Absurdly, stupidly basic cooking questions (Part 2)

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, Darienne said:

I've just made a granola recipe and find the result far too sweet for my taste.  (Ed likes it...but then...Ed likes Butter Tarts and I can't stand them.) 

 

However, the sugar ingredient in this recipe is maple syrup...1/2 cup..and it is part of the non-dry components which hold the recipe together.  Peanut or other nut butter is the other non-dry ingredient.

 

If I cut down on the syrup, the recipe won't hold together.  Suggestions please.  

Glucose to replace part of the maple syrup

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Knowing that I've been ill, a friend made a quantity of chicken soup for me.  Her kindness did not receive notice in the "Unexpected Food Gifts" as she gave a week's notice that she would be bringing it to me.

 

Did I mention it was a lot of soup?  Half is still frozen and I have had three meals so far from the rest.  I would like to thicken a portion to have as a stew, and I wondered if I could simply prepare a roux and add the cold soup to it?  What I am hoping for is something about the consistency of chicken pot pie filling, without the pot pie crust.

 

[heidih]

7 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Did I mention it was a lot of soup?  Half is still frozen and I have had three meals so far from the rest.  I would like to thicken a portion to have as a stew, and I wondered if I could simply prepare a roux and add the cold soup to it?  What I am hoping for is something about the consistency of chicken pot pie filling, without the pot pie crust.

 

I;' go the fool-proof quick route and use cornstarch slurry. Or if you happen to have instant potato flakes that might be a tasty twist.

[ElsieD]

I like @heidih's suggestion and if you don't have dried potato flakes maybe cook up and mash a potato and use tha5?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Cornstarch and potato flakes I do not stock.  Cooking and mashing a potato may be more complicated cuisine than I am up to.  Then there is the complication that I gave up on potatoes since I couldn't cook them before they would rot.  I may try the roux and see how it goes.

 

[Tropicalsenior]

13 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I may try the roux and see how it goes.

You can also make a slurry with flour and water. Or if you don't want to water down the flavor take out a little of the broth while it is still cold and mix the flour into that. You just want to cook the soup or stew a little longer than you would with cornstarch.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Jo, I’d just go with your original idea.   A fast roux.   I do this all the time to make gravy for takeout rotis chicken.   (Slightly reduce a can of chicken broth, add any gelled chicken juice from chicken container.   Add this to a roux, bring to boil for a minute ~>  close to instant gravy.)

Edited September 15, 2023 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[OlyveOyl]

Perhaps a beurre manié would be something to consider?

[Tropicalsenior]

13 minutes ago, OlyveOyl said:

Perhaps a beurre manié would be something to consider?

Thank you so much. I've spent all afternoon trying to think of the name of this and Googling didn't help me a bit. However, Google found it for me this time.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

38 minutes ago, OlyveOyl said:

Perhaps a beurre manié would be something to consider?

 

I appreciate the suggestion, I had not thought of it.  However for this I think I want the heavier cooked flavor of a roux.

 

[heidih]

37 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I appreciate the suggestion, I had not thought of it.  However for this I think I want the heavier cooked flavor of a roux.

 

I understand. In my culture we use a light one called Einbren, but eG certainly has discusid. My people's  https://www.dvhh.org/cooking-donauschwaben-style/sauce/Klaras-Einbrenn-Sauce~ritter.htm So make sauce and stir in your soup.  

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by heidih (log)

[pastrygirl]

This bag of pepperoni has been open for 1-2 weeks in a warm place (~75f).  
 

Is this white bloom ok mold, bad mold, fat, or something else?

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Bin it. Really not worth the risk of food poisoning.

 

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

Bin it. Really not worth the risk of food poisoning.

 

 

Done.  I tested some for aW and it was really high (0.84, I aim for 0.75 in chocolate fillings), could just be fat but definitely enough moisture for it to be something else.

 

Thanks!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

For my kind friend's chicken soup I went with the roux.  I thickened more than I intended, however it was quite tasty.  Plenty of soup left to experiment.

