jedovaty

How do you know how much cheese you want to use for the dish if you are not following an actual recipe and just winging it? For example, mac-n-cheese. Say I have 200g noodles. Or 364g noodles. I can plug the numbers into the calculator, but I don't know.. 120g cheese, 200g cheese, 30g cheese? Hmmm.

Dude, it's a lot easier to just cut a lemon, and let it turn into a science experiment 😁 In this case, with this forum, people will want a fancy ice-pick to chip away and get 1/4tsp from the frozen cube. 😜 Up until about a year ago I would've thought that it contributes nothing. However, last year some forum got me curious about chili (which I don't like to begin with), and after reviewing some "award winning recipes" I believed the addition of 1/4tsp brown sugar amongst a *massive* spice bomb with extra MSG, all the meats, dg-al-a-peenose [sic], etc to be a ridiculously stupid recipe item. To confirm my ever wise wisdom, while making my first ever award-winning-recipe chili, I split the batch off into three: no sugar, scaled 1/4tsp and one which I gradually increased the amount of sugar over the course of the cook until it was cloying. Surprisingly, it made a difference, especially once cooled to warm temps - a justifiable amount was, indeedly-doodly, somewhere between 1/4-1tsp! I still don't like chili. Perhaps the suggestion of using vinegar would work. Or, other alternatives, maybe a little yogurt, butter milk, pinch of citric or tartaric acid, etc.. ;D But don't omit it. The Hiltons are watching! 😈

THANK YOU. When the recipe was released, despite being thankful for another cookie recipe, I was disgruntled with the video in that the baker clearly was using weights but the instructions used volume. I don't like volume 😛 I've been wanting to make these, but don't have walnuts. The cookie seems like a "let's throw all the good things together" cookie. Has anyone noticed the low baking temp?

I did not know that, thank you I will try it next time I give mac n cheese a go

With a name like FeChef, you've probably already considered adding a slice or two of processed cheese to the sauce? I'm presenting this in the unlikely event you hadn't already heard of it. If you've tried it, I'd be curious to hear your impression. I haven't tried it, but read it works similar to, if not just like, sodium citrate. Discerning palatte might taste it, though? I should try. Guilty pleasure of mine, don't judge me, I prefer american cheese on burgers... 😶 I've been largely unsuccessful with smooth cheese sauces, probably because I'm making them wrong. My statement here isn't to look for a way to fix this and I'll try again some other day, but rather, let's focus on why does a roux make the sauce grainy? I've not understood that, the science behind it. Actually.. now that I think of it.. a creme pat made with flour IS grainy.. WOAH. 🤯 Rambling: when I made creme pat a few times for eclairs and choux, I thought to myself, this is exactly like pudding (americanski definition, not british), but uses flour instead of cornstarch. I was disappointed by the texture everytime...!

You can sort of do similar recipes that you would with cornstarch or arrowroot, so I guess.. uhmm... pudding? Oh! You can make the boba teas. A quick search shows crepes are popular, too.

Now compare cassava flour with all purpose or bread flour

In case anyone this helps anyone: - Cassava flour is the flour from the cassava root - Tapioca flour is the same thing as tapioca starch is the same thing as cassava starch; all are derived from the cassava root, they are the extracted starch from cassava - Manioc is also from cassava, however, it's somewhat unclear to me whether "flour" is actually cassava flour or tapioca starch, or the fermented starch, the terms seems to vary depending what country and even region recipes you read

Happy to help, but note the eggs.. I originally put 2 eggs, it's what I had in memory, but I'm pretty sure it should be 1 for 200g after rewatching the video. If that's too dry the first time, then use 2 next time

Oh... one more thing! Cassava flour is amazing stuff. Make tortillas with it, using baker's math, do 80% hydration + 20% fat. So, 100g cassava flour, 80g water, 20g fat (duck, coconut, lard, butter, olive oil, ghee, etc). Or.. was it 60% hydration plus 20% fat? I forget, sorry. But I think both should work. Mix up, let rest a little wrapped in plastic, divide, smush out, roll on parchment, and dry-fry for some amazingly decadent tortillas. It helps if the liquid/fat is heated to HOT or even boiling, but not necessary. Be careful, cassava is extremely calorie rich... 🤤

