niryuu/sni-each-converted huggingface dataset:
Whenever I go to a BBQ and sausages are cooking, the chef will always prick the sausages while they are cooking. I have no idea what this does, I assume it's to get the fat out, however I recently read that you should never prick sausages as it results in them being dry inside?So my question is, should I prick sausages with a fork or knife during cooking?
Output: Should I prick sausages during cooking?
I have a recipe for molasses cookies that calls for 3 parts regular flour to 1 part pastry flour for the flour component. It mentions that you can use whole wheat flour instead of pastry flour if necessary.Would pastry flour be better? What purpose does it serve?
Output: Do I really need pastry flour in my molasses cookie recipe?
I'd like to experiment with making purées (particularly carrot and parsnip, if it matters), but I don't have a food processor or any other mechanical mixing/blending tool. Is there anything I can do or is a processor necessary?
Output: Can you purée without a food processor?
For Xmas I was given a steamer.This is good as I, as I expect a lot of people in the world have done, have resolved to lose some weight this year. Now I understand that steamers are good for cooking fish. One of my favourite accompaniments to make for fish is a white wine and parsley sauce, basically a thin Bechamel with white wine and parsley (occasionally with tarragon or dill depending on my fancy).What I'm wondering is how to achieve the same effect with fewer calories. A white herby, winey sauce that's lower in fat... What do you think?
Output: How can I reduce the fat in a white wine and parsley sauce?
I bought a hand crank can opener (Oxo) because of the good online feedback and only use the "shake" dry approach. It quickly developed rust in between the metal. If I invest the time and scrub, I can remove most of the rust.When I initially posed the maintenance question in IRC concerning rust and utensils and kitchenware in general, I got suggestions from "spend a little on a decent one" to "you want stainless steel". I stored both answers as helpful for future purchases.Just recently I noticed two can openers in the office pantry that both show rust. Obviously these were neglected and showed more corrosion. After seeing this, I am curious if rust is actually normal and harmless. Are there more expensive stainless steel can openers that are rust resistant? Should I be drying more rigorously? I just thought of another possibility: should I keep the can opener in a jar of cooking oil?
Output: What is the proper way to maintain a can opener?
I would like to know what the difference is between boiled vegetable and stewed vegetables? Are the methods for preparing these different? How do these differ? My understanding is that with boiling nothing is mixed with the vegetables, whereas with stewing something is added to the water (powders, vegetable cubes, etc.), so that such flavors may enter the vegetables and make them more tasty.Is this the only difference, or am I missing something else?
Output: What is the difference between boiled vegetables and stewed vegetables?
I've been reading "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" and all the sourdough bread recipes call for overnight storage in the fridge. Is this really necessary? Can I just leave it out at room temperature and bake it that night? What is the purpose of storing it in the fridge for a night?
Output: Cookbook says to store dough in fridge overnight, why can't I just bake it already?
When making a pie, you almost always have to make holes in the dough with a fork. This is called docking.What is the exact reason for doing this? Are there kinds of pastry (puff, short crust, flaky) where this isn't necessary? Do you only need to do it when blind-baking? When you're using baking weights, does it still make a difference?
Output: Why and when do you need to dock dough?
I am assembling a recipe for a glazed fruit pie, refrigerated and not cooked. The glaze will be made from a starch which will be boiled with water and sugar, poured over berries in a jelly roll pan and refrigerated to soft set. They'll then be placed into a cookie crumb crust and put back in the fridge to finish setting. It's all fairly simple.However most of the recipes I have found call for cornstarch. The store-bought glaze mixes I've found include tapioca starch (along with citric acid, salt, and some natural flavors/coloring). I have both tapioca starch and cornstarch on hand, as well as potato starch. Is there a benefit of any one over the others? For instance, I have read that cornstarch can impart a significant cornstarch flavor. Also, cornstarch will often result in a cloudier appearance when set. The goal here is a completely transparent appearance so one could barely tell that there was anything beyond fruit present. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!
