Shel_B

I found this old thread this evening while doing some more searching for oyster sauce as I was cleaning out the fridge and realized that the sauce within needed replacement. Since I started this thread 10 years ago, I felt I should bookend it. Megachef is pretty darned good, and has become one of my go-to sauces. Koon Chun, which I found at the local Ranch 99 Asian market, is also quite good, and I will be looking for another bottle of that briny elixir on this coming week's trip to the market. It's definitely better, to my taste, than LKK. I'll take a look at Dragonfly when next I visit Berkeley Bowl, but my inclination is to avoid it as just this evening I watched a test and review of oyster sauces on Pailin's Hot Thai Kitchen and she was very disappointed with the product. Maekrua didn't fare well, either. Over the past ear or so, I've found that I tend to agree with her taste assessments more than not.

Because it's a very long process to make the sauce and making it in one big batch would be a great time saver. I'm going to use @Tropicalsenior's suggestion.

Thanks! I don't know why I didn't think of that, especially since I use the technique for freezing other things. Maybe it was the late hour, or just feeling overwhelmed by looking at all those cans of tomatoes (with more on the way). 👍

About once every 12 - 15 months or so, I make a big batch of tomato sauce. It has it's roots in a recipe from Serious Eats: https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-slow-cooked-italian-american-tomato-sauce-red-sauce-recipe Usually, the recipe is slightly more than doubled leaving me with a need to store a fair amount of sauce which thus far has gone into 1-quart Mason jars and has been stored in the fridge (for shorter term storage) or frozen for longer term storage. The tomatoes arrived today and sauce is on the horizon. The seller accidentally sent me twice the number of cans I ordered, and there's now a lot of sauce on that horizon. So, with this batch I'd like to consider canning the sauce so it needn't be stored in the freezer. I'd like to use the Mason jars, but I'm open to other suggestions. However, I've never canned anything by myself, I've only helped Sweetie with her fruit preserves, and the last time I did that was four years ago. Will canning the sauce change its flavor or texture in any way? Are there any changes in the recipe that I should consider when canning? Are there any good instructions on eGullet that will help me in this endeavor (I couldn't find anything)? Does anyone have any suggestions for this particular situation, i.e., is there any technique or instructions specific to canning tomato sauce? What problems are typically encountered? What equipment will I need in order to do this? If canned properly, how long can the sauce last?

It's all the peripheral things associated with oil disposal and frying. Getting a container into which the used oil goes is one, as I just don't have any appropriate containers (don't have milk cartons or jugs, for example). Transferring oil from pot to container just annoys the heck out of me (as does transferring soup and stew to containers). Scheduling a trip to the recycling center is sometimes annoying as the center is off my beaten path and requires a more-or-less special trip. I recognize that these are minor things, but they annoy me.

The City of El Cerrito has an excellent recycling center and system. Cooking oil is either recycled or composted depending on its format and composition. It is not dumped into a landfill. The composted material is distributed free of charge to city residents twice a year. Residents go to the recycling center where the compost has been dumped in preparation for distribution and the residents can shovel it into their pickup trucks, vehicles, and containers. The city has a supply of shovels available for the purpose. https://www.el-cerrito.org/952/Drop-Off-Materials-Accepted

I don't fry foods in part because it's a PITA (for me) to dispose of the expended cooking oil. How do you dispose of your used cooking oil? This morning I came across an item called FryAway which solidifies the oil making it easy to dump into the compost bin to be hauled away by our city. Has anyone used this, or a similar product, and what were your results? (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

I'd keep it simple and cook the apples on the stovetop, similar to the manner in which I make apple sauce, so we're on the same page there. I don't particularly care for additional sugar and other flavoring. Thanks for posting your suggestions.

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Bialetti - New Venus Induction, Stovetop Coffee Maker, Suitable for all Types of Hobs, Stainless Steel, 4 Cups (5.7 Oz), Silver While I've not personally used this unit, I have been satisfied with other Bialetti models. If I wanted something like this, I would give this serious consideration.

There's quite a bit of nicely dried peppermint leaves that were purchased primarily for one dish in the cupboard. Even f I make the dish frequently, at the end of a year there will still be a LOT of peppermint remaining. So, are there any ideas for recipes where these leaves can be used?

I made a turkey and bean chili and used the oil. It was certainly satisfactory and I'm glad to have made the purchase. The price is reasonable for an everyday oil. However, compared to some California oils, it's not a bargain ... I'd put it in the good value category. It was also quite acceptable on my dinner salad last night. Fresh-tasting, a little grassy, with a slight peppery finish ... nothing too extreme or over-the-top. Inoffensive but with some character.