 

[heidih]

Term  roast versus bake. Pretty much same or am I mising something? Like roast associated with savory and bake usually sweet or is it  temp difference? (oh gawd I sound like a Valley girl)

[pastrygirl]

7 minutes ago, heidih said:

Term  roast versus bake. Pretty much same

 

Yes, dry heat. 

 

Why is it roast beef but baked ham?

[Tropicalsenior]

25 minutes ago, heidih said:

roast versus bake. Pretty much same

Today it is pretty much the same, at least the same oven technique. But if you go back into history, into the old cookbooks of the 17th and 18th century, the meat was pretty much roasted on a spit before Hearth or a campfire. Things that were baked were baked in a brick oven. These were things such as pastries, puddings, and breads. A lot of the old recipes for ham called for it to be baked in the oven so maybe that's the reason that him is baked and beef is roasted.

[blue_dolphin]

39 minutes ago, heidih said:

Term  roast versus bake. Pretty much same or am I mising something? Like roast associated with savory and bake usually sweet or is it  temp difference? (oh gawd I sound like a Valley girl)

 

As @Tropicalsenior said, it's now pretty much the same.  Scroll down to the "Difference between" section on this MasterClass page for the best summary I've read. 

[AlaMoi]

. . . roast vs bake . . .

 

temperature is one possibility - but I wonder if the usage perhaps dates to 'ye olde' days' when meats were roasted on a spit over the fire (or in a pot) and not in "ovens" - ? reserved for baking bread ? . . .

 

the "roast(ed) beef" vs "baked ham" is a classic one - anyone ever heard of somebody roasting a cake?

[haresfur]

4 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Today it is pretty much the same, at least the same oven technique. But if you go back into history, into the old cookbooks of the 17th and 18th century, the meat was pretty much roasted on a spit before Hearth or a campfire. Things that were baked were baked in a brick oven. These were things such as pastries, puddings, and breads. A lot of the old recipes for ham called for it to be baked in the oven so maybe that's the reason that him is baked and beef is roasted.

 

Fair enough, but does a pot roast have to be done over coals?

[Tropicalsenior]

16 minutes ago, haresfur said:

 

Fair enough, but does a pot roast have to be done over coals?

Not necessarily over coals but in early kitchens a very necessary tool was the cast iron Dutch oven. For more tender cuts of meat, they would put it in the pot and put it on the fire, usually with more coals heaped on the top of the oven. For the tougher cuts like they would use for pot roast they would add liquid to braise the meat so that it could cook for a much longer time. As stoves evolved, it migrated to the top of the stove or, as we do now, even into the ovens. It seems that one of the most popular ways nowadays is just to throw it in the slow cooker. It is still a pot roast.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[AlaMoi]

. . . and now should we discuss the "joint of beef" thing?

[Tropicalsenior]

37 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

. . . and now should we discuss the "joint of beef" thing?

To be perfectly truthful, I don't know exactly what cut of beef if it was. The closest that I can figure out is that it was a rump roast with the bone in. Sometimes they roasted the whole side of beef and that definitely went on a spit in front of a roaring fire. The scullery maid got off easy on this one. It was either the pot boy or the low man on the totem pole in the kitchen that had to sit there and turn it for about 8 or 10 hours. Then some sadistic idiot invented the treadmill for a dog. They They even had a special breed of dog to turn it. It looked like a cross between a Spaniel and a dachshund and is now extinct. I can't imagine what incentive they used to keep that poor little guy running.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[MetsFan5]

On 9/15/2023 at 3:09 PM, heidih said:

I;' go the fool-proof quick route and use cornstarch slurry. Or if you happen to have instant potato flakes that might be a tasty twist.

I have never thought of using instant potato flakes but that makes so much sense! I wonder if test trying this with a canned Progresso soup would be worth a cheap test run. 
 

 I have TMJ and some days the pain is randomly horrible so this would help a lot in bad days when I just need to eat kn order to stomach taking Advil. 

Edited October 18, 2023 by MetsFan5 (log)