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Are you making a pitch for Modernist Pasta ?!

Maybe this video, 50 Ways to Kill Your Starter will give you some inspiration. Seems that it's a lot tougher than we think it is. I found this when I cleaned my freezer today. It looks like I might be back in business. I thought that I had tucked some in there as a backup when my starter was going good but until now I couldn't find it.

My original thought was that a book , that understands Pasta , should understand all and newer methods of cooking said pasta . no more , no less.

@weinoo after two pieces of American Junk ( Jeep , Jimmy ) which both decomposed @ 40,000 miles I got a Hylander ( made in Indiana ) and I gave it away to a mechanic where i took it 16 y.o. just needed a little work.

I tried the microwave pasta gadget in two (admittedly feeble) microwaves and they took way longer than the guidelines suggested so I didn’t keep it. In a mild defense of McFadden's gallon of water for 8 oz pasta, he uses that water in the sauce, not just after the pasta is cooked, but sometimes a good bit earlier. He also recommends @weinoo's method of bringing the water to a boil as his first step in most recipes, then backing off on the heat if more time is needed for the sauce so he’s allowing for a little evaporation. I also agree with @weinoo that shapes like rigatoni can be pan hogs, especially when they’re still quite firm so I don’t think 4 qts is a gross excess. Also, McFadden spends a good bit of time explaining how to taste the pasta for doneness, much easier on the stovetop. That said, reducing the amount of water used to increase its starchiness and save boiling time isn’t a bad thing at all. If I’m cooking 1-2 servings of long pasta, I routinely use a 12-inch skillet with an inch or two of water. Boils fast and the pasta all gets submerged at once. Maybe as fast as the Fasta!

@Tropicalsenior Thank you. I will look at the videos later today

If only; I did get my father's 1995 Camry, but that wasn't until 2005.

I do like the Prima Taste laksa a lot - for a convenience product it’s really really tasty. When living in HK I had their Singapore curry paste (pretty much the one from the instant noddles) as a staple in my pantry - for me the best available commercial SE asian curry paste available (and in HK everything is available 😉) …

The epi shape is very forgiving. I made it from a plethora of doughs, e.g. this one from left-over pizza dough. Due to the shape the sharp „ears“ brown faster than the bulky parts, which - at least in my experience - makes epis a bit unevenly crunchy.

@weinoo Ill look for it. Al Bronzo @ Walmart , believe it or not , is $ 3.65 DelCecco is $ 2.00 , on sale , and I buy 20 - 30 cases your after the TrustFund .

I gotta hand it to you @rotuts - you'd make a good millennial or Gen Zer! Oh come on - it's not that expensive. Per portion, quite reasonable as a matter of fact. Believe me - I've got DeCecco and Barilla in the pantry as well - depends on the sauce and how old school I wanna get. Actually, Barilla is now making an upgraded pasta that's quite good...

@weinoo I agree : ' not every new ... " but some do . This does. I plan to make Marcella's ' sauce ' soon . no kale , thank you and get some rigatoni . hopefully DelCecco Ill pass on your generous offer of sending me a bag or two of you're favorite Ill probably like it , Im sure . then have to tap the Trust Fund .One thing for sure : weight gain is much fasta w the Fasta.

Also, let me submit to you that I believe stovetop is safer for making pasta. I don't have to deal with a boiling hot item and removing it from the microwave, along with its accompanying steam, etc. All I do is use tongs or a spider to remove the pasta from the water and it goes right into the pan directly adjacent to get incorporated with whatever sauce I'm making. Then, after dinner, the pot of water has cooled down enough to be simply emptied into the sink.

Nah - I just don't think every newfangled idea makes things better, or easier for that matter, than the way things have mostly been done. I think plenty of burns and mishaps have happened to people using the microwave oven, though I refuse to look back through the "I will never again..." thread. DM your address to me - I have a store near me that carries Faella, otherwise I'd have to make a large order from Gustiamo. So do all the pastas I make on the stove.

@weinoo I think you've got GrandNona's on the brain . in jest . send me a pack , and Ill report back . the issue is not just time , but ease of use , and replicability . its a lot easier dealing w the very hot water in the Fasta , than several liters in a pot. not in any way more complicated that that. and , w minimal ' testing ' my DelCecco turns out perfectly every time , its dried pasta . it boils . its done . its drained and fool proof.

How is this any faster than cooking in boiling water on the stovetop? As a matter of fact, none of the times appear to be any faster than stovetop cooking; some appear even slower. Now, before you say, I know you're gonna talk about the time it takes to boil water. Sorry - but in my case, that doesn't count. If I'm making pasta for dinner, the water goes on the stove way before I start dealing with the sauce and side dishes. Kept on a very low flame, that water can then be brought to a boil instantly. Have you ever cooked this in your microwave method? Try it and get back to me.

@weinoo interesting poinnts however , many people do have a microwave , and a comprehensive ' pasta ' book should go over the technique. for completeness sake , if nothing else an effective microwave container holds many many shapes i very much doubt a microwave method , properly proportioned , involves any gummy mess . I have not tried fresh pasta in the Fasta , so that area need research. I pour off the hot pasta water , over the sink , into a pyrex measuring cup. I usually get just over 1` cup . this is far more than I need for the ProkRagu version . the Campari version uses the tomato jus as a post cooking hydrator. in the winter time , the mise you've seen , and plates , except for the eggs // green onions . grated cheee sits on top of the oven , and actually warms up a bit going into the oven , and it preheats to 170 F , then is promptly turn off. so I do use a little more water than the markings on the Fasta indicate. not that much more. the volume and temp of the water ( faucet temp ) add to the determination of total Micro time. add pasta to Fasta . Salt . wsater . Micro for the time youve decided by experience gets you perfectly cooked pasta. for a portion for ' two' , based on the Fasta top holes , is 17 minutes , 45 seconds . unattended . for review purposes , FastaPasta guidelines : you see above , FP suggests 13 - 14 min for a portion for 2 for linguini . as you have noted , all types of linguini are not the same . 17:45 works for delCecco , and I add water to the level 3 , not 2 Tj's linguini ' from Italy ' a decent pasta , takes less time , same starting point. I dont think dried pasta needs to swim . its very true that the Fasta should be 1/4 " longer , as the DelCecco pasta sits corner to corner and that added 1/4 " might be usefull. not a deal breaker. no idea is DC is a tiny bit longer than other common pasta.

