Prime Rib Roast Successes and Disasters....

This is timely for me. I'm doing a 4 kg or 8.8 lb prime rib on Thursday, and I've always done the 325 or even 350 route, but I'd like to try low and slow.

I'll admit first off to still being in a turkey stupor, and would prefer not wade through all the threads on the subject - my head is spinning enough. (or still!)

Having said that I'd really like to give this a go, so with a 225 oven, is there a per pound time?

When it comes out, it rests for a time and then goes back in at 500 for 8 - 12 minutes, so why does it rest for that long and go back in?

Is there a lot of drippings for gravy?

Internal temp of about 128 - 130?

Is there a tried and true formula for this?

I'm kind of nervous about doing this, as it's for a once a year family dinner, but also a bit excited too!

casey30 in Home Cooking

Saltine toffee failure - what am I doing wrong?

I've been making this for three years at Christmas, and it's been a failure every time except for the first time, which has frustrated the heck out of me!

My problem is with the toffee - instead of being smooth and toffee like, mine is more crystalline, if that makes any sense.

I've tried as many variations as I can think of: I melt 1 cup butter with 1 cup brown sugar, and have tried every iteration: boil for 2 mins, boil for 3 mins, boil until 238, salted butter, unsalted butter, stir with wooden spoon, don't stir at all. Melt the butter first, then add the sugar, melt them both together. I made two batches yesterday, and neither has that smooth toffee texture - it's almost as if the sugar hasn't melted properly, and the last batch I cooked until it got to 240 - same result.

It drives me crazy that my friends have no problem with this, and such a simple recipe has me defeated!

ANY ideas on what might be the problem?

This recipe is a bit different - it cooks to 300 and doesn't go in the oven:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chocolate-almond-saltine-toffee

casey30 in Home Cooking

Roasting potatoes a day ahead?

Hi

My usual way of doing potatoes is par boiling for 8 - 10 mins, shaking the pot to rough them up, then toss with olive oil, s & p, rosemary or thyme, and bake the heck out of them at 400 - 450 until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, about 45 - 60 minutes.

I'm under time constraints for tomorrow night, and would like to get them on the table in about 40 minutes.

Would it work if I did the parboiling and then just partially roasted them tonight and then finished them tomorrow evening. Anyone tried that?

If it was just us, I'd not hesitate, but we're having company, so I'm a bit leery about winging it.

Failing that, there's always minute rice!

Thanks.

casey30 in Home Cooking

European measurements - by weight not volume?

Paulj - yes, that's the recipe. It's so good I brought one home for Thanksgiving dinner!

And thanks to rworange for the conversion chart.

I've been to three mainstream grocery stores for self-rising flour and no one carried it. I'm in Toronto, probably I could find it in a specialty store, but I think I'll try adding baking powder and see how that goes.

Many thanks for the helpful replies, weighing it is, dumb question and all!

casey30 in Home Cooking

European measurements - by weight not volume?

Hi

I had the most wonderful apple cake in Amsterdam and managed to find a recipe on-line that purports to replicate it, but it's measurements for flour, butter and brown sugar are in what I assume is weight rather than volume.

600 gr of flour and 350 gr butter and 250 gr brown sugar.

I have a small kitchen scale, so I can certainly weigh everything, but I've never come across this before in all my years of baking.

Coincidentally, my husband was speaking with someone recently about baking bread, and this person prefers to weigh the flour instead of measuring it.

It also calls for self-rising flour, which I can't find here, but I've seen formulas for that - adding baking powder to all-purpose apparently does the trick.

Anyone have experience with this - am I right to assume the ingredients are to be weighed?

Many thanks.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Turkey roasting time for today's Thanksgiving dinner?

Sorry, irrelevant.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Turkey roasting time for today's Thanksgiving dinner?

Irrevelant??? I don't even know what to say to that - clearly it needs to get to temperature, I was wondering generally how long.

Thanks to blue room, todao and honeybee03 for your more thoughtful replies.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Turkey roasting time for today's Thanksgiving dinner?

Hi

I usually cook my stuffed 20 - 22 lb turkey at 325 for about 5 1/2 hours. I buy a fresh one and it always comes out beautifully.

This year's 19 pounder is going to be unstuffed, and I don't know what to do about the timing. I've read anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes less per pound, which would take about 1 1/2 hours off.

Does 4 hours for a 19 pound turkey sound reasonable?

Also, I've been advised to cut a couple of onions and some celery and put that in the cavity.

