Latest Cooking Answers

What can I do with under-ripe eggplant?

The eggplant in my garden was doing very well up until a hard frost a couple of days ago (it's late December, and this was inevitable). Some of the plants died

What is meant by "cook until the oil separates" in Indian curry recipes?

A lot of Indian curry recipes have a step where you're told to cook an onion-tomato-spices mixture "until the oil separates". Despite having tried cooking such

how do I make my goat cheese creamy?

I tried to make goat cheese following the recipe below, I did not use any buttermilk although a comment indicated that could be done. I kept the milk at the des

What are the factors that affect the chewiness, softness, moisture of bread based desserts like cinnamon rolls?

I made some cinnamon rolls the other day but the outside of the rolls are firm rather than soft after baking. What are the factors that affect the chewiness, so

Camping stove to supplement an electric hob

I've got basic electric hobs in my kitchen which do a fine job - but a lot of cookbooks suggest that certain things would be best done on an open flame/gas hob

What to do with Pickled Figs

I have a jar of pickled figs bought for me as a present, and would like to make good use of them. Any ideas??

How to brew tasty tea with hard water

At our new home, we have hard water. I had thought that the teabags I was buying were just weak, but the internet seems to indicate that the hard water will ac

Preview for "The New Best Recipe"? Suitability for vegetarians?

Is there a site that offers a "look inside" preview of the book "The New Best Recipe"? I checked both Amazon and Google Books, but I couldn't preview it in eith

Did extra insulation cause ice crystals in frozen mac & cheese?

I prepared two 9x13" casserole dishes worth of macaroni & cheese (roux based). In terms of the quantity of pasta, I used three pounds. After combining sauce

How long do I need to freeze the freezer bowl when making the second batch of ice cream?

I have made one batch of ice cream, and now I need to make another. I have rinsed out the freezer bowl, and when I dried it I noticed that the water had frozen

Do popovers serves as the starch and the bread in a meal?

I found an interesting recipe for Roquefort popovers and wanted to serve along side of filet mignon and grilled lobster tail, with potatoes and salad. Should I

Is it possible to use casserole dish to make no-knead bread?

I don't own a heavy enamel pot, which seems to be the best for no-knead bread. Is it possible to make good no-knead bread in a glass casserole dish?

Should I peel and devein whole shrimps?

I bought some precooked whole shrimp. Do I need to peel and devein them before eating or is it possible to leave this step out? I intend to saute them in garlic

For baking, is there a common "done" temperature across different kinds of breads?

I'm pretty new to baking, and it seems like the toothpick test is pretty subjective. I'm wondering, can I use my Thermapen instead? At a fundamental level,

Improvised self-raising flour

Say I just ran out of self-raising flour. What can I add to plain flour to make the equivalent?

Stew? Roast? Non-Braised Chicken?

I occasionally experiment in the kitchen by tossing together rather arbitrary mixes of whatever I have handy. Tonight I'm making something which I would call

Testicles as food?

When I read that you can buy and eat testicles I wondered whether I should try it once, since I'm basically open to anything that tastes good. I wonder how I sh

Should brussel sprouts ever taste like chemicals?

So I got a bunch of what I thought were locally grown organic brussel sprouts from the local coop the other day. They came in an unlabeled zip lock bag, which

Any time / temperature recommendation for a short braise of a tender piece of meat?

I have a recipe for braised lamb shanks that I'd like to convert to use lamb loin chops instead. The original recipe calls for the shanks to be browned and then

Any magic formulas for roasting a gammon joint?

wondering if there is a magic formula (i.e weight/temp/time) in order to get a gammon just right?

How long does it take to warm a ham in the oven?

I bought a fully cooked ham. It was frozen, and it's now thawed. How long should I put in the oven to warm it up?

Is it safe to wash a little Sterno down a sink drain?

I've recently been cooking and using Sterno to keep things warm - or cook. However, from time to time I need to stir, scoop, or manipulate the Sterno in some wa

How do I measure frozen herbs, like dried or fresh?

I froze a lot of my herbs over the summertime, but now I'm not sure how to measure them for my recipes....Do I measure as fresh or dried?

Looking for meal-planning / grocery list software

I'm looking for software (either PC-based, or web-based) that can be used for meal planning and generating shopping lists. What I'd like is for it to store reci

When baking a cake that calls for butter, should you use salted or unsalted?

I'm baking a cake using a cake mix and extra ingredients. It calls for 5 tbsp of butter, but I'm not sure which to use, salted or unsalted. What difference wou

Why did my pavlova not bake properly?

My pavlova turned out too soft , sticky and "gooey". Yellowish liquid was seeping out of it during and continued after baking,

How do I season my new pizza stone?

I just bought my first pizza stone. The instructions that came with it recommend that I wash it thoroughly with plain water before using it for the first time.

Why is my chuck roast dry?

Our chuck roast came out tender but dry. Why? We used the Beef in Barolo recipe from Americas Test Kitchen: - 2 lbs chuck roast seasoned with salt and pepper

baking bread with all-purpose flour

I'm a bread-baking novice and have acquired a vast quantity of all-purpose flour. If I follow a typical bread recipe, for example one of these, but use all-pur

Can i freeze chocolate cream frosting / ganache?

I made some chocolate cream frosting / ganache (basically just double / heavy cream with plain / bittersweet chocolate, melted and whipped up). I ended up wit