What @chromedome said is correct, in this case, you cannot sub cassava flour and tapioca. Think of it like cornmeal and cornstarch. These things were life changing for me, but many people I know are like "meh". So, YMMV, and sorry this is so long but I am passionate about these (one of my favorites!). What I do, is actually kind of similar to @Kim Shook's recipe in her original post above. I mostly use this recipe, converted to cups and a lot more cheeeese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H3-wryqcpk - 200g sour starch or tapioca starch - 1 cup milk - 2T fat (butter, oil, duck, whatever) - 1 egg (if this is too dry, try with 2 eggs, I prefer 1 egg, going back through my notes) - 1/2-1c hard cheese - optional salt -- I like these salty, I think I add 1-2t salt Bring milk and fat to a boil, immediately pour over starch and hit it with the hand mixer + beater attachments. It will clump up and turn into a "fluff"**, and don't fret if it runs up the beaters. If it's a runny mess, then you didn't get the milk hot enough. It'll still turn out okay, but texture will end up being more like mochi. Let this cool, then beat in the eggs, and once incorporated, mix in the cheese. I shape these into small balls using wet hands (keep the tap running to help), then freeze. Try baking different temps ranging 350-425F, I always forget My way TMI comments for anyone that may find this helpful, I used to make these monthly during my wheat-free phase and am just excited to be able to contribute something to this place where I've learned so much: Many recipes will tell you you can mix this by hand. Anyone throwing off fleeting romances off this, stop right there, it's way harder than trying to whip your own whip cream by hand. Don't dilly-dally with the milk->starch->beater. You have to get the starch to gelatinize with the hot milk to get the "authentic" texture of these, that's more bread like. OKay to be heavy handed with the cheese, or lighter, all good Cheese is historically and authentically green kraft parmesan, but I've used all sorts, grated, shredded, parmesan, pecorino, asiago, mix them up, use irregular sizes, etc. There are dozens of variations, some people will make more of a runny batter, or add flour. Others don't heat the milk with the starch, etc. This will make more of what you find at the brazilian BBQ restaurants. They are all delicious and tasty. If you don't boil the milk, your buns end up more like chewy mochi rice cakes, or gummy tapoica balls in those drinks. That's fine, some like it, but I also enjoy a more fluffy-bread like cheese flavor bomb. People who make more of a batter use the cupcake tins. I see @Kim Shook's recipe does, too, and that's okay I just like having these for later so I make balls and freeze them. They are amazing with espresso, and dressed with a little butter and honey. You can sub buttermilk for milk at 1:1, and I have used a bit of yogurt as well in the past, but I forget how much. These things are pretty forgiving when it comes to proportions, as long as you have the liquid boiling. Finally, if you get sour starch, there are two brands predominantly in the US: Amafil and Yoki. I get better results with Yoki. Apparently, they can be bought in the hispanic markets, and I live/work in heavy hispanic DMA of so-cal and have yet to see them in any stores, only Amazon purchases for me. Be careful, this stuff STINKS REALLY BAD. But don't worry, this umami-filled vomit-poo aroma dissipates into an amazing cheese ball. Actually as gross as the smell is, you kind of want to keep sniffing it. Very strange! Hope this was helpful, enjoy Again, apologies this was so long. I may have mentioned I really really really like these! 🤪

Thanks, Paul. The cutting board is secondary to the purpose of this board. A butcher block will not fit into the clay roller. I'm reserving my opinion on the knife's edge as I don't want to go there with this topic AlaMoi, yes, the 16x30 is odd. The original board that comes with it is about 16x24 (my tape measure doesn't have metric on it and I'm too lazy to read the smaller lines); each time I use it, I wish it had just a few more inches, that's how I came up with the 16x30. Thanks for the link, they seem like more professional folks than with whom I was dealing earlier. I haven't done the research yet, likely the 16x30 won't fit into any home dishwashers, probably not even 16x24. I'll eventually make a choice, maybe I can find some food-grade plywood for that sense of pride (I made this!), or just get a thicker plastic board. It's gotten warm out, so I'm not going to be making laminated doughs right now, no rush for me

Even I would eat this (and I avoid non-fried potatos like the plague, just dislike them) You're not playing fair. 😜

Hmmm, okay. I'll probably just keep it safe for now. I once ate some 6-week old tomato sauce from the fridge that smelled and tasted "okay", did not want to waste it. The aftermath was one of the most surreal experiences of my life to date, because this was up on the playlist during The Great Expunging: https://youtu.be/u4LFC7Q9Ajc Speaking of spaghetti sauce, dinner last night was ground dark-meat turkey in a long/slow reduced sauce with homemade noodles.

