Culinary Conversations

bower · #481

Did any of you hear about the big row over how to cook pasta? Upshot, there are several ways to cook dried pasta that work as well as boiling for ten minutes. The most efficient is to soak the pasta for two hours in cold water, then simmer it for a couple of minutes. I haven't tried it yet but I like this idea a lot! I hate standing over a pot waiting for it to boil then waiting for it to boil over.
https://theconversation.com/italys-past ... ney-191973

pepperhead212 · #482

Something mentioned in that article is something I've been doing for many years - putting the pasta in the boiling water, boiling briefly (just 2 min), then letting it cook from the residual heat (5-8 min, depending on the type of pasta). I never tried to soak the pasta first, but it makes sense - I do that with many things, in various ways. I cook many whole grains, in combination with the various lentils I cook - usually things that take longer than the lentils, but not always, but whatever takes longer, I simply soak them, then cook together. And same thing with pasta, which usually takes less time to cook, but soaking the legumes or grains first, can give them the same cooking time. And that method I found a couple of years ago for cooking pasta under pressure in the Instant Pot I would have never thought of, but it works great!

worth1 · #483

My pasta isn't cooked at a rolling boil and I don't use as much water.
I haven't had a boil over in ages.
Been doing this for years.
The same with potatoes.
The potatoes are put in cold water the cover put on and let com to boil on medium heat boil for about 5 minutes or so depending on how beg they are and turn stove off.
I want my Nobel prize.

worth1 · #484

Bower wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 7:42 pm
worth1 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 08, 2023 10:51 am Caked on and burn on grease and food.
It never fails to see remedies on line and elsewhere on how to do it.
One in particular is always our there.
Mixing baking soda and vinegar.
Well let me tell you something folks.
This does nothing but neutralize the two.
One is an acid and the other a base.
The bubbles you see are the reaction created when the two are mixed together.
If you want to get rid of baked on grease and food a base is your better option.
Not an acid.
I have a glass top stove and was using one of my kettles to make nixtamal.
A boil over happened and it got on the outside of the kettle.
When it was all over the bottom of the kettle was as clean as a whistle.
My new glass or ceramic top stove quickly got burn scars on it that didn't want to come off by any means. This had been building up for a while even though I clean it every day, it just didn't come off so I left it. Then one day I boiled over some rice. I took a wet cloth to it as soon as the pot was removed and I was amazed it came clean and took a few old stains with it. Just before christmas I boiled over some pasta on the worst (most used) burner of all. Took the wet cloth to it while it was still hot. And every darn stain from the past year came right off with it!
I don't know how to explain the chemistry of that, but I now know how to make the stovetop look brand new again.

I use a razor blade scraper to clean my glass top stove.
Works great.
You just gotta fip it ever so often.

worth1 · #485

They had some large portobello mushrooms for 50% off so I got 4 of them.
I also remembered to get a head of anis fennel.
And some frozen precooked shrimp.
Somehow I'm going to try and incorporate these three but have never cooked with the anis fennel bulb before.
No clue as what to do with the darn thing.

worth1 · #486

Watching YouTube videos on how to use the fennel bulb.
I always get excited when cooking new things.
The one I bought had the stalks and leaf fronds on it.
Looks like a fan.

I think I'll grill half of it and eat the other half raw in a slaw.
Not for sure yet.
Another thing I bought was Knorr shrimp bullion powder.
Something else I've never used.
But will today.

bower · #487

One of the best salads I've ever eaten, it was bulb fennel with arugula. My SIL served it to us. Over the moon delicious.
I've never cooked with fennel myself either.

PlainJane · #488

Fennel, radish and orange salad with a little shallot or red onion is a classic. I make a vinaigrette from orange juice, white wine vinegar, honey, salt, pepper and a bit of the chopped up fennel frond.

karstopography · #489

PlainJane wrote: ↑Sun Jan 15, 2023 7:00 am Fennel, radish and orange salad with a little shallot or red onion is a classic. I make a vinaigrette from orange juice, white wine vinegar, honey, salt, pepper and a bit of the chopped up fennel frond.

My bulb fennel survived the freeze. I have some radishes out there also. I’ll have to make this soon.

worth1 · #490

Speaking of oranges the seeded sweet oranges showed up finally at the store.
Got a bag but the price is up.

worth1 · #491

My head of cabbage might still be good so I might make a small coleslaw with part of it and grill the other half like I saw a French chef do.
He blanched the things cut in half and then put on a grill pan for grill marks.

Tormato · #492

worth1 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 5:30 am My pasta isn't cooked at a rolling boil and I don't use as much water.
I haven't had a boil over in ages.
Been doing this for years.
The same with potatoes.
The potatoes are put in cold water the cover put on and let com to boil on medium heat boil for about 5 minutes or so depending on how beg they are and turn stove off.
I want my Nobel prize.

Nobel prize?

worth1 · #493

Getting them while I can I picked up a pile of bulk spices at the store yesterday.
I don't even remember what all they were.
One was about a half pound of turmeric.

bower · #494

My grocery store had an ethnic foods aisle for a couple of years that disappeared early pandemic... now suddenly I see a new aisle, the whole full side filled with various ethnic foods including a great array of large packages of spices from India. I grabbed a few things without giving it too much thought - black cardamoms, green cardamoms, fennel seed, paprika. At home opened the cardamoms, whoa they are super fresh. You could literally scent the room by leaving the package open.
I've never used black cardamom, we used to get the white ones to use in curry and turkish coffee but haven't seen any for years. The green are also strong smelling and not exactly what I expected. Some experiments to come.

worth1 · #495

I bought a giant bag of coriander seed.
I'm going to see if they sprout like I did the black mustard seeds.
Coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant and both are used extensively in Mexican cuisine.
There isn't one part of this plant that can't be eaten including the roots.
Even the leaves of an avocado are used.
In some areas of Mexico avocados are so common that they lay on the ground and rot there are so many of the trees.
Think of the poor Mexican that comes to the US only to find something they walked by with little regard that suddenly costs a dollar apiece..
That's exactly what one Mexican friend told me about the town he came from in Mexico.

Tormato · #496

Bower wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 3:32 pm One of the best salads I've ever eaten, it was bulb fennel with arugula. My SIL served it to us. Over the moon delicious.
I've never cooked with fennel myself either.

Would it OK to have a fennel salad with a sprinkling of black jelly beans?

Old chef · #497

Tormato wrote: ↑Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:27 pm
Bower wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 3:32 pm One of the best salads I've ever eaten, it was bulb fennel with arugula. My SIL served it to us. Over the moon delicious.
I've never cooked with fennel myself either.
Would it OK to have a fennel salad with a sprinkling of black jelly beans?

SHORT ANSWER! NO!

worth1 · #498

Tormato wrote: ↑Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:27 pm
Bower wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 3:32 pm One of the best salads I've ever eaten, it was bulb fennel with arugula. My SIL served it to us. Over the moon delicious.
I've never cooked with fennel myself either.
Would it OK to have a fennel salad with a sprinkling of black jelly beans?

Pizza made with black jelly beans and candy orange slices.

Sue_CT · #499

Tormato, HARD NO. But then I am not as huge fan of fennel either.

worth1 · #500

Anethole a flavor people seem to love or hate.
I love the flavor.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anethole

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