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Guinness Stout Ginger Cake: It goes fast.

Cooking Issues addressed the question of killing lobsters humanely and to optimize their flavour, in 'How to become a Seafood Anesthesiologist and Kill your 4th of July Lobster'.

Guinness Stout Ginger Cake. Looks unimpressive, but is full of complex flavour, and has a lovely texture. The step that requires the use of a large saucepan should say 'huge'; the stout mixture really foams up a lot. Planning on making this in a week or so.

I've made most of the basic cakes in The Best Recipe, using just a hand mixer/various stirring gadgets (when I've been visiting friends with very minimally equipped kitchens). The results have routinely been good to exceptional, and I like to experiment with flavours, so at one point or another, I've added more or less anything you can think of (sometimes in significant quantities) to these things. I make the devil's food cake most often (pretty much everyone I know wants it for their birthday), and at least once made it using just a standard fork and tablespoon. Keep in mind that creaming, then whipping a butter sugar+mixture gets old fast (you'll probably want a lower working surface than usual), so a recipe like a hot milk cake may be the way to go: it uses melted butter (or a chiffon cake, which uses oil). ETA There's a decent chance of finding this book on sale/at a library, but PM if that doesn't work out, and you want a recipe.

I have my doubts, given the responses, but fair enough, I sounded like an ass. I can see the reason for the focus on Guy Fieri, though: of all the repulsive personalities mentioned, his public persona (I'm differentiating this from the way he may actually be in private) is easily the most actively, even aggressively offputting (and it may be deliberate).

Sooo... no one even skimmed halfway down the article to where the author states, very plainly? Yet, despite being a grown man with a penchant for Billabong clothing, Guy shouldn’t incur all the blame. The real fault should be assigned to the people who gave this madman a platform from which to spout his nutso rants. (bold, mine)

Hey all, as you have (I hope) noticed, the OP chose to post this discussion in the Cooking forum, so the focus needs to remain on actual cooking, rather than the medical issues underlying the reasons for reformulating recipes. Although brief, explanatory comments related to the health and science behind various decisions are fine, extended explorations of them will not remain in this discussion (also, please go to the moderation topic, for any discussion of this post).

I'm not at home, so I can't check MC, but I can't think of how you could melt dry[ish] sugar at a temperature that's low enough to do that without browning. I wouldn't go with really high heat, myself, because you get so little wiggle room in terms of being able to stop at the precise point you want to reach. Once the sugar and water mixture reaches the temperature you want, you don't need to boil off any water: you just start working with it (in this case, pour it out in a sheet, I guess, so you can grind it).

Could you simply use a recipe for hard candy/boiled sweets, substituting part of the water with onion juice? When using some mixture of sugar+glucose syrup+water, as long as I've kept an eye on the thermometer, I've never had any problem with the mixture browning before it reaches the hard crack stage (300–310° F° /148–154° C). I know that onion juice has some sugar of its own, but I don't think it should increase the browning significantly (although there may also be enzymes in there that factor into browning)

Since you're using bread that has no salt, you may be better satisfied with a Tuscan recipe (traditionally, Tuscan bread is unsalted, although most savoury things are unusually salty). Or, panzanella may just not be your thing: damp bread is kind of an acquired taste. If you're feeling adventurous, try a search for [panzanella toscana ricetta]. Because the vocabulary is so limited, recipes are easy to figure out, even if you don't know the language they're written in. Translation of a pretty standard-looking recipe (from teladoiofirenze), described as serving 4: 200 g stale bread (the bread specified is [Tuscan] 'pane casalingo', which is unsalted, and also high in gluten, if I'm not mistaken–at any rate, it does not easily disintegrate when wet–sliced, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes, squeezed dry, crumbled, and placed in a tureen (a bowl is fine) To this you add, 2 ripe tomatoes, 1 red onion and 1 cucumber (peeled and sliced) Dress the works with oil and salt, mix well, and refrigerate. When you serve the panzanella, add a little vinegar, and garnish with some fresh basil. If you're in a video-watching mood, here's a demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44KzOto90DI

Not clear from your post whether or not this needs to be a vegan recipe, or whether or not dairy is off the table, but regardless, how about chocolate sorbet? Frankly, I like it better than chocolate ice cream, since the flavour is more intense, it doesn't taste like a dessert based on restrictions (of which I've eaten my share, and make me sad), and it hits all the bullets you mention.

There's never a good argument for sloth and incompetence trumping fairness; you have to do your best, and the possibility of someone else dropping the ball isn't a solid reason to put it in your pocket (unless that's your 'best', in which case, you've set up an argument for anyone else appropriating all that you have).

Simplest and most effective solution would be to install floor heating, and put the mat of your choice on the floor. It won't be warm as in 'toasty warm' but definitely comfortable, and you won't need to worry a bit about dropped anything causing damage to the system, since the flooring itself shields it. If your kitchen is small, it should be relatively reasonable install. Floor heating is now the default in Denmark, and it's easy to see why: From what I've seen it's possible to install it under any sort of floor, and even when it's installed under something typically cold, like brick, it's amazing to walk on. We split our time between London and Denmark, and every time we come back to Denmark, we revel in the floor heat, even mid-winter.

How about this recipe, from an actual Irish food site: https://www.goodfoodireland.ie/recipe/burren-salmon-summer-salad-asparagus Although I'd skip the crème fraîche/sour cream, since that just sems to add needless heaviness to a summer dish.

+ dulse (or some other sea plant) and something like Spring Bank? Something aromatic, but sharp and almost austere (juniper berry?), to contrast with/offset/cut through white chocolate's tendency to be relentlessly sweet and mute flavours.