Lemon polenta cake... I forgot the baking powder but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. I like dense almond cakes drenched in syrup anyway, so this was a happy accident. I make this fairly regularly whenever life gives me lemons. It's a Nigella Lawson recipe, but I think she just added a soaking syrup to The River Cafe's version, and they got it from any one of a thousand nonnas back in the old country.

A. There are people who don't have a microwave. B. There are different shapes and sizes of pasta, as well as different brands of pasta. Your DeCecco is not the same as my Faella or Setaro. I think if I cooked some of the pasta I use with the fast method, it would be a gummy mess. I will say - I don't use a gallon of water to cook my usual amount of pasta - in the 200 - 227 gram range. But, I tend to use at least 2.5 - 3 L. of water, in a pot big enough so the pasta has room to swim. And I do use however much pasta water I need to incorporate into the "sauce."

All purpose flour: ½ cup + 1 tablespoon + 1¼ teaspoons Oui, chef! Also, don't forget you can dilute 10⁄11 of a shaftment of fresh yeast in 1⁄32 of a pottle of water if you don't have instant yeast.

Yes, @Smithy, I warm viands in a sous vide bath set at 5ºF or so below original cooking temperature.

for review purposes :

I tend to undercook the noodles because they're going to continue to hydrate as they sit. I also don't eat very hot soup, so I'll sit there and pick at the garnish until the broth hits an acceptable temperature and then devour it. And it can take me a minute to get the garnish together anyway... so undercooking makes it work. Nice noodles also help, since they should have some spring to them. Portion wise, one noodle block per person is a good rule. And if I'm opening up a bag of noodles, I usually use the sauce packet too unless I've made a broth of my own (a matter for another thread). For me, there are two types of noodle and two types of seasoning packet. Noodles are either fried or air-dried. I prefer air-dried because they're not filled with crappy oil that I have no use for. I'd rather put those calories into the garnish. Pork belly, anyone? The texture of air-dried noodles is also better and they tend to come with better seasoning packets. The sauce packet component breaks down, for me, between those that "taste like chemicals" and those that taste like the broth or soup they're supposed to taste like. Most instant noodles come with powders that all have a same-y MSG and nucleotide taste. This is true even of upmarket ones like those from Shin. (I quite like the vegan Shin with tofu and mushroom. Got it at Walmart, which has a big assortment of Shin.) Anyway, there's an "instant ramen taste" that most packets have that make them less delicious than they should be. It's apparently hard to make an economical, shelf-stable broth that will rehydrate well alongside noodles and not have it just taste like instant ramen. Hondashi also hits similarly, but in a fishier way. Brothwise, Nissin Rao noodles are the only ones that are somewhat widely available that taste, to me, more expensive and therefore justify their price point. They have liquid and oil bases that are very good. I have also seen these at several Walmarts in my area, along with several upscale grocery chains. I like the miso and the tonkatsu the most. I sometimes just buy them and use the very nice air-dried noodle blocks for my own broths, but it feels sad because then I have leftover sauce packets. Pro tip: they make good marinade bases. The Snapdragon instant pho you can get at Costco is also pretty good in this regard, but I don't really like the charred onion (or whatever it is) oil that they pair with it. It's too strong and offensive to me. Wife agrees. But the powder-based broth is very nice. Not real "boney meaty" but delicious and non-instant-ramen tasting. You really need to garnish this to make it sing... sliced chili, cilantro, lime, some leftover steak, basil, chili paste, hoisin-like dippin' sauce.... you know. The more the merrier. My favorite "instant" noodle that takes 7 minutes to cook are the Prima Taste Curry noodles that you can get at Amazon. They pack so much flavor and are so calorically dense that all you need to do is garnish with protein (shrimp or chicken or egg or something) and some scallions you're golden. They come with a coconut powder packet that has all the calories in it and a super intense curry paste packet. It's spicy. The world will know you're making it, because it will smell like curry. If you like it extra stanky, they make a Laksa version but it's got some heavy seafood notes that may not be for everyone. Not for me. YMMV.

@Norm Matthews almost all of my bread baking has been trial and error. I've developed my own method of doing things and I don't have the technical know how to explain why it works but it does work for me. I'm happiest with the results that I get from the simplest bread recipes. When I was trying to make sourdough bread, I came across a YouTube Channel called Baking with Jack that explains sourdough inside out. He's a little tough to take to begin with because he's pretty intense but he does have a lot of common sense advice on maintaining a sourdough starter and using it. For a beginner it's well worth watching the whole series. I also learned a lot from him about shaping bread and slashing it. I'll start you off with this video about sourdough myths. I also found a good article about preferments that you might be interested in. One thing that I have learned in my old age is that many home Bakers make a big mistake in the amount of yeast that they use. A lot of us think that if a little yeast will make it good, more yeast will make it better. It's just not true. The less yeast you use and the longer the rising time, the better the flavor and the better the texture of the bread. Bread baking is a game of patience. You have to let it do its own thing in its own time.

Looks perfect to me, putting it in my list of eggplant recipes!