Output: Creating a recipe for a glazed fruit pie - what starch to use?
I need to grease a baking pan (which I don't have) for brownies. I also don't have butter or shortening. I do have one of those pyrex oven safe glass pans and something like a small dutch oven, but with a glass top instead. Could either of these substitute for baking pan instead? And in lieu of the butter, could I use vegetable oil and a paper towel to grease one of the pans that I do have (without affecting the final results of the brownies)?
Output: How to grease a pan without shortening or butter
Recipes for smoking brisket typically recommend a temperature of 225 F. My weber smokey mountain has a water pan to help regulate the temperature. But what if I am able to maintain that temperature without a waterpan? Would it cook the same way or is the humidity necessary when smoking brisket?
Output: How important is humidity when smoking a brisket?
Is there any way to tell if an acorn squash is ripe before cutting it open to cook it? I keep getting unripe squash from the grocery store, and I don't know they're unripe until I've cut them open, sadly turning them into compost instead of dinner.
Output: How can I tell if my acorn squash is ripe before cutting it open?
This question: Why does meat in the crockpot always end up dry? discusses challenges and potential solutions to getting moist meat while cooking with a slow cooker.If I were to switch to a pressure cooker, would that be another method to keep meat moister? Or, if I'm not following the suggestions in the above post (in particular, using the right kind of meat), would a pressure cooker not really help me much?
Output: Pressure Cooker vs. Slow Cooker for Moist Meat
What do truffles (the fungi) taste like? I'm just curious. I saw it on television the other day. I just know that they're expensive and i know i probably won't buy any anytime soon. I don't know much about them either.
Output: Flavor notes or profile of truffles?
Recipes for grape jam (e.g. from Gourmet) commonly say to separate the skins, puree the skins for inclusion in the jam, cook them, cook the pulp, and remove the seeds with a food mill.Is there any reason one couldn't instead just cook the entire grapes for long enough for everything to intermingle (i.e. long enough to fully cook the skins), then use a food mill to remove the seeds and skins?
Output: Should I separate grape skins when making jam?
Is the SS Stovetop Espresso Maker what's called a Moka pot? They haven't named it explicitly a Moka pot, hence the question.If not, can a Moka pot style coffee be prepared in that instrument?
Output: Is the SS Stovetop Espresso Maker from CafeCoffeeDay a Moka pot?
I usually cook Chicken curry in pressure-cooker so that it gets done fast. I usually get advice for expert cooks that its better to cook it in a pan on low heat. But I don't really find a great deal of difference in the taste? If we marinate the chicken well in advance, does cooking in a pan slowly really make the dish more delicious?
Output: Cooking Chicken in Cooker Versus Pan?
When you're stir-frying or sauteeing, I'm sure some of the oil get evaporated due to high temperature. How much of the original oil evaporates? Since I suppose it depends on the kind of oil, temperature and duration, can you give example for several typical cases? (for example, vegetable oil, medium heat, 15 minutes, etc)How does this affect the nutrition and energy calculation? For example if 50 grams of vegetable oil contains ~400 kcal, how much calories does some food cooked with that much oil has?
Output: Stir-frying: how much of the oil evaporates?
I have some friends coming over and will be cooking jerk chicken. As asked in my other question.Definitive Jerk ChickenHowever some of them are vegetarian. I would like to make them jerk X with X being a vegetable which could be cooked in a similar way which would taste good in jerk sauce. Any suggestions as to what vegetable could be used?
Output: Jerk vegetable?
Our local grocery store's produce section has a few areas of refrigerated produce along the walls--mostly "wet" vegetables like lettuce, squash, peppers, green beans, etc. The rest, in the middle of the produce section is simply on shelves in bins, like potatoes, onions, corn and bananas.For the most part, our home storage tends to follow the store's--we keep lettuce in the crisper and onions out.However, there are a few pieces of produce that tend to generate some controversy in our house, and they tend to be small and round, like grapes, cherries, and berries. The questionable item this week is blueberries. My tendency is to follow the store's practice of leaving this out, whereas my wife seems convinced they will rot in a matter of hours and insists they should be refrigerated.I'm more or less satisfied with refrigerating them--as long as it won't cause a problem. I've heard that some items will actually go soft faster, or lose flavor, if stored cold.