[This was originally part of the preceding post; that has been split, to create a clear introductory post and a distinct, descriptive guideline post.] Here is the outline for the Food drying results section. The Big Picture: Scope: Collect our experiences for future reference who are new or want to know more on the freeze drying process and equipment. Make a Reference document that will help summarize the topics and discussions for Freeze drying. Objective: To help prevent repeat questions for previously posted discussions. To reduce the learning curve of new owners or anyone trying a new food item or technique. To share experiences that other may not have considered and share specific problems with resolving issues for a specific problem or experience. Goal: To keep freeze dryer owners from having failures that can be avoided. To shorten “The learning curve” of the freeze drying process. To make a better product YOUR HELP IS NEEDED: Posting your efforts-results will be used for the foods that have been tried-dried and the good or bad results. Input needed: What is needed is your list of foods dried, the equipment used, and the results of the end product and if possible, reconstitution ratios (if you have done this) for what did- did not work. Most have tried similar veggies, dairy products, meats etc. It's OK to have multiple posts for a single food item as some will have different experiences. I/we want to take those experiences and collect them for the reference of the group. Some of you have posted your results of all your efforts to date and that is an excellent start. Please re-post here. All of your results are needed. Questions for this guide: What food item was dried, Make and model of freeze dryer, Size of product- sliced, diced, whole size (measurement in inches, oz or lbs.) Liquid-puree-paste etc and how much oz. did you dry. Process Results: Product,-amount dried, approx. time to dry and results. What would you do different. Success-nothing to total fail for drying, results from drying are what were are needing. There will be a "recommendations section" on each item for the problems that we have faced and what/how it can be improved/reduced/eliminated For instance: Maraschino cherries. Whole cherries w- w/o stems, 2-3 cups each, Time dried was 30 hours, Multiple foods dried with the cherries. Results- gummy-sticky. High sugar content is suspect for not drying. Not a good candidate for long term storage. Will not do again. Pepperoni: Sliced, 5 lbs, 24- hour cycle, Results: “Crispy” but a very greasy mess. Cannot store long term. Will not do again. Strawberries. Whole, 10lbs- 40 hours dry time. Results: Too much product in the dryer. Overwhelmed system with ice build up. Recommended 5 lbs drying- sliced in half or thin sliced worked to completely dry product. Longer drying cycle needed. Again- This is just ONE aspect of this Reference guide see link here as posted in the Moderation and Policy section for the Other topics proposed for the Freeze drying guide. Your input for the other related issues. please post there. We want to keep the topics from being "blurred" in these posts. This is for US and you have input on how this could be improved Note: I have pulled together previous posts to help with the structure for the other sections of the guide. Thanks for your interest. Mr. Mike

If you want to make an actual ganache, which by definition involves chocolate, going with one of the white chocolate options seems the way to go, although personally, I'd prefer dark, barely sweetened chocolate with olives. I don't think any of the gels (maybe agar?) would contribute to a ganache-like texture. Might want to consider a small proprotion of almond butter, or something similar.

Partly, it's just the pleasure of browsing. Also, Denmark has a somewhat narrow selection of goods, so from the standpoint of actually buying things, places with broad arrays of 'standard' items are of interest, and I'm also interested in things related to making sweets, modernist ingredients, assorted Southeast Asian cooking ingredients, and traditional local items (if there is any such thing, any longer).

Is marzipan an option? There is an Italian bio marzipan that you can sometimes find at Whole Foods (I can't remember the name at the moment) that is really pleasant to work with (holds a high level of detail, and does not slump), and tastes lovely (assuming you like marzipan).

Thanks for the suggestions so far, and please keep them coming (and apologies for not responding sooner: I was in transit to/from airports, flying)! Brixton and Divertimenti are sounding particularly good, and I actually kind of like Borough Market, but just cannot deal with the crowds, and will be taking a look at Maltby Street. We've been staying at different places, and are not far from Bloomsbury Square at the moment, but I'm most interested in anything that is within a one-hour-walking-distance from, say, London Bridge (I'm impatient with public transit, and don't love crowds), although I'd certainly consider breaking out the Oyster card for someplace that is farther away than that.

I'll be spending a fair amount of time in London in the near future, but the city is completely new to me, so my knowledge of its particularly worthy features is more or less non-existant, and we've done any food shopping at the big supermarkets and department stores, which are relatively well stocked. However, I'd love to find shops that carry unusual, specialized, or otherwise interesting and useful selections of ingredients and kitchen articles. Anyone care to share their favourites? Thanks

Erm. http://forums.egullet.org/topic/36630-potato-chips/?p=1959436

A hot tamarind-based drink would be pretty good during cold, grey, and clammy season. Have you made/come across any? Also, I wonder how it would work out, replacing some other liquid in something baked (the puree I have is very runny). It's pretty sour, so it might do strange, pH-related things.

They're cookies with sprinkles (dough is traditionally flavoured with flavoured with rum or anise liqueur). The name comes from La Befana (elderly woman/witch who does Santa's gig, but on Epiphany). I admit that my wanting to make befanini mostly reflects my desire to use the hell out of our new kitchen [i'm not supposed to eat them, blablabla], and I'm trying to figure out who to give them to, since my boyfriend won't eat them all.

Happy new year! I really like seeing and hearing about what others are doing, so I'm extending this a little beyond December, in hopes of seeing what others may be doing for Epiphany/Twelfth Night. Even if/especially it is not traditional. I'm planning on baking Befanini, a nod to La Befana, and my parents conceding a point and giving us gifts on this occasion when my siblings and were small. Between now and then, the plan is to use up every perishable thing lurking in the refrigerator; anyone else do this at the beginning of the year? Or, have lots and lots of ideas for tamarind puree?