Any ideas on this would be helpful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

casey30 in Home Cooking

Will this Ina recipe keep for two days - shrimp and orzo?

What I'm going to avoid at all costs is making it on Tuesday - I've made similar recipes and never had any problems with the orzo going mushy, I always try to get it al dente.

The recipe actually calls for it to be refrigerated overnight.

Maybe make it all Monday morning, including roasting the shrimp, and just toss the shrimp in Tuesday in the morning. How does that sound?

Of course, the alternative is to get some steaks, fresh tomatoes and some corn.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Will this Ina recipe keep for two days - shrimp and orzo?

Hi

I'm going to be making Ina's shrimp and orzo pasta salad with dill. The shrimp are grilled and then added to the orzo with a lemon based dressing. I made it before with chicken, due to allergy considerations of a guest, and it was great, but I think the shrimp would be best.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-shrimp-and-orzo-recipe/index.html

I'm leaving Monday morning for a friend's cottage and I'm on for dinner Tuesday night. We'll be four women, chicken on the menu for Monday, so I think this might be a good choice - no cooking at the last minute.

So my question is can I make it Sunday night? I'm not worried about the pasta, so much as leaving the shrimp in it for that period. One poster to the food network thought the shrimp became "mealy" after leaving it overnight.

So I can make the whole shebang Sun night, Monday morning, or make the salad Sunday, roast the shrimp either Sun or Mon, and just don't add the shrimp until maybe tuesday morning.

I fear I may be overthinking this, as usual.

I love this site!!!!!

thanks for any help and opinions.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Lemon poppyseed loaf - didn't rise properly, did I make an improper substitution?

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll increase the temp a bit next time.

I served it tonight, and it tasted great - light and airy, even in the "sunken" parts!

casey30 in Home Cooking

Lemon poppyseed loaf - didn't rise properly, did I make an improper substitution?

Lemon zest only.

The baking powder and soda are fresh.

Does the temperature sound too low to you - 325?

casey30 in Home Cooking

Lemon poppyseed loaf - didn't rise properly, did I make an improper substitution?

I have an old recipe for lemon poppy seed loaf that calls for light cream. (vegetable oil and 2 eggs also) Years ago, by mistake, I made it with sour cream instead, and it turned out great.

Last week I decided to make it, and didn't have either sour cream or light cream, but I did have yogurt, so I gave it a try. It turned out just fine, maybe didn't rise as high in the centre, but it tasted perfect.

This morning I tried again with yogurt, and it's looking sort of collapsed in the middle. It's fine on the outside, but really didn't rise at all in the middle. A tester in the middle came out clean.

The recipe also calls for baking soda and baking powder. It bakes at 325 for one hour.

Could I have pushed my luck a bit by using yogurt instead? I did read up on this last week, and read a few posts that indicated it would be a suitable substitution.

I always have yogurt in the house, and I'd like to be able to use it for the recipe - any ideas on what may have happened? or how I might change either the cooking time or temperature to improve the result?

Thanks.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Rice flour substitute?

Of course I didn't read the whole recipe!!!!

The recipe is 3 cups flour, 2/3 rice flour. Could I use the c&p instead of rice flour?

casey30 in Home Cooking

Pork tenderloin

I'm having a pork tenderloin tonight. It's about a pound.

I mix up a teasp or so of thyme, oregano, rosemary, some kosher salt, some pepper, add some olive oil, smear it all over, roast at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. It will release wonderful, flavourful juice at the end - that's how I know it's done. Not very scientific! Let rest for a few minutes. Slice and pour the juices over. Yummy!

casey30 in Home Cooking

Rice flour substitute?

I had some wonderful little shortbread cookies, and the recipe calls for rice flour. Would cake and pastry flour be a good sub? or cornstarch?

Truth be told, I'm too lazy and shopped out, and I don't want to brave the grocery store for just one thing, but I if it will give me a better result, I might try to talk someone else into going out for it!

casey30 in Home Cooking

What do you make for breakfast on Christmas morning?

Very traditional for us. Scrambled eggs, bacon, my sister's homemade scones with Devonshire cream and jam, croissant, my DH's cinnamon bread, and grapefruit to cut all that richness!

casey30 in Home Cooking

What to have for a company holiday dinner

I make this beef tenderloin quite a bit
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/beef_tenderloin_with_cabernet_shallot_sauce.php
I make the sauce ahead of time, just adding the pan juices at the end. It cooks perfectly at the temperature recommended.