Output: Is unnecessary refrigeration problematic?
Can you measure the oven temperature or room temperature for things like proofing bread when better alternatives are not available? How accurate will it be?I have a TheromoWorks Thermopop which I heard good things about. Just writing this to know if it matters.
Output: Can I use meat thermometers to measure room and oven temperature?
I was making seaweed salad for the first time tonight and had just finished soaking my wakame for some time. I rinsed it and put it in a colander, but just couldn't squeeze out very much water. The pieces stuck to my hands, squished, and made gurgling noises; but for the most part remained sopping wet, and later tasted completely waterlogged. Am I missing something here? I know there's a way to get water out because I've tasted wonderfully light and refreshing seaweed salad before, but my wakame (even hours later) is just a slimy bowl of sopping seaweed. Thanks!
Output: Squeezing excess water from seaweed
When using garlic cloves for pretty much anything, is it ever necessary to cut the slightly brown end off (that which connects to the head), or the middle out? Often times when I peel a garlic clove and cut into it I'll notice that the middle portion is slightly to moderately green and I'm always wondering if this should be discarded along with the brown end(s). If there are obvious blemishes in the garlic I'll remove those, but other than that is there a general rule of thumb?
Output: Should one always use the whole garlic clove?
I plan to make a sizable quantity of chicken stock this weekend. Since I can't actually eat that much chicken, I just bought several pounds of bones, figuring I'd save the effort and expense of cleaning and butchering entire chickens.But now I'm wondering: Can I roast the bones by themselves?Most resources seem to agree that stock made from roasted bones is richer than stock made from bones that were boiled raw. However, every "recipe" I've looked at assumes that whole chickens are being used. I've never been taught or seen instructions on how to roast just the bones.So I have a few questions related to roasting the bones:First, is it actually practical? Is there any reason I shouldn't consider this?What would be the recommended oven temperature and cooking time for about 5 pounds of bones?Assuming I use butter as the base, how much would I likely need?Does it make any sense to brine the bones, or to season them at all before roasting?Should I bother including vegetables or other flavours in the roast, knowing that it's just going into a stock afterward that will have its own separate flavours?My intuition is that any special preparation, seasoning or additives would be pointless, but I'd prefer to go by facts rather than intuition. And even if I'm correct I'd still like to get some rough guidelines as to the oven settings, because if I accidentally burn them then the whole endeavour is a bust.
Output: How can I roast chicken bones (without meat)?
Okay I give up, I've tried and failed about 8 times now frying prawns but they never are succulent. The recipe that I want to get done is pretty simple:De-vein. Salt the prawn for some time and allow it to marinate.Wash them. Fry them in some oil till they turn pink.Add onion, chillies, ginger, garlic. Some turmeric. Some tomatoes. The cuisine is Goan if it's of any help.This is exactly what mum does and somehow it turn out great. The only things different that I'm doing are:The original recipe uses coconut oil, I'm using sunflowerI'm using frozen prawns because i cant get hold of fresh prawns.I don't think any of this should affect the dish. Anyway, what always happens is that the prawns are either too chewy or too dry (opposite of juicy).What am I doing wrong here? How do I know if the prawns are just cooked right? Should I be using low or high heat?Any other tips for getting really juicy fried prawns?
Output: How can I get fried prawns to be juicy?
I've got about 20 red thai peppers from my garden this year that I air dried. I currently have them in a mason jar with the lid and ring on (not sealed though). Is this a sufficient storage method, or is there a better way? The peppers are whole.
Output: Storing dried peppers
I have big chunks of jaggery. I want to turn them into fine powder. What is the best way to turn the chunks of jaggery into their powdered form?
Output: What is the best way to turn the chunks of jaggery into fine powder?
