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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/10/2008 10:05:05 PM | Thanks everyone!
Blues, if I remember correctly you helped me out on all the differences in peppers, once. Now I am good with my salt AND pepper. Thanks.
One more question before I go off to bed:
I cook a lot of fried foods (I know, I know) and I always use vegetable oil. I have heard certain people mention they use certain oils for different foods. Canola oil, peanut oil and sunflower oil are the only other ones I can think of right now. Anyway...does it make a difference? What kind of oil do you prefer for which foods? What would you suggest I use for one of my favorite food...fried shrimp? | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/10/2008 10:22:51 PM | Are you talking deep-fried shrimp, Naughtical, or pan-fried? I don't do deep-fried but nothing beats garlic shrimp pan-fried in butter. In order to prevent the butter from browning too much or burning (happens at a fairly low temp) mix 1 part olive oil to 2 parts butter, add TONS of minced garlic, fry for maybe 3 min till the shrimp are no longer pink, but are whitish and opaque, and VOILA your neighbours will be banging your door down! Super-simple and tastes fantastico.
SunnyD | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/10/2008 10:26:57 PM | As for other oils used in cooking, one of my favorites that adds wonderful flavour to grilled meats or to homemade salad dressings is sesame oil. You will find that in the Asian foods aisle at your supermarket. All I do for grilled or broiled fish or pork (esp tenderloin!) is drizzle just enough to brush over the meat, and then add minced (or in a pinch, powdered) ginger. That's it, that's all you need...amazing flavour. In salad dressings it adds a very distinctive and nutty flavour. You should always check with your guests if they have any allergies btw, as sesame oil can affect those with nut allergies.
SunnyD | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/10/2008 10:32:22 PM | naughtical ~~ unless you actually use cake flour for cakes, self-rising will work anywhere you need to use baking powder/salt. I use it for everything but bread.
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/10/2008 11:10:24 PM | SunnyD...actually I was talking deep frying but I am going to try it your way. Sounds delicious...thanks!
(hoping my neighbors don't try to bang my door down...really, really strange neighbors here)
Thanks, Wooby! | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions bundt cake
Posted: 3/11/2008 1:02:42 AM | re:"I don't think it means you don't have to grease the tin, I always grease the tin of a teflon pan and how come my cakes still stick.."
I think you might have 2 problems: ingredients and technique.
It sounds as if you are only greasing the pan. If you are doing a cake,(which is generally what you will be doing with a bundt pan, you need to also flour it. Make sure you use shortening or butter, not oil, and then flour it well, all the way up the sides, tapping out the excess.
Then in baking, make sure the cake is "done" and that it has pulled away from the sides of the pan. Don't turn the cake out yet. Make sure you put the cake in the pan on a rack and let it set for 10 minutes at least, then rap the cake pan bottom sharply on the counter, put a plate on the open top of the cake pan and flip the whole thing upside down so that the cake drops out of the bundt pan and onto the plate.
If you're already doing all of this, and you are still having trouble, you need to ditch the pan. There's something wrong with it.
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| No cooking question is too stupid
Posted: 3/11/2008 4:40:42 AM | sea salt has trace metals (gold, silver, etc..) and minerals which to the taste buds are stronger. for every 1 tsp of salt I used 2/3 or 3/4 t of sea salt.
Oils are a complex issue. Most is temp. You get a better crunch with high temp oils like peanut because you can heat them hotter without them smoking and tastying nasty. Additionally peanut oil does not ever taste burnt -- it gets beefy tasting.
Beyond that much of it is health. Canola is high in omega 3s. Much better to use it in cooking than buy some spendy salmon oil capsules to get the same thing.
Certain ones are prefered for flavor, too, and that is mostly personal preference.
I love peanut for wok cooking. For other stuff canola would be much healthier. Its almost as healthy as olive oil without the hefty price tag.
flavorwise, for your shrimp, Naughtical, I'd recommend 1 T butter for 3 T canola oil. Best of both worlds -- health and flavor. Some say its more resistant to burning, too.
This is my standard for most sauteeing. Still tastes good but has those fishlike omega 3s.
Now I expect you to invite me over for dinner to test all this good advice.  | |
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| No cooking question is too stupid
Posted: 3/11/2008 4:41:51 AM | | Now if some one could just help me keep my chili peppers straight. Why do they change names when they are dried? | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 5:48:05 AM | Another way to keep the starches down in boiling pasta is to add the pasta to rapidly boiling water. Starches dissolve in cold water, so ya gotta keep the temp up! Also a good reason for a large quantity of water so that the addition of room temp pasta doesn't cool the water.
Cookin!
G | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 7:42:33 AM |  Naughti , learned sumfin' myself on that excursion .
I've started using a dash/splash of sesame oil in with whatever else I'm using (butter/vegetable oil) just for the flavor , depending on the dish .
Since dark oil has a stronger flavor it goes farther .
+1 for mixing olive oil w/butter to lessen 'burn temp' .
