Hot answers tagged please-remove-this-tag
19
Normal double-acting baking powder makes CO2 (thus giving a rising effect) in two ways: when it gets wet, and when it is heated.
Baking soda only makes CO2 when it gets wet.
From Wikipedia:
The acid in a baking powder can be
either fast-acting or slow-acting.[6]
A fast-acting acid reacts in a wet
mixture with baking soda at room
temperature, ...
17
It's my opinion that the "proper temperature" is a number set by lawyers, not by chefs. The government standard for a roast bird is 180°F (83°C)! Are you kidding me? HTST pasteurization is 161°F (72°C) for 20 seconds, but my turkey has to get to 180°F for safe human consumtion? What the hell kind of bacteria do they think live in there?
165°F (74°C) is a ...
16
Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate, while baking powder includes an acidifying agent (cream of tartar) and a drying agent (starch).
You can substitute baking soda for baking powder if you already have an acidifying agent in a recipe (like buttermilk).
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm
16
The choice of one onion over another is really going to come down to personal preference based on color and flavor.
Red and white onions are usually milder in flavor than yellow onions which is the reason they're often the choice for hamburgers and sandwiches.
Yellow (sometimes referred to as "Spanish") onions tend to have a more pungent flavor.
Sweet ...
15
Clingwrap works fine for me -- but I don't use a meat tenderizer -- I just use a small but fairly heavy pan (but not my cast iron, as it's not smooth on the bottom).
When I was in college, I tried a few things. I can get pretty decent results just hitting it with my cutting board. (with it between saran wrap).
Part of it might be technique -- if I'm ...
15
I know that one shouldn't give honey to infants because their immune systems aren't developed enough to deal with the C. botulinum spores found in it, but I've never heard that table sugar was unsafe for them. That said, some pediatricians believe that adding sugar to baby food encourages an unhealthy taste for sugar in children and should be avoided. The ...
14
Yes, it is different. Does it matter? It depends.
If you're going to use garlic in a stew or anything else that would 'dissolve' the regular garlic anyway, it doesn't really matter all that much in my opinion.
If you want to preserve the texture and/or create a more 'urgent' garlic flavour in short-cooked food, I'd go with fresh.
Sidenote: most of the ...
14
Natural is purely a marketing term, and it is essentially meaningless since it isn't regulated by the USDA (I'm assuming you are in the USA, I can't speak for other countries). Since the term isn't regulated (with the apparent exception of meat), any manufacturer can put it on any (non-meat) product that they want, weather it is actually "natural" or not.
...
14
Beer Can Chicken has a few tricks to have it turn out amazing as opposed to just average. I always take my thawed chicken and rub it all over inside and out with vegetable oil and pureed garlic (about one large clove). Then I coat the skin with seasonings like salt, pepper, seasoned salt or chicken/poultry seasoning like sage or an \Italian mix; you can use ...
14
It depends on how broad your definition of "recipe" is.
First, as Cos Callis pointed out, a home cook won't be affected even if a recipe was patented. IP law (=intelectual property) is a matter of civil law, not criminal law. If you hit someone over the head, this is criminal law and the country where this happened will sue you and put you in jail even if ...
12
Dry rubs are one case that I can think of where dry is specifically necessary, so you can grind them up properly.
The main advantage to dry herbs is that they're available year round. When you're dealing with winter dishes, dry herbs would've been the norm to have used at that time.
If you are going to substitute, you'll need to add more (typically about ...
12
The grades reflect how much light can get through some standard quantity of maple. The darker maple syrups tend to have a stronger maple flavor and tend to be harvested later in the season. The collected sap needs to be concentrated and purified to make the syrup, which is traditionally done by boiling and skimming off impurities.
The USDA (United States ...
12
There is a difference beyond just the price.
All-Purpose flours are not the same:
Southerners tend to make more quick breads, pies, cakes, etc. where tenderness is the primary quality factor.
Southern brands of all-purpose flour such as White Lily, Martha White, Red Band, Adluh and others are typically milled from wheat that naturally has a lower ...
12
Actually, yams are often white, and may be purple or other colors.. In the US, what we get labeled as yams are actually sweet pototoes. (They were similar to the african yams that people were used to, and the name stuck, sort of like how 'pepper' is used for chilies, but they're not even close to the same thing.)
update A longer explanation of the ...
12
If you're looking for books, you could try "Roman Cookery" by Mark Grant or "The Classical Cookbook" by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger for ancient Roman food, or "The Philosopher's Kitchen" by Francine Segan, which combines ancient Greek and Roman cuisine. Many of these recipes are derived from the works of Apicius, but are not solely based on his ...