I was gifted with a soft serve ice cream dispenser. however it's such a pain to always keep the machine on and running each time I want ice cream--more so that it highly consumes electricity. I wish to know if there is a way I can produce my soft serve in a large quantity and store it in my freezer so I can always remove and take a scoop each time I want soft serve. I tried it once but it went hard as a rock and lost its texture when I allowed it to defreeze.Is there a trick to keeping it soft and close to the consistency in the freezer?
Output: Can I store soft serve ice cream in my regular freezer?
So I usually buy irradiated beef. From what I understand, the beef is packaged, sealed, and the absolutely blasted with radiation. I'm a nuclear engineer for a living, so I know that most things tend to die when exposed to the levels of dose that this beef is subject to. Normally food spoils by having bacteria and mold and such munch away on it, but here, all of that should be dead.If its perfectly sealed away, and there's nothing living inside the package, how can it spoil?
Output: How does irradiated beef spoil?
Today for the first time, I tested classic egg mayonnaise.All I can say that it smelled strongly like yeast! Is there a way to get rid of that smell? Do mayonnaise in general have that smell?Enlighten please.
Output: How do I get rid of mayonnaise smell?
Has anyone come up with a way to cook beaten eggs via microwave?My attempts to do so have resulted in a off-coloured mess with the consistency of rubber.
Output: microwaving scrambled eggs
I've reached a point where I am very comfortable with a nice red wine/shallot reduction as a pan sauce for my strip roasts/steaks. I think I remember have a meal once where they served sliced tenderloin with a white sauce. I imagine it was cream based but I don't often see this combination.I was wondering if there was hope for throwing together a cream based sauce and if so if anyone had an idea of what base (mother or otherwise) sauce would be a good jumping off point for experimentation?
Output: Would a cream based sauce go well with steaks?
I had some eggs that were a couple weeks overdue and I used them in an off-the-shelf cake batter. I've had eggs that past due date before without issues but these were two weeks overdue and I thought they smelled a bit off but I couldn't be sure. Would anyone know if bad/old eggs in baking would make you sick? The eggs are cooked in the batter so I was hoping that they would still be ok.
Output: Bad eggs in baking?
I marinated chicken a couple weeks ago, and stored the marinade afterwards in a jar. Can it be reused, or is that dangerous? I've been told conflicting stories here. The marinade is mostly teriyaki if that makes a difference. Intended use of used marinade: Marinate chicken which will then be cooked in the oven. It will not be used with anything that won't be cooked (like a sauce).
Output: Can you reuse marinade used with raw chicken?
I've made roux some time ago. Forgot to put the date on the container. How long will it keep in the fridge? I'll be making a sauce in a day or two...
Output: How long will roux keep?
Based on this question, I got to thinking about alternative ways to blind bake, especially since I always have issues with butter crusts slumping. One thing which occurred to me is: why not use two matched, nesting glass pie plates? This would seem to provide maximum support to the crust, as it would exactly mirror the shape of the pie plate on the bottom. I always thought that the reason why nobody does this is that the crust needs to vent moisture, so the weight on the inside needs some porousness. However, Stella Parks uses aluminum foil filled with sugar, which would have no ventability at all.So, my question is: is there any reason not to use a nesting pie plate as the weight for blind baking? If so, what?
Output: Why not blind bake with two pie plates?
In other words does it make a difference in the event that a recipe calls for a Red wine you use a Merlot, Cabernet, Shiraz ect..?
Output: When a recipe calls for Wine, does it make a difference what wine to use?
I've seen many recipes that use sour yogurt as a main ingredient, but I've been unable to find sour yogurt where I live, and I wonder if it's ok to use sour cream instead of sour yogurt.I know they're pretty much the same thing, but I'm not sure if it's going to change the composition/texture of the food by making this substitution. If it's not recommendable, what would be a good substitution? For example would it be better to use plain yogurt? Like the one sold at Walmart even though is a bit sweet. Thanks
Output: Is it ok to use sour cream as substitute of sour yogurt?