Are you using the pre-ground and/or packaged ground bison? I've been quite leery of serving/eating the packaged bison pink/red/blue, or even meat dept. case where it is fresh ground at whole foods. Which makes it hard for me to eat because it gets so dry at even slightly higher temps, and we don't have much selection of other parts other than a "rib eye" cut which is simply $$$$$$.

Well, the company I was going to buy the cheaper plastic board from has an attitude problem so I decided to look elsewhere and have been procrastinating this purchase, especially since ambient temps are now too warm to work with laminated dough (it can be done, but I'm not interested in making a fuss out of it). @AlaMoi - Yes, inches. the double quotes following the measurements in my original post for 16x30" 3/8" mean inches I usually do conversions when necessary, but was lazy this time, sorry! - flexible pastry mat won't work on its own, since it is flexible. I need rigid to go through the roller. I could theoretically get a flexible mat and use it atop some cheap plywood; I tried using parchment paper this way on the board that came with the roller, but it just slid around, very annoying - thanks for the caution against potential warping.. is this from the dishwasher, or just general use? I only have wood cutting boards. A friend has had some plastic cutting board for 30+ years, I don't recall the thickness but it can't be more than 1/2" and it's definitely not warped? Rigidity is important, too.. I'm trying to figure out whether a 30" long 3/8" thick board will be rigid or flexible. One of the reasons the company and I didn't get along, they were stating rigidity of the board was a "subjective" quality, and refused (rather vehemently) to tell me how much it would bend. I'm not sure they had basic physics in school.

That pie looks delicious! My dinner was rather uninspired... I just threw whatever was in the fridge to make a smoothi... errr... soup! Yes. "Soup". I was told to chew when drinking smoothies. For the curious: 1.5 handfuls of spent chicken (I don't throw out the meat after it goes through the pressure cooker), half a browning cabbage, three stalks of limp celery, heart of large bok choy (still fresh, woo!), frozen cauliflower, left over oatmeal and buckwheat from breakfast, an anchovy, and a couple ladles of chicken stock. Mmmmm.

Hey that's actually an interesting idea! I don't know what they use to make it alkaline (baking soda?), but it could be enough to impact the gluten and give a tighter dough (kneeding the alkaline doughs was tough.. very stiff, flaky). The water from my mains is slightly alkaline, with a pH of ~8.5. This raises the question, is it the pH that impacts handling, or the salt in the water? I have read on dough forums that if you add salt to the dough, it tightens the gluten.. I've not really experienced that, went up to 3% NaCl. But here, oh boy, adding the alkaline components (which are salts) made a huge difference!

