greygarious's Profile
Can I refrigerate crab cakes pre-frying?
Agree. They will benefit from the overnight chilling, which will help them keep their shape during frying, but if you did the second panko tonight, the crumbs would be gummy by frying time.
Wasting the liver?
Do give liver a try, sauteed with onion, garlic, and bacon, deglazed with red wine. Saute until center is still a bit pink, then slice into very thin bite-sized pieces, like 1/8" thick. That way, the texture is not noticeable.
List whatever you are not going to use on Freecycle.org, ahead of time, so someone will be able to retrieve the offal from you before it starts to spoil. People will either prepare it for themselves or their pets.
foods you eat to get full without consuming too many calories?
A handful of raw nuts - 12-14 nuts - and a glass of water provide quick relief from hunger pangs.
An apple is filling, especially because it takes a while to consume. Remember that it takes 20 minutes after a meal before hunger abates. Chewing and crunch are important elements, shared by apples, nuts, carrots, celery, and popcorn.
Cabbage powder in spaetzle
A couple of years ago when looking at dried and powdered vegetables at an online store, I thought of using cabbage powder in spaetzle, and included it my order. By the time it arrived, I had no idea why I ordered it. I remembered months later, but didn't actually try it. Last night I finally opened the packet (non-specific vegetable aroma, similar to smell of store-bought vegetable bouillon). FLying blind, I use a tablespoon of the powder to a cup of flour. I can't say that the spaetzle taste any different than they usually do. Does anyone know how much I need to use, or how much I *can* use without the spaetzle disintegrating as they boil?
boneless turkey breast
Boneless AND skinless? I wouldn't roast it without skin. It'll dry out too fast. Slice into medallions or cutlets and pan-sear.
Cut it into bite-sized cubes and make turkey a la king: you'll make your sauce using roux, dairy, chicken stock, and vegetables, then put the raw cubes into that hot sauce and simmer for 5 minutes longer.
Poach it in chicken stock and use it for sandwiches and salads.
Do you do the pan flip?
In many instances, you do not need to lift the pan to flip the contents. With the pan remaining on the stove, turn the handle so it points at your navel. In a very rapid, smooth motion, slide the pan forward a few inches, toward the back of the stove, then without pausing, yank the handle back toward you. Practice this with dry beans or whatever, on a tabletop. You can flip small pieces of food with this method - for the larger ones you need to hold the pan in the air to flip. When doing the latter, tilt the pan so the rim that is farthest from your hand is tilted downward, then rotate your wrist upward a bit as you flip, so that you are tossing the contents in a parabola aiming back toward you, and catching them in the pan. Your arm moves forward, then back in a smooth, rapid motion.
Do you do the pan flip?
If you stir with a spatula yes, you are just moving things around. If you flip with the spatula, you are turning it over just as effectively as if you pan-flip, maybe more. Pancakes, fried eggs? Hand me the spatula. Cubes of potato? The pan-flip, since it turns over many pieces at one. Not all, though - the spatula is needed to turn the stragglers.
Reusing stock to cook noodles
The egg cooked when the noodles hit the hot liquid so I see no problem reusing the stock.
Cooks Country grandma's Roast Beef and Gravy recipe
Go to their site and click on the free registration tab at the upper right. I did that a couple of years ago and had no trouble navigating to the full recipe: http://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/Grandma-s-Roast-Beef-with-Gravy/26583/?incode=M00KSCM00
The recipes for the current TV season are available free for those who are registered. You don't have to pay/join. I didn't.
Need to use a huge wedge of Gruyere cheese...
For the last week I have been watching the DVDs for both seasons of Pushing Daisies, which was set in a pie shop. Unfortunately, the show never generated an actual cookbook. The pies, mostly fruit, looked and sounded wonderful. One that was mentioned, and that characters swooned over, was pear with gruyere in the crust. If you google Pushing Daisies recipes, you will come upon a number of sites that include the recipes, from various sources, that they claim inspired The Pie Hole's pies, the pear/gruyere among them. A gruyere crust would be great for apple, and for quiche too.
How to use a roasted pig knuckle?
You can make a stock with it - carrot, onion, celery, herbs, simmered until tasty, and then divvy that up so you can use parts of it for more than one kind of soup. If the soups need more meat, add sausage of your choice.