I'm interested in hearing any success (or woeful failure) stories on the behavioural differences between these two products. I've only found Orgran No Egg available for sale in my city, so my fingers are crossed.In particular, I am curious to pursue this macaron recipe.Unfortunately I don't quite have the budget to justify learning this by trial and error! Any input is greatly appreciated.
Output: Can I substitute Ener-G Egg Replacer with Orgran No Egg?
I recently made custard with a huge amount of milk, custard powder and sugar. After boiling it for few minutes I added vanilla essence to it. After it was settled I added apple and pineapple. Then I placed the whole mixture in the fridge and the custard was tasting fine at that time. But after a half hour of cooling, when I tasted the mixture it was bitter. I googled about the issue and found out that milk and pineapple are not good friends, but I don't want to waste the whole thing now. Is there any way to reduce the bitterness?
Output: How can I remove bitterness from custard after adding pineapple to it?
I always keep bread around, home-made or otherwise. Is there a way to keep it from molding, or at least delay the process?I've tried the fridge with some success (extra day or two), but I don't like my bread that cold to eat.I've tried zip-top bags with no success (seems to mold faster).Bread-box didn't seem to make any difference in time.Thanks
Output: delaying moldy bread
To which temperature could I safely heat my cast-iron pan on the stove, without any contents? I don't want to re-season it afterwards. Afterwards, I'd just let the pan cool off in room temperature. The base is ~0.5 cm thick.
Output: How much could I safely heat a content-less cast-iron pan?
My icing is 1/4 cup butter to 1 1/2 cups of icing sugar and a couple tablespoons of milk, so I'm thinking that with so much sugar, the answer is "almost indefinitely in the fridge."So, as the title says, how long is it reasonable to keep the remnants of a batch? Although I've made small amounts (like the above recipe) on occasion, I'd like to make a big batch, seal it up, and use it as needed.(I realize that it might not work as well a month or two down the road, I'll experiment with it if I decide it's ok to use.)
Output: How long does butter cream icing keep?
I have a question additional to this question How does salmonella get into eggs. This tells me that salmonella is mostly found on the shell of an egg. However, eggs are treated (typically washed) such that most egg shells do not contain any salmonella anymore.I eat eggs which I get from my mother-in-law who has her own chickens, so these eggs are not 'treated'. I was wondering a few things:What is the risk that these eggs contain salmonella? Is this risk negligible? Should I use supermarket eggs to make food with raw eggs in it, for example chocolate mouse, and only use these eggs for food which is heated?If there is a risk, how should I clean the shells? (using hot water is not an option for eggs, of course).A related question might be Is it safe to eat raw eggs?. The answer seem to be yes, but here it also seems that it is about 'supermarket eggs'.
Output: What is the danger of salmonella in 'home laid eggs' and how should I clean them?
I've been looking for a soda bread recipe to try and I notice that most of them contain buttermilk. Buttermilk is not a standard part of my pantry. Part of the appeal of soda bread is that it's quick to throw together, so having to go shopping for a specific ingredient interferes with the spontaneous aspect. I know there are lots of substitutions for buttermilk (using a bit of lemon juice in regular milk is the one I usually use), but I'm wondering what it is about buttermilk specifically that seems to be a standard part of soda bread. Is it just traditional? Or will it add a particularly noticeable flavour/texture?Edited to add: I know that its functional purpose is to provide an acid to react with the soda for rising; so is it just that it used to be the most convenient acid?
Output: Why does soda bread call for buttermilk?
Is the purpose to add flavor, moisture, or both?Do you really think it makes a difference?
Output: What is the purpose of basting a roast?