11
I would do it the other way round, I'd fry the sausages first, then add the veg. This has a few benefits as I see it:-
The sausages will brown more evenly, purely aesthetic but some people will think they are not cooked if they are not brown.
You'll get the oil out of the sausages so you'll have a better idea of how much oil to add when you add the veg, ...
11
The US Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR 101.4) states that ingredients must be listed in descending order of predominance based on weight. The following exception is made in 21 CFR 101.4(2):
The descending order of predominance requirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this section do not apply to ingredients present in amounts of 2 percent or less by ...
10
Well, if the aroma is truly in the food then there's not much you can do. However, you can take steps to make sure that the aroma is subdued as much as possible. It's quite possible that a large portion of the burnt aroma is merely in the air.
Turn exhaust fans on to get the aroma out of your kitchen asap
Submerge the burnt surface in water as soon as ...
10
In my experience beer can chicken usually allows you to cook the chicken until the skin is much crispier than you would normally be able to without drying out the entire chicken. The beer is in the cavity keeping the chicken moist. I can see how a rotisserie would mimic many of these qualities, and even a well-done roasting technique can do great things ...
10
They have a different ratio of white sugar to molasses.
Therefore, dark brown sugar is more hygroscopic, and will have a deeper molasses flavor (and color, obviously) They're pretty similar, and you can usually get away with replacing one with the other, but if you want subtle flavors coming through, dark brown sugar might mask it.
I've seen ...
9
The grades of Maple syrup indicate depth of flavor and amount of light transmittance. Grade A is the lighter with Grade B being darker. The letters are just a means of indicating variance of flavor/color, not a judge of quality. Lighter grades are usually used on pancakes, waffles, etc. while Grade B is best as an ingredient in cooking/baking due to the ...
9
Generally you soak them in a small amount of very hot water for about 10 minutes or until they are as soft as you want them. The flavorful liquid that comes out of that process can be used in salad dressings, soups, sauces, etc. (A quick way to do this is throw them in a microwave safe bowl with water to cover and microwave for say 3 minutes, then allow to ...
8
Crepes do not contain baking powder or baking soda for leavening. They also typically use melted butter vs. oil in pancakes and have a higher liquid to flour ratio. Basic crepes contain only eggs, milk, water, a pinch of salt and flour.
You can however make them more sweet or savory by adding chopped herbs or a bit of sugar (not too much or you'll have ...
7
I'm sure you already know this, being Indian, but adding a small amount of Asafoetida, which is widely used in Indian cuisine, to your dishes will work wonders. It works as a digestive aid and will reduce flatulence.
Typical causes of flatulence are beans, lentils, onions, garlic, cauliflower and a few others. Acid is typically caused by high fat foods, ...
7
Certain herbs are very mild when fresh and do not develop their full smell and flavour until dried; e.g. bayleaf, oregano.
Fresh herbs generally have short storage times. When substituting you typically need to add much more of the herb, as drying shrinks it concentrating the flavour.
7
It sounds like you may be searing the steak for too long. Indeed, you want to initially be cooking the steak at a higher-than-normal temperature in order to sear it, but I'd suggest a period of more like 30 seconds each side, followed by slightly longer at a reduce temperature. At 650 degrees, the steak does not need long to sear. The same principle has ...
7
Since you note that the inside was nice and juicy, I doubt that salting 30 minutes in advance was the culprit. Either sear at a slightly lower temp or do it for less time. I just got a new grill and the "high" setting was much hotter than I expected and my first steaks seared much quicker than I expected.
A note on the salting in advance: Cook's ...
7
Fresh ginger and dried ginger are very different, the flavour, texture and properties are not overly similar that they can not readily be substituted for each other.
Having said that, in the instances where they can be substituted I have seen estimated from 8:1 up to 6:1 (fresh:dried).
7
Different forms of pasta are going to have different surface-to-mass ratios, which will affect how the pasta cooks; the cross-section may affect how much starch gets rubbed off as the pasta boils. (I can only assume that more's going to stay in a spiral or a tube than will on something that can rub up against other pasta)
But I'm going to assume that ...
6
Healthier is a loaded word in this case. The raw milk camp claims a richer flavor, more nutrients, and less allergies. The pasteurized camp claims just as nutritious, with better texture, but safer. Once all the practicalities of producing, distributing, and ensuring the quality of large quantities of milk come into play, the debate becomes fierce. What ...
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