How long does soup last?
I agree with ipsedixit, especially when there's acid like tomato or vinegar. The power was out for over 70 hours after the freak Halloween snowstorm here. I never opened the refrigerator, and with no heat, the temp inside the house was in the mid-50's. The homemade soup in the fridge was still okay, to my delighted surprise.
Sitting or Standing in the Kitchen?
Sitting as much as possible, since I have mobility problems. I put everything I need for prep onto a tray and take it to the table (in another room). A mis-en-place approach helps a lot when one needs to minimize standing time.
Does anyone know of a homemade meal delivery service?
Shoot - just now realized that someone revived this post, which is NINE years old. We can safely assume the question is moot, no?
Does anyone know of a homemade meal delivery service?
I think the prepared foods from Roche Brothers/Sudbury Farms are far superior to Stop&Shop, and RB's home delivery charges and policies are better than Peapod. I believe RB still offers free delivery for the first order for new online customers. A few years ago, when I began ordering online, the first order was accompanied by a pamphlet that offered freebies of one sort or another for the next 3 orders, e.g., free breakfast fixings that added up to about the delivery charge.
New York area deli style potato salad
You're probably SOL - that June post was isberg's one and only contribution to Chowhound.
Cocktail meatballs ? Do people still serve those things?
Not sure why this old thread is back, but will chime in with the version that introduced me to this dish - the sauce was equal parts ketchup and jellied cranberry sauce. Too intense for my tastes but I modified it slightly to a 1:1:1 combo of plain canned tomato sauce or puree, ketchup, and cranberry sauce. I usually add chopped onion too. Melt that all together, then arrange the raw meatballs over the sauce and let it bubble gently for 20 minutes before gently turning the meatballs over to finish cooking for another 15 min. That way the meat and sauce flavors meld.
Busy parent Meals
If you do a little searching using relevant terms, you'll find the multiple threads on this topic.
Here's what "make-ahead meals" yields: http://www.chow.com/search?query=make-ahead+meals&type=Topic&board_name=Home+Cooking&search_board_id=31&from_date=1+year+ago#!query=make-ahead+meals&board_name=home+cooking&search_board_id=31&type=Topic&from_date=&board_parent=Topical&search_board_id_btn=31&from_date_select=&user_name=&post_title=&search_board_id_btn_pop=&sort_mode=best_match&recipe_source=
Canned Baked Bean Makeover
Make them into refried beans. Use them for bean dip. Use them as part of the topping for pizza or bruschetta. Make them into bean soup by adding canned tomato product, sauteed onions, sliced sausage/frankfurters, and broth of your choice. .
Beef Vegetable Soup - why didn't the fat render from the brisket?
Good point about the chicken fat. Fortunately there's not a humongous amount of fat on the brisket. Bottom line is that the soup is better than the plain brisket, at least! :-)
Beef Vegetable Soup - why didn't the fat render from the brisket?
Actually, I am guilty of using "simmer" to mean a bubbling low boil. In other words, the covered pot was at a fairly active perk, but less than a rolling boil. I can fry bacon at the same heat setting - of course in that case it's dry heat.
I forgot --- for chewy brownies
There are 6 different varieties of the Ghirardelli mix. Of the 4 available at my supermarket, I much prefer the Dark Chocolate. Richer chocolate flavor than the double or triple, and I'll add my own walnuts.
Beef Vegetable Soup - why didn't the fat render from the brisket?
I had some sliced BBQ beef brisket in the freezer, from a take-out order a couple of weeks ago. I was disappointed with the brisket that day - not enough flavor other than smoke, with thicker lines of fat than typical. I thawed it in the fridge and today used it to make soup. Figuring that "fat is flavor" and that it would render out during cooking, to be skimmed from the cooled finished soup if the amount was excessive, I sliced the cooked brisket into quarter-inch slices, crosswise and against the grain. I added it to browning onions in the stockpot, stirred it for a few minutes until it sizzled, then added a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, 2 cans of water, Better than Bouillon, garlic powder, uncooked barley, dried onion, dried bell pepper, dried celery leaves, dried mushrooms, fresh carrots,
and some teriyaki cooking sauce (Mr. Yoshida's). I simmered the bubbling soup for an hour. Everything else was properly cooked, but the fat was still on the ends of the batons of brisket, which surprised me.
