add the cheese powder. It had turned brown. We also noticed the pasta went kind of glue-like in very very short order. And it smelled particularly bad.

I really really hope the hobos in our area didn't sift through our trash and think they hit paydirt when they found that stuff. Come to think about it, homeless joe seemed to stop coming around our way about that time.


And thats when we learned how to make mac and cheese from scratch.
Cheese curds. Tiny amount of fresh mozzarella. So delicious.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

We discovered that it's 10x cheaper to buy bulk orange cheese powder from a bulk store and then get macaroni than it is to buy Kraft Dinner (Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for all you heathen non-Canadians). Tastes exactly the same, even better because you can add as much cheesy powder sauce as you want

[warty goblin]

Best Before dates are a guarantee of quality.
As in, the product is in it's Best condition Before that date.
But don't chance it with Mayo or salad dressings.

Although for seriously canned food, they're often decent well past that date. I once had some ten year out of date clam juice; can't say it was good, but I didn't get sick or anything.

[Castaras]

I like making my own mac cheese.

Take bit of butter. Melt it.

Add some salt and a little bit of flour.

Pour in a load of milk (500-750ml depending on how much you want to make).

Add in uncooked macaroni. Lots of it.

Add in some uncooked peas or broccolli, depending on what you prefer.

Keep stirring, keep simmering at a reasonable heat until pasta is cooked and the milk/butter/flour/salt has mixed fully and the milk is a little thicker than before.

Take off heat, put in loads of cheese (I use mozzarella because stringy) and keep stirring it until it's all cheesey and goopy and delish.

Then eat.

Warning: You may well have made too much. It doesn't reheat well, which is its only failing. I don't know exact amounts of ingredients because I never do exact.

[Togath]

Helped a friend smoke a brisket steak today..
We pulled it at 7 hours(was 4.77lb at the start) and roughly 1405-148 Fahrenheit..

seems like a good time/temperature?
Tasted fine to me.. but I don't eat many smoked things, So I figured I'd ask here what you guys thought of the end temperature and cooking time.

[scienceguy8]

1405 Fahrenheit

Considering certain aluminum alloys melt at that temperature, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that your brisket was a touch dry.

Joking aside, an internal temp of 148 in a 5 pound brisket sounds high enough. I mean, if the USDA says a burger should be 160 in the middle, a brisket could stand to be a touch cooler in its center without much risk.

Can you tell I've never smoked anything before, but want to try? I'm thinking two unglazed flower pots, a round grill grate, and an electric hotplate.

[Chessgeek]

Heh. Seeing a cooking thread made by "scienceguy8" made me think of the time my chemistry teacher tried to make hamburgers on heat plates. Good times.

I haven't made anything more adventurous than scrambled eggs in a while, but now I want to try out some of the recipes in here. Curse you all for inspiring me!

[warty goblin]

Joking aside, an internal temp of 148 in a 5 pound brisket sounds high enough. I mean, if the USDA says a burger should be 160 in the middle, a brisket could stand to be a touch cooler in its center without much risk.

Every time somebody cooks a hamburger to 160, a chef somewhere cries. It's like lamb past medium rare; why would you do that to the poor meat?

(The best hamburger I've ever had probably had an internal temp of 100 or so. It was like sex for my mouth.)

[TheThan]

I'm making

Stir fried beef with zucchini

Spoiler

Show

1 pound beef flank or boneless sirloin steak
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Dash of white pepper

1 pound zucchini
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup chicken broth

Trim fat from beef; cut with grain into 2- inch strips. Cut strips across the grain into 1/8th inch slices. Toss beef with vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon soy sauce and a dash of white pepper in glass or plastic bowl. Cover and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Cut zucchini length wise into halves; cut each half diagonally into 1/4th inch slices. Cut onion in half. Place each half upside down and cut into thin slices. Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch and water.

Heat wok until 1 or two drops of water bubble and skitter when sprinkled in wok. Add 3 tablespoons vegetable oil and coat pan. Add beef and garlic; stir fry until beef is brown; about 3 minutes. Remove beef from wok.

Add 3 tablespoons vegetable oil to wok, coating sides. Add onion, stir fry until tender; about 2 minutes. Add zucchini, stir-fry 1 minute. Stir in one tablespoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in chicken broth, heat to boiling, stir in beef; heat to boiling, stir in cornstarch mixture; cook and stir until thickened. About 20 seconds.

5 servings.

The problem is that the zucchini at the store today looked awful so I pick up some yellow squash instead. It should come out fine. That’s the beauty of sir fry, mixing and matching, or straight substitutions of ingredients is easy and actually kinda hard to screw up real bad.

[MetDitto]

Just got a wok for college, anyone have any recipes for that?