I serve it with either small boiled parsleyed potatoes or crunchy oven roasted potatoes, and whatever vegs look good. I'm partial to sauteed grape tomatoes (Ina Garten) or oven roasted peppers and something green.

Something light and lemony or a beautiful pavlova for dessert.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Blind baking question

I do it quite often when I bake a lemon meringue pie or savory tarts.

After blind baking I'll brush the bottom with egg white to prevent the dreaded soggy bottom (for the lemon meringue), and just leave them out at night. I wouldn't refrigerate because that will attract moisture and I want it dry.

You're baking it once the fillings are in, so I don't think there's a need to crisp it up in the oven.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Your favorite candy recipes?

I'm also going to be making Fleur de sel caramels. They're my new favourite thing - easy and beyond wonderful!

Also, toasted coconut marshmallows from Ina.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Dried mushroom conversion?

Thanks for your help. Much appreciated. And substitution it is. Sometimes, it's just one word off and you get nothing! lol

casey30 in Home Cooking

Dried mushroom conversion?

Hi

I have a soup recipe that calls for 6 cups of fresh mushrooms. I'd like to use some dried ones that I already have on hand. Does anyone know how much dried to use. There must be a conversion, but I'm obviously not looking in the right place for it.

Thanks.

casey30 in Home Cooking

Storage of Fleur de Sel Caramels

Thanks for all that incredibly helpful information.

I had already wrapped, tinned and refrigerated them, but took them out first thing this morning, so I hope I haved ruined them already. (I might have to eat them all if I did!)

I'm going to bring them to a dinner tomorrow night, so as long as they stay good until then, I'll be a happy camper.

Isn't it great when a new recipe works out!!!!!

Cheers

casey30 in Home Cooking

Storage of Fleur de Sel Caramels

I just this evening made my very first batch of caramels - I used the Epicurious version.

I couldn't wait the two hours to let them cool - they're absolutely wonderful, maybe a bit soft, but that could be because I dug in a bit early or my candy thermometer only increases by 5, so I guessed a bit at when to take them off.

But I'm wondering about how to keep them fresh as long as possible. All the recipes I've seen said to wrap each one in waxed paper or glassine. Is that necessary? It's probably a requirement for transporting them, but can I just leave them in the pan if I don't intend to take them out anywhere?

Also, can I refrigerate them, and will that extend the shelf life? Given that there's whipping cream and butter, I'm guessing they should be refrigerated.

One last thing, do they always chrystallize, and if so, how long before that happens.

Thanks for any advice you can share with this newbie caramel maker.

Fleur de sel really WAS worth the price!!!

casey30 in Home Cooking

How do you solve a problem like boxed mac and cheese?

Leftover broccoli and carrots, extra-old cheddar cheese, and if I'm really being bad, cut up hot dogs. Maybe with a small salad on the side to ease my guilty conscience:)

I find KD WAY, WAY easier to make than homemade, and if I'm being honest, it hits the spot in a way that homemade just can't. I can't even blame it on nostalgia - I doubt it was even around when I was a kid. Now fried SPAM on white bread with ketchup, that brings back memories!

casey30 in Home Cooking

ISO: Abe & Louie's creamed spinach recipe

I just found 3 recipes for it in a 1970's Joy of Cooking.

One is a blender recipe and uses sour cream or cream of chicken soup.

One is blender using milk and butter.

One uses chicken stock or cream but not the blender.

Do any of these sound like what you're looking for?

casey30 in Home Cooking

ISO: Abe & Louie's creamed spinach recipe

Thanks. I feel like an idiot now :)

casey30 in Home Cooking

ISO: Abe & Louie's creamed spinach recipe

I keep seeing ISO - what does it stand for?

Sorry I can't help you with your recipe search though.

casey30 in Home Cooking

How do I grill this beef tenderloin

I wish I'd read Foody4life before I cooked it - it sounds amazing!

I put it on the grill for about 20 minutes as per a recipe in a grilling cookbook. It was MUCH too rare in the middle - sort of a bullseye blood red with a pink circle around it. I didn't want to put it on for much longer or the outside would be overdone. I did leave it on for another 5 minutes, still really, really rare, then let it sit for 10 minutes, still really rare, but the taste was wonderful and so tender.

I'm doing another one in a couple of weeks, and I'll try the America's Test Kitchen recipe for sure.

Thanks to all

casey30 in Home Cooking