middydd

Made the cake with corn oil mixed with melted butter. Huge improvement, fishy smell is gone. Thanks, egullet members, never would have figured that out without this thread!!

I grew cilantro one summer but the older the plant got the worse it tasted. By the time it went to seed it tasted (to me) like burnt rubber. Before that it tasted soapy, and I don't usually get soapy from the cilantro from the grocery store. Getting a different oil today to try making that cake, thinking corn or safflower.

I make a chocolate cake that calls for vegetable oil, I use canola oil, I always wonder when I cut into that cake why it smells like fish. But it doesn't taste like fish. I went to the kitchen and tasted some canola oil in a bowl, no taste, pretty much neutral. I'm switching to another vegetable oil for that cake. Sage tastes to me like it has an aftertaste of chlorine bleach.

I have good luck at HomeSense and Winners. They have really good names in cookware and bakeware and gadgets, often clearing them out at unbelievable prices. Lately I've noticed a lot of gorgeous Mauviel saucepans, saute pans, stock pots and Windsor pans. Some are even marked down, the prices were already way below what you'd pay elsewhere.

Was it this recipe? http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?&t...55&site=&page=1 I'm always looking for the perfect chocolate cake recipe.

I really like making a quick pasta sauce like Arrabiata or Puttanesca in this big saute pan because it reduces really quickly with all that surface area but the sauce doesn't get too "cooked" tasting. I'd like to find a ten inch saute pan in the same line. Just can't have too many decent cooking tools.

I found the article on line and reread it, they actually said the Tramontina roaster didn't brown quite as well as the heavier pans but was the bargain of the group. I'd buy one if I ever came across it. http://www4.fosters.com/dining/articles/fo..._01_28_03_f.asp

I also bought the 12 inch saute pan at TJMaxx for $35, I like it so much I wish I'd bought the saucepan as well. The New York Times did a testing of roasters about a year ago and the Tramontina was the highest rated.