beccaboo

I always boil them with the lid on because I don't have to turn the heat so high that way, but I can't imagine that it would hurt anything to have the lid off.

I like Uncle Ben's for some things. It's good for rice salad, and it's what I use for my coconut rice. I always cook it in my pressure cooker, though, using less water than the package directions.... Jasmine and calrose I do in the rice cooker, basmati and vialone nano (sp?) on the stove (sometimes in the pressure cooker). I tried that pasta-like method once for an Italian rice salad recipe that called for it, and didn't like how the rice turned out--too soggy.

I've read that you should fill your plastic bags with brine so that if they leak they won't dilute the saltiness of your sauerkraut.

I got a 50-lb bag of 'Power Flour' at United Grocers for about $15, and split it with a friend so I only had to find storage space for 25 lbs. It's good for chewy-crust pizza as well as bagels (I use AP mixed with pastry flour for crispy pizza).

I have a 3.5 liter Kuhn Rikon and a 7 liter Magafesa--I use the smaller one more, but if I had to only have one I'd pick the Magafesa as you can make a little food in it as well as a lot. The Kuhn Rikon works fine on an electric coil stove. I just take it off the burner for a little bit when I'm reducing the heat, since the burners take longer to cool down than gas burners do. That would be the case with any brand of pressure cooker, though, I'd think.

I use it in baking--in chocolate-orange brioche, orange muffins, etc., along with zest.

I don't remember what it's called at Ikea. The German kind is called 'dark syrup,' and you have to read the label closely to see that it's actually sugar beet syrup. The Ikea kind must be called something similar, because I remember seeing it and realizing immediately that it was what I needed for my Printen, and cheaper than the kind from the butcher's. It is a little bitter, but doesn't have a 'strong, unpleasant odor'--at least I don't think so.

I've read that too (about its being unfit for consumption), but it's a key ingredient in Aachener Printen, one of my favorite Xmas cookies. I get beet syrup at Ikea or at the German butcher.

There are cocoa nibs at the Madison Market, now, too--they're a new item in the bulk section.

You could try almond milk--I make blancmange with it, scented with a bay leaf, and is't pretty good.

I used to use our toaster oven instead of the regular oven in the summer, so as not to heat up the kitchen, and I had pretty good luck. I had to make smaller versions of most of my recipes (1/2 or 1/3) so they'd fit well in my little oven, but things turned out surprisingly well. I only made things like cake, cornbread, and biscuits, but I'd imagine you could make little casseroles and things, too--you'd just have to get little pans that fit in your oven with room around the edges so the air can circulate.

I always think garbanzo beans taste a little like canned tuna (minus the 'fishy' part of it, which could added in with some seaweed.

← I think that's saying that shortening makes no positive flavor contribution (like butter and even margarine do), not that it has no taste at all. I can taste it, and I don't think I have a peculiar sensitivity.

That's usually called 'black salt,' even though it's pink. I like it in my fruit salad.

It does have taste--I've been using health-food, non-hydrogenated shortening for the last few years, and I've gotten so I can taste (and dislike the taste of) regular Crisco in things. I got some of the non-hydrogenated Crisco, thinking it would save money on my Xmas baking, and it tasted just like regular! I gave it to a friend who actually likes Crisco flavor.

I like slime (natto, tapioca, okra). For a long time (till I was 30 or so) I didn't like pears because of their grittiness, though, and I still don't like the unctuousness of avocados. I've figured out ways to prepare avocado to minimize that quality, but I really used to hate them. Once I threw up when my mother tricked me into eating an avocado smoothie!

Whenever I soak mushrooms I end up with gritty liquid, which I strain before adding it to my dish. If you added the dried mushroom directly, you'd have no chance to get rid of the grit!

Can you cook a little while the baby's awake? When my daughter was tiny she cried whenever I set her down except when I was cooking--she liked to watch me cook, and would lie in a little pen in the kitchen for long enough for me to fix an easy dinner.

I've added sesame seeds to the surface of the batches I made with durum flour--I coated the dough heavily with them (all around) before the second rise, and they stuck really well and didn't get at all overdone. I also made a batch with part whole wheat which had rosemary in it, and put coarse sea salt on just the top surface of that. These were my Thanksgiving breads, and were a great success. I'd suggest you incorporate some rosemary into the dough as well as decorating with it, for a greater effect on the bread's flavour.

I've gotten dessicated coconut in different sizes, from near-powder to big chips, but the main kind I get is in shreds similar to 'shredded coconut.' Whatever size it is, it's always stiffer and drier than shredded coconut, and unsweetened. If you don't have an Indian store nearby, you should be able to get some at a health food store.

Here, in the Observer. I got 42 (I don't know what that means really: out of what?), and am a gastro-warrior!

I think you should have cooked it for a shorter time, as there was less water to evaporate. I don't know how much shorter--maybe 10 minutes. I'd add a little water--maybe 75-100ml--to your mixture and heat it gently to get everything to dissolve. I've had similar troubles with sugar getting hard too fast, and I always manage to fix things up somehow.

I made it with all whole-spelt flour, and it turned out well. The flour really sucked up the water, so I ended up with it at 100% hydration to get a dough with a similar feel to my 72-80% hydration ones I'd been making with white flour. The bread didn't have the crackly crust that I got with white flour, but had a nice open crumb for spelt bread, and with not much work.

It's easy to make--I use the recipe in Joy of Cooking. An advantage of making it yourself is that you can use rose water or orange blossom water instead of almond extract if, like me, you don't really like strong almond extract taste.

I've made various sprouted legumes and not gotten sick. I think the only one that really has to be cooked is kidney beans--I've read about their toxins a number of times, and think it's probably true.