I was making baked pita chips as a healthy snack. What I do is mix olive oil and a dried herb seasoning blend, spread that on the pita bread, cut it into triangles and put them in the oven at 400 F for 7 min (I got the temperature and the time from an online recipe).What always happens is that the herb blend gets burnt black and the chips get done perfectly. I tried reducing the time in the oven, but that just results in chewy rather than crispy chips.I thought I could add the herb blend after the chips get done by sprinkling it on the chips, but it always falls off when I store it.How can I get the pita bread to become crispy while not burning the herbs?My instinct would be to reduce the temperature of the oven, and bake for longer, but by how much?Also, I had the oven on the 'Bake' setting instead of 'Broil' would that make a difference?
Output: How to avoid herbs getting burnt in the oven
I decided to make pad thai noodles from scratch. The recipe I found for rice noodles said to let the rice soak overnight then grind the resulting mixture in a blender. After that it called for steaming the batter in small batches then slicing into noodles. The problem that I had is that these noodles did not cook up in my wok correctly. They got extremely gummy and were grainy.I have experience with pasta, but I have no idea where I went wrong with such a simple recipe. Anybody have any ideas on how I can fix this? EDIT: the recipe was this1 1/4 cup rice1 1/4 cup wateroil to coat steamer trayPlace rice in water overnight, blend until smooth (smoother better than not), ladle into oiled steamer pan one ladle full every five minutes, remove noodle sheets and slice noodles.
Output: Am I making this noodle correctly?
I have a problem. Let's say I buy a frying pan for about 130 EUR. But after 5 months of using it 3 times a week, it looks like the photo. What am I doing wrong please ? (I never scratch the pan. I always wait until it's cold before washing it, I protect the Teflon with shoam)Edited: to react to your comments, my habits are: preheat the pan for about 6 minutes on the biggest flame without oil - to prepare it for a steak. But i use it like this for about 20% of time. Is preheating damaging the Teflon? If so.. what material should i use?
Output: Frying pan Teflon damage
When making e.g. spaghetti sauce, do I:first sweat the onions and then add the minced meat?first brown the minced meat and then add the onions?do both at the same time but in different pans and add them together afterwards?What are the advantages of preferring one of the options over the others?
Output: First onion or first minced meat?
I've been wondering about this for a while, since getting interested in knife sharpening.When using a knife, it will get duller. One (the primary) reason being that you "bend" the edge. You fix this using a honing steel.After a while though, you need to sharpen the knife again. Another setting: If you have a brittle knife and/or mistreat your knife you will chip it. As far as I can tell, this should mean that small pieces of metal (dust, shavings, etc.) come lose, and then likely get in the food.Is this correct?Are there no health considerations when digesting small pieces of very sharp metal?
Output: Metal dust/shavings in food from knife wear?
If I have some fresh, raw corn on the cob, how do I roast the corn kernels so that they can be used as croutons or eaten as a salty-snack? I don't want to make popcorn, but something that looks like these
Output: How to make corn nuts from fresh corn on the cob
Scenario:I am out of coffee, both whole beans and ground. However I've got a back of chocolate covered coffee beans.Possible solution:Toss the choco covered beans in my grinder and then put them in my drip-brewer... Is this a terrible idea? I don't imagine it would damage anything, since I would have a paper filter in there, but maybe there would be too much chocolate for the coffee to actually brew. Is there any reason to not attempt it the name of science if nothing else?
Output: Emergency Coffee via Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans?
I am working on a scratch chicken, vegetable orzo soup. I'm not following any particular recipe, just shooting from the hip. I usually come up with a good meal but the problem I always run into though is with gauging how much pasta (or barley or rice) to add to a soup and keep it at all balanced. Protein and veggies are easy since those ingredients usually do not change in size during cooking but whenever I use a starch that changes in volume while cooking I end up with a soup that is either starch heavy (too much grain or pasta) or starch light (too much veggie and protein in relation to the starch.)So my basic question is: I have a half cup of dry orzo sitting at the ready. How many cups will that half cup turn into after cooking in soup stock? I am using orzo right now but would also be interested in seeing similar information for other types of pasta and any soup-suitable grains. Any rules of thumb or ideas for different approaches would be appreciated as well.Thanks!
Output: How to gauge orzo's change in volume from dry to cooked for a soup?