I'll be using the Red Island oil later today and I'm anxious to give it a try. This will be the first Australian oil I've tried. Your description of the Mobay cheese reminds me of Humboldt Fog, one of my favorite goat cheeses which, last time I checked, was available at Costco.

New Olive Oil at Trader Joe's I stopped by the local TJ's this morning and discovered this new olive oil that they're carrying: Red Island Olive Oil, $7.99 for 500ml https://www.traderjoes.com/home/products/pdp/red-island-australian-extra-virgin-olive-oil-079467 It's my understanding that it's available for a short time only. The oil in the bottle I bought was less than a year old, and that caught my attention. The oil was demonstrated at their tasting booth by being poured on vanilla ice cream, which was surprisingly tasty. The demo caught my attention and the taste of the oil motivated a purchase. It seems to be a nice, everyday oil.

Hi @ElsieD ... last night I came across these in my files and I thought of your request. Maybe they'll give you some ideas. I'm planning to combine ideas from these two recipes and put together a "Taco Tuesday" for some neighbors: https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/chicken-tinga-tacos/ https://youtu.be/O6L7qpLXdk0

I have that in my pantry as well as this (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and Organic Karashi Mustard. I've not tried them yet but certainly will soon. Nonetheless, I'd like to work on my own creation as well.

Earlier this evening, I made a small batch of hot Chinese mustard. I checked some recipes online and put together an equal measur of Coleman's mustard and hot water, salt, white pepper, rice vinegar, and a touch of toasted sesame oil. I wanted a more complex mustard and more than just heat. After letting the concoction rest a bit, I tasted it and found that for what I want I'm on the right track, but quite a bit more fiddling with the ingredients and their proportions is in order. If anyone has any ideas or experience with an interesting recipe, I'm listening.

So, what exactly is cultured butter and in what way is it different from regular, uncultured butter?

Good point. Hadn't thought of that. Wouldn't the same hold true when using an oil?

There's a salted French butter that I sometimes treat myself to ... wonderful on a fresh Acme or Semifreddi baguette. Thanks for your comment on baking butter. Helpful.

I rarely bake, and when I do it's usually for simple things like quick breads, corn muffins and cornbread, brownies, and dessert loaves, like a pound cake, or popovers and similar items. Once in a while I'll bake some cookies. These recipes pretty much all call for butter, but none of the recipes I've used or come across specify the fat content of the butter. Euro-style butters generally have a greater fat content that stateside spreads. For the type of baking I do, does the fat content of the butter play much of a role? I'm guessing it doesn't, especially in the quantities used for such baked goods, but I'd rather not guess and get some facts or experiences from the bakers here. Also, should I assume that if a recipe is from the US (or Canada, Latin America) the butter that's called for is the lower fat, US-style butter, and if a European recipe it's automatically the higher fat content butter? In what baking situations is the fat content of butter most important? For example, how about brioche or croissants, or biscuits, or when making popovers? Might there be a noticeable difference in the results depending on the butter used? Tangentially, would switching fats from butter to, for example, lard, require any change in the quantity of the fat?

Do you mean the one in Pittsford, Vermont?

That's true. They have a great return policy. Opened or used items will be accepted. No questions asked.

I remembered that the new grading system is a little different using Grade A and Grade A very dark (Which is equivalent, more or less, to Grade B)

Is the new syrup Grade A or Grade A very dark? I've not purchased much maple syrup over the years, but recently found some new uses for it and have been reading comments and reviews. I seems that quite a few folks are not satisfied with the current TJ's offering. Some reviews mentioned that they ended up with Grade A when they thought they were getting the darker grade.

My question as been answered. You're bringing up another issue. Perhaps you're overthinking this. The only use planned is to add some additional starch to pasta water to make some very specific pan sauces for certain pasta dishes that benefit from starchy pasta water. As noted in the discussion, I sometimes make a small amount of pasta (of the type) which doesn't generate sufficient starch to make the sauce to my desired result. For example, DeCecco produces noticeably less starch water than a comparable Benedetto Cavalieri or Ligouri. There's a dried egg pasta that I use that cooks in a short time and produces very little starch. Sometimes I make whole wheat pasta ... poor starch production. Having done a variation of this before, I am not concerned about salt levels. All my pasta is cooked with the same salt level. I just needed to know if the residual water would store well/safely in the fridge/freezer. With that, I have a backup of needed starch water when I need it.