Is there anything about the BBQ process that hindered the rendering of the beef fat? .
Something simple to teach
I have never been able to justify the nearly $100 for a Thermapen or other instant-read. I have a cheap one with a dial and arrow - it takes under a minute to settle on a reading, which suits me fine. I don't think it was over $10. I also have an also-cheap, metal one with a glass tube, made to be used inside the oven, but I like my other one better.
I forgot --- for chewy brownies
I think underbaking is the key, more than the actual batter. Pull them from the oven when the tops are shiny but the brownies dimple when pressed. I now make brownies in mini-muffin tins - a standard batch makes 24. I am in love with the Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie boxed mix, which I make with virgin coconut oil, a generous half cup of walnuts added. I bake them for 15 min and turn them out as soon as they are cool enough to handle. The crust is crunchy but the interiors are chewy-fudgy. I think the mini shape promotes more even baking. If you use a standard pan the outer pieces are bound to be more done than the center ones.
H Mart Quality of fish question
I posted about their fish on one of the other threads: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/654950#6253816
In the past year I have been very pleased with the freshness and flavor of the fish I have bought there: monkfish tail, whole calamari, skate wing, whole flounder. I was a little creeped out to find 7 tiny, intact fishes inside the calamari I bought. But even THEY had pretty fresh-looking eyes. I like that there's a tub of ice you can use to double-bag your purchase after it is weighed. There's a major language barrier, but look up when you're standing at the counter, and you'll see a chart that allows you to choose the prep you want by number.
Crush Pizzeria, Nashua?
Having watched Burt Wolf's What We Eat episode about tomatoes last week on PBS, I am chuckling over the game of authenticity escalatio that's gone on in some of these posts. According to Wolf, pizza began in Naples as a thin round of dough topped with oil and herbs before baking, and it wasn't until tomatoes arrived from the New World that the dish began to resemble the modern pizza. With some form of pizza being served all over the world, it seems a tad picky to get worked up over what is and isn't traditional or authentic.
Carrot Cake that Wows... does anybody know this recipe???
The Cook's Illustrated carrot cake uses carrot baby food in addition to the shredded carrots. If there are really no discernible bits of stuff other than nuts and maybe raisins, perhaps the baker is using baby food forms of applesauce or pineapple as well. I buy sultanas (Swad brand, I think) in an Asian grocery store. They are half the size of supermarket brands like Dole, and lighter in color as well. Your mystery baker might have soaked and chopped the raisins.
It's also possible that she cooked all the "stuff" together, added the liquid ingredients, then pureed it before mixing with the dried ingredients.
As for cream cheese frosting, I use whipped cream cheese, whipped butter, and marshmallow fluff. Just blend and taste, add a little vanilla. It's a lot lighter that way. Usually the fluff is sweet enough that little or no extra sweetening is necessary.
Ketchup - try "gourmet," make at home, or just skip?
There was a long New Yorker piece about the abysmal failure of attempts to market gourmet and other alternative ketchups. It is included in the New Yorker food writing anthology, Secret Ingredients (a great read). Heinz is Goliath and he stomps the would-be Davids. Interestingly, I believe it was the America's Test Kitchen people who put Hunt's at the top in a blind taste test.
I tried it and agree. Though I have a sweet tooth, I find Heinz, and to a lesser extent Hunt's, too sweet - same for the store brands. I recall trying Del Monte once and not liking it - it was definitely not sweet but didn't make it as ketchup, for me. A place in Nashua, NH, prides itself on homemade ketchup but that tastes like the thick tomatoey chili sauce on the supermarket shelves right next to the ketchups. I tried making my own once, I think from the CHOW recipe.
Tasted more like pasta sauce than ketchup. I intend to try again.
You probably know that ketchup was not originally made from tomatoes. The word means "sauce". It started out made in various forms, including mushroom and grape. Once tomatoes became a popular, cheap crop, ketchup makers adopted it.
Dessert Egg Rolls?
S'mores Rolls: Marshmallow with graham cracker crumbs (and/or Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter, which is GCs made into peanut-butter consistency, a clone of Biscoff cookie butter), and either chocolate inside, or drizzled over the fried rolls, or both.