IMO all shrimp need is about what RE said , Crisco/canola/corn oil , you don't wanta overpower the shrimp flavor .
I don't like canola but it's a personal preference thing is all . +1 on RE's peanut oil temp/taste comments . | |
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| No cooking question is too stupid
Posted: 3/11/2008 8:38:14 AM | In my opinion grape seed oil is one of the best oils to have on hand.
It has a high smoke point, so can very utilitarian at times.
It's very versatile enabling it to be used for pretty well anything from salads to deep frying.
It does have a touch of a nutty flavour, making it wonderful to use with seafood.
Nuts and sea creatures go hand in had in my kitchen.
Tossing a handful of unsalted (or rinsed) cashews or in when stirfrying scallops or shrimp is divine.  | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 9:30:02 AM | | I do it all of the time self rising flour already has all of the salt and tings in it. So that is all i eer use unless I am making home made bread. Hope this helps answer yaou ??? | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 10:25:08 AM | | ...OK...here's my thought on self-rising flour...I know there are "use by" issues with baking soda..and probably with creme of tartar as well....so..if you already have them in the cupboard...and you buy self-rising flour...you've probably made them less desireable as leavening...because you don't use them often enough...and if you leave the self-rising flour around too long....well you get my drift...I don't know how many pre-packaged cake mixes and muffin mixes I've had go flat...because I didn't use them within a reasonable amount of time.... | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 10:26:27 AM | | ..Should have said Baking Powder....knowing it's a combination of Baking Soda and Creme of Tartar....I got excited when I was typing....time for some green tea...LOL | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 2:50:20 PM | Thanks, everyone!
Still have two unanswered questions from Roxanne in post #24:
1) why are y'all rinsing the sauerkraut?
2) why is meat supposed to be at room temperature when you grill it? I like mine "Pittsburg rare" and the colder it is to start with, the better results I have.
I know nothing at all about sauerkraut.
I looked up Pittsburgh rare and it is steak that has been quickly charred on the outside and still rare to almost rare inside. Don't think I could handle it (know I couldn't) if it was so rare it was still cold on the inside.
That reminds me of a grillling question but I'll save that for later. | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 3:21:24 PM | Rinsing sauerkraut gets rid of some of the salt. Sauerkraut is nothing but cabbage and salt, fermented. it has an incredibly high salt content when not rinsed. I never rinsed mine until I took care of a German gentleman and his wife showed me how to prepare sauerkraut. They always rinse it, kind of like salted cod if any of you have dealt with it you know you must rinse it or soak it in milk before preparing.
OMG!! someone who doesn't know ramen noodles, the official food of all dorm living college students, cheap and easy to fix, you just need boiling water. Just don't read the ingredients, all fat and salt lol.
Bringing meat to room temp allows the interior to come to temp and cook without over cooking the outside. We always called pittsburgh rare, black and blue, charred on the outside and still cool in the center. I worked as a grill cook and we would slather clarified butter on the outside of a New York strip and let it burn Quickly on the hottest part of the grill, nice char on the outside and still raw in the center. | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 4:24:43 PM | | I don't use oil in my pasta, but do rinse it with HOT water to wash the starch off as that is what makes it stick. I also rinse cooked crumbled hamburger meat with hot water to remove more fat. | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 5:09:43 PM | ^^^^ I prefer to skip a step and simply poach my hamburger meat. It removes the fat and cooks at the same time.
I've found this the best method for cooking meatballs. They maintain their shape and don't crumble. | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 5:23:54 PM | I have no clue about poaching hamburger meat but it sounds interesting! I will tell you I do rinse sauerkraut when I make it. I am Pennsylvania Dutch so that is occasionally on the menu. I really like it with pork ribs or kielbasa in winter, don't know why. Anyways, when I was growing up, no one in the family ever rinsed it. That changed when my parents actually went to Germany the first time and got an idea how they prepare it over there. I've been rinsing ever since! By the way, my kids hate sauerkraut but I LOVE it........yes, I could use that as a form of teenage torture if necessary. After all, I distinctly remember my Grandmother subjecting me to liver...........ewwwwwwwwwwww!! | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 5:25:23 PM | To poach hamburger,just crumble it in the pan and add some water, about a cup of water to a pound of burger should do it, makes the fat easier to pour off too. won't burn on the bottom of the pan too and you don't have to keep turning it to brown it. Good for taco meat. | |
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| A place for stupid cooking questions
Posted: 3/11/2008 6:08:10 PM |
How do you poach hamburger meat???
First you wait until dark... Then you have to climb over the barbed wire fence. Slowly walk up to the unsuspecting moo cow and humm a bit...
Then slip a noose around it's neck and quietly walk back to the fence... If' you cut the wire you won't have to find a gate...
Then it's off to the back door butcher and that hamburger meat's been poached
If'n the deputees don't git ya the bull might, so be careful to not step in sumthin' as you leave. | |
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