Hi: Please follow along this silly rabbit hole ;D @Kim Shook opened her noodle maker a few weeks ago, which inspired me to learn to make ravioli and tortellini - I have a ways to go, but having fun. I've made plenty of noodles before, especially 100% buckwheat, from fresh ground buckwheat, too! Tasty and fun. Then @BKEats mentioned he or she was making alkaline noodles the other day. Kung Fu Panda movie flashed in my mind, and I really wanted noodle soup, but, this association of chicken broth made me want hainanese chicken with rice as well. Researching alkaline noodles, there was a link in that post, which used sodium carbonate (baked baking soda). I tried that once with the buckwheat. Don't try it. It's disgusting 🤮, and I don't say this very often, I value almost all food and even enjoy eating bad food sometimes. There was a brief discussion about lye water, and I thought this was lye, but was wrong, it's a mix of potassium carbonate and either sodium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate (which is baking soda). Further research suggested no one knew the exact composition of lye water, and, it varies bran to brand. I found this gem, which tells us the composition of one brand! Here's the link, outside of EG: https://www.yumofchina.com/chinese-alkaline-water-noodles/ Today I made an experiment, because, well, I was curious. I made five noodles doughs, based on 100g flour and 40% hydration. I used Simple Truth Organic all purpose flour (which is a relatively "normal" flour in handling, nothing special) for three doughs: filtered water, 100% sodium carbonate, and my homemade lye water (see below). Then, after all the research, it's been my understanding the whole purpose of adding the alkaline water to the noodles was to strengthen weak flour.. so I pulled out the King Arthur Cake Flour buried deep inside the pantry, and made a dough each with plain and lye water. While I have borax in the garage, I did not feel comfortable eating it. I also have lye for making bagels, however, I did not want to experiment with this either.. baking at 400F is different from boiling at 212F. Again, note, lye water does not contain lye (aka sodium hydroxide!). Process: 100g + 40g water + alkaline chemical if using; put in mini food processor, pulse until combined, kneed by hand for 10 minutes, wrap, and let relax for 1 hour. Cut in half (save half for thick noodle experiment later). Then flatten dough, using the marcato machine roll out a two times from 1-5 (fold in half after the first go), thin to 6, and run through the small cutter. Dust with semolina, rest, then cook in boiling water for 2.5 minutes, drain, rinse, dry. I tried to be very methodical in this, and as precise as possible. Here are some stats you might find interesting: 1. pH of my filtered water is 6.53. 2. I dissolved 3.5g sodium carbonate in the 40g water, which yielded a pH of 9.82 3. pH of the lye water directly was 11.8 4. 3.5g lye water added to 38g water turns water pH to 11 5. Plain STO AP flour was super easy to kneed on its own 6. The cake flour was not a low-protein pastry flour, as I discovered later, it was harder to kneed than STO! 7. Adding either sodium carbonate or lye water to the dough made it very, very difficult to kneed 8. The cooked noodles with AP and Sodium Carbonate had a very strong eggy aroma and flavor, I didn't really care for it 9. Lye Water added a medium-level of eggy arroma and flavor, not really my thing! 10. I could not tell much of a difference between textures in the cooked product! Raw, the alkaline noodles were actually fun to handle, they didn't threaten to fuse and morph into each other like the plain water ones. 11. Alkaline noodles had a slight yellow color when raw. Sodium carbonate had a green hue cooked. In the photo of the cooked noodles, I may have accidentally swapped the top right two, should be lye water, then sodium carbonate. But I'm not really sure, could be camera processing playing tricks. 12. Left over dough scraps from all were mushed together, rolled out into more noods. These actually tasted pretty good. 13. Eggy flavor is more sulfur-like than actual egg. Not my thing. 14. The flavor goes away once sauce and other stuff are added to the noodles. 15. I think #6 was a little thin, I might prefer #5? Don't know. 16. Maybe I can tell difference in texture with thicker noodles. I may try that with the remaining doughs. If that link above to the noodle making instructions goes bad, the measurements for unknown branded lye water were: 74.5g potassium carbonate and 3.5g sodium carbonate to 100g water (I know they say ml, but I've learned 1ml weighs roughly 1g). I used distilled water, with a neutral pH. I made sodium carbonate by roasting baking soda for a couple hours. When adding the potassium carbonate, be very careful.. it fizzed quite a bit and made the glass rather warm, borderline hot. I was not expecting a reaction! The common brand of lye water seems to use sodium bi-carbonate (baking soda) koon chun. As noted in many places kansui is the japanese version. And now, please enjoy my noods.

Dibs.

@Chris Hennes How long does it take to get such an even and thorough olive distribution?! That is amazing!

Here's a wacky one that actually works: harzer kase (aka kvargla, it's a "hand" cheese), čabajska sausage (or any kind of seasoned ground pork, bacon might work, too), and a few caraway seeds, then after baking top with a little fresh marjoram and beer pickled onions. Who knew harzer cheese could melt?! Once strawberries start showing up, try: brie, strawberries, very thin slices of lemon, and some kind of "soft" deli meat such as mortadella. Drizzle good balsamic on it when done.

I'm binge watching hawaii five-oh. Don't judge me. 😜

So... rinse, let dry, grind into flour? Hmmm. I may be too lazy for that. Maybe we all need a little dirt in our diet 🤓

That's tapioca starch/flour 😊.